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UBC Farm – CFE Week 3 Reflection

It’s the final week of the CFE and to be quite honest it wasn’t the most exciting week. Much of the week was spent working on the final deliverable which included 3 complementary lessons and then a few additions to the existing farm tour specifically for secondary schools with a Home Economics focus.

Tuesday was the Blessing of Land, a part of the Indigenous Initiatives at the farm. I wasn’t present at the actual ceremony, however I did get to join in on the delicious food and festivities afterward. Because I know so little about the Indigenous peoples and how diverse they are, I’m always learning something new. I was able to watch a traditional dance and singing and drumming, though of what Peoples’ I cannot tell you. I don’t think I have ever seen a performance like this, so I am very glad I got the opportunity to. I also noticed that this was a very family-centered event. Some of the performers were father and son and many families attended the feast. I guess this is a way of passing on traditions and values and helping their youth understand where they come from and their own importance. At the end of the feast I was able to participate in blessing the land. The formal ceremony was already had earlier, but everyone was then invited to say a prayer, and offer tobacco into the fire.

My plate from the feast

The dancer in his traditional regalia.

Thursday was my second and last day part of the Intergenerational Landed Learning Project, and it was all about pollination! This week was really fun because the kids were able to get up close to a bee hive and see what was inside. I was so amazed by this group of grade 3 and 4s! They already knew so much about bees, such as how to tell them apart from wasps and what the role of each sex of the bee is. And almost all of them weren’t afraid of walking right up to the bee hive. I am scared of all insects, including ants sadly, and this really pushed me to get comfortable with the bees. Being around kids almost forced me to remain calm because if I start to freak out so would they, not to mention disturbing the bees. It’s interesting how different it is to work with a younger age group. They seem to always be so excited and ready to learn new things whereas the older groups lost interest or become more closed off to new experiences.

Tasting some Hives of Humanity honey. Honey is produced in the city of Vancouver.

Snack time! Kale sushi

I was able to have a conversation yesterday with another CFE student and the manager of the Landed Learning Project summing up our experience at the farm. We both found it very enriching, and it was a great place to spend some time outside in the beautiful weather rather than inside the classroom. The manager then commented how it was almost a shame that only two secondary students chose to do their CFE at the farm, after which I thought Yeah! Why is that? I know that I will not be the only CFE student here as four are coming in June, but the next group are all elementary teachers. This ratio seems to almost reflect the groups that are at the farm right now. So many more elementary groups come through the farm than secondary groups, and I wonder if it’s the teacher and how they teach or structure their classrooms that have the biggest influence on the interest of the student. I also wonder if it’s the structure of secondary schools that limit teachers from bringing their classes outside. There are so many benefits to learning outside: hands on learning, the ability to make real-life connections, feeling more connected to their own surroundings. This really is something that should be done more in secondary school curriculum. This age group tends to get stuck in their immersion in technology; I think bringing this age group outside and helping them regain some kind of curiosity will help them become healthier and active citizens in the future.

I am so glad that I got the opportunity to be at UBC Farm for my CFE. I have learned so much and I hope to bring some of what I learned back into the classroom. Thank you!

UBC Farm – CFE Week 2 Reflection

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I found myself struggling this week. Not so much because I had to do any labour on the farm, but more so because I couldn’t get out of my way of thinking, if that makes any sense. My part at the farm over the course of three weeks is to write a lesson or activity that high schools can do during the tour. I found it really hard to think of these activities; I kept thinking about the tour as something that is already set in stone and all of my ideas for lessons were those to complement the tour as is. Changing my mindset from “this is what the tour offers, how can I incorporate it?” to “this is what I want the tour to have” has been a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I’ve tried to overcome it by first writing the complementary lessons and then focusing on the tour, and it’s made me feel more at ease because I’m actually doing something, but I feel like the issue is going to pop up again. One of the staff said that it wouldn’t be out of the question to create a small plot just for the high school tours, so with that offer I may try to do a quick tasting activity during the tour.

The big question I want to focus on is: Where does our food come from? This question was brought up by one of the students in the lone high school tour I’ve seen so far, and I think it’s a great question. Where does it come from? I think it’s important to realize that the food found in the grocery store has traveled great distances to be accessible to us, and with that the huge consumption of resources (often fossil fuels). It also takes a lot of energy to produce food in general, especially meat products. I find this topic super interesting, but high school youth won’t be as much. I chose to study food after high school; most teens just want to get through high school.

It’s kind of interesting how that particular age group, between the ages of 13 and 18, children seem to lose their curiosity. The farm seems to do pretty well with tours; this past week alone there were about 5 or 6 tours (that I know of), however they are all from elementary schools. I wonder if it’s because of lack of interest or even competing interests; field trips are much harder to plan in high school, and students may choose not to go to focus on their more academic courses. I say this coming from a Home Economics perspective, and I believe it could very well be the conflict of interest. During my practicum at Moscrop we held a field trip for Home Economics students to tour a culinary school within Vancouver. Some students opted out of the field trip because the particular day it was held on was a heavy academic day. Of course these tours would also be good for Science or even Social Studies courses, but I guess the lack of a direct relationship between the subject and the farm means the idea is often missed.

