School and Classroom Context
My Professional Internship & School Background
My final practicum was based at DD Primary School. DD Primary School is located in a suburb 15kms east-southeast of WA’s capital city of Perth. With over 32 staff, and just over 400 students and being located in a lower to mid socio-economic area. There are approximately 207 girls and 193 boy students in the school. DD Primary School offers primary education for children aged 4-13 years of age. The student profile is approximately 5% Aboriginal and 5% ESL (English as a Second Language. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is a strong focus at the school, with a specialist ICT teacher, a well-resourced computer lab and computers in all classrooms. The school has specialist Music, Science, LOTE, Physical Education teachers and an annual Edu-Dance program. The Rainbows Program is offered within the school and it assists those students experiencing grief of loss and is part of the school’s very nurturing care of students at risk. DD Primary School takes great pride in offering the very best educational opportunities for its 400 students. Programs at the school are designed to cater for the intellectual, physical, emotional and social aspects of an individual’s development, with an emphasis on the whole child. DD Primary School provdes a safe, supportive community for children to become independent learners who value themselves and others whilst academically achieving their personal best. |
My Classroom
For my final practicum I was placed in a pre primary classroom. My mentor teacher has been teaching in Early Childhood for 25 + years and she was so helpful, understanding and inspired me so much with her teaching strategies and her passion for teaching. In my classroom there were 28 students comprising of 13 girls and 15 boys. Having such a big number of students in my classroom I had two teacher assistants.
In my classroom I had students who were:
o Two students with special needs, one who were a selective mute who did not speak at all, one boy who had ADHD and behavior management.
o One student was Indigenous Australians and hardly attended school (twice a week, was always absent).
o Two students came from non-English speaking backgrounds.
o Three students had vision impairment and were required to glasses.
o Two students who frequently presented challenging behavior.
My children were a fantastic mixed group of young people, with varied abilities academically, socially, physically and emotionally, and I completely enjoyed my time with them. I feel it is a good measure of my success that one boy emotionally told me I was the best teacher he had ever had and a few other students were really emotional when I told them that the last day of term was my last day teaching in their class.
For my final practicum I was placed in a pre primary classroom. My mentor teacher has been teaching in Early Childhood for 25 + years and she was so helpful, understanding and inspired me so much with her teaching strategies and her passion for teaching. In my classroom there were 28 students comprising of 13 girls and 15 boys. Having such a big number of students in my classroom I had two teacher assistants.
In my classroom I had students who were:
o Two students with special needs, one who were a selective mute who did not speak at all, one boy who had ADHD and behavior management.
o One student was Indigenous Australians and hardly attended school (twice a week, was always absent).
o Two students came from non-English speaking backgrounds.
o Three students had vision impairment and were required to glasses.
o Two students who frequently presented challenging behavior.
My children were a fantastic mixed group of young people, with varied abilities academically, socially, physically and emotionally, and I completely enjoyed my time with them. I feel it is a good measure of my success that one boy emotionally told me I was the best teacher he had ever had and a few other students were really emotional when I told them that the last day of term was my last day teaching in their class.
My Teaching Experiences
Through practical internships during my degree, I have taught at four different schools in a variety of year levels, including a grade 3, grade 2, grade 1, Pre Primary and a years 11 and 12 in high school. This large range of student age, has allowed me to appreciate the incremental maturity progression of children, and the differing relational approaches needed for differing age groups. I am doing Early Childhood and Primary Education and this degree allows me to teach from Kindergarten to year 7. Having my practicum experiences I have decided that my passion of teaching is in the early years and with experiencing different year levels I would like to start my teaching career becoming an Early Childhood Teacher.
Through practical internships during my degree, I have taught at four different schools in a variety of year levels, including a grade 3, grade 2, grade 1, Pre Primary and a years 11 and 12 in high school. This large range of student age, has allowed me to appreciate the incremental maturity progression of children, and the differing relational approaches needed for differing age groups. I am doing Early Childhood and Primary Education and this degree allows me to teach from Kindergarten to year 7. Having my practicum experiences I have decided that my passion of teaching is in the early years and with experiencing different year levels I would like to start my teaching career becoming an Early Childhood Teacher.