In my observation practicum, I observed a lot of different classrooms and teachers. Mostly in the intermediate grades. It was interesting to see how things are done in different schools. We got to go to different schools around Prince George, and McBride and even got to observe a couple of high schools. Observing high school was so different and eye-opening. Complete 180 from elementary school. Some memories that stood out to me were:
A medicine wheel that is incorporated the school teams that every student participates in. The drama teacher created this. Every student is placed in a group, and they got to choose their group symbol depending in the colour. Some older students are elected as the leaders of these groups and they are the ones that help with events, planning etc for the student activities. Points are earned but doing good deeds around the school if a teacher or anyone sees a student doing. They are given a ticket to write their names and enter it to be counted and a weekly draw for a small prize. On the other end of the ticket is for the student to take home to show their parents that their child was recognized for doing a good deed. I thought this was interesting because it uses the Indigenous way of knowing of being proud of your space and taking ownership of your actions.
Our Halloween observation was fun but also educational. Watching and learning from the classroom teacher was very interesting. It happened to be a smaller class. The different levels of learning and being responsible for that many different grades was cool to see. Even though it was Halloween, and they have fun activities they were still required to do some work. Students worked on spelling and math before they were allowed to participate in these activities. We made Rice Krispy treats and were able to decorate them. The ones on the table were done by the students who made mounds of candy and the single picture is the one I made. We made paper pumpkin pictures, they made a haunted house we went through, and they made a guessing game, putting you hand in a bag to guess what it was, i.e spaghetti- intestines, carrots-fingers, mushed banana- brains.
