Week 2

Well, a week in and I can already feel the difference between a rotary setting to a core class. I feel as if I already know these students better than I knew the 160 students I worked with in my first practicum. One main reason for this is the fact that we have had 2 skating days since I have been at Humewood.

There is something to be said for getting to know students in the classroom setting, but it is a much deeper connection when it is out of the school and in a more day-to-day setting. It allows the students to see you as a person and for you to see them as people. It tears down the student-teacher dynamic to some degree. This is the type of teacher I want to be. I want to talk to the students like they are people first and students second. Too many times I overhear teachers talking to students as if they were children, which they are, but they are people first. If you talk to students like they are people, then we can slowly break down the pedestal that teachers are placed on and meet the students on an equal footing.

Along with the skating trip, I was fortunate enough to see a mini opera with them at the Wynchwood Barns called, “Sanctuary Song”. Again taking them out of the classroom provided this opportunity for a connection that wouldn’t have been available in the traditional classroom setting.

Week two down, two more to go.