Teaching practice - Self-evaluation (3)

MY CHALLENGES/ AIMS FOR THE FUTURE

What are the areas I still have to work on? What is my action plan? What/who will help me to achieve my goals?

I always feel insecure when it comes to classroom management. I still have too little experience in this area to not feel anxious when a new situation occurs. So I need to work on that, and also get used to this feeling of discomfort while approaching something unknown. I feel that now I’m more sure of the path I would like to follow and the importance of new experiences. I want to find my voice and my way of forming relationships with students and working in the classroom.

I believe observations are a great way to learn, however the best way for me is to try out the difficult things and actually reflect on them. Because of my own insecurities, too often I settle for something I know how to do. I wish to take on more challenges and step outside of my comfort zone. I want to experiment with different approaches and methods, not only those I enjoy and know how to work with. I hope to be more self-confident in my abilities and strengths, both as a person and as a teacher.

This practice was probably the most beneficial for me as compared to the previous ones. It was the most challenging, and for the first time I asked for it. I felt the most comfortable there and most of the time, I really felt like I knew what I was doing. It was thanks to my mentor teacher, who did a tremendous job in reassuring me and allowing me to experiment. The next source of inspiration, as well as learning materials for me are my colleagues from the GPTE programme. I adore reading about their experiences and how they perceive different classroom situations. I will definitely be relying on that.

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

What went well? What am I particularly proud of? Would I do something differently?

I was able to establish some rules and actually follow them. I tried being consistent and staying true to what I was promising. I built relationships with students and I felt like they liked me. They definitely didn’t disturb the lessons and when asked, usually listened. I enjoyed the fact that I was able to open up and enjoy those moments in the classroom. I felt eager to try out new things and I felt very fortunate to have this possibility.

I don’t know if there is something I was particularly proud of. It might be the fact that students were active during my lessons. I was really scared they would just sit there silently waiting for the bell to ring. I didn’t want to call them out and force them to engage in different activities. I still did it a few times, but it served a different goal. I realized some pupils were very shy and had a lot to contribute, but didn’t have the courage to speak. I hope students feel comfortable during my lessons, because personally I would be the happiest just making them enjoy these classes. I truly adored meeting them and seeing them contribute and raise their hands to speak up.

There is always something that can be done differently. If I had a chance, I would probably start doing microteachings earlier. For the first hours of observations I tried to be a shadow just sitting in the corner and making notes. Now, I would spend time actually talking to students and wandering around the classroom. It always scared me how I have to go from doing nothing to conducting parts of the lesson. The transition would be much easier if I started engaging in life inside the classroom earlier. I would have learned more about each particular students and it would make working with them even less challenging.