This was the last week of school visits before my long practicum. I was feeling bittersweet about all of it. I was becoming comfortable with teaching one lesson a week but I also know that in order to enhance my teaching skills and create more opportunities for growth, I should be teaching more often and more subjects. I am nervous about teaching 100% for four weeks but I hope that I absorb as much as I can and take advantage of this opportunity because it will only be a beneficial experience for me.

I taught a math lesson during this visit and I had asked my second SA to informally observe me just to get a different perspective than my main SA. Since my second SA does not teach in the morning, I had to move my lesson to after lunch which I was quite worried about because usually the students become tired and antsy around the afternoon. However, I have to get used to teaching throughout the entire day so I just did my preparations and hoped for the best. I shortened my activities because I did not want to overwhelm the students with too many activities in one lesson. For my last activity, I wanted students to make a 3D cube from paper which involved lots of listening to instructions, cutting and gluing. I knew this task would be difficult if they were to do it on their own so I decided to do it with them. I thought about how I would be able to keep their attention long enough for us to complete this cube together step by step because once they have scissors and glue on their hands, they will be distracted. Moreover, I know some students would not have these supplies and would go around asking others and it would be chaotic and messy. Therefore, I decided to turn this activity into a game! I called it “The Silent Cube Making Game.” To my surprise the students bought it, and were so excited to play! They knew the rule of the game was to be silent while making this cube and if they needed help they could quietly raise their hands and I would come to them. This made it so much easier for me to give step by step instructions and everyone was able to listen without distractions and follow along. Because this was a hands on activity, they were very engaged and enjoyed doing it very much. Some students expressed frustration because they were falling behind but I tried my best to help them. The EA was not available during my lesson (She is part time with us and part time with another class) and my SA was not going to give a hand so I was on my own during this lesson.

Overall, I believe my lesson went fairly well and my SA had some constructive feedback with mostly positive comments. She specifically mentioned that she can see the students seeing me more of a teacher now and taking me more seriously which was refreshing to hear.

I am looking forward to the long practicum with feelings of anxiousness and hopefulness at the same time. I can’t believe we all made it this far and so close to the end. I wish all my fellow SEL cohort the best of luck 🙂