This week was terrific! I was feeling anxious before the start of practicum, but as I got settled into the first few days of teaching, I felt at ease. Mrs. S has been so wonderful as well, and is a great mentor, so this made the transition smooth. Throughout the week, I took on Morning Meeting/Calendar and Math each day, as well as some DPA activities. Mrs. S has also given me daily opportunities to assess students during silent reading time, and I have taken reading groups for home-reading (evaluating fluency and comprehension). As I have been teaching more, it is hard to not to be teaching the entire day! So far, the lessons have worked out really well and the students have been engaged with the activities that I have planned. I feel more comfortable directing lessons, and am beginning to get a better hold of class management. This week I noticed as well that a lesson can change on a dime and that student’s might need more brain-breaks than planned- all depending on how they are feeling that day. For my first math lesson, I realized that some needed more time to practice, and so the lesson took up 2 days. The timing of lessons can be challenging depending on the student’s needs, which may change the following day-plan. This has been a good experience, and I have learned that a teacher needs to be highly adaptable.

I was very happy with my observed lesson yesterday, and had some great feedback from Mrs. S. My main focus for next week is to work on lesson timing, and to make sure that I don’t overburden each lesson with too many activities. Sometimes it is hard to gauge with primary students how much time they will “actually” need to finish off a task. As I develop my lessons going further, I will be more cognizant of their age, and to slow down, or take more time in specific areas that need to be addressed further. Mrs. S mentioned that Grade 2 is typically a “review” year for curriculum that has been learned in Grade 1, so I may not need to spend too much time explaining specific topics (i.e. 2-D shape attributes) as I did last class. As I learn about what they have be taught previously, I can make alterations to the lesson plans accordingly. For next week, I will continue to teach Morning Meeting, Math, DPA, as well as Science and Socials. I am very excited to start both Science and Socials units, as I have some great things planned! I am eager to teach more, and already cannot believe how fast time is passing by!