We’re only at the halfway point, but I feel that already I have enough to say about this practicum for a blog post.

Rather than go through the whole experience, I’d like to highlight a few things that I am really proud and excited about from this practicum. One of my big goals was to improve my conducting ability and my effectiveness as a conductor. I can say with confidence that I exceeded my expectations with this goal. I gained a sense of familiarity and comfort with my conducting by the fourth week, which I expected to take until the last. The feedback I have received from my coaching teacher has been implemented, and I am very proud of my growth in this important skill area that I had less experience with coming into this practicum than would have been my preference.

The second highlight is portfolio assessment. I am very excited that my coaching teacher was so pleased with how the portfolio idea was working with the grade 8s that when I suggested we bring it to the other classes as a method of assessment, she was fully on board. I added another layer to this portfolio assessment by building triangulation into this model. My coaching teacher was very excited at the idea of writing in-class observations down of a student’s performance or shared discussions. These observations will be collected in the portfolio and included in the holistic assessment model that my coaching teacher plans to continue after I leave. I was very excited to give such a master teacher a new tool or angle from which to approach assessment and growth of students.

My third highlight is behavior management. I really feel like I have come into my boots on this one. Something that was completely foreign to me before and mildly terrifying now feels very natural to implement in class on a daily basis. I have used one-on-one discussions outside of class to isolate bullying and remove it from my classroom. In addition, the daily check-in has hugely helped me to build a sense of band community and grow a positive learning environment in my classrooms. I have always felt that band class should be a safe place to learn, and I feel like I have created this safe space for a few students who really needed it.

These are my three biggest highlights from practicum. I feel that I learned a lot and fell into the groove by the end of the fifth week, which is sooner than I had expected. I look forward to implementing all the things I’ve learned in 491 in my future practice as an educator.