My first day at placement (St Peter the Apostle high school) was spent with a variety of different groups which made the day 9am until 3pm go in really fast as I wasnt just doing the same thing with each group. I spent first period with a first year class working on their passing in netball. I mostly observed during this class but would go around providing the pupils with some coaching points and feedback as well as encouraging them and praising them for their efforts. We finished this lesson with 4 a-side games so they could put what they had learned into a game like situation.
The second period I was in with another first year class. This time we were working on dribbling in basketball. Some of the sixth year pupils that do sports leaders came into the class to help out. The class was split into 3 groups and myself and the sports leaders had a group each to take for a quick warm up. After this the class went onto doing some dribbling drills where we again went around providing some coaching points e.g. keep your head up and look where your going, try to keep other hand up to block opponents etc. We finished this lesson with 3 small court games. The main thing I found in the games was having to remind the kids that they could dribble the ball rather than just passing it. I had a free period next so I just helped out with tidying the store cupboards.
Fourth period I helped set up a circuit class for the first years but another sports leaders class was in charge of taking this – standing at each station and explaining the exercise and encouraging the younger pupils. I was observing how they got on and provided any help required.
Fifth period was another first year class for basketball but this time they where focusing on passing. They done three drills and I helped by partnering up with any odd numbers within the groups. The drills were good and had the kids really eager to get a game on the go so we finished with small court games with the rule being 5 passes within in your team before making a shot at the basket.
Lastly, for sixth period I worked with the the third year P.E studies group, the teachers decided to get all 3 classes into the games hall and have a volleyball tournament which the kids seemed really happy about. They where split into 6 teams and played 4 minute games against each team. The 2 teams with the highest points played again to see who the winner was. This was a great way to end a Friday. I observed from the sidelines but for third year I found they where actually really good at Volleyball.
Throughout the day I worked with 4 different teachers – some I already knew from when I attended the school and some new faces so it was good to see their ways of teaching. Overall, it was a good first day.
Sounds good, I had a similar experience and also found that teachers used lots of different teaching methods.
Glad you had a good first day at your placement and I hope the rest of it goes well for you – Ellis