TEACHING LOG REFLECTION

Task 2.3.: Reflection – of Day-in-the-life  of a teacher

Reflect on the experience of completing the three days in the “life of a teacher”.

Doing this task of taking on a teacher’s role was a very interesting experience. Not only do you have a feel of what it would be like to have a class of your own one day, you also get the full experience of all the minor details that come along with teaching that aren’t truly obvious to an outsider. Administration, classroom management and general organisation is an aspect I got to play into during the course of these three days. Talking to my mentor the days prior and finding out all the duties I had to carry out within wone day was a really eye opening expense because you get to know that there is more to teaching that meets the eye, and majority of what you learn about running a classroom is through actively doing it yourself.

Reflect on your beginner teacher competencies after completing your final teaching experience.

✓  How did you cope/manage completing the three days of “Life of a Teacher”  

I believe I managed well. The two days completed in the second block where a lot easier to complete because by then I was aware of the class and the learners and how to go about with teaching them and managing them as well. As opposed to the first block’s day where as much as I was able to successfully complete my duties it was a bit more difficult following the schools systems and teaching my learners as I had yet to properly familiarize myself with the class and the way that they learn. There were a lot of disturbances in carrying it out in the first bock as they were doing major assessments and exams during that time so what I taught had to coincide with what they were going to be tested on and that was a huge amount of pressure at the time. The second time around with the two given days I the first block were a lot easier as I had grown familiar with the learners and knew how to engage them and engage with them properly. 

✓  How did you feel taking on all the responsibilities of a teacher in Block 1 compared to Block 2?

Block 2 was so much easier. I felt as though I new what I needed to do and carried out all the duties well and successfully. In block 1 I still had to go ask my teacher where the learners needed to go, what books they needed to use, whrre to take certain documents and who to hand them in to. In the second blok I was more familiar with the space and place and was able to navigate myself successfully without needing to go and ask things  in order to make sure that I was going to go to what was needed.

✓  Which activities did you find most challenging? How did you overcome these challenges? 

Marking exams in the first block. I had to ask a lot of question to my teacher in between because its quite difficult to mark papers where subjectivity is allowed In some responses, so I needed to make sure that I was marking correctly. It took a really long time to mark as well because of this fact, and I was also doing both classes because my teacher teachers the History subject to both Grade 7 classes. It was a little easier in block to mark their tests because by then I knew the writing styles of the learners and their abilities in class in general, so marking was a tad bit familiar and easier to me.   

✓  Analyse your results of your self- evaluation survey, how “ready” do you feel to enter the profession as a beginner teacher, after this final Teaching Experience?

Based on my beginner teacher competencies survey, I stated that for most of them I felt that I was “Competent” and “proficient”  but have not yet reached a level of “distinguished” in certain areas yet. I feel there are still some areas I need to develop more like managing classrooms effectively and and using results of assessments as a basis of developing teaching and learning. If I can master these areas, I believe I feel comfortable teaching my own class. I believe I’m ready enough to start the profession, but I still do believe I have to be able to address and develop these traits while working.

Look at the exit level outcomes and the final comments of your mentor teacher in your School Assessment Log & Report. Compare this to the initial self -evaluation you had completed at the beginning of your teaching experience.

My teacher stated to me that I have a presence in the classroom that is enough to make the learners pay attention an engage. As much as I believe classroom management is something I still need to develop, my mentor teacher feels I have mastered that aspect already.