SCHOOL PLACEMENT 1

2016/2017

Student:

Brian Dunne

Date: 18/11/2016

OBSERVATION
In the morning Colin and I
took two groups out for
spelling tests and English
comprehensions the first
group was 3rd and 4th
class and the second was
5th and 6th class.
At break we supervised
the junior room and I
noticed they had split
into group each group
playing a different game
and learning from each
other

Class Observed: 3rd ,4th ,5th ,6th

Topic:

Learning in Groups

CRITICAL REFLECTION ON THE

OBSERVATION
The teacher had organised the two groups and times
they were to come out to the brown room where
myself and my college were waiting with work the
teacher had asked us to go through with them as
they completed a page we corrected them we found
this kind of group learning helped as the students
chatted amongst themselves agreeing on certain
answers and debating others this kind of group
learning I found was very beneficial. I found this ran
very well in the class. Also the two different classes
worked together learning from each other. I also
found this difficult to get started as the students just
wanted a chat but after a while I felt they got into the
swing of things and they looked to both learn from
this and also enjoyed it. students will perceive
learning goals as more or less difficult depending on
their current state of knowledge (marzano, 2009)
After observing the groups at break I came to the
conclusion the students werent just in groups of
friends they joined to group playing the game they
wanted to play. I felt this helped them to learn as
they always seemed to be in a different group
learning new skills and making new friends. Some
groups were playing with building blocks and others
with Lego so I went over to the groups and tried to
encourage them to build more complicated designs
to help them learn and as groups they worked
together and rose to the challenge I felt this was very
beneficial for them to learn as a group and definitely
something I wouldnt hesitate to do again. Cooperative activities in particular enable pupils to
obtain greater insights into the conduct of the
learning activities through observing the
performance of their peers and sharing and
discussing procedures and strategies (Kyriacou,
2007, p. 39)

SCHOOL PLACEMENT 1
2016/2017

Bibliography
Kyriacou, C., 2007. Essential Teaching Skills. 3rd ed.
Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
marzano, r. j., 2009. designing and teaching learning
goals and objectives. s.l.:hawker brownlow
education.
.