On Monday I was observed by my mentor, QA tutor and QA manager within Phonics. I was slightly apprehensive as I am not used to so many people observing me teach Phonics. However, I now feel that the experience was very useful in encouraging me to reflect on the positives and not to dwell on the areas to develop. I felt the lesson went very well, as my previous key target was to ensure a quick pace within the speed sound check element of the lesson. I was informed after the lesson that I had reduced my time by 15 minutes but still maintained a high level of engagement and progress (S4 – Much of the time imparts knowledge and develops understanding through using lesson time to good effect). I was relieved as I had previously timed myself and recorded myself teaching Phonics and was slowly getting quicker. After the lesson, I was informed by all that had observed me that my lesson had a clear structure, high engagement and clear pupil progress (S3 – Can teach early reading, systematic synthetic phonics, communication and language development with increasing confidence and competence so that pupils make at least expected progress). This was something which I was worried about prior to my second placement, as I had not taught Read Write Inc before but I feel now that it has supported me thoroughly. Moreover, it has completely changed my mind about the scheme which I thought was prescriptive before now. I feel it is efficient and does give scope for practical tangible experiences. This experience has allowed me to realise the progress I had made since first starting the course and since starting my second placement. I feel more confident to plan, teach and assess phonics as a result of this observation and my second school placement (S4 – Is systematically able to reflect, in order to improve their practice. Is able to judge the effectiveness of their lessons and impact on all groups of pupils). This experience has impacted significantly, I feel more at ease to have multiple people observe myself and to teach phonics effectively. When I teach phonics again, I will try to get my speed sound element even quicker to get the ideal 10 minute slot. In order to do this I will try to keep my teacher talk vs pupil talk smaller. As this was identified as an area to think about when teaching (S4 – Is systematically able to reflect, in order to improve their practice. Is able to judge the effectiveness of their lessons and impact on all groups of pupils). Focused next steps: Teach Phonics again to try and become quicker. Maintain a high level of engagement. Seek more experiences which develops confidence to speak in front of others. All Stories