Miriam Gordon is an Early Childhood Major student here at BYU. I recently saw her do something so selfless that it became clear I wanted to interview her for this blog. I walked up to the McKay building and saw Miriam helping a mother carry her stroller down the stairs. If I could use one word to describe Miriam, it would be Christlike. She is kind to everyone around her and always serves others. That is why I know she will be a great teacher.
Miriam is from Murray Utah and has six siblings. She loves being around kids which is the main reason she decided to be a teacher.
I got to know a little bit more about the Early Childhood Practicum, thanks to Mirium. She said, “There are two semesters of practicum. The first semester you are in BYU kindergarten or preschool. In the second semester, you will be in a local classroom that is a partnering district with BYU and will enjoy a kindergarten (or first, second, or third grade) class two mornings a week for the entire morning class. I love it. I love it. I love it. The teachers are super nice. You will be working with a few other teachers who are also in their practicum as well and you will get to work under the headteacher who is a certified and knowledgeable teacher about their craft and it is super nice working together. There will also be a student teacher who has done her practicum and Is currently doing their student teaching. There is a lot of support and we love supporting each other. There is for sure a learning curve but you also get to apply all the things you have been learning about. You also get lots of advice from the teachers. This is a time of rapid learning and rapid growth."
"The practicum students lead the centers, so the kids will go to different activities at different centers. The kids can choose which station to go to in the preschool but for the kindergarten, they are assigned one at a certain time. The lesson plans are pre-written and you can decide how you're going to present them to the kids. You do a couple of lessons a day. You mostly follow along with these lesson plans but occasionally you will write your own lesson and teach that. Also, when the kids have recess you go outside and watch them at recess."
Overall, Miriam says her favorite thing about being in practicum is being with the kids.
If you want to learn more about practicums, check out our other blog all about it, here!