Author: Steven Pace

At the beginning of the year, I thought that creating an inclusive classroom was the most important attribute of my teaching philosophy. After (briefly!) teaching at a secondary school in North Vancouver, I believe that this philosophy plays an integral role in any classroom, but what is most important to me is building strong teacher-student relationships. I was shocked at the differentiation between high school students, mainly because when I was a secondary student I existed in a very tight bubble (close friends, accelerated subject groups, team sports, etc.) and did not go out of my way to meet new students. Now, as a teacher candidate, you are responsible for every single student, and each one has a very unique life story to tell. My favorite part of teaching (so far!) has been getting to know students at a more personal level, simply because I like hearing about what makes them tick, and am genuinely interested in what they do (both in and out of a school context). At first, I was a little apprehensive of getting to know individual students, namely because teachers are supposed to conduct themselves in a very professional manner, but I feel as though I am too empathetic to put myself on a pedestal and ignore all the factors that make up an individual. I strongly feel that as I get to know my students better, I can tailor my lessons and the curriculum to better suit their needs, and also be more respectful of their lives (for example, if I know half the class is away for a choir trip, I’ll try my best to not schedule too much homework for that trip). Furthermore, building strong relationships helps me foster inclusive and encouraging classroom environments in many different ways. First, I feel as though stress and anxiety levels decrease, because students are more comfortable expressing themselves to me and their classmates. Second, I believe learning is enhanced because students are less willing to dabble if they feel their instructor truly cares about them. This point relates to a final attribute of my teaching philosophy, which is respect is paramount in the classroom. This is not simply teacher-student respect (and visa versa), but also student-student respect. Very few things get me fired up as much as an individual (student or otherwise) disrespecting another. When I interact with students at a personal level, and incorporate these ideas into my classroom, they are more likely to respect both me and each other. I feel it is necessary to incorporate strong teacher-student relationships, foster inclusive classroom environments, and build respect in the classroom, all of which form the core of my teaching philosophy.

In the previous semester, a major part of our UBC BED program consisted of unit and lesson planning for the long practicum. I used this time to create a pair of unit plans (for IB Biology and Biology 12), in the hope of using these for my practicum. However, as we near our start dates for the long practicum, we have been given a lot of new information and pedagogical techniques to implement during our practicum. The interesting note is that I never considered using these ideas, such as backwards implementation of subject matter (which looks to be particularly useful in planning our units and lesson), and have been noticing countless ways to improve my unit plans from last semester. This is noteworthy because I feel these techniques will help us all out in the long run, so I wish to readjust my original plans to incorporate the new ideologies that I’ve learnt this month.  I almost wish that these classes had been included before the winter holidays, as it would have been more streamlined and efficient for the BED program to know this information before formally writing our unit plans.  That being said, I am glad these classes were included before our long practica, as it gives us some time to adjust our previous documents and make any necessary changes. For me, it is really noteworthy because the first unit I am about to teach in Biology 12 (focusing on respiration and circulation) has changed a small amount. I have been making a lot of changes to this original unit of mine, and this had made it much easier to incorporate the new knowledge I have gained this month (namely on assessment, social emotional learning, and backwards implementation). I look forward to prepping more for my long practicum, and cannot wait to get into my classes, interact with the kids, and really start to get my feet wet. After all, that’s what we’re all here for!

In two weeks time I will be at my practicum school getting ready to teach my first classes in Biology 12. We will be focusing on a few aspects of human physiology, namely the circulatory and respiratory systems. I am very excited to (finally!) teach in a classroom, and even more excited to plan my own lessons and activities. I have been given quite a large amount of freedom from both my faculty and school advisers,  and am feeling confident in my ability to perform at a high level. Much work needs to be accomplished before I begin teaching, namely I am not pleased with my current level of understanding of both topics. I would rate my current knowledge as “acceptable” but more needs to be done for me to confidently teach these subjects. I would not be pleased with myself if I were to teach any topic for any class and not have a strong understanding of what I was teaching, and this goes double for my subjects of expertise (biology and sciences). Once I am confident with my knowledge, I can really start to spend time on providing the class with as many applicable and meaningful contextual examples as possible. I feel as though this is very necessary in science because it is very easy to lose track of the end product. For example, when learning about the respiratory system it is very easy to lose touch with the importance of a healthy immune system and respiring. However, when one learns about the difficulties that individuals with cystic fibrosis or sickle cell have, one begins to form a very meaningful relationship with their body. Furthermore, these examples provide necessary context for why one should learn about human physiology, because when we have the tools and the information pertaining to how our bodies function we can take the steps to ensure that we stay healthy. My first lesson revolves around this concept as I am going to demonstrate how healthy lungs function compared to smokers/cancerous lungs. Normally I despise using “scare tactics” to drive home points, but in this context I feel the comparison is necessary. It is (relatively) difficult for one to examine their lungs (and many other physiological processes), but seeing the difference in person creates something much more substantial then simply labeling the important structures in respiration.