Practicum Day 1: Taking control of your learning Im really impressed with the teachers style in leading the children

to manage their time and take responsibility of their learning. Today, the grade threes had their first English Provincial Achievement Test and the students did really well. From my own experience, I understand this is an extremely stressful time for the children; however, the teacher is familiar with her class, and can identify the needs of her students. The test was one and a half hours and the teacher understood that this is a long time for grade three students to be sitting. She took lots of steps to ensure that the class did their very best work, and she did it in a unique way. During the test, the children were allowed snack and stretch time, taken when THEY needed it. Any time during the test, when they felt themselves losing focus, they could go to the mat for a quick stretch or snack. This is a very efficient technique in keeping the children energized and focused. On the other hand, some children were distracted by this technique, as it provided them with an opportunity to fool around. That being said, the teacher quickly noticed the behavior and gently reminded them to use their stretch time effectively. Close to the end, most of the children were squirming in their desks; they managed to stay somewhat focused and completed their writing assignment. As a student teacher I would love to use this method with my own class. I believe this is a great way to let students take control of their own learning, by using the tools and techniques available for them. With the teachers support and guidance most of the students were able to stay focused and do great. This practice reflects how providing your students with techniques suited to their needs can create a great learning experience. Cant wait for tomorrow! Practicum Day 2: Building a Community one Nacho at a Time

What a great day! Only two days of practicum and already so much fun. Today I got to read to the kids, test a child on sight words and the best part; helping them to make nachos for their party! This activity helped me to get to know the children better, as I worked with the kids on estimating the amount of ingredients they would each get. As a part of classroom management strategy, the teacher set up a point system to motivate the children and improve their behavior. The class sets two goals, the number of points they must earn and what behaviors they need to improve. An interesting part of this strategy is that the children decide as a class what their goals will be. As a point of improvement the students decided to set a goal to raise their hands in class when they wanted to speak. Each time they accomplished something like this they would earn a point and 45 points [this time] meant that theyd earned a party. I have seen this method used before, but never in such an effective way. In the past I have seen the class split up into teams that would compete for points throughout the year. This creates tension between the two groups and the outcome is always the same; a winner and a loser. Instead of being split into groups, the third graders work as one group to earn points, which works similarly to a team building exercise. In addition to this, they get to plan their own party! The party was so much fun for all the children, but they were mostly in control of their own behavior. Even when the teacher stepped out for a moment, the children never misbehaved. Something I found interesting also is the reason the children had the party today and not Friday. ONE girl could not attend. The class accepted this and planned the party for today. What a strong community! This is an example of three things we learned in class. Again, it comes down to classroom management and also building a community to make it our class and not my class. The teacher guides the children to create their own

community and manage their own behavior. By allowing the class to govern themselves, they begin to develop skills that will help them in the future. Thanks for reading everyone! I cannot wait to see you all next week for another great week of learning!

Practicum Day 3: Writers block Today in class the children had writers workshop. I learned that at first the students didnt like the writer workshops because they found it boring. After discussing it with their teacher they came up with a variety of other ways to do the assignment (i.e. they could describe their weekend, write a poem, describe a picture they had written etc.) and still practice their writing. I realize that it has become an accepted standard for many to provide a structured learning environment for children but I feel it is equally important to give the students options because it allows them make decisions; then, they enjoy what they are doing whilst using their time effectively. This means that fewer children are coming up and asking if they could do something else. During this time I could see that some of the children needed help. For example, it seemed that two of the girls were struggling to stay focused as though uninterested. Sitting down with them, I tried to encourage them by asking clarifying questions about their stories so they might come up with things they could write down. The girls still needed a nudge every once in a while and some discussion to encourage them to keep writing but in the end they were able to accomplish their individual goals. The notable difference I found between the two girls however was the style of learning that would stimulate them best; one being a visual learner and the other as an auditory learner. I kept an eye on them for the remainder of the workshop but they seemed to do very well afterwards.

