Suitcases

After four weeks I finally finished up my prac last Friday. I got a solid report back from my supervising teacher, finished my final assessment task - the Professional Learning Portfolio, and can now look forward to semester two.

In the second half of my prac I felt a lot more confident with the teaching and started to have a little more fun with the students. One activity that went across well with the students (and the supervising teacher) became known as the 'Suitcase Activity,' an activity for the Immigration unit in SOSE.

In this activity, I gave each group of students a suitcase (made from a manila folder) which had four different items inside. The four items were clues that would help them find out where the migrant came from. For example, in one 'suitcase' I had coloured cut outs of a fez, a prayer mat, a camel and a Koran. The students  had to write down what the items were and why the migrant may have brought them. Finally, they had to say how the items have contributed to a multicultural Australia.

The students seemed really engaged with the activity and it had them thinking on a higher level about immigration and how different individuals can contribute to a country in different ways. From a teaching perspective, it shows how an activity can be both fun, engaging and intellectually challenging.

T.A.D
Camp Hill

Favourites

As a teacher, I feel a little guilty having favourite students or favourite classes. A teacher should treat all students equally and fairly and shouldn't favor some over others. But I'm almost at the half-way point in my practicum and I've already got my favorites.

My favourite class is one of my grade 8 classes. This week I've been teaching them about refugees and today we looked at the Sri Lankan asylum seekers issue. We watched a news report and then I explained some of Sri Lanka's history, including the civil war, and how the ethnic make-up of the country has impacted upon the issue. I then showed them an interview with a young Sri Lankan boy who escaped the civil war and has since been granted asylum in Australia. Finally, I had the students write a 'letter to the editor,' expressing their views on the issue.

Throughout this week my grade 8s have seemed very engaged and I feel the topic has sparked a little interest in the subject for them. They have completed all the work and seem proud of their efforts. It's great to see and it reminds me that I've chosen the right job.

T.A.D
Camp Hill

One down, three to go

After a week of limited sleep and early mornings, I'm happy to have the first week of my practicum out of the way. I taught my first lesson on Thursday - a year 9 class about Feudalism in Medieval Europe - and then on Friday taught all four classes, as my supervising teacher was absent.

I started the year 9 lesson off by introducing myself to the kids. It was a good idea. They seemed really interested about my experiences in Asia and when I was done talking about it, they had loads of questions about Japan and South Korea. It took a bit of time fielding the questions but we eventually got stuck in to the Feudalism lesson.

Friday was a little more challenging, as the kids were without their regular classroom teacher. But overall the week did a lot to quash any doubts about being able to translate my teaching experience in Asia to teaching here in Australia and I'm now looking forward to week two of the prac.

T.A.D
Camp Hill

First day

I just finished my first day of the four week block of my practicum. I'm feeling pretty tired due to waking up at 6am with just a few hours sleep under my belt.

It was a pretty productive day. I got to work with some of the students one-on-one and in groups which was a good way to break the ice and get to know them.

There are five or six other student teachers at the school I'm at so the staff room was packed today. They were from almost every university in Brisbane, I think, and It was interesting to know how different each university's policies and procedures are towards pracs.

My supervising teacher informed me at the end of the day that I will be teaching a full class on Thursday and then on Friday will be away so I will teach that one too.

This term the unit for SOSE (Studies of Society and the Environment) is the Middle Ages, so I'm going to go and brush up on things like the feudal system, serfs, knights etc. and then write up my lesson plans.

T.A.D
Camp Hill