Heading into school for the Monday

Personal Daily beginning of my year 3

December
Reflection placement was exciting. I was
looking forward to leaving 11th 2017
college assignments behind
and showcasing my teaching
knowledge.

Overall my first day experience

I met with the principle of the
was a hurtful one and I felt
school at 8:30 he guided me to
more of a nuisance than
the staff room. He left to
anything. I was frustrated that I
retrieve my login details for the
was left in the staff room for
online role taking system used
the duration of the day with
by the school and showed me
minimal engagement from
how it works.
any staff.

At lunch time I got to speak to At this point I was enjoying my

cooperating teachers and I
asked if I could carry out
observation but the particular
teacher said there was nothing
happening in class and that it
would be a waste.
intial experience and all was
going well until I was left in the
staff room by myself with no
further engagement from staff
members for a long period of
time.
 Tuesday
December
12th 2017
Tuesday began well, I was asked to supervise 1st
year students while they did their Christmas exams.
I enjoyed this experience because it was
something I didn’t do before. I was delighted that
the principle assigned me the role.
I supervised the 1st year students until break time.
After break the principle told me that I would be
free till after lunch but that I would be required to
help two 3rd year students who needed a reader
to complete their Christmas exams

During lunch a member of staff presented me

with a timetable for 3rd year exams. I could see
I remained in the staff room from break until lunch.
that I was required to read for two students for
There was one other teacher who was the schools
their history exam. The staff member indicated
ag science teacher in the staff room. We began to
to me that this was both students first time
chat and I was so happy that I was getting to know
receiving a reader for exams so try encourage
a staff member because I didn’t know any
them to use the reader as a means of help.
member prior to placement in this school. The
Overall my second d day was very good and I
topics spoken about were not school related but
felt valued within the school because I was
farming sport etc.. This communication made me
being assigned different tasks. Speaking with
feel valued within the school.
the ag science teacher really made me feel
welcomed.
Wednesday
December
13th 2017 Wednesday morning just so happened to be a
free period for both 3rd year students. One staff
member suggested I could stay at home in the
morning but I was not happy with this so I
attended school as normal.

3rd Year Assigned

Reading

After lunch I had one 3rd year student

I was not assigned any task or supervision
for Wednesday morning so I went to the
woodwork rooms to familiarise myself with
the equipment and technology on offer in
the classroom. I used the visualiser
numerous times and played around with it
because this is something I will use a lot I
was happy I got this opportunity to play
around with the technology I will use
during my placement.
exempt from Irish so that left me with just
one other student that required me to read
for them. I completed the reading session
and the staff member that records and
tests students for reading and writing
allowances asked the student privately was
having a reader a help and he said it made
such a difference for him. I was chuffed
with this that I was able to help this student
who had being finding it hard to answer the
correct questions.
 Thursday
Thursday began well I got my own keys for the woodwork room from cooperating teacher. I was
scheduled to read for the two 3rd year students for their wood work exam. I feel very happy with how December
the students are adapting to having a reader and I feel we have built up a trust bond because they 14th 2017
are now embracing the help and they will ask throughout exams to read different words or sentences
that prove difficult for them to interpret ate.

After the first exam finished only one student that required reading assistance did technical
graphics. Because the TG paper did not have much words on it I was not required to act as a
reader. Instead I got the opportunity to sit in and observe a student undertaking a writing exam
to see if they were eligible to use a laptop rather than writing. This was a great experience
because ive never seen these exams. I didn’t realise how the percentages and words per
minute calculations worked but I do now and I found the overall experience extremely
informing.

During the evening slot of exams both students took the science exam. Both students had different
teachers and both were doing different levels. This meant I had to visit 2 exam centres to get the
corresponding exams that the students required. This was a good opportunity for me as I walked
around parts of the school that I was unaware of. It’s the small things that are happening during the
school days that are making me more comfortable and I feel every day since my first day has brought
something positive to light.
 Friday
December
15th 2017

