11/1/14

UBC Family Science Day

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Mirae and I went out of our comfort zones today to teach young students about inertia and motion.

 

UBC’s Family Science Day was a really fun event to volunteer at with my fellow teacher candidates.

The number of young children that came to the event with their families was incredible. It was also a learning experience for myself as well! I found myself at a physics demonstration station teaching inertia and motion to children as young as three years old. It was difficult enough already to be teaching and demonstrating that I had only learned about earlier in the morning, but teaching the concepts to younger children who have not yet developed their cognitive skills and scientific vocabulary made it even more of a challenge.

At the end of the day, I learned that being able to describe one concept or phenomenon in several different ways is crucial for being a good teacher. I also learned how tiring teaching the same thing over and over again can be! My voice was practically gone by the time noon finally rolled around.

 

 

10/31/14

Practicum Observations

For my short practicum, I was placed at one of the largest schools in Vancouver, which also has one of the largest populations of ELL students. During the one staff meeting that I attended, two of the multicultural liaison workers were introduced to the entire staff (not just the teacher candidates). I found this slightly strange, because this staff meeting was held during November; I would’ve thought that the multicultural liaison workers would have been introduced to the staff at the beginning of the year, so that teachers could get as much help for their ELL learners as possible.

In my SA’s grade 12 biology class, there were several students doing very well, but there were also quite a few students who were struggling to keep up with the material and did not do very well on their unit test. When I asked my SA if there were any modifications he tries to make for students like ELL students, he says that he can’t really do much for them because biology is a very content-driven course, and there is very little time he can dedicate to slowing down for these students (especially this year when they lost several weeks because of the strike). He even mentioned to the class that if they were not meeting a certain grade, they should reconsider taking the course because it’s an elective and not a course they necessarily need to graduate.

The majority of the students in my SA’s IB biology 11 class did not appear to be ELL students. However, I did notice while marking one of the assignments that I assigned them, that although they understood the majority of the terms that they were learning in their unit, they couldn’t quite grasp what the terms meant in a context outside of the example they were shown in class. While observing the classes that my SA taught, he relies heavily on lecturing, but does give examples and diagrams to try and better explain the concepts to the students. I think that when I start teaching during the long practicum, I will try to use as many different ways of explaining concepts to the students as possible, and try to relate the different concepts to things that they know and understand.

10/25/14

IB Biology Seminar

For the Oct.24th professional development day, as well as today, those of us in the IB cohort attended workshops hosted by experienced IB educators in our specific subject areas.

Those of us in biology attended a workshop led by Catherine Daniel, a biology teacher from Stratford Hall. During the two day-session, we covered many different areas of the IB biology curriculum, as well as different resources that we can use for teaching. It was a productive two days, and I learned a lot about how the IB programme is structured and how it has and continues to evolve.

The following are some notes that I took during the session, and some photos of what we worked on.

  • IBEN = IB educator network
    • Available to educators after working for 2 years
    • evaluate programs for different schools
    • work in curriculum development
    • working towards improving the entire program / teacher support
  • Question bank = collection of old papers & questions
    • set up by topics à choose to use on own exams
    • different types of questions available
    • mark schemes/answers given for questions
  • Mark Distribution
    • IA = 20% (usually in 2nd year)
    • 3 papers = 80% (distribution dependent on SL or HL)
      • paper 1 = multiple choice
      • paper 2 = data analysis and long answer
      • paper 3 = option
  • Internal Assessment
    • rubrics for marking just updated
    • let students know that for collecting sufficient relevant data, they need 5×5 in order to use trend lines or calculate standard deviation
    • if students are doing a bar graph, they need 2×10 in order to perform a t-test and get a p-value
    • do not mark higher than a student should be getting (moderators will mark them down and the students will be harmed in the end)
  • Teaching Hours
    • have to allocate limited hours to specific areas (i.e. try to spend time on ‘practical scheme of work’)
    • flexibility with order of teaching material
    • possibility to have students pick their own option for self-study
      • although some students really need that guidance for material
    • an option is to do the SL and HL topics together to save time
    • important to check in with students about their stress levels and time management
  • PSOW (practical scheme of work) à method of keeping track of the lab work that students are doing
    • D = design
    • DCP = data collection and processing
    • CE = conclusion and evaluation
    • 7 mandatory prescribed practicals that students will have to cover
      • students develop method that will allow them to meet these practicals
      • can have students focus on one aspect of a lab report that covers the prescribed practical (finishing an entire lab may take too much time)
    • recording
      • what was done (title and brief introduction), date and how long it took
      •  “handbook of procedures for the Diplomma Programme” gives information about everything the teacher needs to do for PSOW
  • how to prepare students for writing papers
    • mock exams
    • teaching students how to read the questions properly
    • process of elimination
      • some answers are just worded differently

