Through the 490 practicum I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to test my strengths as a teacher, discover areas where I would like to improve, and to continue my growth as an educator. I believe that my patience as a person continued to be an asset in the classroom as it helped me to take my time in my lessons to wait for student understanding and give the time and space for students to learn more difficult concepts. I was able to recognize stages of student learning through their expressions, answers to questions and conversations in practice to help moderate my pace and better support student learning, and I would like to continue to grow in my ability to translate the information I take into improvements in my teaching. During this practicum I was also able to see that my curiosity about how the world works will be an asset going forwards, as it keeps me learning about scientific advancements and their implications on our lives and the environment. I found in my classroom that I could use my own interest in technology to link my lessons to student interests and to real world implications of chemistry which helped engage students in the lessons and enrich their learning.
While the 490 practicum helped me to see some of my strengths as an educator it was also an excellent opportunity to discover and work on areas where I needed to grow. One such area for growth is the definition of my boundaries and expectations for the classroom as well as how to set and enforce those expectations. Whether it is showing my expectations for standards of work by being clear in my instruction and consistent in my responses and marking of student work or setting and enforcing behavioral expectations for students in the classroom, I was able to see how important these expectations are. After seeing the evidence of how important this is in my second week I was able to start setting and enforcing these expectations and was surprised to see how quickly students positively responded to the expectations I set. Going forwards I plan to continue to explore what expectations I want to set with my students, particularly with how I arrange and carry out my assessments.
Another area for growth I was able to find was my budgeting of time for lessons and units, particularly in the first half of the practicum I had difficulty determining how long I should spend on given topics or activities, especially in the context of the entire chemistry unit. Throughout my four weeks I gained an appreciation for the balance that needs to be struck between spending enough time on each topic while still preparing students with a breadth of skills and knowledge that they will need going forwards. Over my practicum I was able to better budget my time, but I also believe that through more experience teaching I will continue to improve in this area.
One of my favorite experiences in this practicum was the opportunity I had to give students a refresher on lab safety before my first lab. I used the lab safety jeopardy that I created earlier in the program to remind students how to behave in a lab setting in a fun and engaging way. This gave me the chance to give the students a fun activity that got them engaged, having fun, and stoked their competitive spirit. While the students were having fun I was also able assess and refresh their knowledge and ensure that they would be able to safely carry out the following flame test lab. All together this practicum was an encouraging experience that pushed me to grow in many ways, and showed me several areas that I can continue to grow as an educator.
