Teaching Log

Life of a teacher

How did I manage the three days of Life of a Teacher

My three days completing the life of the teacher went well. I completed each of the tasks that was required of me for each of the days. All of the work was completed by the learners as well as all of the admin work and taking the learners to the other classes where they needed to be at the required time. I enjoyed my time completing the life of a teacher tasks.

How I felt about taking on responsibilities during life of a teacher block 1 versus block 2

I was ready to take on all responsibilities of my mentor teacher during both block 1 and block 2. However, I found myself looking for guidance and assurance from my mentor teacher that I was doing the correct thing in block 1. In block 2, I felt more independent and that I did not need the assurance from my mentor teacher on what I was doing. I knew what responsibilities I had for each of the days that I completed the life of a teacher and made sure each of the responsibilities had been completed and done by keeping a checklist with me. I felt ready to take on the different responsibilities of the teacher in both blocks. I felt ready to take on these responsibilities as I had previously observed my mentor teacher while she was completing the different tasks so that I would know how she did things and how she wanted admin tasks to be completed.

Which activities I found challenging and how I overcame them

The school I completed my teaching experience at was a Christian based school, which meant that in the mornings the teacher would be required to read a devotion to the learners, a morning prayer and praise and worship would take place. In my class there were two learners who follow a different religion, these learners did not take part in any of the Christian based activities of the school day. This came as a challenge as at times they would start a conversation with the other learners in the class while these activities were taking place or the other learners in the class would not participate because they saw their peers not participating. I overcame this challenge by speaking to the learners as a class, explaining that while the different activities are taking place being devotions, prayers and praise and worship that each child should be respectful and not speak during this time and explained that if the learners follow a different religion they do not have to participate but be respectful to the other learners that are participating.

After I spoke to the learners in my class about this, the behavior of the learners during this time improved and the learners were respectful to one another.

Where would I rate myself higher in self-evaluation and how I have improved

The first place I would rate myself higher is when newly qualified teachers must know how to teach their subjects and how to select, determine the sequence, and pace content in accordance with both subject and learner needs. I would change my rating from developing to competent.

I would also rate myself higher in newly qualified teachers must be able to manage classrooms effectively across diverse contexts in order to ensure a conductive learning environment. I would change my rating from competent to proficient.

Being with one class, you start to know your learners and know what needs they have and which parts of the curriculum they know and understand and which parts they do not. Having this information helps you as the teacher plan better lessons and know how to pace the content that needs to be completed, so that each learner in the class benefits and learns something from the lesson while still ensuring that the work that needs to be completed gets done. Once you know your class, it will be easier to do and while on my teaching experience, I got to know my class and understand what they needed during lessons. This made planning my lessons according to their needs easier as I knew what I was dealing with and not taking a guess. For this reason, I would rate myself higher.

While on teaching experience, I made use of a classroom management tool, this was a battery that started going flat and losing bars the louder the class got. This tool was useful to the whole class and it was effective with the learners. This tool allowed for a conductive learning environment within the classroom as the learners would watch the battery and make sure that it did not go flat. With the learners watching the battery, they were well behaved which meant the class was quiet and teaching and learning could take place. For this reason i would rate myself higher.

Exit level outcomes and final comments from my mentor teacher

In my School Assessment Report, my mentor teacher had said that I am ready to become a teacher and that I had completed each of the tasks I was required to do well. These outcomes and final comments were higher and more approving of what I had originally rated myself in the beginner teacher competency forms that was completed before the final teaching experience started.