McCracken

March 15, 2020

PSII Practicum – Reflection Week 2

This week I started two new units, one in social studies on the Loyalist Migration and
one in ELA, a novel study on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. We also continued the Great
Canadians unit, as students selected the individual they wanted to write their essay on and
completed research on that individual. Students were excited to see the “window words” –
together, we came up with nine qualities that great Canadians would be likely to have, and then
I wrote those words, their definition, and synonyms on the windows in the classroom. This
exercise played well into one of the schools’ key goals for this school year – conceptual
understanding. We are hoping students will be able to expand their vocabulary and use words
other than “good” and “nice” to argue for their greatest Canadian. As I walked around the
classroom helping students with their research, I would often find myself blocking a student
who was trying to peer around me to see the words on the windows, which I took as a good
sign that they are actively trying to incorporate this new vocabulary into their research.
Students have started reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas as they begin their novel
study. I was impressed that certain students were able to recognize that the character “The
Fury” in the novel is actually Hitler. We did a short lesson on inferences, and I am hoping to
continue practicing inferences throughout the unit, because it mirrors well the connections we
are asking them to draw while writing their Great Canadian essays. So far we have had them
read in small groups, which is good because it has them practice reading a text to a small group
of peers, but I can tell that some students consistently want to read ahead while others are
struggling to keep up. I’d like to find some other creative ways for them to read the novel while
in class, so I can continue to keep them engaged with the book.
In the loyalists unit, we talked about the terms loyalist and patriot to again reinforce the
meaning of different words. I modeled for them how I looked up the meaning of patriot, so
hopefully they will be able to successfully look up the meaning of words in the future. I think
this week it will be important to reinforce some of the concepts we learned last week, as well as
get into the details of who the loyalists were, how many came up to Canada, etc. Then students
will be ready to make connections between Canadian history and the migration of other groups
of people that is still happening around the world.
In terms of classroom management, I continue to gain confidence in front of the class.
My main goal is to minimize student interruptions when I am teaching or giving instructions.
Interestingly, there are a couple of students in one of my classes who constantly interrupt, but
we often let them do it because they have useful things to contribute to the conversation. It is
important that we help them see that they still need to raise their hand, just like everyone else.
While it is sometimes easiest to have a quick class conversation about something before
moving on, I’d also like to find other ways to engage the quieter students in the class. It is
always the same couple of students raising their hand, and I think it is important to let other
students have an opportunity to contribute as well. I hope to be able to employ a couple of
different strategies on that this week.