Exit Slip: Full Circle (Check-in Sharing My Learning Journey)

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry, Role of Teacher, SEL

Good Teaching, Standards, Ethics and SEL approach

listen attentively and maintain a positive and trusting relationship to allow open communication between school, student and their families.
establish a classroom environment to allow students to walk into their classroom feeling comfortable and confident to safely express their feelings, thoughts and needs with each other as well as to their teachers.
Create an an inviting learning space.
ensure my students are all given an opportunity to be positively heard and that their opinions and ideas are valued.
students to have a sense of pride in themselves and realize the value of questions by modeling respect for each other’s ideas.
Engaged hands-on/ experiential activities! Gage students’ interest and interaction in terms of lesson planning and transitions to prevent from doing explicit classroom management all the time.
use students’ background knowledge, create opportunities for transgenerational learning in the school

I affirm the below standards sits quite close to heart at the start of this education program. I continuously searched for the best practice possible to open students to opportunities to be inspired and inquired as I explore more through the relationships I have developed with my FA, SA, children and families and the wider school community leading to where I am now. I understand continuously learning is involved in the teaching profession as we work with diverse children, families, colleagues, communities and the continuously evolving teaching curriculum. I also understand that it is important for us continuously keep a tab with our educator role and responsibilities it comes with. I have come to a full circle now with a tremendous amount of reflection through this year on how I entered this program with an extremely critical eye due to my dismaying high school PTSD experience from the educators and administration team then to where I sit confidently now even if I possibly would encounter these individuals. I hold the ethics of care to heart not only from my own PTSD experience but also I believe it is essential to the SEL approach that students’ well-being always has to be placed first before any form of learning is to happen.

My inquiry was on how to create an inquiry based learning classroom allowing students to reach their full learning potential. I have dabbled since through outdoor learning education, question formation technique, SEL approach, inquiring on educator’s facilitator role, and use of nature, and garden through various classroom implementation strategies. Now, I am looking at how to create opportunities for the wider school community to create learning spaces for transgenerational exploration partnership for the diverse students and their families or guardians we may encounter.

I am passionate to find out more about the learning that happens in the foundation of learning in terms of literacy and numeracy, therefore I have applied and been accepted into the Early Years Education Development Diploma (K-Grade 3)at UBC in the fall. I would like to find out more about the latest research in terms of best practice for this primary age group. I have started one of the surplus course this first summer term already. At the STA 2016 convention, I have also connected with Muriel Endersby, the founder of the Fun Family Phonics program, to attend her training workshops for the literacy development focus for K-Grade 3 in the fall.

Standards for the Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in BC

Educators value and care for all students and act in their best interests.
Educators are responsible for fostering the emotional, esthetic, intellectual, physical, social and vocational development of students. They are responsible for the emotional and physical safety of students. Educators treat students with respect and dignity. Educators respect the diversity in their classrooms, schools and communities. Educators have a privileged position of power and trust. They respect confidentiality unless disclosure is required by law. Educators do not abuse or exploit students or minors for personal, sexual, ideological, material or other advantage.
Educators are role models who act ethically and honestly.
Educators act with integrity, maintaining the dignity and credibility of the profession. They understand that their individual conduct contributes to the perception of the profession as a whole. Educators are accountable for their conduct while on duty, as well as off duty, where that conduct has an effect on the education system. Educators have an understanding of the education system in BC and the law as it relates to their duties.
Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development.
Educators are knowledgeable about how children develop as learners and as social beings, and demonstrate an understanding of individual learning differences and special needs. This knowledge is used to assist educators in making decisions about curriculum, instruction, assessment and classroom management.
Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.
Educators understand, respect and support the role of parents and the community in the education of students. Educators communicate effectively and in a timely manner with parents and consider their advice on matters pertaining to their children.
Educators implement effective practices in areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting.
Educators have the knowledge and skills to facilitate learning for all students and know when to seek additional support for their practice. Educators thoughtfully consider all aspects of teaching, from planning through reporting, and understand the relationships among them. Educators employ a variety of instructional and assessment strategies.
Educators have a broad knowledge base and understand the subject areas they teach.
Educators understand the curricular, conceptual and methodological foundations of education and of the subject areas they teach. Educators must be able to communicate effectively in English or French. Educators teach students to understand relevant curricula in a Canadian, Aboriginal, and global context. Educators convey the values, beliefs and knowledge of our democratic society.
Educators engage in career-long learning.
Educators engage in professional development and reflective practice, understanding that a hallmark of professionalism is the concept of professional growth over time. Educators develop and refine personal philosophies of education, teaching and learning that are informed by theory and practice. Educators identify their professional needs and work to meet those needs individually and collaboratively.
Educators contribute to the profession.
Educators support, mentor or encourage other educators and those preparing to enter the profession. Educators contribute their expertise to activities offered by their schools, districts, professional organizations, post-secondary institutions or contribute in other ways.

