Practicum Experience

One of the goals of education is to motivate and engage our students in learning, even the things that are difficult for them. This paper addresses the hopes and challenges of teacher’s today. Two key perspectives will be highlighted. First, can society find a balance of democracy and mastery of standards in today’s classroom? Second, is it possible to structure a classroom that is inclusive of each child’s individual traits and diversity?

During the months of September and October this semester I spent time at two different schools in four different classrooms. Being able to observe different classes and teachers at Westside Junior High and South Live Oak Elementary was a very new and exciting experience for me since I can’t say I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My experiences at these schools gave me a better insight into the differences between schools, classrooms, and teachers. The purpose of this field experience was to get 10 observation or tutoring hours in an elementary or junior high setting. I chose to observe a

For my last class I went to a Montessori school for my practicum field experience, and as you mentioned with the homeschooling, they also use the method that allows the students to learn at their own pace, the students are not rushed into going to the next level just because they have spent too much time in one level. I had never heard of this concept until I went there, when I went to the interview and met the principal she told me "This is a non-traditional school, are you ok with it"? that's when I asked and she began to explain and of course I also looked it up online and learned more, but whatever I knew prior to being in the classroom could not prepare me for what I saw in the classroom of about ten students and all of them working on

My practicum experience for the fall semester has been absolutely phenomenal.The school I had decided to pursue my practicum is Daniel L. Perez Elementary School and is located in Yigo. The reason why I had chosen that school was the environment and kindness that radiated from that place and people. From the moment I called and was spoken to by one of the staff, I felt immediately felt welcomed. I knew without a doubt that this would be an amazing school for me to step into my field of work.

During the Spring Semester of my sophomore year at The College of New Jersey, I was placed at Maurice Hawk Elementary School in West Windsor Plains Burrow for my practicum experience. My practicum partner, Gwen, and I were placed in Mrs. Jones’ 3rd grade classroom. This portfolio is an accumulation of different lessons and activities we observed and participated in, both in Mrs. Jones’ classroom as well as in other classes held at Maurice Hawk. The portfolio is just a snapshot of all we did and learned, but it serves as a reminder of various learning theories and application of teaching practices in a real classroom.

As an elementary and special education major, I observed a fourth grade class at Burris Laboratory School in Muncie, Indiana. From my observations, I will be discussing what I witnessed based on the questions I was asked to observe on. I was able to observe Mrs. Haughn, who was teaching the students’ math at a fifth grade level. We were assigned a time to go and see how the teacher organized lesson plans, the content during the time period, identify items in the classroom, we would want in our future classrooms, how students participated, the overall environment of the classroom, and how the content was being taught.

Both the Board of Nursing and National League of Nursing (NLN) documents speak of nursing education as an area of specialty practice within professional nursing. The documents recognize the special set of knowledge and skills that nurse educators hold within their practice. The two documents elude to the contribution nurse educators have on professional development and recognize the professionalism involved within the graduate level of nursing practice (NLN, 2017).

During my freshman year, I also took part in an organization called “Inspiring minds” that is supported by the Providence College Education club. “Inspiring Minds” is an organization that places people into Providence inner-city classrooms to work with a group or a single student as a mentor to help them with their schooling as well as act as role models. From October until May, I worked in a Kindergarten ELL classroom with a diversity of children and challenges. Although I greatly enjoyed being welcomed every week by thirty adorable six year olds smiling and running to give you a hug, I despised the way the classroom was ran. Based off both my intuition and the lessons the professors at PC have engraved in my memory, the classroom was not well managed, lacked community and procedures, and the teachers did not act appropriately. My experience in

I have been fortunate enough to have a variety of supervisors in my practicum placements. I had several female supervisors and one male supervisor who have all contributed to my training. The books and discussions in class brought up a discussion that I have never thought about before, which was the gender of the supervisor. However, one thing that I could say with certainty is that gender does play a role in the way supervisors conceptualize things. At my practicum there are gender misunderstanding that occur. The questions that are asked to me are different and more geared towards possible sexual countertransference, which makes me feel like I am treated with “kid gloves”. From my point of view there is a gender misunderstanding because

During the course of working with them, I was able to observe Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop as well as the college prep math curriculum. While in the classroom for math, I moved between different groups to help them with the questions they were asked to complete. I also assisted with their math homework, by working with the boys in a small group setting at the end of the day. There were a few times, I did not know what procedure to use to answer a question, so I collaborate with their teacher to learn and show them correctly. For Writer’s workshop, I listened to the mini lesson and worked closely with the boys to complete their written work. During their independent work time, I say down individually and conferenced with them about what they were working on and how they were making their writing better. Also, while conferencing, I helped them add more detail and dialogue. Another opportunity I was given was to conduct a guided reading group with sixth graders who are significantly below grade level. They as well as myself took turns reading the book. We stopped frequently so they were able to jot what was happening and we discussed what they thought would happen next. This student teaching placement helped me to see and hear what a sixth grade teacher is expected to teach as well as where the students are developmentally and how

You are correct when you said that not every method will for every student, as we all know every student is unique in their own ways therefore they learn differently. As teachers is our duty to find out what works for them as you mentioned in your post. Last semester I did my practicum field experience at a Montesorri school which is a non-traditional school and they have a very interesting philosophy of teaching their students and that is that the child learns and develops at their own pace and according to their own choice of activities. When I read your post I thought of my experience last month at the Montessorri school, because of what you said "finding what works for each of your students". I agree with you when students learn and become

my practicum at least this one through the agency where I am employed with. This can be

During the past five weeks, I have been at Lumberton Elementary School. While working at Lumberton with the school guidance counselor, I have completed numerous activities. One of the main duties of the guidance counselor is record review. This is a process that is not normally completed by school counselor, but with Lumberton being a small school the counselor must work on it. Reviewing records means that we are ensuring that each student’s registration packet has been completed and has been put into a computer system correctly. After reviewing records, we break off into delivering birthday cards to students who have birthdays on that day. Throughout the day we are reviewing records until it is time to visit a classroom or work with individual students. I have assisted the counselor when we taught a lesson to the first grade on responsibility. During this process we played a short filmed and asked character building questions to the class. I have also completed individual counseling with the counselor. This process normally happens after lunch time. Mrs. Gunnell will pull students from class that have had behavioral problems or other identified concerns. During this time, I take notes on the students while she is asking questions and following up with the students. During my time this past week, I assisted in creating student of the month certificates. Each month a teacher selects a boy and girl from their home room

One aspect of time management in my practicum experience that stood out to me is how in home health you set your own schedule and time to meet with patients A lot of home health is based on making time for charting, driving, breaks, and appointments with patients so that it is congruent with an eight hour shift. It can be very challenging to make your schedule feasible for all patients. Also, if patients don’t answer their phone in the morning it makes it very difficult to set appointment times for the day. There were times during my clinical experience where a patient would be called in the morning to set a time for their visit, they wouldn’t answer so a message would be left, and then there would be no call back all day. That means the next

Instead of just lecturing in the classroom, teachers are facilitators of learning, providing students with the information and tools they need to master a subject. For students to understand the lesson that is being taught to them, it must be presented in an organized, differentiated, and comprehensible manner; the teacher should strive to make students passionate participants in the instructional process by providing project-based, participatory, educational adventures. In order to grow student’s accountability for their own education, the curriculum must relate to their lives, learning activities must engage their natural curiosity, and assessments must measure real accomplishments and be an integral part of learning. We, the teachers, must develop strategies to get parents involved with their children