2 week practicum: Week 1

I have completed my first official week of my two week practicum. Hooray! It made a huge difference to be in the school for a week straight. I feel like I have learned so much more about the students and the way the classroom is run within this last week. Every student is so different and by being around the students every day I really have started to pick up on their unique, quirky personalities. For day 1 in my practicum I introduced myself to the students. I brought in artifacts and pictures that I shared with them as well as I got them to write 4-5 sentences about themselves and draw a picture. This was my first time instructing anything within the class and I was quite nervous. It went very well and I was so proud of myself for putting myself out of my comfort zone. This entire week I have done just that. I read two great books to the class and while reading these books I asked questions and allowed them to make predictions. I was told it’s a skill to be able to read a book to a class and I never realized how difficult it can be. There are so many things to consider such as how to hold the book properly so everyone can see and how to even scan the book slowly enough so that every student can see the pictures. I never thought that something such as reading a book could bring with it difficulties of its own, however, I now know that it takes practice in order to master. I feel like teaching is such a lifelong process. Nothing is perfect the first time or even the first couple of years. It really takes a while to perfect this craft and find strategies that work best for you. During this week, I have slowly begun putting myself into the teacher role by signing planners, writing messages on the whiteboard and reading out words for the spelling test. I completed my first official lesson plan on Friday and I thought it went well. However, I reflected on it afterwards and I came to the conclusion that there are so many things to consider while teaching that I never would have thought of. I thought I had explained the instructions well enough but once the activity started I noticed a few doing it wrong. Thorough explanation and repetition of instruction is very key when explaining a task to a group of young students. As a teacher, I cannot assume that the students know things that come second nature to me therefore everything being said needs to be simplified in order for them to understand. I also learned that classroom management is so important yet difficult at times and that I need to be more assertive in order to manage my class successfully. Students will try to push the boundaries and in order to create a class that listens well and isn’t constantly chatting; I need to stop these negative behaviours in their tracks. Overtime, I believe classroom management will become easier because I will have developed strategies that really work for me. This last week has brought with it many ups and many great learning experiences. I look forward to continuing to grow on this lifelong journey.
-Jessica Nerada