Trevor's B.Ed PDP portfolio

The first week at my practicum school has been very busy and exciting so far.  It’s only the Thursday of the first week of what is supposed to be an observation practicum, and I’ve already had a chance to teach parts of lessons and build lesson plans that I could be delivering in their entirety next week.  I feel lucky that I have already had the chance to present at least a part of a lesson to both of my school advisors and to have gotten such wonderful and thorough feedback about what I did, and what I can do to improve my practice for the next set of lessons that I do.

On the topic of feedback, I submitted half a dozen lesson plans for consideration, and it looks like I’m going to be teaching at least three of them next week, even if they’re going to be substantially amended or in at least one case it will be shortened to be only part of a lesson.  Though I’m disappointed that I will not get the whole class to test out my material, I am still very excited that I have an opportunity to do a lesson that is truly my own and not something that my advisor was planning to do and let me do in their stead.

Now that I have presented at least once to each of my advisors, they have been encouraging me to expand beyond my assigned courses and observe courses in other departments, in order to witness different teaching styles and classroom management practices.  I have to admit that it is interesting to see how other classes deal with issues of how to conduct their lessons.  So far I have been lucky enough to take watch part of a home economics class and a physical education class.  Both were very informative about how to ensure that time is managed properly and the extent to which giving clear instructions is important to ensuring that the lesson is completed properly.  With my advisors’ permission, I’m looking forward to being an active participant in one of the PE courses next week.

When I haven’t been preparing lesson plans or teaching the lesson plans of my two advisors, I’ve been learning a lot simply by observing and interacting with the students that are in my classes.  In many ways the students I have observed are very similar to how my own classes in high school acted, but they have also had an eagerness to succeed that I never really found among some of my classmates, especially in the earlier grades.  It’s refreshing and certainly is likely to change my practice, since the students seem very prepared and motivated to succeed.

Tomorrow is going to be a test free day, which will be a nice opportunity to get back into a routine and start observing classes that aren’t full of anxious students worried about exams and their term grades.  Hopefully I can move to a more advantageous position in the room to observe my advisors directly; I am very interested to see what they do in order to get the attention of students and what kind of body and facial language is used to convey meaning.  These are concepts that I cannot observe from my original position in the classroom.

We’re finally here.

In eight hours, I will be stepping into a new school environment for my short practicum.  I wish I could say I had the ability to go to sleep right now, but I’m wired.  Even if the first few days are meant for observation and to get a feel for a high school environment again, I’m excited that this is my first chance to start actively being part of a school community and teaching.  This is a chance to put everything I’ve learned into practice and start understanding why we have the pedagogical system we use as teachers.  More than anything, it’s a chance for me to start my inquiry and see if the methods I want to use for myself really would be feasible in the modern classroom, and its exhilarating to be doing that kind of first person research.

I’m also terrified.  Completely and utterly scared out of my mind that I’m going to fall flat on my face and not be up to standard.  Or worse, that the methods I want to use are the problem instead of a lack of skill as a person.  The only thing I can truly commit to right now is to observe my sponsor teachers as best I can and to reflect on what I see and how it relates to my views of what my practice will look like.  I hope that I can have time to discuss what I would like to do with my sponsor teachers and faculty advisor to determine what changes will have to be made.

My name is Trevor Ritchie, I’m a secondary school teacher candidate focusing on social studies and history, and welcome to my E-portfolio.

This portfolio is a documentation of the growth I will experience as a teacher candidate through the year, including my coursework and the lessons I take from the practical education I will obtain when teaching in high school classes for twelve weeks and the three week community field experience done in the Spring.

Within this portfolio blog you will find many of my thoughts and analyses of the work that I do in my program, with an eye specifically towards how I believe these assignments are helping to shape my growth as a teacher and prepare me to begin teaching full time in a public school classroom.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope the reading proves enlightening.

Today’s entry is just a preview of what is being discussed in the Burnaby School District, and there will be a follow-up blog entry after the upcoming school board meeting reflecting on any new information that is gained about the program.

The Burnaby School Board is currently discussing different kinds of advanced courses for students to undertake, which can be used for first year university credit.  The school district currently uses the Advance Placement program, which was designed by the College Board of America and allows students to register for a course and May exam that can be counted towards first year credit, assuming the student’s grade on the May examination is high enough to award credit.  The current program focuses on fast-tracking students through the Ministry of Education curriculum in the grade 11 year, allowing the whole grade 12 AP course to be focused on the material relevant to the AP examination, in effect making the AP program a minimum of a two year stream for students dedicated and talented enough to challenge the exam relevant to that discipline.  Students are generally able to register for whichever courses their teachers and administrators feel they are capable of succeeding in, based on past year’s successes and failures.  This creates situations where students have a collection of different AP exam results with no unifying theme beyond all counting for first year credit.

This compares negatively with the International Baccelaureate program, which is used in other nearby districts where students are streamed into a high school career long program encompassing multiple disciplines, with the overall goal being for students to obtain course credit in all of the courses in their IB program.  The Burnaby School Board is currently discussing and investigating the feasibility of re-introducing the IB program to Burnaby, as it was shut down last decade from lack of interest in the program.  The AP Capstone Program, which is also being discussed, is an attempt by the College Board to create a similar level of unity in their students by having a series of courses that are taken at the grade 11 and 12 years that are common to all students in the capstone.  Students would have the opportunity to pursue AP courses in the disciplines of their choice, but they would also have to complete these unifying courses which are focused on research and inquiry, essential skills for future university students.  My own experience lies within the Advance Placement program, and I found it helpful to know that while I was interested in the AP psychology class, I would not have to take the AP examination or course in world history or human geography, which were courses where I was less certain of my ability to succeed.  I did end up taking the AP world history course and examination, but that was by choice instead of by requirement as it may have been through the IB program.

With regards to the field of education and how this relates to me as a teacher candidate, I’m quite excited for this program and look forward to one day being a part of a school that offers it to their students.  I believe that having these kinds of advanced programs is beneficial for students who want to gain extra credit and are motivated enough to do the work that needs to be completed.  My main concern as a new teacher is to gain a better understanding of how it is determined which teachers are selected to teach these courses.  I imagine that these advanced courses are given to teachers with longer tenure and more experience in the topic area, and who thus are more likely to be prepared to deal with students who are able to move at a faster pace.  I know that for me that is one of my major worries that I would be asked to teach a course like this and not be able to help my students progress as quickly as they are able and interested in proceeding.

Hopefully the upcoming school board meeting can provide some additional insights into the program and determine how these different advance programs are planning to be run out of a single school district.