# data[].attributes.body
I learned so much during this practicum as I am not in the center yet, so this was my opportunity to learn. I changed my practicum center this time for practicum 3. I learned about classroom management and also how to conduct lessons, which i never got to learn and observe during last practicum. I can use those skills learned in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
1. High points: I worked with K1 this time. Mature kids. I had fun working with them as they were under me in N1 and N2. So i knew most of them quite well. Working with them was quite a breeze. My Prac evaluation went well. Had a very good learning experience with K1 children.

Low Points: Just that when there were staff shortages on some days, I had to pitch in and help there. And yes, the learning corners were very new in my centre. I had to set them up all by myself by finding a suitable space/room.

2. There are different teaching strategies adopted by teachers at various instances. I have tried to observe and pick the best ones from each one of them to try implementing in my teaching in the future. I wish each and every one a successful journey as an early childhood educator!

# data[].attributes.body
1.
High point: children being cooperative and understand what I am talking about. Able to do things according to the given instructions

Low Point: was unfamiliar with learning corners and there was limited time to come out with many things

2. Have a positive mindset and be open minded. Continue to love the children with your big heart

# data[].attributes.body
High points:
- Interacting with the children (K1) and getting to hear their feedback.
- Children seemed to enjoy the activities and the resources created.
Low points:
- Classroom management. Need to improve on setting of rules and being firm.
- Trying to find a way to introduce the learning corners to the children in a fun way.

# data[].attributes.body
My high point during the practicum 3 experience was during the teachers' day celebration in my centre. It was my first Teachers' Day and some children presented me with presents, wished me Happy Teachers' Day and gave me hugs. It felt good to be acknowledged as I was still officially considered a trainee teacher. Even though the presents were prepared by the children's parents, they must have shared with their parents who their teachers are.

My low point was before the L&L implementation when my host teacher gave me feedback on the areas she thought were inappropriately designed or do not work well, and there were a lot of areas she pointed out. I felt like the learning plan and ideas I came up with were a disaster. But I took her feedback in mind and tried to improve on it.

# data[].attributes.body
High: Felt like I developed a closer bond with my students. My prac 3 happened during the school's term break so I had the flexibility to conduct my own lessons with children allowing me to gain more confidence. The most memorable part was talking to the kids about the news on the queen, what her roles were etc. Children enjoyed the activities that I had prepared in the learning corners.

Low: As it was term break, a lot of students were on holiday and the turn up for the prac assessment was lesser.

# data[].attributes.body
I had fun working with the PN children. I was happy to be able to carry out the activities which I had planned although the children were not their usual self on the implementation day. I could have improved on my classroom management by going through the essential agreement before the start of the lesson.

# data[].attributes.body
2) My High Points : I was blessed with a very helpful supervisor and a mentor teacher. The children were also very cooperative and enjoyed the on site activities hence I had a smooth implementation and postive feedback from supervisor.

My Low Points: I was hoping to have more hands-on experience in facilitating lessons for the attached class especially that I am not a in service teacher.  But due to mentor teacher on leave, lack of manpower in school i did not really had the chance to do so other than implementing the 2 required Learning plans. As I am not a staff of the school I couldnt do anything about this but overall I still had a wonderful experience in the school, everyone had been nice, the children ( attached class plus other classes kids and I got along really well).

3) From what I heard fro my group sharing, I felt that even though some of them had encounter some really challenging issues during their practicum, I am glad they also learnt something useful from it and I am also learning from them.
4) I want to encourage my group members that we learn from mistakes and each time we will get better, most important we do not give up, to be resilient is key to sucess💪 😘

# data[].attributes.body
High points: It was great seeing the children enjoying the activities and learning centre resources. They were able to participate in it actively and independently. Furthermore, the class I was in, was a class that I'm very familiar with and it definitely helps as we've created the bond.

Low points: Some areas that I can improve on is to be more confident and work on my classroom management strategies.

# data[].attributes.body
High Point: I was able to become more confident in my ability to plan age-appropriate activity for student and see them learn and grow with me.
Low Point: Whenever I have student who withdraw it sadden me and make me wonder if there is more, I could have done to prevent this. With the crunch of school and work I get overwhelmed with work sometime; I constantly remind myself to take timeout when this happen and not vent on children.

# data[].attributes.body
Highs - Children's cooperation during lesson and also understanding my lesson. Children liking the resources that i created

Lows- Overwhelmed by the resources workload, resource was not developmentally appropriate, time management
I learnt from the mistakes I made and the next lesson I tried to remember those points and tried not to repeat them.

