In four days my prac will have begun, I must say that nerves are starting to kick in. I have planned about 7 lessons for each of my four classes but I still wish I had done more. I think I expect too much from myself. I'm looking forward to blogging with my year 8 and year 10 class but the thing I am least looking forward to is the awkwardness of the first week. All the classes that I have this term are different to those that I observed in stage A, so I'll be starting to get to know students all over again.
There are some things that I would like to achieve during this prac;
• In the past I have been reluctant or unable to use technology in the classroom. The school I am at is very proactive in using technology so I would love to learn more about how it can work in the classroom.
• Try new and exciting activities with my classes. I have had little experience taking junior years at high school. This prac I have two year 7 classes and one year 8 class. I would love to learn more about how they learn and the level of difficulty these tasks need to be (Element 1).
• I am keen to try new classroom management techniques, while doing shorter pracs and casual teaching it is really hard to maintain a consitent classroom management strategy, so I would like to try building upon my own strategies (Element 5). For me, the best way to do this will be to build a rapport with my students based on trust and mutual respect. I will also try to be available for my students to ask questions at any time. A way of doing this will be thanks to technology and blogging. Another way I think my classroom management will improve is by implementing enjoyable and engaging activities. If students are engaged and enjoy their tasks classroom management is easier to establish.
• One thing that I have struggled with during my previous pracs has been timing, my lessons have either been too short or too long, improving my time management is a goal I would like to reach.
• In previous pracs I haven't had much of an opportunity to participate in extra curricular areas of school life. This is something that I am keen to do over the next 1o weeks (Element 7).
• My final goal will be to keep my sanity. While this might sound silly, I think it is important to keep a balance while on prac, if I am unable to do this I don't think my classes will be as effective as they could be due to stress and a lack of enjoyment. I am a strong believer that if I am having fun then the students will too, and that this is when the most effective teaching can take place.
So, wish me luck and I will keep you posted on how my goals are going
Lyndal.
