I’m sad that my time in the classroom is over. The best part of both the practicum and CFE has been the interactions with the students and seeing them grow in their learning and as a person. At both schools the staff were so welcoming and kind to me. The students are very lucky to have these people as their teachers.

I team taught an undemo for chemistry 11 with my supervisor, the main point being that ions in solution conduct electricity. We had different solutions that were tested with this contraption:

The lightbulb lights up when an ionic solution is tested.

I also helped TOC a drama class. I was so tired after that I took a nap as soon as I got home. Grade 8’s have so much energy. We spent half an hour playing games running around the classroom and the other half they worked on their monologues. I had a lot of fun joining in. It was good practice for the probable future of TOCing before getting my own classroom.

Monday was lab day:

I helped set up a titration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl).  To apply stoichiometry calculations in a lab setting, students had to use a molar ratio to determine the concentration of acid from the volume of base (of known concentration) added to the acid.

We ran the lab for two different blocks.

It was very different running the lab for 60 minutes versus the 80 minutes I had during practicum. A lot more prep had to be done for the students because of the time constraint. I really had to exercise my classroom management skills to ensure that everyone was following instructions and were moving at a good pace to ensure that they could complete the lab in time. I really liked that the students took it as a challenge to create a solution of the faintest pink colour and worked together with their bench mates.

My time this week at VC was cut short because of the Whistler Music Festival.

I went up with Templeton, my practicum school, to help chaperone the students. I got to see students from my practicum school perform pieces I had heard them rehearsing since I stepped into the school in November. There has been a lot of growth in the students and their music and I was very proud of their performance.

The community of music teachers and event organizers were very inclusive even though I do not have a music degree or play an instrument. I felt like a wolf in disguise with my chemistry teachable.

I hope in the future to find more cross curricular activities for my students that combines music with science. I’ve been thinking for sure that I will do some sort of music video project that covers a concept taught in class. I was also thinking about connecting the two subjects through frequency and waves in the junior sciences. With collaboration days becoming more common in schools I hope I will be able to connect with other teachers and create engaging and meaningful material.