In my break before my final practicum and completion of the Bachelor of Education program I took some time to reflect onto my relationship with education and how it has changed. At the beginning of this program the amount of information felt overwhelming, and the final practicum felt so far away. At the point of entering my final practicum I feel knowledgeable and so much more confident as a (soon-to-be) teacher. In the first experiential practicum I wondered about how a teacher candidate could feel calm and prepared for the final practicum. At this point I feel ready to throw myself into this final practicum fully as calm, confident, and prepared as I could be. This program has allowed me to grow and develop to the point where I am confident in my pedagogy, skills, and ideas.
The second teaching practicum allowed me to spend four weeks teaching one block of Humanities 8 and one block of Psychology 12. This practicum taught me a lot about planning for drastically different classes at the same time. It allowed me to build my quick lesson planning skills while not losing my drive to create engaging lessons with good time management. My favourite thing about this practicum was the amount of time that I spent getting to know my students. I left this practicum knowing that I got to know some of these students well and was impactful during the time that I was there.
In my second experiential practicum I made a personal goal to integrate myself into the school community, which I feel that I succeeded in. I made more connections with teachers, students, other school staff, and the community at large. I did this in various ways from socializing with staff at lunch, through helping at school functions, to participate in community events outside of school hours. One of the things I noticed was that students were often really happy to see me participating in school events as it allowed them to connect to me. I also gained a wider appreciation for the roles outside of teaching that a teacher takes on. I felt fulfilled by my further integration in the school community.
For my first experiential practicum I taught psychology 11/12. I am so grateful for the incredible staff, students, and faculty for welcoming into their school community. It was an incredibly moving experience to teach a topic that I am so passionate about. I have taken so much knowledge about differentiation, building relationships, and lesson planning out of this practicum.
I am very grateful that during my observational practicum I had the opportunity to experience three very different secondary schools in school district 57. All of my experiences enriched my understanding of the many ways that different factors can influence the engagement and structure of the classroom. I have observed exciting classroom management strategies, interesting building of classes, and diverse school communities.
If I could say anything to the schools and teachers that I observed, I would thank them for opening their arms and allowing me into their communities to help me learn and become a better educator.
On my first day of observations at my new school I was able to sit in on an English 10 class where the teacher presented two poems. The students all read and answered questions on the first poem the day before my observation. On the day that I was there the teacher had the students read and analyze the second poem and compare them.
These poems spoke to me. I loved seeing the students exposed to indigenous stories in their class. These poems were memorable and beautiful, I am so grateful to my education program for allowing me the chance to observe and learn from impactful educators telling important stories.
In the beginning of my education program one of my first tasks was to collaborate on a bulletin board that was appropriate at a high school level. My group decided to focus on the importance of community on personal development.