 

  • school-specific issues
    • what equipment and resources are available at the school? (will they help with meeting the lab requirements?)
    • discussions about controversial topics (e.g. evolution)
      • use questioning; bring in resources such as articles

Photo 2014-10-25, 2 50 38 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 50 57 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 51 23 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 51 28 PM  Photo 2014-10-25, 2 51 37 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 50 35 PM

Photo 2014-10-25, 2 52 02 PM Photo 2014-10-25, 2 52 06 PM

 

 

10/23/14

Classroom Management (1)

As a collective group, our inquiry class discussed some different classroom scenarios today. We went through what we think would be the best way to handle these different situations.

 

(1) A student’s grades in your class has dropped significantly compared to last year in this subject and to other classes this year. How would you react to this situation?

  • talk to student’s other teachers and counsellor
    • is the student struggling in other classes as well?
    • is the course load for the student stressful?
    • speak with student’s former teachers and compare teaching methods; is the student not adapting to a new teacher or material?
      • would have to make class more engaging for the students if they are not interested in the subject material
  • speak with the student
    • are there any changes going on at home?
    • check to see if the student needs any extra help or resources
    • do not confront the student about their bad grades; tell the student that you are concerned about the drastic change in their grades
    • tell the student that you are available if they need help
      • lending an ear to the student can already be a lot of help
      • ask the student if they have an adult who they can speak to
    • be accommodating, and see what can be done to help the student
    • do not assume the worst is happening, the student may just be stressed

 

(2) Jens comes into the room looking ‘down’. In the middle of class she is obviously upset and tears start to roll down her face. How would you handle the situation?

  • quietly (be very gentle) ask her if she would like to step out (use open-ended questions)
    • transition the lesson into an activity of some sort so that the class has something to do while you step out with Jens
    • ask Jens if there is a close friend or someone else she would feel more comfortable confiding in
    • do not make her feel uncomfortable by stopping the class abruptly and asking if she is alright in front of the entire class
    • speak to Jens and make sure that she feels safe in the environment (i.e. there may have been something in the classroom that triggered her; remove her from the environment that is making her uncomfortable)
  • somehow determine if she would rather speak with you, a peer or counsellor
    • do not be too direct; give some space
  • never send the student out alone, always have someone accompany them (student may be ill or going through something stressful that may make the situation dangerous
    • student may be suicidal and needs attention immediately

 

(3) Aaron has been disrupting the class since he entered an hour ago. Once again he has just distracted the class when you are trying to get a key point across. What would you do?

  • student may either just be a “class clown” or there is a reason behind by he likes the attention
  • find an opportunity to approach Aaron and speak with him regarding his behaviour
    • reasoning is that he is distracting his peers
    • try to figure out why he has so much energy and possibly think of different methods to channel his energy
  • give Aaron tasks to do and make him feel important
  • “calling out” the student in front of the class may not be the best idea
    • student may either feed off the attention or feel like he is being put on the spot
    • sometimes, it is necessary to ask the students to tone down their disruptions during the class
      • ask to speak to him about his behaviour afterwards
  • just stand quietly and wait for him to stop
  • stand near the student and walk by him throughout the lesson to try and manage his disruptions
  • is this ongoing behaviour? should have dealt with the issue earlier
  • is this new behaviour? there would possibly have been something that triggered this sudden behaviour
  • make sure that whatever method you’re using to manage the student, that it is not in front of the entire class, because it wastes the entire class’s time; it is not fair to the other students
    • work with the individual, not the entire class
  • “You make me feel…” – do not confront the student or pick a fight
  • if the situation does not improve, the student may need to be removed from the room if the lesson is not moving forward
    • however, still speak gently with the student and explain why he is being removed from the class

 

(4) Josephine is treating her lab partner in an unkind way, bordering on bullying. When you approach she is as sweet as pie but when you are not vigilant she goes back to her former behavior. How would you manage this case?