Friday evening was my last exam acting as

a reader. This exam marked the end of the
When I see how a small thing like reading a
Christmas exam period for all students. The
word slowly or clearly can benefit students
Friday was a busy day for exams according two 3rd year students that I supervised had
experience in school I wonder how many
to the timetable. I was required to read for 3 an overall positive experience of having a
students go through the education system
exams. I was enjoying my experience of reader for exams and it has broken the ice
undiagnosed? It is a worry to me because I
being a reader for the simple reason that I because they were nervous at the
have seen some people who have such a
could help students overcome difficulties beginning as to what their class mates might
negative experience in their schooling days
which they have had since entering the say. My first week on placement has now
and perhaps if they had received help with
education system. I ind a role like this concluded and my outlook on placement
small things like reading or writing their
rewarding and satisfying. has changed significantly since my
overall experience and outlook of school
frustrating experience on Monday and lets
may have been different.
hope next week continues in the same
direction.
 Monday
December Monday began with a briefing
18th 2017 from the school principle with
regards to events happening
during this week. I was informed
the school uses this week as an
active school week so it consists of
a number of different activities.

Although it was disappointing that

I was unable to teach today I was
delighted that I got to be apart of Scheduled for Monday is a mud
an activity in the school and this run for 1st and 2nd year students.
allowed me to mix with new This is an activity ran by the P.E
teachers that I didn’t meet department in the school. The
before. Overall I am pleased with timing of this event meant I was
how today went and I am looking not going to be teaching today.
forward to teaching classes
tomorrow.

Due to the fact I was not teaching

today I was asked to help out with
the mud run. This was to referee the
task for one period and also
supervise another group who were
waiting to start the run.
 Tuesday As part of active schools week Tys are having a sports
day but all other classes go ahead. This is great for me
December as I have a Technical Graphics class to teach. I have
19th 2017 been looking forward to this since I started.

I had a lot of preparation done for todays Technical

Graphics lesson. I made up my own little handout that
the students would complete over the next few days. I
felt a sense of happiness that I was taking a class and I
was just hoping all my plans would happen.

The Technical Graphics class went very well today I tried

out something different where I already prepared the
completed drawing but I spoke the students through step
to step instruction with the aid of animated PowerPoint.
This gave me time to go around and help students that
were having difficulty and I talked them through the steps
using the drawing I already completed.
 Wednesday
December
20th 2017
After yesterdays experience of teaching I am looking
forward to todays classes. I have good preparation
completed and I have also included an activity since it
will be their last class before the Christmas holidays.
Todays classes consisted of a double
One issue I had was that I mentioned
lesson and a single lesson in
about having an activity in the last
Technical Graphics. The lessons ran
class this became a small bit of a
smoothly today and I was pleased
problem because students became
with how the students took in a lot of
giddy towards the end of the first
information and the standard of their
lesson everything went very well
logo drawing was very good across
apart from this small issue.
the board.
Monday
January Today was the first day back after the
8th2018 Christmas holidays. I was glad to be back
and I was looking forward to falling into a
routine once again to complete school
work. I had two classes today and I was well
prepared for both so it made it easy to go to
school today.

I was ready to teach a 1st year group but

they got called for an assembly to clarify
their recent subject choices. Due to a mix up
with classes I found myself not teaching a
class instead I supervised a group of 1st
years. I was disappointed because I was
organised and felt good about this lesson.

After the disappointment of my first class I

turned my attention to a 2nd year MTW
group that I had last class. I thought this class
went well because the students were
delighted to hear about the desk top lamp
all students were well behaved and they got
to work straight away.
 On my timetable today was two 1st The second 1st year group was a
The first class group was a large
year groups for MTW. The small group of 18. The standard of
group of 24 with mixed ability
cooperating teacher advised me to the class was ever so slightly behind
students. One problem I found with
carry out same project with both the bigger class. I enjoyed this class
the class was that stronger students
groups. I introduced the new project because I could get around to all
went far ahead of the rest and they
to the class groups and they were students and I found everyone
were sitting for a few minutes with
exited with the bird door knocker worked at a similar pace. One thing I
nothing to do. This is something I
project because it was different to found was that the students prefer to
need to address and although it was
the usual projects they would carry get one or two measurements and
a short stint that students were sitting
out. go mark them out rather than giving
it still meant they were idle.
them too much information at once.

