For many preservice teachers, their first professional experience placement (also known as prac placement) in a school can be both exciting and daunting—especially when it's your first time in front of a class!
With the help of experienced teachers, we've pulled together these tips to help you tackle this teaching milestone with poise, professionalism and pizazz.
There is no such thing as being over-prepared
'Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.' – Alexander Graham Bell
Creating a 'prac folder' will give you one place to store all your lesson plans, resources, timetables, notes, feedback forms, etc. Having these printed and ready to go will definitely impress! Don't forget to spend some time reading the Professional Experience Placement (PEP) documents provided by your higher education institution so you know what is expected of you and your supervising teacher, and how you will be assessed.
It's also important to plan how you will get to school on time each day. Where will you park? How long will public transport take? How long is the walk to your classroom? Arriving stressed, frazzled and late is not a good look.
Dress for success
Consider your wardrobe ahead of time so you're dressed both comfortably and appropriately.
While you're at school, you're going to be in contact with school leaders, students, families and other teachers on a daily basis, and you want to make sure to put your best foot forward. Remember, first impressions count, and dressing the part is a great place to start. If in doubt, dress in smart casual.
- It goes without saying that your clothes should be clean and well-ironed.
- Do a test run! Can you sit on the floor with your legs crossed without any wardrobe malfunctions?
- Set a good example and remember a wide-brim hat for when walking outside and on playground duty.
- Schools can go from hot and humid to downright chilly very quickly, so be prepared for all weather conditions by bringing a jacket or cardigan with you.
- Comfort is key! Teachers spend most of their days standing, crouching and weaving between desks, so comfortable shoes that you can wear all day is a must. Hint—try a test run by squatting and kneeling in them.
- Check out the school website and Facebook page to see what the teachers wear to work to give you some insights about the stand of dress for that school.
Develop relationships and rapport with students
You can be the most well-prepared preservice teacher on the planet, but when it comes down to it, good relationships will always underpin your success.
Get to know your students. Start by remembering their names, then get to know a little bit about them. It might just be little bits here and there (e.g. Sally's family have just adopted a kitten, Dan enjoys dancing, Melanie's favourite meal is pasta) but it's a great way to start forming genuine connections.
Show initiative
Before
Make contact with your supervising teacher as soon as possible after finding out your placement school. Chat with them to gain some valuable insights about the students you'll be teaching. If you're lucky, you might even get to meet your class! Developing that important professional relationship can make or break your placement.
During
Treat your time on placement like it's a job interview. It's common for final-year preservice teachers to get job offers from their placement schools, so put in the effort to leave a good impression. If you see something that needs to be done, roll up your sleeves and make it happen—it shows you're keen to be part of the school's culture.
Get involved with extra-curricular activities, assist with inter-school sports or homework clubs, and go along to school events and staff meetings when you can. Immersing yourself in the school community will not only help you make connections but make the experience truly memorable for you!
Plus, if you're in your final year, make sure you've
submitted your application to teach in Queensland state schools through our website at the beginning of your final year. Getting your application in as soon as early as possible means you'll be considered for vacancies that match your teaching and location preferences as they are identified and you may be eligible for an early offer of employment.
If you notice a student not paying attention or struggling with a task and your supervising teacher is busy with another student, go up and help that student. This is not stepping on your supervising teacher's toes. They want you to show initiative and help out around the classroom as much as you can.
Build your teacher network
Whether it's a buddy for marking time, someone to bounce lesson ideas with, a mentor to learn from or a colleague to share a cuppa with after a tough day, teachers need other teachers.
While most of your time on your professional experience placement will be spent with your supervising teacher, spend time getting to know some of the other teachers too. The broader your network, the more people you can call on for help and advice.
It's also important to get to know other key people in the school, including:
- teacher aides
- administration staff
- heads of department
- tuckshop staff (after all, who doesn't want the insider word on the tastiest meals?!).
These people have great insights into the inner workings of the school, staff and students and will help you feel right at home. If appropriate, connect with your new-found network on LinkedIn.
Set goals, seek feedback and reflect
To get the most out of your experience, it's important to set goals for personal growth and professional development before you start. Choose some key areas you'd particularly like to concentrate on and consider the requirements of your course, such as the number of lessons to prepare and teach. You might like to use the
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers as a guide.
It's important to seek feedback from your supervising teacher because there's always room for improvement. Learning to accept feedback and take it on board is a great way to build your resilience. But don't be too harsh on yourself: remember that it's okay to make mistakes and it's totally fine to try something once, then adjust and try again if it's not working.
Remember, professional experience placements are designed as a safe place for you to learn. No one is expecting you to have perfect lessons from the start.
Make sure you carve out some time every day to reflect on what worked and what you might do differently next time, especially on the days you teach. What challenged you the most? What made you feel proud? Regularly write down your reflections to help clear your thoughts and focus.
Ask questions and for advice
Time is valuable! Your professional experience placements are the perfect time to get first-hand advice and build your confidence in the classroom, so take the opportunity to learn as much as you can while you're there.
Be conscious that your supervising teacher and/or mentor teacher will also be juggling their other teaching and school responsibilities and will appreciate you being organised and planning ahead, such as scheduling regular catch-ups that work for both of you.
Here are some example questions and points you may like to ask your supervising teacher.
- What is the school timetable and are there any policies and procedures I may need to know about?
- What are your expectations of a preservice teacher?
- What is your behaviour management process?
- Are there any special needs students that I need to be aware of?
- Do you have any tips for what works for them in the classroom at the moment?
- How do they balance the need for good planning, with the time for teaching and learning, and administration tasks?
Use resources to your advantage
The Queensland Department of Education has a range of teaching and learning resources that you can use to boost your teacher toolkit, many of which you will be able to access while undertaking your placement in a Queensland state school or through your higher education institution. Ask your supervising teacher about the Curriculum into the Classroom resources.
Check out the
Autism Hub and
Reading and Writing Centre for videos and webinars with skills and techniques you can take into the classroom. There are also plenty of curriculum resources from the department's
learning@home page available to help you out too.
For more great advice and insights about teaching in Queensland state schools, check out our
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