It was the last day of the first week time just flew by! Today I did some language arts and math with the students. While I was teaching these lessons, I noticed something about myself. Compared to the beginning of the week, I felt a little different. Like I said yesterday, I have been feeling a little more comfortable and more in command of the class. And I feel like this allows me to better teach the lesson’s material. Specifically, I think my classroom management is becoming a little more automatic, in a sense. Having been in the classroom consistently through the week and actually teaching has allowed me to sort of develop a new rapport with the students. They are becoming more understanding of my expectations. For example, today I tried something new, after each math homework question I explained on the Smart Board – with the help and input of students – I asked students to use their thumbs to show me how they were feeling. This was not something I had planned on doing. But, because the students had told me previously they had a difficult time with the homework, I thought I need to keep track of their understanding.

And then something really interesting happened. We came to a question, which no one could understand. Neither the students nor I. So, then my s.a. tried to solve it as well. Even that didn’t work. So, we were stuck. We knew the answer, but could not come up with the proper steps behind the solution. At first we thought we would come back to the question. And my s.a. tried solving it on her own. But, then our new student had the answer. However, this student is really shy and my s.a. actually asked her if she had the answer. What was interesting was that at the beginning of the lesson, this student had shared her answer. But, for some reason did not want to share her answer for the tricky question. I think maybe she may have been hesitant because she thought her process might have been incorrect as well. This was such a good example of a situation where sometimes the teacher does not have an answer right away.

Something I would like to work on for the next week is my pacing. I think because in the back of my head I know that this group of students catches on to new concepts quite quickly, I go through material pretty quick. So, today during the math lesson, I asked students to let me know if and when I’m going too fast because this will also help me recognize how much they are understanding. I can’t believe this week is already over, I look forward to starting back up next Tuesday!

April’s Fools, what a day, our little pranks were great fun! And I got to teach two lessons I was really excited about, so it was just a great day! The first lesson was Social Studies, looking at early settlement into Ancient India. We began by discussing why people generally move and students had the opportunity to talk to a partner and then report out. I have noticed a change in the students’ behavior during these “think-pair-shares,” they have gotten much better with practice. Most importantly, they have a better understanding of my expectations and I have seen participation levels increase. After this general discussion, students received a new information package. One of my goals in this class is to help students transition smoothly into high school and into young adulthood. I want to keep presenting ideas and tasks that challenge their thinking and work skills. So, my aim with providing an information package as a supplement with their textbook was to introduce the idea of comparing two resources talking about the same topic. Mainly looking at how their work and research can benefit with more than one source, looking for similarities and differences, and then using this to their advantage. I like to offer little details from my experience as a university student as well because they have been quite interested in this, and specifically UBC, since day one. For example, I have told them that for some of my classes I have had multiple textbooks or I would have to use a number of different types of sources to write long essays. I think students really appreciate it when they are given a reason or explanation behind why they are asked to do a certain task. For example, our talk about why they should pre-plan their writing. From a social and emotional aspect, by doing this, I feel I am in a sense respecting students – offering them an explanation shows that I know they understand and comprehend what I am about to tell them. This can be really important for this age group, as they sort of want their increasing levels of maturity to be acknowledged, or the fact that they are slowly entering young adulthood. Coming back to the participation piece, I was actually positively surprised when students had so much to offer in the second discussion on reasons for settling in the Indus Valley. In fact, I had not expected this discussion to take so much time. Because of this I felt like the amount of time for the actual planning and writing of the letter got shortened. However, this is something I need to get used to – thing taking more or less time than I expected – and adjusting accordingly. Because of this I did have to come back to the letter towards the end of the day and offer some clarification around the time-period – I asked students if they were an early settler, what date should they be using. They were able to look into the textbook and discover the time-period of the beginning of this civilization. This was a good learning experience for myself as well because now I see that sometimes a lesson does not just finish when the bell goes. Instead, I may have to come back to it a little later to clear up some missing elements or simply offer students the chance to ask questions related to any confusing material.