  • you are “perceiving” this behaviour as bullying, and if you confront the pair about it, one or both may deny it
    • confronting this behaviour may cause the bully to become even more violent
    • if the incident is not actually bully, you can be in hot water
  • safety is always the first priority, therefore you have to immediately separate the two students
    • however, Josephine may go on to bully another student
  • not alway practical to keep in close proximity to the pair because there are other students in the lab
  • speak with the two students separately
    • the bullied lab partner may not feel comfortable confrotning Josephine with her behaviour when Josephine is also present
    • find some sort of different topic to speak with the bullied student about, and see if she will  bring it up

 

(5) Johnny is on the basketball team and is an excellent player. He is ‘popular’ because of his ability in sports. He is also known to be arrogant at times. If he were to arrive late and, when asked why, answered disrespectfully and walked past you to take his seat, how would you respond?

  • briefly ask him to see you after class, so that it does not cut into class time, but also demonstrates to the rest of the class that his behaviour is not acceptable
  • speak to Johnny; do not reprimand him in front of the entire class because the situation only relates to him and not the entire class
    • be respectful and sincere when discussing the issue with him
  • try to open up with the student and build a relationship with him
    • have a serious discussion with him, and let him know that basketball is important, but there are certain expectations for classrooms
  • ask him to come back and make up for the time that he has missed
    • do this in a very gentle manner

 

What is the first course of action in all of these situations? communication

  • watch your language and tone of voice
  • make a point of reinforcing what you say during the situation, and follow up with the student afterwards 

It is important to be both strong and kind to manage a class of students

 

10/7/14

Visiting Mulgrave

Mulgrave

Mirae, Hyosun, Minhe, Ricky and me at Mulgrave (If only we had remembered to take a photo with the actual building!)

 

Our visit to Mulgrave Independent School was a very new kind of experience for me. As someone who attended public schools her entire life, I have never been exposed to an independent school setting.

Some of the aspects of the Mulgrave school community were how the average age of the staff is lower than what I expected, and how well the teachers collaborate within their departments. Sitting in during the science department’s collaborative block was a very good chance for us to experience how educators work together to assess their own teaching and development. Before actually experience a collaborative period, I always had the impression that teachers worked independently of one another; after having seen the science teachers at Mulgrave working through student assessments together, I now see how important it is to work together as a department to ensure that assessment styles are similar. I hope to also have the chance to observe a collaborative period in a public school setting, in which the different teachers do not necessarily follow concrete rubric assessments like the ones set up by IB.

Sitting in the classrooms and observing the lessons was interesting as well, because never before have I seen high school classrooms in which all the students are expected to be using electronic devices like laptops and tablets while in class. I could see the benefit of using devices in class; teachers can have the students following along with the powerpoint slides or with the files they send out, or the students could be researching information online as the class is progressing. However, I think that there are also some drawbacks to having all students on their devices, and there is definitely more I’d like to learn about the BYOB (bring your own device) policy in independent schools.

All in all, visiting Mulgrave was a wonderful experience, and after having spent a day in an independent school, I am looking forward to having an opportunity to one day experiencing teaching in an independent school.

09/19/14

The Journey, So Far.

We are now about a month into the B.Ed program (after including the first orientation week in August), and I think I’m finally starting to get a sense of what I’m doing. Initially, I couldn’t really see “the big picture”, and it seemed that the different courses that we’re made to take, were in no way related to one another. But, I’m feeling much more confident now, about both the program and myself.

The concepts that I learned in one course are now being brought up in all of my different courses, and I know how to apply them in different contexts. My instructors are doing a fantastic job of modeling different teaching methods for us, and I’m learning so much about how to teach. It’s very helpful because the instructors actually use the various methods that they use to teach us; I never realized that there were so many different ways of scaffolding and promoting learning in students. I’ve already started incorporating some of the different methods into my own lesson planning because I found them so useful when I was sitting in class as a student.

