Reflection on second placement

I have finished my second placement at SGS just over a week ago now and this has given me plenty of time for reflection.

I think my first oversight at SGS was in terms of behaviour. I went with the assumption: being a Grammar school; behaviour would instantly be better. This certainly wasn't the case. Give children an opportunity to misbehave and they will do. So, it is imperative to set boundaries early and be consistent with them.

I also didn't put enough emphasis on getting to know the students. Only teaching there for 5 weeks had its obvious hurdles, with regards to this particularly, but building up a rapport with students is very important and one that comes with time.

That aside, there was a lot I learnt during my time. It was enjoyable to be in an environment where I felt I could push more of the students than my main placement school. The pace of work was quicker and    generally in more depth.  Another thing I didn't factor in was the amount of differentiation still applicable to these classes. Generally, before I would have always differentiated down in terms ability to let all access the lesson. Here, I was differentiating up in ability to ensure the more gifted students were challenged enough. I had soon noticed that if the higher ability students had flown through the work, then they were likely to cause small disruptions to the lesson, which would often filter through the class.

I worked with and observed some very good teachers, of whom I will take good advice and practice from.