Category: Journals

I should have been phasing out this week; however with my SA in Europe for a school trip to Vimy Ridge I have maintained my full time status. I’m actually quiet glad it’s worked out this way. I am enjoying the extra time with students. Students really have been the highlight of this experience, the relationships I’ve formed with a number of students over the last 9 weeks has been profound.

This past week was busy. With a short week I felt that I had to fit in a lot of content.

My grade 8s are preparing for a field trip next week to a synagogue. I am looking forward to getting my feet wet with an off property opportunity. My SA and I will be meeting students at the synagogue on Thursday morning and bus back up to school with them after that. I have wrapped my explorers unit and am waiting for assignments to come into me on Tuesday. I am expecting a number of creative “Explorer Brochures.” Overall the students were less talkative than the week prior and I felt we were able to get a lot accomplished. I was working to set up a smooth transition for my SA who will be teaching more Canadian content. I ended the unit with a look at Cartier and Champlain and their contributions to the founding of present day Canada.

Grade 9s have been a lot of fun. We are just 2 classes away from wrapping my Fur Trade unit. I am amazed during this process how much I have adapted my unit structures. Originally I had planned to have 7-8 classes set aside of the Fur Trade. I have whittled that down to 5 classes and I feel content with it. Students are learning the difference between the Hudson Bay and North West Companies. We are constantly discussing the impact on First Nations Peoples and their role in the starting of what is now Canada. With the New France unit that preceded this we discussed a lot of overlapping facts. I feel confident the students are comfortable with the material surrounding New France and the Fur Trades impact on the future of Canada.

Grade 10s are continuing our WWII unit. Both classes have picked a different form of assessment. This coming week we will have both a test and a project due. I am looking forward to the projects that will be presented on Tuesday as they are focusing on major battles of WWII. Both classes had a very interesting class on the decision to drop the atomic bombs in 1945. Class discussion was diverse and robust. Students were diligent in examining the evidence and making sound decisions. It was a fun class to facilitate. I’ll miss my 10s the most when I leave.

I continued my discussion on First Nations issues in current day context by showing my grade 11s a very interesting documentary called “Cut-Off.” It is made by Vice News and shows how individuals live on the Shoal Lake 40 Reserve in Manitoba.  Students were responsive of the documentary and our discussion following was very interesting. I felt it was a documentary that students would relate to as it is so recent. I felt that it was a positive choice to show this documentary.

Highlight of the week: My current event. I looked at Malala Yousafzai  as she recently became an honorary Canadian citizen. I asked all students to tell me as many facts as they could about Malala. It was very surprising to see the level of knowledge surrounding her. It also gave me a great opportunity to reinforce that regardless of age, gender or obstacles you can be successful. Students can make a difference. It was a very positive and nice way to start classes.

Goal for next week: MARKING!!! So much marking! Also, try not to be too sad its all ending. I’ll miss a number of the students and staff when we say goodbye.

This week was an improvement from last. I feel that students were settling back into the routine of classes and school as they start the final push towards the end of the school year. I felt that it went very fast, too. My SA left for Vimy on Thursday and I have been working with a TOC. Its always interesting and insightful to hear the opinions of other educators. I think this is a positive experience for me to go through during my practicum.

My grade 8s were very talkative this week. I had to talk with them both classes. On Thursday I kept two students behind who were especially bad. We had a productive conversation about respect and what that looks like in a classroom setting. I let them know that this was their warning. If the issue persists they know they will be moved to new seats. This week will tell all for those two. I remain optimistic they were serious with their apologies and acknowledgement of the issue at hand. They are both very good students. They engage in classroom activities, ask insightful questions and do well on all assessments. They just talk A LOT!

This week also saw me dealing with the school counsellors over a student in my Socials 8. I held a pop quiz and structured its timing so that the class had just worked on a review together. Students did well with the class average at 10 out of 12. The student in question got 2 out of 12. He is an ELL student and I have been told his parents speak no english at home. I pulled him aside this week and asked him if I could do anything to help him, moving forward. He was clearly ashamed of his lack of understanding of english and would not look me in the eyes while we talked. He continuously said he did poorly due to a lack of attention to class material. I do partly believe that statement, however, it runs deeper than that. After talking with the counsellor it became clear that this student had fallen through the cracks and was in classes that are too advanced for his level of english. I have talked with my SA about this and I am hoping to spend a bit more one-on-one time with him in class. I hope that next year is a turning point for him. He needs more support.

