Topic: Professional Practice – Summative evaluation of Field Experience: (Practicum 1)
Thursday November 11th, 2010
Foundations of Professional Practice or Ethical Standards: This entry reflects professional practise and ongoing professional learning and development.
Description of the learning experience:
This summative evaluation was given to me by my associate teacher Sarah Ward during my first practicum. Sarah’s positive feedback helped build my confidence teaching younger students and let me know that I was on the right track. It also provided me with a chance to critically assess my own skills within the given categories.
What I learned from this experience:
Working with an experienced teacher I was able to learn many different teaching techniques that come with years of practice. Sarah had a very well organized and productive classroom. I learned that the pace is very fast when teaching grade 1. There is no down time and the students are only able to work on specific tasks for about 10 minutes before they start to get restless. Therefore, interactive lessons that appeal to many different learning styles are important. It is also important to gauge the students' level of focus on the task and modify the lesson accordingly.
How this learning experience will affect my classroom programming:
This learning experience has given me a chance to reflect on my own teaching practices and methods and build my skills as an elementary school teacher. I have learned many organizational strategies to help the classroom run smoothly. For example: Students have a Thursday file where Sarah Ward would send home their work from throughout the week. This is a great idea because it keeps the parents involved and shows them the work that their children are doing at school.
