Associate: Christina Vizirakis-Lisi
Grade: 3
Northwood Elementary School
1100 Northwood Street , Windsor, Ontario N9E 1A3
519-969-7610
Principal: Rob Romano
Formative Report: Practicum 3 Formative 3L
Summative Report: Practicum Summative Report 3L
Overall Reflections:
What I will take away from this placement is the emphasis on kindness and giving appreciations to ourselves and others. Oftentimes, this is a practice within the hidden curriculum; however, I found that my associate and her close colleagues put the upmost importance on practicing these ideals every day with students. I learned how important it is to practice kindness and encourage it through curriculum activities like read alouds and application activities, which provides obvious positive effects on the students and overall running of the classroom. The best way to encourage students to be kind is to model how they should be kind in our classroom.
I learned so much about assessment in this practicum, due to the fact that my associate was very organized and completed an elaborate amount of assessments. She encouraged me to assess students in various ways and to show students how I will assess them before I do (success criteria), which provides them with a better chance to succeed at the task when they know what they should be doing in order to do so. The next task I would like to learn more about in my next placement is composing report card marks and comments, as this is something I have yet to be introduced to.
I truly learned the importance behind modifying work, as it provides every student with the opportunity to succeed. I have found it makes the most sense to explain modified work at the beginning of the school year to ensure that students understand why their work or the work of others is unique. It allows for a more inclusive environment, and I will undoubtedly do this in my future.
Though, at times, I found the diversity in this classroom a challenge, I truly appreciate it for it has taught me to become a better educator in every way, by helping me to understand how to approach diverse learners at once. It has led me to put more focus on catering to visual, tactile, and auditory learners as best I can. As well, the diverse learners in this classroom have led me to prepare and execute lessons according to better time management. My skills have improved and I could tell this was true during my last weeks of practicum, because everything was running more naturally.