My grade 9s were my highlight. They did well on their tests for the New France Unit and we quickly jumped into the fur trade with a lot of excitement. It was nice to tie the two concepts together. Students seem to really be making sense of the timeline. I’m going to be sad to say goodbye to the grade 9s. They are a lot more work due to the large class size but they are fun to interact with. They get excited about the content.

Grade 10 was moving deeper into the social issues of World War II. We looked at The rise of Hitler, Anti-semitism, Japanese aggression leading to pearl harbour and finally Japanese interment in Canada. Students like this content. I think its one of the first units they can actually connect with. Maybe a grandparent or great-grandparent lived through the event and they’ve previously been exposed to it in some context.

I have created a bit of work for myself by allowing each of my grade 10 classes how they want to be assessed for this unit. Of course one class picked a test while the other chose a project. The decision to be assessed in a format they pick was, I think, a powerful exercise for them as students. The project has been introduced and students seem excited about it. I will give them one more work class this week to prepare for their presentations.

This week also saw an exchange student come right out of this shell. He is from Germany and he clearly connects with the material for this unit. I think prior knowledge is a huge confidence booster. We examined the Rise of Nazism this week and the student was more engaged than ever before. I hope this week sees the same level of engagement with the material being covered.

Finally, the 11s. I feel that this class is my least engaged. They are all great students, very respectful and many are very talented in other areas of academia. Yet, I just cannot seem to crack them, I thought I had them after week #7 but I am not so sure after this week. Their level of energy is always so low. I find it hard to get them excited.I am going to get them moving this week. Up and out of chairs. Working together. I am going to use my same timeline activity from my 10s two weeks ago but this time focus on events of the entire 20th century. I am hoping movement sees a change in their classroom engagement.

Highlight of the week: Talking to the counsellor about my grade 8 student. I trusted my instincts and I got it right. I want to help this student and I think any information the school obtains is vital. I hope my conversation with the counsellor further encourages administration to take appropriate steps in getting this student into the classes that will help him further his understanding of topics at hand and the english language.

Also, talking with students about Kendall Jenners pepsi ad and comparing it to protests in reality. It was very interesting to hear students perception of the situation.

Goals for this week: Finish strong! 8 days to go. I want to wrap up units in the next 3 classes of each grade. It will be ambitious but I can do it. Looking forward to the challenge.

I will not lie. This week was tough to get through.

I think that both students and teachers had a hard time getting back into the groove of academic life after our two week hiatus. My students were exceptionally chatty this week, especially the first two days.

My classes overall went very well. My grade 10 classes were my favourite of the week. I started my WWII unit with both classes and students are very engaged already. Its a topic that most students can find some interest in. I am excited to keep moving forward with this. I was observed by both my FA (formally) and my SA (informally) for the Introduction lesson of WWII. I must say that I was nervous with the outcome of the lesson as I was asking the kids to create a blind timeline of events for a topic we had not discussed yet. I was pleasantly surprised with both classes. Students seemed to really enjoy the activity. I asked for feedback from both classes, the majority of students enjoyed the exercise and found it useful to the beginning of the unit.

My grade 8s have been a test of classroom management this week. This class has been the most chatty during our first week back. The students asked for a new seating chart before Spring Break and I obliged them with one on Monday. Overall, I am happy with the placement of students and how we have reconfigured desks —I think we finally found a happy medium where all students can see the white board and I am not trapped in a corner. With the change of seats come a new amount of chatter. I am okay with it to a level but have often had to remind the students to keep the volume low. I am hoping that this coming week students will have less to talk about now that they are established in their new seating chart and school is truly back in full gear. My SA observed me in my class on Friday. It went very well. Students have just finished a mini-unit on Reformation and Martin Luther, it was productive and my SA witnessed our final class on the topic with a very thorough review of the material covered. I am happy with the students progress.

I did learn that religion is a very interesting topic for these students. During my lesson on Wednesday we often seemed to veer off track as students questioned a number of issues surrounding all world religions. While it was an informative discussion I am happy to have, it did not fit with my timeline so I had to cut it short. I wonder what students retained when they did their World Religion project in November when I was on the short practicum. A number of questions seemed as if students really did not understand the basics of some religions. This is obviously understandable as they are only 13 and religion is a complex issue, however It makes me think that having group projects where one set of students only focus’ on one topic is not overall great for the learning process of everyone. Just a thought I had…

My grade 9s have been my hardest workers. They have fallen right back into the work cycle and continue to impress me with their knowledge of New France. Their ability to recall information during daily reviews makes me believe they understand the content and are eager to learn. This coming week both my grade 9 classes will write a quiz on the topic as we prepare to study the Fur Trade and its implications on Canadian history next week.

