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Standard 1: Educators value and care for all students and act in their best interests.

Socials Research Project – Early Exploration in Canada

This is a sample lesson plan from the Social Studies unit I did with the students on early Canadian explorers in May, 2011. The contents of the lesson focused on developing a multi-modal presentation to educate the class about an early Canadian explorer. Students were allowed to decide who they wanted to do the research with, what information they wanted to include in the presentation and how they wanted to present it, but were primed about making ‘the correct choice’ before the decision making process began.

It took some time for me to realize that as a teacher, in order for students to have a student-centred learning experience, the teacher must stop making all the decisions for the students and help them gain the ability to make the right choices by instilling in them guiding principles that are important in our society. I found that such values can be taught through discussions based on morality after reading pre-select picture/story books, but more importantly through my own actions as a role model. Once the students have a better understanding of values such as ‘treating others with respect’ and ‘do to others what you would like them do to you,’ the teacher can then take the role of the facilitator and create project-based learning in an environment where students have the freedom to choose who they would like to work with, what information they would like to present, where they would like to do the research at, when they would like to meet to complete the work in time, and how they will be able to achieve the objectives.

I found this approach to teaching to be an effective way to think outside the box, and will continue to modify my methods so that students will have the understanding and skills they need to make decisions that will help guide them towards success in life.

Standard 2: Educators are role models who act ethically and honestly.

A scanned image of the final practicum report from my School Advisor

 

This is a scanned image of the final practicum report from my School Advisor (SA) which I received at the end of the extended practicum on June 21st, 2011.

I believe that creating an environment where learners are safe to express their thoughts and feelings is one of my priorities when I teach, because only when students are comfortable making mistakes can true learning take place. As my SA wrote in her report, “James created a positive, safe learning environment for all learners. He developed respectful relationships with the students, taking the time to have good discussions with the class about behaviour expectations.” This is why I think this second standard is vital towards the establishment and maintenance of a safe learning environment, because being ethical and honest is what our society is all about. For one, students ultimately learn from their teachers and peers, and if unethical or dishonest behaviour is allowed and observed, learners will become confused about the right thing to do. This will have a negative influence toward the student’s decision making process, and would thus defeat the purpose of receiving an education.

In the future, I will continue to guide my students by being a good role model for them to learn from, so that they too can become role models for those of whom they come in contact with.

Standard 3: Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development.

A scanned image of the final practicum report from my Faculty Advisor (p.1)
A scanned image of the final practicum report from my Faculty Advisor (p.2)

 

These are scanned images of the final practicum report from my Faculty Advisor (FA) which I received at the end of the extended practicum on June 21st, 2011.

I think this third standard of competency encompasses the entire teaching practice, because not only do teachers need to have the theoretical knowledge on how to educate students, the ability to implement theory into practice is also crucial toward the growth and development of students. Before the extended practicum started, I was worried about how I would implement these theories when I teach. When the teaching load started to increase between 40 to 50 percent, I realized how glad I was to have had the theoretical knowledge to guide my practice. With my School Advisor, I was also able to discuss with her whether or not such and such approach would work. Having a professional to discuss my ideas with was a tremendous help in achieving this standard. As my FA indicates in the report, “James is a reflective practitioner; this quality plus a commendable work ethic, and his openness to the mentoring of his advisors have resulted in his growth from a novice teacher to one who has become knowledgeable, prepared and comfortable in his role as teacher/facilitator.”

One important thing I always had in mind when I taught during the practicum was to make sure that the kids were able to achieve the lesson objectives through various mediums. An effective way to do this was by scaffolding the learning experience of all the students. Alternating between individual, peer and group work became an essential part of my teaching strategy, and I think the students responded very well to this approach.

In the future, I will continue to explore the possibilities of how other teachers have successfully engaged their students in learning by participating in professional development sessions and through literature, so that my method of teaching will always reflect the one that is most suitable to help my students achieve their goals.

Standard 5: Educators implement effective practices in areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting.

An evaluation form for the students to complete for their student teacher

 

This is a scanned image of the handout I provided to the students at the end of my extended practicum, which includes student feedback of things they liked, things that would make the student teacher better, and any other comments that they had.

I thought this activity was very rewarding for both the students and myself, because the students had a chance to provide constructive feedback for their teacher, and I had a chance to see exactly how they felt I taught. The most rewarding part about this activity was reading how the students thought I could do to make myself a better teacher, because they were very direct in their thinking, which I appreciated very much. One interesting suggestion was to have a louder voice when I read aloud, which I had never noticed until after reading it from a student’s perspective.

My School Advisor has cautioned that this activity might not work for students at the primary level, because it puts them in an awkward position for learning. I also think this is true, and so I will definitely do this activity again if I have a chance to teach intermediate or higher grade level students in the future.

