Community Field Experience 2014

Well that went by fast! I had to check the calendar this morning and then recheck it to make sure it really had been three weeks. They say time goes by fast when you’re having fun. Well if that’s the case teaching and learning are definitely for me since time has been going by REALLY FAST whenever I’m engaged in those activities.

On Friday afternoon I left the museum with mixed feelings; I was disappointed that it was over but at the same time excited about continuing my lifelong journey of learning. My time at the museum has helped me continue to develop my own personal understanding  of the meaning of Education. That is, education happens beyond the walls of a traditional classroom filled with 30 desks and a whiteboard. The term merely represents a mask of the many faces it has; teaching and learning can happen anywhere at any time. Museums, like the Royal BC museum, are just one of those faces hiding behind under the mask.

My final week was an interesting one to say the least-filled with inquiry, lesson planning, Kids Club, and Preschool kids! On Monday both Sean (the other student teacher assigned to the museum) and I joined some of the staff in the Learning department on a trip to a school in Nanaimo. A grade 6/7 teacher had invited the museum to come and learn about the inquiry program she runs in her class. In each semester the students work on a personal inquiry project based around a general inquiry question she comes up with. The theme for this semester was based around sustainability-some of the projects the students were working on included birds and the environment, the Florida Everglades, and cleaning the environment.

The idea of inquiry is a fascinating one for me. Honestly, up until the B.Ed. program at UBC I hadn’t heard much of the term let alone give it any thought, which is interesting since inquiry has been around for a long time. It’s clear though many teachers aren’t still ready to accept or at least try it in their classrooms given by the lack of any inquiry learning during my elementary/secondary schooling (as well as from what I’ve observed at my practicum school). On one end it’s understandable given from what I witnessed Monday-a lot of work and effort is required to successfully run an inquiry based class. However, at the same time if we’re not putting in the time and effort to develop critically engaging lessons how can we expect our students to put in the time and effort required to be successful?

It was amazing to see firsthand the results of running an inquiry class. A few of the students presented their projects and they were some of the best I’ve ever seen kids do! One student had done an absolutely AMAZING 15 minute presentation on the Florida Everglades and how it relates to sustainability. To help the museum as well as Sean and I understand the secrets to the success she has had running this program we asked the students what they like most about inquiry and why they think it’s been successful for them. Their feedback was not only helpful to the museum for what they’re trying to do (more inquiry based field trip programs) but also helpful to a starting teacher like me. For example, it’s one thing to say, as a teacher, lessons should be relatable to the students, should involve practical examples, and you need to create a class environment that feels like a community. However it’s another to hear the students themselves say that.

As a teacher beginning my career I am continually developing and looking for ideas to make my lessons more engaging for my students. Inquiry is something I have been thinking about implementing ever since I first learned about it at UBC and I have gained valuable insight into doing that as a result of Monday’s trip. It’s of course a bit more difficult, as a secondary teacher, to replicate the success she has with her class only because I see my students for an hour and twenty minutes a day for a semester whereas she sees them the whole day, every day, for the entire school year. It is however far from impossible and a challenge I’m looking forward to taking on when I begin my first official teaching position.

The next day Sean and I helped run some activities for a class of thirty preschool students on a filed trip. This was a unique learning experience for me; the youngest group of kids I had interacted with in a teaching position before were grade 3 students at a summer science camp. Working with kids that young obviously requires a different approach then what I’m use to with secondary students-so I learned a lot from it. For example during activities some kids would tell me “I’m 3!” or regarding the photo backdrop of the seashore diorama “Is the water real?-can we go there?” At that age you just focus on teaching the BIG picture and not worry about any of the minor details.

The rest of the week I worked on finishing/editing my lesson plans-which we learned are going to be the pioneers of the new database the museum is developing. So Cool! I also worked with the museum’s Kids Club-the kids were given a tour of how security works at the museum by the head of security. I now know where some of the hidden cameras are! But not all of them of course-trade secrets and all.

As I sit here and conclude my reflection for my final week of my CFE practicum I think back to the reasoning behind this part of the B.Ed. program-to participate in an educational setting outside of a traditional classroom and to further our development of becoming educators. I can safely say that I have continued to grow and improve as an educator over these past three weeks. The friendships I’ve made, the engaging conversations I’ve had with some of the most dedicated educators I’ve ever met, the experiences I’ve been a part of-all these have been critical in furthering my development as an educator. 

A special thank you to the Royal BC Museum for letting me be a part of their community for the past three weeks and a thank you to UBC for providing me with that opportunity.

