There quite simply isn’t enough to stay about the learning curve that occurred to me in the first practicum of my teaching career. There were so many things that went well-starting from the robust relationship I built with my coaching teacher, all the way to seeing the students learn many things from literature that can be applied to different life skills. I found my strength as an educator to be relationship-building with the students and the social-emotional learning aspects of education. I really started to find my groove as an educator during the second week of the three allotted time (the first week felt, though rewarding, mostly like an uphill myth of Sisyphus battle between myself and the initial paperwork that felt foreign to me). I also felt confident in my ability to adapt in the middle of a lesson and be flexible with what students chose to complete; the time used for extra work was used to make relationships with students and get little chats in to make them feel in a safe, respected environment. What I worked on the most, however, was the ability to stretch discussion out, as well as find new ways for students to express their ideas throughout multiple different ways, yet always come to the same learning outcome. Although the group work felt heavy in the first week, the second week provided much the opposite of partner work and the sharing of ideas that allowed students to position themselves in new ways to learn english text. The goal I have for the next block, and specifically the next practicum, is to build my toolkit with new ways to form a lesson and reach a learning outcome: class discussion, partner shares, individual writing, presentations, and so on are all things I want to explore and see how things are operated within the classroom. I still see this next one as an opportunity to play, grow, and develop a growth mindset with the much vulnerable opportunity to fail, but, ultimately, to learn.
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