Tag Archives: Practicum

Pre-Prac Prep in EDUC 310: Update for Wednesday, 7 March 2012

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We started today with a free write on the ideal practicum and the practicum Question Box.

Next, we handed out a calendar with practicum dates.  Here’s the calendar:

Also, I noted that the TCs I’m supervising must videotape a lesson on prac and go through a self- and peer-analysis process.  This is an option for Shep’s TCs, too, if you wish.  Here’s the form you’ll use for that endeavour:

We moved into my Top 11 Tips (in a nod to Spinal Tap) for a successful prac.  Here they are:

Lastly, we enjoyed a potluck lunch before engaging in an Appreciation Circle to thank those who’d supported us over the course of our time on campus.

Enjoy your upcoming break and best wishes for a successful long practicum.

– Lawrence

TC Introductory Letter to Parents

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I recommend sending home a letter that introduces yourself to the parents of all the students you’ll be working with.  A great time to take care of this is during the first week of the long prac.

A template and a sample letter are below to serve as models:

A strong intro letter should help your relationship with the parents of the students in your classes get off to a good start… unlike the terribly uncomfortable start to this blind date relationship:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epjrWjo9ZMY[/youtube]

– Lawrence

 

Completing the TC Profile (September 2011)

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TCs:

Use the link below to download a template for your Teacher Candidate Profile.  By reading your answers to these questions, your School Advisor and School Principals will get to know you before you’re in the school and join the staff.

Please answer the questions thoughtfully but keep your responses brief.  Your profile should be no more than 2 – 2.5 pages.

In addition to the questions, there is space at the top of the profile for:

  • your contact information
  • a recent photo (a head shot is best)
  • a “Short Quote That Captures An Important Belief You Hold About Education”.  I’ve pasted a random sampling of quotes chosen by TCs in previous years:
    • “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being”  – Goethe
    • “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail!”
    • “The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another”  – Marva Collins
    • “The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-trust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple” – Amos Bronson Alcott

Here’s a link to a site with quotes about teachers and teaching.  I’m sure there are many other sites like this one.

The due date for this task is Monday, 26 September 2011.  This is a very firm deadline, as Dave and I will need to share the profile with your Sponsor Teacher and School Principals while we finalize the placements in early October.

Please email a copy of your completed TC Profile to us both  (lholbrook@sd43.bc.ca & dunnigan@mail.ubc.ca).  We’ll take care of printing them off.

If you have questions, please comment on this post or email one of us directly.

Cheers,
Lawrence

EDUC 310 – Pre-Practicum Meetings: Update for Monday, 14 March 2011

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Thanks to everyone for attending today’s meetings.  My goal here was to share some information regarding the upcoming practicum and the role of your FA in the practicum triad.  Please see below for a copy of the notes I shared:

Also, here’s the Videotaped Lesson Analysis form I handed out at the meeting.  You’ll need a copy of the form to engage in the self- and peer-analysis of your videotaped lesson:

’til Tuesday.

– Lawrence

LLED 320 – Practicum Seminar, A Long Talk About Prac, and Lit Circle Comprehension Strategies: Update for Thursday, 3 March 2011

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Practicum Seminar

Many thanks to Rod Brown, Elementary and Middle Years Prac Coordinator for presenting his Long Practicum Seminar.

After the session, you had lots of questions so I spent quite a bit of time taking them up in class.  Teaching loads was one topic that was addressed.  Below you’ll find a graphic organizer – Overview of Teaching Assignments for EDUC 419 – that shows you the percentages that you should (approximately) be teaching at during each week of the prac and allows you to indicate which subject you’ll be teaching and when:

Just a reminder that the percentages on the form indicate the percentage of your SA’s load that you’ll be assuming.  For example, if your SA teaches in a school with 6 blocks per day, teaching 5 of those 6 blocks per day is a full load.  So…

  • 1 block = 20% of a full teaching load
  • 2 blocks = 40% of a full teaching load
  • 3 blocks = 60% of a full teaching load
  • 4 blocks = 80% of a full teaching load
  • 5 blocks = 100% of a full teaching load

Task & Book Collection

I collected any Lit Kit books yet to be handed in, gathered hard copies of your Double-Entry Journal and accepted any good copy haikus that were still floating around.

