Wow, that certainly flew by. What a great experience it was to get out to Keremeos and see a completely different style of teaching and administration, and a different culture of kids.

I think this opportunity to step out of our newly forged roles to see yet another different perspective was very well timed indeed. As I go to the different districts and schools, I see many educators, new and veteran, weaving the new curriculum into their teaching, taking the best of the old, and reworking and fitting it with and into the new. I see the advantages of talking with teachers who have seen 2 or 3 permutations of curriculum change as well as those who entered in on the ground floor, and try to adapt their styles and advice into my teaching repetoire. The best thing about this whole community? – They share everything, and go to great lengths to elevate you up to the highest point you can be at as you enter your first year with so many ideas, projects, strategies, and moral promises.

I think the group I will miss the most from this experience is the elementary drama gang. This group was so quick to take us in and share their cool quirkiness that it was almost overwhelming. Goodbye today was hard, and the kids let us know that we would be missed. That class was pretty far off my normal beaten path, and I’m very happy Naryn gave me the opportunity to teach it alongside Elaina who I think got the same out of it as I did. Thinking back on this class, I felt like I was totally myself with this group, and that they didn’t any more than the real me to take them through our acting skits and scenarios. I have to remember that feeling, because I (and I’m sure everyone else in the profession) feel that I do my best work when I’m not preoccupied with trying to be anyone other than who I am. Sounds obvious and redundant, but that concept carries a great deal of weight for me.

Working with Mr’s Toth and Collins has been a great experience as well! I met some very cool students in both classes, and certainly hope to cross paths with them again. Although the students ride those guys a lot, I can see the admiration and respect they have for them equally clearly. A lot of the students politely accepted the help I offered, but their go to guys were always Toth and Collins. I hope I have a group of students that loyal and fun in my first job, similar to the group I  was lucky enough to teach in Courtenay  the last few months, and I see what elements of my teaching style I may alter based on the strength of connection these guys were able to make with this group.

It’s hard not to compare and contrast this shorter experience with the longer one I had in Courtenay. The Island school was certainly intense, and I had a lot of sleepless nights, but the hard working crew there always had a way of easing my mind and elevating me to my absolute best every day, and the kids responded well to my new ideas and course projects. Here in Keremeos, the relaxed atmosphere and small town kindness reminded me a lot of my school days in southern Manitoba, and I was able to revisit some of those earlier memories and mix in with the kids (especially the elementary ones) on a more natural level. As icing on the cake, Dave and Marcus (our Faculty advisor and the director of learning inquiry) took us out for a tour of the district (and dinner AND ice cream) so we could have a look at what was happening within, and meet some of the great people that make up district 53.

So, in grand closing fashion to my practicum experience, I have no doubt that I had chosen the right profession, and no doubt that I will pass on the courtesies and assistance shown me through this apex of a multi year journey (I was originally going to do this in 1995….but that’s another reflection for another day) To a future group of TC’s coming down the line.

 

Slightly shorter week this time out as we were treated to a guided tour in and around the entire district courtesy of Marcus Toneatto and David Fairbrother.

This week was quite a bit more involving than the previous one, with the addition of some new opportunities with the elementary kids, and some interesting work in the auto shop, along with continued explorations in the wood and drafting departments.

Continuing on with the two higher risk students in the woodshop saw near completion of their respective projects, and what I feel was a sense of accomplishment and pride in the workmanship. Going back and forth between the two students showed different challenges, with one student having a very high degree of impatience when it came down to the finer finishing, precision joinery section, and the other taking shortcuts on the final phases which resulted in some frustrating repair work which was much more time consuming than the preventative preparation would have been. Neither of these things proved to be a great problem as both students were all smiles as the projects came together. I was a little disappointed the next day however as 1 of the students was suspended for a bullying incident which I understand happened right after our time in the woodshop. It is hard not to feel like I “missed” something there, like I could have modelled some behaviour that could have prevented that, but as Mr. C stated to me later “Don’t fall too in love with these kids, do your best and accept that you can’t be in control of everything, all the time”. It is hard not to get attached, as the student really opened up and spoke about his dad, his prior work experience, and his employment aspirations for the future, and seemed really happy that we were working together – going from this to bullying 1 hour later is the last thing I would have predicted.

