Professional Semester III
Teacher Mentor : David Zink School Adminstrator : David LeGrandeur Grade : Jr/Sr High School (Grade 6-11) Subjects Taught : Science 8/9, Biology 20, Sports & Wellness CTF Option In my final practicum, i spent the full semester in a rural K-12 school. I was working daily to three diverse groups of students ; each with different learning needs and environments. I worked extensively to incorporate technology and unique experiences into my year, unit, and lesson plans. My goals for this practicum were to create authentic student learning and create a consistent classroom environment with well established routines and expectations. I worked towards these goals by attending several PD sessions aimed at working with students that required a differentiated approach both academically and behaviorally. I was able to draw on the expertise of senior staff at the school to provide insight into the strategies that worked well with some students.
Finally during this practicum I had the opportunity to coach the Cross Country Running team and a senior girls basketball team. These helped me to build strong relationships with students, develop further leadership skills that could be translated into the classroom and fully immerse myself with the role of a teacher within a school. |
Science 8/9In the 15 week practicum, I worked daily in a science 8/9 classroom. This classroom had a range of challenging behaviours and a variety of learners with different abilities. Using technology the students had access to, I designed websites and online learning activities that allowed students to work through course material at there own pace and submit assignments via google classroom. This allowed me to differentiate learning and provide 1- on- 1 support to students who required it. Aside from having students working in a blended classroom, I placed an emphasis on exploring science concepts through hands on experiences.
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Biology 20In this practicum, I had the opportunity to plan and deliver the entire Biology 20 course. I approached the course through a collaborative and inquiry based course. The course uses labs and simulations to teach students concepts. I designed various aspects of the course to give students a choice of different types of activities and assignments that would like to complete. With this option, it increased the student engagement with topics and allowed for more authentic assessment for them as well as myself.
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Sports & Fitness CTF (KSA #13,I designed a sports & fitness CTF course for students in grade 6-9. The school was undergoing modernization which left them without a gymnasium this year. This meant that all activities planned needed to be done outside, at a nearby fitness center, in a hallway, or students would have to be transported to a facility elsewhere. As a result of this obstacle, I used several of the students strengths and interests as starting points for lessons. By doing this, I could keep students engaged in limited spaces. Several facilities that were used during this course were the ice arena, curling arena, soccer fields, and neighboring town's gyms. Additionally during this course I had students lead several of the activities and lessons in the class. This allowed many of the students to develop leadership skills as well as stronger relationships with peers not within their grade level.
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