LLED 320 Integrated Unit Plan Due Date

On Tuesday, 8 March 2011, the task’s due date, I asked you to please bring:

  • a hard copy of all elements of you LLED 320 unit plan OR
  • your laptop to display your completed plan

Lit Circle Resources

I pointed you to the following resources to utilize as you teach reading in your classroom:

Here’s one resource I didn’t show you because I just found it moments ago.  It’s selected bits from a book by Lit Circle guru Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles.  Here’s the link to portions of the text.  Also, here’s Harvey talking briefly about his conception of LCs:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-2rhRYB4hk[/youtube]

Concluding Brownlie’s Comprehension Strategies Video

We wrapped up by finishing the video (found at this link) and discussing a few things that stood out for you in it.

That’s all for today.  Enjoy your weekend.

– Lawrence

The BIG Reveal, I Used to Think, Curriki, and More: Update for Wednesday, 13 October 2010

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With much fanfare – and a little stalling for dramatic effect on my part – the placements were revealed this morning.  Here they are along with maps of both the New West and Coquitlam districts:

Please get in contact with your SA soon, check out the school’s website, and do anything else that you need to do in order to get prepared for your first day with your sponsor – Tuesday, 19 October 2010.

I Used To Think…But Now I Think…Because…

The 2 middle school tours were designed to highlight the exciting happenings in middle schools around Coquitlam.  I was curious about how your thinking about middle level teaching and learning had transformed since before the tour so I had you complet the sentence stem “I Used To Think…But Now I Think…Because…” This is a useful way of processing any transformative experience.

Education: Evolving?

Next up was Devin’s presentation on Macrowikinomics and some ideas on what the future of education might hold. It was a timely and thought provoking presentation that presented an option – Curriki – to meet the need of the cohort to easily share lessons and teaching resources.

Here’s a link to Devin’s Prezi – Macrowikinomics – Education: Evolving?.  Also, here are the YouTube clips that accompany the presentation.

  • Wolfram Alpha

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WgdmNtUS2U[/youtube]

  • Curriki

Language Article Wrap Up… At Last!

As the concluding piece to our examination of the “Chapter 4: Language” article, I asked each of you to consider a language-based action that you can take on practicum that will have a positive impact on student learning in your classroom.  The information was shared as a verbal ticket out the door.  There were a wide variety of responses, including such things as:

  • smiling often
  • making eye contact with students
  • aranging the room to facilitate teacher movement
  • arranging the room to facilitate student interaction
  • eliminating filler words
  • harnessing the power of positive word choice.

Next class – I swear – we’ll look at a lesson planning model that you can use to deliver a lesson on your Tuesdays Practicum.

Cheers,

– Lawrence

The Final (Practicum) Countdown & MIAB Speech Analysis Tasks Gallery Walk: Update for Monday, 4 October 2010

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NOTE: You’ll get so much more enjoyment out of this post if you read it while the music from this video plays.  Trust me.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyggY_R3jU8&p=61349DCC17CB1C98&playnext=1&index=55[/youtube]

Clock Partners

Clock Partners are a great way to set up partnerships in a classroom setting.  It gives students some choice over who they will speak/work with for a given activity while speeding up the partner finding process.  Here’s the Clock Parnters sheet I handed out for you to record your appointments.  There are instructions for the activity on the back of the page:

Weekend Rating

We found our 6 o’clock partner (I think) and rated our weekends… positively, on the whole.

Pre-Prac Prep Wrap Up

Improv

In a nod to my weekend – I went to see live Improv with Ryan Stiles and Greg Proops of Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame – we did some improv to get our brains working this morning.  We started with “Hey, what are you doing?” and progressed to One Word Story.  Directions for these activities and many, many more can be found in the online Impvov Encyclopedia.

A video clip with hilarious highlights from one of Richard Simmons’ visits on WLIIA? is below.  Watch at your own risk!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxkxG3DF4k[/youtube]

Protocols

Please observe the following protocols when you arrive at the schools:

  • Arrive by 8:30 am
  • Check in at the office and meet the secretaries
  • Expect to wear a Visitor Badge to identify yourself as a guest in the building
  • Smile and make eye contact with students you meet
  • After OKing it with the classroom teacher, interact with students as they work
  • Use the Staff Washrooms
  • Bring a journal and take notes in it about what you see
  • Have fun!

SA Expectations

A lot is expected of you during practicum.  You can expect your SA to support you as you grow into a dynamic beginning teacher, mind you.  Below is a list of the type of assistance your School Advisor should be offering:

  • Get to know your teacher candidate. Endeavour to create a warm, friendly working relationship.
  • Learn specific strengths and needs of your teacher candidate. What does s/he need to know and understand about you and your classroom to help ensure a successful working partnership?
  • Be a listener: Be empathetic, patient, and encouraging. Provide opportunities for your teacher candidate to discuss what was learned in coursework on campus.
  • Introduce your teacher candidate to your class as a “teacher.”
  • Help your teacher candidate become a welcome and participating member of the school staff.
  • Maintain open communication and consultation with the faculty advisor.
  • Ensure that the match between your teacher candidate and yourself and your class is appropriate. Raise any concerns with the faculty advisor and/or school coordinator at the earliest opportunity.
  • Provide opportunities for your teacher candidate to become familiar with the school and district personnel.