The second lesson I taught was math and my focus for this lesson was how I responded to student’s answers and comments. As a teacher, I expect students to be participating in my teaching – answering questions, offering ideas and comments. So, I think it is only fair that I have something to offer back to appreciate students’ responses, which only serves to further motivate future participation. As a result, I tried to closely monitor how I responded. Specifically, trying to use as many positive and neutral comments. So, if an answer were correct, I would repeat the answer and then offer some feedback. Generally, I try to repeat what the student said, with my own explanation. If possible, I use a personal example or experience that fits in with the material. For example, in almost every math lesson, students have to copy “Key Ideas” from either the textbook or those, which I have created and posted on the Smart Board. I had noticed that a lot of the students were getting a little lazy to do this. So this time, when I asked them to copy these notes, I asked them to also think to themselves, why these notes are so important and why they should be copying them down. Then we had a quick discussion. And the students brought up great points. One student said something along the lines of “by writing these down, they will stay in our brains.” So, I responded by identifying the answer as correct but then also following up with my own experience. I explained that while I did my Psychology degree, I had to take a course about memory and in that course I learned about something called “consolidation.” And basically, research has found that the more you repeat information – by reading it, writing it and looking back at it – the more likely you are to store it in your memory. And then if you have it in your memory, you can use it on the test. I have always noticed that when I offer little experiences like this, I have much more attention as opposed to when I just simply respond with “That’s right” or “yes.” Something else I really have been trying to work on is my wait time. That is both waiting for the class’ full attention and allowing enough time in between asking a question and choosing students to answer. For this first attention piece, I have personally seen an improvement in myself, as I have gotten a little firmer about this. I basically just tell the students that it is really hard for me to move on and I’m going to have to wait. I have seen this strategy work a lot better compared to asking them to be quiet or using “shhh.” I also believe this has helped improve my confidence level in assuming the position of a teacher as I feel more in command!

Can’t believe half of the first week is already over – it’s only a four-day week. I had the students from the beginning of the morning until recess again today. I’m really liking this time period because before I usually taught after recess and into the afternoon. In the beginning, I was sort of nervous having the students first thing; I was worried about settling the students in and getting them back in school mode. However, it has been a really valuable experience because starting the morning off right is really important as I feel this motivates students. Also, I feel like the better start in the morning, the greater the chances of having a smooth rest of the day as well.

We started with writing workshop in which students write in their journal books. The journal books have a number of different prompts, questions, and ideas to which students can choose to respond. And, it is entirely up to the student to choose which specific prompt/question they would like to write about. I definitely think this is a perfect way to start the day. First of all, there is student autonomy, they are beginning the day with something they choose themselves and they do enjoy this. Second, it is an independent task – in writing workshop, students are to work quietly on their own work – so it allows students to really come back into their school zone and turn on their focus and thinking caps. Lastly, the writing aspect itself, this is so important because right away students are expressing their thoughts and actually producing meaningful work. I could also see this activity working well at other times when students become a little rambunctious, lose their focus and just need some time to basically spit out what’s on their minds. For example, right after recess, lunch, or p.e.

After the journals, I went through two grammar lessons – suffixes and contractions. This was really simple. I introduced both topics, gave examples of both and then went over some questions from the related worksheets. Students then had some time to finish the worksheet. This was the first time I had done this type of lesson with them, so I was not really sure how long it would take for them to complete. So, a strategy my s.a. suggested was circulating and just observing how long it was taking students and going from there. If some students had finished earlier, I asked them to work on their book reviews. We then marked the worksheets and the marks were collected. After this, we marked the spelling homework from the previous day. Whenever I mark anything with the students, I usually try to let the students give the answers. That way I can ask them to explain their answer and also it allows everyone to share their answers. Because sometimes students come up with answers an answer key or I have not, and they have valid explanations for their answer. Also, when it comes to something like math, having students provide answers works really well because then I can ask them to come up to the Smart Board to show their work. This way we can see not just the answer, but also the process behind the answer.

We then moved onto math. I went over the previous day’s exercise. And this took a little longer than expected because the students really wanted to share their answers to a lot of the questions. It was so nice to see the students so engaged with their work, I even joked with that they are so much better than me because it actually took me a while to work out the answers to some of the questions. Their reaction to that was priceless. I love these types of moments with my students, I feel like these are the moments when you actually build connections with them and build a level of comfort in the class. And then, when we were about to move onto the new lesson, we were hit with a hailstorm! We literally went from full sunshine to a complete hailstorm within minutes and the students were so surprised that my s.a. and I decided to let them go out to experience the weather and even try to find the rainbow! Once they got back, we only had a little bit of time left. So, I was not able to go through much. However, the homework was assigned and my s.a. and I decided to tell the students they should finish as much of the exercise as possible and we would go through the rest together. This was such an interesting experience for me, a complete change of plans just because of the weather. I think it’s the surprises like this that teachers always talk about that keep this job so interesting and refreshing!

Today was the first day of our long-term practicum and I pretty much jumped in as soon as the students arrived in the morning! I liked beginning the day off with them because they were just as excited to see me, as I was to be in the classroom! And on my part, starting off right away didn’t really leave any time for me to be nervous or question myself. I thought this helped my confidence level and I felt very comfortable beginning by settling the class in. Also, the students were quite calm and focused which made the teaching a little easier for me as well.

