Standard 1 – Educators value and care for all students and act in their best interests

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As an educator, one of my top priorities is to guide my students to develop their best potential in an enriching environment. I am constantly asking myself, “How can I improve my lessons to meet the standard for students and the school community?” As I was discussing with my faculty advisor, the topic of ‘differentiation’ came up as a direction for me to handle students from different backgrounds. Therefore, this began the research for my inquiry project to support my students beyond the regular classroom set-up.

THEORY
Based on the principles of differentiation, I discover that the most effective way for me to teach is to make use of small groups. It would be crucial for me to assess students for learning so that they can work with partners at the right level of materials. My lessons are guided by their questions as they are motivated to learn independently and collaborate with others.

My Inquiry Project:
Differentiated Instruction Inquiry Project

My Powerpoint Presentation:
Differentiated Instruction Presentation

APPLICATION
In order to apply what I had learned from differentiation, my school advisor guided me in my extended practicum to use the ‘Daily 5’ system (developed by Gail Boushey and Joan Mosher). With her support, I was able to manage my Grade 2 students effectively to hit various levels of learning. It was vital to see students working on different task choices and levels related to the same topic, or even sometimes on different topics for extension activities. Because time management was one of my biggest challenges, I learned to prioritize the needs of students through differentiation using the system of ‘Daily 5.’ I felt that their best interests could be fully met in a small group setting when they felt empowered to ask questions, take risks and develop mastery in their work. Although they might have peers working at a different level, they were able to feel confident about themselves and their work in the classroom.

Students are divided into six groups (instead of five) and work on their assignments according to their level of understanding.

In the ‘Daily 5’ system, students were divided into six groups (instead of five) to work on their assignments based upon their level of understanding. Resources: http://www.thedailycafe.com/

By using the ‘Daily 5’ system, I learned to step back from direct instruction and walk around the classroom to guide as a facilitator. I was able to make observation notes, provide scaffolding in small groups and assist in the collaboration of students. In small groups, I was able to examine more closely and receive more student feedback. Occasionally, I would have myself or an Aide to work side by side with students who needed the extra help.

I believe that the balanced art of instructing students at various levels can only be achieved through the daily practice of careful implementation of small tiered lessons. Based on the principals of differentiation, I am committed to create an inclusive classroom environment as I value and care for all my students.

Standard 2 – Educators are role models who act ethically and honestly

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“[Mrs. Chan] demonstrated a reflective and most thought-filled approach to her strengths and challenges both as a teacher and as a student.” – taken from the joint faculty and school advisors’ final report

As an educator, acting ethically and honestly is the way for me to build a mutual relationship of trust and respect with my students. From my advisors, I have adopted a variety of strategies to set a high standard in the classroom by establishing rules, positively guiding students and following through with behaviours.

During my extended practicum, the school was undergoing a lot of construction and physical changes. My school advisor and I were seeing that the students were experiencing varying types of stresses (eg. indoor noises, limited work space, segregated portables) in our portable classroom. Therefore, we worked together with the students to establish a list of rights and responsibilities for the class. In our morning meetings, we discussed about the concept of social responsibility and made connections to apply in the classroom and school community.

Social responsibility is in our own hands.

We took social responsibility into our own hands.

In my lesson, I used both literature and real-life examples to stimulate discussions about getting along and helping each other as a big family in the classroom. For example, when some students came in with an empty stomach in the early morning, I used it as a ‘teaching moment’ to touch upon healthy eating and regular exercises in our Health and Career curriculum. Working through Canada’s Healthy Eating Guide for students, it was fruitful to see students having an open mind and respect for each other in our class discussion. We began to learn about our own habits of eating, exercising, as well as watching television and playing internet games. We came up with practical tips to help ourselves and our families to raise an awareness against media violence. As for our Daily Physical Activity (DPA), we made use of our transition time between portable classrooms and the school building to do yoga for calming, focusing and energizing our whole self.

yoga poses

We exercised our body, mind and spirit in three simple poses.

