Pre-prac practices

Yay… I have finally received confirmation of my next Professional Experience placement and I will be teaching in a Year 4 class (which I am very happy about).

There is now the buzz and excitement of having some idea of what to expect, but also the nervousness of standing in front of 26 new and unfamiliar little faces. I am a bit of a hoarder of information and resources because you know “One day I might need to use that activity/ resource in my classroom” so I have a data bank of activities, resources, printable graphics and posters of gitchy things to do with my students.

I was reading Nicole Henke’s blog and she was asking what other pre-service teachers do before they go on prac?  Well I organise with my mentor to go in for a few hours on a day before my prac so I can mainly meet all the students and I try to take little notes about them to help me start remembering  some of their names, interests and characteristics before I formally begin my prac.  There are many little activities that you can do to quickly get to know your students, have a look at this 56 Ways link.

One little activity I do (usually on the first day if I can) is give each student a piece of note paper that has 2 sentences on it. 1. “Write your name and 1 thing you would like me to know about you” and 2. “Write 1 thing you would like to know about me” and I leave a jar at the from of the class where they can pop their note when they have completed it.  I collect the notes at the end of the day, and use it to gain an insight into what they want me to know about them and I respond to their questions the next day.  I found it helps build a bit of a connection from the start.

Just putting it out there…….