Agatha Klassen

Practicum Reflection: Week 2

November 25, 2016
One thing that I realized as I was looking at several teacher blogs was how different
connections were made between student and student depended a lot on the differences in the
students. It is important to make a connection with each student. As I was reading one blog, it
said to find the right way to connect to each child, make a joke, talk about a specific thing such
as sports or hobby. This led to think about the connections I had already made with some of my
students. For some students, you do not even have to try and you make a connection, and other
students you really have to work on it. Thinking back to my ED2500 class, I remember that I had
some difficulty with this. For some it came easily and others I had to work for the connection.
Subconsciously I tried to connect with one particularly student who had anxiety and that student
was one of the first connections I had made with any of the students, despite the teacher telling
me that she would adjust well to a newcomer in the classroom. In doing this, I had failed to make
connections to other students, and I had not realized this. I need to keep this in mind with this
practicum, all students want a connection to their teacher, for some it is just harder to gain access
to. I really hope by the end of the semester I have some kind of connection to each student in my
class. I have noticed that I have made multiple connections already and I need to work on the rest
of the class.
One area I have grown in is in effectively wrapping up a class. For some reason when I
teach, I forget to look at the time. I am busy instruction when the bell rings and the student do
not listen when I am doing a conclusion. I made a mental note to look at the time frequently and
starting about 3-5 minutes early to wrap up class. This way students can begin to wind down,
they are listening to the conclusion and it gives them time to finish what they are working on.

This way they are ready on time for the next class. I made it a goal for each lesson that I was
teaching and I have noticed that I am slowly growing in this area. This part week, I started to
wear a watch, after some recommendation. I have noticed that I am more aware of the time and
have time to be able to take the proper steps to end the class, without being rushed.
As I was planning one of my lessons that included writing I forgot to add some of my
expectations. As students were giving back some of their responses, I realized that they were
missing some of the parts. I had to prompt them quite a bit, as they were doing it, I realized that I
had not given clear expectation thus I had to do it during. I had to pause and tell the class what I
wanted them to do. Giving an example, would also have been helpful for the student to have a
better idea of what they were expected to do. Each time I am planning a lesson, I have to take it
into consideration of what my expectations are. Also, if students are to performance a task that
they do not have the proper scaffolding for, I need to take a step back, figure out where the
students are, and move on from there. Students need clear expectation to be able to correctly do
their work and need a proper support and foundation.