If you feel your needs for support in the classroom aren’t being met, please advise me as soon as possible.

Teacher Presence – Introducing Yourself

As a dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s meetin’ and greetin’, I asked each TC to:

  • State the name they want to go by in the classroom
  • Give a brief introduction of themselves

EDUC 315 Task Expectations

Journal: Bob and I are asking you to keep a journal of your thoughts as you tour the school and, eventually, as you work with your SA on 6 consecutive Tuesdays starting on 19 October.  Here are some observation tips that will help you focus your classroom viewing:

Lesson: Also, at some point, you will need to teach (a minimum of) one lesson.  The what and when of this lesson will be worked out with your SA.  We’ll be covering a lesson planning format soon in class.  We ask that you please email a lesson plan to us 24 hours in advance of your teaching and that you send us a copy of your reflection on the lesson, too.

Me In A Bag Gallery Walk

There was great diversity in the post-speech analysis products on display in class this morning.  We viewed them with a Gallery Walk strategy and I collected all the pieces at the end.  It was a bit hard to hear the songs, so I’ll take time next class to play them for the whole group.  Also, next class we’ll consider the benefits and drawback of differentiating end products in your middle level teaching.

That’s a wrap.  I may bump into some of you in the morning as I visit various schools firming up the placements.  Of course, I’ll see all of you in the Montgomery Middle School Library at 1:30 for a debrief of the morning’s happenings.  (I promise to not make any mention of M. Night Shyamalan’s movie The Happening, if you don’t.  Here’s a way better Happening from The Pixies that I’d be more than happy to talk about:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWNm1ZF8wwg[/youtube]

Later alligators.

– Lawrence

Emily Longworth Award: Funding For Special Projects on Practicum

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Here’s another practicum-related opportunity you may be keen to pursue.  Please read the message below from Elementary / Middle Years Practicum Coordinator, Bob Shoofey, for information on how you can win the Emily Longworth Award and access funds to facilitate a special project in your practicum classroom:

“In honour of the memory of Emily Longworth, a teacher candidate who was an inspiration and role model to fellow students, these awards are offered to those whose practica involve curricula or extra–curricular activities promoting multicultural understanding, healthy lifestyle, environmental awareness, and achieving full life potential. Candidates annually apply by January 30 through the Teacher Education Office.

This is a wonderful opportunity for TCs to apply for funding to undertake special learning projects with their class. This funding is intended to benefit children in schools where they are less likely to have access to enrichment projects. Projects could be in the fine arts, environmental studies, social justice, etc and resources should be targeted on the children’s learning experiences rather than on equipment.

Interested TCs should discuss a potential project with their SA and then see Gary Rupert in TEO as soon as the 2-week practicum is complete.”

– Lawrence

Announcing an Alternate Practicum in a Rural or Remote BC Community

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This opportunity is hot off the presses.  Please see below for information about an exciting practicum option that I’ve been asked to make you aware of:

“The Ministry of Education (through TEO) is offering funding to experience a 3 or 4 week practicum (the final 3 or 4 weeks of EDUC 419, the long practicum) in a rural or remote BC elementary school classroom.

The goal of this initiative is to increase the visibility of schools in rural and remote BC communities and to highlight their potential as great places to live and teach.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, up to twenty teacher candidates will have the chance to experience a practicum in a rural or remote setting from June 6 – 24, 2011.  Funding in the form of a bursary between $1400 and $2000 (depending on location) will be provided to offset some of the costs of transportation, accommodation, and living expenses.

Applicants must have demonstrated a high level of achievement in all completed course work, and in EDUC 323, the two-week practicum. Confirmation of acceptance will be made following a successful mid-point evaluation during EDUC 419 in addition to advisor approval.

If you are a TC interested in this opportunity, please contact Bob Shoofey (robert.shoofey@ubc.ca) in TEO as soon as possible.  Please provide Bob with some potential locations where you would be interested in going for this practicum, as we are open to any and all possibilities.”

Here’s the application form if you’re interested: Application for Rural or Remote Practicum Experience – 2010.  It’s due on Friday, 26 November 2010.

– Lawrence