As my observational practicum experience continues on, I am finding that there are certain things that I notice first when in a classroom compared to my first two weeks. Week three was the final day at the first school I got to observe, and to say I was sad to leave would be an understatement. I did not think that I would become so attached to this class after only spending a couple days with them, but Mrs. W and the students made me feel so welcomed and supported being there that if I did not have to leave, I never would have.
The focus for week three was on classroom environment, how diverse needs are met and addressed and the role of place. This school, being a tier one- venturing school, Mrs. W working with the ELL/ESL teacher, assessed all her students in the class. From talking with this other teacher, Mrs. W works to get ALL her students assess so that she knows exactly where they are in their reading, writing, and mathematics so that she knows what they need to be able to succeed. With that being said, she was kind enough to show her assessment sheet to me and almost all of the students in her class were at levels much lower than they should have been. I was then invited to watch how they assess the students to know where they are using the Fountas and Pinnell (BAS) criteria. While I was talking with this ELL teacher, she was stating that she wished someone had shown her how assessments were done when she was in the teaching program because until she had started in this position, she had not seen how students were assessed. She explained that how Mrs. W worked to get all her students assessed was not the norm, but that Mrs. W likes to know exactly where her students are from the beginning and then the two of them work closely together to advance her entire class while meeting the specific needs of each student.
One of the activities that Mrs. W did that day was where all the students sat at the “carpet” area and she got them to do a listening and repeating syllable activity. Watching her ask each student a specific word and then get them to repeat the word and clap out the syllables was a great activity to get. What was great to observe though was that she would ask each student a word based on their level and not just off of one page. She would then patiently wait for them to think about it, and then tell her the number of syllables, or if they needed help then she would get all the students to clap them out with her so that not only that one student was learning that word, but the entire class. So, while it was only meant for one student to answer, it kept the entire class engaged in case they were called upon to help.
While I think it would have been a great experience to see how other teachers and classes ran in this school, I think the benefits of staying in this one class for the three weeks was worth it. From observing how that first day and expectations were laid out to that third visit and seeing how the students had developed even in that short time was an experience that I will hold onto. I now have a relationship not only with those students (who were so willing to give me all their crafts and colouring), but with Mrs. W and the ELL/ESL teacher was something I was not expecting to happen in such a short time. Their compassion to share their resources and strategies with me has made me so excited to continue on. It has also not made me as terrified to go into a venturing schools where the kids are all at different learning levels, because the support in those schools in outstanding. I am hoping to get the opportunity to go back to that school and expand on those teaching skills they shared with me!
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