Jul.17

My Teaching Philosophy: where I am now…an evolving tree in a moving realm of roles

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry, Role of Teacher, SEL

Jul.16

Day 10: CFE (June 17th, 2016) SEL Red Flags at CFE! & Dream Inquiry

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry, SEL

Lacking SEL ~~Red Flag~~s Yikes!

I have to admit I found the group dynamic today quite interesting and puzzling especially during the attempt of reconstructing the hyperboloid bamboo structure that was in progress since Wednesday. We had a few additional hands today to help build the structure including our CFE FA Jeannine, CFE host Susan, two graduate students, one orchard garden staff in addition to the 13 TCs. It was interesting to see how the group dynamic shifted today from the original whole group team work and eventually splitting into two groups: one that continued to work at the large structure following instruction from the CFE host, and the other group that found the whole construction and strategy problematic eventually resorting to building a small skewer structure experiment. There were only about 3 to 4 out of the 13 TCs that stayed till the end to do the experiential constructing of the large hyperploid structure. I was part of the 3 to 4 TC that continue to push ourselves to help complete the large structure with the Orchard Garden Team. I felt I was lost at times, but I thought if we continue to work on it together as a team, eventually, we will accomplish our task. The rest of the group who is not constructing the large sculpture was focused on experimenting a possible solution/theory on making a small hyperploid with BBQ skewers. It was unfortunate that one TC got injured today as the large bamboo structure collapsed unexpectedly. Hopefully that TC is okay and will recover soon! I feel the injury today could possibly have been prevented if we had assistance from the whole group supporting the structure rather than having the majority of people huddled and focused on the small structure. During a brief moment, Jeannine asked what I thought of everything that is going on with the group from the social emotional learning perspective. I gave it more thought throughout the day, what does this all mean to an educator and their participants? As part of the social emotional learning cohort, the flags of everyone’s swinging mood was flying everywhere! Definitely RED FLAGs. How do we regather people when we have lost most of the group? Should we regather to see what we can do as a group, whether there is a need for a break, revamping of project…etc..? Lack of participation from the majority of the group, and decreasing of enthusiasm was an alarming sign throughout the morning. I understand some of their withdrawal from participating in the large structure was partly due to some feeling their opinion and input was not taken into consideration. As an educator, I feel if this activity was intended to be inquiry based, there should be more hands on exploration and participation from the whole group allowing the team to figure out the answer collectively on their own as opposed to direct instructing. Perhaps, as part of the math inquiry, they may also be given opportunities to build different 3 D shapes with the give material, that way, they have more ownership of their creation. We are adults in this situation, and we held out pretty good, imagine if this activity was given to our students, how would they be able to handle this scenario? I feel group huddling, discussion, taking different ideas into consideration will be beneficial to rigorous group work such as constructing a big model such as the hyperboloid. Breaks and regrouping of discussion is essentially to ensure everyone’s engagement level. The bottom most important thing I felt that contributed to the withdrawal of participation was the lack of team relationship building today. If team rapport was established with the host, and clear goal and expectation were set earlier on, I feel the team would be more willing to actively participate. The lack of establishing rapport can result in some to resist cooperation. Some may display their cooperation externally and verbally, and some may discreetly do so by withdrawing from activities. This is something we need to take into mind as we walk into different classrooms with different group dynamics.