I started the day with Socials and began my unit on Ancient India. Lucky for me, Socials is a subject the class really enjoys so when I said I would be teaching Socials, I received a really positive response. The lesson started with locating India on a blank world map displayed on the Smart Board. I gave students about three minutes to think in their groups and then students came up to the Smart Board to place a dot on a blank map identifying where they think India is on the map. To my surprise, even though a majority of the students have not learned about India in school or do not have much background knowledge about India, a lot of their predictions were very close. I also recognized the students enjoy using the Smart Board and they are much more engaged even when their use is as minimal as placing a dot on a map. For example, I had told the students they would have about five minutes to think about their prediction and to raise their hand when ready to make their prediction. And, the students were actually discussing with their group and it only took about two minutes for hands to start rising. After their predictions, I brought up two different maps – a world map with India labeled among the other countries and then a zoomed in version, which was a closer look at India. Using this map, I began a discussion about what just looking at the map could tell us about India, trying to get their critical thinking going. We first looked at neighboring countries, the continent India is in and then moved onto the southern region of India. I asked what looked really interesting about this region (the surrounding water bodies) and students pointed out the easy access to many water bodies. I then asked why this is important or beneficial to the people living in India. We talked about a lot of access to fresh water, easy opportunities for shipping out, transportation and exporting and how this helps their economy. I then mentioned that one of India’s strong industries is exporting to the rest of the world and that this is possible because of their geographical position close to water bodies. I then questioned the location of India in relation to the equator and the students pointed out how close it is to the equator. I asked how this could affect life in India as locations close to the equator receive more exposure to the sun. And students brought up terms like climate, weather, temperature and generally how India is a really hot country. I shared my own experiences in the country and asked if anyone else has been to India and had one student share his experience in the hot weather. After this discussion I mentioned how my roots are in India, so I’m really excited to teach about this civilization. And leading from this I brought in the scavenger hunt activity because it would benefit them to have an understanding of the basics of India today to fully understand the development of this civilization. I asked students to work with a partner in their table group and use one iPad between the two. Once they had their iPad and supplies ready, I explained that the scavenger hunt worksheet had the websites they should be looking through; however, the specific questions did not have an accompanying link. I explained why: this way they would be navigating all three websites and might even run into some information not required by the activity but would help build their understanding. And also I thought this made the activity a little more challenging and required students to think a little deeper if they actually had to read all the content on the websites. The pair work was good with one iPad because this meant they were actually working on the hunt together as opposed to having two iPads and then they would easily just divide the questions. I actually learned a lot myself from this activity. Specifically, the fact that sometimes you plan for an assignment one way and when you come to do it with the class, they bring up aspects that you may not have even thought of. For example, some of the students were asking if they could use other websites to find answers or simply just type in the question to Google. But, I asked them to only use the websites I had provided as I knew they were appropriate and as a warning I might even ask which website the answer was found on to ensure accountability. I also had some early finishers, so I had to come up with something for them to do. I asked them to list five interesting facts or ideas about India that were not asked about in the hunt and list these on the back of the worksheet so they could share with the rest of the class. We then discussed the answers and the early finishers shared their interesting facts. When the students shared their answers, I had to point out that it is okay if you have a different answer because some questions can have more than one answer and I encouraged them to share their different answers. I also tried to build on the student’s answers and offer information from my own experience with India. I feel like this is something I would like to keep doing as it makes the material more interesting for students and they were listening more when I added my own little details instead of just repeating what they had just said. Something my s.a. and I have talked about when responding is to try to repeat correct answers students provide but re-wording them in my own words just to emphasize.

We then transitioned over to math and continued with the probability unit. We started with a question based on the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story, which definitely hooked in the students – I had them summarize the plot first. Students worked on the first problem in pairs and then we were going to discuss the problem as a class on the Smart Board. However, a couple of minutes in, I noticed that a handful of the students had forgotten some of the concepts and terms (e.g., favorable outcomes, sample space) as it had been a couple weeks since my last probability lesson. So, then I decided to change things up and work on the problem together. First we reviewed some of the key terms that students had forgotten and then used this to work through the problem. I enjoy moments like these where I have to change my lesson plan because it just shows that not everything you do will go according to plan and I must learn to be flexible as this allows to better meet the students’ needs. We went through two more examples together and I could tell students had a better understanding after the first example as I had students provide the work for most of the steps and then come show it on the Smart Board. A couple of students did begin to get distracted and I tried something I haven’t before. I simply stood at the front and said “Ok, I’m just going to stand here until I have everyone’s attention, I’m just going to wait,” and it was so interesting to see the students’ response. The on-task students were asking the distracted to pay attention and it honestly took no more than a minute to get everyone back on track. I would like to keep experimenting with different strategies to get and maintain the students’ attention; for example, my s.a. gave me a shaker today and I could develop a process with the students where the louder I have to shake the shaker, means they are too distracted and I need their full attention. At the end, I had students write me an exit slip to tell me how they are feeling about the unit so far – something they completely understand, something they find challenging, and something they really enjoy. Some students were hesitant at first, but I told them they could take their time and hand it in whenever they were ready because it would really help me as a teacher understand how they are learning. Again, I realized sometimes you just need to give students a simple but true explanation as to why you do certain things and they do honestly understand after.

