-I helped the children in all 3 classrooms with maths and science and english, shocked by how little the children could achieve independently and surprised at how it was such a struggle to get anything done ever!
-I lack a broad range of knowledge, for example my mental maths is still very poor and I cannot explain what is different between and seed and a bulb growing.
In each of the 3 classes I was told that 1/3 of the children had some sort of mental heath issues including diagnosed attachment disorder, autism, anxiety and ADHD. There were some children with undiagnosed behavioural/social problems which meant that they couldn't have a personal Teaching Assistant as needed.
Each class had 2 children who ran off in a lesson, refused to do any work and became extremely aggressive throwing things and hurting other children. They had to attach high handles to the doors so that the children couldn't escape too far and I was shocked when I saw one boy latch onto the bars like frog to reach the handle. There were periods of calm but there was also a definite switch in some of the children where they snapped into animal behaviour.
I have deep respect for all 3 teachers who manage to get work done whilst dealing with 2 "little friends" and then rest of the class who are naturally of various abilities and ages and all having their own problems even if they are less extreme and extraverted.
I found that my niche/what I was most useful for was giving 1:1 time and attention to the children. I feel like I have a good balance of rapore with the children (I learnt almost 90 names in 2 days which they really appreciated) whilst still having their respect and doing the sensible things I ask.
1) I entertained the "little friends" whilst they were calm-taking them out of the classroom when someone else had a tantrum so that it didn't end up with 2 tantrums but also gave the teacher one less liability to worry about but also maintaining their calm. I played a few games with them and a noticeable point was that they always get what they want and struggle very hard at taking turns, following any rules and having the attention not on them.
2) I spent time getting to know the children who didn't directly cause trouble but were cheeky and just needed a little bit of attention and 1:1 time to let out some steam. Also appreciating them, rewarding them for working hard, making good choices and being kind and considerate.
3) I found that a good way to do this was to make some ks1 collaborative collages which were of the rainforest and the big city which were their class topics for the year. They were all extremely exited and wanted to be part of this 'special art project' and all tried really hard. It was evident that in the last few days of school their concentration and attention span had wavered and they couldn't concentrate on cutting things out or focusing on one thing. I took each pair and we had 40 mins of chatting about whatever inspired them with me actively listening and engaging with them whilst they created artwork.
"I like the colarshe and I think it's specktader because everyone worked so hard"
"What a buestiful Rainforest it is!"
"It took a lot of hard work."
"Everyone did really well. My favourite part was making it"
Over the time I volunteered there I wanted to be as involved and helpful as possible. I actually found that the hardest thing I found at the school was the adults. Perhaps it was because I wasn't permanent staff but not all of them were friendly and welcoming to me.
I have been spending the first 2 weeks of the new school term with the year 5 and 6 classes. I found them scarier than the yr 1/2 as they had a really good knowledge of the different subjects, were better behaved and way more independent.
- I have taken out some of the children to work on handwriting, reading, spelling and grammar. I really like working 1-1 with the children. I also found that there were a lot of Teaching Assistant staff at this end of the school, helping specific children with specific subjects.
I actually got asked back to work with the year 1/2 in the morning if I was free because they were having such problems with their behaviour!
- I got asked by one of the 5/6 teachers if I would lead an art class session for them in the afternoon on William Morris. The teachers said that they were crap and loved the idea of being able to mark whilst I taught and made their display! I was quite nervous to be talking to a class of 33 children but it was actually okay as I knew what I was on about and they were well behaved and excited to have a new teacher teaching them.
I came up with tasks for them to do and then taught the same session to the 3 different classes of the year group each afternoon. It was really interesting that everyone gave it a good go but all attempted the task in different ways. Some of the children worked very slowly but carefully, some of the children did lots of big shapes and coloured them in, some worked around the image in detail, some needed constant pushing but actually did very well, some people found being creative difficult, some people loved the extension task to create their own pattern. I found also that the more complex patterns were a bit overwhelming for the children so I stopped using those for the later classes, but I chose them because they had animals and thought that the children might like that.
I was SHOCKED when the teacher told me they only do 2 ART CLASSES A YEAR!
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