I remember being in Uni and ringing around schools asking if they would take me for a prac. God I remember. It was a hard thing to do, and I am so grateful to the wonderful teachers who took me on. It's why I always try to say yes to having a prac student. My first prac student has become my best friend and my closest colleague. I love telling the kids how I went to her wedding. Another prac student regularly emails me to let me know how she is going. She always tells me how much she enjoyed being at our school. My current prac student has kept me sane in the last two weeks. She's as new as can be and only 19 but very enthusiastic and very good. She will be a great teacher. She has helped me no end - not by doing my work for me but by doing what I do with me. That includes co-marking, playground duty, team teaching. She even joined us for end of term faculty dinner tonight. It never crossed my mind that this time of year might be too busy to have a prac student and thank goodness it didn't. I have enjoyed every minute of it.
Having a prac student helps me as much as I think it helps them. I gain a realisation of how far I have come in my own teaching - I guide them with confidence (mostly) and I become a mentor and a friend. I gain an awareness that I have actually come a long way as a teacher.
I also learn from the prac student. I gain new ideas -I take more risks, I implement new content and teaching approaches.
And I always have more to learn.
Images: my own photos from the Lego forest in Martin Place, Sydney as part of the 2012 Lego Festival of Play http://www.legofestival.com.au/m/#/news/article.php?id=135
Love that you have also sought to develop a working relationship with your praccy!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lanelle! I have had a couple of other praccy's since then - I am still learning loads of stuff from them which is great. Thank you for your comment. Look forward to chatting again soon.
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