Thoughts on Middle School

Practicum is done... time to finally relax for a few days and hang out with my boy without my brain thinking up lesson plans and scheduling every minute of my day.

I taught grades 2 to 8 during my practicum, and in the end I liked the grade eights best. My classroom management strategies came naturally in that class, and I felt like I was dealing with smart kids who understand why they are in class, why I am there and that we aren't that different. I find it interesting that I was halfway between their age and that of my A.T. That youthfulness helped, and the kids appreciated it. I could tell a kid to chill, without sounding lame or compromising my authority. I see that this is a fine line to walk, and becoming too casual could lead to a disaster, but I was more comfortable in the classroom and I think the students were too. It was a lot of fun to teach band and I feel so lucky that I did it at a school with such an amazing music program. Music would be my ideal teaching job, and it would be great to lead a band (or 6 different bands as was the case at Runnymede).

That being said, I look forward to teaching a core class in my next practicum. Seeing 160 kids a week on rotary made it difficult to get close to many of the students, or even learn all their names. I look forward to establishing a community and dealing with subjects that I am not as familiar with. It should be interesting.

Here's a poem my A.T. got me to read, and I think it's a good one to put up in a classroom:

DID I MISS ANYTHING?

Tom Wayman
From:   The Astonishing Weight of the Dead. Vancouver: Polestar, 1994.

                                                        Question frequently asked by
                                                        students after missing a class




Nothing. When we realized you weren't here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

        Everything. I gave an exam worth
        40 per cent of the grade for this term
        and assigned some reading due today
        on which I'm about to hand out a quiz
        worth 50 per cent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

        Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
        a shaft of light descended and an angel
        or other heavenly being appeared
        and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
        to attain divine wisdom in this life and
        the hereafter
        This is the last time the class will meet
        before we disperse to bring this good news to all people
                on earth

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

        Everything. Contained in this classroom
        is a microcosm of human existence
        assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
        This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
                gathered

        but it was one place

        And you weren't here