After an introduction from the lovely Gestare Art Collective and a lunch break, we came back to begin our nap-in! The nap-in was a wonderful break from the more labour-intensive morning we experienced today! It gave us an opportunity to engage in reflective practice, by taking moments in the day to pause and step away from the hectic daily routines that most of us experience.

On to a more positive note, I really enjoyed the Nap-in Dream Inquiry activity today. I was worried that I might not be able to fall asleep to the degree of accomplishing our given task of weaving our dream piece. To my surprise, I was in the middle of reality and dream by the time we were asked to wake up. The following is the piece I created after the nap. I feel my dream piece was a representation more about my state of being of needing space and time to relax. It was really calming doing the sewing, the last time I touched fabric or needles was probably grade 8 textiles. I think this is a great activity for any age level from elementary to adulthood. I know that for kindergartners we can use plastic needles and it is injury-proof. By exposing students to hands on textile art at an early age, it can allow them to have opportunities to work not only on their fine motor skills, but their sense of boundless creativity and acquire a sense and appreciation for aesthetics.

DIY Dream Herb: Mugwort & Lavender (nap-in aid)

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Jun.17

Day 8: CFE Math Inquiry in the Garden (Hyperboloid) June 15, 2016

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry

Day 8: CFE (June 15, 2016) Math Inquiry: Hyperboloid

Today’s experience focused on exploring the idea of mathematical geometric shapes and its applications in education in the garden. The morning began with an unexpected indoor lesson as it was raining, but we made good use of time and started with constructing a mini model of our final project with Susan (our CFE host)– a hyperboloid structure that would later be planted as an architectural piece inside the orchard garden. Susan has successfully done this project with both adults as well as elementary age learners. This hyperboloid building project combines multiple disciplines such as mathematics, art, engineering and outdoor education. Many of us were apprehensive about how such a complex model could be built using simply wooden skewers and hair elastics. But with some careful teamwork it came together easily. We also discussed the subjects that could be cross connected with this project (such as dying the skewers different colours with natural plan colouring) as well as what age group it would best suit.

In the afternoon we started to build our final project; this time using 12 foot repurposed bamboo poles and special orchard tree elastics (made to withstand the elements). We quickly devised an organizational system and laid out the bamboo in double layers exactly as we did with our mini models – only to find out after lifting it up that it did not compare to the existing hyperboloid structure in the garden that we were trying to replicate. Confused as to why it didn’t work out like our morning model, we decided go back to the drawing board after closely studying the instructional video and realized that we needed to take it all apart. Twice.

Through this experience, we learned the importance of planning, organizing and delegating roles in such a large project. However, as teachers we know that the most memorable learning comes from unanticipated outcomes and this project was a great reminder for everyone.

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Jun.15

Day 6: CFE Cross-curricular Inquiry-based learning in the garden

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry

Cross-curricular Inquiry-based learning in the garden

Day 6 of CFE (June 13, 2016)

We started our Monday with a visit to Windermere Secondary School’s school garden in Vancouver. We first met the school garden’s sponsor teacher, who introduced us to how the garden and orchard all started 10 plus years ago with collaborative efforts from students, teachers and the community. The sponsor teacher uses the garden for various subjects in his teachings including social studies, issue of sustainability, environmental stewardship, and grade 8-12 leadership projects. I am sure we can weave the garden through hands on cross-curricular learning into an elementary setting as well! Windermere was one of the very first school to have its own school garden in Vancouver School Board and continues to expand in terms of projects with student initiatives. In the past few years, they have created an orchard of various fruit trees, built mason bee houses and organized plants to attract pollinators.

After the brief intro from the sponsor teacher, we were introduced to our tour guide of the day. Our tour guide was a grade 12 student who is actively involved with multiple school programs including the school garden, orchard, culinary arts, and bike club. He is an apprentice within the school cafeteria and is a liaison between the garden and the cafeteria in terms of the use of sustainable produce. He hopes to pursue a career in culinary arts and have shared that he will keep the notion of environmental and food sustainability close to heart. It was amazing to see the greenhouse tucked in the middle of the garden where the students have started growing an abundance of plants from seeds.