I really enjoyed the first day and it was a really good start to the long-term practicum. It was so good to be back in the classroom and having been able to teach first thing was just a bonus! I look forward to the rest of the ten weeks and after being in the staff meeting today I can tell there is going to be so many extracurricular activities and events happening that time is just going to fly by!

Today’s math lesson began with a “Discuss the math” activity in pairs from the textbook. In terms of solving the word problem this activity went well; students understood the content. The students began the discussion of the solution, and I was able to help complete their explanations. As a result, we were able to reach a consensus on the answer. However, I observed that the manipulatives got a little distracting for the students. It was the first time I had brought in manipulatives into a math lesson. So, I need to go over the “rules” so to speak around using these items in my lessons. The students need to be told that these manipulatives have a purpose – to improve their understanding of the given mathematical content – and this is the purpose they should be used for. For the group that was completely distracted, I did go over to point out this idea. And by keeping near this group, they did improve their focus a little bit. Regardless, it was a couple of students from this group that ended up being distracted for a majority of the lesson. Therefore, next time I use manipulatives, I need to have a discussion with the students as a class to explain why I bring things like coins, or mosaic tiles into the math lesson.

For the two examples we worked on together, content wise this part went really well. Students were understanding the use of different diagrams – tables, tree diagrams, spider diagrams – to organize their outcomes. And how to further use these to answer leading questions like the total possible outcomes and the sample space. I made sure to include some tips as a way of offering different explanations; for example, pointing out an easy way to write out sample spaces with or without a diagram. Between each question I asked for any confusions and reminded students about the post-it notes I had given. This was also the first time I used these post-it notes so the students need some time to get used to them. And I plan to use them through a lot of my teaching in the different subjects. I ask them to keep the post-it note because their questions or concerns do not just need to come from the lesson time period. They may have something come up when they are at home or working on the assigned work. I also tried to frame the questions a little differently during these examples. For example, instead of just asking me “who knows the answer to _____” I tried asking “Who can explain what a tree diagram is to the rest of the class?” I feel like this kind of question may motivate more students to participate as the question is framed more as a demonstration of their knowledge. That is, it is more of a moment of pride, they get to demonstrate what they know. Again, while working on these examples, the same students mentioned above were quite distracted again. As a result, I found myself giving constant reminders to bring their attention back to the front. This is something I need to get comfortable doing, as my s.a. and I have discussed, having full attention from all students at all times is almost impossible. This is why I think the short brain break between the examples and the next word problem worked really well. I also thought it was really important to make sure that they actually got up to talk to someone from another table. This helped the distracted students calm down a bit and refocus. I thought this brain break worked better than a normal brain break because the break was still relevant – they had to speak about what they were learning. So, it was much easier to settle them back in and like I said they were actually more focused upon returning. When they came back to their seats, I asked for examples about what they talked about and I received input from almost each table group.

Coming back from the brain break, the students worked in pairs on the last “Show you know” word problem. And when we discussed the solution, there were no interruptions, and I did not have to ask for attention constantly. So, something I really thought about afterwards is how important it is to be able to change the lesson if for some reason there are interruptions – whether that is from distracted students or an external source. For example, just providing that small, yet relevant brain break. This is something my s.a. and I have spoken about in great detail. And sometimes it is not important to have the lesson go exactly as you planned; but rather, focus on addressing an issue that may become a larger concern. For example, maybe skipping out on a small portion of the math lesson may be okay to discuss a bigger idea like the importance of participation and attention in learning.

Related to this, student participation and accountability is something I really would like to focus on as I enter the long practicum. I discussed with my s.a. to maybe even change up the seating plan completely as I observed just one off-task student was distracting others in the table group. However, it was interesting to note that once I had asked that student to pay attention, his partner began participating and continued to participate throughout the entire lesson. In terms of the seating plan, we may need to discuss about the current seating plan being a privilege to be able to sit in a group with friends. Also, I plan to have a discussion about the importance of paying attention and participating. This is something I would like to incorporate into the class meeting as a variety of class topics are always discussed in these meetings. This is especially because I actually had students who were paying attention throughout the lesson come up to me and point out that certain students were not paying attention and it was “not nice.” Basically, I want to make it clear that one of my expectations is respect and this can be shown by simply just paying attention to not just me, but also peers. And if they are paying attention, they will be more likely to participate which will only benefit their learning. Lastly, something I noted on the performance checklist I completed with my s.a. was that I can use assessment as a way to set learning goals and motivate students. So, I plan to include this in my discussion on participation – so students know that their participation is crucial in their final grades. Another idea I had is creating an anchor chart of our discussion that can be kept up in class. That way, when I notice problematic behavior, I can point the child to the anchor chart as a reminder. For today’s circumstances, my s.a. actually spoke to some of the students individually as there has been some problematic behavior occurring this week. And sometimes this kind of private talk can be helpful for the students involved and it might be more likely to result in a solution.