# data[].attributes.headline
Group D: Lynette, Carole, Sara, Rai, Elaine and Ching Yuan

# data[].attributes.subject
Group D: Lynette, Carole, Sara, Rai, Elaine and Ching Yuan

# data[].attributes.body
As a group:
1. Lows:
- When classroom management gets tough and our activities do not go as planned. It is disappointing and tiring at times especially when we work hard to plan lessons/activites.
- Having a lot of assignments while juggling work and having to create teacher-made resources for the learning centres were challenging.

Highs: When we see children enjoy our planned activities and we realize we can learn from our lows. Eg: we can improve our resources, teaching methods

2. What inspires us...
Sara: What inspires me is that our classmates work in different centres and different class levels. As someone new to this industry, I get inspired hearing work experiences/stories and encounters from classmates as it helps me learn new things and possible challenge in this field as an educator. I believe my classmates and I have been through a lot in terms of studying online in the midst of covid and juggling assignments. However, this didn't stop us from helping each other when needed. Ladies, we are at our last lap! Jia you

Lynette: Learning from others helps me to improve things that i lack on and be more aware of my own strength and weaknesses. It’s not easy to have to come out with different ideas of activities every term, so instead of depending on google/Pinterest, we can talk and share with each other about what we have done/ planning to do for our children in school to inspire/help each other with coming up with engaging activities

Rai: Definitely do reach out to other educators if you need the help as you are not all alone facing this. We are all constantly improving to do our best for our children, seeing how other educators work and the impact they make on the children was really insightful and I hope I can be like them

Carole (Min Hwee): What inspires me to learn from each other is I can learn best practices on how other classmates manage the class and to be empathetic and lend a listening ear.

Chingyuan: I guess my classmates do inspire me to become a better teacher as we learn from one another. As someone who is new to the industry, the stories and experiences from my classmates allowed me to get a deeper understanding on how working with children is like. I also like the bond we had where we dont mind sharing or giving tips and suggestions to others.

Elaine: Everyone has their own style of teaching. Through this sharing session, we may find certain strategies that are useful for us, and adopt them. Give yourself some time to get used to the new schedule.

# data[].attributes.body
high: conducting the large group activity with the children. enjoyed their enthusiasm and my interactions with them. Also thankful for a very kind and helpful supervisor, and supportive colleagues!

low: not being able to be attached to my practicum class most of the time due to manpower shortage.

There wasn't much I could do to change the situation, so I just did my best with whatever responsibilities I had.

# data[].attributes.body
High point - When children successfully completed the learning center activities independently after the large group activity.

Low point - When one of the children was unwilling to wait for his turn to do an activity, I tried to convince him kindly and firmly but it was hard. It took a long time and I didn't feel successful.

# data[].attributes.body
(1) Share your highs and lows points during your practicum experience. How did you cope and overcome these challenges?

(2) What inspires you to learn from one another? Leave a note of encouragement for your course mates to continue their journey as an early childhood educator.

# data[].attributes.headline
Group A: Kasthuri, Jasil, Ain, Marie,  Grace

# data[].attributes.subject
Group A: Kasthuri, Jasil, Ain, Marie,  Grace

# data[].attributes.body
Grace
(1)High points: I was thankful that I got to take my own class for the course of this practicum session. By now, they were already used to the routines and classroom management tactics that I've implemented since the beginning of the year. It was an enjoyable time learning and growing together with my children.

Low points: Perhaps not an actual low point but rather it slipped my mind to consider that the practicum 3 is an assessment, not just a classroom observation. So some things that were set in the assessment criteria I did not take into consideration during the actual assessment day itself. For example, I did not keep the additional learning centre resources that we had in the classroom that were not required for the assessment and the children naturally gravitated to those options. That made it a little bit hard to draw them back again.

2) I've been most encouraged to see how the inservice teachers press on with pursuing this diploma on top of their regular teaching duties. It's truly not easy to juggle so much work load as well as the course load and to sacrifice your weekends completing assignments. Kudos to all! I've also been most amazed by the mothers in out midst who has to juggle mothering, teaching and studying..three thumbs up to you guys!

Jasil

High points: I was with the K2 class that I have been attached to since the start of the course. Everything went well and they enjoyed the activities that I have planned. I can see their excitement when they see new activities at the learning corners and started playing with it.

Low points: Classroom management is always a work in process experience and also safety of the children. Teachers have to really keep their eyes on them even though we are familiar with them already.

I overcome all these challenges faced along the way by telling myself in my heart and mind that “I am doing well, keep it going and pace myself”

What inspire me is the perseverance of we teachers have and each day is a new beginning.

Kasthuri

High point: The children were able to follow the instruction given. Those children whom faced difficulties, after guidance by prompting questions they were able to do.

