Hello!

Sorry it took me so long to post this blog post about the FINAL two weeks of practicum! *cue sad music here*

The whole experience has been so amazing and I am so grateful for this opportunity. I could spend days talking about my class and how much I’ve missed them! (It has been a week and a few days since the end of long practicum) But instead of rambling on, I’ll try to focus on my top five moments, or highlights during the 10 weeks.

1. BUSY TOWN: Planning, preparing and executing Busy Town was challenging but also very fun. I loved how the students were able to be immersed into this very busy town and play a part in the community. I thought it was so cool to see how the entire busy town ran! The students enjoyed it, the parents enjoyed it and the other guests enjoyed it as well. 🙂
2. POLICE VISIT: I was really hoping to do a field trip with my wonderful K/1 class, but time was just not on our side. I had to pick a time that was okay for my S.A. (which basically means a day that she’s in class), and I couldn’t find any date that would work. However, every cloud has its silver lining. I instead got the Delta Police to visit the class (and the other two Kindergarten classes). It was such a cool visit. The officer brought along his police car, a police mascot, and a whole lot of swag (coolness AND goodies).
3. ANIMAL RESEARCH: I did this with my Grade 1s. I was a bit worried at first. How do I teach my students to do an animal research project? But it went really well. The students loved being the “experts” of their own animal and doing their own ‘research’. They were all really engaged in it! Even the students who typically aren’t as engaged in work were super engaged! They had a chance to share their research to their peers afterwards.
4. “T” IS FOR TRUCKS TRACKS AND TIRES: This is something that I did with my Kindergarteners. Honestly, it wasn’t really the activity that was the highlight but more so the students. My Kindergarteners were so happy about the chance to bring trucks to school and to play outside that they all gave me a huge hug and said they loved me! 🙂 My Kindergarteners have never showed their “appreciation” in that way before so I felt like this was the moment wherein it was like, “YES! We have a connection! They like me!!!”. Two of them even drew “I love my teacher” on the ground with chalk for me. Best feeling ever.
5. MY THANK YOU AND GOODBYE SPEECH: I gave my thank-you-for-being-a-great-class-I-will-miss-you-a-lot speech during my last “teaching” day. I teared up a bit and the students did too and we had a great big group hug and it was the best. My students have been so incredible and I really am so lucky to have been placed in this class. I felt like this experience pushed me to be the best teacher that I can be. Saying that I never struggled would be a lie because there were definite struggles during my practicum. I had difficulty with making lessons, class management, “prepping”, etc.  But in the end, all these struggles made me into a better teacher. I feel like the learning that I got out of these 10 weeks are invaluable.

I don’t know how many times I’ve said it throughout this post alone — but this experience has been AWESOME.
I can’t wait to start teaching again! Next step, get hired.