‘Successful Teaching Placement’ by Jane Medwell

As promised, here is a review of Jane Medwell’s ‘Successful Teaching Placement: Primary and Early Years’. This is the 2nd edition of the book which I bought on eBay. It was listed as ‘New’ and it definitely hadn’t been used before. The books discuses how to prepare for your teaching placements and make the most out of school-based experience. There is plenty of advice and suggestions to help trainees to:

• Gather and analyse key information about the school and class
• Observe, plan and evaluate lessons
• Gradually widen your role within the school
• Deal with key assessment experiences, including target setting, levelling work and record keeping
• Understand the role of your mentor and manage your personal assessment
• Cope with challenges such as working with others, behaviour and child protection issues
• Review progress and maximise the benefits of your placement moving forward

I read this book whilst on the bus to and from work and I got through it quite quickly. I missed a few sections which aren’t relevant right now but I can honestly say that I have learnt a lot and I feel a lot more prepared. This book tells you everything you need to and want to know about placement without feeling like an idiot! You’re not expected to know everything on the first day but this books tells you how to prepare and what is expected of you, your mentor, your placement and the school.

There are a number of handy links to help with professional development and a variety of practical tasks to undertake whilst on placement. There are also a few examples of forms (planning, assessment, out of school, observation, etc) which will definitely come in handy.

This book is fantastic and I would highly recommend it. The writing style is easy to understand and it is clear. There is no confusing, professional jargon to put readers off. Everything you need to know about having a successful teaching placement has been crammed into 149 pages – after reading it I think and hope that you and I will!

Rachel

Trainee teacher booklist

Here is a list of the books I have bought so far for September:

• ‘Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning in Primary Education’ – Janet Moyes
• ‘The Lazy Teacher’s Handbook’ – Jim Smith
• ‘Learning to Teach in the Primary School’ – James Arthur, Teresa Grainger, David Wray
• ‘Teaching Skills for Dummies’ – Sue Cowley
• ‘Reflective Teaching’ – Andrew Pollard
• ‘Achieving QTS: Successful Teaching Placement’ – Jane Medwell
• ‘Achieving QTS: Primary English – Knowledge and Understanding’ – Medwell
• ‘Achieving QTS: Primary Mathematics – Knowledge and Understanding’ – Mooney
• ‘Achieving QTS: Primary Science – Knowledge and Understanding’ – Peacock
• ‘Achieving QTS: Assessment for Learning and Teaching’ – Briggs
• ‘Achieving QTS: Teaching Arts in Primary Schools’ – Penny
• ‘Achieving QTS: Professional Studies’ – Jacques
• ‘Reflective Reader: Primary Special Educational Needs’ – Soan

I’m aware that this list might seem a little exhaustive and you’re probably wondering how I managed to afford so many books when many teaching books are so expensive. Well, I bought most of them second hand for a few pounds each! Originally I was looking on all kinds of websites and in bookstores but they were ridiculously over-priced. I really wanted to do some reading before the course started so I had a good idea of how to plan, assess, observe, etc whilst on placement. In total I have spent about £30 on books, which could have cost me over £100 if I bought them new. Some people say that you shouldn’t buy all the books recommended to you by your university or course, but I love to read and I wanted to mentally prepare myself before September. I’m not expected to know everything before then, but it definitely helps to know your stuff so that you can cope better with the demands of the course.

I bought most of my books on eBay and World of Books. If you are interested in buying second hand books to help you with your studies (regardless of what course you are doing), look for ones in ‘Very Good’ condition (‘Like New’ would be preferable, but we all know most study books aren’t going to be like that!) and buy books in ‘Good Condition’ as a last resort. Don’t buy books listed as ‘Acceptable’ because they may have been previously highlighted in, scribbled in, have pages torn out… let’s not go there! I hate books that haven’t been looked after!

For my next post I will try and write a review on the first book I read an completed from the list, which is ‘Successful Teaching Placement’ by Jane Medwell. The book was very helpful and well written!

Before I go, I’d like to thank everyone who has followed my blog and liked my posts so far! It means a lot! 🙂

Rachel