Prior to my practicum experience, I have volunteered in many different classrooms and thus have been exposed to various teaching methods. This experience gave me insight into what methods I would like to incorporate into my own teaching methods as I was able to see what worked really well and what engaged the students in critical and creative thinking. After my time in Switzerland for my Community Field Experience, I further got the chance to see more teaching styles in a different setting. Although I could not speak the language, I was able to see how the teacher interacted with students and methods used for conferencing with individuals and the class as a whole. These experiences taught me that teaching is a continual process, and that as educators we are always learning and finding ways to develop our teaching style. I don’t think that there is any one way to teach a specific subject, and through constant exploration and being exposed to teaching in different contexts, I am constantly finding new ideas and methods.
During my volunteering- and even my experience as a summer day camp leader- I was mostly there to facilitate activities and assist children when they needed extra help. I never had to consider the curriculum, or how to better engage the whole group in meaningful discovery. Thus, my practicum gave me a new perspective and way of looking at things. I now know how careful in planning teachers are when creating lessons as they have to consider presenting content in a variety of ways so as to cater to different needs and learning styles, ensuring the material is related to the curricular competencies and that the students are learning and understanding what is intended, and to consider ways to deepen students’ understandings.
At the beginning of my teacher education journey in October, I was a bit nervous and unsure of whether I was being both an effective and engaging educator. The more I got to know my students and spent time teaching them, the more my confidence grew. I was no longer nervous with how a lesson might turn out, second-guessing myself, nor planning out exactly what I wanted to say. I had an outline for the lesson, and a plan of how I wanted to present the information but I made more of an effort to promote more group discussion, ask more related questions, and allow for teachable moments that enabled the lesson to go more in the direction that the students seemed engaged and interested in. I think my biggest area of growth during my practicum was my confidence and both the teachers that worked in the classroom with me said they could really notice this change.
Gaining more authority in the classroom than I had in my previous classroom experiences, I felt like it was more my duty to be a role model to my students. I ensured to always behave professionally, treat all my students with equal respect, and to help my students with problem solving, both within the classroom environment and with schoolwork. I also made sure to make my passions evident when it came to a particular subject matter in hopes of eliciting a similar passion for learning in my students.
At first I was not sure how I would be able to meaningfully include student who is a Category A into the classroom but after Case 11 I found myself much more confident to do so. Through the research and presentations done on this subject, I found out that there are so many resources available to help teachers in finding meaningful ways to involve the student as well as have them learn. I think the use of assistive technology is especially important as the student is able to participate more and learn to be in control.
Throughout my practicum I think I learned a lot about inquiry and how beneficial it was for learning. Learning through inquiry during actual classes throughout my teaching program showed me inquiry in motion and what it looks like in a classroom, and also I was able to see the benefits first-hand as I found learning through this method to be enjoyable, allowed me to learn to work cooperatively and effectively with my peers, and I was able to be in charge of what I learned and how much knowledge I gained from the program.