It may be challenging for us to deal with an environment that were not at our best interest in that moment, but we were able to face them with honesty and work through some practical solutions together. By being socially responsible, we helped each other to care for one another, our families and our environment. As ethical citizens of the school community, we strove to be role models to show that we were strong when we came together, stood for each other and cared for where we live.

Standard 3 – Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development

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Throughout my teacher training program, I found that the principles of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) have been very useful to meet the needs of my students from my practicum experiences. In one of my university courses, my colleagues and I studied the theory of Social-Emotional Learning affecting students’ learning environment for our class project. We identified three meso-systems — family, media and peers — that interact upon each other in the daily lives of our students. As “expert teachers,” we facilitated a classroom discussion on Social-Emotional Learning using Erikson’s Stages of Individual Development to address the needs of our elementary students in their meso-systems. After summarizing the text and class findings, we guided our fellow colleagues to develop strategies on how to create relationships with our students and their families in the classroom environment.

One-page presentation on Social-Emotional Learning:
Social-Emotional Learning (Relationship) Handout

The impact of this class project is remarkable because many of us as teacher candidates are struggling with difficult students in our practicum classes. The class discussion allows us to reflect on how we are able to empower students and facilitate learning by inviting them to be the “expert teachers” of themselves. I have found that it is rewarding for my students to learn to pace themselves and feel empowered in an enjoyable learning environment. I firmly believe that if teachers are able to nurture the needs of students proposed by Erikson, teachers would enable students to have a sense of belonging and grow towards independence in the classroom. With the help of my UBC colleagues, I reach a deeper understanding of my students to support their physical, social, emotional and intellectual growth.

Notes: Thanks to my colleagues, Jennifer Murtagh and Edmond Chin, for sharing their resources in this collaborative report and presentation.

Standard 4 – Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools

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During my extended practicum, I received many enriching opportunities to work with parents beyond the classroom setting. Building a good rapport with parents was the key to work and communicate with my students in and out of the classroom.

Gave out numbers and prizes to students

I helped in giving out numbers and prizes to students at Family Math Night.

One prominent example was the Grade 2 and 3’s Family Math Night. I particularly enjoyed this school-wide event to work closely with the parents together. School teachers and the Vice-Principal invited students and their parents to play math games, eg. tangram, bingo, candy number line, spaceship building, estimation jar, etc. on a weekday evening in the school gym. I helped to facilitate different stations handing out prizes for the bingo and stimulating family conversations about math. It was amazing to see that families came together to celebrate math through games, as opposed to doing worksheets at home. I have been very grateful for the support from parents and grandparents that made this family math night experience possible. For example, they arranged behind-the-scene activities such as transportation, food and chaperon. Parents were also present to support the math conversations between teachers and students at different game stations. It was eye-opening to learn math stories from students that we normally did not hear at teacher-parent interviews and student conferences. As an educator, I witnessed that a difficult subject like math becoming alive when students were given a relaxing opportunity to share a math experience in common with their families and peers.

Both at home and in school, parents held an important role in helping the students to succeed and grow. Through their presence, my school advisor and I were able to work effectively with the students to discuss academic or social issues on a daily basis, as well on the Report Card Day. Their support also meant a lot in our fieldtrips, student conferences and sports events. I deeply cherished all the little and big help given from parents and the school community, so that my lessons were meaningfully delivered to my students.

Standard 5 – Educators implement effective practices in areas of planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting

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In order to implement effective practices of planning, instructing, assessing, evaluating and reporting, I used a wide collection of teaching materials from my university coursework, practicum school and local libraries to create my units. One of the units that I made an extensive use of resources was the poetry unit on similes.

A) PLANNING & INSTRUCTING
In this Language Arts unit, students were invited to imagine, create and write a monster poetry. They worked through the processes as a writer from brainstorming ideas to structuring similes in a poetic form that brought enjoyment for reading.

In the beginning, I read to my students some interesting books that modeled the exemplary use of similes. Then, students were invited to explore similes through their five senses, which was based upon a previous Science unit that we did together. In small groups, I guided students on how to explore language through a variety of art materials to see, hear, feel, taste and smell them with descriptive similes. Here are some examples written by my students:

as crunchy as an apple
as sweet as cotton candy
as sharp as a sword
light like a feather
green like slime
hot like a fire

After some initial practices, students began to draw their aliens and use similes to describe their look and personality.

