First Practicum experience
We have completed our first round of teaching experience under the guidance of our coaching teachers in our local districts. I was lucky enough to have Heidi Seibring as my mentor, she was my teacher when I went to Thornhill Jr many years ago. I was in a grade 5/6 split class, the majority of the students were grade 6 with 6 higher-achieving grade 5 students at Uplands Elementary.
I was quite nervous when I saw I had grade 6 because I originally thought I would go into primary when I graduate. Now at the end of my practicum, I will be happy if I end up in an intermediate classroom. Those kids were amazing, it wasn’t a large class, and as they were a little older there was less life-skill teaching (saying please and thank you, how to walk together down the hall, etc.). There was only one student who was categorized (Autism and ADHD), and one student who was on the spectrum but his parents never wanted to get him tested, or examined.
There was quite a range of abilities in the class and until I started my practicum I never realized the extent to which teachers juggle making sure the students who need a lot of extra help get it, and challenging the high-achieving students so they don’t get bored. Teachers also need to juggle time, you want to allow time for students who need extra attention but to a certain extent as there is so much material that needs to be covered throughout the year. Another aspect regarding time was when I would ask the students a question during the lecture portion, some students took a long time saying what they were thinking and one time I accidentally cut off a student when they were talking (the student was low but no category). By the end, I had a better sense of when to say “I’ll give you the time to gather your thoughts and I will come back to you” or just let them finish.
Relationships in the classroom between myself, my coaching teacher, education assistants, administration, and the students truly are important. It is one thing to talk about the importance of relationships in schools and is a completely different thing to experience it in real time. I saw how my coaching teacher handled each individual student to meet them where they are at while also offering guidance and acceptance. I saw her relationship with administration and other staff, the positivity really made day-to-day tasks or unexpected events a lot smoother. From her I also saw how flexible you need to be as an educator, things do not always go as planned and you need to have backup plans or ideas for everything.
It was bitter-sweet on my last day of practicum, I had such a good experience and am looking forward to my next one. I can’t wait to see what I will learn next.
Final Thoughts
I am so thankful that I made the decision to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher. This career is going to be so meaningful and fulfilling. I am very sad to be saying goodbye to the little kindergartners, I have to come to care for each and every one of them and gotten to know them so well.
Entering this program I thought I exclusively wanted to teach primary, grades k – 3, but now after completing the program my heart goes to middle school. I would love to have a classroom at Skeena Middle School. I don’t know if kindergarten is for me but it was so much fun creating exciting and fun lessons for them, taking them outside for lessons, and everything is so new to them.
Where ever I get a position next year I know it will be so rewarding and there is something for me to learn from students at any age or grade level.