Wow, what a great first week on practicum! I have been lucky enough to have a supportive SA who was happy to test my abilities, and encouraged me to throw myself right in. And that I did… on my first day I taught a double block of mathematics! Here are some of my reflections on what I have learned from this week and some of the things I will be thinking about moving forward.
It’s Pyjama Day!
The importance of reflection
I think I taught a total of seven blocks in four days, on top of taking groups, providing general support etc. We had one day for teacher-parent conferences, and another day allocated for Remembrance Service/Grandparents Day, so it was an action-packed week. I am really lucky that my SA pushed me as he felt that experience is the best way to develop, and for some reason he felt confident enough in me that he would encourage me to lead classes so early on. We had really similar perspectives on this, as even though my nerves were through the roof, I knew I had to just throw myself in there. And each time I taught, I came out with at least five things I would do differently next time. I wrote these down and tried to keep these in mind for next time. There are certain things you can only learn through experience and through knowing your students (e.g. timing, how much time has to be spent on a concept etc.), so reflection for me is one of the most important things I can do to help myself develop. Experience really is the best way to learn!
Classroom management and the varied needs of learners
After my first week, I think these are probably going to be two of the most significant things I will aim to master over the rest of my BEd. I am lucky enough to be at an independent school where class sizes are low, expectations of the students are high, and the majority work at such an advanced level. But, with moving to a public school for my long practicum, classes will be larger and therefore the needs will be more diverse, so classroom management is something that I want to become effective at early on. During my first lesson, even though I thought I had planned more than enough content which I wasn’t sure we would get through, some students just flew through it, leaving for 15 minutes of extra reading time. Finding a happy medium between adequately challenging the diverse students and not ‘punishing’ them for getting their work done by providing additional worksheets, is something that I would like to creatively get to grips with.
My Improper Fraction Game in action
Building relationships
This is something that is really important to me, both in my personal life and working environment, and I think is one of the key factors in having a successful practicum. You could be one of the most confident, knowledgeable, and proficient teachers, but I believe that connecting with your students, and being able to collaborate and build genuine relationships with your peers is perhaps the most important aspect of being a successful teacher. This is something i’ve been keeping in mind during my practicum, and while this may be difficult to establish over two short weeks, I do feel like I have been able to connect with a couple of hard-to-reach students. Having the class fist-pump when they hear you will be teaching them improper fractions that day (seriously?!) must surely be an occurrence that won’t often be repeated!
Week 2? Bring it on!
Gemma,
Wow, that is so awesome that you taught so much right off the bat! Good on ya girl! That must have been a bit nerve-racking. I completely agree with you that once you finally get up there and start teaching actual lessons, that that is when you start to see it all come together. As a teacher, you can create and plan for multiple lesson plans but once its live there will always be hiccups and things that you have to change on the spot.
You have so many skills and you have so many great qualities and attributes as a person and a teacher that the students would absolutely love seeing that about you. Reflecting is always important and I think it’s one of the best ways for us to learn and improve our skills and strategies. Class management is also huge and can interfere with your lesson plan for sure. A strategy that I have seen for students to keep them on track is writing a to-do list up on the board once the lesson has been taught and they have moved onto a worksheet or a reflection. That way, not every student is asking you what they should be doing when they are done. For example:
To-DO:
1. Worksheet
2. Hand in
3. Read or Draw
I can’t believe how fast these two weeks have gone by. I find that the students are finally getting comfortable with you and have started to build that foundation of a teacher-student relationship.
Gemma, it must be such an awesome feeling having students SOO excited to see you everyday and excited for you to teach. I love it!
Keep it up!
Gemma,
I am so happy to hear that you had such a wonderful time during your two-week practicum! Getting right into the swing of things and teaching two blocks in the first day must’ve been so nerve-racking, you are definitely embodying the IB Learner Profile by being a risk-taker! I completely agree that everything is learned through experience (especially classroom management!) by just putting yourself out there and making mistakes. Writing down any improvements for your next lessons is actually a great idea to keep track of your progress; I should definitely remember to do that after all my teaching too! I often find myself too caught up in teaching the students and making sure the lesson content has been explained that I sometimes forget to take the time after to reflect on what just happened.
Similar to your experience, the relationships that I have built with my SA and my students are something that I am most grateful for and is something that is important to me as well. I was prepared for my class to feel apprehensive about a total stranger coming into their learning environment for two full weeks, but they have definitely surprised me by welcoming me so warmly into their class. You must have amazing teacher presence and enthusiasm to get your students this excited about math, Gemma (show me your tips and tricks!)
I can’t wait to hear more stories about the rest of your practicum!
Gemma, thank you very much for sharing your practicum experiences. I commend you for being such a risk-taker and jumping in right from the start! You do have a wonderfully, supportive school advisor who put trust in you very early. That is a great accomplishment already!
I agree classroom management is an area that all teachers have to master and just when you think you have it, you get a class that makes you rethink everything again! As you continue in your coursework, you will gain more strategies. Also look at the classroom management prompts’ organizer that we sent out on google docs. Add any new strategies that worked for you and look at what others are adding.
I also concur that relationship building is key! When you spend time to get to know the students and connect with them, teaching becomes much easier. You have already noticed the power of relationships, as the students are excited to see you and work with you.
I look forward to hearing more as you progress in your journey.
Hi Gemma,
Great blog entry. I know exactly what you mean about the importance of reflection. While I didn’t teach nearly as many lessons as you did (you’re amazing!), I definately had the experience of having five things to change after each one. It seems to me, sometimes, that it would be impossible to teach a lesson that I was completely sastified with. There are so many factors to take into account; did it accomodate all the diverse learners in the classroom, did they get to move around enough, were they engaged, was there enough content, was there enough hands on activity… and does your lesson include the extra ten minutes you sometimes need just to get them quiet to start!
I personally found it all a bit overwhelming, but I agree that reflection is our greatest tool for improvement.
Ironically much of my practicum reflection has been on how to write a good reflection assignment. I wrote three sets of reflection questions for my students this week. With each reflection sheet I got back to mark I learned so much about how to phrase a clear question (that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no!) and how to make my expectations clear.
Thanks for your great post and well done on your practicum!