This past week I was able to do a volunteer shift in the IHREG, where i actually got to do hands on work and work in the garden. I loved it, and it is definitely harder than I originally thought. It also gave me a greater understanding of how much work actually goes into producing my food. Granted a lot of my food is probably produced with machinery, it shows how much work it takes for people before machinery was invented. Also the plots of land we worked on were relatively small – I can’t imagine working a large scale farm by hand!

This week was also the first week I partook in the Landed Learning program on the farm. Landed Learning is done in partnership with 4 elementary schools in the Lower Mainland. One class from the school comes to the farm every 2 weeks for a total of 11 sessions, and they spend the whole day learning at the farm. This past week was about water, so the kids made compost tea for their own garden bed, planted and transplanted some seeds/seedlings, and did a little activity on the irrigation system. The group that I got to work with was a 3-4 class, and it was so much fun to work with them! They had so much energy and were curious about everything. They knew so much of what different plants were just by looking at them (which I can’t even do!). During the check out period, someone mentioned how as the groups get older, they become less interested in the farm and growing their own food and they wondered out loud, why is that? What happens in these few short years that makes them disinterested in growing their own food? Something to contemplate.

Now I begin my final week at the farm, and it’s surreal how quick this experience has been. I am hopeful that I can complete what I came here to do, and look forward to making the most of my week here.

Again, photos to come soon!

Differences, Pro D (February 16-20)

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What differences are you noticing with your students?

It’s much easier to spot differences when you’re comparing two like things, I find. That being said, I have definitely noticed differences with my grade 8 textiles blocks. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, one group is more academically inclined and more well behaved. They also happen to be the morning block, where you can argue that students are either more tired or are more likely to pay attention. The second group is the last block of the day and the rowdier of the two blocks. There are definitely students who are motivated to do well, but the greater majority of the class is harder to handle. The two differences in the two blocks were much more glaring when I first picked up the two classes: Most of what we were doing involved lots of worksheets and required a very structured class. Now that we have started the final projects and both classes are sewing for almost the entire class, they have become more pleasant to teach. I treat both classes the same in the way I get their attention. I think I’ve become better in my wait time, in that that I’m no longer impatient and jump the gun when it comes to getting their attention. I am able to wait for as long as I need to until I have everyone’s attention, and it surprisingly works with both periods (though one period takes longer than the other). In terms of planning, I plan the lessons the same for both classes. I tend to make the changes as I see fit during the class. For example, I have found I have done fewer demonstrations for the more academic class. They seem to be more capable in following and understanding the written directions. I still offer to do the demonstration, but I am not forcing everyone to attend it if they feel like they can continue without them. I am having to do at least two demonstrations for the second block. I have tried to do what I do with the first block with the second group, however I can see some students are falling behind, so I will probably have all students watch demonstrations for every step.

As for the 12s, I don’t have another similar group to compare them to. In comparison to the 8s, however, they are much more laid back. The major differences would be that Baking is an elective they want to take and not forced to take, and they are more concerned with their academics than their electives. So far, the only change I’ve made to that class, along with my 8s, is to keep their phones away, but it’s not working. I may actually have to modify and change the rule so that phones are still kept away during labs, but when they’re completely done phones are allowed.

3 things I learned during Pro-D

1. It’s definitely a time of collaboration with those in and outside of your subject area. I actually had 2 Pro-Ds last week, one specifically for teacher candidates. This session was great because we were able to discuss issues that may have arisen with our fellow colleagues. In the district wide Pro-D, many different workshops were held by teachers in the district, which any subject area could attend. It’s a time to hear many different perspectives on the same subject or issue.

2. It’s an opportunity to learn what the district values. Two themes that arose during the Pro-Ds were the recognition of aboriginal youth in education and how we can adapt our teaching to the culture, and thinking classrooms. It’s good to see if my values match those of the district.

3. Home Economics Pro-Ds are really fun! The Home Economics Pro-D in Burnaby was a tour of the Arts Institute, and a workshop on how to make gum paste flowers. The tour actually helps us plan how to meet one of the PLOs for senior foods classes. The workshop gave everyone ideas how to implement this into the classroom (in fact, my SA already does something similar with molding chocolate instead of gum paste). It was also a time for me to get to know some of the Home Economics teachers in the district.

Classroom Management (February 9-13)

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Please comment on classroom management. How you are finding dealing with your classes, and any challenges or successes you already have faced?

