Friday 30 November 2012

9th day...only one week left?? :O

On this day of my work experience, reality set in. It was my second last day. I realised just how much I would love to do all my placements in the school.

Today was...simply fantastic. I absolutely loved this day. I spent the morning with a great third class group. I really had a great time in there as I got to play several maths games with the class, and they were so lovely and allowed me to join in to play myself. Then I got to hear some of the children reading me extracts from their favourite school library books. I even got to have some Stone Age projects presented to me by the students with the best ones. After all this "show and tell" I got to do some real maths helping work. Teaching them how to multiply by ten and helping with their four times tables. Really rewarding experience working with the class.

Again I was with the junior infants, (little balls of energy). They can be really hard to keep track of, and really hard to tame, but with praise and patience, they can be really fantastic to work with. I didnt stay there long so I havent much to say about my time in that class. After, I looked down at my timetable, and was absolutely delighted to see that I was in with the same fourth class as the week before :)

I love love love this class, the teacher is amazingly friendly and really allows me to get straight in to the teaching and throws me right in at the deep end, which I love! The class itself, as in the children, are also incredibly friendly, all polite, they like to laugh and joke with me but also will take my instruction without any moans and groans. They are so welcoming and enthusiastic, and, for helping them, the teacher and students presented me with a Christmas Candy Cane as a thanks. I left the school and walked home in the single best mood I have been in, in ages. :)

Work Experience 8 :)

This day at work experience was really a funny one, with lots of laughs had by all.

In the morning, the vice principal who usually sets us out what we are to do, was absent. Myself and the other girl doing the placement with me, had no idea what to do and where to go. We went in search of tasks, and another teacher informed us that there would be a DVD launch about the history of Celbridge the next evening. What does this have to do with us you ask? Well....for this event, the school wanted to decorate the hall will some balloons. Us girls got the task of blowing them up.

There was just one minor issue with this. Neither of us were any good at blowing up balloons, or tying them for that matter. We were kindly provided with a pump but it broke halfway through it was being used so vigorously. It should probably have only taken two average balloon blowers a couple of minutes, it took us...well...lets say, quite a but longer than that.

After this I was able to go and work with some actual classes, this was great because again, I got to be really interactive with the children. I was in with a class of junior infants (which are very lively to say the least) and then I was in with fourth class. This fourth class, I absolutely love working with. The teacher was so kind, so welcoming and incredibly friendly. The class were enthusiastic, and totally willing to work properly with me in the lesson I was teaching them.

This class has left a lasting impression on me, and I really hope I get to work with them again before the end of my work experience at the school :)

Friday 16 November 2012

Sixth Day :)

Hello again...another week, another day of my work experience :)

Today was really hectic and I had a lot to get done in a small space of time. I was supposed to be in with the one teacher, and one class, all day. Unfortunately the teacher was absent this day and the class was split up to go to other classes. On the plus side though, the classes were all in the process of swapping their library books. This meant that I was in for one hugely busy day....

Basically the system is, each book, in each class library has a small paper pouch in each one, stamped with the school stamp. In each one of these there was a small piece of card with the books title. When a child takes a book, they insert the card into their own card pouch that they have with their name on it. Usually the students personal cards on stuck up on the wall. This is the schools book borrowing system and it works really effectively.

My job for the day was to check every single book from all the first class libraries. Any ones that didn't have either a stamp, pouch, or card, were put in a pile. I then had to stamp, cut and stick...I had to make the pouches and cards for those books that did not have them. This took up a lot of the day, nearly all of it actually, but it really helped the teachers out so I didn't mind at all.

Once all the books had everything the needed in them, I swapped them all around. Now each of the classes had brand new books to read. I only had about a half an hour left of the day once all this was done, so I went to help out a teacher whom I had heard needed help doing a few jobs. I spent the rest of the day in that class doing some posters, taking them down and putting them up.

Overall, it was the busiest day I have had so far, but it was also I really great day because I was glad to be

Seventh day (gosh time flies..)

I can't believe its been 7 weeks in my first placement already it seems like only yesterday I started there all nervous and worried...

Today was another busy busy day. I really enjoy these busy days though because I like to be doing things and not sitting around with nothing to do. I started off in fifth class which was good because I was in with a teacher that had taught me during my time in  the school. I was surprised by what my first job oft he day was, as it hadn't been something I had done before. I was handed a ball bump. Naturally I was wondering what on earth I was going to be doing with it. I went to both of the schools P.E. storerooms and did a tidy up on all the equipment. Then I had to pump up all of the balls that were soft or deflated, this posed a bit of a challenge...the air kept escaping.

The last thing that I did while in with the fifth class, was to record test results for each of the students in the class, I enjoyed this because I was very glad to be trusted with that responsibilities.

Once that hurdle had been cleared, I was off to the first class. This was a lot of fun because I got to do a lot of correcting. I helped to put together some of the class Christmas tests, and then, once they were done, I got to correct some of them too. Then I corrected a bunch of work that the students did in English, Phonics and Maths. Once all the results were done I put them into the students folders.

All in all, another very busy day, but a very enjoyable one all the same. :)