Practicum, Day One!

Phew!  That was not nearly as frightening as my nerves were trying to convince me that it would be.  The fact that I woke up every hour last night didn’t appear to be evident on my face or in my actions.  I can thank adrenaline for that!  I pondered stopping for a coffee this morning, but feared a complete loss of calm demeanour.  I am a professional after all!  Nerves plus coffee equal teacher candidate needing to be peeled off of the ceiling.

There were a few small glitches along the way:  A late student who I didn’t notice come in.   Moving through the demo too quickly.  Rewarding students with temporary tattoos that they all felt needed to be applied immediately.  Of course, water is required for the application and suddenly many students needed to use the washroom!  Then, getting the students to refocus on their work was a challenge.  Of course it was!  It would have been for me too if I was in their shoes.  I’ll chalk that one up as a learning experience. 

All in all, though, I have to say that it was a positive experience.  I did some things right.  And when it comes to the kids, I feel like I lucked out; they are a great group.  I’m so looking forward to getting to know them as my teaching block continues!