The ending to the lesson was actually really interesting. I began to assign their homework questions. Some of the students noticed that I did not assign the last 3 problems. To my surprise, they asked if these problems could be assigned as well. I was more than happy to agree!

We also finished reading The Giver today. The students have been engaged in the read-aloud of this novel throughout. I learned a lot about novel studies through leading these read-alouds. First of all, students need to be asked a variety of questions. This means, not just basic recall questions, they get bored really quickly. Instead, I found I received the most input when I asked questions about their interpretations of what was happening in the novel. For example, asking, “how do you think Jonas feels knowing his brother is being released?” I was pleased to see a majority of the class raise their hands. In fact, I had to say, “I’ll get to all of you!” Another popular question was asking students to analyze why a character behaves or acts a certain way. Again, these kinds of questions allow for students’ opinions and a variety of answers. I also was able to improve my own teacher voice through these read-alouds. Specifically, I found myself getting better at using different tones to my voice as different events occurred in the novel. For example, I would stress my voice more when something really important was occurring, to emphasize. This novel had a variety of themes which were really applicable for this age-group and I definitely would use it again in the future!

This week on practicum I was there for only half the day as we had math assessments in another school for the last half of the day. While I was there I got to do my read-aloud. I must say the book (The Giver) keeps getting more and more interesting and the students love it!

What I would like to touch on this week is the class meetings we have every week. I’ve been taking notes each week the meeting occurs and finally I have a chance to write about it.

The meeting usually consists of three main parts. The students gather into a circle and once ready, my s.a. passes along a teddy bear. Only the person with the teddy bear should be talking and the rest listening respectfully. I have seen that this actually works really well. And if a student without the teddy bear is being disruptive, just a simple reminder “you don’t have the teddy bear right now” is sufficient to fix the problem. First, each student must give another student/teacher in the class a “star”. That is, offer a positive comment to someone for anything that occurred in the previous couple of days. Students have the opportunity to pass once and then on the second try they must give a star. So there is opportunity to have time to think if a student is stuck. I think this is so important in a class – especially in the higher grades – as it directly allows for positive situations to be heard. A lot of the time students only focus on what’s not going well, but this in a way forces them to realize there’s so much positive happening as well. And just generally, the atmosphere of the classroom is more friendly and community-like. Also, young adolescents of this age value their peer relationships so much. Everyone wants to be heard and have a sense of belonging. And this class meeting provides a safe setting for each student to have a voice.

Next, the students are able to record positive comments throughout the week and put them in a jar. My s.a. then pulls out these comments during the meeting and reads out to the entire class. This works really well because sometimes students forget what happened a couple days earlier or don’t want to say it directly. So they have a chance to remain anonymous as well. Also this conveys to students that they don’t have to wait until the meeting, positive comments can be given at any time.

Lastly, there is a jar for “wishes” as well. These wishes are problems or topics students want to be addressed. This allows for students to be able to voice their opinions in a way they feel safe and comfortable. The students do care about the wishes that are made as a lot of them do have something to say, or advice to offer to help the given situation. In fact I noticed a lot of the students try to share what their own knowledge. For example, a wish that came up was “I wish people would stop touching each other so much, and in response students said “I’ve always thought act how you want to be treated.” And then the teacher can debrief on the topic and provide concluding ideas or solutions.

I think through the variety of topic discussed this class meeting is a student-entered approach to help students develop many skills. Most importantly, by leading their own discussion, they are working on their interpersonal skills. By speaking out, students are developing communication skills that help understand how to have group discussions and problem-solving. For example, the concept of democracy is modelled as a way of problem-solving when the students discuss class matters/options like choice of grad events. During the meeting they can vote on topics like this and a fair decision is reached. Also, these meetings allow the teacher to get a sense of student dynamics and relationships in the class. For example, one of the male students in my class hangs out with the girls more than the boys. And in the meeting, another boy said, “I would like to give **** a star for being an adorable friend.” My s.a. sensed this comment was not very positive and was then able to address the issue with involved students. In the end, I think the class meeting is a good arena to build positive, strong interpersonal skills – especially since these skills are so vital to students of this age group!

Wow, what a day today was! Right from the get go, there was so much going on. We had to prepare for a student-led fundraiser, a meeting with parents regarding grade seven camp, a guest speaker after lunch, and I led my usual read-aloud plus my first math lesson. The day just flew by!

