This extract, taken from my end of professional practice 2 report form, shows my engagement with TS7 during this placement. My mentor notes my consistent approach to behaviour and classroom management throughout the placement and the impact that my clear expectations and instructions have on the children and the learning environment. Through the consistent implementation of the behaviour policy and rewards system, the management of children’s behaviour was successful.
The above extract was taken from my end of professional practice 2 report form. The feedback from my mentor, who was also the headteacher, indicates the progress I have made towards TS1 during my time at the school. My target was decided upon through the recognition that some children in the class were not always identified as contributing in collaborative activities. This is something I need to ensure in future practice and also relates to TS5 which is my overall target standard.
I have attached my final report form section for Teaching Standard 7 from Professional Practice 2. Having being graded 1 for this standard overall I have noticed a great improvement from Professional Practice 1b to my current attainment for this standard.
Throughout Professional Practice 2, I consistently implemented behaviour and classroom management strategies and set out clear and high expectations in accordance with the policies that were in place. This had an immediate impact on the attitude and behaviour of the children within the class which was maintained at a high standard throughout my time there. Ultimately, this allowed all children to progress in their learning as expected and to work effectively in a safe, collaborative environment.
My mentor for this practice recognised that due to the clear expectations and instructions I give in my lessons, the children were eager to settle with their work. He continued by explaining that the good relationships I formed with the children, the high expectations I set and my decisive nature allowed me to build and maintain a positive and productive working environment for the children. This is a great improvement from Professional Practice 1b where there were low-level disruptions during my lessons due to the fact that I did not sett high enough expectations or use the behaviour management system as consistently.
Throughout this practice I was able to identify the impact that having clear rules and routines within a classroom, having high expectations of behaviour, using strategies consistently and building relationship formed through mutual respect can have on a class. I feel that all children were able to achieve their learning goals in an environment that allowed them to be themselves whilst also taking consideration of others’ needs.
This reflection is based upon my final report form from Professional Practice 1b, specifically for TS7. At the beginning of the placement I struggled to implement effective behaviour management strategies and consequently there were low-level disruptions during my lessons. However, I was graded as a 2 in this elements showing the improvements I made to my practice over time.
Successful behaviour management is key in delivering effective lessons and helping children to progress in their knowledge and understanding. Children need to be aware of the rules and routines of the classroom, which need to be implemented consistently, and I need to ensure I uphold high expectations of behaviour from all children. Working within the behaviour policy for the school and using the reward system consistently and fairly can also have a big impact on children’s behaviour, attitude and motivation.
My mentor for Professional Practice 1b noted that I am aware of the strategies that experienced teachers use to promote positive behaviour. I now need to implement these strategies into my own practice as I don’t feel I am doing this as effectively as I could be at this stage of my training. My mentor also stated that I am able to plan and deliver appropriate lessons in order to challenge children and use a variety of teaching strategies, including partner/group work, the use of digital literacy and ICT, and aiming for creative outcomes, to address a variety of needs. I am confident in doing this and recognise the impact that this can have on motivating children and improving behaviour.
Although I feel that I am able to ensure a good standard of behaviour is upheld throughout the class, I recognise that I now need to ensure positive attitudes towards learning are shown by all children so that disruptions to learning are uncommon. This will allow all children to achieve their potential and ensure that the maximum amount of teaching and learning is engaged with.
This reflection focuses on the interventions I planned and implemented for my year 6 children who were attaining below their age-related expectations. Despite having previously planned and implemented phonics intervention, as discussed earlier, this is the first time I have engaged in the entire process (identifying children, identifying problem areas and possible reasons for this, allocating time for interventions, preparing and planning the interventions and monitoring the impact they were having on the children’s progress).
Interventions can be extremely vital in a child’s education and can be the difference between them achieving their potential and not. Through the identification, planning and implementation of these interventions (as listed in the attached document), I was taking responsibility for the children’s attainment, progress and outcomes, stretching them to reach their potential and improve their knowledge and understanding, planning teaching and interventions to build on their current level of knowledge and capabilities, making effective use of support staff (see document) and tracking their progress through both formative and summative methods.
I identified the children using both formative assessment methods, such as progress made in work completed in lessons, listening and assessing readers one-to-one, and the feedback I was giving through marking (repeating the same targets, not achieving particular learning objectives, etc.) and summative assessment methods, such as practice SATs papers and mental math papers. These determined the intervention groups for reading comprehension, writing and maths. I then identified the types of tasks that would be beneficial to the children’s learning, based on their current capabilities; these included focused questions during guided reading, short writing tasks to be completed within the focus intervention group, and 10 minute SATs practice papers on a daily basis in order to identify and then act upon particular areas that needed further guidance.
My current understanding of interventions improved considerably through engagement in this process, as did my knowledge of age-related expectations and assessment tracking. This process also helped me with the deployment of support staff as they were invaluable throughout, helping the children to progress in the areas they really needed to. Through engaging with this process, I believe that I will be more confident in setting up appropriate interventions within my future classes in order to positively impact on the children’s learning; particularly after seeing how beneficial they were for these children in the preparation for the SATs.
http://www.edutopia.org/practice/morning-meetings-creating-safe-space-learning
I have just watched this video set in Symonds Elementary on creating a safe space for learning. It has given me some good ideas to take forward in my teaching career to enable me to create a classroom and school culture based on mutual respect and trust, set high expectations for each school day and enhance children’s social-emotional growth.
Take a look at @DanniMorris07’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/DanniMorris07/status/657646893179256833?s=09
I created a stop motion animation using Zu3D to achieve the aims in the computing programme of study for digital literacy in KS2. Through completing this activity children have to select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) to design and create a video that accomplishes a given goal, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting. This is a highly engaging and creative way to achieve these aims and would definitely appeal to children.
Take a look at @DanniMorris07’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/DanniMorris07/status/652460849819484161?s=09
Increasing my ideas for taking learning outside the classroom in a fun and engaging way to improve children’s understanding in a range of concept areas including animals (including humans) (for years 3 and 4) and properties of materials (for year 5).
Miss Morris' Teaching Standards 