I started my second day of placement today, Tuesday the 11th of February. This is my second full day spent at Wallace High School and so far I have been thoroughly enjoying the experience.
Currently, my placement mentor Rachel is on maternity leave for the next four weeks, so I have just been working/shadowing alongisde the other PE teachers and coaches within the base, all of whom have made me feel extremely welcome. Today I have been in 2 periods of theory based PE lessons and 2 periods of fitness classes. The weather has been shocking today so much to some pupils displeasure classes have been moved inside.
In Nat 5 PE earlier, I was going around the class and seeing if anyone needed assistance. I found that some pupils were reliant on the information you were giving them which is something that I am going to work on, helping them but not providing the answer. I found the difference in motivation and ability in the class really interesting, some pupils were straight to the task and took no time to finish whereas some needed much more encouragement and were not as self-motivated.
I also found the fitness sessions something I was able to get myself quite involved within. The girls football team had various challenges to take part in such as distance on the treadmill, to planks to wall sits. As fitness is an area I am particularly interested in, I found myself more able to offer feedback on assistance or form advice.
Whilst being here I have found it really interesting to witness all the different teaching styles and approaches teachers take to certain classes and tasks. The School of Sport is something I find particularly interesting at this school. Pupils are trialled in P7 for a school of sport of their choice, the options include; football, basketball, rugby, dance and swimming. If they get in, they get pulled out of core classes 5 times per week for additional training in their sport. I found that this is a scheme that many other schools could adopt to increase participation rates of sport in schools. Furthermore, it also gives the chance for children to develop their sporting skills and get more practice at their chosen sport, which will further develop their ability for years to come.
Overall, I have really enjoyed my first 2 days on placement and look forward to developing my confidence and leadership abilities further in teaching as the semester goes on. I am still looking into the possibility of a lunch time netball club.
Glad your placement has been enjoyable so far, I hope the rest of it goes well!