Like most the rest of us students in this teaching program, I had been long since waiting to find out what school I would be going to for my practicum periods. I was surprised and initially a bit distraught to find out I'm going to an "alternative school" or (remedial) "education center" at S.J. Willis.
To be fair...I don't know a whole lot about the school, and I'm sure that some of my negative impression about it stem from the fact that my Sciences Humaines (French immersion social studies) teachers' favourite way to get people to stop talking/misbehaving in class was to tell us "ta bouche, ou je t'envoie a S.J. Willis" (shut up or I'm sending you to S.J. Willis).
But I am legitimately concerned about the fact I will have significantly less experience in a normal public school setting than the rest of my colleagues in this program, as well as the fact my first attempt at teaching will be a very difficult one in a class with a lot of problematic and/or struggling students. Furthermore, the fact that 3 of the 4 of the students from this program going to S.J. Willis are Social Studies teachers means that I will almost certainly be used strictly as a Math teacher and gain little to no experience in my Social Studies teaching area.
Perhaps even more troubling than my initial reaction was the fact that, when I called my mom (who has spent decades teaching in schools around Victoria), she had an equally if not more shocked reaction than I did. A long pause, "they can do that?" and "well you should ask to get trasfered right away" was about the least reassuring thing I could have possibly heard.
I guess I'm preparing myself for the worst case scenario and it might not be as bad as I fear, but I definitely feel like I've been handed a pretty raw deal by our field experience co-ordinator
I'm a bit surprised that you would be sent to an alternative school without requesting such a placement. I guess the quote-on-quote "good" news is that this is just the school observation and it will give you some insight that the rest of us won't have. However, I do see your concerns, in fact, if it was me I would probably be panicking slightly. I wish you all the best in your placement; try to glean as many experiences from it as you can from it!
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a low risk opportunity. I have never taught in an alternative program but I know people who have and they wouldn't trade their position with anyone. If it's possible I would be open to the prospect that you may discover your niche in this kind of learning structure.
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