For hundreds of years museums have conserved artifacts of artistic, cultural, scientific, and/or historic importance. I have often wondered if museums themselves are becoming a part of the history they’ve worked so hard to preserve for so many years. Having completed week two of my CFE practicum, I’ve come to realize that as long as there are a dedicated group of individuals like the Royal BC Museum staff working together to promote learning, museums will always be an integral part of our society. They are after all, a portal into learning about our past, a snapshot of our present, and a key to our future.

SPOILER ALERT-It’s called the Internet, dude. It’s true that some may ask why we should even bother going to a museum when the information nowadays is just a click away. Facts about our history, new discoveries made in science, and images of artistic/historical artifacts-it wouldn’t be too difficult to find all of this online. Our need for technology continues to increase on a daily basis. For example back when I was in high school having a cell phone was rare but now when I went back as a student teacher during my practicum experience I realized that more than half of the students in all my classes had them! Now while using technology isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s important we understand that there’s so much more to life than what technology can ever offer us. I’m now reminded of a quote by the great Audrey Hepburn:

“Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once.”

Museums allow for critical thinking which leads us to communicating with one another which then leads to self-reflection and learning. The Internet in all its glory does not give you that sense of awe and excitement you get when viewing a full sized Ice Age Mammoth for the first time, or the chance to communicate with a group of friends or even strangers on a topic of historical or scientific importance that might lead to something relevant and important in your life. This is what teaching and learning is all about-the chance to experience something you can take away with you for a long time. For example, I don’t remember much of what I read online a week ago but I remember what I learned in my classes from two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago, etc. This is because I was exposed to various teaching methods and learning strategies that helped me learn those various concepts.

This past week was filled with meetings, a fascinating lecture by Professor Jack Lohman (CEO of the Royal BC Museum) on the relevance of museums, lesson planning, and helping run the Museum’s Kids Club program (the theme was bird migration). Now speaking of the Kids Club program let me take this moment to go a little off track to say that doing activities in a museum before it opens is very cool. This is because if you need to, like we did this morning for an activity (involving projectors), you can have security turn off all the lights-which is pretty awesome. Night at the Museum! The kids themselves were in the Elementary level and their level of enthusiasm and excitement to learn on an early Sunday morning at the museum not only helps prove the fact that learning is everywhere and it’s a great interactive process but also on a more personal note reminds me of why I want to become an educator.

Last week I briefly mentioned that this CFE experience has had me reflect on what I consider one of the most important aspects of teaching, that is, learning doesn’t just occur in the walls of a classroom. As a visitor it’s easy to miss sight of this fact but as a staff member I have been exposed to many of the behind the scenes work that goes into promoting learning and development. It’s amazing how often I hear words like learning, development, inquiry, and teaching when I’m working at the museum. What’s most refreshing is that these words aren’t thrown around aimlessly. The museum has a clear purpose and they continue to act on that purpose. It doesn’t matter who you are and which department you work in-if you have an idea not only will it be heard but it will be put into action. I’ve noticed that communication between the different departments (Audio, video, Learning, Archives, Finance, Collections Care, etc.) is taken very seriously. For example, I work in the Learning department and every day I witness these interactions-through emails, phone calls or face to face. I had actually begun thinking about the importance of communication between teachers (not just same subject area) during my practicum and how there needs to be a lot more of it. If teachers can work together, connect what they’re teaching in some way to other classes the students attend, this can greatly benefit the students learning. If students can connect what they are learning in science to something in history for example they’ll not only be able to learn and develop those concepts a lot easier (partially due to being exposed to more review) but also they’ll be more interested and invested in their learning.

To me it really all comes down to this simple fact. That is, if we don’t learn about our past-how will we ever better ourselves, our society and the environment for the future? The same can be said for teaching. If we don’t reflect on and learn from our past experiences (both positive and negative) how can we ever expect to become the educator that the next generation of students need us to be? We need to embrace communication and share our ideas and experiences with one another-not for ourselves but for our students.

Going to go off track again for a bit-I have HUGE arachnophobia and today I went to the Victoria Bug Zoo where I not only was in the same room as a bunch of other spiders but I held a tarantula! I have a picture below to prove it since admittedly my fear is so big that no one would ever believe this without proof. Nevertheless I was in constant state of fear the whole time I held it but the fact that I did hold it amazes me beyond belief. Quite frankly I’m shuttering thinking about it now. What was I thinking? Well that’s one more thing to check off that very long bucket list.