Our alien class visitor invited students to create more aliens with description using similes!

Our class visitor invited students to create more aliens using similes!

They were asked to shared in their small groups first and then in the whole class. Looking through students’ examples, I checked in with those who needed extra help. In the final stage, students put together a poem of similes and took the time to write their own drafts, find their mistakes and finish with a good copy. Here is an example of my student’s poem:

My Extraordinary Class Visitor by D.
Come and meet my alien friend, Rader!
His arms are as sharp as a pencil.
His feet are as loud as a thunder.
His head is as slippery as a soap.
His eyes feel as hot as a fire.
His nose smells like bart.
His teeth are as dirty as a puddle of mud.
His voice is as scary as an 
earthquake.
Rader is happy as you and me.
What a pleasure for us to meet!

B) ASSESSING & EVALUATING
My school advisor and I used two types of assessment throughout the unit.

i) Assessment as learning: Students used a checklist to find mistakes in their work and edit their peers’ work. It was meaningful for them to make their own corrections.
Student Writing Checklist

ii) Assessment of learning: We used the class rubric and Ministry’s Performance Standards for writing to assess students’ writing. As I was reviewing students’ writing, I took the opportunity to reflect upon my own teaching and identify ways to support students who excelled way above and those who struggled to pass.

My school advisor and I used a class-generated rubric to give students feedback on their writing.

a class-generated writing rubric

C) REPORTING
For the year-end reports, I was given the opportunity to grade and comment on students’ writing in Language Arts. It was remarkable for me to work through an array of writing samples from students, for example, their poems, thesis paragraphs, fairy tales, journals and book reports. With my school advisor, I was able to draw from a diverse pool of students’ writing and work out some solutions to make the writing process go more smoothly for them. From this collaboration, I became more aware on how to use a collection of assessment to communicate with students and support them on their journey, as opposed to giving them a grade only.

As an educator, I strive constantly to create a nurturing environment that fosters reading and writing in the classroom. By reading frequently to my students, I aim to inspire a love for reading and writing so that they would find them not only practical but enjoyable through a common experience of literature in the classroom. I also encourage my students to write often in their journals to express how they feel and think about their challenges and successes in writing or any other subjects that they like. Through effective teaching practices, I hope to bring forth enjoyable lessons to my students and enable them to grow from their unique learning experiences.

Standard 6 – Educators have a broad knowledge base and understand the subject areas they teach

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In order to equip myself as an educator with broad knowledge and understanding of the elementary subjects, I made use of the exemplary resources from my mentors and colleagues to support and guide my classroom teaching.

During my extended practicum, I used a wide array of tools to show my Grade 2 students in the geometry unit how to think mathematically by asking questions, making connections, visualizing, reasoning and solving problems.

1. INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH
At first, I checked for understanding from students about shapes by asking them to write what they knew on a post-it note. As a class, we put together all the notes on a board and identified questions that led us into the unit.

Because not every student remembered the concepts and terms from last year’s class, they were given some “play time” to engage with shapes and solids hands-on by using tangram pieces, blocks, toothpicks and marshmellow to construct.

Students used blocks to review their understanding on geometric concepts.

Students used blocks to review their understanding on 3-D geometric concepts.

Practice building various 3-D solids using toothpicks and marshmellows

Students constructed 3-D solids using toothpicks and marshmellows.

As students began to connect mentally with different shapes in their hands, I decided to engage in a multi-modal approach to develop students’ interest into more abstract levels of geometry.

2. PROCESSES AND SCAFFOLDING
The integration of literature, fine arts, music and technology allowed me to bring alive the concepts of geometry to students. In class, they worked on a math dictionary, math rap and play games like ‘Tangram,’ ‘Shapes in the Bag,’ and ‘What Does the Shape Say.’ For outside, they recorded their finding of shapes and solids from the playground equipment and school garden.

Students create their own animals using tangram pieces.

Students used tangram pieces to create their own animals.

A student used more than 7 tangram pieces to create her own image.