Tuesday
January
9th 2018
 Today I was due too teach
a double class and single
Wednesday class. The single class was
cancelled due to a staff
January 10th meeting that ran during
2018 lunch and the class after it.
That left me with a double
of 1st year woodwork. I had
all material prepared for
this class so I was looking
forward to teaching the
students.
Another problem I
encountered was that I
intended to show
working drawing of the
project via projector to
the class as they found it
helpful previously.
Unfortunately the
projector stopped
working and I didn’t
have a back up plan.
As mentioned before, this
is a small class goup and
3 students were absent.
Students being absent will
know mean that I will
have to recap
demonstrations while also
progressing students who
have worked ahead. So
this is something I will
need to address the next
class.
Apart from the issues I
have mentioned the
class ran smoothly and I
found the students show
respect towards me and
their general behaviour is
very good. I have o few
students that need a
liittle extra guidance but
they too are well
behaved and working
well.
 Today being Thursday meant I had a busy schedule because I had
3 single classes of MTW and a Double class of TG that left me with
just 3 free periods during the day. Bearing this in mind I had all my
lessons ready to go early Wednesday so that I was well prepared for
all lessons on Thursday. Today was the first day that I felt a little
anxious about the day ahead and this was because I was hoping I
wouldn’t forget something important for all the lessons because I
had no time in between classes to fix a problem if it arose.

Lessons were going quite well and I was happy how the day was
unfolding. The next class I was due to teach was a double class of
TG. This was the first double class I had thought for TG so it was the
start of a new experience. Another aspect of this lesson was that it
would be the students first time using a t-square to draw as the
school only shows students the basics for their trial period using a
squared copy to complete all their drawings. It was hard to believe
how basic the instructions must be for the students to understand
and this is something I took from the lesson itself. It is best to keep
information in small portions as students will understand the
information better

To finish off the day I had my small group of first years last class.
Being last class some students were a little tired and were a bit slow
to get going. I could understand this as I felt tired myself.
Thursday Nevertheless there was work that needed to be completed before
the end of the lesson. During my intial demo I asked loads of
January questions just to ensure students were alert and not falling into a
11th 2018 habit of feeling lazy in the class. I sent students away to work on
their pieces and they did this very well. The class ended and
students had completed todays goals so I was very pleased due to
their sluggish start I fekt they might nit do so.
 Friday I had been contacted by my inspector to
January say that I had a visit on Friday for double
class of MTW. I was well prepared for this
12th 2018 lesson when I received a phone call from
the school principal to tell me second year
classes are being cancelled due to school
events.

I was a little frustrated by this news because I

was well prepared and looking forward to
my first visit being completed. I explained
myself to the inspector over the phone and
he was extremely understanding about the
issue that arose.

Because students were going to the BT

young scientists exhibition and to a senior
hurling munster match it meant I had no
class for second years. I had a single TG
class last class with a small amount of
students present All I did was Technical
graphics crosswords.
Monday
January
• Today I had 2 lessons to teach 1st and 2nd year MTW. They are both big classes of 24. First
15th 2018 years are always well behaved apart from correcting them to be quite I never have to
address them for anything else. In the second year class there is one student in
particular who try's to be the class clown. He wants to get the classes attention. One
other student at times gets roped in and they chat between each other. Upon
correction they do apologise but at times it reoccurs. To try and eliminate this disruption
in class I will change the seating plan putting the disruptive student up the front of class.

• The students progress is very good on their projects. I keep reminding them that its all
about quality and not about the speed. I find that students are still competing against
each other and at times the quality is lacking slightly. I expect good quality from
students but perhaps reflecting I am expecting a bit too much. My mind is stuck on the
quality of work we produced in college and I forget that students are just beginning
their learning of wood working skills.

• Reflecting on my overall progress in the lessons I have now found students are
respecting the rules and routines of the class. This was my main focus for the week after
Christmas. I now want to work on making my lessons more interactive and using more
resources now that I have full attention of all students this is something I want to work on
this week and the coming weeks.
 Tuesday
January 16th
2018
Today I began with a 1st year
group for MTW first class
dismorning. My focus today
was to get students to mark
out the housing for the finger
joint to slot into. This was
important todays class
because if both pieces with
finger joints on them were
not even well then the bird
will not rotate correctly as
the project progresses.
Some students found it hard
to understand that they had
to use the already cut finger
to mark the housing itself.
Numerous students during
and even after the
demonstration asked for a
measurement for the
housing. Perhaps during my
demonstration I may have
not clearly identified why we
use the finger itself.
The second class today was
the small group of first years. I
really like this class because
the first class the students
were loud but now they are
so quite and work very well
one traveller student I was
warned about is one of the
best students in the class and
other teachers cant believe
how good he is capable of
being.

