Practicum Reflection for EDUC 452

15 June 2017-06-14

 

My practicum was at John Oliver Secondary in Vancouver.  I taught woodwork, ADST 8, automotive/power technology, and STEM.  The ADST 8 class began in electronics and then moved on to woodwork.  The STEM class is taught collaboratively by a tech. ed. teacher and a math/science teacher (I was the tech. ed teacher).  Students in the STEM class worked on projects that were connected in some way to the math/science curriculum.  During my 10 weeks of teaching, there were challenges and successes.  I learned a lot, and I came out more competent and sure that I had chosen the right profession.

My favourite moment from practicum was when I was teaching STEM on the last day before spring break.  That class was “competition day” at the end of a unit where students built “sumo-bots”.  Sumo-bots are small (15cm x 15cm), rudimentary robots with wired controls that are designed to push other robots out of a competition area.  The part that I was most proud of was that every student was able to get their sumo-bot to work so everyone was able to participate.  Several students had been struggling and thought that they wouldn’t be able to participate but with some extra time put in during lunches, they were successful.  The most fun part was when several other classes came to be an audience.  The classroom was packed with students, loud with cheering, and it was overall a fantastic experience that I will remember.

One challenge was when, shortly into the practicum, several ELL students who were new to Canada were added to a woodwork 9 class that I was teaching.  They had minimal English speaking or writing abilities.  The first challenge was that they had to complete the shop safety tests before they could start using the tools.  Their English was not strong enough to understand the safety handouts that my SA used.  It took time but we were able to slowly go through each machine and complete the test successfully.  Instead of writing safety tests for all the machines at the same time, I separated the tests so we began with the machines they needed to use to get started on their projects, then made our way through the shop until they were caught up, never writing more than one test in a class.  This helped because instead of being overwhelmed with all off the new and unfamiliar terminology, it was broken up into manageable sections.  All three of these students ended up being very successful in woodwork – they all earned A’s for the term.

My experience with the ELL students in woodwork showed an opportunity that tech. ed. teachers have, to give ELL students an opportunity to engage with school.  In tech. ed. classes, students who struggle with English may be able to excel at hand-on work.  This was the case with the students that I was teaching.  All three were enthusiastic, motivated, and worked hard to get caught up.  They became some of the strongest students, and were even able to become leaders in the shop by helping other students.