I took my biggest risk with my grade 11s this week. I have formatted the class to have different lecture topics each class while students work at home on one research paper. I have chronologically began working my way from 1945 up to the present day. This week was focused on the late 60s and early 70s. On Friday I held a class on LGBTQ+ history. I started with Stonewall and ended with Bill C-38, Canada’s recognition of same-sex marriage equality in 2005. I used primary sources and an interactive lecture to facilitate the learning process. Students read a conservative newspaper article the week after Stonewall in 1969. It was littered with discriminatory language and condescending remarks directed at homosexuals. Students were asked to answer a serious of questions about the document as well as highlight any language they thought was offensive. It worked well. I took the advice from early in the week and had the article on a powerpoint as well as individual handouts for students. It made teaching it much easier with one large visual for the whole class to dissect. We discussed Harvey Milk, the AIDS epidemic and finally legalization of same-sex marriages in Canada. I decided to out myself to the class during this lecture. I thought it was necessary for both them and myself in order to have a truly authentic discussion about the topic. I wanted them to know that not only is this an important topic but it also holds a deep personal meaning to me. When students were dismissed I felt very happy with my decision to lead the class in the manner I did. I am used to students saying goodbye and thanking me when class is over at this point in the practicum. I do not expect it but it seems to be a trend, many students have very good manners. This class was different though. I had two different students come up to me and thank me for talking about the topic. Both students said they felt it was a necessary topic to cover and one that schools often only brush over. One of the students even said I was brave to come out to them. I did not do this lesson for me, it wasn’t and isn’t about me. It is about the students and their lives, their struggles, and their confidence regardless of sexuality or gender. I want to be a teacher because I believe I can make a difference. On Friday I felt like I made a difference and that makes me proud.

I am looking forward to the following week. With only 3 weeks left I am starting to wrap up my final units and prepare to hand classes back to my SAs. I am going to continue trying to have my students move around. Changing up desks and students was very rewarding last week, it brought new discussions and debates to the forefront. I wish I had been doing this earlier in the practicum. Now that I know I can get more out of students when they are in groups that do not just include their friends I will use the technique more.

Highlight of the week: My grade 11 LGBTQ+ class. Students were engaged and asking great questions regarding the topic. Having students come up and thank me after class nearly made me cry (I held strong). It was truly a moment that made this whole practicum and academic process seem completely worth it. I felt like I made a difference.

Goals for next week: More wait time for student attention in grade 8. Continued engagement of my grade 10s while we unwrap WWII with interactive lessons. And survive 🙂

This week was interesting. With Spring Break looming it was obvious during the latter part of the week that students had mentally checked out.

The start of the week was smooth and business as usual. I wrapped two units and have successfully started a unit with my Socials 9 group on New France. My Socials 8 and Socials 10 classes each had unit tests. I was happy with how I administered the tests as well as the results from students. In each class a couple of students did poorly, this was nothing more than a reflection of their commitment to the course material. I was not surprised by any of the results.

Overall the week has been all about adapting. Multicultural lunch day, Collaboration day and a Safe-teen talk with my grade 9s has meant I am rearranging lessons to cater to the events happening in the school. I wonder why they have packed so many “alternative” days into one week, it has caused extra work for teachers (or maybe just teacher candidates) and students have been easily distracted. I feel that some of that distraction comes from Spring Break starting on Friday, however, having the last week of classes be interrupted so frequently has surely contributed to student disengagement.

My grade 11s were my toughest class this week. On Tuesday we worked so well together. Research papers were developed and students actively participated in question and answer sessions. By Thursday the tides had turned. It was near impossible to get any involvement out of them. I tried small group discussions, whole class discussions, working in pairs…NOTHING! It was by far the most frustrated I have been in the six weeks of this practicum. I maintained my composure but internally I was struggling. I think the issue was a combination of unclear learning objectives from me and their knowledge that Spring Break was nearly here. It didn’t help that I assigned work to them that was due at the start of class. Once that was handed in I had lost the class. At least thats how I felt. The students and I have a good rapport and overall the class was pleasant, I just could not get them to do any work. It took all of my patience to get through that class. I am hoping that was an anomaly and it does not become common place moving past the break.

We had our mid point meeting this week. I was very happy with the outcome of it. I realize that I have been too hard on myself during this process. This is honestly just me, I have very high standards for myself. I want to be the best I can be at everything I do.

After Spring Break I will be focusing on the feedback I have received from my SAs and FA. I will work on my content and the amount I put into my lessons. Less is more! I will focus on my wait time and guiding students rather than telling students.

