From the end of February until the middle of May, I have been involved in a Teaching through Classics program at Swansea University organised by Dr Evelien Bracke as part of my internship module with the Political and Cultural Studies department. This program was set up to give students from the university the opportunity to teach topics such as Ancient History and Latin to pupils in both primary and secondary schools. My involvement in the program was to monitor two groups of students in their teaching and to observe their lessons on which I later produced lesson reports.
The school’s mission statement is to promote a welcoming and mutually respective community, where everyone feels valued and that they belong. The school challenges individuals to develop a passion for learning and achievement by unlocking their full potential and developing confidence, and independent lifelong learners.
My first impression of the school was warm and friendly. All members of staff that myself and the student teachers encountered during our time at the school were extremely polite and welcoming. The group of students that I was following taught a year 3 class about the Romans. The pupils were aged between seven and eight years old. The pupils always welcomed the student teachers and I with big smiles and cheers in the lessons. The pupils had already learnt a little bit about the Romans in their own lessons so it was great to see that they had an interest already. At the start of the programme, I did not have that much knowledge of the Romans but as the lessons went on, my knowledge certainly increased.
The student teachers, who were very welcoming to me on our first meeting, used a variety of resources to teach the pupils. They used Power Point presentations, handouts, worksheets and hands on activities such as making Roman clay pots and pesto for their own Roman banquet. One of my favourite lessons was the Roman banquet. In a previous lesson, the pupils were taught about the different eating habits that the Romans had. The majority of the pupils made silly faces when they learnt that the Romans ate tongue. At the end of that lesson, the pupils were promised that they would get a chance to have their own Roman banquet, which is what happened in the pupils very last lesson with the student teachers. For their Roman banquet, the pupils were asked to make pesto, which involved them working in pairs or a group of three and crushing up garlic cloves and adding mixed herbs, cheese, olive oil and vinegar and then mixing it all together. Although the majority of the pupils did not like the smell of the garlic, they were not afraid to get stuck in with the mixing. Once the pesto had been made, the pupils tucked into pieces of fresh bread, Doritos, cheese, grapes, apples, honey and apple juice. It was lovely to see the pupils enjoying their banquet and it was a well-deserved treat for being such a polite and well-behaved class.
My time spent at the school was brilliant and worthwhile. I got to experience teaching at a primary school, which was something I had very little experience with already. Although I was not hands on with the teaching and the lessons, I still felt part of the lesson and contributed in any way that I could. I will definitely take my experience from the school and incorporate it into my future teaching career.
Written by Georgia Bishop, 29 May 2015
The school’s mission statement is to promote a welcoming and mutually respective community, where everyone feels valued and that they belong. The school challenges individuals to develop a passion for learning and achievement by unlocking their full potential and developing confidence, and independent lifelong learners.
My first impression of the school was warm and friendly. All members of staff that myself and the student teachers encountered during our time at the school were extremely polite and welcoming. The group of students that I was following taught a year 3 class about the Romans. The pupils were aged between seven and eight years old. The pupils always welcomed the student teachers and I with big smiles and cheers in the lessons. The pupils had already learnt a little bit about the Romans in their own lessons so it was great to see that they had an interest already. At the start of the programme, I did not have that much knowledge of the Romans but as the lessons went on, my knowledge certainly increased.
The student teachers, who were very welcoming to me on our first meeting, used a variety of resources to teach the pupils. They used Power Point presentations, handouts, worksheets and hands on activities such as making Roman clay pots and pesto for their own Roman banquet. One of my favourite lessons was the Roman banquet. In a previous lesson, the pupils were taught about the different eating habits that the Romans had. The majority of the pupils made silly faces when they learnt that the Romans ate tongue. At the end of that lesson, the pupils were promised that they would get a chance to have their own Roman banquet, which is what happened in the pupils very last lesson with the student teachers. For their Roman banquet, the pupils were asked to make pesto, which involved them working in pairs or a group of three and crushing up garlic cloves and adding mixed herbs, cheese, olive oil and vinegar and then mixing it all together. Although the majority of the pupils did not like the smell of the garlic, they were not afraid to get stuck in with the mixing. Once the pesto had been made, the pupils tucked into pieces of fresh bread, Doritos, cheese, grapes, apples, honey and apple juice. It was lovely to see the pupils enjoying their banquet and it was a well-deserved treat for being such a polite and well-behaved class.
My time spent at the school was brilliant and worthwhile. I got to experience teaching at a primary school, which was something I had very little experience with already. Although I was not hands on with the teaching and the lessons, I still felt part of the lesson and contributed in any way that I could. I will definitely take my experience from the school and incorporate it into my future teaching career.
Written by Georgia Bishop, 29 May 2015