Now that my field placement has come to an end, I can safely say that I have grown both as a person as well as a future teacher. Unfortunately, our field placements were cut short by a few weeks but I still feel like I gained a lot of knowledge in my 5 weeks in the field. I was placed in a grade 7/8 split class at Prairie Sky school in Regina. This was a perfect situation for me because these grades match up perfectly with my Middle School degree that I’m currently taking. My initial thought before my first day was “What if I can’t do this?”. This is the first time I’ve ever been put out into the field and I was very nervous and scared during the first week. After each week that went by, I got more and more confident because I was connecting with the kids in my class. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids to help me expand my horizons and feel more confident in myself! I now know, more than ever, that this is want I want to pursue and do for the rest of my life!
I feel as though I learned a lot from merely observing the classroom and engaging in all activities, but my real learning came from the focus questions that we were tasked with us throughout our weeks in the field. They made me look harder and deeper into the questions and how my classroom relates to these questions. If I didn’t have these questions to refer back to I feel like I would have just been a guy who was merely watching a classroom and how it works. These questions didn’t just show me what to look for, but I feel as though they connect everyone in the classroom from the students to the teachers and even the community as a whole. These questions also forced me to do some self reflecting. I have been asking myself questions such as “What kind of teacher do I want to be?”. These questions got me thinking about how I plan to run my future classroom in order to make sure I provide a safe environment in order for my kids to feel comfortable and succeed. Just as I’m writing this reflection, I also noticed that our questions we were told to focus on each week was very much related to our lecture topics each week. For example, when we were told to focus on diversity in the school as well as the community, I noticed that Prairie Sky is not shy in this department. This school has a tipi pitched outside with a small fire pit in the middle that some Indigenous elders came and put up themselves. My placement teacher also told me the school tries to hold a round dance session once every three months. This, to me, is such a cool idea that I never even thought about incorporating into a school setting.
On a more personal note, I was fascinated and honestly surprised as to how much this group of young and delightful kids actually taught me. My students were so welcoming in having two random strangers come into their classroom and help them with their education. It warmed my heart actually. This teaching experience made me feel so happy and excited to be part of this community. Getting to go out once a week to an actual classroom and expand my knowledge was such a rewarding experience and is one I wouldn’t trade for anything. In conclusion, this time in the field has really given me a chance to assess my readiness to be in the field and how education has changed so much since I experienced it many years ago. I am very confident in saying that my journey to being a full time teacher is far from over, but I am open and ready to face my future experiences and challenges to become a great educator!
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Arthur Ward