With six weeks down I am feeling good about where I am at. I still have work to do but I feel up to the challenge. Spring Break will be a nice chance to recover from the busy six weeks we have just have and refocus on the finish line. I am ready for the last four weeks!!

Highlight of the week: While conducting one on ones with my grade 10s I was expressing to one student how much I appreciated his contributions to class. He responded by telling me that he thought I was doing a good job as a teacher candidate. It was nice to hear this from a student.

My week was busy! At 80% load factor I definitely felt the pace pick up. My 8’s had a test and an assignment due last week. I suddenly had a substantial amount of extra work to complete on top of lesson planning. I managed to finish marking it all and it will count towards their term 2 marks. I’m happy with my time management skills thus far. I am maintaining the pace of the program while staying ahead or on top of all my commitments. I feel confident moving into the next 4 weeks of 100% load factor that I can succeed.

I feel most comfortable with my 8s. I believe it has to do with my SAs choice to give me full reign over the class. Outside of evaluations and the odd changeover after breaks I have been largely left to my own devices with the students. I appreciate this. My SA and I are in contact everyday at some point.

This previous week I gave the students a Machiavellian Test (which I catered to their level of understanding) unbeknownst to them. I covered it as a simple survey from administration. I asked them to not place their names on the survey but instead draw a unique picture they’d remember if they ever saw the forms again. After they filled out the surveys I showed them part of a documentary on Machiavelli and his infamous book the prince. Towards the end of the clip the documentary starts to ask questions that the students had answered earlier in the class. It was oddly rewarding when they all clued in to what had happened. I told the class they could either take the test with them or leave it nameless and submit it to me to go through the online test. The response was great and I am happy to say the majority of my students fall under the low machs category of the test. Its nice to know they do not feel like they have to be ruthless leaders to succeed in the world. That same class I had one on ones with students to give them their quiz marks from the previous week. Having the one on ones was a really good tool to build more rapport with some students I’ve yet to really connect with during class time. I’m happy with the decision to use the documentary as a way to teach but also allow give me time to conduct one on ones.

My 9s were a work week. I rolled out a current events project that is due Monday and Tuesday. I am excited to see the work they produce. On Friday I held four students back after the bell who came into class with food from the cafeteria 5 minutes after the bell had gone. Upon reflection I wish I handled it a bit different. I should have given the students a chance to tell me why they thought it was a good time to go to the cafeteria before my class. Instead I told them it was unacceptable and I would not tolerate it in the future. This would serve as their warning. I remain steadfast that I needed to let them know I was not happy with their choice, yet I should have heard why they made the choice. Lessons for the future incident.

Grade 10s and I seem to work well together. I was nervous taking them on. Much more so than the 9s the previous week. Yet, here I am one week in and most excited about our week ahead. The course content is the first that I am teaching something I studied during my undergrad. I have a group project planned for a one day lesson which is a bit more interactive. I look forward to seeing how that is met with students.

Moving into the first week of my full load I am going to continue to focus on time management and staying ahead of myself by at least three days. I am looking forward to starting the grade 11s and rolling out their Inquiry project that we will work on for the next 4 to 5 weeks.

All in all, I am feeling very optimistic going into week five.

Highlight of the week: Going to a Boys Club meeting. Joining the Tennis program at school. Having students say “goodbye” and “thank you” to me at the end of classes 🙂

Goals for next week: Stay positive. Have fun. and Teach.

This week I picked up my grade 9 classes. This brought my course load up to fifty percent. I felt the week went very well. I have been trying to stay one week ahead of schedule with planning, photocopying and general organization. This was a big help, I have done the same for the following week so I should only have to tweak material and fine-tune lessons.

My grade 8s continue to amaze me. They are very engaged in the work I ask them to produce. The first class of this week we continued with a project I introduced the previous week. The students seemed to really enjoy it. At the end of the project I had students divide themselves into groups depending on which Italian city-state they felt was the most influential during the Renaissance. Each group was then tasked with brainstorming ideas before trying to persuade me that I should consider moving into their respective city-states. Students had a lively debate and even started questioning each other about facts. I was very impressed.

I also moved the desks around in the portable. It was a big help and allowed me to move more freely around the classroom. Barring any potential time restraints I will continue to move the desks into the arrangement I created this week. Students seemed happier with it as well as a number of them no longer had to turn to see the projector.

The experience with my grade 9s was interesting. One block is very engaged, the second block is harder to get through to. I conducted the “Blanket Exercise” with both classes. I was hesitant going into the class. I was not sure how a relatively young class would respond to such a heavy exercise. I was pleasantly surprised with how respectful the students were. The depth of some responses to how they felt after the exercise left me very encouraged moving forward with the students.

