Join me as I document my journey through my 10 week practicum

WEEK ONE:

What has surprised me the most about my first week teaching is how unique each class can be.  There are so many interesting personalities and characteristics that come together to create each classroom atmosphere.  

There are some classes where the personalities and capabilities compliment each other, and some where the make up of the class is completely different.  I have the privilege of teaching the same lesson (basketball) back to back to two different classes.  I decided to keep this weeks lessons the same and was able to compare what worked well for the first class and what worked well for the second. The first class has a higher amount of individuals with behavioural problems and the second class has a much lower skill set.  

In preparation for next week I am going to be tweaking the lesson to cater to the individuals in each class.  I would love to provide more choice with the first class, however if I allow them to choose partners/teams the distributive behaviour will continue. For the second class, I am going to simplify the lesson and bring it back to the fundamentals and progress from there.

All in all, I think this first week was a great learning experience for me and I am excited to see what new challenges get thrown my way as I begin teaching outside of the gymnasium and into the Home Ec room!

  

WEEK TWO:

Over the past two weeks I have begun to build rapport with the students in each of my classes.  Even though our relationships are new, I believe this has helped me with classroom management.  I am constantly moving around the room, providing feedback and being social.  For me, this technique has been extremely successful.

With that being said, there was one student at the beginning of the first week who was not responsive to this technique and required a firmer approach. During one of my basketball lessons, it came to a point where this individual was distributing the entire class and I had to give a warning saying I would ask this person to leave.  Since this incident, their behaviour has improved.  Last class, I was even able to be more social with this individual as we talked about the results of the school basketball game that occurred the night before. 

I have been extremely fortunate,  the students at Moscrop have been patient and welcoming and I have yet to face any real challenges in regards to classroom management.  It has only been week 2 and I already feel a part of the amazing community that they have here!

WEEK THREE:

This week I have started to pick up more Home Economic courses which has been great.  It has been tough jumping into a classroom where the rules and procedures have already been established by another teacher.   Mixing in my own teaching style with what has been used before has been a great learning experience and is preparing me for the teacher on call lifestyle! Within these new classes you can see extreme differences between the learners and when the course is being taught.  I am able to teach the same course (foods 11/12) twice in a day and am able to compare the two.  The first section is during 2nd period, so right before lunch.  The second section is last block at the end of the day.  The students in the first section are not as skilled, however are more engaged.  The class at the end of the day are extremely skilled but are very eager for that last bell to ring!  

Given the differences between each of the classes I am planning to adapt/modify my future lessons so that it is more developmentally appropriate for the class.  I want to try and optimally challenge each of the groups so they are feeling successful while at the same time taking risks.  

During a chicken wing lab, I provided choice in the hopes that the students would challenge themselves.  I allowed the students to choose from two recipes (Buffalo or Honey Garlic) and also allowed them to decide their cooking method (Baked or Fried).  We then looked at the these methods and as a class decided which was more difficult and encouraged the group to take the risk and try. The lab was a success!

On another note, there was a Pro-D day at the end of the school week which I attended a workshop on building thinking classrooms. There were 3 main ideas that I learned from the workshop that promote thinking in the classroom. 

  1. Random Grouping – increases productivity, engagement and community
  2. Vertical work spaces – whiteboards around the room where students can brainstorm ideas and collaborate
  3. Alternative seating arrangements –  stay clear of the traditional classroom where students are in systematic rows.  Provide a variety of work spaces where children can stand, lay or sit as they learn. 

WEEK FOUR:

I have such high expectations for all my lessons and when I see that a couple students are not engaged in the content it causes me some stress.  I try and create a plan where, in my mind, I can sense the excitement and can visually see the involvement.  I am coming to realize that in some circumstances this is just not the case.  When these feelings arise, I try and reflect on what I am noticing in the classroom by jotting down a few quick notes as the lesson progresses so I am able to come back to it at a later date.  Upon deeper reflection I like to take everything into consideration; my lesson plan, the class atmosphere, and the attitudes of the students that day.  Like Teachers, students have their off days too.  I am quickly learning that sometimes students just need that moment to “chill out” and I shouldn’t let these moments stress me out.  

As mentioned above, I believe what has helped me out the most when dealing with these types of circumstances is reflection.  Trying to get to the root cause rather then dwelling on the stressful feelings has helped me become a better educator.  

WEEK FIVE:

With the end of term 2 and a approaching March Break, the atmosphere of the school has shifted.  It is evident that both student’s and teachers are counting down the days until they are able to catch up on some much needed rest and relaxation. Teachers are often criticized about how much time they get off during the year and it wasn’t until this month did I realize how difficult of a profession teaching is.  You are constantly giving so much of yourself to your students and always coming to work everyday and having to “turn it on.”  I believe teachers deserve all the time off they get because they to need to refuel that energy.  The first 5 weeks have been exciting, difficult, eventful, and busy!  This two week break will give me an opportunity to slow down, question and reflect on my teaching journey and will allow me to refuel for the following weeks left on my practicum.  With all the work teachers put in, I believe the break is completely justified and I am looking forward to the rejuvenated faces in the spring!

WEEK SEVEN:

Spring Break is over and it’s back to class! Although I felt much more relaxed coming into the week, as I did a lot of planning during my time off, the week felt extremely long.  I noticed that the students were working in slow motion and that made it tough to engage and pull them back to “school mode.” I also noticed that many of the teachers were moving in the same fashion and it took a bit of adjustment to get back to the fast, upbeat high school climate that is present here at Moscrop.  

By the end of the week, things seemed to go back to normal and the after march break blues began to disappear. I noticed that more students were attending class and those individuals I haven’t seen in 7 weeks were engaged and ready to participate.  The break was obviously needed for everyone! However, I am interested to see how long this lasts.