Chelsy Sampson

Reflective Journal # 2
Due : February, 2, 2020
Edu 228
Reflective Journal #2
After a week of starting my practicum, I was nervous and anxious as can be. However, as

the weeks have gone by and we are now halfway through, I have noticed some growth in the way

I see things when teaching. When I first began, I felt like I had no experience at all. The first

three days I was constantly doubting and contemplating whether not teaching was for me. Not

because I didn’t love what I was doing, but because I noticed I lacked a lot of experience. For

instance, things I had never thought about such as, using appropriate language, not using slang,

and word choice with students. I know I am repeating myself from my first reflection, but using

appropriate word choice is something I am struggling with. For example, I never had taken into

consideration that finding “child-friendly words” would be this difficult. Also, when one uses

slang and is not aware of it, we are modeling/portraying these word choices to our students

which is not educational. Children are in development and it’s essential we are providing them

with the right information as well as vocabulary. I think using the right word choice with

children/students will always be something one has to work on since we use slang in our

everyday life without realizing it.

As society changes, we need to adapt to the type of language we use, topics, and students'

needs. In EDU 238, we learned about many tools that can be applied/adapted/modified when in

the classroom, such as making toolboxes with sensory items, hands-on learning techniques,

seminars, and implementing technology in the classroom as a mandatory resource. Learning

about a variety of special needs is crucial as a teacher.

 The article “World Autism Day- Lets allow disability to change our societies for the

better” that we read in 238, mentions how in today’s society, there is a stigma when it comes to

children on the spectrum. More often then so, people on the spectrum are associated with the

stereotype of not being “smart” or being able to participate in school activities. When this is not

the case, people who are on the spectrum are just as equally smart if not more intelligible. The

stigma of people on the spectrum is relevant more than ever. I have been able to notice the

inequality when it comes to students with special needs—in my practicum. As pre-service

teachers, we need to not only spread awareness about autism but learn from what they can teach

us. By having world awareness autism day, it will help students to feel less alone and feel more

normal, as well as allowing teachers to be more comfortable helping their students.

As teachers/pre-service teachers, we are always trying to reach our students' needs as best

as we can. However, sometimes it can be difficult due to having students with special needs in

the classroom and not having enough hours given by the government to help students. Something

that I have seen during my practicum is that when some students are given the supplement hours,

sometimes there missing the employees to make the job happen. As teachers, we need to

understand that we will not be able to reach all students and that is okay. Teachers can only do so

much, but as long as we try our best, this can come a long way. What I have noticed when being

at my practicum is how my AT always specifies to students: “ This is our classroom, this is your

fidget” therefore this allows students to take care of the objects more and makes them feel safe.

We had learned about emphasizing to our future students “ Our” when in the classroom. Our

teacher Dr.Keith, is always reminding us of the term Ours. What I have been working on in the

classroom has been to use classroom norms when speaking to teachers as well as my AT, as it is

important to not make any student feel inferior.

 One thing that went well during one of my lessons the second week was my math lesson

on decreasing. I had made a story about animals in the jungle that had participated in a race. The

objective of the lesson was for students to place the cards with the race time in decreasing order,

thus—slowest time to fastest. During this lesson, all my students were engaged and enjoyed the

story as well as the names such as Gigi the giraffe, Chester the cheetah, and Mr.turtle. During my

lessons I have been focusing on competency 4: “trying out your plans, and learning to adapt the

plan and your actions, in light of your students’ responses and needs” ( Teacher competencies). I

find this competency to be difficult when planning out lessons or teaching them because a lesson

plan can either go super well or not as planned. For example, I was sure that my decreasing plan

had not gone well due to a lack of clarity, and since I was trying something new which promoted

hands-on learning. However, the last week in January I was informed that my lesson on

decreasing went very well. Students had a test on increasing/decreasing numbers which were my

two first lesson plans and everyone passed. I could not be any happier as a pre-service teacher. I

was scared that my lesson plan was not successful and that my AT would have to re-teach the

lessons.

However, when it comes to including the Quebec Education Program in my lesson plans,

I am beginning to find it easier and easier, even though it is still difficult.What I mean by this is :

I used to think it was impossible and that I would never use the QEP-- even in my future lessons

as it is not important. However, I have learned over the last year it’s extremely important as it

bring structure to our lesson plans and a focus to our students learning.

When it comes to connections and bonds, I feel like I have finally made a break. I am

being myself when I can and it seems to work a lot. I have a great bond with two of the students

that have special needs, that are known to be “out of control”. However, I have established a
great bond with them and make sure there is a balance between helping them with their needs

and making them feel normal.