Student ID: G00337134

Critical Reflection 10: Metacognition.

With school placement four now complete, there is a great sense of relief, happiness and
satisfaction knowing that I am now on the home straight of my teaching degree. On
completion of this of this intense block placement I have developed in many ways, as a
teacher, a person and a professional. Reflecting on my time during placement I have now
realised that there is always something that can be improved on. Starting placement there
was certain aspects of my teaching in which I was very confident with, such as, my
classroom management and ability to communicate with students and areas in which I had
to improve in, such as my technical knowledge in DCG.
Starting placement, I had a lot of difficulty with managing my classroom to the high
standard in which I like to have. I believe students had not yet respected me as a teacher,
something which took time but did finally come with a lot of hard work. “Skilful teaching
can do much to minimise pupil misbehaviour occurring in the first place and can usually re-
direct incidents that are developing.” (Kyriacou, 2007) I believe it was through the
implementation of active learning strategies and effective classroom management which
helped me gain the respect of the students throughout my time.
One aspect of school placement which I fully engaged in was the life of the school. Instead
of coming to school taking my classes and leaving again, I took the role of the first-year
football coach, organised a lunch time handball league and went on school functions with
co-operating teachers and even sat in on a second-year parent teacher meeting. Including
myself into the heart of the school community helped me engage with students that I may
not otherwise see and work with teachers on a less formal platform. Engaging with teachers
outside of the classroom really helped me with any problems that I came across in the
classroom. Through observation and questioning I gained vital information and guidance
from my co-operating teachers. “Observing other teachers is a key part of development; it
improves teachers’ own self-awareness of their skills and also makes managers more
effective at identifying areas for further growth”. (Gore, 2013)
On reflection of my four years as a student teacher I believe I have developed into the best
version of myself possible. Through the countless reflections, lesson plans, inspections and
schemes I have developed from a once nervous and uninterested student teacher into a
confident and dedicated professional striving for the best results not only from myself but
also my students.
Bibliography
Gore, J., 2013. How Observing other teachers an Improve your teaching.. British Coucil, 25 April.

Kyriacou, C., 2007. Essential Teaching Skills.. 3rd ed. Cheltenham : Nelson Thornes.