Monday 11 November 2013

The observation- a reflection

I decided the best way to write a reflection was via blog post. So here goes:

On Friday I had my observed lesson for placement (this was the final step in qualifying me to be a sex and relationships educator)

I was nervous! Firstly, I slept through my alarm! I hate feeling like I'm running late but my housemate assured me that when she saw me I looked like I'd been getting ready for hours! Thank goodness!

I was leading the HIV lesson for year 9s and had seen the lesson lead by a more experienced worker before.
A massive thank you to Gareth for bringing me water- when I'm presenting and nervous I wind up needing to drink a lot more water then normal!

All in all the lesson went well and I passed my observation with high scores (4s and 5s out of 5).

So what did I do well?
I circulated during group activities to make sure the groups were focussing on task and in order to generate discussion. The final activity was getting them to have a go at putting a condom on our smurf penises (they're bright blue!) and the discussion with my half of the class was really good and I felt confident talking to them!
I also felt that I was good at getting them involved and running with their input especially during the drama activity!

What didn't I do so well?
I was intentionally meant to mess up taking off the condom during my demo but I ended up ripping it so I took the bottom ring off and the condom stayed on- I literally don't think I could do that again if I tried!

Secondly, the class were a lower ability set and some of them were really easily distracted- I definitely need to work on how to deal with that for when it happens again! I think the only way to do that really is to observe others in action and develop my confidence!

Confidence is a massive thing for me. (I know some will be very surprised by this!!) I just get really nervous and feel like I haven't done as well as I could have done. However, I've got at least 10 lessons booked in between now and Christmas- by January I should be a pro!

What would I change?
I'd slow down a bit - the lesson itself fit almost perfectly into the time allocated but I could have afforded slowing down a bit and focussing myself. A couple of times I realised I'd skipped ahead a bit and had to double back.

Knowledge is power- Gareth kept apologising for interrupting when questions were being asked but to be honest, it came in quite useful! I don't know if I could answer them all yet. First of all: I feel like it's ok to say I don't know but I'll try and find out for you to a young person (or to anyone really!) secondly, the more I do lessons and observe other people the more i'll learn! Besides, I love learning! Finally, I found an answer sheet afterwards! I guess that's about knowing your resources before you start!

I was also really impressed by the teacher in the room who came up at the end and gave me some advice: when explaining a group task state the numbers for the group at the end of the explanation or they start organising their groups and stop listening! Good advice!

And lastly, I'd make sure my board pen was clearer- turns out green doesn't show up too great!

Overall, for a first time on my own I rely didn't do too bad and I do just need to be more confident in myself!

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