Early on in my experience in Block A I realized that one of the main factors contributing to the success, or otherwise, of my lessons was pace. This is an area I try to improve during my placement in Block A. The advice given by Gererd Dixon (2011: Online) is that: "One of the most difficult things for new teachers is to introduce rhythm and purpose into lessons" while recognizing the needs of the slowest students in the class.'Setting the correct pace for my lessons has proven difficult as it requires the teacher to understand the needs of the different students in the class. Moving forward too quickly left students behind, while spending too much time led to poor behavior and boredom. My job was to try to come up with strategies to create a balance between the two and, in doing so, create an environment where students were not left behind and had ample opportunity to discuss their emerging ideas and conclude their understanding. during my placement I struggled to find a way to organize time within the lesson especially when I didn't know my students (see week 6, paragraph 3). Problems with the pacing of the lesson began in the planning phase, where I struggled to assign correct times to activities. I found that due to my lack of familiarity with the lessons, my times were often incorrect and my lessons often went over. After a discussion with my subject tutor, I discovered that there were several strategies for working with students to improve the pace of the lesson. The first tactic I tried to implement was planning so that I spent a lot of time understanding and learning. the plenary to conclude the lesson (see week 7, paragraph 2). Although this… half of the paper… of the teaching and learning process is something I will continue to work on throughout Block B and even when I enter the teaching profession. The strategies I used will be very valuable in the future; however I understand that they may not always work with all classes. A key insight that I have to time is to be open to ideas and try to adapt to different situations within the classroom. I will look for further strategies and advice in the future to further develop my understanding of classroom practice. Works CitedDixon, G. (2011) Introducing rhythm and purpose into lessons. TES. [Online] [Accessed 28 December 2011] http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/news/introducing-pace-and-scopo-your-lessons/45867Cowley, S. (2009) How to survive your first year in teaching. 2nd ed., Continuum International Publishing Group.