Work placement 'recap'. :)

So...it went better than I'd expected. :) I guess I was a bit of a grump about it all... ;] I'm still in a bad mood at the uni for not prepping us 'enough' but grateful I got such a good school/class/tutor(s) as I did. :) It's made all the difference!

My experience of this past week has been very interesting and helpful for the future. I'm already looking forward to going back in May for 'part 2' of this semester's work placement's. In May I'll be out for two weeks and get to do more lessons on my own.

This weeks assignment was to plan and do two lessons (I did the same one twice, at different times with different kids) and do three observations. All went well with the help of my tutor who guided me through it in a really helpful way - a good balance between support and constructive criticism. She's also offered to help out, if/when I need it, when it comes time to report the result of my observations to my teachers. :)

The little people in the class were all fab, some (of course!) a bit hesitant towards my presence there than others, and I think I managed to memorise all their names. :) It was a fairly large class, 26 pupils, although they did have 2 teachers so it worked well... It's a bit of an unusual construction of a class (I'll have to dig into it a bit more next time I'm there) :) but it works. The pupils work well in a whole class, better than they did in my previous work placement when they we're only 18 children, 1 teacher and 1 teacher/student assistant. Hmmm....? :)

To conclude...it was a good week. I even enjoyed the outdoors day, including the bit when the rain poured down on us and especially bbq:ing hot dogs on the open fire for the little people. :) We all reeked of smoke and dampness on our way back to school but I think all of us had a great day out! :)