Tag Archives: practicum

Practicum Week 9:

1 Reply

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:

1 Reply

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 5:

1 Reply

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 🙂

Long Practicum Week 3:

1 Reply

During this shorter week which consisted of one Pro-Day Day, I continued teaching Math, Science and MindUp. I got observed by my FA and SA on the same day one after another. It was nerve-racking as always but I had decided that it would be best to get two observations out of the way in one day. During my Math lesson, I was afraid that I was not teaching it well when students were not responding to my questions and not showing any sign of understanding. I had assumed in my mind that I was not doing a good job in my explanation so I continued to repeat myself and do more examples. However, as my FA pointed out at the end of my lesson, that the lack of participation on the students part was not due to my teaching but due to boredom and tiredness of sitting for a long period of time. I had originally planned two brain breaks but because I was trying so hard to provide more examples in order for them to grasp the concept, a brain break completely slipped my mind.  Also, when I noticed that students were not participating, it may have been the case where they were not confident in their responses and not because they were not understanding the concept. I should have given them an opportunity to pair-share because I understand it’s easier to share with one classmate than it is to share with the teacher or the rest of the class.  Brain breaks and pair-sharing are two important strategies that I need to try and incorporate into my lessons more often.

As for my MindUp lesson which was right after recess, I began with calming the students down because students are usually energetic from playing outside. When students were calm and ready to move on, I began with a review of the brain parts—and continued with focusing on mindful listening. I ended the lesson with mindful and unmindful acts and had students out of their seats for this activity. My SA had really enjoyed watching my lesson and told me that it was interesting and insightful. “Mindful” was our word of the week from that lesson onwards.

Long Practicum Week Two:

1 Reply

Entering my second week of practicum was nerve-racking because Monday was my observation day. Although I’ve been observed before, this one being the first one of my long practicum seemed more important than all the other ones. Moreover, I was set to be observed near the end of the day which I have never experienced before.  I was so glad to hear that my classroom management has improved greatly. However, I do need to work on my pacing and brain breaks as mentioned before. I also need to reconsider everything that I plan for my lesson to make sure it is something that the students could handle or will it ruin the enjoyment of the lesson.

As for asking important and critical questions, I tried my best during my math and science lessons to help students extend thinking and learning. When I ask questions, I try and have students explain out loud their thinking to the rest of the class so that they can show that they really understand the concept and it’s also a great way for other students to learn something as well. Sometimes, it’s much easier for students to just say the answer to something rather than explain it, so I try and give them an extra minute and come back to them. I emphasize that the answer is not as important as showing their work or explaining how they got to that answer. This really shows students that effort needs to be implemented in their work in order to succeed. This is difficult because only a few students can really do this and others are either too shy to share or they really don’t know how to. Usually when I have a written assessment, I can see that most students are capable of the concept and are showing their work, but are just afraid of sharing out loud which is completely fine. I hope to try and build more confidence in students and I always try and pick students who usually do not raise their hand. Even if I am confident that a student will not be able to answer a question, and they continuously have their hands up, I will still choose them and scaffold and facilitate their understanding by leading them to the right direction. I hope that this shows students that it’s okay if they are a little confused and that I will help them towards the right direction.

For Division, although there is always one right answer, there are multiple ways of getting to that answer. I have allowed students to share their work when answering a division problem to show other students that each and every way of thinking is correct. Some students can do it mentally, while others need to draw it out and sketch the problem to help their learning and all ways are okay. I ask students many times during a lesson if there is only one way to do a problem and they always say no. Sometimes I even ask students to try doing a problem in two different ways to help them understand the concept better.

I will continue to try and ask deeper and more critical questions to help students in their learning. I am looking forward to the other eight weeks of practicum to not only enhance the students’ learning but my own learning as well.

Last School Visit Before Long Practicum!

1 Reply

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 🙂

Weekly School Visit..

1 Reply

This week, I was formally observed by my SA while teaching a Math lesson. The lesson started off okay and it was going well until I had the students engage in a partner game. Before beginning this game, I had a discussion with the students about working in partners and what that should look like. They were all very aware of what partner work should look like and its advantages as well. During the game, most students were enjoying it while others (even after having a conversation about being good partners) were starting to become upset at their partners. One student began crying because she wasn’t feeling well and she was upset that I didn’t understand her question. I asked her to take a minute to breathe and calm down and then I would come talk to her again. Before I got a chance to talk to her, the Education Assistant spotted her and took her out to speak to her. Unfortunately, she was feeling sick and she went to lay down at the office. Before then, I thought maybe my instructions weren’t very clear to her and it had caused frustration and therefore evoking tears. There was another student who was getting upset with his partner and using foul language so I asked him to take a seat at the corner to calm down and that he could come back when he is ready to be respectful.

I find it difficult to get students attention once they are fully engaged in an activity and are enjoying it and talking and laughing out loud. Although my signal is loud enough to be heard, students are reluctant to stop what they are doing and therefore after three signals and some waiting time, I had to pause before moving on to the next activity to speak about getting their attention. I briefly explained to them what the use of the tambourine is for and that I am finding it difficult to get their attention. We practiced it a couple of times and I attempted to explain to them what needs to be done once they are responding to my signal. Thankfully this discussion helped for most of the lesson.  I had a brain break which the students really enjoyed. However, after the brain break, students were becoming antsy and perhaps it was my fault for extending the lesson. I should have stopped ten minutes before recess to give them time for snacks but I had continued up until recess time even though I could see that they were becoming a little careless. Overall my SA said I did all the right things but I just have a difficult group of kids. I really hope she is right because sometimes I am very hard on myself and feel as though I am not doing good enough. I will continue teaching math until this unit is complete and next week I will be informally observed by my other SA to get a different perspective. I hope it goes well.

