Monthly Archives: June 2016

Practicum Final Week (Week 10):

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It’s difficult to talk about this week. So much sadness and happiness overwhelm my heart when I think about my last week or last day of practicum. It was a bittersweet week but mostly bitter. I was excited to complete my practicum but very sad to leave it and say goodbye to everyone especially the kids that I had built such a strong relationship with. We had a pizza party, exchanged encouraging words, cards, gifts and goodbyes throughout the week but it never felt official until Friday afternoon when I stepped out of the school knowing I might not be back for a very long time. I think the highlight of my practicum and the moment it hit me that I actually made a difference and impact on my students was on Friday. It started with one of the students dressing up with a lovely purple dress and shoes with a little bit of heel that morning. I asked her what the occasion was, and she said she wanted to dress up for me because it was my last day. The day was filled with hugs and goodbyes and pictures. When the bell rang, I was beginning to clean up my desk and get ready to leave when the same student who had dressed up came back with her parents. I had met her dad before on the field trip but not her mother. They both stepped inside the classroom and her mom came up to me and said that she just wanted to come and meet this Ms. Rahmani that her daughter keeps talking about. Then she mentioned how her daughter had been crying the night before for two hours because she was so upset that I was going to leave and she was shocked and confused as to why her daughter would be crying so much for a teacher. I got a little teary and it really made my heart smile to hear that from a parent whom I haven’t even met before.  I left the school smiling, hopeful and determined that this is the career for me. I knew then why all those long nights and hard work was worth it. It was definitely a good end to my ten week practicum.

Practicum Week 9:

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Technically, this week was supposed to be the last week where I teach full time but my SA and I decided that I would continue teaching full time until the last day of practicum especially because I have not wrapped up all my lessons so this gives me one extra week. There are a lot of exciting yet nerve-racking events that occurred this week. First of all, we had our TOC day this week! We had to pretend that we were a Teacher-On-Call and switched classrooms and schools with other UBC teacher candidates. Thankfully we were given our school and grade a couple days before just to get us mentally prepared for what we were going into. I had a kindergarten class and I was actually quite excited because I had really wanted to try teaching kindergarten. Although I was still in a primary grade, it was quite different than being in a grade 3 class. Because it was nearing the end of school, the kindergartners had already gained a lot of routine and management practice which made my job a lot easier. It was a completely different environment than what I was used to but it was great to experience it and overall I had a blast! The kids were so kind and helpful if I didn’t know the routine very well and they treated me as if I was their teacher instead of just a stranger taking over. I was glad that the teacher left me alone to help me get the full experience. I think it’s great to be able to be a TOC for a while as a beginning teacher because it really gives us exposure to all the different grades that we hadn’t gotten a chance to teach and perhaps we would find another grade more appealing than our practicum grade.

We also went on a field trip this week to Burns Bog which was a lot of fun and educational! It was my first time going there so I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about plants and animals and history behind the bog itself. It was unfortunate that one of the students accidentally fell into one of the creeks but other than that, the students all had a wonderful time despite having been there in the previous years.

 

PRACTICUM WEEK 8:

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This was a very busy week. There is only two more weeks until practicum is over and there is a lot of units that need to be wrapped up before the end of those two weeks. I have just started on a new research project with the students which I hope to have it finished within the two weeks and we are still wrapping up our science unit. I started social studies but we have been having quite a few Fridays off in the past weeks only giving me Thursdays for socials which isn’t enough time for the unit I am doing. Therefore, I have to figure out a way where I can end off and my SA’s could possibly continue the rest for me and finish it off. I would hate to abruptly end a unit or rush it for the sake of the remaining time I have. I have also started ‘Reading Clocks’ for Math which is a long unit that requires a great amount of of practice and time in order to fully and successfully understand it therefore I am not trying to rush even if there are only two weeks left.  As you can see, I have a lot to figure out and I am trying not to stress about it.

There wasn’t a lot of exciting highlights this week but we did learn about saving the bee’s in Science. It was inspiring to see how affected the students were about our bee population. They were devastated that we were losing bees especially because we have been talking about plants for weeks now and how important they are and how we might lose an abundance of plants if bees start to become extinct. I had named just a few of the plants that we would lose if bees became extinct and they were absolutely heart-broken. I think they were shocked that bees played such a huge and important role in helping pollinate plants that give us food. It was definitely a fact that they had previously not been very aware of. So many kids admitted to previously disliking bees and sometimes even destroying their homes for fun not realizing that they may actually be harming the population. They had many great ideas of how they would try to help and protect our bees. Overall, I think it was a successful lesson because it really made the students think and ponder over the reality of whats happening in the world currently. I always think it’s important to let students know what’s happening around the world and how they may be able to help change it for the better. Although they are only kids, they are the future generation and we can hope that they will use their knowledge to create a more positive world.