I was presented with a new and unique opportunity to teach a couple of elementary drama classes with Elaina, the other TC at the school, and this proved to be a fun and enlightening experience for both of us. The first class was very short notice and we didn’t have a lot of time to prep, but the students were very responsive to the activities and asked if we were coming back for another class – I think that is a good thing! The next class was much more structured as we had 2 days to put together some short scenario acting skits which the students seemed to have a ball with. It is good to feel comfortable in the younger and older classrooms now as I can let my own creativity bounce off of the students unique interpretations of the activities, and feel the results coming off much more naturally then before. I hope I can work with this age group again in the future.

Made it over to the Home Ec side finally, got a chance to see the cafeteria program in action.

Chef A’s entire class was on a field trip so myself, the other TC I am at the school with, and a student from Mr. C’s wood shop filled in to get the lunch program ready.

I was on the ginger sauce for the pork (turned out pretty fine if I do say so myself) and “general” duties (read dishwashing, serving, and pushing the fried rice and pork to the elementary kids who love pizza pretzels/pops). We sold out, so I guess the day was a success.

After assisting the repairman with the ZEP dishwasher repair I caught the second half of the elementary wood skills exploration class and we continued on with our cool custom cut mini boat paddles. Another good day at SESS, very laid back and relaxed atmosphere both in the school and the town.

Working with some of the higher behavioural risk kids in the woodshop has been a real eye opener. 1 in particular reminds me of myself a lot at that age – impatient, needing assistance but refusing it when the time comes, taking shortcuts etc. I am approaching him from a more collaborative standpoint, asking questions, mulling over possible solutions, and offering positive feedback when good ideas are presented. Seems to be working so far, and the project is quite fun and challenging. I have to be careful with what the students confide when working one on one however, as they express their frustrations with the teachers who are trying to install some self discipline in a very negative fashion, and the inherent good cop/bad cop dynamic can develop if you do not address those negative statements immediately and accurately. I try to frame it in the sense of safety and experience, for example: “The reason we take these steps when working on the table saw is that Mr. C has more experience than both of us, and he knows that not taking these longer steps can result in unpredictable and dangerous behaviour of the saw – just because it didn’t kick back this time, doesn’t mean it won’t the next”.

I’m pretty happy to be working with this new crew and seeing different ideas and perspectives. It is rare that a day goes by without at least one valuable lesson learned.

Just getting midway through the first week of community field experience out here in scenic, beautiful Keremeos BC.

The family that is hosting me is very nice indeed! Cute kids that ask me all sorts of questions I can’t answer! Walking outside of the school I am greeted with an amazing view of what they call the “K” mountain (because it has a K shape on the face), and yes, I could get used to this very quickly.

The hardest part of the first few days for me is always the names – introducing and re-introducing myself to staff and students as I try to remember some discerning features and/or associations; everyone is so patient here.

So far, I have spent most of my time between the wood shop, metal shop, and auto shop, as well as the CAD class and Vex robotics, and as always found myself impressed with the breadth of knowledge the students posses. As it is late in the year, I am not trying to wedge myself in here to teach some lessons, but rather provide my services as a second resource floating through the class to collaborate and hopefully assist the students through some sticking points. But as we all know, things just generally follow their own path, and my role will likely change over the coming weeks.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend something I have wanted to sit it on for quite a while, a First Nations workshop. The speaker was excellent, and led through many self reflective exercises to get us to peer at the base of the iceberg underneath the water level. In addition, I learned a little bit about the creator’s story, and how the plants and animals play a role in the collective DNA of nature. It was a great 2 hours, with some awkward moments, emotional sharing, and even some rhythmic interplay – definitely what a workshop should be!

Looking forward to the rest of the week, and working a bit in the Home Ec/cafeteria program portion with the school chef.