Low point: The children were falling sick frequently and there were lesser children.

Note of encouragement: Just do the lesson the way you have planned no matter anything happens. Just overcome the obstacles and give the best for the children to lean and explore.

Ain

High points: I took K1 class with 10 children. Good thing we were familiar with each other and were engaged during the lesson. They enjoyed the music that I played to introduce the activity.

Low point: During the lesson, I did not stop 2 children from playing with the materials and received feedback from practicum supervisor to be more assertive in managing the class.

My inspiration comes from the student as I want them to enjoy my lesson besides meeting the learning objectives. Learning from my peers help me gather more ideas for the lesson.

Marie

High point: I took my own class so the children were comfortable with me and the evaluation went smoothly.

Low point: We were lacking in man power and the children were falling sick during that period so I was worried that on that day, I would not be able to hit the min number of children.

# data[].attributes.headline
Group E: Deborah, Kelly, Jia Yu, Nirmaljit, Achala, Rachel, Lakshmi

# data[].attributes.subject
Group E: Deborah, Kelly, Jia Yu, Nirmaljit, Achala, Rachel, Lakshmi

# data[].attributes.body
Lakshmi

I worked with K1 this time. Mature kids. I had fun working with them as they were under me in N1 and N2. So i knew most of them quite well. Working with them was quite a breeze. My Prac evaluation went well. Not many hassles. Just that when there was staff shortages on some days, I had to pitch in there. I had to set up the learning corners myself.  And yes, the learning corners were very new in my centre. I had to set them up all by myself

Achala

For me I changed my practicum center this time because I did not feel I could learn anything for the last practicum center. But this new center teachers were very helpful and supportive and I really learned so much like the classroom management and to conduct lessons.

# data[].attributes.body
High points:
1) Children seem to enjoyed my class and I even received a thank you note from one of them.
2) The other K1 class, which I did not take, kept asking me when I was going to take their class? So it made me felt that I was doing something right, that they also want to be in my class.

Low points:
1) I did not emphasis the focus of the activities are not about winning and losing, the children were so focused on winning and losing the game that the losing team was dejected at the end of the activity.
2) The difficultly level was too hard for some children and that left them feeling dejected and frustrated to the point they did not want to participate anymore.

Through this, I have learnt to tell children to not focus on winning and losing but the process of learning before commencing the activities and to adjust the level of difficulty such that all children get to enjoy the games.

# data[].attributes.headline
Group C: Ruzanna, Sheng Jia, Zi Hui, Sangeetha, Sonia , Evelyn and Anindtida

# data[].attributes.subject
Group C: Ruzanna, Sheng Jia, Zi Hui, Sangeetha, Sonia , Evelyn and Anindtida

# data[].attributes.body
Tsaur Sheng Jia (NIEC-NP)

high points: The class I was attached to for practicum was the class I took last year when they were in playgroup, so it was great seeing how much the children has grown (from not being able to speak in PG to be able to have a conversation with me when I was in their class in practicum 3)

Low points: Difficult children and challenging classroom management
Das Anindita (NIEC-NP)
Practicum 3 plays a major role in bringing theory and practice but beyond that it offers the context for me to develop my personal teaching competence and to acquire and develop the knowledge of teaching.
Low point: time constrains, lengthy assignments, limitation of resources.
Zi Hui:
High: Seeing children really enjoying/ are very excited playing the activity i planned for them, children are constantly asking when can they play the learning centre games again
Low: Children can sometimes be a little talkative/ complain quite a lot
Ramalingam Sangeetha (NIEC-NP)

1. Managing  a class and doing a practicum 3 was really time challenging. In the end it was very good learning point to manage multiple task.

Sonia Della Fega Binte Ahmad Hanafi (NIEC-NP)

High: I was able to teach the N2 class which I have been assisting previously so it feels great to finally teach a class. Its also great to see most of them being interested and engaged in the lesson.

Low: I was very stressed and had a lot on my plate because I was also assigned to be the toddler main teacher due to manpower issue and had to constantly jump around to go to N2 class in order to learn and plan for my assignment. It was also in the middle of transiting to term 4 so I had more work coming from the toddler class. Therefore, I had to learn to juggle work toddler class and work from the prac 3.

How I overcame it:
I made a schedule on what I needed to complete and prioritise those that were more urgent. I had to sleep lesser and use my weekend to complete the work

Ruzanna
High Point: Was able to bond with the children, and observe their behaviours and understand their needs. With this in mind, I was able to plan and conduct the lesson accordingly.

Low Point: Had to use different strategies to manage the class.