The EDUC 391 practicum was an excellent opportunity to obtain some experience in front of a classroom and to discover or confirm what my initial strengths and growth areas may be as a new teacher. The practicum was also and excellent chance to gain context for what I have been learning in classes, and to provide a framework for the ideas we will be exploring for the next few semesters. One strength that I planned to rely on in my practicum was my patience and even temper, I found throughout my practicum that my patience served me well in the bridging math 9 class I was teaching. I was feel I was able to reach students where they were and take my time explaining material, and was able to wait for students to try concepts for an appropriate amount of time before giving one on one assistance to those who needed it.
My bridging math 9 class was also an excellent group for encouraging me to practice my universal design for learning as the class had students with various learning difficulties such as dyscalculia, information processing difficulties, and lack of motivation. In terms of presenting materials in multiple ways for students I feel I did a good job of giving students multiple verbal, text, visual, and hands on lessons as well as one on one assistance during practice time to help students who were having difficulty with particular topics. One particular area I would like to continue to extend my practice in UDL is creating more extension learning opportunities for students in the room who need more of a challenge to keep them engaged in a meaningful way, particularly in this class that had such a wide range of mathematical skill levels.
This short practicum was a good chance to discover areas that I want to grow in and give me a chance to start that process. One of these areas for me was my confidence in classroom management where I would like to continue to improve my clarity of directions with students and to improve my ability to demand more from my students in a way that feels natural to my personality. Another area for growth would be to continue my journey towards a solid pedagogical stance on how I handle assessment of students, particularly with how I deal with incomplete or late work due to extenuating circumstances or just a lack of motivation.
My main inquiry from my time in bridging math 9 has to do with this lack of motivation that I observed in some of the students in my classroom. I would like to continue to develop ideas and strategies in my assessment, lessons, and classroom management that can foster engagement and motivation in students.