I’m currently in the middle of the Bachelor of Education program at UBC and am a member of the Elementary Personalized Learning and Technology cohort (pltech). This process is a dense and complicated journey that will be filled with mistakes, triumphs, and everything in between. Here, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on various incidents, wonderings, and questions that arise as I, along with my peers in my fantastic cohort, continue along this journey of becoming a teacher. I have focused my inquiry question around promoting active participation in elementary classrooms. Looking into participation has led me in directions I was not expecting, which is further explored throughout my blog. I’m already realizing that even when this program finishes next year, learning and reflecting on your practice as a teacher never stops.

My teaching philosophy is also evolving. I’m acquiring tools and values that are important to me. I believe that teachers are meant to support students to not only reach their academic potential, but their potential goodness as well. Kindness and empathy are extremely important qualities to possess and it is important for the teacher to help their students learn these qualities.

I also believe in exercising student choice to help create a comfortable environment, whether this is having different ways to present learning, different topics to choose from, or co-creating a set of classroom guidelines. Involving students in the learning process is important to me and I am looking forward to exploring this more in the future.

– Darrien