PSIII

Re'lections: International School of Brescia 2017

Week One (August 23rd - 25th)

I had my 'irst day at the school this week: it was very exciting! I am happy that I had
to be at the school so far in advance of when the students are coming. It allowed me to get
to know the teachers and the routines that the school has before all of the students arrive.
The teachers have been so kind and welcoming to me and really have made me feel like a
part of the team.
I feel like I have a little bit of information overload after this week. My TM, David,
has been so wonderfully patient with me while my brain makes the switch from the Alberta
Program of Studies to the IB Scope and Sequence. Most of the ideas are similar but it has
been very interesting looking at music from a critical inquiry point of view instead of a
skills based point of view. I think I will be able to use the skills that I have learned in my
Kodaly and Orff classes, which is excellent.
I am very excited to have this time before the students come to 'inally get my units
planned and get an outline of what I am going to do with the students.

Week Two (August 28th - September 1st)

This week I got A LOT done! I got the majority of my units made and 'igured out
what I want to do for my PIP and wrote my proposal. I 'inished my 'irst week of lesson
plans. I am beginning to feel a lot more prepared for the 'irst few days of school. I am
excited and very nervous that this practicum is taking me out of my comfort zone in more
ways than one. The 'irst, and very obvious reason I am out of my comfort zone is the fact
that I am in Italy, very far away from my usual comfort zone, and with this distance comes a
string of exciting hurdles like a different language, different culture, and a whole new city to
explore. The second, not as obvious reason, I am out of my comfort zone is the change in
curriculum I am using and teaching in a fully inquiry/critical thinking setting. This is so
different from everything I am used to. Thankfully I had the opportunity to take the critical
thinking in education course that was offered in the summer so I was able dip my foot in
the vast pool that is using critical thinking in education.
The private school environment is very different from what I am used to. Its kind of
hard to explain, but I am sure I will get used to it very soon. I am also nervous for the VERY
small class sizes that are in this school. Most of the classes range from 3-9 students, but a
fair majority only have 3. This will make activities such as singing games and trying to
introduce partner songs and harmony very dif'icult. It is a far cry from the 28-34 students
per class I got used to in PSII. The length of the classes are also a lot longer than what I am
used to. From grade one to grade six the classes are 60min; that means I need to have a lot
of activities planned, especially for the younger grades. I suppose I will see what next
Wednesday brings when I meet the students!

Week Three (September 4th - 8th)

What a fun week! I have really enjoyed being at a school from the very beginning of
the year so I am able to see what happens before the students come back. There is always
so much to do. This week on Monday/Tuesday we were preparing and decorating the
school and the classrooms to make sure they are ready for the students. Until you actually
experience what happens the 'irst few weeks before the students come I don't think you
can fully understand how much effort, hard work, and detail goes into getting ready for the
students. It has been very exciting to be a part of this process.
The students came to school on Wednesday and brought such an amazing and
exciting energy with them. It really made the school come to life! Unfortunately because
the lesson I was scheduled to teach today was 'irst thing in the morning it was cancelled
because all of the classes were required to stay with their homeroom class the whole
morning - so I did not actually teach until Thursday - but I had a pretty full day on Thursday
with 3 classes and after school club. The classes all went really well! Especially for my 'irst
run at teaching an IB curriculum, its not completely different - but it is different enough that
I have to make a conscious effort to spark discussion and and inquiry based learning in the
classroom. It is very weird having such small class sizes! In grade six there are only 3
students!! It is such a different experience - I 'ind it much more challenging because I am
not used to such small classes.
I think my grade three class will be a lot of work - they are very spirited! My 'irst
lesson with them involved a lot of classroom management, establishing rules, and ensuring
that everyone knows we need to have mutual respect in music, we don't talk over people, or
hit really hard when playing partner games/partner body percussion.
Over all it was an excellent way to start my teaching practicum! I am very excited for
the coming months of teaching!

Week Four (September 11th-15th)

Week two of teaching has been amazing! I am having such an amazing time teaching
the students and learning with them. The layout/format of IB lessons is very different from
the lessons that I am used to. The centre focus of the teaching here is unpacking the why
with less focus on the how. This has taken me about a week to get used to and I am
starting to think of better, more in-depth key questions based on the lines of inquiry. It is
also very interesting making the lesson plans - because the direction of the lesson is very
focused on the direction that the students responses take you. Teaching here has really
shown me how adaptable you need to be as a teacher - and how teachers need to be
creative to take a students abstract idea and relate it back to the central ideas and the lines
of inquiry.
I think over all my lessons this week went pretty well. I have combined lessons with
kindergarten and transition - because there are only 3 kindergarten - so I have that age
group twice a week. I am not used to the age level of kindergarten and transition because
the kindergarten students are 2.5 or 3 and the transition students are 3 or 4. It was a really
big learning curve in my 'irst lesson - I realized that I have to keep it very simple and have a
lot of activities planned so I can keep the students engaged. The minute they check out they
wander around to get toys or start to cry. One of my Teacher Professional Growth Plan
goals is to incorporate literacy into the classroom - I think that reading a story that is linked
to what we are learning in music will be an effective way to keep the students engaged in
the lesson and a nice way to cool down at the end of the class.
I can already tell that my classroom management skills are going to be tested with
my grade three class. The class is full of characters and has an AMAZING energy - but they
generally use it to goof around. I need to 'ind away to channel their energy into something
productive towards our music lessons.