If you were to ask me a year ago my preference in teaching, I would have said primary students. After my experiences in the TELL 3C cohort and the long practicum, I am open to different teaching opportunities more than ever. The TELL 3C program gave me a window of what classrooms in British Columbia look like today; the changing demographics, the increase in support for students with special needs, differentiated learning, technology and of course, the new BC Curriculum. I was taught under the previous curriculum, and I know that classrooms are no longer the same as when I was a student. The inquiry in the case studies that were the core of TELL 3C highlighted issues of the current educational landscape.

I knew that I was entering an intense program, but I don’t think I really knew what endeavours I was about to have. Being in a multicultural, multiage school, the cases from TELL 3C became a reality. I was immersed in collaboration, differentiation, school community and supporting special needs. My time spent at La Movida Design Studios as part of the community field experience allowed me to work with an older group of students – or clients, in a different educational setting. I would have to say, the long practicum was the epitome of this whole learning experience. Reflecting back on it now, I’d like to go deeper in my teaching practice while continuing to work on inclusivity.

Deeper Learning

My long practicum in a K/1/2 class was vigorous; always planning ahead, revising, reflecting, material-prepping, numerous trips to the photocopy machine. Reflecting back on all of the lessons I’ve planned and taught, it’s pretty fascinating how it all unraveled. I’ll never forget our practicum coordinator telling us that by after a few lessons, the unit shouldn’t be as “on point” as planned. He was definitely right, but I think in general, my I accomplished what I wanted to. Now having said that, I do believe the learning could have gone a bit deeper. My reflective practice kicked in after each lesson ended: What went well? What didn’t go well? How could you have done this lesson differently? A few suggestions would also be given by my school advisors on how the lesson could be taken to the next level. So what about the body parts of an insect? What about the different natural resources in Canada? There could have been more opportunities for place based learning as well. The insect unit concluded with a successful trip to Beaty Biodiversity Museum, however I believe more outdoor insect observations as well as raising live insects would have been beneficial. Unfortunately, due to time and logistics, this could not be incorporated into the unit plan.

What I also found myself considering during my planning and teaching was the delivery of information – from teacher to student. I avoided the “stand and deliver” method as much as possible, ESPECIALLY with wiggly primary students. I varied the ways in which students would retrieve information about a specific topic: reading a book, brainstorms, group research (led by my older students.) But going forward, I am looking for more ways to uncover information, rather than cover it. Looking back, I do believe I made a good start in getting comfortable in the classroom and establishing an authoritative presence. Now that I’ve got my feet wet, it’s time to head to the deep end.

Inclusive Learning

I think what made my practicum experience extra special was the empathetic group of students in my class. There was a student with an IEP (category G) who had an assigned Education Assistant. The ways in which the students went out of their way to make him feel included were heartwarming. I’ll never forget when the students were cheering loudly for him while he was one of the last to finish doing laps around the field for a DREAM break (Drop Everything and Move); they were always encouraging him. Seeing this motivated me to build rapport with him and to do my best in working with his EA. I realized how imperative it is to communicate with any support staff you have in your class. Although it is the teacher’s responsibility for differentiated planning, the reality is the Education Assistant ends up pulling most of the weight. As I began my immersion in the long practicum, I found it a challenge to differentiate instruction so that the student with an IEP could participate as much as possible. There was so much focus on getting through the actual lesson that it was easy to get tunnel-vision sometimes. What ended up happening was I planned alternative worksheets or prepared mini booklets with simple phrases to maximize his participation. Something that I am thinking about for the future is how can I go beyond just a “separate” worksheet.

Going Forward

Thanks to my valuable experiences in the TELL 3C cohort and practicums, I have a better idea of what to expect as an educator. My preferences in teaching have certainly broadened. I was fortunate enough to have observed intermediate students at my practicum school. I am looking forward to working with students at the elementary and even secondary level. I was always a bit curious about teaching specific subjects. The community field experience allowed me to explore a teachable subject area that I have particular interest in, sewing. I had an opportunity to share some of my expertise, which was refreshing and exciting.

