Reflections on my short practicum at Richmond Secondary

I really enjoyed my short practicum at Richmond Secondary school. The whole staffs and the students were extremely friendly and welcoming. My school was one of the project schools, which means my FA was at the school for the whole two weeks to look after us. Having the FA at the school was really great since I was able to discuss about anything at any time and ask questions. In addition, he has been working as a FA at Richmond Secondary for many years so he was really familiar with the school and the staffs.

During my short practicum, I had a chance to observe some different things that happen within the school and participate in some of the events myself. I helped out on the fruits and vegetables program, organizing the trays and delivering the fruits to each class. I also supervised the math help sessions after school. In addition, I chaperoned the Halloween dance on Thursday night. The only thing that I can recall from the dance is that it was extremely loud! Fortunately, one teacher gave us the ear plugs, which saved our ears from going deaf.

I taught four different classes during the second week of my practicum and one of them was observed by my FA. It is really sad that the one class my FA observed was the only class I had a problem with controlling the students. I didn’t get a chance to see the students beforehand and the teacher was away so the TOC was filling in. It was quite difficult to control the grade 10 students who didn’t really know who I was. Fortunately, my FA thought the lesson went pretty well other than some typical mistakes that the teacher candidates make when they first start teaching. I realized that the lesson never goes the way you planned it. Hopefully, I can make the improvements in the areas that did not go so well for the next lesson I teach in February. I can’t wait!