Barriere Elementary Grade 5/6

 

When I first walked into Mr.Allans class, all of the students were on computers. At first, I was shocked. As I walked around the class, there were a bunch of students playing games and not on task. I started thinking in my mind that I would never have technology in my classroom like that due to the distraction that it can create. I watched the first lesson that was on Chromebook. I walked around and observed how the students were doing on their computers. Overall, there were a lot of students working hard on their Chromebooks, with a few not doing what they are supposed to. After class, I talked to Mr.Allan about the Chromebooks. He really enjoys using them for his classroom. He explained to me that many students in his class don’t have access to technology at home due to money. I took that idea and thought about it on my way home that day. Having the students do their work on a Chromebook could be the most exciting part of their day. The technology makes learning fun and also gives the students responsibility of keeping their computers safe. The Chromebooks are a very positive thing in Mr.Allan’s class. The students are always looking forward to the assignments that are on the Chromebook. At the beginning of practicum, I would have never imagined thinking I would use computers in my classroom, but I have since realized that computers could be the most positive thing in the students day. 

After teaching my first two lessons in Mr.Allans grade 5/6 class I am feeling very comfortable being the “teacher” leading the lesson. Before I taught my first lesson I was feeling very nervous. The nerves were driven by not knowing the students, not knowing what to expect and not knowing how the lesson on idioms I created was going to go. But as soon as I got up in front of the class, the nerves went away. My first lesson went relatively well. I did a quick explanation of the assignment with the students and then sent them on their way to get it done. Shortly after starting, I realized some students weren’t on the right track. So I rang the chime and re explained the directions to the students in more detail. The students did a great job on the assignment and I thought it went well. When planning my second lesson, the one that would be observed by Liz, I tried to make the instructions very detailed. To me, the directions seemed very straightforward and easy to follow. On the day of my lesson, I didn’t feel as nervous as I did the first week. I think this was because I had more time with the student and had my first lesson under my belt. Ms.Sawchuk set up my lesson beautifully by teaching the students about nouns, verbs and adjectives. My lesson was a scaffold of Ms.Sawchuk’s, using their work on nouns, verbs and adjectives and putting them into a diamante poem with a Remembrance Day theme. I gave the students time to brainstorm some words for their poems and then caught their attention again to explain the poem. I just quickly went over the poem, what the structure is, what language to use. After I explained the poem, I handed out the poem worksheet. Thankfully I had the poem in the proper structure and labeled what was needed on each line. The poems turned out well and the students seemed to really enjoy it. After my lesson was over, and after chatting with Liz, I realized that I needed to give out better directions for the poem section of the assignment. Next time, I would have handed out the poem worksheet, put a copy up on the board and then explain the directions to accommodate the visual learners in the classroom. And to ensure the students understood completely, I would ask if there were any questions or get a student to repeat the directions back to me. So after my first two lessons taught, I have learned that I need to explain each activity in greater detail and don’t assume everyone will understand. Moving forward, I will make sure my lesson plans include greater detail along with prompts to myself to ask for questions and get students to repeat the instructions. I am super excited to watch myself continue to improve and grow as a teacher!

In this first practicum, I have learnt so much and now have an insight of what my day to day will look like in my future classroom. I have thoroughly my classroom and the student and Mr. Allan have been so supportive as I start my teaching career. 

Throughout this practicum, I have made excellent growth in developing my lessons. For the first lesson I taught, I found it very difficult to figure out a lesson that will interest all the students while also allowing them to learn and work on new skills. My first lesson felt very choppy and rushed. Since I was unaware of the students, I wasn’t sure how long the lesson on idioms would take. Parts of the lesson that I thought would go really quickly took more time and vice versa. But since my first lesson, I have found it easier in developing lesson plans. Knowing the students more has also really helped me in creating lessons, since I am aware of their needs and interests more than I was when I first started. Mr. Allan was always very supportive and would help us whenever needed.

Throughout my time in Mr.Allan’s class, I worked hard to observe his classroom management and organizational strategies. Personally, I think that strong classroom management is the key to teaching. Mr. Allan had very strong routines and you could tell. His students were very responsive to him. Some transitions got noisy as the students got up and moved around but Mr. Allan always remained calm. I also found it beneficial to watch the students and see different behaviours within the classroom. By watching students, I found it easier to understand the classroom dynamics and it made it easier for me when I would teach. I could pick out the students that liked to fidget or students that took a bit more time to get started with their task at hand. Moving forward, it helped me when I was creating lesson plans.  

For the next practicum, I want to become more efficient in the directions I am giving to students. I found that in a few of my lessons that I taught, I went to quickly and didn’t give directions that were not detailed enough. Thankfully, the lessons I did teach were really set up for the student’s success. But moving forward, I need to become more mindful of the delivery of my directions for each assignment. I need to explain in better detail the expectations and steps students need to follow in order to be successful with the assignment. To improve on this, I will make sure my instructions are very clear and make sure the students completely understand before moving on. I could also check for understanding by getting the students to repeat the instructions back to me. Without clear instructions, students are unaware of my expectations throughout the assignment.