Today’s schedule was a
double 1st year MTW class.
Also on my timetable was a
first year single of TG. The
MTW class is a comfortable
class because they are
aware of the tasks they
need to complete to try
and reach the final goal of
a finished project.
The 1st year TG class is a class I
put a lot of attention towards.
Because students are only
beginning to use t-squares and
set squares I feel there is a big
responsibility on me to try and
get students to grips with the
equipment as quick as possible
to progress onto completing
topical questions that will
appear on end of year exams.
The students are working
well in class I am just afraid
I wont cover enough
material with them if they
move at this pace over the
next few weeks. This is
something I have taken
note of and I will speak
with the cooperating
teacher to see what I
should change if there is a
need to.

Wednesday January
17th 2018
 Today was a busy day I had 3 single classes and a double
Thursday class and I also had a supervision class. I find the supervision
January 18th classes beneficial from the aspect of classroom
management. When students realise they have a free class
2018 they can act giddy. What I tried to achieve was a quiet
class that put their heads down and did revision or did
questions from a text book. I achieved this yesterday with a
3rd year group and it was a great feeling.

During my preparation for the double TG class I prepared

a lot of tasks to ensure stronger students wouldn’t run out
of work to do. I set up the tasks so that it was like a cycle
so all tasks led to completing a final question from the
book. It turned out I over estimated the work that the
students would get through and I didn’t get to start the
3rd task. I had said on my lesson plan I would have it
completed. This was not a major issue but I would like to
try and get my lesson plan in sync for class next week.

I had the smaller group of first years last class on Thursday. I

was unaware that another student would be entering the
class group until class began. This student proved a little
difficult for me because I had to go through all
demonstration's with him again and this took up a lot of my
time. I wasn’t happy with that class because I felt all my
attention went on one student and as a result I had to glue
2 pieces for students because I couldn't observe them
carrying out a task and therefore they were using the
incorrect method and cracked their piece.
 Friday
January
19th 2018
Fridays double class of
second years was
frustrating for me. The
reason being when I One issue that has been on my The TG classroom was not
wanted to call the mind in last few days is how to clean when I entered the
Students up for a grade finish projects. Projects room. I noted this but I
demonstration I had to are not complete but I am just wanted to leave the
call them 3 times. This thinking ahead. In all MTW room spotless before my
frustrated me because classes I have strong students class left. I decided to
some students were just and weak, my concern is that I tidy up a couple of
ignoring my instructions don’t want students to boast minutes early for the
because they wanted to about their results while others purpose of picking all
keep working. I had a may be disappointed with tape off the floor. I was
word with all students theirs. One thing I am looking happy that the students
and stated how at is getting students to peer accepted the task that
disrespectful it was to grade their projects and I will was required to be
ignore my instructions. I then grade them. Using this completed and
explained from now on I method may help to allow everyone chipped in and
will call students once students take grading into their within a few minutes the
and I expect them to own hands. room was spotless.
put down tools and
move towards
demonstration desk.
Monday
January
22nd 2018
Today I had 1st year MTW and
2nd year MTW. The school was
running a soccer blitz for 1st year
students so this meant I had only
a small group for my 1st year
MTW class. Instead of moving on
with the small group I decided
to do something different. I
decided it would be a waste
because the rest of the class
would need the same
demonstrations again the next
day.
I came up with the idea of
showing the class a video clip
from Duncan stewarts Eco Eye
programme. This particular
episode was all about forestry in
Ireland. This was a very
informing video to students as it
dealt with tree species, cost of
plantations, problems of forestry
which is all valuable knowledge
for students to know going
forward with the subject.
The last class was 2nd year MTW
and I was having a few issues
previously with the group about
respecting my instructions. While
the class were good when I
spoke to listen I felt they were
chatting a lot while they were
working. I corrected them and it
worked for a short spell until
they began chatting again. This
frustrated me a little so before
students left I told them my
disappointment and I expect a
big change in their class
manners for the next class.
Tuesday
Today I opened the day with a group of first years for woodwork. The
January main objective of this lesson was to get students on to the scroll saw
23rd 2018 and begin to cut out the bird. One issue was my planning, I never
asked where the spare scroll saw blades were. When I entered class
one blade had been previously broke. That meant I could only use
one saw. Towards end of class one student broke the blade and
then nobody could go onto the saw for last 5 minutes. As it
happened the room had no spare blades but I will learn my lesson as
regards preparation for complete lesson

Because I new I had my small group of first years before lunch I new I
had to get the scroll saw back working so I went to the other MTW
teacher and got replacement blades. This was a sense of relief
because I was now happy that my lesson for their class would be well
prepared.

