Activities to help supplement your studies and learning.

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Activity to support the professional development of beginning teachers

The following activities are aimed at providing you with prompts for your own professional development. These activities are intended to support your development as a beginning teacher. The activities within the table below provide ideas that will support the development of your understanding of yourself as a learner and a teacher, as well as the context in which you work.  After the initial few weeks on a placement or as a newly qualified teacher, your activities should become specific to your own personal development needs, the needs and context of your school’s development plans and the needs of your learners. Therefore, a more personalised action plan should be introduced after this period and an identified mentor will be able to support you with this next stage in your professional development.

Personal context activities

1. Activity one provides you with the opportunity to reflect on the themes presented within this chapter and reflect on the knowledge and values that you bring to the profession.  Your practice will evolve throughout your career and you should continue to reflect on your own core belief and value system.
    
2. The first few weeks and months of a new teacher’s career can go past very swiftly.  In amongst the many new learning opportunities that are created you may easily forget good practice and experiences that you have observed during student placements or early experiences as a teacher in school.  An ‘ideas book’ will help you gather learning and teaching approaches, management strategies, and routines you observe from the outset, all in one place. It is not about copying directly from others; rather it is about collecting ideas to reflect on and stimulate your own thinking and development. Your ‘ideas book’ can be developed digitally.
    
3. It is likely that your colleagues in school will involve you in activities within the school.  This may be in the form of classroom delivery, joint planning, in addition to extra-curricular school commitments. Some school leaders and mentors ask their beginning teachers to prepare personal statements about their knowledge, skills, experiences and interests. By having a list of your skills and interests at hand, when appropriate, you will be ready to share these with your mentor or with members of the school leadership team when discussing opportunities for your wider development. 
    
4. If you have been an allocated a mentor within your school, this will provide you with someone who should be in a position to support you as a beginning teacher. If not, your leadership team should be able to suggest a suitable person as your point of contact to support your professional learning.
    
5. As outlined within this chapter, it is likely that you will be involved in collaborative learning with your colleagues frequently throughout the year.  It is therefore important that you help to build effective relationships with your peers early in your placement.  These relationships should be based on mutual trust, respect and recognition of personal and professional strengths.  Reflect on the different expectations staff members may have of each other and of you when you interact with them.

Classroom context activities

1. As mentioned previously, once you have started teaching in school, it is easy to forget prior experiences.  Photographs are an excellent way of reminding you of any good and innovative practice you observe. They can prompt your thinking and give you concrete ideas to adapt and develop your own ideas. Remember you should always seek permission before taking photographs.
    
2. As above, routines and displays you have seen working in practice can assist you in the development of your own classroom organisation in your initial weeks.  Beginning teachers in the early years and primary stages often find classroom organisation challenging. Photographs of different possibilities for seating arrangements and classroom layouts will enable you to visualise your own classroom and organise space to support your own learners’ needs.
    
3. ‘Learning walks’ will provide you will opportunities to review learning layouts within the context of your specific school.  This will help you see the potential of your allocated classroom space and also support you with visualising your own pupils within the learning environment.  During ‘learning walks’ you will also be able to identify different ways of doing things within colleagues’ classrooms and gather ideas for your own reflection.
    
4. Each school has their own routines in the morning to support bringing the children into the school, settling them and completing any administration activities etc. It is useful to know what these are prior to school starting and find out how other colleagues in the school manage these within their classroom.  Following these discussions you should prepare resources to support morning routines and classroom organisation.
    
5. It is beneficial to visit your classroom prior to the start of the year to ‘set it up’.  During this period you should focus on consideration of classroom layout, organisation of resources, wall displays and teaching and learning zones, etc. 

School context activities

1. During your placements as a student or beginning teacher it is helpful to reflect on ways that different members of staff engage in collaborative working.  This can range from formal Development Group/Working Party sessions and stage partner planning to informal lunch/after-school activities and discussions.  On arrival at your new school, identify ways that your new colleagues engage in collaborative learning and seek opportunities (where appropriate) to establish your commitment to collegiate interaction/learning.
    
2. During the initial few weeks of the new school year, staff members generally have the opportunity to benefit from in-service sessions that are aimed at supporting planning for the year ahead.  It is useful to have a copy of any school planning reports, etc. in order for you to be able to engage in dialogue from the offset.
    
3. Research into the wider school community will provide you with an insight into the school’s context in relation to community engagement and commitment.  This will provide you with an understanding of the expectations of the school in relation to its pupils, parents, local authority or governing body and wider community.
    
4. Additional activities within this section are aimed at confirming the ‘key adults’ who you will be working with during your initial year and also assist you with class preparations. 
    
5. Many schools complete transition meetings before the end of a school year to support with enhanced and effective transition across classes and stages.  As a new colleague at the school you may have missed this opportunity, therefore in order for you to plan for your pupils you should seek guidance from your mentor and/or leadership on alternative processes to gather information within the school.
    
6. The school will have lots of learning and teaching resources. It is helpful to find out what is available and in school and relevant to the stage you will be working in. It is also important to find out how they are allocated.