| Date: | 8th February 2016 |
| Group or individual with whom I worked: | Year 7 boys circuit training, year 9 B-Tec and year 13 Leadership in PE.
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BEFORE my placement …
| What am I aiming to achieve from my placement today? What do I need to be mindful of? What issues/questions need to be addressed to ensure I achieve my aim? Do I need to be aware of particular theories, or have particular skills? Have I thought about all of the ‘what ifs’? |
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Today I knew that I had year 7 boys with the group being indoor circuit training, due to the poor weather and the gymnastics equipment being unavailable for this I then had a warm-up planned. I needed to be mindful of the range of activities, which make up a circuit, so I needed to include a good pulse raiser and stretch the working muscles required.
I have taken into consideration during the warm-up not to overload one muscle group at once, E.G ask them to stretch their legs twice in a row.
Behaviour management was a key area I was looking for today |
DURING my placement …
| What did I notice happening around me today? What was I thinking and feeling? How was I involved? Did I do anything to intervene and change the situation that I found myself in e.g. how I conveyed a point or whether I decided not to do something I had planned to do? Did my reflections at the time change the session I had planned or my actions? |
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During my first lesson I led the warm-up for circuit training. During the warm-up I did notice low-level disruption, which Ofsted identified as a nationwide issue. This was resolved by splitting up certain individuals, I then didn’t allow those to work in the same group. I believe my warm-up went the way I expected it to, however I did not plan to move pupils midway through the activity.
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AFTER my placement … (based on the Gibbs Reflective Cycle)
| Describe the activities you undertook whilst on placement today. Set the context, what you did and what happened. |
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In the first lesson I led the warm-up for the pupils I asked them to jog around the sports hall and on my whistle perform a stretch that I called out. The children reacted well apart from two children who continuously spoke throughout. I asked the two to split up from each other and work on opposite ends of the hall this seemed to nullify their disruptions. The remainder of the lesson was taught by the teacher who continued the lesson with the gymnastics theme. He tried to link gymnastic movements into a circuit due to a low number of equipment. Second lesson I observed a B-Tec PE lesson, in the classroom the pupils had to annotate pictures they took of themselves doing sporting actions. During this lesson I spoke to the teacher who explained to me the new way of assessment at the school, the assessment grid where students meet aspects of 8 different sections of learning. Finally, in the third lesson I sat in the leadership in PE lesson for 6th formers, this was mainly observing the students as they plan for their day hosting a tag rugby tournament for local primary schools, putting input in, this was in preparation for leading the lesson on the 9th after half term. During second period I found out how students are assessed in KS3, by the means of an assessment. There are 8 sections to meet. (grid), when a child gets three ticks from any of the criteria, through any of the different sections they move up a level, children should reach level 8 by the end of the year. They can then move on to work at the year above. By using these sections instead of levels like before, you can see what students are stronger/weaker at. Such as knowledge vs fitness etc.
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| Document how you felt through-out your placement today. Were you anxious, confident, pleased or disappointed? |
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Throughout the day as a whole I felt confident in myself when talking to pupils. I spoke clearly to them and explained things when required. I did at one point during my first lesson’s warm-up feel anxious about leading the warm-up however as soon as I had the pupil’s attention they reacted well aside from two students, so I was pleased after the warm up. During the second lesson when observing students completing their assignments I felt that I could’ve been doing more, feeling restless although the teacher said to me to try and offer
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| Evaluate today’s placement activity. What went well, what went badly, what would you have done differently? |
| What went well: I feel that my planning for the warm up proved to be essential within the first period of the day. I feel that I managed to challenge two students within the lesson who were doing well within their sequences, I asked them to amplify their positions in their sequence, such as point toes, stand up straighter etc. I feel that the students responded very well and progression was evident.
Even better if: If I could have isolated the two students who were talking throughout earlier then I could have moved the two and therefore solved the problem earlier rather than letting the low level disruption continue.
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| Take a deeper, analytical and critical approach to today’s experiences. Can you make connections or apply academic theory or current policy to understand why today’s activities went well or went badly. |
| According to Ofsted, (2014) the level of low-level disruption within schools was highlighted as an issue with teachers blaming colleagues in leadership positions for not doing enough. Low-level disruption can be anything from: chatting, not being on task, being late to lesson, incorrect uniform to using mobile phones. This is an issue shared by parents according to Ofsted, (2014) During my time on placement many of the characteristics of low-level disruption were definitely apparent. Ofsted finally goes on to suggest teachers are beginning to accept low-level disruption as part of a normal lesson, with school policies helping but not fully working. The school’s behaviour policy echo’s the Ofsted report and offers to discipline pupils whose conduct falls below the standard which could reasonably be expected of them amongst other things. I believe the schools behaviour management policies are a reason why the school doesn’t seem to have a lot of behaviour issues. Hardy & Mawer, (1999:126) suggest that student misbehaviour is any action that a teacher perceives as disruptive to classroom. With teachers reacting most quickly to misbehaviour during instructions. Due to low-level disruption being a nationwide problem it is important that teachers utilise behaviour management techniques. Capel, (2010) suggests that teachers need to be confidant, authoritative and clearly in control of the situation. This would help to create a positive working environment and mange behaviour. I believe that the teachers of the lessons I was part of today, did create a positive learning environment, and the low level of disruption was dealt with quickly. Hardy & Mawer, (1999:126) suggest there is often a reason for low-level disruption within lessons and the key is to find out why, if a child is talking it might be because they do not understand the work.
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| Draw conclusions. What have you learnt from today’s activities and your reflections? |
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Today I have learnt that “low level disruption” can be anything up to just chatting amongst them selves. This can therefore have a huge impact on the lesson if students just talk over the teacher, or even if they don’t pay attention for a few minutes they are not familiar with the task. I would in future make the warm up quicker, not in time but in the change in activities to keep the students involved.
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| Action plan. How will you apply what you have learnt from today’s activities to the rest of your placement and your future professional and personal development? Do you need to undertake further research or reading? Are there courses that you need to undertake to fill a skills gap? |
| In regards to the year 7 boys, I will note in my lesson plan that the two students should be kept apart from each other when working within groups. Gymnastics isn’t my strong point so I will need to read around teaching points before delivering more skill based lessons.
Before I lead the leadership lesson I will be receiving a PowerPoint on the lesson topic, I will read that and combining that with my knowledge I’ve accumulated from the lessons I will use that to take the lesson.
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| Have any questions arisen today that I need to discuss with my Placement Supervisor or University Placement Tutor (UPT)? |
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N/A
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RETURNING to my reflections …
| It is often useful to return to your reflections after a period of time. Revisit the experiences you had; think about how you felt (positive and negative feelings) and re-evaluate your experiences. Do you feel differently about the experience now time has passed have your feelings changed in light of the experience or do you now view the experience in a different light? |
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Looking back reflecting on the day in placement I am happy that I managed to link current theories with the school I was on placement in. Low-level disruption is apparent in most schools and I feel that I managed to deal with it quite well within the lesson.
Now time as passed I think that I could have looked at behaviour management earlier within my time at the school. This could have been more beneficial within the long wrong but I had not experienced much bad behaviour prior to this.
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