Practicum Days – Miss T's Blog

Well, this was the final leg of my BEd journey. This was the last leg of the journey that I worked so hard for during the 16 months I was in the program.

I didn’t expect this practicum to go the way that it did. However, I learned so much and it prepared me to be comfortable in the classroom by myself. During this practicum, I was mostly alone in the classroom with 25 students. I am used to having multiple adults in the room, so I liked the fact that I got to learn how to manage a classroom on my own.

This practicum allowed me to try out different classroom management techniques. I started using a management tool called “Activity with Miss. T. ” The students were given classroom expectations that they were to follow and if I noticed that they were doing what was expected, they would get an activity card. Once the students had collected five cards, they would be allowed to participate in an activity during recess, whether it be a game in the gym or a board game etc. This tool helped quite a lot in the management of individual students. The students enjoyed it and would often ask, “What can I do to get a card?” or “I think this person should get a card because…”

I encountered a challenging situation almost every day during this practicum, however, the community within the school was so tight-knit and supportive that I never felt like I never had any support. Whether it be needing help with the photo copier or a student’s behaviour, there was always someone there to help me when I needed it. The staff at Nukko Lake treated each other like family and welcomed me the moment I stepped through the doors.

I am very glad that this was my experience for my last practicum. It allowed me to try out different techniques I had and really helped me step into my educator’s shoes. I officially feel like a fellow educator instead of just a student that stepped into the classroom with no idea what is going on.

Here are some photos of activities I got to do with my class…

The self-agreement one must make when becoming a teacher is being open to learning constantly. That’s why teacher candidates must complete four practicums when attending the Bachelors of Education program. With the idea that I am meant to learn from practice and experience, I jumped into my second practicum feet first and was terrified of failing.

I have always felt content and comfortable whenever I am in the classroom, and my first day of practicum was no different. All my nervousness and fear of failure disappeared, and I felt as if I was in my element. I immediately started building a relationship with the students and learned about their personalities and interests.

During the first week of practicum, I taught a Black History Month lesson about Nelson Mandela and asked the students to write a paragraph on what they learned about him and why he was an important figure. The students loved the lesson and wrote very moving and personal paragraphs. Having such a great first lesson with the students, I felt comfortable and ready to create more lessons for them. But before I knew it, my worst nightmare happened… I got COVID and had to quarantine for the whole second week of practicum.

Experiencing this unexpected situation brought my stress levels to a new height. I became worried that I was not going to finish enough hours and lessons for my practicum. However, with the help of my practicum professor, I was able to make up the time that I missed and created lessons that the students absolutely enjoyed.

In this practicum, I learned the importance of classroom management. Students need to be interested in what you are teaching for them to want to participate in the activities. For most of my lessons, I used formative assessment because that form of assessment fit in better with the Montessori way of teaching. The students appreciated my formative assessment practice because they received critical feedback that they could use to alter their assignments and grow from.

Although there were a few bumps in the road toward success, I fully enjoyed my first practicum experience and loved getting to know the students and creating relationships with them. I learned a lot from my coaching teacher and created a tight-knit relationship with her. Because of this relationship, I now have someone who I can turn to with questions and someone who can give me advice based on their real-life experience.

For my next practicum, I hope to develop a better understanding and practice assessment and continue to practice my classroom management techniques and discover new ones. Let’s see what the next practicum has in store. 🙂

Category: Practicum Days

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