Life of a Teacher

• My experience at Reddford House has prepared me to think quickly on my feet, to be flexible and adaptable to any changes that may occur, and to be able to integrate my knowledge and understanding in my lesson presentation and engagement with learners. My first day of life of a teacher, I was not as confident when taking over for the day, but with the development of building relationships, I was able to become more confident in what I needed to do and more comfortable as I have developed that sense of relationship with my learners and mentor teacher to have the courage to do my presentations with excellence.

• Block 1: I did not have an in-depth understanding of who my learners were, nor did I know how they like to be taught. During block 2, I was able to form relationships with my learners and mentor, as well as have a deeper knowledge of them, which boosted my confidence in taking on the world, as my mentor teacher and I would refer to it.

• Challenges which I have faced during my life of a teacher was accommodating for all learners needs, and making use of different teaching and learning styles for all learners throughout the lessons. Providing assistance to each child I also found as a slight challenge as many learners faced a barrier to learning in different subjects which brought about a challenge and not allowing me to be with each child when they needed me. Another challenge which I have faced during life of a teacher was some learners could not think creatively and out of the box, learners also struggled with problem solving. How I addressed this situation was by forming group work during different lessons, and pairing learners accordingly in terms of them being able to assist and guide one another. During my time of developing relationships, I have learned which learners worked at a much faster pace than others and allowed those learners to work independently and only assist me when needed for learners who may have been struggling. I have also used a lot of encouragement, motivation and positive words which encouraged learners to continuously try and not give up so easily which boosted their confidence. I have also grouped learners according to their pace in which they work to accommodate the learners at their level of thinking.

• I would change my 2nd competence a level up as I have learned how to space out my work accordingly and work timeously. I have developed relationships with my mentor which allowed me to be more confident. Over the course of the 5 weeks I have develop the skill of demonstrating a sound knowledge around subject, curriculum and pedagogical knowledge within my teaching, I was adaptable in the way in which I presented my lessons to ensure all learners needs were being met and I have develop the skill of using reliable methods to assess learners and critically reflect on my practice and experience.

• My subject, curricular and pedagogical knowledge was rated proficient which I believe I have improved from being competent in this area of teaching. My adaptability to teaching methods I was rated Distinguished where I would rate myself proficient however I believed during my time at Reddford I have developed the skill to manipulate different teaching methods to cater for learners needs. The last two exit levels were rated proficient which I would have rated myself competent but during the weeks of teaching practical I have developed the skill to rate myself proficient in these areas.