My Month at Sandlot

So, tomorrow is my last day at Sandlot School. I've bought a lollypop for each of my kids and some cake for the staffroom to mark the occasion. Various teachers have been bringing all sorts of yummy treats for break to share with us because of their birthdays, so I felt like I should participate in some way.

I'm going to miss it terribly. I have my moments why I wonder why I picked such an exhausting career option, but it also feels good to be good at something. My host teacher was ill for two days this week so I had the students all to myself- it was rather hectic but good to get a picture of what goes on when you're on your own. 

Some of the things I loved about my placement at Sandlot School:

• Bonding with the students, being able to help them when they were upset and celebrate with them when they were happy. Listening to their crazy, funny and heart-breaking stories of their lives (real and imagined).
• Teaching! Explaining interesting things to my class. Encouraging them to work better. So much that they do in Grade 1 is fun, and I feel so happy when a student understands something new.
• Having the privilege of working with such wonderful teachers and staff. They really made me feel included in the faculty, which meant more than they may have realised.
• Being able to watch my host teacher and share her classroom. She's such an amazing teacher, the students respect her and she uses that opportunity to teach them valuable things.
• The camaraderie with my two fellow student teachers, sharing the many gripes about the PGCE and school experiences with them. 
• Introducing the behaviour clip chart and seeing the students actually respond to it. 

The kids are what really fascinate me about teaching at the moment. They also exhaust me! It's worth it, though, to hear about what they dreamed about last night or helping them build a superhero costume out of paper (I had an Iron Man and Dragonfly in my class, to name but two).

I've got a file due at the Education Department tomorrow afternoon, detailing my experiences. I'm not asked to write a reflective piece or anything though, so my many anecdotes will have to wait for Monday when I can share them with my other PGCE-ers.