Standard 4: Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.

A group of students playing a game of lawn bowling

 

This picture depicts a group of students in a game of lawn bowling. It was taken in June, 2011, at the lawn bowling club right next to the school in Vancouver where my practicum took place.

I chose this picture because it represents how educators can make good use of the resources available at the local community to enhance student learning. I believe that the best learning takes place where students are physically involved in doing the activity, but this can only be achieved through careful planning and a suitable amount of preparation and follow-up activities. By taking them on to this fieldtrip, they were able to access information directly from the lawn bowling instructor and immediately put their knowledge in to practice. In addition, during the beggining phase of the Science research project on Habitats, I also took the students down to the local duck pond so that they were able to see what the community already had to offer but examine it from a scientific perspective. By becoming involved in the community around the school, students were also able to deepen their sense of belonging. This was even more so for the students who had just immigrated to our society.

In the future, I will continue to take my students on to short fieldtrips around the school so that they can establish a better understanding of the resources that are available to them and form new connections to the local community.

Standard 6: Educators have a broad knowledge base and understand the subject areas they teach.

A group of students examining their footage on a Flip video camera

 

Habitats research project – lesson plan 3

This is a picture of students reviewing the video they have taken while trying out the Flip video camera before they start filming the actual footage for their Science research project. The document below is the lesson plan which shows how technology could be integrated into the curriculum.

These artifacts are significant, in that they exemplify an area that I am most interested in education, which is technology integration. I believe that in a world where everything is being digitized, students need to be able to make use of the available technological resources to maximize their learning potential so that when the time comes for them to enter the job force they will have access to resources that will make them stand out of the crowd. Even though there is already more than enough non-digital resources for students to make good use of in terms of achieving such goals, I believe that the best method to achieve success is to practice in and be familiar with an environment that resembles one in which the students will ultimately need to compete in.

This project worked out well in the end, because most of the students were able to make good use of the technologies available to build their projects on. In the future, I will continue to use the project based approach to integrate technology into the curriculum, so that not only will students be able to achieve academic objectives, they will also attain skills that will be helpful later in life.

Standard 8: Educators contribute to the profession.

At the District Track Meet

Here is a picture depicting a student doing a 400 metre run at a track meet. The document below outlines the warm-up routine led by the teachers at the beginning of each track and field practice. One of the things I learned from track was to help the students improve by allowing them to observe how others do well on the same activity. Students then have a chance to discuss amongst each other what works and what doesn’t, which would in turn create a scaffolding effect for learning.

I think taking part in track and field was an interesting experience, in that I was able to see the amount of organization necessary for such an event to be successful for the entire school. This allowed me to realize that the foundation of a teaching community is built upon the contribution of all the members within. Teachers must therefore find the right balance between spending time on his/her own class and attributing to the school community, so that the students can benefit from all the resources available.

In the future, I will continue to take part in extracurricular activities such as track and field, because I believe that a truly unified school community can only be established and maintained through the involvement of every staff member. As a role model, I will also be helping my  students see what one can do to take part in a larger community. Active engagement in the profession thus creates a win-win situation for all.

Warm-up activities before students start track

 

Standard 7: Educators engage in career-long learning.

Designing digital unit plans

The file above is a scanned document of the handout I received at the Designing Digital Unit Plans professional development session in May, 2011. It includes instructions on how to create digital units based on the SMARTBoard (SB) technology, which can be applied to all subjects of learning.

There were a few important items I learned about integrating technology into the curriculum from this session. Different technologies can be combined with each other to create new mediums for learning, but this indicates that both teachers and students must first become familiar with the software as well as the hardware in order to carry out an effective lesson so that time is not wasted on resolving technical difficulties during the actual lesson. SBs allow digital media such as the World Wide Web to be incorporated directly into the lesson, but this, in my
opinion, creates both pros and cons in terms of student learning. Students have a chance to access relevant subject information more quickly, but this in turn would open the door to irrelevant information to be displayed as well. The environment where a SB unit is carried out must therefore be controlled, in that teachers must first determine where the information is to be accessed from, then decide how that information should be used to enhance learning so that students do not end up ‘surfing the Web’ during a lesson. A helpful link for creating SB lessons is the SMART Exchange website where a variety of SB lessons have been posted in subject categories for users to download and modify to suit their needs.

From this professional development session, I realized that the teaching profession has an endless opportunity for learning. Not only do teachers have a chance to learn from and share their knowledge with each other, the possibilities of finding new methods to help the students learn better are limitless. I hope that in the near future, I too, will have the ability to contribute to the profession by informing other teachers of what I know and can do from the experiences I will have through such sessions.

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