In the middle of the greenhouse sits an interesting plastic tubing system, our tour guide shared with us that it is their hydroponic system and they hope to revive it sometime soon. He said they have used koi and goldfish in the past; and through the system, they collected fish waste (nitrogen) which in turns becomes nutrient for the garden. However, sadly, during the winter times, they have had wildlife visitors (e.g. raccoon and squirrels) snatching away their fish. He hopes the student community who closely is working with the garden can come up with a solution to this problem so they can bring in more fish soon.

Currently, the grade 12 student is in charge of the leadership program that takes care of the garden. He was in grade 9 when he started volunteering in the garden and his interest in food sustainability grew from there. The garden is student led and teachers are available to assist and support students. Senior students mentor and provide support to junior students who are new to the program. Within the outdoor programs, Windermere school has an organic garden, green house, earth tub, and orchard. They are the only school to have an organic compost machine built on a school ground!

Much to our surprise, these projects are all led by students. The fruit, vegetables and herbs grown are mostly used in the school cafeteria. We hear their raspberry tart is a hit, and highly in demand! The garden also sells produces for fundraising as well as donates to the Morningstar program. The maintenance and harvesting of the garden and produce are tended by dedicated student volunteer during the school years as well as throughout the summer months.

It was a great insight to see how much work goes into keeping a garden maintained and bountiful. We learned that some of the biggest challenges of keeping the garden maintained are timing and funding. The garden has grown tremendously in the last 10 years and this requires a great deal of support from the student body and the community. The Leadership program has various community partners to help keep the garden sustained. We could see that the students are deeply devoted to their work in the garden and some have been touched and inspired by environmental sustainability as they pursue their career such as the story from our tour guide today as well as Windermere/UBC Alumni Roots on the Roof project creator.

Jun.13

Day 1: CFE at UBC Orchard Garden June 6, 2016

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry

Day 1: CFE (June 6, 2016)

We had a wonderful first day in our Community Field Experience (CFE) with Orchard Garden. The morning started with introductions and a review of our three week schedule. We shared our interests and projects that we would like to explore during our time together. Many teacher candidates are interested in learning more about embedding the garden-based learning into art, math and science subjects.

Toni summarized food safety within the classroom. We learned about foodbourne illness and the difference between bacteria and toxins. As well, we discussed the three main components of food safety in the classroom: handling, preparing and storing. Together, we shared our thoughts on how to create a safe and inclusive learning environment when interacting with food. One interesting fact we learned was that botulism is an intoxication that results in paralysis, and it is also used in botox.

In the afternoon, we ventured to the Orchard Garden for our tour. We met with garden workers and helped them in weeding the vegetables beds. During this time, we realized how many people it takes to upkeep a garden. We learned that it takes two full time workers to maintain the Orchard Garden. Also, we learned how to stay healthy and happy while working outside in the garden: wear sunscreen, hats, proper shoe wear and keep hydrated!

It was great to meet with other CFE primary teacher candidates and share stories about our practicum experiences. We look forward to building strong relationships with the Orchard Garden team and our fellow colleagues.

Jun.06

Teaching Reflection: TOC Day Inquiry May 20, 2016

Posted by weitingc in Inquiry, Practicum, Role of Teacher, SEL

Saw the above poster displayed by the office! To what you learned and how you used it….

I would add what matters is how you learned! (the learning experience, outdoor, student inquiry…etc..) It was a bit daunting walking into an unfamiliar classroom at first no really anything about the class make-up or how the day might go. I reminded myself to relax and be the facilitator role today and go with the flow of the student’s interest and see where their curiosity can direct our journey together today with the outline set up by the classroom teacher. I wanted the students to enjoy as much of their learning today as much possible. I let them know up front I am not familiar with what they have learned, and would rely on their knowledge from time to time.

