Today I am aiming to observe how teachers meet teaching standard 4: plan well structured lessons. Again today I will be mainly observing as the weather is poor, I know that the outdoor hockey will be called off so the teachers should have a back up plan.

I still want to be used within the lesson reinforcing the teaching points, so I will observe the lesson in a practical sense by being part of it.

During my placement I found that the weather did in fact rain off the boys hockey so a circuit was again set up. I was involved in setting up the circuit; I changed the fact that I was going to model some of the teaching points instead of only observing. I reflected during the lesson that I probably had already seen enough.

Period one: again the year 7 boys whose hockey was called off due to the poor weather. I therefore supported the teacher in delivering a circuit training again. This week the circuit was altered into a health related fitness circuit. Please see the picture below for the circuit. This planned session meets teaching standard 4, plan and teach well structured lessons as well as teaching standard 3 demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge this was evidenced by the teacher modelling all of the sporting actions correctly, insuring every pupil understood the actions. The lesson ran a lot smoother, as he blew the whistle after 1 minute for the children to swap with their partners and again to change the station. The direction of change was clearly marked out on the board so no student got lost within the transfer of stations.

Period two was a free lesson, so my placement partner and myself discussed with our placement coordinator how we felt about the school so far.

Period three: During the final lesson of the day Jess and I sat in the leadership lesson again, the lesson ran very similar to that of the week before, however one student did not finish the homework which was imperative for the lesson. Due to this being planed for however the teacher managed to continue the lesson with little disruption, this was due to the teacher having made a copy of the work sheet, bullet pointing what he would have written. Therefore the student who missed his part out could use the teacher’s notes for the start of the lesson however he was then told he had to make up the work in his own time. The teacher demonstrated that whilst he was a very likable and approachable teacher he could also meet and utilized teacher standard 7, manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment.

Throughout the placement today I was still slightly nervous at points, considering it was only my second week. I was however interested if teachers had an indoor plan for the same topic or whether there was a set of “wet weather” activities.

Today I think that from an observation view, I got to see that a teacher’s bad-weather plan could be vital as the lesson seemed well structured and planned. I think that whilst the lesson went well it could have been expanded on. With more planning, students could have got into the same groups as the week before and seen if they could beat their scores.

Capel, (2010) claims that effective planning leads to progression, this could have been very beneficial within the circuit training lesson if the students remained in the same pairs and recorded their scores as they could have seen the difference within their groups. The circuit training session was the result of good planning due to the equipment being out of place. . Arthur (2005) suggests that professional teachers are aware of the social setting and have the ability to anticipate change. This is supported by Stidder and Hayes, (2011) who argue that, groupings have a big effect on participation and performance within a lesson. This can be from moving students who do not work well together, or keeping strong groups all of which should have been planned for. Planning was particularly evident within the HSLA lesson as the lesson was a smooth running, productive one. I believe that this was down to the planning of the lesson. Capel, (2004) states that by effectively planning, teachers can maximise the use of lesson time to enhance pupils learning.

Today I feel as if I learnt that a well-planned lesson is obvious to see for teachers and students. The better prepared the lesson is the more learning will take place.

From today I have learnt that planning is essential to being a teacher. When the time comes within my placement to teach episodes and whole lessons I will ensure I will plan thoroughly as the benefits are obvious within a classroom.

When I am planning a lesson, should I always have an alternative plan, or just for days that clearly look like weather is an issue?

Do you plan lesson by lesson or by a whole scheme of work at a time?

Returning to my reflections I feel that I learnt an essential lesson within teaching about the importance of planning. I feel that by watching experienced teachers in their day-to-day life, and seeing the amount of planning that goes into it that it is something I need to consider in future.

I feel however that looking back on the circuit-training lesson, the students should have been told to keep their scores, or the teacher should have taken them down. This would have been important for not only planning the future lesson but assessment as well.

I view this part of my placement as an important learning curve as I have seen the positives of a planned lesson and also a lesson that slightly more planning, or forward thinking could have been very effective.