Time passed really quickly and before I know it, I am left with 2 weeks to the end of practicum. This journey has been a really enriching and arduous one. Despite the never-ending lesson plans that need to be churned out every single week, coupled with the mad rush of marking, I have truly learnt a lot and have grown as a teacher over the past 8 weeks.
So, what have I learnt?
Teaching Pedagogy - I used to think teaching English is all about practicing papers after papers. Through my practicum experience, I have learnt many useful techniques, strategies and approaches in teaching English Language. There are a couple of skills that I have managed to apply from my NIE course, such as helping students comprehend the text better through predictions which students really enjoy doing (guessing the plot through contextual clues). Besides, I have managed to come up with a couple of artifacts as an effort to help my students understand better. For example, I recorded an audio extract myself to help my students with the skill of note-taking as a listening skill. I am someone who feels more comfortable teaching Mathematics as I am an engineer by training but I have come to realise that it's not easy disecting Mathematics to help students understand it in a bite-size manner. Many things may seem very logical to me but to these students, it may be abstract and difficult for them to comprehend. I've learnt to not assume that they know the basics and really check for their understanding before moving up to the next level.
Through my formal and informal observations, I have learnt to take note of certain key points which may seemed small but have significant impact to the students' learning. For example, I tend to have blind spots whenever I write on the whiteboard and frequently only asking students in the middle and neglecting those sitting at the sides. Making sure that my instructions are visual is also another key area that I have learnt. Many times, just by verbal instructions, students are often at a lost and would need me to repeat several times. By ensuring verbal and visual instructions, students are able to follow better in the lesson.
Classroom Management - Thankfully, I have been given rather good classes for practicum. Most of my classes are rather well-behaved. My Sec 1 class was a little difficult to control at the start but as they got used to me, it was easier handling them. I guess this is where rapport comes in. I often employ alot of i-messages and logical reasoning with these students whenever they misbehave or are not paying attention. Chasing for some of their homework is a problem though. I realised that this stemmed from a lack of proper procedures put in place. This is an area I need to improve on.
Rapport with Students - Some classes are easier to build rapport with but there is a particular class where I found it a little more challenging to get closer to them because they really liked their CT. Hence having me to take over their class wasn't really something they were looking forward to.
One area where I really need to improve on is basically ensuring that every student has learnt. Other than tests, marking of homework and presenting of answers in class, I need to come up with more efficient ways to ensure that every student in the class is following and learning. Perhaps I should start employing techniques such as "Exit-pass" when I start teaching as a full-fledged teacher.
It's a journey and there's still a long road ahead of me. Nevertheless, I am thankful for the experience thus far and look forward to becoming a better teacher. :)
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