Introduction
My two weeks of practicum experience were, frankly, not what I anticipated, and what I would even describe as a culture shock. However, my participation was overwhelmingly positive. For, I had many presumptions about what teaching looked like pragmatically in the classroom, but I was blown away by the many facets that I have learned about during my first stint as a student teacher. There are two overarching themes that were prominent during my practicum observations: diversity and inclusion and school culture. I will be referring to my placements as School A, an elementary school, and School B, a junior high, throughout my paper.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Alberta Teachers’ Association’s (2015) finding that “classrooms right now have more students, more diverse needs, with no support, time or money” (pg. 11) epitomizes my observations during my time at both of my placements. In fact, prior to my practicum, I had the perception that inclusion was a colossal objective on teacher’s shoulders. Later, when I observed inclusion in practice in the classroom, the many recommendations that were noted in the State of Inclusion in Alberta Schools suddenly made sense to me. It is important that I note that both school principals indicated that their schools are considered “high needs”.
At …show more content…
This resulted in bare classroom walls, student cliques in the classrooms, and a lack of cross-curricular content; relative to School A. It is important to note that I am taking into consideration that I only had three full days to observe classrooms in action at School B, hence I do not have the full picture. There are factors yet to consider in both School A and B, prior to making solid conclusions about either school. However, it is evident that a unified school culture which we discussed in class results in positive behaviours in the classroom, as observed in School
My two weeks of practicum experience were, frankly, not what I anticipated, and what I would even describe as a culture shock. However, my participation was overwhelmingly positive. For, I had many presumptions about what teaching looked like pragmatically in the classroom, but I was blown away by the many facets that I have learned about during my first stint as a student teacher. There are two overarching themes that were prominent during my practicum observations: diversity and inclusion and school culture. I will be referring to my placements as School A, an elementary school, and School B, a junior high, throughout my paper.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Alberta Teachers’ Association’s (2015) finding that “classrooms right now have more students, more diverse needs, with no support, time or money” (pg. 11) epitomizes my observations during my time at both of my placements. In fact, prior to my practicum, I had the perception that inclusion was a colossal objective on teacher’s shoulders. Later, when I observed inclusion in practice in the classroom, the many recommendations that were noted in the State of Inclusion in Alberta Schools suddenly made sense to me. It is important that I note that both school principals indicated that their schools are considered “high needs”.
At …show more content…
This resulted in bare classroom walls, student cliques in the classrooms, and a lack of cross-curricular content; relative to School A. It is important to note that I am taking into consideration that I only had three full days to observe classrooms in action at School B, hence I do not have the full picture. There are factors yet to consider in both School A and B, prior to making solid conclusions about either school. However, it is evident that a unified school culture which we discussed in class results in positive behaviours in the classroom, as observed in School