Week 1 (Aug 29th to Sept 3rd)

First and foremost, I think that the staff and students at Henry Wisewood are second to

none. All of the staff have been extremely welcoming, and the students seem like a delightful

group of kids. My TA Phil definitely has my back, and I can tell he has had a student teacher

before. He gives excellent, timely feedback, but encourages me to branch out on my own as

much as possible. I really appreciate that because at the end of the day, you run the show when

you are a full-time teacher. Its amazing just how different it is watching a high school teacher

interact with their students vs. an elementary or a Jr. High teacher. Even between his classes, its

great to watch Phil teach and observe how his style changes between the Bio 30 class he teaches

and the Science 20-4 class he teaches. He has such a wealth of knowledge, especially when it

comes to the tech side of things. Which brings me to the greatest shellshock of the week – the

administrative side of things. During my PSI and PSII practicums, I never really saw or dealt

with any thing like kids on IPP’s with regards to creating a plan for them to accommodate,

sending attendance through power school, collecting course outline and other documents, etc.

The first week was definitely a bit overwhelming in this regard – nothing you learn in your

classes or previous practicums truly prepares you for this. However, I feel that as time goes on

throughout the practicum, things will settle down as the kids get into a routine and I learn all of

their names based on their seating plan. Its also a totally different ball game regarding the

teaching. 80 minutes is a long time to be teaching vs. what I had to work with for my previous

practicums.

Going into this practicum I knew that my enthusiasm and energy were my greatest

strengths as a teacher but sometimes the things I write on the board can seem to come of no

where and appear to be unintentional from the students. Phil has identified this as something for
me to work on – being more deliberate with what I write down on the board. I think this will

make it a lot easier for the students to follow along while also keeping the board more organized.