PREX902

I have just finished my second practicum placement, or PREX902, and it was a wonderful experience for me.  The school I went to had 30 students and two teachers.  My supervisor was the Principal and my class was 17 students in years 3 to 6 so was a multi-stage class.

I loved this small regional public school as it was VERY similar to the primary school I attended as a child.  It was very interesting for me to experience a school like this from the inside and compare the experience to the memories I had as a student some years ago.

Technology did not feature in the class room at all.  I was prepared for this as when I visited initially to have my paperwork signed I saw the layout of the classroom and made the decision to practice my handwriting before I started!  The layout of the tables suggested to me that the students did not do much work in pairs or groups and this was the case.  I tried to implement as much small group work as I could for the collaborative learning opportunities and as you can imagine this was pure chaos at first! 

I did learn a lot in this class.  My handwriting is much improved and I discovered that mulit-stage classrooms are not that different to any other class in terms of having to teach to differing levels of ability and it was not as bigger issue as I feared it may be.  I was also worried that there would be less teaching time due to the end of year rush but this was not the case.  Assessments were largely done before I started and I was given free reign with science (electricity) and HSIE (gold) and sport (tennis) and team taught maths.  I also took on some grammar first aid which was needed for some students.

My final report was wonderful and I am almost embarrassed by how well it reads but I have worked hard both on prac and with my studies so I am proud of myself for my efforts too.

edit: I have since received a letter from the UNE prac office to congratulate me on my prac report which was a nice surprise in the mail. 

The school has asked me back to do my next prac in the adjoining K-2 (Early Stage 1 and Stage 1) class next year which will be nice as I will be familiar with most of the students and the school routine so I will be able to jump right in with enthusiasm.  

The Mathematical Association of NSW {MANSW}

Back in September I was lucky enough to be able to go to the MANSW 2013 conference with 3 of the teachers from the school I work at.  I am not traditionally what would be called a 'maths' person so I was in part worried that a lot of it would be over my head and also excited to be learning new things that would help me teach maths.

The conference was at Terrigal and the above photo was the view from our shared apartment.  As a regional Australian it was nice to wake up and see the water each morning.

We went for a walk and saw some wonderful views of the surrounding headlands too.

There was so many good sessions over 2.5 days that it would be hard to mention them all.  I had fun folding paper and investigating shapes although I did have trouble assembling my cube shown above so I am not sure many of my primary school children would be giving that a go under my watch!

I loved the idea of using bendy straws fitted together to investigate angles and 2D shapes.  This will get used for my upper primary children but I think lower primary would lack the gross motor skills to assemble them and would be easily distracted and wanting to play (and blow) in the straws.

I enjoyed snipping strips of paper into different trapeziums and then sorting them in relation to size and angles.  This would be a great way to demonstrate that shapes can come in all shapes and sizes but still share common properties.

The food was great too.

I am lucky that I was given the chance to go to this conference even though I am not yet a qualified teacher.  I know when I enter my own classroom for the first time with a full class of students that I am responsible for teaching that I will be a better teacher because of the opportunities I have been granted so far as I finish my degree and move closer to my teaching number.