Nicola Janse van Rensburg
001201808
Professional Semester 3
Final Report
Through my third professional semester I had the opportunity to teach grade one at Griffith
Woods School in Calgary. The teaching assignments I had were challenging, yet exciting. My
teacher mentor provided me the opportunity to have experience in all subjects in grade one. I
taught Math, Science, Social, Writing, Art, and the other activities in the class such as the
morning/afternoon meetings, and exploration (center) time. This provided me with exposure in
all areas in order to understand the different planning considerations, assessment frameworks,
and work when it comes to teaching different subjects. In my practicum I was very excited to
approach the schools administration in the first few days and ask about coaching
opportunities , as I am a physical education major. After I approached the admin and the
physical education department I was told I could assist and help the junior girls basketball team.
Unfortunately, because of COVID-19 the season was cut, but that did not stop us. We practiced
every Tuesday and Thursday and incorporated in house games. We believe that even though
we cannot have a season, it is an important exposure for the students to enhance their skills for
the future. This helped me build relationships not only with other students in the school, but
with the other faculty at the school. I felt like I belonged, and that I was a part of something
with working with my grade ones, and assisting the junior girls basketball.
Throughout this practicum I was able to utilize my organization skills. I maintained an agenda
with my responsibilities and my daily tasks and goals for the students. The organization in the
classroom was different, as I came in January and not September. It was more that I came into a
pre organized classroom, but this taught me so many things. It showed me different ways that I
could organize my future classroom. It showed me how to organize student work in a variety of
ways for work coming in, work that needs to be looked at, and work that needs to be returned.
I was able to come up with my own system of folder organization. I had a specific folder for all
assessments taken over the course of my practicum experience, I had a folder of all the
assignments, and activities, and any extras so that I had copies of everything, and finally I had a
folder of gifts and memorabilia from my students.
Planning and preparation throughout my practicum was a long and detailed task, but so
beneficial. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep up with the demands, but I was
able to find a routine and strategy which was suitable for me. This allowed me to be prepared
and organized for my units, and my lessons. I had my materials for my lessons prepared before
they were being taught. Having my unit plans outlined helped me stay focused on what was
required of me to teach, and when it needed to be taught by. I believe I have a lot to learn in
the way of planning and preparation as I need to try different forms out and see what works
best with my routine and capabilities. As a teacher I am young and new, this allows me to try
and work to learn different things, and be open to learning new techniques from resources,
other teachers, and the internet.
Within this practicum I was able to learn and use new technology and application to enhance
my lessons. Some of these resources were SMART boards, Lumio, youtube, epic, and slides. The
resource which stood out to me the most was Lumio. I was able to develop engaging and
creative slides for my students which they could come to the front and write on, and move
things around. This was useful when creating any lesson because it created a sense of
engagement, and entertainment for the students. I learnt different forms of technology which I
will be carrying with me through my future teaching career, and I am looking forward to
enhancing my technology skills; as technology is forever evolving it means that I have to do the
same.
The implementation of FNMI knowledge and understanding was one of my professional growth
goals. As I did incorporate it into a lesson or two, the one thing I did work towards was building
a personal library for myself so that in the future I have resources to be prepared to implement
books readily into my teachings. Having these books readily available will help me feel more
confident with using them as the framework of lessons. With the FNMI library I have created
for lower elementary, it consists of picture books to help lead into a variety of lessons. There
are books I could use for Art, Science, Writing, and Math. Having these resources is important
as it allows me to effectively and appropriately incorporate the TQS understanding of FNMI
knowledge and understanding in an engaging way for my future students.
Coming into this practicum, I had experience in a grade one class from my first practicum. This
allowed me to understand how important relationship building is in lower elementary school.
On my first day I came to the classroom and dove into creating strong meaningful relationships
with my students. I made sure they felt heard, respected, and wanted. By doing this it allowed
for relationships to form. They were able to trust me, and in turn they felt as if they could
approach me and talk to me. I believe that having created those foundational relations allowed
for a mutual respect to be created and it made organizing the students and lessons a team
activity rather than a struggle. I would like to believe that I have a positive and bubbly
personality, and in my third professional semester I believe that it truly benefited me with the
young learners. Overall, this practicum helped me open my eyes from being a physical
education major who wanted to teach middle school gym, and it showed me the true love and
passion I have for elementary school. I am excited to see where my future takes me and I have
so many people to thank, and be grateful for as they helped me get to where I am today.
