As lead up to my final practicum I attended 2 days of lectures based solely around the up coming prac as well as my teaching career to come. These lectures were held in conjunction with the unit Transition into the Profession and were extremely beneficial in filling us in with some last-minute details.
As I sat down for a lecture on behaviour management with Jan Long, I couldn’t help thinking that after the next hour I could walk out of the room with a whole range of full proof tricks under my belt. However, I soon found this hope to be shattered as Jan, so kindly shared with us that unfortunately, “there is no magic wand.” I knew this, and painfully i knew my students would know this fact as well, yet all pre graduate teachers, myself included, believe in this false hope. McBurney-Fry informs us that classroom management, mainly behaviour management, is the prominent concern of student teachers (McBurney-Fry, 2005) so it was no surprise to me that I found Jan Longs lecture to be most beneficial.
A practical aspect I learnt from the lecture was to act confidently by taking on my leadership role with my entire body including voice, posture and gaze. The key to this tip was in the ‘acting’, I don’t necessarily have to be confident, just as long as i can fool my students into thinking I am.
I set myself some goals to achieve whilst on my practicum as a way of measuring my development over the 10 week internship. I based each goal around a specific Element from the NSW Institue of Teachers’ to determin if I was infact able to meet these standards
Practicum Goals:
1. Learn the names of all the students in my classes by the 2nd week of term
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5.1.1 Demonstrates a variety of startegies to develop rapport with all students
2. Adjust planned lessons in cohesion with coleague teacher feedback and constructive criticism
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6.1.1 Demonstrates a capacity to critically reflect on and improve teaching practices
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6.1.5 Accept constructive feedback to improve and refine teaching and learning practices
3. Meet the education needs of all students in each of my classes
- 2.1.3 Demonstrates knowledge of students’ different approaches to learning
- 2.1.6 Demonstarets the knowledge of a range fo literacy strategies to meet the needs of all students
4. Implement seating plans, class and individual agreements when necessary
- 5.1.5 Demonstarte knowledge of principles and practices for managing classroom discipline
These goals are devleoping as a measurement so I can determine the success of my practicum. Keep connected to see just how successful I am!
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