The lesson for the first year group ran smoothly. All students are at
different stages on the project so this helps for the use of the scroll
saw because there is not a big que for it. On the other hand I want to
get the students who are behind up and running so that when pieces
are being glued that everyone will try and be together at this stage.
Wednesday
January 24th
2018
Today I had a double class with my small 1st year group for woodwork. Todays targets
were to try and get all students to the point where they are ready to glue in the single
class next week. I want all students gluing at the same time so that classroom vices will
not be interrupted for more than one day.

When students entered the class I stated the learning targets for todays class and
that I expected everybody ready for gluing next week. With this in mind students
were eager to get up to speed because I also said that the project must be
finished by next week. I think with todays lesson I have seen the benefits of
opening a lesson with learning targets outlined.

The other class group I had today was 1st year TG. Today was the final day that
students would be doing simple logo drawings made up of horizontal and vertical
lines. The students were made aware of this at beginning of class. Students responded
with neat shaded logos drawing accurately. I was happy with this result because I can
now see students are ready to move on to new topics.
Thursday
January
25th 2018

Thursday being my busy day

I received information about Reflecting on my approach
meant I had to be well
my inspection being Friday. to todays lesson I feel I was
prepared from the off as I
This had a big effect on my perhaps a little selfish
wouldn’t have much time
teaching for the rest of the because my teaching was
between classes for
day because I wanted to be good but not to the best of
organising lessons etc. My
preparing tomorrow's class my ability instead of looking
opening class Thursday
so that I would have the best ahead I should have dealt
morning went well because
possible lesson for the with what challenges I had
the group picked up the
inspection. This was an issue today first. This is something
pace and got a lot of work
because I felt I lacked that I hope wont happen
completed. This is what I
enthuaism for the remainder again because I will not
needed because they only
of the classes on Thursday. allow it to happen.
have 3 classes per week .
 Friday
January
26th 2018
Inspection day! Having
prepared a good lesson
for my inspection I was
eager to get onto the
class. Because I wasn’t
teaching till 11:40 it meant
it was a long wait till I
began. To pass the time I
decided to tidy the room
so that it was tidied for the
inspector. I then sat in the
staff room reading over
my lesson but I found I was
getting tired because of
the heat in the room. I
Went for a walk outside to
get some fresh air.
On arrival I met with my
inspector at the front
door. I felt very
comfortable meeting him
and it was a great feeling
because when I began
my lesson I felt confident
and not worried. The
Inspector was very calm
and friendly. I can
definitely say that this
worked to my advantage
seen as I felt calm and
collective during the
duration of his visit. My
lesson went well for me
and obviously their was
small mistakes but overall I
was delighted.
My meeting afterwards
was extremely beneficial. I
found it easy to ask
questions to the inspector
with regards to my
teaching going forward.
The feedback was very
informative because it
allowed me to see
different issues which may
arise in lessons and how
different activities can
counteract these issues.
Overall I am very happy
with my first visit and I will
look to improve for future
visits.
Monday
January
The beginning of a new week. I like to make
29th 2018 a good start every Monday because it
usually continues like this for the rest of the
week. My planning and preparation is
something that has definitely evolved since I
began my teaching practise. Planning is key
to a good lesson in my eyes.
My planning starts on a Sunday every
week. I like to plan my lessons well in
advance because I find that reading over
the lesson plan can make the teaching of
the lesson so much easier. At the beginning
in lessons I found I could easily forget to
mention things that I had included in my
lesson plan but by reading the lesson plan
this doesn’t happen.
My classes went steady today I had
another student teacher observe my lesson
as part of her placement. This was helpful
because I was able to see the pointers that
she wrote about the class lesson. I like to
reflect on feedback because I find it very
beneficial from the point where id try new
things in classes to try and improve a
eweakness I may have etc.
Tuesday
January
30th 2018

