Giving children an equal start in life is embedded in my teaching philosophy. Teaching gives me the ability to achieve this by having the opportunity to share my enthusiasm towards learning. This is what differentiates me from other teaching professionals as these morals and values are enshrined within my everyday practice as a teacher.
My experiences over the past few years have involved working and volunteering at various primary schools which has enabled me to practice teaching a group of children, behaviour management and creating lesson plans. Due to my varied teaching experiences, I have been able to facilitate a working group from diverse backgrounds. This has challenged me to adapt my teaching style to assist the children’s development both intellectually and socially. From this, coming from a health and social care background I am able to recognise how theories such as Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Bandura’s social learning theory can be used to understand the reasoning behind some challenging behaviour. In practice, I have implemented behaviour management techniques based on the relevant theories which are seen to be effective. Alongside this I am also able to adapt lesson plans, resources and activities to meet the individual needs of pupils in the classroom. My experiences have displayed my ability to effectively differentiate work to support SEN and EAL pupils. From this, I have been able to recognise the importance of implementing differentiated work into lesson plans to ensure cohesive learning.
Focusing on my year as a trainee teacher, I was fortunate enough to gain experience in both Key Stage’s despite the current climate. I believe I have excelled during my time both environments, this is echoed through my observations, weekly meetings and phase reviews. I have had the opportunity to assess and categorise pupils’ phonics ability using the RWInc program. This transferable skill has increased my confidence in conducting assessments and delivering phonics lessons. Alongside marking books daily, in line with each schools’ marking policy, I have been able to practice my use of assessment in both KS. Further to this, a clear involvement of wider responsibilities has been displayed through constructing one page profiles, attending staff meetings and producing blogs for a school website. Due to the current restrictions, I have not been able to involve myself in extracurricular activities however this is something I aim to thoroughly involve myself in as a NQT; where I ensure that my time management skills will benefit me when balancing work with wider responsibilities. Although feedback consist of my strengths as a teacher, areas of improvement are also suggested in which I have been seen to act on quickly and efficiently. Taken account of the feedback given by my mentors I have gained the ability to develop my own independent teaching style based on targets set by experienced professionals.
All the experience mentioned above, has allowed me to develop personally and professionally through persistently broadening my knowledge. This is something I hope to continuously progress with throughout my career.
