Author Archives: Kelly

A Mind Filled with Ideas after Pro-D

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Today was not my first time to go to a conference on Professional Development Day. However, it was my first time to go with so many “coworkers”, other teachers from the same school.  This morning session was hold by Tom Shimmer. It was a great session on assessment. I think it was quite helpful for us to really think about how we would assess our students: what should be assessed formatively and summatively. Right now I feel like I am on the right track; thanks to UBC’s assessment course. I also learned that it might be a good idea to not give 0s. Some students may just need the extra time to complete the assignments; however, it does not mean that they do not understand. They just need more time than other students to digest the information. Originally during that section, I was having a question in my mind about fairness. And yet, when I think about it now, I think it is still fair. Students can take the time to do their assignments and I will grade them based on the content. At the same time, I will set up a deadline. Students who complete the assignments on time will have high grades on work habit; meanwhile, students who need to take longer may have to come to finish their work during lunch time or after school. Shimmer pointed out something that I thought was very true: teachers need to react to a situation immediately rather than letting students take advantage of the no-0 system. We will have to be proactive.

After that, another session focused on inquiry and argument. The speaker was encouraging teachers to shape their unit based on a general guiding question. Everything that students are going to do in that unit will be revolving around the question and helping students to develop skills and knowledge that allow them to answer it. I thought this workshop was really helpful because he gave me a lot of ideas for the final project that I would give to my students and some creative activities that I would do to prepare my students for writing a persuasive essay. I think the way that he scaffolded students to form arguments was so interesting. He got students to critically think about the process of an argument. For example, students needed to imagine themselves as detective to solve a mystery case. They needed to provide support as to why they thought it was just an accident but not a murder. Hopefully I will be able to apply the things that I have learned from the workshops to my classes. 🙂

Challenges Come Day after Day

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My third and fourth days were quite smooth.

I made a seating plan for the quieter class. I thought separating the student with behavioural issue from the boys might be a good idea because I did not want them to feed off one another. My SA pointed out that him sitting with the boys might have made the scenario on Tuesday. Therefore, I created the plan to get him to work with other students who I considered as brighter and more mature. Hopefully they would be able to influence him to be a student like them. I do have mixed feeling on this “trouble-maker”. He is not the typical bad kid who just slacks off. He is actually bright and has potential to be academically successful. I just need to find the right channel to communicate with him. The points that he made on Tuesday were actually critical, and they helped me to reflect on my practice a little bit. I am not saying that he was entirely right, but it helped me to think on my feet and to be more sensitive on how I word my responses. Moreover, after knowing his background, I cannot help but develop sympathy for him. His purpose was to seek attention from his peers, and he did not really care if the attention was negative. He just wanted it. I did not help the situation by addressing him to provide this spotlight on him. Anyway, I think the seating plan works for now. I saw them trying to collaborate with one another. Interestingly, after creating the class rules and agreeing upon them, I think he is much more well behaved.

The third class was actually about outcast and gang. I spun it a little to touch on the bullying aspect and asked the class to set up some rules for everyone to follow. During this time, the boys told me they actually found the trouble-maker annoying, and they did not want him in the class. It came as a surprise because I thought he would at least get along with the boys. Therefore, the boys’ class rules were mainly targeting him. I asked them to think about including everyone rather than focusing on excluding him. We as a class should help one another. Then I had each group reading out loud the rules they came up and asked others if they agreed on them. It was a great activity because now they at least could feel they belong to this class and they had the responsibility to construct a good class too. Collaboration was key! 🙂

I really like the idea of group work and collaboration. Therefore, the fourth class was mainly about creating a skit about violence. I asked students to reflect on the cause and consequence of violence. Beforehand, I asked them if violence could be justifiable depending on the situation and what type of violence was acceptable. It created a good discussion in both classes, and I was happy to see that. Then, the students were put into groups to work on their skits. Some of the skits were quite imaginative. It was nice to see the students engage in the activities and everyone was participating in them. During the break, my SA gave me some suggestions on how to make it better such as giving them less preparation time and having the students provide alternative solutions. She also asked how I graded the students based on the skits. I told her that I did not. She told me that I might want to, so they would be more serious about their skits. The students would not be laughing while they were acting. I did not say anything to that and I did not assign any grades for my second class. I just thought skit was a fun way for students to learn and to show that they have learned the materials. I would see it as a summative assessment and did not see any purpose of assigning a grade to it.

