Hello again!
If you're at the same point as me, ie about to apply for teaching training, then I assume you have already had some classroom experience. If not, then read on and I'll let you know:
- How to get classroom experience
- What to expect
- What to get out of it
First of all, experience should be about you finding out if teaching is right for you. Use the experience to watch the teachers and bond with the children, in order to see if you can do this job day in and day out FOREVER. Well, almost forever.
Secondly, the experience will help you when you write your personal statement and during interviews, so you need to be reflective about what you have done and seen. Use this opportunity wisely as lots of people find it difficult to get volunteer placements! Which brings me to my first piece of advice:
How to get that classroom experience
Always take a letter in, in person. Try and speak to the head-teacher or the head of the department you want to work in. The letter should look professional and you should address it directly to the person you want to read it - don't just put 'sir or madam' - do your homework!
Schools are more likely to want you there if you can offer them something. This means DON'T just ask if you can observe! Show willing and offer them your services doing anything (OK, almost anything) from putting up wall displays to listening to readers or from helping clean up after art club to sharpening the pencils.
Primary schools seem to be harder to get into than secondary schools and I assume this is because more parents are likely to help out while their children are younger and so the schools can be quite 'full' of volunteers. But keep trying! Start local and then quickly start handing out letters further afield.
Another way into the classroom might be through your university. My university had a programme for volunteers who wanted to work in schools. They worked as mentors, classroom assistants, coaches and after school club helpers.
When you get offered a placement, don't say you can do days that you can't or that you're flexible if you're not. Work together with the teacher to find days that suit both of you and ensure you give notice of days that you will be absent. You may need to use them as a reference, so be good to them!
What to expect
So. It's your first day and you walk up to the door of the school and pull open the handle. Then you realise that you need to be buzzed in so you look around to check no one saw you yanking on the door and buzz. The door clicks and in you walk. YOU'RE IN A SCHOOL.
It's exciting. Oh, and scary! You have so many (silly) worries, like will you remember the kids' names? What about the teachers? How will remember their names? What if you get lost??? What if the children don't like you!??! What if THE TEACHERS DON'T LIKE YOU?!??! You suddenly start doubting your abilities and your desire to teach and check your phone to see if it's half past three yet.
First piece of advice: CHILL THE CHUFF OUT. No one will expect you to know everything on day one, and at the minute you are just here to see whether you like the idea of teaching.
Ensure you know and understand the school policy and things like the fire exits and escape routes. Ask your supervising teacher what boundaries they want you to have, whether you can issue sanctions and rewards, for example. If you're in primary, you're likely to be with the same teacher and class all day. If you're in secondary, you will be in the same department but with different classes and teachers for each period. I'm going to start with my experience in secondary schools.
I've worked in three secondaries, all in the English department. In the first one, I was expected to observe and not much more. I was allowed to ask the children how they were getting on with work, and my mentor showed me schemes of work and let me see lesson plans and assessments, but I was not allowed to be properly 'involved' in class. My second experience was a lot different as it was arranged through the university and I was to be a classroom assistant, helping out small groups of low-level-literacy pupils. This placement could have gone better! I had no guidance really, and should have asked for more help. I didn't want to be annoying though... but yeh, I should have asked. The groups were great, I bonded with all of them, and with two year 7 boys in particular. I used my initiative in this role and took in homemade resources that I had come up with, to address particular problems they were having in their reading. My only problems were that I was left to my own devises with absolutely no supervision, and also that I wasn't having any experience in the actual classroom. Finally, my last volunteer placement - and the one that made me realise I wanted to do primary - was really good! I enjoyed it so much. I know, you're thinking 'well, why did it make you realise you wanted to do primary?' and I can answer that. I know that although I love love love English, I actually want to teach across the curriculum. I want to be able to link English and literacy lessons to others areas like history and geography. I want to teach the same year group all day, all year.
But back to my placement. It was fun. The kids were awesome and I was allowed a lot more freedom to help children, teach small groups and tell kids off! Gotta love a bit of telling kids off. That first time that you warn them with your teacher voice, makes you feel quite teachery. It's bizarre. But I'm not going into this game to tell kids off, I have my own four children for that!
This placement also made me realise that there is so much more to teaching than just.. well, teaching. Behaviour management was a big thing in this school, as it was bordering on special measures. Differentiation was also a major process in planning as all classes were mixed ability. This was also the first placement where I took in a notebook and jotted down the different teaching ways. I noted how lessons were organised (starters, mains, plenaries) and how the teacher interacted with the pupils. This sort of thing is useful for the old personal statement and interview.
Onto primary schools. I've worked in years one to four and this September I will be doing three full weeks in another primary school where I will experience every year from nursery to year six. I know that I prefer Key Stage 2, and probably years 3 or 4, but it is always good to get experience of all years. Even if you're going for primary, try a few days in a secondary and vice versa. It's good to be able to say to your ITT provider that you know which age range you want because you've had lots of experience in all age ranges.
Primary schools are FUN. You'll always get at least one child who wants to hold your hand everywhere and another who just stares at you. But you'll always have a great day! The only thing I dislike about primaries, is playtime. I don't really like playtime. My goodness, the kids are so rough with each other! That kind of scares me. Even more than teenagers at secondary school swearing and punching each other. But anyway, the day is usually set out the same way each day and it might go something like this:
- Register
- Phonics
- Assembly
- Break
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Dinnertime
- Topic work
- Hometime
Working in primaries in more hands-on with regards to resources. There are more things to cut out and laminate and more things to pick up and tidy away at the end of the day.
What you can get out of it
Take in a notebook and jot things down, like I did. Don't do it during lesson of course, but do it as soon as you can afterwards. Don't be scared to ask things of the teachers, such as 'can I see the lesson plan?' or 'why did you do that?'.
A good idea is to write down what you want from the observations, then you can fill it in a bit easier. You might want to think about:
The age range of the class
The learning objective
Number of pupils
Lesson plan and content ie how is the lesson organised?
Short and long term objectives
Classroom management
Are pupils enjoying their work?
What rewards and sanctions are used?
How does the teacher get their attention?
What is the layout of the classroom?
What is the teacher-pupil interaction like?
How is differentiation used for SEN and EAL?
Do the pupils look like they have gained some knowledge at the end of the lesson?
Were they bored by the lesson?
Did the teacher assess learning?
You might not want to think about all of these in one lesson, but just focus on one or two areas, eg lesson plan and oragnisation, and classroom layout, or perhaps learning objective and assessment. Being able to reflect on these things will help you when it comes to writing your personal statement and attending interviews. It may also help you to think what kind of a teacher you want to be!
I hope this helps you a little bit, good luck!
Mrs J