While revisiting previous posts, I felt I kept all following inquiry implementation from my previous post with the grade 6 TOC class consistently throughout the day:

Continue to use students’ background knowledge
Think about how I might ask questions, what questions I would ask (the students and my input into lesson design)
I want my students to walk into their classroom feeling comfortable and confident to safely express their feelings, thoughts and needs with each other as well as to their teachers.
I want to ensure my students are all given an opportunity to be positively heard and that their opinions and ideas are valued.
I will strive to listen attentively and maintain a positive and trusting relationship to allow open communication between school, student and their families.
I want my students to have a sense of pride in themselves and realize the value of questions by modeling respect for each other’s ideas. (e.g. listen when others speak encourage questions)
I want them to realize that the classroom is an inviting learning space.
I will model some ways of forming questions. Some questions might not have a yes or no answer.
Lots of hands-on/ experiential activities! (I adapted and took the science learning outside)

Overall, I had an amazing time with the Grade 6 class. I felt I got to know them quite well throughout the day. I felt keeping a constant SEL mindset check-in with myself really made a difference for the students and myself.

One student asked at one moment, “how long have we got to known you Ms. Chen?”

“Since 8:30am this morning,” I responded.

“Really?! Only?! It feels like we have known you since I don’t know…” he remarked.

On my TOC Day in a grade 6 class: I was asked to teach about G20s, tax and tariffs, Newton’s Law and drugs and substance abuse. These were definitely topics that I don’t remember off my heart. I glanced through the teaching outline and quickly googled to get a general idea of each of the concepts. I made my own interpretation of the topic, turned it into a Jeopardy game for the class in guessing the G20 countries. Originally, the Newton’s Law was an indoor poster time, I can see the kids needed some movement time. So, I turned it into an outdoor exploration group activity where they had 8 minutes to explore each of the 3 Newton’s Law and then bring it into for a short presentation.

The G20 Game (Each table was eager to share with me which countries they think might belong to the Group of Twenty. Once they have a correct guess, they came up to put the name of the country of the board. I could have easily jotted down their answer on the board but I wanted them to have a feel of ownership of their answer and writing on the board.)

The first thing I did in the morning as they walked through the door, I greeted each of them with a smile. Instead of jumping directly into the morning work, I spent about 8-10 minutes for a getting to know me and you type of activity. It was an individual activity for them to safely share and introduce themselves to me without any peer pressure. It definitely helped to build trust as I shared a little about myself in return. I read through each of their self-intro and went up to each of them and personalized my appreciation for their sharing throughout the morning. Their self-intro is just a way for them to introduce themselves to me and for me to get to know them.

The grade 6 students had so much knowledge to share with me, I told them I appreciated how openly they trusted me and shared with me.I can see how some of them are a bit conscious of themselves in how they speak, act and what they share in the class. So, I reassured them, what they share with me will stay confidential and will not be shared with their classmates. Some of them were questioning whether their classroom teachers or anyone would see it…? I told them, nope, the only person who will know what is written is between you and I.

My demo:

Name: Ms. Chen
Unique/ Special: I know 6 languages (English, Mandarin, French, Japanese, Korean, Fokkien & Cantonese Dialect) It can also be something that you have never shared with anyone, but you would like to share with me. Emphasis that this won’t be shared among your classmates or teachers. This is just for me to get to know you.
Picture of your self:
Fear: height, spiders, and bugs.
I threw in one extra fun info: if you won a lottery and you could travel to any place in the world during summer, where would it be?

Some of them were writing paragraphs, some of them drew. What touched my heart the most was some openly shared their uniqueness with me in the first 10 minutes of our encounter, some wrote:

Ms. Chen, you might not know this, I have ADHD… I LOVE TRAINS!!!
Ms. Chen, I have a medical condition…
Ms. Chen, I sometimes get really mad, I am working on trying to control my anger. It’s hard….
I fear losing my family…
I fear gang violence…
I fear death…

I can also see how confident some of them are:

I am unique because I have different personalities from everyone else
You might know, but I have a beautiful voice…
I am a professional dance performer…

there were so much more stories shared with me…..