I tried to implement the two suggestions to the second class. It worked well. One other  thing she suggested me to work on was the noise level. The students were too excited to work on the skit, so they were being loud. I may have to think of a strategy to address it. Asking them to calm down within 5-second-countdown?! Hm…

After school, we had a workshop on BCESIS, which was helpful. We knew we could find many information on that software. That was how I discovered a student with learning disability in my Hums 8…and my SA did not tell me about her? I could have asked. I guess it just slipped my mind. Now I need to prepare some modified worksheets for her. I was going to talk to this student because she did not hand in any of the assignments. I told her to see me after class, and she almost walked out of my room. If I did not call after her, I was pretty sure she would have just gone to another class. I asked her why she did not hand in her homework. She told me, “I am an ESL student.” I thought to myself, “nice try!” I remember I used similar strategy to have teachers be more sympathetic, so she would grade me easily. I told her that if she had trouble, she could have talked to me. She then added that she had a Special needs block and she could not write down her thoughts. I told her that it would be unfair to other students if you did not do the work. I suggested she could may be verbally summarize the chapter for me to indicated you have read the novel. She nodded. Before finalizing the decision, I wanted to talk to my SA about it. I did, and I asked her about IEP. She was not sure if the student had one. Anyway, somehow I need to modify the lesson for her to make sure she is on task.

My Second Semi-disastrous class

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Today I introduced one of the main themes of The Outsiders, stereotype. The class began with brainstorming how we form first impression of someone. Students came up with several ideas, such as race, fashion, speech, etc. Then I handed out a worksheet for them to reflect on how they judge people. They were so sincere and honest. I saw many of them really thought about the questions, and a few girls were not shy away from circling “I judge others based on appearance”. It was interesting for grade 8s could be so opened to share their thoughts with others. Afterwards, we had a little discussion, which I guided them to think about stereotypes. I prepared seven pictures for the class to go around and to write down the first words which came to their mind. Stereotypes were so ingrained within our society that students had no trouble with this activity. However, that was the nightmare began.

For the morning class, after I asked students to reflect on this activity, a student quickly became defensive and asked me, “are you trying to make us feel bad?” I said no. The purpose of this activity was for us to reflect on how we normally judge and label people and how we can change that. He replied, “it is human nature to judge. We cannot help to form first impressions by stereotyping.” I told him I understood; however, I still wanted all of us to think about making the extra step to strike up a conversation to really know that person instead of judging the book based on its cover. I simplified the heated conversation we had. He asked me how I picked the pictures and how I judged these people based on stereotypes. During this conversation, I could hear some girls just snared and sighed. I felt kind of bad because I felt like this activity was a failure. Now I think about it – yes, it might have been a failure; at least now I know how to deal with this situation anymore. I can just stop conversing with him and ask him to talk to me after class if he has questions about the activity. I thought his “questioning” was quite disruptive to the class environment, and with me engaging in it, the atmosphere became quite intense. At one point, I wanted to cry. I felt attacked. I felt as if my activity was a big mistake. I was glad the class was over, and I could move on from there.

I quickly took a deep breath and had a sip of water to refresh myself. I thought of what I could have changed for the second class, but my mind was still stuck in that scenario. I told myself to calm down because both of my FA and SA would be observing this class. I quickly prepared new sheets for students to write on for the picture activity. The students in this class were a lot more cheerful and energetic which helped me to instantly pick up a new mood. I did everything exactly the same. I also asked students to reflect on the activity, and this time nothing from the previous class happened. The students gave me answers that I wanted, such as taking the extra step to know people around. I was glad. I was thankful for such mature students. One thing I did poorly in this class was the activity at the end. Each student got a slip of paper and they were supposed to write a sentence that did not reflect the stereotype that was imposed on them. For instance, I am Chinese, but I am not good at math. I had trouble explaining the activity because the students kept on asking me questions. At some point, my SA just raised her hand and asked me a question for clarification. Then she further elaborated on it to provide a better understanding. I had mixed feeling on that. I knew part of me was thankful that she explained it for me, but another part of me was disappointed that she did not let me try to handle this on my own. I think at some point I would be able to get the students on the same page. It was the learning curve. I knew I needed to be better at giving out instructions.

My FA and SA were not too harsh on me. My FA was actually surprised I talked about stereotype that early on because that was a sensitive topic. The class could go south very easily. Considering that, I guess both of my classes did go pretty well.

Time flies!

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I cannot believe I am now typing my first day of my long practicum. I have been waiting to start this adventure for so long, and here I am finally! 😀 For the past month, I have been working so hard on my inquiry project and lesson plans that I barely document my experience during my short practicum. Oh well, hopefully this time I am able to keep track of how things go. I cannot wait to share my stories and reflect upon them when I have time.

My first official lesson during my long practicum.

