Mar
29
Penpals with Busolwe
Posted by: Natasha Chiang | March 29, 2013 | Leave a Comment
My certification practicum starts after the long weekend. I am sitting at a crammed desk with a pile of 15 books: four about literacy, two about science, three about classroom newspapers, two about gardening and plants, and a few others on classroom management and considerations. I have another pile of post- in notes which I am using as bookmarks on thought provoking pages.
Just now I received an email from Busolwe, with a handwritten letter from the grade 2/3 teacher. I had approached Busolwe Mango Grove last year when we were doing our second annual fundraiser back in November. I was astounded to learn that our school has grown to 200+ students! There are 70 grade two and threes. It is so exciting to know that my students will have penpal buddies in Uganda! I hope that the logistics follow through. But here is the letter which has added so much meaningful to my morning of planning:
Mar
26
mistakes move us forward
Posted by: Natasha Chiang | March 26, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Just a week ago I marveled at how organized I am at the Academy where I teach English. I have been teaching there for almost three years, and I enjoy a routine and relationship that I have worked hard to build in this time. I thought that I was finally hitting a stride in my role as an instructor there. Today, in a conversation I had with a fellow teacher there, I realized that there was a serious miscommunication with one student and her father. It was almost the identical situation that I walked into two years ago. I had vowed never to make the same mistake, and to be extra careful not to accidentally make a similar one. Yet I had to deal with the embarrassment of not realizing what situation I got myself into. It just goes to show that there will always be room for more learning.
I deal mostly with business people whose children attend my classes, and sometimes it is daunting to negotiate how and when our lessons should be. I feel awful that misunderstanding happens as a result of me caring too much, too easily. I cannot be on beck and call for these students even though I am tempted to negotiate. I am an employee of a private academy and I have my set hours. I wish I could help my students as much as they need it, and I always try to squeeze time out of my schedule to fit in more students into my already crammed life as a student myself. I keep falling back on my old role as a tutor.
In order to move on I need to push myself into zones of slight discomfort, to stretch myself and exercise skills I didn’t know I had. Namely, negotiation, firm correspondence, strictly busy. I need to be the secretary of my own time; I must guard my time as it is precious.
This graduate PDP program has frazzled me to the point that I am no longer in control as I always thought I was. It is so challenging to juggle everything and maintain the same level of professionalism, diplomacy, and care. I must understand my specific goals for myself. I am a new teacher, and my priority is to have my own classroom and teach for a few years before I consider graduate school or working in a private institution. I need to communicate that to people, and learn not to be affected or take it upon myself to fit the needs of every student and his/her family. I am too flexible, and care too deeply sometimes.
But I am at a point in my career when I do need to make decisions. I need to draw lines and know what my boundaries are. I cannot be a super-new-teacher-who-juggles-three-jobs any more. I need to focus on the one job I want to have for life, that of an educator. Looking at the big picture, I need to let go of some things to make room for others.
Mar
26
the joy of collaboration
Posted by: Natasha Chiang | March 26, 2013 | Leave a Comment
For the past four nights I have been sleeping only a little, staying up late completing assignments and preparation. Two nights ago I was up for hours laying awake in bed planning on how to assess and differentiate teaching to my practicum students. I could not let my mind stop thinking about how to plan for my class! Last night I stayed up late peer- editing papers for two of my classmates who are fellow teacher candidates at my practicum school. It was a laborious task but it was quite worth it to get feedback from them on my paper. I really value team work.
One of the things I was most looking forward to in the UBC Teacher Education Program was that I would meet like- minded individuals who are as passionate about teaching as I am. In our last inquiry seminars today and last week, we engaged in mini- professional development sessions where we were the experts of our research topics. Since September we have been positioning ourselves as educators, deconstructing how we come to know and understand what good teaching is. We each guided our research with an inquiry question. In both of these sessions I learned so much about the kinds of teachers we are, and why it is so. I learned about a range of educational issues, such as the design of school spaces, the potential of having class pets, the importance of technology, the gender gap and why, student voice, differentiation, etc… The conversations that we had with each other was informative and so meaningful!
My inquiry: What is the role of technology to facilitate literacy learning for students in the 21st century?
Today three teams of our classmates participated in UBC Storm the Wall. Throughout the year we have attended several events, and it always blows me away how much team spirit we have. It is great to be friends with thoughtful thinkers and caring teachers. I am excited for everyone as we all start our certification practicum next week. It will be strange to be off campus after tomorrow’s last lecture. But, I think we are all ready to make the shift to our professional teacher self– here we come, students!
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