Notes:
As I said early I was going to wait a little while before posting some of my other week’s practicum reflections. It is an interesting process to post privately, in Google docs then repost publicly on my blog. Having these anchors to come back to give me more to reflect about as I go forward. Stay tuned!
Week 3 Reflection
The third week has come to a close and I have had so many positive experiences. First notable part of the practicum experience has been workload. I have been putting in a lot of hours which is simultaneously rewarding, because I see the results of my hard work, and stressful as time for other things (like family, exercise and leisure) have been reduced. During this time I am really trying to show what I can deliver!
Reflecting on my teaching, pedagogy and philosophy.
After being observed in my math lesson there were a few points where I feel that I could work on. First, with regards to the way I structure my lessons it is important that students always have something to do. I have been exploring how the random group generator works in order to help control pacing in the classroom. One of main features of teaching math is the range of aptitudes that are noticeable in each class. While some students breeze through math worksheets, others take much longer to complete the task. Part of my teaching practice, with math now, has been looking for ways for students who have finished their work quickly to still have something productive to do. Since my reflection I have experimented with having the students create their own questions. Which worked, although I want to have more tools in my kit to keep the students who quickly finish their work productive and engaged. I have also started to develop some challenge questions that students can work on. I have also, prepped for my next lesson, designed a lesson where we work on the answers together as a class. By restricting the class to one question at a time, having the students answer their questions with the senteo clickers, and then having students volunteer to come up and show their understanding by solving the questions in front of the class several class management objectives have been obtained. We have a class where engagement is high, where students are scaffolding each other, and students are busy all the time. There should not as much opportunity for “idle hands”
Another thing which has been happening in the practicum has been the opportunity to collaborate with another teacher. Because I am heavily platooned with the other 6/7 class we are teaching the same material. Although we are delivering the content in different ways to meet the needs of our individual classes, we have had the opportunity to come together build lessons and brainstorm ideas. This has been a wonderful part of the practicum so far, and I am grateful to have to opportunity to learn from experienced professionals who are so dedicated to their work.
I went into the practicum with the hope of exploring the community around the school. Placed-based education has been a big influence on my pedagogy and as a result I have taken the opportunity to extend learning beyond the classroom. I have been out in the garden, fundraising in the streets and meeting with parents after school. The chance to make some of the school walls “melt away” has been great. Going forward I have even co-planned a lesson (with Teala) where we go onto Mainstreet and ask the public “What does it mean to be Canadian?” As part of an introduction to the Inquiry Unit where we are exploring the driving question “What does Canada’s north contribute to Canadian Identity?”
Overall, practicum has left me tired and inspired. Can’t wait for week for!