For this post, I would like to focus on my math lesson – an introduction to probability. Going in, I was really excited to be teaching math, as it is my own favorite subject now and in the past. However, obviously, being a subject that a lot of students are fearful or anxious about, I was a little nervous as well. However, as soon as we began the lesson, I lost all that nerviness. I started with a think-pair-share, asking the students to discuss what probability means to them and examples they see of probability in the real world. To make sure that they were all actually discussing I gave them a time limit, warned them they would have to report out and I then went around to each group asking for their input. I was really happy with the responses I got as I went around to each group of students. There were a variety of responses – it is interesting to note how students are able to form different explanations and perspectives to explain the same concept. I believe when students are able to explain a concept in their own words, using their own examples (as the students did today), they form a better understanding compared to memorizing the textbook provided definition. In a sense, the concept becomes more meaningful as the student has formed a thought-process behind their explanation. It was interesting though, that when I asked for students to explain out loud, even though everyone had an explanation, not everyone raised their hands. Thinking back on this, next time, I would provide each student with a little post it note on which they can record their thoughts. Placing the post it notes on the board and asking a couple of volunteers to come read out could follow this up. Getting more student participation is definitely something I would like to address as I keep teaching. Another strategy my S.A. and I discussed was even using think-pair-share for the actual math solutions. That is, a think-pair-share does not have to just be limited to initial or closure discussion questions related to concepts. I did use reminders of the importance of participation and I feel this is something that I will keep doing so that students understand my expectations.

Students were then asked to note down the related textbook key ideas. I did see that some students were a little slow in beginning this, so I again provided a time limit and gave time warnings. This worked as I had students saying, “Oh, we have that much time, I need to start!” It is times like this that I really get to see how important simple reminders like time warnings are. I continued my circulation around the table groups, focusing my attention on the groups who were a little more distracted. I feel with this age group and specifically this class, proximity does work really well. For me, its sort of like, “I know you know what you are supposing to be doing, so I’m not going to verbally tell you what to do, but I’ll just stand here as a reminder.” It’s kind of like offering independence with a little guidance, which works really well with this group of students. To follow up and show students that these notes actually matter, I spoke about two concepts from the key ideas, “certain” and “impossible” events. I asked students to describe both and then provide examples. I think it is really important to respond to student answers and provide feedback such as simply “that’s right.” So when I provided my own examples, I would include “Like so and so said…” Not only does this reward their participation in a sense, but also provides confirmation of their answers.

When I moved onto go through the actual examples, the Smartboard had some technical difficulties. I was thinking to myself, “Of course this would happen today!” So I ended up orally speaking to the question and began with the normal whiteboard while the Smartboard restarted. This was again a good example of everyday teaching – things not going according to your plan and learning to change quickly.

As soon as the Smartboard started up, teaching the content was great, even fun! I was able to draw out the visuals, using different colors – so useful for the probability examples. Instead of having the students record the examples as I had initially planned, I asked for their full attention to the board, as I would be asking them to help me solve the examples. After explaining the first question in the first example myself, I asked for students to help answer. When students would provide answers, I would ask them to explain how they ended up at that answer. Basically, asking them to explain their thought-process as they would “show their work”’ on paper. Taking from our math class, this is really important as if students master the thought processes behind various concepts, they can apply the same to their following work. In the next example, I again started the first question myself. However, I decided to completely change it up on the spot, and ask students to come up and write their answer on the Smartboard along with their work and orally explaining their thought process. I really thought this worked well and it is something I hope to continue using in my future lessons. We finished the examples a little earlier than I had anticipated so I decided to ask the students to work on a question from the textbook in pairs and then we would go over it together as a group. Again, I had students come up to offer their answers. As they were solving in pairs, I went around to each table group again as this was an opportunity for me to check their understanding of what I had just taught. And it was so rewarding – for me as a teacher – to see them working successfully through something so similar to what I had just taught.

After the examples, I assigned the textbook questions. Related to this, as I was going through the examples, I had a couple of students ask for the assigned questions. However, because I wanted them to focus on my examples first, I explained why it is important to go through the steps together first as the assigned questions would be similar. So, if they followed my steps, they would be able to apply the same to their own work. Before letting them begin the textbook work, I emphasized the main concept of the lesson (the formula for probability experiments) and then closed off with asking for anything they needed cleared up. Something that I realized on the spot was that some students might not be comfortable voicing their confusion, so I said I could come over to a student individually if needed. While I circulated around during the assignment, I could see the difference in learning styles and levels. There were some students completely finished their work who I told to try the two questions I did not assign and then there were some who were working through at a slower pace. This made me realize why we need to provide enough time for assignments, allowing questions to be completed for homework if necessary.

