| Date: | 7th March 2016 |
| Group or individual with whom I worked: | Year 7 boys, 6th form class. |
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’? |
| Today I will be observing how a senior teacher manages looking after a class with the extra supervision of an SEN child. Having spoken to my University Placement Tutor about SEN children and how to approach them, I feel that I understand how to approach a SEN pupil within a lesson and manage their behaviour and learning better than before.
Finally today is the day that the 6th form students take their tag rugby tournament; the early signs are that the weather is good and the day and go-ahead outside as originally planned. The students have been briefed continually for weeks of the “what ifs” and have a folder dedicated to roles and responsibilities of all team members. Therefore, in theory even with an absentee the day should run smoothly.
Today I want to observe how a teacher includes an SEN student. Inclusion.
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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? |
| First lesson of the day was the third lesson of football for the year 7 boys. Today after leading last week, I was in an observational role whilst still acting as a TA. I wanted to witness how an experienced teacher alters a lesson with a SEN child participating. During the lesson, I found myself getting more involved with the lesson, breaking down the teaching points for the students within individual groups whilst the teacher maintained control of the group as a whole. I reflected at the time of the lesson, that I couldn’t just look at one student, and therefore took a bigger role within the lesson. I conveyed a point within small groups by modelling it out to them.
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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. |
| In first lesson I found myself observing firstly as previously stated, after the teacher warmed the students up he sent them into lines to dribble forward perform one of the three turns he demonstrated beforehand. To begin with I stood back and watched how he taught the lesson and still kept control of the SEN child who was obviously requiring more attention. I then grew more into the lesson as it progressed, and even went on to demonstrate one of the different turns the lesson was based on. The teacher then used me to go into smaller groups within the lesson and reinforce the teaching points before setting the children into a game where the turns were important and scored as many points as a goal. I think this proved to be effective as some students, who were struggling with the turns, really improved with a bit of Individual feedback, this would meet teacher standard 5, by adapting teaching for the needs of all students as well as good use of assessment.
The last lesson was the day when the 6th form students in their HSL group taking the tag rugby tournament. My placement partner and myself mainly observed as the students were being marked on the success of the day, we did however help lead the warm up for the primary school children as the 6th formers had an absentee. We mainly then took a helping role for the students as some refereed, some kept score and others little skill games for when they were not playing. My placement partner and myself soon found ourselves representing not only the university but the college as well, therefore we had to maintain a professional persona maintaining the schools standards and image.
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| Document how you felt through-out your placement today. Were you anxious, confident, pleased or disappointed? |
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Within first lesson I felt very curious, and looked forward to seeing how SEN children should be maintained during a lesson. Throughout the lesson, I became more relaxed around the SEN pupil, and felt as I could approach him to manage behaviour. The advice given to me by my UPT and the current teacher was evidently effective within the lesson.
For the last lesson, my placement partner and myself were very excited to see how the 6th form group managed the day. We were slightly anxious due to a long-term absentee who irregularly attends the lesson; however as a group we were confident that we had planned for this and the student’s role has been split amongst the remaining students.
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| Evaluate today’s placement activity. What went well, what went badly, what would you have done differently? |
| I feel that observing the SEN student was a very productive experience for myself, it gave me an insight on how to manage such pupils within future lessons.
The 6th form tag rugby tournament was also a great success! All the participating schools enjoyed themselves. The students maintained the schools high standards and this therefore ensured that day ran smoothly. The day did not have any real faults however, if I had the chance I would have taught more within the first lesson, although I planned to mainly observe I found myself reinforcing the teaching points so I may as well have planned a full session.
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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. |
| Teaching standard 5 is to adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils, but more specifically have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs. Pupils with special educational needs are those whom some degree of special provision as to be made. Capel and Piotrowski, (2000) explains that SEN children through history have been separated from their class mates however this has changed. Capel and Piotrowski, (2000) discuss the findings of the Warnock report (DES 1978) where 20% of children experience difficulties in their learning, with the report suggesting teachers should assume responsibility for meeting these needs within education. Green and Hardman, (2005) claim the inclusion of SEN students has become a central feature of education, with regular disabilities not necessarily deeming a child SEN. More students with English as a second language, children on the autistic spectrum etc. Finally Green and Hardman, (2005) suggest teachers need to set suitable learning challenges for SEN children and respond to their diverse learning needs. I believe this was apparent in placement by the teacher using the SEN child as the main demonstrator. This I believe met his need for attention and gave the teacher more of an opportunity to set suitable learning challenges. Green and Hardman, (2005) said that teachers are expected to pay particular attention to these aforementioned principles of inclusion and do their best for SEN children despite how challenging their needs are.
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| Draw conclusions. What have you learnt from today’s activities and your reflections? |
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From todays reflections I have learnt that children with SEN are still a big part of the classroom and are not someone else’s problem. I have learnt that the teacher must plan for inclusion within lesson plans and set suitable learning challenges for them.
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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? |
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I will take the information I have read around the subject of SEN children, along with the example shown by the main teacher and be able to consider SEN children within my future lesson plans. If SEN awareness courses were available for my CPD I would definitely take those.
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| Have any questions arisen today that I need to discuss with my Placement Supervisor or University Placement Tutor (UPT)? |
| A question I would like to answer would be, with a SEN children in every school, is there a particular way of managing the child, or certain education need, E.G autistic students need this extra support or is it child specific?
How can I ensure inclusion for SEN children?
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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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Reflecting on my day in placement I believe that the thought of having an SEN child within my lesson is not a scary thought as before my placement. Due to the reading and the help from my UPT I feel as if I can confidently plan and include a SEN within my lesson.
I feel looking back is if I definitely done the right thing by observing how a teacher includes an SEN child before planning whole sessions for him.
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