For the first week of January 2021, I participated in a one-week long practicum, observing Ms. Bromer’s class at Buckingham Middle School. Ms. Bromer taught two classes of each middle school grade – 6th, 7th, and 8th. I was to observe her classroom all day Monday-Friday and help out where I could. This would get me in the classroom to start getting some experience.
However, the week I was able to spend in Buckingham was the students’ first week back from winter break. It was also the first week that it was mandatory for scheduled virtual meetings. The school had been physically closed due to COVID-19, and the teachers had held optional Google Classroom meetings. Only a couple students would attend those meetings. The week I was in the school was the first time any of the teachers held actual classes online. Ms. Bromer was only allotted 20 minutes per class, and only a small handful of students showed up to the meetings in each class. Of the students who did show up, many were late, and all of them had their cameras off.
Ms. Bromer did not think 20 minutes was sufficient enough to actually accomplish anything of worth, so her meetings were mainly just to introduce the homework and ask if there were any questions. The students continued to do their projects at home, taking pictures of the completed pieces to turn in via email or Google Classroom.
While I was in the physical classroom with Ms. Bromer, I watched the brief virtual meetings, listened to her talk about her class, and worked on my papers. I had to write a journal entry for each day I was in the classroom, and I had seven additional papers to write regarding specific areas, such as discipline and safety.
It was definitely a challenge to do the work I needed to complete when there was no actual class. I did not get to see behavior management, school safety, policies, or teaching strategies. However, I did glean some information from the experience.
I was able to see Ms. Bromer’s physical classroom and how she had it organized. With four full days spent in the school, and each class lasting only 20 minutes, I was able to learn a lot by word of mouth from Ms. Bromer. She regaled me with many stories of her classes and students, so while I was not able to actually experience those stories, I still got to hear about them.
This was also a unique experience, as I was able to see what it would be like to teach virtually, something that I never thought I would have to do before COVID-19 hit. Now that this pandemic has occurred, I realize it could very well be that I have to teach virtually at some point in my career. While this practicum was not what I had hoped for, I was able to acquire some valuable knowledge and experience.