Laura Friesen
Going back to Clive School felt like I was going back home. I immediately felt relaxed and welcome. When I arrived for the staff meeting there was a teacher outside working on the garden beds and it showed me just how personal small schools can be. There are only about four teachers that are the same as when I attended Clive School. This helped in that I didn’t have the reputation of that, ‘cute, little Friesen girl.’ I found the Vice Principal and she brought me to my mentor teacher, with whom will have a lot of insight to pass on to me. It is my mentor teacher’s first time having a student teacher, and she expressed some concern about being able to give up the reins, so to speak, when the time comes, but overall she was excited and honored to have me in her classroom. The culture of the school is one of collaboration and continual growth. The school motto is, “Learning Together for Life.” There is a new grade six teacher as well as the principal is new to Clive. I appreciate the diversity and range in teachers. There are teachers at Clive that have taught for upwards of thirty years and those that are just starting their career. The principal acknowledged this as he allotted time at the beginning and the end of the meeting for two teachers to impart their words of wisdom. The first day went by in a whirlwind of activity, my mentor teacher was well prepared for it all and kept a fun atmosphere for the class. Because the school is so small each class moves up together and they all know each other, with the exception of any Satinwood School students that transfer, of which there was one. This new student was given the role of being the class helper, meaning she helped hand out sheets and ran errands throughout the day. This ‘helper’ changes every week. The day was dedicated mostly to getting the students organized, an assembly and some introductory material. The classroom itself is amazing with so much space and sunlight. It is two classrooms with a divider, but the divider is never used which makes it feel roomy and breathable. Discussions with my mentor teacher have shown me that she is very organized and definitely has a set way of doing things. She showed me her binders and how she goes through the school year using the same material from the last. Her opinion of inclusion was reserved. She was glad to hear that she would not have any ‘special needs’ in her class, but the range of ability would be quite narrow, especially compared to the grade nine classroom I was in beforehand. Our communication has been limited, I have her phone number, but I don’t think it is necessary to get updates all the time when I plan to be in the classroom only every other Friday. This means we have relied on email for the majority of our communication thus far. This practicum is exciting and will be a great learning experience for me, I can’t wait to get into the classroom full time!