Each class has its own unique challenges. Although I find my two classes of 8s to be challenging, they are challenging for different reasons. With one, I have trouble keeping them engaged on tasks and doing something. They can get things done so quick that I run out of extra activities for them to do. The other is difficult because there are some students who don’t seem like they want to be in the class, or are craving attention. In saying that, though, I don’t have much trouble when it comes to being the authoritative figure. They know that I am someone they should respect and listen to, and the rules I lay for the room are the rules they have to follow. I had a small success on Friday afternoon with my more difficult class. I had considered doing a seating plan change and had received confirmation to do so, so that’s what I did. The group saw pretty much saw it coming when I told them to hold off on setting up their machines. I was met with a lot of resistance, but interestingly from the more well-behaved students. I still had them change seats, and in the middle of the period noticed the room was actually relatively quiet. I don’t know if that’s the kind of atmosphere I want to set, but it was a very pleasant surprise. The one student who gave me a lot of trouble actually finished two assignments, which I saw as a huge success. I won’t know until Tuesday if this will stick or not. I really hope Friday’s class was not a one-off day because I decided to change up the room.

With the seniors block that I’ve recently picked up, I’m feeling like age plays a factor into how the class has responded to me. For the most it is very positive; they listen when I ask for their attention, even if it does take a while. The only thing I changed in the classroom was the use of cell phones. My SA seems relaxed in the use of cell phones. Her philosophy for home economics is that it should be fun, and so conversation is encouraged and that also leads to cell phone use during labs. When I first picked up the group, I asked that they put away their cell phones, and I had my reasoning (food is a social thing that people gather around). I had to ask the same student several times to put her phone away, and she gave me attitude every time. I think because of my age and my overall appearance it’s a bit harder to see me as an authoritative figure. It could also be that they are used to a certain routine and are used to getting away with certain things. I may have to wait another week to kind of feel out the class. The last thing I want is for the class to feel like I am making Home Ec more like a chore than something fun. One thing I thought about as an alternative to asking them to put their phones away is to have everyone leave their phones out in a pile in each unit. It’s an activity I do with my friends at restaurants: We all put our phones at the centre of the table, and the first person to pick up their phone either pays for the meal or is made the centre of all our jokes for the rest of the time there. I will have to find another consequence though.

Surprises (Reflection Feb 2 – 6)

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What surprised you (either positively or negatively) on your first week of practicum, and why was it such a surprise?

What surprised me the most was how much variation there can be between two blocks of the same class. My first week on practicum I taught two classes of grade 8 textiles. Not having a strong background in textiles, I was nervous to pick up this group first. Despite the nervousness, I thought my first class went well considering it was my very first class. I am fortunate enough to have two sets of 8s, so what didn’t do so well with the first class, I can adjust for the second. What I wasn’t prepared for was the variation between the classes. I quickly found out that one period seemed more advanced. The students seemed to be more academically inclined, and they were finishing and mastering activities faster than I can assign them. The second class required more patience and instruction. Many kids seemed impatient and didn’t want to do the tasks. One student in particular would try to have me do everything for him.

I knew there was going to be variation when I started. No two classes are the same. I just didn’t expect the variation to be that big. The difference in behaviours could be attributed to the block rotation system. This particular school does not rotate their blocks mostly to accommodate other programs at the school. That means block 1 is always the first block, and block 8 is always the last block. Students may be more restless near the end of the day, which would explain their behaviour. I personally think it’s also due to other programs that explain why certain students are placed in certain spots. The honours program at this school has students taking classes that are only available at certain time slots. This means less flexibility when placing them in the rest of their classes, and thus having one group that is more academically inclined than the other.

Although I can make adjustments to my lessons after teaching it to the first class, I still have to keep in mind that the two blocks are different, and the adjustments I may make for one class may not work for the other. They weren’t kidding when they say teachers have to be flexible, and now I learn that it’s more than just adjusting activities for time, but being able to adjust activities for the kind of class itself. As a student, you’re not aware of how different classes are. Teachers teach a lesson, and there’s only one way to do it. But in reality there is so much to consider when planning and carrying out your lessons, and it’s something I will definitely have to keep in mind when I plan my future lessons.

Another thing that surprised me this week? My voice. I know I can raise my voice when I have to. I think a part of that comes from my playing a pretty large instrument when I was younger, which required a lot of air to make any sound. I just rarely do so, so I never realized how loud it can be until this week when I accidentally scared/ made students jump by suddenly raising my voice. As a result, my throat is now sore. I actually don’t normally talk much in a day. I feel like I can get by with saying less than 2000 words a day sometimes. So going from that to suddenly having to speak clearly and frequently surely gave my voice a shock. I actually didn’t know voice strain was a thing until very recently, and I am very much hoping that my voice will adjust. A friend suggested that I be more mindful of my diaphragm, and that the volume and air of my voice should be coming from the stronger muscle rather than my throat, which makes sense as it’s exactly the same thing you do in music. I’ll also have to start to find different ways to get the attention of the class without having to basically shout over the noise, and that I don’t consider to be annoying or cheesy.