I was thinking now that

Today was a bit different Due to the disruption I my project might not be
to a normal class really didn’t have an finished when I wanted it
because their was a option to continue on to be. I can see at first
health and well being with the projects. I had to hand how good
seminar for first year go for a different plan preparation is not going
students. This meant that I which was to watch a to get everything done
didn’t have full class documentary on logging. on the date that you
groups and I also found This was actually a very want. Between matches
that students were interesting clip and or other extra curricular
leaving early from the students watch it without activities it is difficult to set
class. being bored. down a deadline with out
something interfering.
Wednesday • Today I realised how important student behaviour is with regards to having a good
lesson. I had time on my hands for some parts of today and I was reflecting on my own
January 31st experiences whilst I have been on this block of school placement. Something that was
2018 mentioned after my submission of my memory stick prior to placement was that I was
focusing to much on punishment exercises and consequences of breaking rules.

• I had an image in my head that going into an all boys school that behaviour was going
to be one of the main issues that I would be dealing with during the duration of my
placement. As it happens I was very wrong because there are so many different
unexpected challenges that a teacher must deal with when in school. But saying that I
do see how behaviour can impact how a lesson goes. I took a firm approach from the
beginning and this is key I feel to the respect the students will show you in return.

• As a result of outlining class rules from the beginning the students know their boundaries
and their behaviour has got better and better. I do have a couple of students that do
test me at times and its at these times when I realise how much lessons can be
impacted with students behaviour because interuptions during a lesson mean students
need to be re-motivated and this can often prove hard. I have learnt that punishment
exercises is not the way forward but instead good classroom management skills from the
beginning of meeting with the class groups proved more beneficial to me personally.
Thursday
February
1st 2018 Today I was scheduled for my second visit from a tutor of mine. The tutor was someone who I have had as a
lecturer since the beginning of my course and this had a special meaning. I wanted to try my best to show
off the skills I have been thought along the journey of becoming a fully qualified teacher. Because I knew
that the lecturer new me I felt a sense of responsibility to present him with class lessons that not only did me
justice but also did the course justice where it produces high quality teachers at the end of the 4 years. I was
still on the journey stage but I prepared to try and succeed.

The lessons I was going to teach for the inspection was a 1st year group for practical class of MTW and a 2nd
year group for a theory class of MTW. My first lesson went well I was happy with how I dealt with the big class
numbers and to keep everyone busy. My second class did not go to plan as the bulb in the projecter broke 5
minutes into the lesson. This was a set back but intead of seeing it negatively I took the opportuinity to show
the tutor that I was organised and had a bsck up plan. I had the slides from the powerpoint printed out on
sheets and I readjusted the seating plan for the students so that all students were looking into a handout. The
students were then able to work on taking down notes from the handouts.

Although my second lesson did not go as well as I wanted too I was still happy with my overall performance.
This happiness continued into the remaining 3 cases I had today and I felt so entuastic about really performinf
well in class and trying to brush up on classroom management skills ect..
 Friday
February
2nd 2018
Today I was feeling on top of the world after how my inspection went yesterday. I
decided since I only had 2 classes today that I could use my time to tidy up on all of
my sp3 material. Its not until you revise lesson plans again that you may spot little
mistakes ect. I was happy to do this task because I was well prepared for my lessons
today.

I was teaching a double class with 2nd years for MTW and a single TG lesson with
1st years which was last class. My second year class went well but I found some
students in the 1st year TG group were getting a little uneasy with the fact that
their drawing similar things for the last week on the topic of orthographic
projection.

I could see mainly the stronger students being a little restless in class once they had
one question completed so I decided to allow them to look at a more difficult
question and instead of me showng them how its drawn they were going to try solve it
themselves. This worked very well because almost every student found it difficult and it
made them realise that the reason we were doing some easier questions to begin with
was to build up knowledge and skillds before tackling harder questions.
Monday
Febraury
5th 2018 Today I mainly wanted to recap on my
thoughts and feelings. I was aware
Today began the last school week
placement would be a challenge but
before the mid-term break. I looked at
what I really couldn’t believe was how
this week as a week to wrap up
drained and tired the body can get
projects and prepare for my last week
from it. I seen my weekends as a break
also which I would have after the mid-
but really it was not because I was
term. I was looking forward to the
working every Saturday and Sunday. I
break ahead just knowing the major
think the timing of placement is great
workload was off my back for a couple
because of the mid-term and
of days.
Christmas breaks it allows the body
time to recover.