A creative student used tangram pieces to build beautiful patterns.

Apart from using school textbooks, I gave students real-life math problems and math journals to work in class. The topic of geometry became relevant in our daily lives to communicate with others.

3. COLLABORATION
In the final stage, students employed their understanding of 2-D and 3-D geometric properties for the School Building Innovation Project. Working in groups of 2-4, they were able to identify different 2-D shapes from the buildings that they constructed. They applied the properties of 3-D solids to build different models of school gym, playground and church. It was both challenging and fun.

Students discussed and built their work together in progress.

Students discussed and built their work together in progress.

Students made some buildings out from modeling clay and straws.

Students made some buildings out from modeling clay and straws.

With the help of my school advisor, I evaluated this unit using a School Building Innovation Project Rubric to assess students’ individual work and their ability to work together in a group setting.

Throughout this unit, students are able to exercise their math knowledge and skills to problem-solve, construct and be creative. The use of language and fine arts, as well as technology, is beneficial for us to explore math in an interactive environment. I implement small lessons to instruct and scaffold students to reach the final stages of evaluating and creating (on the Bloom’s Taxonomy) in the unit-end project. Because math is one of the core subjects at the elementary level, I strive to develop more hands-on materials and creative ways for students to participate and build a strong foundation in this area.

Standard 7 – Educators engage in career-long learning

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As a continuing ed. student, I am currently taking courses in the post-graduate diploma education program to specialize in human development, including early childhood education, special needs and counseling. In one of my early childhood education courses, I have written an integrated unit for Kindergarten on environment education because I am passionate about sustainability and how it may be introduced to the young starting in the early years.

Kindergarten Unit Plan on Environmental Sustainability:
Recycling Kindergarten Unit Plan

The unit direction is to engage students as “little researchers” to make observations, ask questions and create their own projects in the natural environment. Based on the approach of inquiry-based learning, I ask students to draw on what they have known and would be open to explore. Then, they are invited to come up with their solutions to current environmental problems using various representations. For their unit-end assignment, their mission is to make an impact through an activity in the classroom or the school community to raise an awareness of environmental sustainability. Hands-on experiences are required for both teachers and students, such as growing different kinds of vegetables, going on an outdoor exploration, recycling lunch items, etc. Environmental education, inquiry-based learning and research-type questions are innovative topics for me as an educator to motivate students to participate fully in the classroom setting.

I believe that it would be imperative to participate in the greater teaching community, such as the university, the school board, the BC Sierra Club and the urban farmer groups to promote environmental education. By networking and attending Pro-D Day training, I come to meet with like-minded educators from different sectors and share community resources to support each other. I very much look forward to using my kindergarten unit plan for my classroom practices in the school community.

Standard 8 – Educators contribute to the profession

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As an educator, I witness how environmental education transforms our minds in the way we approach learning, working with the young generations for the care of our environment. In a UBC class project for EDST 451 (Issues and Frameworks in Environmental Education), I provided an evaluation to a lesson plan that was originally written for the Ontario Curriculum by the David Suzuki Foundation. Guided by Dr. Robert Vanwynsberghe, I have made some suggestions from the perspective of a classroom teacher with recent research to a lesson plan that aligns to the current BC Curriculum.

Here is my teaching proposal to the David Suzuki Foundation:
Aligning “Gone with the Wind” Lesson H by David Suzuki Foundation to the BC Curriculum

My academic involvement with the curriculum design helps me to visualize how learning outcomes guide teachers and students to approach in a way that works best for all. My UBC colleagues and I have been inspired to hear stories from outdoor educators, visit the UBC Farm, talk with the staff from Metro Vancouver on the current educational projects throughout the Greater Vancouver. The membership of Environmental Educators Provincial Specialist Association (EEPSA) also provides me with helpful resources and support to promote environmental education. I would hope to contribute to the teaching profession by helping my colleagues and students to stay physically active, go for outdoor exploration and develop sustainable habits. I look forward to organizing school field trips for my students and colleagues, such as visiting urban gardens, energy-efficient buildings and local recycling programs, to stimulate conversations and enrich the common experience of our current living world.