Beginning my career as a TTOC I believe will provide plenty of opportunities to explore different classrooms, interact with diverse students, and to get out of my comfort zone. I am beyond excited to see what is out there! My hope is to have a dynamic career. For now I’ll hold onto the advice given to us by an instructor on getting jobs: Don’t let this be your first and only job. I hope you that you have more than one job interviews.

If you were to ask me what I am teaching five years from now, and I told you Grade 12 chemistry…that would be a pretty interesting story to tell on how I got there.

Another short week! Another week of valuable learning experiences.

What I am enjoying out of this long practicum experience is that it is never boring. There is never a dull moment when I’m teaching the students. Of course, the enthusiasm and spontaneity of the students is what drives this. The shape of the days are the same, but every day is different! With only a few weeks remaining at Dickens, I am now looking at opportunities to give my own “twist” to things.

Some things I took away this past week:

1. A “catch up” class also requires logistical thinking and planning. It happened during a math class, and I had made piles of unfinished work for the students to complete. I also had a mini board game planned for those who completed their work early. But what ended up happening was several students coming up to me at once while I was handing out unfinished work. It was chaos. I ended up losing track of who was finished, who wasn’t, and who was lost in space. I had a lovely TOC that morning that had suggested I lay out all the unfinished work on the carpet, explain my expectations and have the students search for their own work. This way, I am free to circulate the classroom and not have a never ending lineup before me.

2. Thinking on your feet is part of the job! It’s important to be flexible to schedule changes and lesson plan changes when being a teacher. But when a page is missing from all of your kindergarteners’ printing books, you need to think quick! It was quite comical that this happened when a TOC was in for the day, my first official time leading printing, and the letter of the day was “X.” After barely getting through the printing lesson, a kindergartener had told me that the “X” page was missing. I said, you probably just missed a page! Sure enough, all of the kindy books had the “X” page missing. After a brief sweat of panic, I pulled out the mini whiteboards and had them practicing their printing while I could gather myself together. What a day that was! I’ve become accustomed to this quick thinking but that recent experience really reinforced that.

3. Don’t be afraid of shuffling the students. We had a partner activity for theme between both divisions. Each pair was pre-determined by us; we sat down and purposely paired older learners with younger learners, and even mixed the genders. After reading the list we had compiled, I feared it might be an awkward session of unproductivity and silence. Would these two really be on task? Luckily, our conversation prompts helped the students enormously and I am proud to say that we may have developed some unlikely friendships. I had thought of the idea of mixing the divisions in pairs in response to a recent incident on the playground. There was word going around that someone from division 6 could not play with someone from division 5. We had debunked that to the classes and I hoped this activity would encourage more cross-division activity. There was a lot of positive chatter during the lesson and students found out a lot of similarities and differences about themselves. It was really amazing to watch!

This week was a week of two very important “firsts”; my first field trip with an elementary school class, and my first taste of teaching full load. I am happy to report that we had a successful trip to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. The students loved exploring the museum, finally got a chance to see a praying mantis (a favourite insect among our students) and the biggest crowd pleaser was the blue whale skeleton. 42 kids, no one reported missing, no injuries, no tantrums = a successful field trip as a beginning teacher!

I wonder though, if it would’ve been different without our school advisors present. Even though the planning had been done by us student teachers, I did feel that our school advisors stepped in to help out with classroom management and logistics. It was a good balance in the end.

With all the primary enrolling teachers at a day long collaboration meeting, we all got our official taste of teaching at 100%. Well, I took it as a prime opportunity to get my feet wet, especially with leading on the transitions between activities. Let’s face it, those can be a challenge in themselves! I had a wonderful connection with my TOC assigned to my class, and was generous enough to let me lead the day. I already had a day’s worth of lessons planned, so why not lead the transitions as well? It was an exhausting day, but it did ease the anxiety of teaching at 100%. I feel that once the school advisor is out of the classroom, you are “in charge.” It just comes to you. There’s no wait time, you just assume the role and take charge. That’s how I felt anyways on that day. I believe that day to be a great segue into the last four weeks of the long practicum.