The way I would see placement

although im only a student is like a
proper job. In my eyes if it is viewed as
a less important role then the person is
in for a wake up call. If I could give
advice to next years student teachers I
would say you need to use your free
time in school wisely and I would
instruct them to put on their timetable
prep sessions so that they are not
always caught for supervision or any
other extra curricular activities in the
school.
Tuesday
February Today I taught two 1st year groups. The project is coming to an end
6th 2018 and I find it is tough to keep some students motivated. I am trying this
week to have projects finished before the mid term break and if
there is any free time after the mid-term students can touch up on
projects if it is feasible. The bigger 1st year group are a bit more
challenging because when students need help gluing I am under
pressure to get around to everyone as well as scanning the whole
class and other students working at the same time.

What I found very useful was to get the students who were finished
their task of gluing to help their peers when they were gluing. This
really helped me as I found I was able to get around comfortably to
students and observe all students more effectively now that the
pressure had been relieved from me.

It is the small things like this issue that I am reflecting on that really get
you thinking about how these issues may be counteracted. It is not
good enough for me to reflect on the issue unless I have a plan or
that I am researching methods to prevent the issue reoccurring. If the
problem keeps on occurring well then I am not progressing instead
the I am sitting back and allowing the issue defeat me.
Wednesday
February 7th
2018 Today I had a double MTW class with 1st
years and also a single TG class with 1st years.
I was prepared for all class groups and I
knew what I wanted to have achieved by
the end of the classes.

The double MTW was broken by lunch due to

the pres happening still in the school. This
was a slight problem because I found
students were not getting as much work
done when they would return from their
lunch.

Having said this I used the advanced

students in the MTW to help with the clean
up of the woodwork room and store room. I
told each student their role and they all
worked well together to get the job done. I
find students value a teacher more by the
amount of engagement they have in the
class. A simple task of just tidying the room
and these students were delighted and I
thought it was great to see the work they
carried out.
 Thursday
February 8th Thursday was a full on day of lessons but I was prepared well for all
2018 classes. My main objective for all lessons today was to motivate
students to get a push on to complete projects in the allocated
time. Motivating students is something that can prove difficult at
times I have noticed and a lot of factors influence it.

The classes that I have in the morning more often than not are a lot
more entuasitic and require less motivation to get them working well
in class. Observing my own class groups I found that the classes after
lunch prove toughest with regards to motivating students. The first
class after lunch is a class that requires me as the teacher to take a
time out with students at the beginning because they can be still
giddy after their lunch time activities. By facilitating a time-out it
instructs students that once the time-out is over the lesson being
taught will begin and students are then clear that they are now in
classroom environment.

Staying on the topic of motivation I observed another interesting but

different issue with students that I had for the last class of the day.
Monday to Thursday students in the last class were tired, lazy and
needed to be motivated however last class Friday evenings it was
the other extreme students were loud, happy and looking forward
to the weekend. Both issues required different actions Monday to
Thursday if classes were looking in a lazy mood I would take 3-5 mins
to present a brain teaser to them to get their minds thinking again.
On Fridays I needed to be strict I needed to plan my lessons in a
way that students were always busy.
 Friday
February
9th 2018

Because I had
Today was the last anticipated the I set up peer
day before students students learning groups
had their mid-term excitement I tried in TG so
break. As I to keep them busy students could
anticipated students during class time work together
were giddy and and this helped me to solve
excited about the greatly in keeping exercise's in
holidays. control over the their workbook.
class.
Monday
February
19th 2018 First day back after mid-term and the start of my last week of SP3. I was enthuastic
about this week and I wanted to make it a fun experience for myself and the students.
I wanted to make a small project with the MTW students so that it would be completed
by the end of the week. I didn’t want to make something that would be threw around
at the end of the week. I decided to make a rather eye cathing project that anyone
could pick up and examine and wonder how it is made.

I had 2 classes today both first year and second year MTW. I decided to make
the same project with both groups. The difficulty of the project is low but it is the
outcome of the project that is outstanding I think. The project is a cube with a
smaller cube fitted inside the bigger one and it is a project where people wonder
how is the small cube got inside the larger one.

