Here comes the breakdown!...

Week 14/18/10/2013

 

This week has been quite a challenge, and to be honest I was ready to give up with the teaching career...

 

Right then, had the first day in the classroom, not in the classroom at college but at my placement. On Thursday this week, was my first day of real life teaching on the entry level. This group consists of learners with learning difficulties.  The lesson was on the benefits of routines for young children. I must say I was fully prepared, all my planning and resources were ready, and I was quietly confident. I spent nearly all week planning and looking for different ways to make my lesson more interactive. Before I took the lesson, obviously I had to talk to the tutor of this group, and we went through different ways to keep these learners more actively involved as they prefer more practical activities.

 

Well when I walked in class, I was scared stiff, I started off feeling nervous but gained my confidence as the time went on. I followed everything on my lesson plan but somehow it got really difficult. Learners found it difficult to participate in class discussion, they found question and answer tasks to be challenging and boring. Now do not get me wrong but when I realised that everything was not going as planned, all I wanted to do was to finish the lesson as quickly as I could. I got so nervous and even forget what I was actually doing.  Anyway I managed to finish the lesson and honestly I felt terrible. I did not feel good at all and to be honest I did not achieve very much.

I spoke to the class teacher afterwards, who was there watching me ( not observing), which honestly did not help with my confidence at all, because I kept thinking ' ooh my world I'm doing it all wrong?'. Anyway talking to this teacher, it came out that I need to have more practical activities, and keep learners on task all the time.

 

Therefore with this teaching experience I have realised that discussion activities is not entry's cup of tea, they have not got the ability to sit and discuss things. They need more hands on activities. I was so shocked when I learned that these learners have got complex needs, and because of this I will have to accommodate their needs in my lessons, which is not an easy task to do. I have never taught learners with learning difficulties before, and this came as a shock to me, because I did not expect to be this difficult. Although I am ready for the challenge and I know this  actually might be a good experience, I must admit that I am bit nervous about the next lesson. I do not know how I will manage it.

 

Although I had a bad day on Thursday, On Friday, I did my second mini teach, which was a success. The topic was active listening . I am so glad that my group is so supportive because I had some very good feedback, which I hope they will really help me to improve my teaching skills.

 

All in all this week has been pretty intense with loads to take in and lots to do. I'm glad it is nearly half term, hopefully I will have a nice break.