Something that my S.A. and I discussed today really hit home for me. By observing my S.A. and looking back on my own lessons, it is becoming clear to me that it is almost impossible to maintain each student’s attention at all time points. However, by using specific strategies, it is my responsibility as an educator to ensure the maximum amount of attention. Therefore, this is something I plan on giving my focus wholeheartedly in the coming weeks and months. I would really like to have more students speak out loud, especially in a subject like math when we are solving examples with multiple steps. My S.A. and I spoke about the importance of wait-time. It may seem a little awkward at first and it may seem like it is interfering with the time period of the lesson. However, it gives everyone a chance to think the question through in order to then voice their thoughts out loud. In the end, I completely enjoyed teaching this lesson; I could keep going on and on. I think probability was a good starting point as the students do really enjoy it as well. For example, I had one of my students approach me at the end of the day and tell me I did a really good job teaching and that probability is really fun – I was so taken aback. Honestly, it is little moments like this that remind me of why I have always wanted to be a teacher!

This Thursday I led my usual read-aloud but I also got to experience some new teacher responsibilities. The F.S.A. exams were completed by my grade seven class recently; however, some students were absent so had to catch up this week. As I was there on Thursday, I had the chance to administer these exams. Although it felt like just giving out a normal exam for the most part, I made some really interesting and valuable observations when I had to monitor a grade four student taking the English writing and numeracy portions of the exam. This student while not on an IEP does have special needs that affect her learning. As a result, she could have benefitted from specific adaptations and modifications. It was interesting for me to watch this student as while she was taking the exam, she was thinking out-loud, so I had the opportunity to in a sense, hear what was going on in her head. For the writing portion, she kept saying, “I can’t do this,” “I don’t know what to do,” “I don’t want to write.” However, I could see that she really did want to put something onto the paper as she kept taking her pencil to the bottom part of the paper to write or draw something, but then would just erase it. When we got to the math portion, her behavior completely changed, she was much more motivated. And I believe this is because the first part of the numeracy portion was on the computer. From her body language, I could tell she was just eager to get started as the principal and I got the computer started up. As she went through the questions, even her tone of voice changed, she was reading quickly, looking at the multiple-choice options, and then the small visual pictures that accompanied the questions. The pictures seemed to really get her thinking as well; she would look to the pictures and then try to compare the answers. For me this was a clear example of the different learning styles present in a classroom; that is, she clearly was a visual learner. When the pictures were not present, as in the written portions, her motivation and thus performance suffered. Although her answers were not correct always, her thought process was there. For example, she would read the question and then say something like “Oh, I think it could be this one.” Her behavior changed again when the paper part came along, switching back to how she felt during the writing portion. Again, the self-doubt was evident. And for me it was so eye-opening to see how powerful self-doubt really can be. It was to the point that the student could not put anything onto the paper. However, when she was talking out loud, she actually was getting the concepts and then when she said to me “I don’t know what to write,” I simply told her just write what you told me. So, sometimes the student may even have the core idea or concept, but just does not simply believe in themselves enough to put it forward. This made me think, if this student just had some form of adaptation, it would be so helpful. Like I’m thinking something as basic as having someone write the student’s thoughts/answers as some of this student’s thoughts out loud were very telling of her understanding. I then began to think just how many students have some form of special need that fails to be acknowledged and/or supported. This is something I would like to learn more about, the process of supporting special needs.

Another new observation I made was during the morning prep my S.A. and I covered in a grade 5/6 class. The class was working on their science fair projects. I saw clear difference between this class and my own grade 7 class. Although the age difference is not too great, I observed the disparity in their independence levels. The 5/6 students ask for the teacher’s just basic advice much more than the 7 students. For example, a student needed to pick between two pictures for his project, and he came to ask me which one was better. In comparison, in the grade 7 class, I have to directly ask the students questions about their work and then they offer explanations. I thought this was a clear representation of the many changes students go through as they enter grade 7, they look more towards their peers rather than teachers (or any adult) for validation. This made me think of how the teacher’s presence somewhat changes through the years as well – with the younger students being much more dependent on the teacher. I’m actually really glad I get to experience all the different grades through the preps, it gives me a little peak into every age level!

This Thursday on practicum I again led the spelling and read-aloud. Before I talk about that though, I would like to touch on something else I experienced. My s.a. covers other classroom teachers preps for the entire school while our students are away for band and French class. That means she teaches a block to every grade. And when I’m there on Thursdays, I get to accompany her to these classrooms. Although I have been doing this with her from the start, something really struck me this time. About a month ago, my practicum class did a worksheet on the colour wheel and primary/secondary colours. Then last week when we went to a grade two class to cover the teacher’s prep, my s.a. brought out the same worksheet for that class and again when we went to a spilt 2/3 class this week. For me it was really interesting to see how the same topic, lesson, and worksheet was used in such different grade levels. However, what differed was the instruction level and amount. For the grade 7 students the instructions were quite quick and limited. As a result, the task was more self-led on the student’s part – so it served as a review. However, for the two younger grades, this may have been the first time they were exposed to this content. As a result, there was much more instruction all throughout the assignment. My s.a. coloured in the assignment step by step and asked the students to follow, asking for student input along the way. I would monitor their progress, giving check marks as they finished and words of encouragement. So what was really interesting to me was how the same task was used in completely different grade levels. I believe what was key was the adaptation piece. That is making the task work specifically for each grade and tailoring the instructions. I had not really thought of this before, so I was thankful to have observed my s.a. This can be really helpful when you are a t.o.c or even have your own class and have to teach a new grade in the new school year. As a new teacher, you can look back to what you have already taught and maybe there can be something you can adapt to work in your new classroom!

