The Practicum Plan in Retrospect

Starting a new semester is always difficult with schedules changing, and new opportunities arising. Personally, the best way to get comfortable with a new routine is to be organized enough to roll with the changes. Since I have always been this way, putting things down in a calendar and organizing several months at a time has never been a problem. Still, I tend to complete such tasks in a calendar format that can be carried with me everywhere I go (i.e. my planner). Therefore, filling in a practicum plan was a somewhat redundant process for me. While it was interesting to have a list to view of the assignments for the entire semester, it was a little abstract for me. Seeing the entire list was overwhelming in the beginning, since so many of the tasks cannot be worked on from the start. The learning goals were a fascinating part to grow on and look back at, but I am sincerely unsure of how much they actually pushed me to work on them. Setting the learning goals in writing was a great idea. Being able to see what I am concerned about on paper made things somewhat clearer in regards to my everyday intentions. However, looking at the learning goal activities later than when I set them was not so effective. In retrospect, the activities I set were probably not the most appropriate to address the topics I was intending to better myself on. Despite the choice of activity, I still feel that I have grown within those goals throughout the course of this semester. Altogether, the practicum is an excellent idea, especially for those who did not already organize their assignments, routines, etc. For myself, I would rather stick to my planner for dates and to-do lists. Writing the learning goals on paper was a very beneficial process, as it helped me focus in on what I felt I needed or wanted to work on. Still, planning the activities may be better when written at a later date in the semester. Checking things off any to-do list always seems to be a stress-reliever, but a variance in format or section due dates may be beneficial, taking so many students into consideration. As always, the planning and organization behind the scenes is half the battle!