Now that practicum is over, I can look back and reflect on all of the many things I have learned from my first practicum experience. Of the many lessons I learned these were the most important for me: the importance of classroom management, how to read my students, and the value of planning lessons. These lessons are lessons I'm still learning, but will be invaluable tools as a future educator.
The Importance of Classroom Management
In my classes, I heard teachers say that teaching is about 90% classroom management. I didn't realize how true this statement was, especially in a younger class. I was assigned to a first grade class, and I quickly realized that I was underprepared with tools to help me manage this class. I thought I could go into the class, teach a lesson I had prepared to teach, and be able to help students who needed help. I was very wrong. I hadn't planned expectations in my lessons, nor did I learn how to pace a lesson to help students stay engaged. Yes, I can't expect to be great at managing a class the first time I experience it, but it was a lot more difficult than I had expected.
Classroom management in my class meant that I had to have all eyes on me, nothing in students' hands, and voices off. I frequently found myself talking while students weren't paying attention, defeating the purpose of giving instructions. I also was trying to raise my voice to talk over students for a while. It didn't do anything and students were lost. As a former FSY counselor, I would befriend the youth I was in charge of and then help them to obey the rules. That didn't work in a first grade setting. I had to establish a teacher/student relationship rather than being like an older brother or uncle figure.
Part of classroom management was pacing, and that will come with time and experience. Another thing that falls under classroom management and comes with time is reading students.
Reading My Students
On several occasions, I didn't read my students and the lesson fell apart. Had I been paying attention to their attention levels, I would have known that they needed a break. I didn't see that because I was more focused on getting through the lesson. I needed to focus on who I was teaching rather than getting through the lesson. This lead to behavior issues. Part of that was a failure to plan for potential brain breaks.
Value of Planning Lessons
I had written lesson plans for some of my classes, but I hadn't ever planned for expectations for how to behave during the lesson. I hadn't planned for how to know whether or not students were ready to go and work on their own. I learned how to write more thorough lesson plans. One thing that was very important for me to write down was the what taught, how taught (very thorough), and how evaluated. I learned a lot more about what each of these meant and how to write appropriate lessons that include expectations and details for what students will be doing and what I will do to further boost student learning.
Conclusion
Practicum is an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as an educator. There are many eye opening realizations that come from being in a situation where you are applying what you have been studying for years. I loved being able to spend 4 weeks in a first grade classroom because it helped me learn many valuable lessons I wouldn't have learned without being in the class. It was an experience that truly helped me to prepare to be a teacher.
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