CFE Reflection – Week 2
The second week of my CFE at Fraser Park has been more interesting that the first week, but that’s mainly been because of the extra-curricular things that I have done while at Fraser Park, as opposed to any surprises that I was having with the daily routine.
While within the classroom, I’ve noticed that the students were far more willing to communicate with me and ask for help on assignments, even if they weren’t totally sure that I knew what I was doing. Even if I didn’t know what I was doing, for example in the art class or in some of the science classes, the students seemed more willing to let me sit in and watch, and if I truly didn’t know what I was doing the students themselves seemed eager to show me what they knew and to interact with me. Most of the time we did talk about school related things and the topics of conversation had to do with what they were doing, or something else that was related to another subject they were taking, but sometimes the conversation was just idle conversation and discussions of things that weren’t part of the curriculum. In particular, I noticed this week that many of the students in my classes were asking me about the teacher education program at UBC, or at least about the community field experience that led all of the student teachers to be assigned to Fraser Park for our three week period. Because of the interest in the CFE and all of the student teachers that had been arriving and coming through the classes, I took the time to ask some of the students how they felt about having so many new volunteers come visit them in the school portion of their day. Most of the students admitted that they did enjoy having us in the classrooms because we were something different and it did change up their routine a little bit to have new teachers to talk to and get help from.
Outside of the classroom, there were two major events that I took part in which I felt improved my experience at Fraser Park, and which I think have helped improve my ability to interact with the students. Last week the students of one of the living units invited me to visit them on unit at a certain point during the day, and I asked for permission to fulfill that request. This past Monday I was finally able to go and visit the students during their lunch break, and we were able to interact more casually and outside of the context of the classroom and their immediate school work that was placed before them. The first thing I noticed was that the residents were far more relaxed in their living unit than they are in any of the classrooms, and that they were willing to be much more talkative and lively than they normally would be in the classroom. Some of the residents of those units have moved on to other locations, but the ones that remain have been particularly cooperative in the classes that I have had with them, and one of the students encouraged me to join him and his cohort while they were working out in the fitness centre later in the week. It is Sunday morning and I am still feeling a bit sore from that particular session of strength training, but having me be among the students while they worked out certainly appeared to increase their focus on what they should be doing, if only so that they could show off how much stronger than me they are.
The other event that occurred was the weekly Wednesday afternoon chess club. I used to play chess somewhat competitively back in elementary school, and I’ve always enjoyed playing whenever I get the chance, so I thought it would be another good opportunity to interact with the students outside of the classroom setting and to test their chess skills against someone they hadn’t seen or played against before. I will admit that I thought I was going to do well in the chess club and that I would be continuing in my role as a teacher in that setting as well. I was wrong. The students at Fraser Park are quite formidable chess players, and I spent most of my time there being defeated by a series of different players. I think this was good for the students as well, not just because they enjoy winning but so they can see that we’re human too. They were good wins too, I don’t believe in holding anything back when I get involved in competition, so they were definitely defeating me when I was doing my best.
I’m not likely to be returning to unit for another meal, but I do think I will go back for another round of Wednesday chess club and try to make a better impression on the players. In the final week of the CFE I will be focusing on building up my portfolio of different techniques that can be used to encourage reluctant students to focus on their task for the block, and what can be done when students are refusing to cooperate.