Practicum Week 7:

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This week I began two new units. We are now learning time and we are starting a new research project integrating what we learned in Science and Language Arts. It’s great to be in control because I get to decide when it’s a good time to work on a certain activity  and I can change my day and schedule around without worrying about taking time out of my SA’s teaching time. My SA is amazing because she lets me make my own decisions and just makes some suggestions and leaves it up to me if I decide to take it or leave it. I usually take her advice because it’s usually best to. I am excited to be teaching “time” in math because much too often I am asked by the students what time it is and how many hours before recess, lunch and home time and it would be amazing if they could read it themselves and figure it out. I think they are more than capable of learning it with enough practice. On top of that, it’s one of my most favourite units to teach in math! There are so many hands on activities, games and tools that could be made and used to practice and learn about time. I just hope I do a great job in teaching it and presenting it to the class so that they don’t feel that it’s too difficult or overwhelming for them. Although they are technically not supposed to know time until next year, I just thought it was important for this class and I think they are all going to really be engaged and enjoy this unit so I thought why not?

As for our plants research project I decided to have the kids begin researching on Plants in different climatic zones. I had assigned the zones for them and they are required to look for facts of plants on those zones and their appearances, habitat, adaptations and interesting facts. They were given Macbooks for their research and were asked to jot down at least five facts for each category in point form. My SA and I also went to the library and dug out all the books we could find relating to plants and climatic zones so that students could look through them for their research or just read them during silent reading.  So far it’s going great and all the kids are super engaged and excited to be using the MacBooks and learning how to do research. It’s going to be a lengthy project but I am hoping they will get it all done before my practicum is over. The overall goal of the project and what I hope to get the students to accomplish is to transfer all their research into a brochure. We have only begun this project this week so we will see how far we get. I look forward to the final product.

There hasn’t been much behavior issues that I need to highlight for this week. Perhaps doing new and exciting projects and units have gotten the kids in a better mood. There are the usual recess and lunch issues that require attention but nothing too major. I hope this behavior is continued through the next couple of weeks!

Practicum Week 6:

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This is it. This is the beginning of four weeks of being a full time teacher and experiencing what it feels like to be in complete control of all the students learning. It’s amazing how many little things are required for you to remember to do as a teacher. For example, you have to remember to change the shape of the day, the date on the board, drop offs and pick-ups at the door, collecting notices and handing them out, changing the planner and many other small tasks that are easily forgettable! I did some of those tasks during my 60-70% but not all of them because my SA’s would naturally do it so it was important that I remembered to do all that or the students would be confused and feel lost.  I enjoyed it though once I got into the habit of doing everything by the end of this week because it made me feel like it was my own classroom and it was my duty to keep things flowing smoothly and creating a non-chaotic atmosphere for the kids.

Last week I was so nervous that I would not be able to handle all the responsibilities but once this week was over, I couldn’t believe how quickly and smoothly it flew by, much quicker than when I was not teaching full time. Although my SA was not there this week, the TOC and EA really helped me out and were there for me if I needed anything or if I needed to get out of the room quickly which very kind of them. My other SA who is a librarian for most of the week came through for me and even switched spots with the TOC for some days so that I could feel more comfortable and at ease in her presence. I really appreciated that because I know she is busy and has a lot of work to do but she knew it was my first week and my other SA wasn’t there and she wanted to make it an easier transition for me. Overall it was much better than I had expected which was a sigh of relief and it made me more excited for the upcoming three weeks of teaching full time.

Practicum Week 5:

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This week went off to a great start because the first thing I noticed on Monday morning when I got into the classroom was that our sunflowers had finally germinated!! It was only day 7 and every single persons sunflower was about three centimeters tall! I was so excited for the kids to come and witness it because it sure put a big smile on my face! They had grown so fast over the weekend. I let the students crowd around it for a couple of minutes to enjoy the beauty of the seedlings and the day went well from then on. By the end of the week, the sunflowers had grown another 5 centimeters.

For this week’s observation, I was observed on a science lesson for the very first time. Math and Mindup are usually the lessons I get observed on because they would fit into the schedule best but science fit for this week’s schedule. The lesson went well but I did notice that I talked and asked too many questions for a long period of time. Although the questions were relevant and important, I could have done it differently by using pair-share or changing up the activities to get the students more engaged. With my group of kids, they always need to be doing some hands-on work and should be changing activities every 15 or so minutes in order to stay on task and not wind down. This is the same advice my FA gave me on our debriefing period after my lesson. She also said to try and include brain breaks after reading a long story like I did. Although the kids may be engaged in the story, they are still sitting for a long period of time. There is always room for improvement in every lesson and although at the time it’s hard to realize that your lesson is not going exactly how you wanted it, one often realizes this later on or even right after it’s done! I am so glad for this opportunity to learn and grow from every lesson and be creative and change things around in order to adapt every lesson to the needs of my students. I look forward to next week where I will be teaching 100% although it is very nerve-wracking. I am also worried because my SA won’t be there the entire week so I hope that it is not too overwhelming not just for me but for the students as well. I am hopeful that everything will go smoothly 🙂