One situation that I found very difficult was during my introduction lesson to my grade 9s in block 1 of day 1. While having the students answer questions on a worksheet one student stood up and walked to the back of the room where an a door to outside is situated. I watched him curiously. Before I could even ask what he was doing he was banging his head against the door. I was most definitely caught off guard. I asked the student to stop and had him leave the classroom with me so we could talk about what was happening in the hallway. As we walked out of the classroom he stopped at the door frame into the hallway and again banged his head on the frame. My SA was out of the room and there were no E.As present. I talked with the student and told him that it was unacceptable behaviour to hit your head against doors and walls. I asked if he understood, he said yes, and we returned to class. I inquired with both my SA, the counsellors and the director of the Learning Access Centre as this seemed to be a very odd situation. Unfortunately an oversight was made and no one informed me that this student was on the spectrum and that occasionally when he gets overwhelmed he needs to either go for a walk or find another way to release any anxiety or tension. After finding this out I felt that I handled the situation wrong. I was very stern with the student when we talked, had I know the information I discovered after the fact I would have looked for a different tactic. I talked to my SA about this after and expressed my need to have full information about students. I was rather frustrated by it all. My SA and I have worked out the communication breakdown and I feel comfortable moving forward that full disclosure will be made to me about students who need extra assistance in their learning.

I also had a student, from the same block as the above story, draw a swastika on his name tag. When I noticed it I was quick to pull the student aside and have a discussion about the symbol. I remain steadfast that I will not allow hate speech, propaganda or symbols in my classrooms. I am glad I talked with the student and will monitor him moving forward to be sure he understands that I was serious about what had occurred.

My first class with the grade 8s did not go as I had anticipated. I came in with high expectations. Some of which may have been unrealistic to meet this early on in our relationship. To be honest, nothing particularly bad happened in that first class. Some students were quite loud, occasionally calling out to friends across the room or talking over top of each other and me. Trying to control the room sometimes took more effort than I thought I would need to exert. I   had to move one student to a new seat. Later I learnt that he was not in his assigned seat that day.

The plan for the first day was focused on building rapport with my students and setting out clear, concise expectations and rules for everyone to follow. I felt I executed my plan fairly well. However, I found myself going back to my lesson plan more often than I wanted to. I am going to chalk up some of that habit to nerves. Most days I feel as though my nerves are out of sync. While this experience is exciting and rewarding, it is also very stressful as we navigate the complexities of the situation we find ourselves in.

The day of my second lesson was interesting. I was late to school as the weather unexpectedly caused transiting difficulties. It did provide me with the perfect opportunity to test our “emergency” procedures should I ever miss a day teaching though. I was happy to only test the system on Friday, the class which I facilitated was very productive and I felt that the students were much more respectful to our classroom expectations. I began the class by having students sign the Classroom Rules that we created. Reading over the rules and answering questions set me out on a good path and I think I will be reading the classroom rules for the next couple of classes to create clear and consistent expectations. I was very open with my rules surrounding respectful communication in the classroom. It seemed to work well and referring to the classroom rules when it did get loud gave me leverage to regain attention. I tested out my first worksheet with the class, I was curious to see how they would work when directed to do so individually. It went very well overall. I was slightly surprised at how many times I had to repeat the directions of the task to individuals but I think that speaks more to the size of the class than the student or me. I am very aware of the size of the class at 28 students.

My favourite part of the day: When all students stayed seated and on task up until the bell! I am feeling very positive moving into this second week.

My favourite part of the week: Getting an email from a parent asking for homework for her child before they leave on vacation.

Goals for next week: Have brief 1-on-1’s with each student. Continue to be consistent with classroom rules. Sharpen my ability to facilitate without the use of a lesson plan to fall back on as a security blanket.

Day One.

February 1st, 2017.

Social Studies 8.

I had an image in my head of what the first day would look like prior to going in. I will need to stop imagining the utopia I have created. It is very possible that the utopia I have in my head can exist, but not this early into the practicum. I have to meet my new challenge head on with real, achievable goals set in my head. I believe it is important to envision a successful outcome to any situation I find myself in, yet with so many of them and so few of me I have to be more realistic.

I learnt today it is very hard to prepare for the social issues that arise when you put 25+ teenagers in a room together. They talk as much as you may imagine. Maybe more. Sometimes they talk to the person beside them, sometimes to the student in front, and occasionally to their friend across the room.