I was so nervous in the morning because…
1. I forgot my adaptor.
2. I tried to figure out how to get the screen set up for probably 5 minutes.
3. I was so scared that I would mispronounce my students’ names.
4. I did not know what to expect from the class.

I spent the beginning 30 minutes of the morning (8:00-8:30) reading over my lesson plan. I created this lesson in December, so it had been a while since then. My SA came into rescue at around 8:20, so she was out hunting the adaptor for me (I asked another teacher for it, but she said that I should be able to get one from my SA). I told my SA that it would be fine to start the lesson without the adaptor, and she insisted to look for it.

Anyway, I started the class by calling out the names. I tried to remember the pronunciation that my SA taught me and from the class observation. Many students were surprised by how accurate I could pronounce. They were like “wow..she got it”. The inside me was smirking. 😉 Since I could not show them the Grease trailer, I went straight into the content – the setting of The Outsiders: 1960s. We discussed the fashion, the interests, pop culture and slang. This class was so energetic that they just kept on giving me ideas. It was great to see they were so excited to answer even though some of them might sound silly. For example, I asked them what was a heater. They were like “a heater?” “a fire-lighter?” “a hot person?”. It was great to see their creative juices working in their brains. Then, we compared all those areas from back then to nowadays. It was interesting how many students thought the pop culture back then was much better than nowadays. They gave interesting answers to explain their thought processes. I wish I had it recorded down, so I would remember some of their lines.

After I finished my whole lesson, there was still around 20 minutes left. I really under-planned. In my mind, I thought that would take a lot longer. This was a good experience since now I know I might have to over plan a little bit to make sure students were really making use of their time to do their assignments. With that great amount of time, I decided to have them write a little introduction and their expectation for this class. It was fascinating to read their thoughts and the way they introduced themselves. It really showed they were still a bunch of innocent kids. They told me about their birthdays and the school/grade they are currently in (duh! of course I know about them). Many of them also indicated how they did not want to have homework or tests. A lot of them mentioned they wanted the class to be fun, which I would try my best to achieve that. One of the quieter students wrote to me and said that I was a kind and loving teacher. She looks forward to “be close to [me]”. My heart instantly melted. That was definitely the highlight of my day.

The second class was about the same. Before the students came in, I wanted to have a sip of my water. Then I found out that I left the water bottle in my dad’s car. Oh well. I guess I was just a little forgetful today. There was this kid who was labelled as “problematic” by my SA. Do not get me wrong – he does have his behaviour issues. BUT, he is so curious, and I know he has many good ideas. He asked me about an interesting question: how would people treat me if I went back to the 1960s? “because I was not white”. It was hard to really give him an accurate answer, but that question just blew my mind. I am sure he will be really interested in the novel. 🙂 I cannot wait to help him discover the incredible talents and skills that he has. This class was quieter than the previous class, which I did not like as much. I think I just need the right hook to get them engage. I do not know what it will be, but I will keep trying.

The fourth class was quite interesting too. When I walked in, some students waved and said hi to me. I felt very welcomed. And then this one student walked in and said, “Miss Lui, I missed you” in Chinese. Even though he could have spoken in English, I did feel very happy. I know I am making an impact on the students. I cannot wait to help these ELL kids to become successful. Friday will be the first step – I hope they will show up in the after-school program. I can only wish.

It was great to be teaching. I felt a little bit overwhelmed. I know I just need to get used to it. Everything is going to be okay. 🙂

My Love For ESL

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I have a soft spot for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. I think because I know what they are going through and I understand their struggles, it is so much easier for me to relate to them. And, I am pretty sure my passion for my ESL students is not only felt by the students or myself…

During the very end of my first week practicum, I decided to observe an ESL class that another teacher taught. I walked inside to the class and sat down, doing my observation. The teacher was collecting homework. Some students were turning their heads around to look at me. They must be curious about who this alien was. I just jotted down things that I noticed. After the teacher assigned questions for the students to do in class, he invited me to circulate around the class. Walking around and peeking over students’ shoulders, I reminded them to follow their teacher’s instruction. Then, I noticed a student was sitting there with a blank piece of paper. I took the initiative to ask whether he understood the task while the teacher was discussing something with a group of students. The seemingly puzzling student paused and shook his head. I told him that he was supposed to answer questions from the textbook. He frowned. This facial expression signalled to me that he could not comprehend what I was asking. Therefore, I repeated the instruction at a much slower pacing, hoping he would catch the main concept. However, he just stared at me. Luckily, students who were sitting beside him were able to translate what I asked in Mandarin, so he got some clues on what he was supposed to do. I sat down beside him as I knew he probably needed my support. I asked him whether he understood the question. He shook his head. I tried to draw out the key terms, such as oceans, rivers and lakes. I guess my drawings were not comprehendible as he did not seem to get what I was trying to say. He just frowned. I spotted a map in front of the class, so I invited him to point out the three different water resources.  In order to make sure he understood those terms, I asked him to look for the definitions with his phone-translator too. Eventually, I did speak in Mandarin to explain after I spoke in English. I did not think it was effective for him to really translate everything word by word. It was hard for me to imagine how he could survive in a setting which he could not understand most of the instructions.
I really wanted to help these level 1-2 kids. I hope I could just be there to support them.

