So far I have had one practicum (short practicum) and have realized that the profession can be a lot of fun. It feels great to teach students something and actually see them understand and demonstrate the learning that has taken place. This is especially the case when students are actually ENJOYING the learning that is happening. In my practicum, I had several experiences with this, and must say that it feels good to have students enjoy the content you are providing to them. In one instance I was teaching students how to ask questions of texts, In doing this we ended up doing a lesson on “thick questions” (questions that will not be answered by the book or text). In the course of this lesson, I read the students a book called “If” that covered really funny what-if questions. For instance, what if caterpillars were toothpaste? What if toes were teeth? From these funny what-if questions, students had to ask deep questions such as “If toes were teeth, would you need to cut your toenails?”.

In this questioning lesson, students had a lot of fun and worked to come up with fun, silly what-if questions. At the end of the lesson, I tested student knowledge and discovered that all the students involved had a good idea of the difference between thin and thick questions, and were able to come up with both types of questions if I asked them to. This felt great as I could tell that the teaching I had done made a difference and the students that learned it enjoyed the process.

I am excited to have this process continue in my later practicum placements and I look forward to trying my best to connect with students. In the my last practicum I feel that I was successful in this and I am excited to engage in future learning opportunities with my students.

I will update this section after I finish my second practicum.