Dec 9
I have had four Pro-D opportunities so far, which have been amazing.
The first was an ABCDE (Association of BC Drama Educators) held at the VFS campus downtown. That was so cool to be in a room with 200 of my future fellow drama teachers. So inspiring to hear what everyone is doing with their programs and to see the breadth of program designs and approaches to running drama programs.
The second was an IB Theatre weekend in which we went through the assessment breakdowns of the four projects. Holy cow was that overwhelming but SO helpful. It’s only now that I am finally understanding most of what we talked about, mostly due to the fact that I have had the time over the past two days to finally reflect on what I have learned this semester. Also, explaining the program to my parents helped me as well, because I need to know it on a different level to be able to rephrase it and explain it to others who have not been submersed in it for the last four months.
The third was a Richmond District Pro-D day during my short practicum. I was able to go to two workshops, the first about SEL and the second about “how to make your classroom environment responsive to student learning”. The first one was run by Dr. Kimberley Schonert-Reichl who works at UBC in the Education and Counselling Psychology and Special Education Department and who had previously been a guest speaker in our 308 course earlier this semester. She discussed topics that included how the physical environment of the school can note/dictate who is important to that school (ie athletes or IB programs). The second was populated by a majority of elementary teachers who were discussing how when they gave the students the opportunity to design the room to their interests and desires that it increased the student’s willingness to participate in classroom activities and to take initiative, or at least participate, in keeping the room organized.
The fourth was at UBC for all of the Secondary Teacher Candidates. I also made it to two workshops for that one as well. The first being “Fantastic Field Trips” at the Biodiversity Museum” and the second being “Movement and Mental Health”. In the second we discussed the importance of movement and physical brain breaks and the results of increased physical exercise has on the mental wellbeing of students and staff alike.
The Richmond Pro-D day had a huge influence on why my inquiry question changed from something along the lines of the “Movement and Mental Health” to: can I- as a theatre teacher working with restrictions regarding students’ interaction with expensive elements within my classroom- increase the safety and inclusion of my students by developing their sense of responsibility over the space?