I would say this week had its fair share of triumphs. It is always reassuring knowing that you are headed in the right direction, especially when your mind gets lost in doubt and chaos. My main takeaway this week is to always remember to celebrate the triumphs that happen in your teaching experiences – whether it was a successful lesson and the students grasped the concept, or the behaviour student in your class wrote a few words in a writing activity (when usually it is a struggle.) My school advisor really brought this to light to me, and going forward I’ll try to write down one triumph that occurred in my daily reflections that I like to keep. My midpoint meeting was also a humbling experience this week. Hearing that I am on the right track is probably the best thing so far. I am grateful for the support my school advisors, and you Frank, have given me. I do get a little uncomfortable hearing the “strengths” as I don’t like to be put on the spot, but after the fact, I am happy to know that I have found a place in my school advisors’ classroom. The end of the week was also something to be celebrated. Our students were excited to make their life cycle booklets, and they turned out great! It’s one thing to have a successful lesson, but when you hear “Can we make that?!” or “Can we take it home?” – it is a great feeling. I felt the activity was a good way for the students to know the life cycle, and to engage them in making their own “finished product.” Even one of my behaviour students was on task and tried his best. He told me that we really wanted to make it for his grandmother and could not wait to show her. For me, that was definitely the triumph of the day.

Sometimes when I’m lesson planning, I get caught up in the logistics of the lesson. But what I have to remember is that everything falls into place when you know the end goal, and you have fun with the students while you’re up there in front of them. If you’re excited, then there’s a good possibility they will reciprocate that excitement!

Even though this week was a short week, it sure felt like a long regular week!

I was quite nervous to launch my math unit this week, but thankfully it unraveled better than expected. I feel comforted when I can rely on storybooks as part of my lesson, especially when it comes to math. The students seem to enjoy the “change of pace” during my math sessions this week. I incorporated children’s literature as well collaborative games; I had students sitting in a circle instead of facing me all the time. My school advisors also informed me that students were engaged in my math activities. Going forward, I know what kinds of modes to incorporate. It was also interesting to be in front of a new group setting – since the four divisions on our side of the hallway separate students according to ability. New mixture of students, new kinds of classroom management strategies!

I think my biggest learning experience this week was not to always assume my “older learners” can do “older learner” things. We had created differentiated worksheets for our insect theme lesson on movement (jump, fly, crawl.) For the younger ones, the instructions were for them to cut, sort and paste insects according to their main movement. The expectations for the older students (grade 2) were to draw and label. I guess I assumed my grade 2’s liked to draw because I noticed their doodles during centres or indoor recess. But I realized that drawing these insects were quite difficult for them. In the end, some of my younger students ended up completing the worksheet before the older students, which is usually vice-versa for other activities! Seeing that they were having difficulty with drawing, I gave copies of the younger students’ cut and paste insects for them to copy for their own work. The result was lots of unfinished work, and due to the afternoon Easter egg hunt, there was no opportunity to catch up. Learning from this, I will assess what exactly I want the students to draw first before incorporating it into the lesson.

Still trying to keep up with lesson prep beforehand and assessing how much prep is worth the end product. Is it really worth printing numerous bingo cards and pieces for a 15-minute activity that will never ever be done again? Maybe not…I did not do this, but it definitely crossed my mind! I am hoping that with the full immersion coming very soon, I can get the hang of planning effective lessons without the long hours of prep.

I would say that after the second week of the long practicum, things are slowly falling into place. My confidence is increasing with being in front of the students (for formal lessons and transitions.) I am starting to get a sense of what can be accomplished within a lesson; what my students are capable of and their pacing with their work. This week provided lots of insight in terms of their ability to grasp small concepts, especially with our insect lesson on senses. It appears that most of my students grasp the concept in their head, and can verbally explain to me their thinking. But when it comes to putting it on paper…it can be a challenge. So going forward…what are other ways I can make it easier to transfer their thinking onto paper? I am quite pleased with how they are understanding the body parts of an insect. They were quite proud to explain to their parents during the student led conferences this week.