Underground tunnels to the Parliament, fourteen floors of priceless artifacts and an archives building that has security tighter than Fort Knox! These sound like all the key elements of a great spy novel, however, they are just some of the highlights of my first week at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, BC.

It’s been only a week since I began my Community Field Experience (CFE) but I’ve experienced what feels like a year’s worth of learning. Wow! Where do I even begin? I suppose the beginning is as good a place as any.

I left for Victoria Saturday evening as I wanted to give myself some time to get settled in before starting my CFE Monday morning.  My uncle and his family have graciously welcomed me into their home for these three weeks. I am not sure how I can ever repay them.

I spent Saturday evening and all of Sunday catching up with my cousins and exploring the beautiful city. Part of the reason I requested to be placed at the museum was because I wanted to challenge myself to go out of my comfort zone- a motto/theme I have been following for the past year or so if you will. So continuing that theme I decided to try some baby octopus (something I never would have done a few years ago) for lunch on Sunday. There’s another thing to check off that very long bucket list!

At the Museum

There are two of us that have been placed at the museum and both Sean and I agreed in the weeks prior to beginning our CFE that we weren’t sure what to expect. Nevertheless I arrived at the museum Monday morning ready for anything. Our museum contact, Janet MacDonald (head of the learning department), welcomed us before taking us over to security to get our ID and keycards. It was around this time where we were also given the two most important pieces of information we needed to know: the location of the washrooms and where to get good coffee! We then met the rest of the team (including a recently graduated Education student) and were given a tour of the two galleries (Natural History and Human History). I was familiar with the galleries having visited the museum once before but that didn’t stop me from taking pictures of the amazing displays.

Later in the afternoon the four of us sat down to discuss what the next three weeks would look like. They explained to us that the museum is currently undergoing a lot of changes including changes in their field trip programs for schools; they are looking to create more self-guided and inquiry based lessons and activities. Part of my job for the next three weeks is to come up with various science related lesson plans that incorporate the displays on the second floor of the museum (Natural History Gallery). Other tasks I have been given include providing my input (from a teacher perspective) whenever and wherever needed, helping out with the Kids Club Morning Exploration event, and doing some of the groundwork for a new project based on Communication and Conflict they are hoping to run next Fall.

I spent most of the week working on my lesson plans; I currently am working back and forth between three lessons including an activity that engages students to use their cell phones for learning in the museum. We will be doing a test run of this activity next week. No pressure right? In order to create lesson plans based on the gallery displays I have been spending some of my time up in the gallery brainstorming ideas, taking pictures, and observing various groups of students that visit. I then take that information to create a lesson that connects the museum to the BC Science Curriculum. It’s very interesting work!

On Wednesday we were given a tour of the other major areas of the museum: the collections building, the underground tunnels, and the archives building. It was really cool to see all the different areas of the museum that I wouldn’t have seen as a visitor. It turns out that out of all the items they have only about 5-10 percent of them are actually on display in the galleries-the rest are stored away in the collections building. I was just in total awe walking through the rooms up there. We then visited the underground tunnels where the craftsmen/artisans and various audio/visual artists worked. At one point while we were walking down there we came to a pathway that led to some locked doors-we were told on the other side of those doors is the Parliament building (which is across the street from the museum). One of the most epic things I’ve ever seen! To conclude the tour we visited the archives building. It’s here where the both of us will be spending some time doing research for the Communication and Conflict project. Now to get into this building you need to run through security again and let me tell you they run a tight ship. For example, we had to put any pens (pencils only inside) we had in lockers outside before entering. So after going through the necessary motions we were granted access to the building. Sean and I spent the next few hours doing some research. Reading original letters from soldiers from World War I was something I never thought I’d do. It was a very surreal moment for me.

I have enjoyed the learning experience so far. What’s interesting is that I took my students on a field trip to the Vancouver Aquarium during my long practicum and I used an activity they had on their website. Now I’m on the other side creating those activities for teachers to access when they visit the museum. As a science student I was nervous coming to the museum but all that changed when I learned how much untapped potential there is here-it’s usually only social studies teachers that bring their students to the museum but there’s a lot for science teachers and their students to explore. As a student teacher I am slowly learning about my own teaching philosophy and pedagogy. This past week has had me reflect on what I consider important and vital when it comes to learning including that learning doesn’t just occur in the classrooms. I have had many discussions this past week about these issues and it’s so refreshing to see others who share that perspective.

My only regret for this week is that it’s over! Why oh why?!!