Final Professional Practice Reflection

The three weeks of professional experience at McCallums Hill Public School has provided me with reassurance and confidence that teaching is the career for me and has begun to build some of the vital tools that I know I will need to develop in order to become a great teacher.

During professional experience I have learnt the importance of creating an environment of mutual respect and open communication between the students and the teacher. It is only when this is achieved that class room management can be truly effective. While some teachers (witnessed by watching some casual teachers) rely purely on hard discipline, it is the ongoing respect of the children that my classroom teacher and myself had that made it possible to create a safe positive learning environment that allowed for healthy debate and discussion while maintaining control and order in the classroom.

I have also learnt the importance of being able to adapt lessons and explanations on the spot to meet the needs of the students. While at home a lesson may have sounded great it may be too easy or difficult for the class or just not work out for other reasons. Being able to adapt the lesson is essential to maintaining the focus and interest of students and ensuring that they are learning and achieving the outcomes required from the lesson. Being able to explain a word or concept in 5 different ways to cater for different learning abilities is also vital and a skill that I will continue to work on.

Finally, the time constraints placed on primary school learning have been a major learning curve for me. The amount of time that is spent out of the class room for assembly, library, RFF, languages etc has a huge impact on the amount of quality lesson time available in a day. On top of this there are all the unexpected interruptions as well. Ensuring the students are receiving a balanced and thorough education is something that requires flexibility and dedication and is something that I know I will need to develop further as I progress as a teacher.

During my time a McCallums Hill, I was lucky enough to be in a Gifted and Talented Class (GATS). The students were generally well behaved and eager to learn making teaching a delight and easing me into the teaching profession. My biggest challenge for my next professional experience will be learning to deal with the challenges that are present in a normal classroom with students of ranging abilities and behaviors. I think it has been beneficial for me to begin to develop classroom management skills in a less challenging environment and I hope that these will give me a head start when dealing with more difficult students in the future. 

Professional experience has provided an amazing opportunity to trial different teaching strategies and has provided me with the view that a combination of cooperative and individual student experiences is the best way to provide a balanced education. It meets the needs of all the students while developing skills in both independence and group work. I began with the view that cooperative learning and team work were the best way to teach but through experience and watching my classroom teacher I began to adapt my classes to include individual elements as well. Individual work as well as a little healthy competition worked well with the class that I had.

During this first practical I have been lucky enough  to be involved in  more than just classroom experiences. As my classroom teacher is an Assistant Principal I was involved in tasks such as helping with NAPLAN and OC test supervision, assisting with the organisation and  running of the school public speaking competition and multi cultural lunch as well as the set up of the school art show. These all gave me further insight into what is required of teachers outside of the classroom and helped me feel more a part of the school community.

I have learnt so much over the past 3 weeks and am eagerly awaiting my next prac to continue to develop my skills and knowledge in the classroom. I have been  both surprised and delighted at the rapport I was able to develop with the students in my class over such a short period of time and was so touched by the send off I received from my students. Neither I, nor the students wanted the prac to end.