Weekly School Visit:

1 Reply

This week’s practicum day was eventful and memorable. I started the morning teaching a math lesson per usual up until recess time. This particular math lesson was different from the other ones I’ve been teaching because I decided to personalize the lesson and not follow everything from the teacher’s guide. Most importantly, I did not have the students use their heavy and distracting textbooks!  I used the teacher’s guide for some of its valuable content and main ideas and of course topic but I decided to change the activities to make it more appealing for the students and for myself since I had to teach it. I was very pleased with how the lesson went and the atmosphere of the classroom was calm and quite positive. I had the students work in pairs and be able to use the classroom for their learning activity. My SA’s feedback was very positive as well. I really like how she doesn’t interfere with my lessons and even if she is in the classroom watching my lesson, she allows me to take care of the behaviors of the students unless it is dangerous or extremely disrespectful. For the afternoon we had a field trip to an Alice in Wonderland play in a nearby high school. I hadn’t anticipated much because I was never a huge fan of plays but I was completely blown away. It was the most fascinating, engaging and well done play I have ever seen. I was so grateful I had the opportunity to experience that and the students had absolutely loved it and I witnessed smiles and laughter throughout the entire play. All the actors were singers, acrobats, and dancers and there was so much talent in the room which was inspiring and thrilling to watch.

It was interesting to hear all the conversation that was going on among all the elementary students who were inside a big high school. They were discussing how one day they will get to attend this high school or another one, and they were giggling throughout the conversation. When we are younger we all want to be grown up yet when we become older, we wish to be younger. Some students watched a few high school students walking in a particular way and automatically labelled them as the “cool students.” I asked the kids why they had made that particular association and they said because of the way they walked. With baggy jeans and shoulders leaning back. I wasn’t shocked that even young grade 3 kids would make a connection like that because of what society has ingrained in them. I told the students that everyone is “cool” in their own way and that the way a person walks or dresses does not determine their status and they just nodded and agreed.

I look forward to continuing teaching math and learning new ideas and strategies along the way.

Weekly School Visits..

1 Reply

This week I continued teaching Math but also decided to teach Second Step as well. It was just a suggestion made my SA and it sounded fair so I agreed with it. I taught both lessons back to back starting with Second Step. I made sure to add some brain breaks in between and although I had until recess for both lessons, I didn’t have enough time to complete Math. My main SA was only there until lunch and my other SA was absent so we had a TOC come for the afternoon. I felt that I needed to finish the math lesson so that the students could fully grasp the content therefore I asked if I can have just 20 minute to complete it. Both my SA and the TOC had agreed and squeezed math into the afternoon schedule. Overall, the lessons went per usual which minor interruptions and disturbances but fairly well. I will continue teaching math every school visit and another lesson as well. I was hoping to transition from Second Step to Mind Up by next week or so but unsure of my decision yet. I really hope I can use Mind Up to help students understand the idea of mindfulness and its association with the brain. I am a little nervous jumping into Mind Up only because I hope I can teach it as well as its supposed to be taught and I hope the students really grasp the idea of it without forgetting it or being confused by it. It’s also difficult for the students and myself because I am not always there and they would only hear of it once a week, so perhaps I can save it until my ten week practicum to introduce it. I am still unsure.

The rest of the afternoon went well and one of our other students was moving schools so we had a small surprise for her. Near the end of my math lesson, the Education Assistant of the student leaving had brought cake and I completely lost the kids once they saw the cake. I quickly wrapped up the math lesson and we all enjoyed the cake and said our goodbyes. The classroom is going to feel emptier without that student but I hope they transition well into their new school.

I am looking forward to continuing my math lessons and expanding my knowledge and trying new things as I continue my teaching journey.

Weekly Practicum: Never give up..

1 Reply

During this week’s practicum, I was being formally observed so I was quite nervous especially because I was stepping outside my comfort zone by teaching a different subject for the first time. I was getting very comfortable with teaching Second Step so I decided to take a risk and try something new. I am glad I did because I need to start preparing for my long practicum and what better way to do that then experiment on all subject areas.

I was disappointed with how my lesson went because I was finally starting to feel like my students were seeing me as a teacher, and I was beginning to feel more in control of management issues until this lesson which made me feel like I was back in square one. Although I was a little upset at myself for not being able to implement more of the strategies that I had learned with regards to class management, I felt better when I finished up the lesson later that afternoon. I decided that I really wanted the students to grasp the content that I was teaching for that math lesson so my SA made room in her schedule to allow me to finish off the lesson. Perhaps it was the time of day, and students were feeling more tired than earlier, or perhaps I did not want to make the same mistakes of allowing chaotic behaviour reoccur but either way, the follow up lesson went much smoother and there was a great decrease in interferences and disrespectful behaviour. Students were on task, our class discussions were engaging, and majority of the students finished their work on time. It was no doubt a much shorter lesson, but the outcome was much more successful. I was much more hopeful and less disappointed following this lesson.

I am aware of the weaknesses of the lesson this week, but I hope that for the next few weeks, I can continue to improve and grow from this experience. I am looking forward to teaching new subjects, learning new strategies, and enriching my teaching experience as I continue my journey.