Grade 6 Math Anyone?

When I found out my practicum placement back in September, the word MATH was the first word that jumped out at me.  Having music being the focus for me in my post-secondary education, math has been far off in the distance for quite some time.  So when I found out math was going to be one of the subjects I'd be teaching during practicum, I felt pretty nervous and my confidence hindered.  However, as I digested the information about my practicum, it became clear to me to take teaching gr. 6 math as a challenge that I could rise up to. 

Now, one week in, I'm very much enjoying my practicum.  Teaching math isn't that scary and I actually look forward to developing interesting math lesson plans.  I'm also teaching library and media literacy, where I can further let my creativity lead in lesson planning.  Having a music background, it's great being at an arts school, where I am surrounded by artistic and creative students and staff.  Art and student work is displayed all over the school and students are given opportunities inside and outside of class to really let their creativity shine.  As a TC, I was greeted with a warm welcome right from my first STEP day and I've been learning a lot from my AT as she has already allowed me to take the reins in many of her classes.

The first lesson I taught was in media and it was the lesson related to my All About Me.  It was the first day of practicum, Halloween, and I was standing, dressed as a cowgirl, in front of a class I had never met before.  Nerves were kicking in.  The beginning of the lesson was a little rough.  There was some discussion that had to lead up to my All About Me and the assignment the students would be doing, but I didn't word my questions quite right, so there was a little bit of confusion.  But as the lesson progressed, discussion perked and the students were on their way to working on their assignment.  I'm teaching this lesson to 4 classes in total, so for the second time I taught the lesson, I structured the lesson a bit differently and it flowed amazingly! It was a rewarding experience being able to reteach a lesson, restructure it, and have it work :)

I also taught math everyday this week.  The first math lesson I taught went pretty well, but as the week went by, my math lessons improved and I'm getting the hang of teaching math to grade 6 students.

My word for this week would be clarity.  Students need lots of clarity in lessons.  It's quite an adjustment going from an adult student environment at OISE where we can make connections and figure a lot of things out on our own, to a middle school, where I'm working with younger students of varying abilities and talents.  It took some adjusting for me to remember that I need to really break down the steps in my lessons and find the best way to be as clear as possible as to the purpose of my lessons, and what students are assigned to do.

All in all, a really great week filled with hard work and collaboration. I'm really looking forward to the next 3 weeks and to the challenges and experiences coming my way!