Laura Friesen
I have been to Clive School two times this month, one full day on October 3rd and one half day on October 17th. I really enjoy my time at the school, and on the second visit many of the students were commenting on how they like when I am there; although, being there on Fridays I don’t see a lot of teaching as it usually is a catchup type day. My mentor teacher has been on supervision for both the morning break and lunch break, which gives me good exposure as I walk around the school with her. The full day I was there, we ate lunch in the staffroom, which also helped other teachers get to know me. I find it very interesting what goes on in a staff room. For me, I was being very liberal with some fun news that I had, probably because my Aunty was there asking questions. It showed me how when you are more open others will be open with you back. On October 3rd we started off the day with each individual coming up to talk to my mentor teacher about their math test and go over answers and correct them together while the rest of the class was silently reading. I think it is a nice way to start the day to have students reading for twenty or so minutes. Because students have school only on every second Friday it is up to the homeroom teacher to come up with activities for their students in the Physical Education block, and for the last two times I was there my mentor teacher just let students have free time. I would have liked to join the students, but I had decided to wear a dress, so that really hampered in my participation, which I was disappointed with. So even though I looked nice, and professional I lost on some time with students, On October 17th the school had a practice ‘yellow’ lockdown. This was good experience to see. Being yellow coded meant that it was not as strict as the ‘red’ code. Students were to silently sit in their seats, windows had to be shut and covered, doors locked, attendance taken, and an email sent by the teacher to say all students were accounted for. The students had nervous energy and were a little jiggly until there was a knock on the door, then they became totally silent. My mentor teacher was unsure her email had sent, and was concerned, but it ended up that all was good. I also learned that if you were a sub you had to call in to the office, because they would not have access to the wolfcreek email system. Physical Education was better this time as I was more appropriately dressed, and my mentor teacher had students do a little competition between boys and girls to see who could sink ten hoops first, and afterwards I played ‘bump’ with some students. On this day I found that I was able to help a little more when students were practicing some math concepts; although, I am not sure if some of the students took my help, as some of them still checked with the teacher who told them the same thing I had. Meaning that as I continue to be involved in their class I need to work on getting more authority and step it up when helping students. A goal that I have before I start my full time practicum is to build relationships with the boys, especially the rowdy ones. I find that I easily connect with most of the girls, but it is harder for me with boys. I know that as I build respectful relationships with boys, and girls will allow for greater learning within the classroom and less classroom management issues.