Practicum 3 – Walkerville Collegiate Institute – February 22-March 11, March 21-April 1, 2016
On this practicum placement, I taught two grade 10 applied history classes and spent my other two periods in a credit recovery class and in the Learning Support Room at Walkerville Collegiate. Since I had my first placement at Walkerville, it was a comforting feeling walking into a familiar building and being welcomed by students and staff I recognized. This placement I faced students with learning difficulties and classroom behaviour issues. In both of my classes I encountered students who challenged my position as a teacher.
In my first few days of placement, I had several students state that they hated me or hated student teachers and therefore refused to come to class. As a new teacher, I was scared when students expressed that they did not like me. I found it hard to not take these comments personally, but my associate was extremely helpful and kind and assured me that these students did not even know me before making the judgment. He told me to keep my confidence up and to continue teaching, as he knew I was capable of. I struggled my first week or so to connect with the students as a lot of them had this mentality that I was not a real teacher or their real teacher do I did not matter. These comments were an immediate confidence crusher and I felt my students lacked respect for me. I quickly learned that I had to stand my ground as a teacher and not let the students see that their actions affected me. I was able to overcome this setback and the rest of my weeks ran smoothly, I even had one student come full circle and began to open up to me on my last few days. This was truly an amazing moment for me. This student had previously refused to come to class because of me was now conversing with me on a friendly level.
Another issue I faced was with mental health in the classroom. In one of my classes, my associate and I encountered a student who was cutting. I learned the proper procedures to deal with this and was able to work with the student academically to keep her on track. She was able to get the support needed and as far as I was made aware she was on track to discovering an alternative method of coping. Another student of mine faced severe anxiety and panic attacks. I never experienced this during one of my classes, but I had the opportunity to talk with her mom and we able to ensure this student felt comfortable in class and what to do should a panic attack occur. Due to her anxiety, she missed significant amounts of school so I had to ensure she was on track to success. These students were both such hard workers that I would have never suspected their mental illnesses. I was very thankful for the many workshops and lectures we have received at the faculty, as I was able to handle these situations better equipped.
I had many students with IEP’s that I had not encountered before. One student required a computer for her work and I struggled to differentiate my lessons to accommodate my lessons to suit her needs. This student also faced fine motor skills so I had to adjust my marking scheme for her assignments and had to provide her with additional resources to get tasks done. Again, this learning curve for me as a teacher has made me feel better equipped to help students with learning difficulties in the future.
This practicum block fell during two important events; the OSSLT and parent teacher interviews. I had the opportunity to be a part of both. I spoke with five parents of my students and I was grateful to my associate for allowing me to be a part of this. This experience was less nerve racking having my associate there with me, as he was able to guide the conversation while allowing me to give input as well. During the OSSLT, I assisted the Learning Support Teacher in proctoring the test. I was with the students who had accommodations; some had audio versions, computer, extended time, or scribes. I observed them writing, assisted with questions, and helped with minor aspects of the whole day. It was a great experience to be a part of a test that we had learned so much about and spent so much time preparing the students for.
Overall, this practicum block was both eye opening and enlightening. I saw a lot of staff that work within the school including the child and youth worker, addictions councilor, and school nurse and I was able to utilize the resources that Walkerville provides. I had filled out multiple incident reports and spoke to the vice principal on many occasions. All of this was only possible because I had an associate who allowed me to take full reign of the classes I taught and allowed me to deal with the issues with his support but not full intervention. As a teacher, I feel that this placement block has allowed me to grow and become better equipped for students I may face in the future.