I've enjoyed my practicum so far.
I've been teaching Visual Arts to 3 different classes and how different those classes can be. I teach 2 classes in French and 1 class in English. Apart from the language difference, there is a personality difference between the classes: quiet and reserved, loud and boisterous and something in between. No matter the class, I've enjoyed wandering around the classroom and getting to know the students. It has been quite the experience so far.
Tomorrow, my AT will be away and I'll get to work with a supply teacher. We'll see how that goes. I've learned that you definitely have to be flexible and be able to make changes as you go along as a teacher. My AT is comparable to Superwoman the way that she's able to dodge problems and come up with solutions so quickly. I am bewildered by it....
I guess the one thing that I'm trying to improve the most is my classroom management. My AT has a bell (the kind that you find at the front desk in hotels) and that technique works very well for her. I've been trying to carve out my own technique and I'm trying to implement the clapping technique. With the loud and boisterous class especially, I can't seem to clap loud enough. I'll keep working on it! (I'll update next week.)
Have fun.
