Year 2 Practicum
The practicum experience in my new centre once again renewed my perspective for the career. In Year 2, practicum took up two consecutive weeks every term. The bulk of my classes was packed within the first few weeks of the term (other than night classes) and assignment dedlines were set during practicum weeks. The amount of mental energy needed for me to function after prac made me extremely amazed by how part-time students could manage full-time work and night studies concurrently (i still do).
My responsibilities as a student teacher were to assist class teachers in managing the children, support routines, and also find opportunities to implement interactions/learning experiences for the children. (Same as Year 1, but greater expectations.) I was attached to the K1 class for sem 1 and the N2 class for sem 2. It was my first time officially interacting with these two age groups! Sem 1 was rather stressful and I struggled to adapt to the new centre and its expectations. It was also my first time /whispers/ crying so intensely - mainly because I felt that it was challenging to build relationships with the adults there and meet their expectations (another instance of a #fragileheart after a year) - I even hid in the toilet during naptime and randomly tear up whenever I thought about it over the next few days. It also made me wonder if ece was even a suitable career for me :"
However, there was something about this centre that continued to attract me. It helped me see the value of some of these expectations and systems in ensuring that our children receive quality experiences. I'm really glad that the children in this centre were given so much autonomy and opportunities to explore and learn. Things or "good practices" that I once thought could only exist in theory/textbooks were actually advocated and realized in this centre. I saw how important it is for teachers to be intentional in allowing children to take lots of calculated risks, and respecting and loving children for who they are. Without me noticing, it casually became one of my greatest motivations to improve myself. I feel that there is just too much potential within every child (regardless of their ages & backgrounds) and I really want to be a confident, eloquent, and capable educator for them! :)
Not to mention, I am really in awe of the mental, emotional, and physical capacity my teachers had when they come to work every day, week, month, and year while putting the needs and experiences of each child as their priority. Outside of their direct interactions with the children they also had meetings during the children's naptimes, daily lesson planning, parents engagement, and child observation reports to write (this list is #non-exhaustive). My teachers often had to stay back in school to complete their work and bring the rest of the work home to do over the weekends. (non-existent work-life balance)
Of course, they are humans too! There were days when I see them looking and feeling exceptionally tired/drained. But, their effort to put themselves together to deliver the best for the children really left a deep impression on me. I can't help but feel how fortunate and privileged these children were to be in this centre and have them as their teachers. The amount of work the adults do for the children in this centre!!! (If I were a parent now I would definitely send my kids there kind of vibes.) And then there is me, expending all my energy before naptime (thus needing to use naptime to stone & recover my energy for the rest of the day), toh-ing after practicum, having to wake up in the morning to do my work, and skiing very gracefully above dedlines :x
I had the opportunity to implement a few activities for the children over the 2 sems. In sem 1, I did a physics learning experience that spanned over quite a few sessions: book provocation, hands-on activity based on the book, hands-on activity for the children to explore household & classroom materials, and the settling up of a learning corner to encourage free exploration & extend children's learning. I certainly did not expect that my smol planned experience would evolve into such a huge personal project (size is relative here). Looking back, I think I really spent a lot of mental strength, stamina and effort on this and I am rather proud of this accomplishment :')
Some things that I took away from this experience was to never underestimate my K1 children - their prior knowledge, ability to make connections & think ahead of me. I also learnt about the need to stay focused on my lesson goals while being flexible in adjusting my plans based on children's responses. Shall not dive into the details of what I learnt from my implementation here cuz it is already in another document on its own :D
Here is a glimpse of the Sink & Float Experience:
One other experience plan I would like to document here would be a technology experience with BeeBot in sem 2! I managed to borrow the robot from one of the electives I took for the term. In this plan, I planned a series of experiences to build up to the children's interaction with the robot. First, I rewrote a familiar song to create a context for children to be familiar to key direction words. Then, I planted direction songs and games into children's music and movement experiences. I also found time to help children understand the use of arrow visuals and conducted a few BeeBot sessions with different children for the fun of it before the actual observation. While conducting those sessions, I discovered major loopholes in my planning and had to revise and refine them. But, thanks to these 'trials', the actual observation was smooth-sailing and I could focus on ways to better improve my execution and (potential) future implementation :)
Here is a glimpse of the plan that I created to show my class teacher how BeeBot works and what I planned to do with the children before officially coming back to for the term. Her feedback helped me better adapt and modify the plans to suit the children's abilities and gave me greater confidence in implementing them in the most efficient way! I'm so grateful :))
More pictures!
Hehehe I just realized that the two plans that I am proud of revolve around STEM concepts. Tbh I feel that STE(A)M education brings great learning opportunities but it has been rather underrated!
Of course, there were implementations and interactions such as large group activities that I tried and failed really badly. It could be quite demoralizing to see children losing engagement/looking bored while I try to de-escalate classroom conflicts or invite distracted children to participate in the group experience :') I definitely have a lot to work on being a better multitasker and being more confident & skillful in managing classroom behaviors & speaking effectively to the children. My supervisor also shared with me that while I have "good instincts" and thereotical knowledge, I have a lot to work on delivering them in the context of the real world. (And I agree with her wholeheartedly!) On this note, Im really impressed by how professional and capable my N2 teachers were>>>
Sem 2 was the best prac sem ever - I'm very thankful and glad to be in N2 and meet the teachers there. On top of being really capable teachers and partners, they helped me feel included and appreciated in the class despite my short time with the class. I'm really touched by how my teachers would share their thoughts and knowledge about the children with me so casually. Their great patience towards my questions and my slip-ups was very heart-warming too!! Also also, they even shared their food with me and asked if I want anything from the outside world for lunch when they ordered food on grab (I usually give the kitchen my lunchbox and eat the children's leftover). All these gestures may seem very simple but they really meant a lot to me - I felt so so loved in sem 2 ;_; They were the greatest reasons why I even dared to apply to stay in this centre for my graded practicum & research in year 3 too. While I'm not sure if I will get the opportunity to return to the centre or class to learn from my teachers again, I just hope that I can continue to grow to become a capable educator just like them! I have yet to meet many, but I know that they are certainly #goals :)
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We just submitted our research topic and questions for year 3 and I am doing my research on improving fussy eating behaviors /whispers/ despite all the loopholes and uncertainties I am seeing in the topic. I hope I can be allocated to a research supervisor with the power of the #goodness-of-fit :'D I don't think Year 3 is going to be easy and I am glad that I maxed out my eCR attempts due to a system lag and did not take any extra mods so I can devote more attention to the teaching practice & action research :) One of the things I want to do this summer is to read the ece resource books I bought and (hopefully) find time & motivation to consolidate my learning from year 1 & 2. (Initially wanted to read the books in a cafe, a park, or at least the library but the covid situation ain't helping hohoho)