Not even a torrential downpour could dampen the spirits of the cohort today.  Here’s what shook down:

Pre-EDUC 315 Seminar

From 10:00 – NOON we took some time to think about EDUC 315, the Tuesdays practicum.  To that end, we:

• Gathered information on your Practicum Preferences
• Reviewed the goals of EDUC 315
• Outlined what you can expect from your School Advisor
• Role played scenarios related to professional demeanour in a school setting

Potluck Lunch

From NOON to 1:00 pm we enjoyed a wonderful potluck lunch.  Thanks to all who contributed.

Ropes Course

From 1:30 to 4:30 we engaged in activities at the UBC Ropes Course.  After breaking into two groups, we tackled several problem-solving & team-building games.  My group did the following:

• 3 Object Pass
• Toxic Waste
• Tanks
• Knot or Not a Knot?
• Wrist Twister

We finished the day with a high ropes element that involved walking along a set of swinging beams and tires.

As far as I could tell, the other group tackled the Crossing the Amazon game (I may have the name wrong but I know the activity involved sharks) and the Giant Ladder as their high ropes element.

Last year’s group of TCs completed write ups for the activities they did at the course and compiled them into a .doc file.  I’ve included it here for your reference.  Inside you’ll find the intstructions for some of the the actvities we participated in as well as the guidelines for a few others:

Ropes Course Games in 2008

We are interested in your thoughts on the Ropes Course experience and urge you to leave a comment on our Topics for Discussion page.  Thanks to those who’ve done so already.

Cheers,

Lawrence

Today, Shep presented a workshop on how to get started with your ePortfolio.  One key to the successful completion of this task is to start early and update often.  Shep likened the eFolio to a travel journal; better to write the journal as you visit each locale (over the course of your B.Ed year) than to try and write it upon your return home (during the summer in EDUC 480).

This link leads to resources that should prove very useful as you develop your ePortfolio – TEO HOME > RESOURCES > EPORTFOLIOS.

If you have questions related to your ePortfolio, please seek out this cohort’s eCoaches – Adam and Joe.

That’s all for now,

Lawrence

Here’s what shook down in this class:

Me in a Bag Speeches

After sharing a few highlights from the Me in a Bag speeches to this point, we discussed the Post-Speech Analysis Task.  What you need to do is watch the video of your speech and consider the following questions:

1. What are my strengths as a speaker?
2. What challenges did I face when delivering this speech?
3. What goals will I set for my next speech / presentation?

You can use the 5Ps of Powerful Presentations as a framework for this analysis or you can touch on any other aspects of your talk that strike you.

Now, the beauty of this task is that you can present this content information in any format you see fit.  This approach to the assignment is consistent with the princicples of DI (differentiated instruction).  Here’s a 6 minute clip with some basic info on DI at the K-12 and university levels:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJmEiQ4HmEc&feature=PlayList&p=4C5E68673251FE37&index=1[/youtube]

We brainstormed an extensive list of options in class – which I promptly forgot to write down on paper, sadly.  You could consider analyzing your speech via:

• a map
• a song
• a poem
• a comic strip
• a dance
• a news article
• a poster
• a graphic organizer
• a PowerPoint
• a game show
• a model / diorama
• a sculpture
• a collage

The possibilities are well and truly endless.  The key, however, is to ensure that whatever format you choose is conducive to clearly demonstrating the content.  Shep and I are looking forward to seeing what sort of creations you come up with by the due date, Wednesday, 30 September 2009.

After discussing the analysis, we listened to the final few speeches.

Calendar

Shep noted that he will be doing an ePortfolio presentation in class on Monday, 28 September.  Please bring your laptop to this lesson and, if you don’t have one, Shep has arranged a computer for you to use during this seminar.

Also, I went over the expectations for the Ropes Course outing on Tuesday, 29 September.  Please refer to an earlier post on the ropes course if you have questions.

Course Outline

To wrap up class we handed out the course outline.  If you didn’t get one, you can find a copy of it by clicking the link below:

EDUC 316 Outline 09-10

That’s all folks.  Enjoy your weekend.

– Lawrence

Today we started the “Me in a Bag” speeches.  Before the presentations began, however, we did the following set up:

Rationale

Productive classroom environments are embedded within the teacher’s personality.  The more you can develop powerful communication skills, the more able you will be to reach all learners in your classroom.  This speech should help you develop your skills as a classroom orator.