After a discussion with my TA, I was happy to learn that shed approved my method by saying that it is important as teachers to engage students so that they may think about who, what, where, when, why and how for themselves without doing the work for them. I am pleased that I was able to help the two girls effectively since they did have great ideas; they only needed the little push to get them going. It is like we talked about in class; sometimes, all it takes is the teachers presence and classroom awareness. Another great day! I cannot wait for tomorrow

Practicum day 4: Look, listen and understand. Another exciting day spent with the third grade. The play put on by the Ever Green theatre was fantastic. I love theatre for young audiences because children have the best reactions to things. I also had a chance to go to the fourth grade classes and help them as they learned about gears. I noticed that helping students in grade four is very different from helping third graders. The fourth graders are more self-motivated and communicate easily; they knew when to listen and when to talk. Today, in my third grade class, I worked with three boys who are ahead of the class in math. In order to challenge them, the teacher had assigned them harder questions. The boys had a difficult time communicating with one another while working together to solve the problems. There was one question, for example, where one of the boys did not get the same answer as the other two. He did not give his group members a chance to share their strategies. When he explained his strategy however, I could not follow his thought process and neither could the others. He didnt seem to realize that although the things he was saying made sense to him, he was speaking too quickly for others to keep up with him.

He is, however, being taught and reminded that people understand best when explained to simply and slowly which has helped him improve from the past. Also, after discussing his response with my TA, I found that I was not the only one confused by his explanation. The boy is advanced in math, confident and verbal. I learned that at home he is used to being heard, often leading him to take control of conversations in class. This is a behavior he is working on with the help of his teacher. Communication is especially important with this child because he is an auditory learner. Next time, I should to be more specific with my instructions towards him. Instead of asking him to TELL me what he did, I should have asked him to SHOW the other two boys and I his strategy for solving the problem. He had an interesting method of solving the problem and he was excited to share. Knowing when to listen and when to share your thoughts is a difficult skill to master. His teacher has already helped him come a long way, by remembering to constantly remind him to raise his hand when he would like to share and also to remind him to listen to others when they are speaking. With his teachers guidance, I can see him learning to share his ideas with his classmates without overwhelming them Practicum day 5: Strategies to learn I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such a diverse group of students that always challenge me to push myself to the next level and build on my past experiences. Today I was able to work with six students on reading comprehension. The class had done this exercise before however, so this presented a challenge because some students felt that they would not benefit from re-doing the assignment. My focus was to entice the children to work together on strategies so that they might get the right answers. One of the best readers in the class was able to

answer the questions from memory rather than work with the group. I allowed the student to work at her own pace and she finished quickly. She did not understand the point of the assignment, which was to exercise reading comprehension and strategies rather than reciting a, b, c & d answers from memory. With the help of my TA, we were able to convince the girl of the importance of a group work setting and taking the time to read and understand. Also, we were able to teach her that memorization without understanding is an inefficient way to learn. At one point another student that I had worked with previously started to take control of the conversation. I told him that he needed to stop explaining his strategies to me. I explained to him that it would be better for him and his group if he could explain what hed done to them so they could review and figure out together the best way to solve the problems. This worked! I was able to direct the boy to discuss his strategies and listen to the other students, which also helped to allow the girl see the mistakes she had made. In the end the students in the group were able to complete the assignment and find what works best for them. One of the lessons from todays experience is, understanding the student, knowing their strengths/weakness and being able to give each student direct instruction on how to better themselves and strengthen their skills. Practicum Day 6: Practice Makes Perfect! Be at the elbow, but dont hold the pen. Linda Cameron When I had trouble with math in junior high I would go to my older brother for help. He would always do the problem for me and then try to explain what he did afterwards. This caused more problems than solved for me because by that