After class, the teacher was impressed that I picked up the students who needed help the most right away. My other sponsor teacher actually told him that I needed a new sponsor teacher for more ESL blocks, so he asked me whether I would be interested in taking over this class. He saw how I worked with the kids, and he was willing to help me to reach that goal I just hoped for. Of course, I was excited and eager to say yes. I was just glad how my faculty advisor and UBC allowed this arrangement. That was how I got myself a third sponsor teacher.

Fast forward to the second week…
I co-taught a class with my sponsor teacher. The students seemed to enjoy the game that I led. I was excited to see them being so energetic too. Their laughters made me feel successful. My sponsor teacher told me that I had already developed a good bond with the class as he could saw there was chemistry between us. I honestly thought so too. When I saw them in the hallway, they would wave at me and said hi. They would just smile, and I could feel they were excited to see me. Students would just come to me for help if they needed it. I felt I have already achieved something. Because of my love for them (I know it is a bit early to use this word, but I do love them already), I have decided to hold an ESL after-school program to help them. I really wish that my 10-week will make a difference: helping them feel successful.


Reflecting on My 2-week Practicum

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Today we had a debrief about our 2-week Practicum. It was weird to go through this transition of being a teacher back to a student. I must say I am already missing my teacher’s life…

1st day – nervous and excited
I did not know what to expect from the school or the practicum. I wondered whether my school advisors were nice, and I was worried about the classes I would teach. However, the welcoming staff made everything easier. All our sponsor teachers got into the conference room to introduce themselves and to know us. The Vice Principal was certainly kind – he prepared breakfast and coffee for us. I must say that was a good first impression. He also gave us a booklet that included a map, the different bell schedules, an emergency outline and room numbers. That booklet was helpful. Later on, he also gave us some observation outlines, which were beneficial for a UBC assignment.
I visited many sponsor teachers’ classes and got to know them a little bit. It was interesting. Both of them seemed to be quite talkative, which was good (I am kind of slow to open up to people – I am a little bit introverted). They were smiley and nice. However, I was not sure whether I looked lost or stressed or something else. Both sponsor teachers asked me to take it step by step and don’t worry that much. That day went pretty quickly, and to be honest, I was quite confused by the end of the day. I did not know what I was supposed to do; I did not know why I was there.

1st week
I do not recall all the tiny details that I did everyday during the first week, so I am going to highlight some significant events.
The Vice Principal certainly kept us occupied by preparing different workshops for us. There were multiple sessions that various teachers organized to help us learn more about the school culture and the teacher’s life, such as the purpose of advisory class, the different printers and scanners, the amount of computer labs, etc. These workshops certainly helped me picture myself as a teacher working there (once I have the key to get to the materials behind the locked doors, I am sure the imagination will be a lot easier). They also allowed me to learn more about the school’s ideology. I have to say there must be a purpose why I am doing a practicum at this school. I have similar ideologies. I know I can actually fit in pretty well. I felt more comfortable with the schedule and the system. I could be myself again.
I observed many classes, and I learned something from every class I had observed, whether it was a teaching strategy or a classroom management trick. These observations made me realize what kind of teacher I want to become. I was actually learning about myself while I observed all these classes. Right now I must say I have a pretty solid idea what kind of teacher I am (I will talk more about it later). I knew what I did not want to occur in my classroom, such as being disrespectful to one another. I actually witnessed an incident that a teacher mindlessly made a student felt uncomfortable. She asked the class, “what’s that smell?” Everyone looked around. Someone yelled out, “it was the tuna.” I looked at the student who was sitting next to me. He was eating a can of tuna with some crackers. The teacher said something like it was stinky. The girls around him were making faces and covered their noses. (Mind you – I could not even smell anything. Yes, some people might have a more sensitive nose, but was that appropriate to address the situation like that?) The student did not know what to do. He tried to hide the can and covered it with his hand. He was clearly embarrassed. I felt bad for the student. This incident has become a good reminder to me teachers need to be aware of what we say.

That’s good for now. I have more to share, and I am going to leave that for tomorrow.