Criteria for Assessment

We’re using the 5 Ps (+1) of Powerful Presentations to assess each speaker’s performance.  This is a tool that you can use with middle school speakers to help them remember – the 5 Ps serve as a mnemonic – how to deliver a great speech.

Here’s the file: 5 P’s of Powerful Presentations

Partners Rehearsal

We used the A/B Partners strategy to rehearse the speeches.

Delivering the Speeches

The As went with me down to the basement while the Bs stayed with Shep upstairs.  The speeches were enjoyable and will be finished up on Wednesday.  Please remember to bring your flash drive so you can take away a copy of your speech for analysis.  We’ll go in detail on how to analyze your speech next lesson.

I think we were all pleased that no one’s bag contained as many items as the bags shown in these Flickr images:

Flickr: What’s In Your Bag?

‘Til Wednesday,

Lawrence

The goal of today’s lesson was for Shep and I to model what your “Me in a Bag” speech might look like.  On a related note, here’s what it looks like to see “Austin Powers in a Nuthshell”:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMK3XGO27k&feature=PlayList&p=609CE7386A283778&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=18[/youtube]

Now, where was I?  Oh, yes “Me in a Bag” speech.  To get in an artifcact mood, we engaged in an object transformation drama activity called “What is it?” with the help of a tie belonging to Shep’s dad.  The instructions for this game as well as many others can be found in this PDF file:

Drama in the Classroom Activities

After the warm-up, both Shep and I presented our speeches.  Your middle school students will find graphic organizers very useful and, in a continuing effort to model best practice, we organized our speeches using this outline:

Me in a Bag Speech Outline

You can use this format as well or you can tweak it to suit your personal presentation style.

The guidelines for this speech are as follows:

• It should be around 4 to 5 minutes long
• You should present 3 personal artifacts and 1 of those should relate to your experiences in the middle years
• Your speech will be videotaped so please bring in a 4 GB or larger USB flash drive on which you will store the video captured with CMS’s swanky new flash video camerars.

Next class we will discuss the criteria for your presentation, you will get a chance to rehearse, and we will break into two groups for the presentations.

Halfway through the lesson we headed across Main Mall to BIO 2000 for a Digital Tattoo lecture.  Much food for thought was presented and you can explore some of the thought provoking ideas at the Digital Tattoo website.

Before I end this post I want to remind you that Shep and I set out a few guidelines for sending assignments via email to help us manage the paper chase.  We ask that you please:

1. Include your name in the file’s title
2. Send attachments as .doc files preferably (.docx are fine, too)

Take care and we’ll see you – artifacts and flash drive in hand – on Monday in Scarfe 204.

– Lawrence

After a few pieces of administrivia, we got down to business.  Here’s all the update that’s fit to print:

Name/Ball Pass Challenge

In an effort to further connect names to faces (not to mention to get out of our seats, active, and have some fun!), we played took the Name / Ball Pass Challenge.  The instructions are here – Name / Ball Pass Instructions.  The goal is to call names, pass the ball, and beat a group-selected goal time.  With the help of some clever suggestions for how to tackle the task, we managed to whittle our time for one cycle of the game from 54 seconds to 18.  No small feat.

Teaching is…?

Next up, we took some time to explore metaphors for teaching by completing the sentence “Teaching is…”.  Groups finished this sentence with ideas such as:

• a tree
• climing a mountain
• a lighthouse
• a haunted house at a carnival

Then, we asked you to extend the metaphor and consider the question: “If teaching is…, then learning to teach means…”.  There were countless interesting ideas shared in class.  The goal here was to get you thinking about your conceptions of teacher education and, as time goes on, we’ll see how those ideas evolve as you venture through the teacher ed program.

When the metaphorical thinking had wrapped, Shep posed the big question that this program has you explore on that journey: Is teaching for me? With each class hopefully an answer to that question will come more clearly in focus.

The What and How of Teacher Ed

To wrap up, we asked you to consider exactly what sorts of things you wanted to get out of this professional program and how you wanted to learn those things.  Shep and I gathered your thoughts – written in T-charts – and we will use that information to inform the creation of a course outline for this class – EDUC 316 – and EDUC 310, Principles of Teaching.

