Practicum Reflection Sept 10

This week in my practicum with NCVPS, we focused on communication between teachers, students and parents. We talked about what an eLA is and why its very important to work very closly with our eLA.

NCVPS is very strict on communication. We must keep a communication journal and keep very detailed notes on any and all levels of communication, even communication through email. Students are to be contacted the weekend before school starts. This is called a "welcome call". These welcome calls are used to gather more information, like parent email, alternate phone numbers, etc.

We also learned how to handle different situations that may require intervention. For example, what to do if a student is in danger of harming themselves or being harmed. If a teacher thinks that a student needs intervention, is it very important to call the instructional director and instructional leader, given it is immediate danger. Email will suffice if there is no threat for immediate danger.

My favorite part of this weeks discussion was the communication scenarios. Were we given scenarios where we had to talk about how we would handle them while staying true to NCVPS standards/protocols.

I'm going to place the questions below (paraphrased versions). You tell me how you would have responded.

1. You have a student with low skill levels. She  usually takes a long time to work through her assignments, but all of a sudden, she is submitting work that far exceeds what you know her ability to be. You have a strong suspicion someone may be doing the work for her. How do you proceed?

2. You are connecting with parents. You reach a parent of a student who is immediately rude and standoffish on the phone. In fact, she tells you, “I have given up on her. Please do not call me again.” How do you proceed in supporting this student and parent? *

Practicum Reflection Sept 3rd

This semester is currently the last semester of my 2nd masters degree!! Exciting right?!!

In December, 2017, I will officially have a MAT (Masters in the Art of Teaching) with a certification in OTID (Online Teaching and Instructional Design). But before I celebrate I must complete a few tasks.

At the top of the list of those tasks is my practicum. I am doing my practicum with NCVPS (North Carolina Virtual Public Schools). I am super excited about this opportunity because it gives me the tools and skills needed to be a successful online educator. In my current face-to-face class, I am working on a gamified model. This model requires a lot of skills that online teachers must master. Which is why I am so excited to be allotted the opportunity to be apart of this year's cohort.

The program is broken up into two, 8-week sessions: course work and student teaching. You must be recommended to move on to the student teaching session before you are approved to student teach. Hence, it is very important to stick to the goals of the first 8-weeks. These goals include learning NCVPS's rules and regulations on:


Week 2: Instructional Model
Week 3: Communication
Week 4: Making Announcements
Week 5: Grades and Feedback
Week 6: Individualization
Week 7: Evaluation and Support

So far things are going well with these goals and I am on track. The course work is very informing and I am truly enjoy learning new information. This week we talked about communication and what things we should and should not include in emails. This practicum is going to truly change my life, and I can't wait to embrace the change