SURVIVING PRACTICUM

Practicum has been an enjoyable and fun experience thus far and I'm learning and improving myself to become a better teacher. At Barrackpore West,  my cooperating teachers are always helping me to improve my lessons. I'm  teaching  Social Studies,  Geography  and History so I could gain experience in all these fields. I'm learning how to deal with the students and incorporate different types of learning activities within my lessons. I distributed a biodata sheet to get to my students a little more so I could know all their learning styles, what makes them enthusiastic about learning and what makes them bored in the classroom.  

With this I was able to create activities to meet their needs and make learning fun. I know that this is not what they are accustomed too because from observing it's more chalk and talk. The students does not even get a chance to express themselves and in my lessons I give them the opportunity to discuss and express themselves. The feedback I got is that they enjoy the lesson and the group activities as well.

                                              

Practicum is almost over we are already in the second week which is going so fast. Trying to cope with all the struggles of being a teacher and trying to complete school assignments has been a challenge. With four other courses to take into consideration,  and all have assignments not just individual but group. Meeting group embers has been difficult also with the strange weather conditions that happened last week it was difficult to meet and even go to school. I was one of those who were affected by the floods. Although nothing happen to my home, I was trapped or stranded from leaving my home. I couldn't go out, all the routes were flooded out.

PRACTICUM

Most of us do not sleep very good the night before the first day of school. Memories of those first day fears flooded over me the week before practicum even begins. More than anything, though, my excitement overthrown my fears. Am I excited to learn how to be the best teacher I can be? Absolutely. Am I excited to learn the culture and procedures of Barrakpore West Secondary school? Absolutely. Am I terrified? Absolutely. I have, however, been supported in many ways that made me feel that no matter how nerve-wracking this experience will be, I know I will be able to handle it and come out as a better educator.

Within the first day, I went around to the various classes I was assigned to so I can introduce myself and get to know my students a little more. The staff members are so polite and friendly towards us. I work with a wonderful teacher who is willing to share her classroom and students with me. And as it turns out, I don't have to be afraid to make a mistake. When things do not go according to plan and I apologize, my cooperating teacher politely corrects me: "Ms. Ramtahal, you aren't making mistakes, you are learning from your experiences." And she is absolutely right.

I've learned a lot from the in-class sessions for practicum so I have a chance to put that learning into practice, to experience those "aha" moments. For example, by using "think-pair-share" experiences during my lesson to ensure students remain more engaged. It's a better strategy than just calling on a few students, also it keeps the lesson moving. As well as repeat the topic to be discussed multiple times and ask students to close their eyes and think about what they will say. This strategy gives the students sufficient processing time to really think about what they want to say. My lecturers are very accessible and encourages us to contact them when we feel we might be at a point where we need some serious guidance and reassurance. I think consistently reflecting on your practice is critical if you want to be the best teacher you can be.

Synoptic WHAT!!!!!

Looking at this picture, I would have never depict that this chart can show the weather. A synoptic chart is the scientific term for a weather map. Synoptic charts provide information on the distribution, movement and patterns of air pressure, rainfall, wind and temperature. This information is conveyed using symbols, which are explained in a legend. Who knew that you can so much information from this chart?

All these elements like temperatures, wind direction, pressure, clouds and precipitation are shown on the synoptic chart. After visiting the Met office in Piarco, I was really interested in becoming a meteorologist because I was interested in all the various equipment to test the various elements of the weather. I found out that I will have to go Barbados for 18 months to do a meteorology degree. I enjoyed this session a lot because I was able to learn so much in a short period of time. I think meteorology is a good field to get in since it is not an easy thing to master. Everyone think forecasting the weather is so simple and easy, they don't know behind the scenes the real drama that these meteorologists have. 

PLANETARY WINDS

In this session, I now finally understand how the earth’s tilt is so important. The fact that the earth is tilted on its axis is what's responsible for giving us different seasons. And it's why the southern hemisphere is getting ready for winter at the same time the northern hemisphere is heading into summer. I never understood why the seasons happened in the way that they did but this was actually a mind-blowing experience. Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air by which heat is distributed on the surface of the Earth. The wind belts and the jet streams girdling the planet are steered by three convection cells: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, and the Polar cell. These cells contribute so much to the weather and climate of the various regions of the world. Therefore knowing these cells can make any learner understand simple weather forecast as well as determine the atmospheric conditions at any given time. Wind is caused by differences in the atmospheric pressure. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds. On a rotating planet, air will also be deflected by the Coriolis effect, except exactly on the equator. This expression so meant in a previous geography course so it brought back some memory. Who knew that winds could be so important to us? After this session, I now have acquired how more knowledge than before and can now apply this to make lessons when teaching this topics as well as the various activities to engage my students’ interest.

As a prospective teacher, knowing all this content about winds and the atmosphere is very important. As a teacher in training, I would share this knowledge to my students so they to can understand how the Earth works and how they it can relate to the causes of weather and climate. These winds help the seasons that we know, and gives account for the various natural disasters like thunderstorms, cyclones and hurricanes, everything in geography works hand in hand and are connected in one way or the other. My love for geography has grown over the years and my thinking and perception has changed since geography is everywhere and in everything.