I went up to each of them discreetly thanked them for sharing and personalized my response to each of their sharing in a way that no one else would’ve known what they have shared with me.

I ensured I positively redirected or praised the three students who were noted for potential behavior problems. The youth support worker came in and asked me how everything is going with the 3 students, I told him, everything is going well. So, he left the room, originally he was intending to stay for the morning for these 3 students. The feedback I received at the end of the day from the three students were that today was the best day they had at school.

At the end of the day, I tried the “What’s Stuck with you?” activity that Claire have shared with me which I also have tried with the Grade 7 students at Cougar Canyon. I wanted to know how their day went from their perspectives. I read each of the feedback after school. I really appreciated each of their comment so I wrote a letter in response which they will see tomorrow when they resume school. Some of them were asking if they would see me on Tuesday, I couldn’t really lie either. I told them, probably not, but if I start TOC-ing, I might be able to see them around in grade 7 or high school. It was not an easy day as some of them had really strong personalities, I maintained with the flow of the classroom atmosphere and dynamic. There were definitively times, the three students that were noted for behaviour could’ve exploded but I redirected them as soon as I witnessed their uneasiness.

This above note is from one of the student who usually types on the computer and who is also noted for behaviour by the classroom teacher. He was also one of the more challenging student today who I continuously monitored. He asked if he could type his feedback out. The computer cart has been taken by another class by this time. I told him I would love for you to type it out, but as you can see we no longer have the laptop cart in our classroom as I pointed to the back of the classroom to show him.

“Oh, I see.” he responded.

“But, thank you for asking so nicely! You can try your best writing your feedback, but I understand it is not comfortable for you.” I replied. I was really amazed at seeing he hand-printed feedback. It took him to closely to the home time bell to complete this.

The Student’s Feedback “What’s Stuck with me?”

My general response to all of them (which they will see tomorrow):

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How the day went addressed to the classroom teachers:

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At the end of the day, I made sure the next day plan is ready, the files are clearly laid out as this morning, organized the table, clipped and labeled student’s work from today with a post-it note. I left a note to tell the teacher how the day went, and I left a note for the students’ as well in response to their feedback at the end of the day.

May.23

May.22

Butterfly

Posted by weitingc in EDUC 418/419 Long Practicum

Teaching Reflection: Week 4 (Earth Week: Art/ Buddy)

Posted by weitingc in EDUC 418/419 Long Practicum

Teaching Reflection: Week 4 (Earth Week: Art/ Buddy)

My students did a lot of Earth Awareness related activities throughout the week. We learned as a class that Earth Day is not just a special day to take care of the Earth, instead we should be helping “our” Earth every day in class, at home, or wherever they are. My students came up with a list of ideas and made connections to our previous activities such as planting, recycling, turning off lights and tap when not in use and more as they think of taking care of our Earth.

I felt my instruction are more clear and succinct for my activities this week, however, I am still working on how to naturally transition them from one place to another and when giving instruction so they don’t have to move around so much without a purpose. For example, they don’t necessary have to sit around the carpet for instruction, I could technically do it all the message white board…etc.. On Friday, I have moved a tall white board that was rarely in use on the side to the front of the classroom. I wanted to experiment if with this tall upright rectangle white board can help students to see more easily as I do large white poster paper activities instead of having it on the ground at a low eye level. I will see how it goes on Monday as I introduce my “letter of the week: Qq.” It was an eventful day on Friday as I prepped an Earth Day activity for my Kinders and their buddy class. I connected with both my SA and my grade 4 buddy class teacher, Mr. E on my activity as this would be my first time working with his class. The finished art product was a Earth Day Promise 2015 Keepsake. My Kinders worked on getting mixing the pre-prepped blue and green salt dough ready as a morning activity. To my surprise, my Kinders really enjoyed the sensory touch of the salt dough and created their own interpretation of the Earth with their own discovery. After lunch, as our grad 5 buddy class joined us, the buddies were given instructions to help the Kinders with the ornament keepsake. After they have completed that task, Buddies and their Kinder partner can each have an extra salt dough to create something together.