As class went on, I touched on two topics that might be of interest to you as you start working in your practicum classroom:

Random Reign of Terror Cards

Take a deck of playing cards and write the name of each student in your class on a card.  Over the years, I have used my RROT cards for countless tasks.  For example, they come in handy when you want to randomly:

• create student groups
• choose speaking orders
• find a “volunteer”
• ask someone to respond to a question

Differentiated Instruction

When reporting out on their teaching metaphors, one group chose to present their thinking via a role play instead of an informal oral presentation.  Allowing students to play with a variety of different modes of content presentation is one aspect of differentiated instruction.  You can find out more about DI in many places.  Here’s a primer on Differentiated Instruction at Wikipedia.

That’s all for now.

– Lawrence

After taking up a few burning questions and puzzling over some double booking issues related to the timetables of many students, we got down to business.

Administrivia:

• Disability Letter: If you have one, please see Shep or Lawrence ASAP
• Flash Drive: Please have a 4 GB or 8 GB flash drive handy to store the video files we’ll be creating using the newfangled video cameras in Scarfe.  You’ll be delivering speeches that will be caught on video, uploaded to a computer, and then saved on your flash drive for viewing, analysis, and… emailing to all your closest friends!
• Assignment #1 Due Date: The Factors That Influrence How We Teach task is due on Monday, 14 September.  Either email it to Shep (shep.aleander@ubc.ca) and Lawrence (lholbrook@sd43.bc.ca) OR bring 2 hard copies to class on Monday.  Pick your poison.

My Job / Your Job

Next up, we worked in small groups to create some guidelines for student and instructor behaviour.  The tool we used was a My Job / Your Job T-chart.  Information on this strategy can be found on the Strategies page or here: My Job / Your Job.  Shep is compiling the ideas generated in class and the completed chart will be revealed and discussed in an upcoming class.

Names and Introductions

Lastly we used a Partner Interview (the write up is here and on the Strategies page: Partner Interview) to have students share information about their names.  Many interesting anecdotes were shared and the process served as an important step in the development of the cohort’s identity.  Here’s the PowerPoint I used to support the story of my name:

Lawrence’s Name PPT

I think that’s all for now.  See you on Monday.

– Lawrence

Welcome to all students in the Middle Years cohort.  Here’s what transpired in today’s orientation:

1. Administrivia & Instructor Introductions

We took attendance and gathered contact ifnormation.  Then Shep and I introduced ourselves.

2. Perspectives on the Year

Shep noted some key points around how to get the most out of the program.  One idea that stood out was to be proactive; seek out opportunities and make your voice heard.

3. Mixing It Up to Build Community

We did a getting to know you mixer that involved two teaching strategies – Spend-a-Buck and Corners (a modification of Four Corners).  For more information on these strategies please see the Teaching Resources page.  The activity involved the TCs choosing topics of interest – topics included social justice, health & wellness, and many others – and speaking with like minded classmates before reporting out to the whole group.

Here’s the PPT presentation we used to facilitate this activity:

Mixing It Up to Build Community PPT

4. Assignment #1: Factors That Influence How We Teach

As class wound down, we handed out the first task of year.  By completing this assignment, we hope to gain some valuable insight into your background that should help us understand you as a student and find you the best possible practicum placement.  The task is due on Momday, 14 September. You can submit it one of two ways:

1. Send a copy to both instructors via email (shep.alexander@ubc.ca and lholbrook@sd43.bc.ca) before the start of class.

1. Bring two copies to EDUC 316 class on Monday, 14 September.

Here’s a copy of the task handout:

09-10 Factors That Influence Task How We Teach

5. Name Information to Class Tomorrow

In preparation for tomorrow’s class, we asked you to dig up some information on your name (first name for sure and, possibly, your middle and surname) – who named you? why do you have the name you do? what is the meaning of your name?

In class tomorrow, we will be using this information to introduce one another to the cohort.

6. Bits & Pieces

• Please pick up a copy of the Individual Style Survey (ISS) at the Bookstore
• Register for your CMS (Computing & Media Services) account so you can access computers and A/V equipment in Scarfe.  Also, you will be emailed your password for your ePortfolio blog account.
• Tomorrow’s class is in Scarfe 204A from 1:00 to 3:00

‘Til next time.

Lawrence