Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development.
From my practicum, I understood that it is important for me to have knowledge of children’s growth and development so that they can develop appropriate educational choices for their students. However, everyone is different in their learning capabilities. I didn’t see any two children that can learn exactly the same way. Based on that, I realized that we can only make some assumptions about how a child’s mind develops. I made sure to adapt my lesson plans and classes for every student and their growth.
I had spent a good time teaching students over the practicum, that I was able to describe their strengths, weaknesses and the skills or behaviours that I thought to be the biggest importance or concern. The main growth and development goals were to set learning goals that were specific and reasonable for each student and to plan the strategies to achieve these goals. Throughout the whole practicum, I didn’t stop focusing on how to achieve the set goals for each student. When the students showed growth and development in certain areas, I felt incredibly happy for them and it would make my day.