I went into my second teaching placement with a sense of apprehension and anxiousness that made me doubt my abilities as a teacher. My first placement had been cut short due to COVID. Just when I was starting to feel like a teacher, the experience was taken from me in a flash. Yes, I taught online with my first school placement and continued to do so until the summer holidays. It gave me great experience but not the same sense of satisfaction that being in a classroom gives you as a student.
Therefore, this placement, after months of isolation from normal life filled me with a little dread. Did I have the skills that a second-year student should have? Would I let my mentor teachers down? Would they have faith in my abilities as a teacher of their classes? It was also a bigger then my last school and therefore had a larger staff.
My anxious thoughts need not have consumed me. When I walked through the doors of the school on that first day of observation it was like walking into a big family. I could not have been made more welcome. I instantly felt part of a team; a feeling I have missed for such a long time now. I constantly wonder if I made the right decision to change careers and become a teacher, the welcome I received changed all that.
The Business department made me feel like I had been there for a year rather than just a day! I was given the responsibility of many classes and encouraged to use my initiative in the topics I was given to teach. I was able to share my opinions and ideas with the team and be part of the decisions being made. I also found that some of the teachers had actually completed the Hibernia course a few years before me and therefore were so nice in giving me advice and some words of wisdom. It made me feel at home and allowed me to believe that I could be the best teacher I could be. It was nice to be valued as a teacher and not a student.
This SEPP also taught me a lot about myself as a teacher. I feel I made good progress in my transition from a student to a teacher. I finally understood how the use of effective questioning can transform a class. I learned not to be so over reliant on PowerPoint slides and to use Bloom’s taxonomy to my advantage and ultimately to the students benefit. I constantly speak about the importance of effective learning for me. No child should be left behind is a mantra we are always taught is paramount. I always strive to be the best teacher I can be. However, it was through the reflective discussions during this SEPP, that I found most helpful. This process allowed me to discuss my feelings honestly and how I could do better.
If I am honest about it, COVID made me a more enthusiastic teacher. I use my hands a lot when I speak but I was more animated this time because of the mask; making me conscious of my face not being seen, particularly by the first years. I tried to make the lesson fun and show my enthusiasm and sense of humour at all times. Learning about effective questioning in more detail also allowed me to blossom during my five weeks of teaching.
The school had a no-phone policy which in the beginning made me nervous. I had been using MENTI and other digital applications for my lessons in the previous SEPP and with this facility not being available for me provided some slight anxiety. I needed to adjust my feelings towards my reliance on digital technologies. I was of the belief that in order to make lessons interesting and to keep students engaged they had to have access to their phones to do MENTI quizzes etc.
This block, as I saw it, made me think hard about my lessons and the way I structured them. I started to focus more on effective questioning to establish understanding and prior knowledge and use online quizzes from Studyclix and Studystack in class but also uploading them to Teams for the students to do in their own time and for homework. I utilised the flip classroom method a lot more. I filmed myself doing presentations and uploaded them to Teams for the students to access. This worked very well and I found that the students engaged with this method of ICT.
This built my confidence as a teacher and made the focus on the students and my ability to create critical thinkers. Our ultimate aim as teachers is for our students to become masters of their own learning. For that to happen, teachers have to be open and adaptable to change and work hard. We cannot help create the next future leaders of our country if we do not accept where can do better and learn from our colleagues. The learning never ends as a teacher and being part of this school has shown me how much fun and engaging learning can be.
I have always known that learning can be fun (I spent 12 years learning and now another two!); I love it. The one thing I have taken from this SEPP is how important effective questioning is to expand your expertise. Feedback and positive praise is also important and needs to be used in every lesson plan. These are the things that I continue to work on. I will ensure that I utilise this method the best way that I can and for the benefit of the students. I will also strive to use the flipped classroom method more to access prior knowledge to introduce and engage students in the topic of the lesson.
I have now finished my placement and miss it terribly. I loved my time there and felt like a teacher. Sometimes during this process, you can lose your identity slightly or forget why you are doing it. This placement has reminded me why I am becoming a teacher and has reinforced, in me, my skills and strengths. More importantly, it has highlighted to me the areas I can continue to work on in my journey to becoming an effective teacher.