My read-aloud this week was on two chapters and apart from asking questions through the read-aloud, I did something a little different. I asked the students to create questions. And having now read the students’ questions, I realize what an awesome idea this was. There are some factual questions, but also some great probing, “why do you think …” questions. This is something I would like to maybe use again sometime soon, paired with a discussion of what makes a good question and how to form one. Along with this we could discuss why it is important to practice creating good questions. I would like to form a discussion around exam questions and how this will change as they enter high school. That is, they will be exposed to lots of exams in which questions require critical thinking. Again the students’ effort into these questions just goes to show their interest in the book! I also thought of how to get more students answering throughout the read aloud, and I think I need to make clear right at the beginning that their participation counts for their language arts mark and I will be recording who participates. I recall doing this during my two week practicum and it worked really well. Sometimes the students just need to be reminded of why it is important to participate in class!

This week on practicum I led two activities – marking the students’ spelling work and a novel study read aloud (The Giver). Although the two are quite different in content, I found a commonality while carrying out these activities in terms of classroom management. That is, a lot of the time planned activities will not go completely according to plan. Specifically, in my class – being a grade 7 class, there are constantly interruptions. Therefore, myself or my s.a. need to think on the fly and adapt as required. For example, during the spelling, it was taking the students far longer than expected to get organized and take out the assignment to be marked. This was because a lot of them had not completed the required sections. And I must say, it was quite an ordeal to sort out. So what we decided to do was have the students mark what they had and then record the marks for those completed sections. However, what was key was the talk my s.a. gave the students afterwards. It seems as though some students are not putting in enough effort into completing their homework. So we touched on the importance of completing homework as if students build their homework skills now it will help them in the future, the near future. That is, they will have a much heavier homework load in high school and they were told about the expectations in high school. Specifically, high school teacher will not tolerate “lazy behaviour” and the teachers may not even run around to gather homework; they will simply just deduct marks. I thought having a talk like this worked really well as it was immediate, on the spot. Therefore, it was more relevant to the students compared to saving the topic for something like the class meeting later on.

My read-aloud actually went really well considering the timing. It was right after lunch, so students again were trying to get settled in and some were still shuffling in from lunch monitoring. Also, I was under the impression that I would be starting with chapter four; however, the class had already read that chapter so we were starting with chapter five. So, the questions I had prepared (for chapter 4) were not going to work. That meant I had to think of questions as we went along. My strategy was to look for examples of the book’s main themes and base questions around these themes. I ended up starting with a think-pair-share, asking the students to come up with four points in pairs highlighting the most important aspects in the chapters they had already read. I was able to see the interests students have in this book as they had a lot of points to offer. I then asked questions about “Coming of age” as examples of this theme came through-out the chapter. To give a little variety, I asked more simple questions related to vocabulary as this book has some complex language that students may not have been exposed to before. To check for attention, I questioned students understanding of different characters repeated throughout the book. For example, in the book there is a group called the “Collection Crew,” the people who come collect remains of food from households. I asked who this group is, what they do, why they are important and why the group’ name is always capitalized. This connected back to the theme of an ordered society through the book and students conveyed this through speaking to the fact that there are lots of rules – like not wasting food- in this society.

If I could change something, I would have the students read small sections of the given chapter. I feel this would not only help build their reading skills but also improve their comprehension of this specific novel. And this is important because like I said before, this novel is fairly advanced- both in language and the specific content and themes being presented. That being said, I’m not too worried about the students not paying attention just because they are not reading it aloud themselves as they have demonstrated great interest in the book already. For example, some of the students had read far ahead even though not they are not required to.

Apart from this, I would like to incorporate some more think-pair-share around one specific theme, “Coming of Age,” as this is actually really relevant to the grade sevens. A lot of the main character’s maturing experiences are those which my students can somehow probably learn from or relate to. I believe the think-pair-share will allow more of a comprehensive opportunity for students to discuss. Given there is enough time, I would probably like to add a written component to this time so there is more concrete material for me to assess their understanding. In the end, I really enjoy these read-alouds because the students are genuinely interested in the storyline and I look forward to completing the book!