point I would not care HOW he answered the question since I already had the answer. It is always quicker and less frustrating to give the student the answer rather than help them to figure it out on their own. The problem is that children learn to rely on others solving problems for them rather than figure it out themselves. Today, I almost did what my brother used to do for me. I noticed a girl struggling with a math problem and when I approached her she asked me for assistance. I started by showing her how to answer the question only to realize that I was writing the answers down for her. I had to (mentally) step back for a moment, give the pen back to the girl and guide her through the math problem instead. I realized that as long as the pen was in my hand I would just solve the problem for her and she would not learn anything. The trick is to realize how much help is necessary because there is such thing as too much. In fact, the very definition of the word learning given to us in the dictionary is The acquisition of skills through experience, practice or study. This means that when something is done for us we dont learn. Practicum Day 7: Celebrating the little things Today I spent the afternoon with the kindergarten class. I have worked with kindergarteners before and learned a lot from both classes. This time proved to be a more positive experience because I was able to use what I had learned last time. Today there was a misbehaving student. The teacher tried a few different ways to get him to improve his behavior such as by talking to him, talking to the principle and using time outs. Eventually, he was told to sit next to me, which was away from the group and at a table. When I had volunteered at Holy Family elementary school, a student was told to sit beside me but this did not improve their behavior and now I think I know some of the reasons why. I realized after

watching him for some time that he just wanted some attention. Sitting next to me quieted him slightly; however, he was still distracting other students. This student was shouting answers out, so I turned to him and put my finger to my lips and told him that it was good he knew the answers, but needed to raise his hand. The boy followed my instructions but he was already fidgeting because the teacher was not noticing his raised hand. I told him he was doing well and he could move closer if he continued to manage his behavior on his own. He was able to participate in the class discussion and eventually rejoined the group. The difference between what I did this time and what I had done last time was in the focus on the type of behavior. By reinforcing the students good behavior rather than point out what he had been doing wrong, I was able to get him to see that he could get much better results. I think Im finding out that in t he case of children, they feel as though we are ignoring them so they do the wrong things purposefully so that they may be recognized as well. Another great day! I enjoyed working with the kindergarteners; however, I did miss my third graders and cannot wait to get back to working with them and learning from them tomorrow. Practicum day 8: I can speak louder than you can! What a day! Today I did my micro teach and this was the first time I have taught a lesson to an entire class. I was a little nervous but overall it went well and I learned a lot about my strengths as well as things I need to keep improving on. One thing I learned about myself is the tendency I have to rely on my voice. While students worked in groups, I noticed that I had been raising my voice a little bit when things started to get out of control. From past experience I have learned that this isnt an effective strategy because teachers have done it to me and I have done it when I was a camp counselor; in both cases it didnt work well. It has become habit now for me to raise my voice when I find that children

are not listening or ignoring me but I have found that usually it isnt because theyre ignoring me. Usually, they are just so engaged in what they were doing that they would not be listening. Naturally, they would just get louder in order to be heard within their own groups. Although raising my voice can get a students attention sometimes, it doesnt always work in every situation and it wasnt going to work now. It takes a little bit more patience to just stand back for a moment and think of other ways to get their attention. I used two strategies today, one of which I had learned from my TA since it worked before. I turned off the lights to get their attention and reminded them to keep the volume under control. I used this because I have seen it being used before and it has always been effective. Another strategy I used when I was doing a discussion at the carpet was much simpler. I would stop, put my finger to my lips and then raise my hand. This worked really well because I did not need to say anything; the students realized they were not raising their hands and that it was getting noisy all by themselves. As teachers we have to find what works for each class. I used a method the students were accustomed to alongside my own strategies. Leading by example is a very important thing to keep in mind. When I raised my voice, so did the students. When I put my finger to my lips or turned off the lights they started to take control of their own behavior because they could see for themselves that something they were doing wasnt good. After asking them the first time to quite down they started to monitor each other. When they found that the class was getting too loud, they would turn off the lights themselves and ask their own classmates to quite down; a skill their teacher had worked on with them over the course of the year. I have learned so much from my TA, the other teachers and the students and am glad I had the opportunity to work with them all.