The class groups were intrigued by this project and it allowed the stronger students to
work on this new design while others made finishing touches to their lamp or bird
knocker project.
Tuesday
February Today I had 2 first year groups for MTW. One class I would
be introducing the cube project to while the other class
20th 2018 would begin the manufacturing process of the project.
The project itself will take about 2 class periods to
complete. My role was to ensure the students who were
finishing the last stage of the previous project were
working well to have this project ready for grading.

For many reasons such as extra school activities students

miss out on class time. This issue is a particular problem
when the students are participating in project based
subjects. I am very sporty myself but I thought to myself
today is there a possible solution to this problem. The only
thing I could propose is that all schools across the country
would have the same timetable and have a half day
Wednesday so that all matches could be played then.

It is not a straight forward solution and it does have a lot

of issues with it. The one thing I have observed during
placement is that playing on school teams in my opinion
can sometimes have an impact on the quality of the
work produced in the classroom. Like I said I myself
played as much if not more than your average student
when I was in school but I still stand by my argument.
Wednesday
Today I had a double 1st
February 21st year lesson for MTW and
2018 also a single 1st year TG
lesson. The MTW class
completed their new
project in the double
class. For the TG lesson I
wanted to incorporate
knowledge that I found
interesting from the recent
creativity and innovation
seminar. I was on the topic
of orthographic projection
so I linked Paul
Connaughtons idea of
working backwards
through the process where
students would be required
to form the 3D object
rather than the 2D views.
Students were engaged in
the lesson from the
beginning once they
understood what they
were required to do.
Students worked in pairs to
look at the given 2D views
on the handout and try
and figure out the 3D
object that these views
have been taken from.
Students were required to
make the object using
similar blocks to lego and
they also had to complete
the drawing of the 3D
object that they identified.
I found this process very
helpful for both me the
teacher and the students.
The students really had to
think when they were
required to figure out the
3D object rather than the
2D views. It is amazing how
a small change to young
students can create such
an interactive and
beneficial lesson. As
teacher I could identify
whether students were
clear on the topic of
orhographic projection
because I could see if they
were able to actually read
the drawing rather than
just following instructions on
a daily basis or copying the
process every class. One
goal of mine for the topic
of TG that I am trying to
incorporate going forward
is that I want students to
know why they are doing
each step rather than just
going through the motions
and copying the
technique on daily basis.
Thursday
February • Today was a busy day. A lot was happening because I had some class groups that I
was finishing up with today and then other groups I was trying to keep them motivated
22nd 2018 to continue their good work ethic for the remainder of the week. Amongst the
organising of these classes I was met with something that I didn’t have experience with
before.

• The issue that I was met with was that one of my 1st year students felt down and upset in
my class. It was near the start of my class and I had observed hi, and seen he was tear
eyed but I finished explaining what I was doing and got the rest of the class down to
work before I went as discreetly as I could to the young student not to embarrass him
infront of peers. The student had his head in his hands and was crying so I spoke with
him quietly trying to figure out the problem. He told me he felt unwell so I sent another
student to get the vice principal and also to get the sick student some water.

• As it happened I only found out from the vice principal that this students can sometimes
cry in other classes also. This was something I had never been made aware of so to me
this was a new experience. The students peers were very good in the situation and no
laughing or sneering took place as a lot of them were distracted by the work that they
needed to complete anyway. I have learnt from this experience that it really is
important to find out everything whether its big or small about your class groups. This is
something I will look towards in the future.
 Friday
February
23rd 2018
I would be lying if I didn’t
say I was disappointed
I think the bond with
seeing the students leave
students that I made was
my class for the last time
Final day of SP3. I had very strong. I was not cross
but I stopped for a second
mixed emotions about I was just fair and worked
to realise that the students
today because I was with the students to help
were all walking out
delighted that I had give them the best
thanking me and wishing
reached the end of my learning experience
me look in the future and
placement but on the possible over the past 8
maybe the odd hi 5. The
other hand I felt a bit sad weeks. Their bond towards
students were all smiling as
that I was leaving and me was excellent I gained
they left and I ttok this as a
some friendships I had the respect of the students
positive outcome to end
made would not be the very quickly and this meant
my 8 weeks placement
same no more. my teaching experience
and I think from the
was so positive and
students body language
uplifting,
they all enjoyed their
experience with me.