09/11/14

Myself as an Educator

As teacher candidates, one of the most important things that we have to do is learn how to teach effectively. There are many different things that we have to take into consideration as we prepare ourselves to teach in front of actual students.

Personally, I think I would have to work on my presence in a classroom. This will definitely prove to be a challenge for me because of my tendency to be introverted most of the time. It will also be difficult for me to create that gap between the students and myself. I am still quite young, so it may be more of a challenge to establish my role as a teacher in the classroom, when I was sitting as a student in a high school classroom just a few years ago. Therefore, I think that it will be crucial for me to create a professional image right from the start so that I can clearly establish my expertise as an educator.

Another challenge I will have to overcome is how prepared I am for classes. When I sit as a student in classes, it is easy for me to simply sit there and listen to others speaking because it is not completely mandatory for me to speak. However, once I begin standing in front of a class of students, I will definitely be expected to at least mediate discussions, so it will be necessary for me to come prepared for class and anticipate any questions students may have.

09/4/14

“Preparing a Cup of Tea”

I have to admit that I was very narrow-minded about today’s in-class group activity, and this is something I really need to work on. We were given the task of teaching students “how to prepare a cup of tea”, and to create a rubric to assess the learning of the students. I, along with my group members, was completely unsuccessful at seeing the big picture. We forgot that we were supposed to be promoting inquiry, and instead focused on just instructing.

We were too focused on how to tell the students how to make tea, so that we did not stop to think about how we could gain the curiosity and attention of the students. It was disappointing to realize towards the end of the activity that we failed to remind ourselves of the importance of inquiry and engagement.

This was a mistake on our part, but that’s what being in this program is all about; this is the time that we make mistakes and learn from them. This was a sort of awakening for all of us, and I hope that for the remainder of this upcoming year, we will all remind ourselves of the importance of inquiry in education. As one of my instructors has said, “teaching is not telling, and learning is not listening”. I will definitely be reminding myself of this more often from now on, and think of creative ways to make teaching more engaging.

09/2/14

Inquiry Pursuit

Today our class began going over some of the different inquiries that we had about the IB program, or just teaching in general. Josh’s presentation on “how to mitigate stress in (IB) students” left the deepest impression on me, and made me really think about what I can do as a teacher to help students.

Some of the points that Josh shared were:

  • sharing success criteria
  • comment-only marking
  • classroom questioning
  • peer- and self-review
  • formative use of tests

I have personally thought of some of these different practices to use when teaching, such as explicitly informing students what will be expected of them, and how they can work to succeed. I specifically used this method when helping prepare some of my tutoring students for their provincials this past June. I carefully went through the expectations of the exams with them, and gave them tips on how they could do their best on the exams.

One of the points that I had never really thought about was only give comment-based feedback to the students. However, this is a really valid point, because simply giving a numerical grade to the students on their assignments can be very confusing if the questions required more than just memorization. Given constructive feedback on assignments can help to lessen the stress for students, because it will clearly tell them what it is that they need to improve on.

I think that these are all very important things that I will have to keep in mind when I start creating assignments to give to students, because I really do want my future students to not only succeed, but also gain knowledge from their studies.

08/28/14

Theory of Knowledge

Today, it almost felt like time had repeated itself, and I found myself in my old ToK class again. It was the heated debates and the feelings of frustration as we tried to make a certain points all over again.

When I initially applied for the IB cohort, the thought of applying ToK to anything again had never even crossed my mind. I have to admit that although the discussions my ToK class had back in high school were sometimes fun, I never really enjoyed the class very much. I don’t think I ever got any answers out of those experiences, just more questions.

However, this new experience may be different; I’ve learned more and experienced more since I was in the IBDP programmed. Something I learned back in ToK was that the more a person learns, the more they realize that there is to learn. I’ve expanded my horizons a bit, and I’m ready to learn more!

Another thing I’ve realized is just how quickly this program is going, and just how intense the workload is going to be. We haven’t even officially started the school year yet, and we already have our first ‘lesson plan’ date set! I can already feel the anxiety and anticipating starting to build. I’ll really need to focus on time management and remain determined for this next year!