During my four week Education 490 practicum I had the opportunity to teach Grade 8 and Grade 9 english. Despite the exceptional circumstances presented by the quarter system, this was an experience of growth in terms of my teaching presence, classroom management, and professional development. Starting with my Grade 8 students, I quickly learned that working middle-year-ages requires a lot of energy and creativity. Because we were at the end of the first quarter, I introduced a creative writing a poetry unit to these students. Our goal by the unit was to have created poetry chapbooks, and we would have a sharing circle to celebrate our work. During this unit I taught the students about different forms poetry and how we could use language and imagery to express creative meaning in our writing. Our unit was themed around the question: “Where do we get inspiration from?” The poems that the students created had them consider what goals, places, people, and memories that were important to them. This gave all members of the class a chance to reflect on what they valued, and for everyone to learn more about each other. What I learned from those first two weeks with the Grade 8s was the value that building strong relationships with my students has on their motivation and success in the classroom. This was something that I really focused on when I started with my Grade 9 students the following week. With this group I spent a lot of time trying to establish a culture of community and communication within our classroom. By the end of our two weeks together, I feel like I been able to build a connection with each student in my room. My goal moving forward will be to find ways to personalize learning opportunities using what I know about my students, and what is important to them.
Community was a key theme for me this practicum. I was very thankful to be welcomed into a positive working environment in this high school. My wonderful coaching teacher, and the school were very welcoming. I had a chance to observe teachings indifferent subjects like art, foods, and even go to work with the teacher librarian during my free blocks. Grade 9 Foods was an incredible class to observe because the students were all making recipes of their own so there was much happening! In the future I hope to be able to learn more about and explore teaching opportunities in elective classes. Another experience that I had during my practicum was the opportunity to attend an informative professional develop workshop about decolonizing education held by Dr. Dustin Louie. I am thankful to have had these opportunities for professional growth.