Speaking of student led conferences…what an interesting experience! This was an opportunity to really see what the relationships between my students and their families were like. I did not have a huge role, although I did stay behind until the very end. My school advisors allowed me to do some planning and circulate every now and then. I also ended up greeting the students arriving with their families and finding them a table. There may have been some informal “babysitting” with the younger siblings that came along. I couldn’t resist! I love toddlers! I introduced myself to parents when I could; the ones that I spoke to are lovely and seem very interested in what my experience has been like. I really cherish interacting with the families of the students. I know that if I were to have my own classroom one day, I would go out of my way to make families feel welcome and not afraid to speak to me.

Towards the end of the week, I really started thinking more about the inclusion and progress of the student with autism in my class. I made a worksheet for him which he could do with his support worker (cutting and pasting for the fine motor skills.) But his support worker had mentioned to me, not as a criticism, that “he does not get the concept of the lesson.” I know that I cannot change things overnight with the student, but I do want to make some sort of impact on his learning during this long practicum. If he could tell me the three main body parts of the insect, I would be happy. His learning has really made me think more deeply about my planning going forward. You had mentioned to Scarlet and I during our quick debrief that we should not “forget” about our students with a designation – just because they have a support worker, doesn’t mean they are fully responsible for helping them through the lessons. This really resonated with me this week.

There was a little bit of “burnout” this week; hoping things will become more second nature in the weeks to come.

The first week of the long practicum laid the groundwork for the remaining 9 weeks to come. I received helpful feedback on what to work on going forward and am also beginning to establish presence in front of the students. I was also fortunate to have both of my school advisors present at Dickens earlier in the week to touch base and to really ease my “anxiety” going into the long practicum. The first day was more observing as I was not familiar with the Monday activities. However, it is always a pleasure watching my school advisor teach and I can learn a lot from her. By Friday, I was leading most of the day, including the small transitions like bringing the students to the lunchroom, gathering students at carpet, and also helping more with classroom management while my school advisor was leading. We also launched our Insect Unit this week, which has started out very promising. It was interesting to have done the first lesson with our peers at UBC, and then with our students. The flow of the lesson was just as expected (and successful) but the classroom management really surfaces when it comes to your own students. There were triumphs this week: I was able to engage a behaviour student in all of the Insect lessons and tried the “giving you two choices” strategy – with success! The student did not want to participate in silent reading so I gave two choices – I will select a book for you or you can choose your own. This meant that I was really becoming an authority figure to this student, rather than a “classroom helper.” Along with triumphs, there were also things to consider going forward. Here are my main “takeaways” from this week:

• Don’t be afraid of “uncharted territory”: Coming from an inquiry based cohort, I am no stranger to the concept. But when teaching the first insect lesson, I felt some fear if I asked “Why?” to a student’s response; I would not be prepared for their answer – “uncharted territory.” For example, I had written in my lesson plan to question students why they had placed certain animals in the categories of mammals, fish and insects. But I had “skipped” this step because I was worried that too much information would be revealed by the student OR I would be unsure how to handle that student’s response. You would be surprised of students’ background knowledge…
• Knowing what “responding to call outs” means: I receive this feedback regularly and it is something I am striving to improve on. But up until now, I didn’t realize I was actually unclear on what it meant. I thought it was verbally reprimanding a student who called out an answer (“Johnny, no!”), but according to my school advisor, it is giving affirmation to students who call out answers without putting their hand up. For example, I would ask a question “What are the three main body parts of an insect?” and I would say “correct” to the student who called all of them out without being told. I was heartbroken to learn that one of my behaviour students was waiting patiently with his hand up, and I did not even notice. Which leads to my next takeaway…
• Decide how you want to receive answers from students, and try to be consistent: Do I want to choose “quiet” hands, or have the class answer all together. I should establish how I want to receive my answers first, before affirming.
• Using time wisely before and after school: Making photocopies last minute is not fun. Going forward, it is recommended, especially by our very organized school advisors, to really be on top of making photocopies ahead of time. Coming in early in the morning certainly has its benefits: no students around, quiet atmosphere, no lineups at the copy machine, prep in peace!