It was a lot of work in terms of material preparation on my end, but, as soon as I saw how intrigued and excited my Kinders were, everything was worth it! My feedback from my grade 5 buddy class and their teacher was that it was a lot of fun! It was a bit noisy at times, but Mr. E, the grade 5 teacher said, “it’s learning noise!” I made a visual instruction for my grade 5 buddy class and explained it to them, so they can refer back to any steps at any time. I used both the Kindergarten classroom and the open area for the art collaboration activity as I knew I had more than 45 kids. When I had all 45 plus kids packed in the kindergarten classroom, I felt I was sweating!! It wasn’t actually warm in the classroom, perhaps I was nervous?! I had to wipe sweat from my forehead. This experience was definitely different from the grade 7 social study teaching at Cougar Canyon. If the weather is nice next Friday, Mr. E suggested that I do an outdoor physical collaboration activity for Buddy time. I will come up with an activity that allows me to get to know his students more and allowing more bonding moments between the two grades.

Goals to Work on:

Organization of Record Keeping: maintain & keeping track of assessment for my lessons for each student. I am currently working on a template to allow me to do oral tracking of each student’s progress. I am working on how to use subject appropriate assessment, evaluation and navigating strategies for reporting. At the end, I would like to be able to use the data from assessment to help me set future learning goals, adapting my lessons, and see how I can motivate my student’s in their learning interest.
Having my lesson plans ready for my SA before she leaves at 3:30pm or 4pm. I have been working at the school till around 5:30pm to complete revisions. My lesson plans and preparation for my next day have been ready before I left the school. However, I would like to try to prep in advance in terms of lesson plans at least 2 to 3 days in advance, so my SA can see it before she leaves for the day.

Apr.23

Teaching Reflection: Week 3 (Plant Art)

Posted by weitingc in EDUC 418/419 Long Practicum

Everything was going smoothly…until…

There were two parts to their task during my art lesson that day.

My first step of instructions was very clearly laid out. It was short in length with modeling and students reciting/reviewing. It went smoothly, all students were very engaged and focused during the first task. They were very engaged in their first task of creating them stem and leaves. Their attention of focusing on step 1 was longer than I expected! My focus of the lesson was to have clear, short instructions and refrain from repeating myself which goes hand in hand with having concise modeling of steps. Everything was going well as I saw they are really well focused on their step 1 task. All of the students were on task and knew what to do.

The flow of my lesson and sticking to clear instructions was going well until I brought them altogether at the carpet to explain the following step. That was when everything went to spiral out of control in terms of my clear & concise instruction focus. I took a glance at the clock and somehow I started to panic! I thought I was running behind and was worried that they might not be able to finish their step 2 task before lunch time. Somehow my panic and stress took over the fact of reality that students didn’t necessary need to finish and that I didn’t really need to stick to the timing of my intended lesson if my students were still so engaged minus the few that were ready for the next step. My mind at that split moment as I glanced at the clock was: I needed my kids to have enough time to produce my intended art result. So, in order to “meet” my intended “students’ art product,” I skipped my original instruction routine: explain, model, and review with my students. I blended the explain and model together for a quick 101 break down of what they needed to do. Then, I “quickly” sent them back to their tables to continue the rest of the task. I realized I forgot to do the review part as they headed back to their tables. “Oh no!” I thought! I didn’t want to interrupt them again as I knew most were focused again on their work. I was trying to find a good timing to readdress the step 2 instructions again….

I am not happy with how I rushed through my instructions and left some students’ who needed explicit visual/hands on review of directions in confusion. I addressed the confusion during the last bit of the lesson as a class and apologized to the class that I understood some of the instruction were explained too quickly and it was tricky to remember all the steps. I am still impressed at their result despite my rushing of instruction. I wished for future lessons, I will keep in mind of ensuring the learning process is calm, flexible and enjoyable! Go with the flow of the class. And, not stress out about the time. And, that it’s okay if we don’t get to finish our intended work, they can always continue during another time perhaps during centre time.

I will attach a photo of their work after I have put it on the wall.

Apr.17