On the 4th day of my work experience placement I was overseeing a range of classes, as I experienced every year group in the same day. The day started off with a 3rd year badminton class, which was actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. This class involved the pupils splitting into groups and designing a practise that would help them develop a specific physical skill. I walked round the groups and gave them advice on how to make the practises better, which seemed to help each group a significant amount. While I am not an expert in badminton, I realised that skills I had from other sports could come into play here, and therefore benefit the pupils.
During 3rd period, I was allowed to take the 1st year class by myself (with supervision of course). This was their first-time doing badminton so I taught them the basics, like how to hold the racquet, what the lines on the court mean, and a basic serve. Due to this being such an easy lesson it was difficult to keep them concentrated. These things had to be taught before they could progress, so I tried to make it as fun as possible and when they started going very off topic the class teacher stepped in. this gave me an insight into how hard it can be to keep a simple lesson engaging to pupils.
For the 2 period between lunch, I was in with the 3rd year dance class then the national 5 dance class. I felt a lot more at ease in these classes as I was able to give my expertise to help them with choreography and developing it further. Some of the students had a lot left to complete of their dance so, with my help, they managed to progress quite a bit further. Due to the class teacher not being able to help everyone at once, me being there as an extra person aided the class teacher a lot.
Your placement sounds fun! Teaching a class by yourself must have been a bit nervewracking but it sounds like you were able to do it with no problems. The class going off topic will have been a good experience for you as now if this were to happen in another class you have a better idea of how to handle things. Being able to use your expertise in dance and assist with the delivery of the class sounds fun. It seems like you’re getting a lot out of your placement and I hope it has been enjoyable! – Amy
I am glad that you’re enjoying your placement and you were able to use your expertise to adapt the session and make it engaging for the pupils- Sara
It’s good that you have been able to teach different sports such as badminton and dance. It will help with your coaching in the future as you will be able to handle different sports and also different levels of athlete such as S1, S2, etc. – Lewis