First day at practicum

Some updates on my school practicum.........

I woke up early in the morning at 5am. Checked my email ( saw this email that susan sent) , printed out some stuff, packed my bag ,but still, by the time I left home, it was 6.35am . I waited for the bus 88, but it seemed not coming. A look on my watch...6.45am, thus decided to take a taxi down. First day, cannot afford to be late and I have not been there before. Taxi fare was $6. Reached the school at 7am. Waited at the office til abt 7.18am when my CT ( Cooperating Teacher) came to receive me. After receiving my timetable and a security lanyard, I proceeded to the sports hall, cuz my first lesson to observe was a p2 English class. As i followed the teacher back to the class, the teacher told me she had to settle some things with the class, and told me to go back to staff room first. ok. first shock of the day. ( Maybe she was not prepared to have me observe her class yet ; i shall give her the benefit of the doubt) .

Being naturally curious, I continue to wander around the school, trying to recognize and remember all the key facilities and its location, together with all the class arrangements.


I observed a couple of PE lessons (6 lessons) today. Some ( 3 basketball lessons) were by my CT ; some were by other teachers. Sadly to say, because the majority of the teachers are not trained in PE, thus the lessons were not effective both in classroom management as well as in the students actually learning some skills , and not just relays and drills.

A common observation is that by the time the teacher brings the class down and gets them ready, 10-15 mins have passed already, which leaves the teacher with only about 10-12 mins to teach them. (And that is excluding the setting up of equipment) Indeed time is very precious to P E teachers, yet without the classroom management and discipline , how can the teacher effectively conduct the lesson. I am still thinking how to maximise the 30 mins that I can allocated.