Jessica Kestell

WEEK 2

DATE GROUP NUMBER OF KIDS ACTIVITY May 4th, 2015 Pro-D Day Kids(15 total)Grade 4 and under 7 Canoeing 7 Rock Climbing 7 Archery 15 + councilors Capture the flag May 5: – This week I began a new project for the camp. Objectives: to create an Outdoor Ed cookbook of edible plants, berries and treats you can make over a campfire. Counselors will use this as another Outdoor Ed activity with campers. The cookbook will consist of edible plants, berries, and seaweeds. It will also include recipes, methods, ingredients, tools…read more

May.04

WEEK 1

Posted by jkestell in CFE

Camp Elphinestone, YMCA Camp Outdoor Education Camp Gibsons, BC – Sunshine Coast 3 Week Overview Week 1: Shadowing of Camp Counselors – Activities have varied throughout the week Activities: Archery, kayaking, canoeing, high-ropes, low-ropes, orienteering, beach exploring, fire building, shelter building, team-building, camp fun, skit-in-a-bag, evening fires Week 2: Monday – Pro-D Day activities Tuesday – Friday – Work Project TBD Week 3: Finishing Work Project, camp activities (helping with schools at camp) Week 1: Shadowing of camp counselors With a school group the day schedule goes like this: 8am:…read more

Apr.27

The Blind leading the Blind!

Posted by jkestell in Long Practicum, Practicum

This week in my grade 8 Foods & Nutrition class I had my students direct one another in a blindfolded cookie lab! YES…blindfolded! This semester in Foods & Nutrition 8 we are working with questions. There is one over all BIG QUESTION followed by 4 Guiding Questions that all lead back to the BIG QUESTION. So this week we were talking about success in the kitchen. I posed the questions – “What essential skills determine success in the kitchen?”, and thinking about our senses, “What does a foods class look like, sounds…read more

Apr.04

Week 3

Posted by jkestell in Blog Post, Long Practicum, Practicum

This week I picked up Culinary Arts 11/12 (CA 11/12), which at first had me very nervous. With my back ground in cooking being strictly “home cooking” the work culinary had me slightly spooked. However I have quickly realized that I have nothing to be worried about and everything to be excited about. This group of students are very keen and excited to cook. While some of these have not been in a cooking class since grade 9, that hasn’t stopped then from being curious, enthusiastic, and compassionate towards their (green) teacher! Their…read more

Feb.20

Promising Practices – Pro-D

Posted by jkestell in Blog Post, Fraser Heights, Inquiry, Practicum

Cedar weaving today at Promising Practices – for Aboriginal Education Ms. Zaklan and I had a wonderful time! Learning, bonding, exploring…and above all having fun! Things I Learned Today: Learned how to cedar weave a head band out of cedar bark stripped from a cedar tree. I gained a broader understanding of the struggles educators have working with aboriginal families. It became clearer to me how important it is to consider the cultural differences of all to be able to make solid connections with students and parents of these children, but…read more

A helpful Handout!

Posted by jkestell in Fraser Heights, Practicum

During one of my first classes I noticed a few students sitting at the front of the classroom using their cell phones to work through a safety refresher quiz. I noticed after passing by they were using their translators to work through the key terms on the page in front of them. Not knowing many of my students yet it was clear that they were ELL students and were struggling with some of the new material in front of them. Thankfully I have this in my back pocket. During a…read more

Feb.15

Week 2

Posted by jkestell in Blog Post, Fraser Heights, Practicum

This week was my first week teaching Foods & Nutrition 11/12. I was pretty nervous going into a senior class right away. Ya know a classroom filled with stronger personalities, confident teenagers, and curious minds…but to my surprise they were very accepting of me as their teacher for the next 10 weeks. My one concern was evident, cell phones! I think the biggest challenge I’m going to have with my classes is getting them to put their phones away and be in the moment focusing on the task at hand. But one…read more

Feb.14

Week 1

Posted by jkestell in Uncategorized

What surprised you (either positively or negatively) about your first week on practicum, and why was it such a surprise? This first week was surprisingly relaxing. Most likely due to the fact that it was a prep week for myself, as well as a week for teachers to finalize marks and get ready for term two. This left me with lots of time to ask my SA questions, finalize lessons, unit plans, and timing. It have me time to become familiar with the classroom, ingredients and tools in the foods labs….read more

Feb.09