We were greeted on Monday morning by the teacher who was kind enough to take us on as student teachers. It is a funny time of year to be working in a high school, as everything is wrapping up. After meeting the staff, we spent some time helping out in the senior Alt. Ed. program that Dan (our SA, for lack of a better term) coordinates.
The students who had come to school were working on exam prep, and so we helped out with making and studying with flashcards. Students were working on all sorts of different courses, from Math 10 to First Nations 12. On the bright side, I’ve learned a bit about the FN12 curriculum after writing out and reviewing those flash cards so many times!
Much of the day was also spent touring the school. We spoke with the teacher of the carving classes, check out the garden, the greenhouse, and the library. We were admiring one of the student’s work in the studio when we found out that it belonged to a student we had been working with that morning! Some of his work will be in a show I’m looking forward to this coming weekend. Also, what an incredible location.
There are two public schools in the valley: Bella Coola Elementary (BCE), which goes from K to grade 5 with a strong start program also in the building, and Alexander Mackenzie School (SAMS), which has grades 6-12 as well as junior and senior alt ed programs and an adult ed program. BCE is in townsite, Bella Coola proper, and SAMS is 16.4km up the highway in Hagensborg. Just walking out the backdoor of SAMS there is a beautiful boardwalk in the forest. Almost immediately the elaborate network of trails begins a steep incline and there are hikes up the mountains towards the waterfalls. Megan and I hiked up to one of them on the weekend, and were later told that there had been a cougar in the area. There is an outdoor ed program at SAMS, as there would have to be. I simply cannot imagine having such a wealth of beautiful outdoor space, so many hikes just out the backdoor, and not using it. There is so much potential for courses relating to botany, mycology, conservation, art, and the list goes on. While the valley may not have things like dollar stores or sushi joints, it sure isn’t lacking in its stunningly beautiful natural landscape.
Alt. Ed.
What I noticed about this program right away was how differentiated it was. Each student works on what they need to and the timing of the terms or courses adjusts accordingly. Provincial exams can be written every month and a half or so, and so students who choose to can power through their work and write the exam in the middle of the term. This also helps prevent that end-of-the-year anxiety around a whole pile of exams. This makes a lot of sense, as the cramming and panic around exam time in the regular system often detracts from the validity and reliability of the exams by assessing students’ ability to function under pressure rather than what they know.
To a great extent, this seems to involve teaching to the exam, but in content-heavy examinable courses, that seems to be what happens anywhere. What is missing from this program is the contrived busy-work to get to the end result; nobody is making a poster of their learning, but they’re still learning. Dan monitors the classroom and is ready to jump in with clarification whenever needed. Another benefit of the self-directed nature of this program is that it allows for lots of one-on-one time with the students when it is needed. As well, rather than having one-size-fits-all assignments, Dan manages to integrate high-interest extracurricular learning by designing student-specific assignments to meet the PLO’s. For example, a student might watch a documentary and then write about it as a change of pace.
The backroom of the classroom is full of exercise equipment. Students use this space to take breaks, work out, and socialize a bit. Rarely do students have to be encouraged to return to their work after hanging out in the gym room, but students often choose to use the equipment there. I believe that for some of them this room is part of what draws them to school. I always wished for a stationary bicycle in my classroom for my students to take brain breaks on, though I’d never seen it done. This backroom being available helps to promote self-regulation. It’s awesome.
Also, it being this time of year, we have been attending BBQ’s. The SAMS end-of-the-year BBQ at Walker Island was on Wednesday, and so I spent the afternoon flipping burgers, speaking with other teachers, and getting to know some of the students. While this was not a particularly strenuous day, the benefits of getting to know the community I’ll be working in were great.
I also spent two days at BCE. I worked in the Grade 3 and the Kindergarten classrooms on Tuesday, and then loved it so much that I returned to the Kindergarten classroom again on Thursday. Kindergarten has a wonderful energy. I will be applying for the Kindergarten position when it is posted, as the current teacher is leaving. This week at BCE I got a good recipe for bubble solution that allows you to make GIANT bubbles, I danced like various sea creatures, I read stories to and was read to by students, I played catch the rubber chicken with some K students, I saw the grade 5’s graduate,
A realization that I had this week was about early literacy. I realized that being a child in a household with overfilled bookshelves and two teacher parents who both read to me every day was an ENORMOUS leg up. I won’t say much more than that, but I will not ever underestimate the importance of making literacy a focus in my classroom.
On Friday we walked the picket line. There was a black bear 150m up the road from us for a while at SAMS. #BellaCoolaProblems. We made it down to BCE as well. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, the incredible sense of community that I have witnessed since arriving in the valley persisted. I can’t wait for this whole thing to get resolved and to start teaching in the valley!
