First week down!

Well ladies and gentlemen,

I survived my first week of practicum! The best part is, I still want to be a teacher! My faculty advisor even said that one of my lessons is one that kids will remember for a long time! The kind of lesson that makes kids go "Hey, remember when we had that student teacher and he showed us an example of a meal from the Great Depression?" Overall, it was an awesome week even with my big goof at the beginning of the week.

Want to know what happened? Well ok, I'll tell you. Basically, I forgot to prep for an entire class. I go spoiled at College Heights Secondary and got to teach TWO Social Studies 11 classes. So I really only planned for one class... well, that was kind of what I was doing this practicum... then realized I don't teach two Socials 11 classes... I have a grade 9 and 11 class! It's ok though, I fixed it in the end and still delivered two excellent lessons. There were other factors as well, but that one was the best.

Overall, I think I have learned more this week than I have in my entire two years in the BEd program! This practical experience is really the most valuable. I'm really learning my strengths and my weaknesses. I'm super excited for next week to come already. I can't wait to start my Industrial Revolution unit, and World War Two unit!

That's all for now!

Cheers,

AR

Pre-Practicum Reflections

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a thought of the evening. Any suggestions on teaching Stock-market principles to grade 11s? The concept I'm having trouble explaining is buying stocks on margin. How do you explain that at a level that high school kids would actually understand? Any suggestions?

3 more sleeps!

Andrew

One Week Until Show Time!

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

Well, as the title suggests practicum is just a short week away! Five more sleeps to be exact. I must confess I was not nervous at first, until I realized how close it actually is. It's not that I'm scared, or afraid of the students, in fact, they are both really great groups. In fact, there is nothing I love more than getting up in front of the class and delivering a presentation. I think it is that I'm not as familiar with the material I will be teaching as I would like to be.

The classes I have been assigned to teach are Social Studies 9 and Social Studies 11. In my grade 9 class I will be teaching the Napoleonic Era and the Industrial Revolution. For my grade 11 class I will be teaching The Great Depression and World War Two. The last time I think I ever studied Napoleon and the French Revolution was when I was in grade 9! So, I have lots of background reading to do. I'm a little more comfortable with the grade 11 class since, a) I taught it last year, and b) CNC and UNBC history courses are primarily focused on Canada, so I have a good background knowledge of Canadian History. The only problem with the Great Depression unit is finding engaging activities and teaching in a way the kids will understand.

I have a very supportive cooperating teacher and faculty Advisor, so I shouldn't be so worried. Mr. Hauk and I work well together too, so the kids won't be too shocked when I take over "The Helm of This Starship" (Mr. Hauk used that quote when he told the kids to ask me questions because I'll be teaching them in a few weeks).
Also, Mr. Hauk wants to see my first lesson plan tomorrow so we can make any changes before I get upfront teaching, so once I get that out of the way I should calm down a little bit.

Anyway, I'll let you know how things turn out! Until next time,

AR