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.

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!

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.