I would say that after the second week of the long practicum, things are slowly falling into place. My confidence is increasing with being in front of the students (for formal lessons and transitions.) I am starting to get a sense of what can be accomplished within a lesson; what my students are capable of and their pacing with their work. This week provided lots of insight in terms of their ability to grasp small concepts, especially with our insect lesson on senses. It appears that most of my students grasp the concept in their head, and can verbally explain to me their thinking. But when it comes to putting it on paper…it can be a challenge. So going forward…what are other ways I can make it easier to transfer their thinking onto paper? I am quite pleased with how they are understanding the body parts of an insect. They were quite proud to explain to their parents during the student led conferences this week.

Speaking of student led conferences…what an interesting experience! This was an opportunity to really see what the relationships between my students and their families were like. I did not have a huge role, although I did stay behind until the very end. My school advisors allowed me to do some planning and circulate every now and then. I also ended up greeting the students arriving with their families and finding them a table. There may have been some informal “babysitting” with the younger siblings that came along. I couldn’t resist! I love toddlers! I introduced myself to parents when I could; the ones that I spoke to are lovely and seem very interested in what my experience has been like. I really cherish interacting with the families of the students. I know that if I were to have my own classroom one day, I would go out of my way to make families feel welcome and not afraid to speak to me.

Towards the end of the week, I really started thinking more about the inclusion and progress of the student with autism in my class. I made a worksheet for him which he could do with his support worker (cutting and pasting for the fine motor skills.) But his support worker had mentioned to me, not as a criticism, that “he does not get the concept of the lesson.” I know that I cannot change things overnight with the student, but I do want to make some sort of impact on his learning during this long practicum. If he could tell me the three main body parts of the insect, I would be happy. His learning has really made me think more deeply about my planning going forward. You had mentioned to Scarlet and I during our quick debrief that we should not “forget” about our students with a designation – just because they have a support worker, doesn’t mean they are fully responsible for helping them through the lessons. This really resonated with me this week.

There was a little bit of “burnout” this week; hoping things will become more second nature in the weeks to come.