December 11th,2020
What it is like having your teaching practicum during a pandemic?
I have just finished my third teaching practicum and before this part of the journey started, I did set a goal for myself for this practicum to be open to criticism and grow as much as possible. At the start of my practicum, I was nervous about going to a new school. It was going to be tough.
The pandemic made it even more stressful as it was big unknown at times. I was up for the challenge. I went in the first day with my chin up. I had some tough times with pacing during the first few days. I had way too much content to try to deliver in only 30- 45 min classes. I got to know the students and it became evident that students were able to co create our criteria for many of our subjects like social and science.
I had difficulties with math and language arts because of the range of skills in my class, but in the end, I had a strong feeling we were all learning and exploring the same content. When reading Katie Whites book “unlocked” it allowed me to connect to how assessment can create and promotes a creative mindset and practices that facilitates discussions around forgiveness and empathy and encourages learners to set future goals based on what they have learned as creative individuals (White, page 189). I was able to provide closure to the lessons by asking the students to share aloud their learning and to pair and share with their partners. It allowed for such great discussions and learning to take place. The ability for the students to step back and reflect on their creative work was so powerful in terms of their growth from my brief time with them, it made me realize that it does not take a lot to engage students, it only takes the ability to know what your learners want. That for me will always be the goal. I need to keep the student’s efforts and creative approaches in line with their learning goals to allow for the proper pacing of their content.
Now I understand the concentration it involves to truly scan your student’s strengths and utilize them for their benefits in a timely manner that they seem too able to recognize and organize their creative approaches to learning. During my 490-practicum experience, I learned how to assess and manage my classroom. I was learning how to be dealing with my own anxiety while at the same time recognizing stressors in the students.
I learned that I do better teaching the second lesson rather than the first. This was important to learn because it is an essential part of scaffolding the responsibility of learning on to the students during this pandemic, mental health should always be taken care of and healthy habits and management are key tools for success. Patience’s and time are key principles in first people’s principles of learning and are utilized to promote healthy learning opportunities for everyone.
My next steps for EDUC 491 practicum will be focusing on long term goals and pacing for unit planning over my final practicum.
References
White, K. (2018). Unlocked: Assessment as the key to everyday creativity in the classroom; Teaching and measuring creativity and creative skills. Solution Tree.