Diagnosis of own strenghts and development points

In the Stage 1 of my Individual Learning Plan I have undertaken a self-diagnosis of my strengths and development needs, which have been discussed with my personal tutor. For this stage I have drawn on feedback from my individual micro-teaching and my first assignment. The feedback was given from my subject and professional practice tutor and also from my peers.

Practical teaching

In my micro-teaching I did an AS Further Maths session about the Method of Induction. I started with a short presentation with directed questioning. Then I showed the learners a short video about the domino effect, which is an analogy of the Method of Induction. Finally, I set a task in which they had to choose the correct definition for the Method of Induction based on the presentation and the video they watched. I did a presentation on PowerPoint and I gave the students a sheet of paper with three definitions where they had to choose the correct one.

Based on feedback from my tutor and peers, the presentation skills were good, the instructions for the tasks were clear and the use of resources was effective. The session was staged coherently and the planning was good.

I used a variety of teaching methods such as a presentation, a discussion and a task. I used different strategies such as individual a group work. I managed the classroom effectively with clear instructions.

The learners were engaged throughout the session. Especially the video and the task after the video were very engaging and the learners participate actively in the tasks.

According to the feedback and my own reflection, the final task was a bit difficult for the age range. Even my peers had problems choosing the correct definition for the Method of Induction. My understanding is that I picked up definitions that were too similar between them.

I took longer than I was expected in my micro-teach. The final task went a bit too long. I let the students debate about which definition was the correct one, which was good in a way, but I should have guided them and given some tips to make it a bit easier for them.

Literacy/Written Communication skills

I did my first assignment, the Values of Education Statement, about empathy.

According to the feedback I was given, the assignment was coherently structured. I showed understanding of some key aspects and theories of teaching and learning. I also showed the potential to devise and sustain arguments and solve problems in practice.

In my following assignments, I should try to develop my arguments more critically and I also need to take care of my grammatical errors by getting people to proof read my assignments.

01/11/2010

Yesterday I had a GCSE Science lesson. The lesson was from 11 to 12, so I thought I had time to review what I had to teach and make some adjustments to the lesson plan. When I arrived at the college I was told that I had to teach from 9 to 11 too so I didn't have time to prepare the next lesson.

I wasn't happy with the lesson. First of all, the subject teacher was there again. We were going to do a question paper to practice for the exam. I had the impression that the students had already done it because we were going through questions that they knew the answers, so I felt a bit silly. The question paper had a few mistakes too so in one question I said the answer wrong and the students corrected me. A couple of times the teacher intervened and I didn't feel in a good position. I don't know the names yet and that makes the situation a bit awkward.

For the next lesson I am going to try to do the following:

- I am going to speak to the teacher and tell him that I prefer to be alone in the classroom, otherwise I lose authority.
- I am going to learn the names by looking at their pictures.
- I need to study the subject better, because there were a couple of questions that I wasn't able to answer. If I am given a question paper or any other document with an exercise solution, I have to double check it.