Category Archives: Practicum

Assessment

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Assessment.  Oh assessment.  This is such a critical area in education.  How well is a student doing?  How do we gauge, measure, communicate their learning/progress?  My experience was that much of what exists in schools is either unofficial, poorly communicated formative assessment or summative assessment to give students a mark.  The two strategies I tried for assessment were duo tangs to collect the work we had done in class and an inquiry project for science class.  I was extremely happy with the inquiry project and how the students presented their learning.  Many great discussions developed out of the student presentations.  I am still hoping to improve my assessment strategies, in particular my formative assessment and communication of this formative assessment.  I need to improve me time management to make formative assessment and student meetings with me a priority.  In addition, relating to my teaching philosophy, helping a student see how far they have traveled on the educational journey is immense in helping them grasp how much they are capable of.  Measuring and communicating progress is extremely important and so it is imperative that I improve.

Viscosity

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A bottle of corn syrup vs. a bottle of water.

In order to demonstrate viscosity, I did a demonstration with a bottle of water rolling beside a bottle of corn syrup.  The students were very engaged in discussing the different properties of water and corn syrup and how they interacted with the bottle.  I actually was not sure how this lesson would go over, but I was really impressed with the students’ responses.  To relate it to my belief statements, I think it really makes a difference to simply change the physical set up of the class and let them move around and sit differently in different situations.  I changed the dynamic of the class and led to more discussion to have a more relaxed physical setup for the demonstration.20140529_221012430_iOS 20140529_221832504_iOS

Connecting Learning to Practice – Paper Airplanes

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Math Class Data Collection

Math Class Data Collection

Another idea pulled from our science class at UBC was using paper airplanes.  In this case I used it to get the class outside and make a lesson on graphing and data collection a little more exciting.  I did struggle a little with structure and would try to organize the actual throwing and measuring of the planes better if I did it again.  I would probably just have the students in partners instead of larger groups as I did on this day.

Math Planning

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Planning for math sometimes seems more structured because of how the subject is broken up, but often students are at very different levels and I learned a great deal planning for all the different levels of ability in my math class.  Teaching a class of 36 grade 8’s in math was a exciting challenge and I came to really enjoy the class.

Unit Plan – Grade 8 Math – Algebra

Math 8 – Algebra – Lesson 6 – Like terms

Community Field Experience

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During my community field experience, I had the opportunity to visit two situations.  The first was at a middle school helping with a program specialized for students how are years behind in reading and writing as well as helping the students services teacher.  This was a phenomenal experience.  The specialized program, the teaching and evaluation center, was amazing to experience.  Seeing the students enjoying reading and working so hard as well as seeing the relationship the had built up with the teacher was amazing.  I also gained an entirely new perspective on students in my class that may be struggling and appearing to not care.  Often, we facilitate their lack of interest and care by having low expectations for them.  In the afternoons we helped with the students services or special education teacher.  In particular, there were two students with autism that required extra help and it was so great to get to know them and work with them.  I wish I was able to have more time to work with them.

My final two weeks were spent at a local daycare providing programs for stduents during the strike. It was interesting to see a different perspective of the program as a teacher.  It was difficult to adjust to the lack of schedule and try to just fill time without specific aims and goals.  We did spend a lot of time outside and I thought about how I could continue to incorporate more time outside into my lessons.  Below are some pictures from one of our nature walks and the wild life that I discovered and discussed with the students.

Practicum – Week 9

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As we wind up our practicum, I feel like I am just getting into the rhythm of how I would like my class to be.  Two major activities this week I tried were paper airplanes to collect data for math and a demonstration on viscosity using a bottle of water and a bottle of corn starch.  Both of these activities had their pros and cons.  I found it frustrating to try to do activities to help students learn and enjoy classes, only to have them act out and not participate.  I still can not get over how some students do not see that we are trying to act in their best interest.  I have also been continuing teaching badminton in PE.  The hardest part for me is keeping all the students active.  In one gym there are always 2-5 students that do not have space to participate so it is difficult to rotate everyone through and keep them engaged.  Overall, it was a great week and I can not believe that it is almost the end.

Practicum – Week 8

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This week we had a practice Teacher-on-call day.  I was surprised at how nervous I actually was.  It was difficult going into a class with virtually no knowledge of what the day would look like and what I was supposed to do.  I think what made me most nervous was functioning within a different school’s schedule and community.  Dealing with students is one thing, but looking like a fool because you do not have a clue about when anything is happening is a lot more difficult.  The day actually went very well.  There was an assembly in the morning that made things a little tough because I did not know where to go, but the students were great.  Following the assembly, I took the opportunity to continue the topic it raised, diversity, and talk about it.  I think it helped me build rapport with the students and develop a clear atmosphere of how I wanted the class to work.  PE class was also difficult to begin with.  There were three classes all with TOC’s for the day and so we had to figure out who was teaching whom.  I was really impressed with how my fellow teacher candidate had worked with his class to set up self-regulation within the PE class.  Finally, I also realized that in order to TOC you really need to be prepared for an entire day on your own.  If a teacher has not left the best plans or if technology does not work, I need to be prepared to last the day.

The rest of my week was pretty crazy.  I had to teach Wednesday, Thursday was a strike day, and the teach Friday.  It made it difficult to keep the students focus, but we all made it through.

Practicum – Week 7

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I feel that the inquiry presentations have been going well.  I have been amazed at the wide array of topics the students have chosen relating to body systems and they all seem to have picked something that they have some interest in.  It was really great to see some interesting presentations that got the class talking and asking questions.  It is rewarding to see class discussion arise from topics presented by students and not the teacher.  I have been challenged by students trying to leave early from the flex block at the end of the day.  I am going to try to be more firm with them, but also fill the time better.  This week I wrote my own math test.  It went alright, but it was challenging to when it seemed that some questions were too hard or students did not know what to do.  It was a growth experience for sure.  I still hope to get more time outside of class to spend time with students, but with the upcoming labor issues it looks like that might not be possible.