Finally back in the class after a long break.

It is surprising how much I missed the class and the students. Each student is an unique personality and they are so special.

It did not feel that I was away from the class for so long. I picked up where I left off.

After being back I did notice that the students were a little different. I do now know if it was the outcome of coming back from the break or a development in their personalities. They were all so focused. This was prominent in the quality of work in one of the Language Arts activity they were doing.

The class was so reflect on the goals they had set out for themselves in the first term. Once that was done the students were to come up wit new goals for the second term. When reading some of the goals from the first term in comparison to their new goals in the second terms they all seemed to be focused on academics.

As an educator I was very happy to see that my students were willing to develop, learn and grow to become better students. What else could an educator ask for?

I would like to start off by saying I missed the students a lot. I was so excited to go back on Thursday morning, especially, to see those students who I have been working very closely with.

It was so comforting and lovely to see the students greet me with such excitement and compassion. It was such a warm feeling. Even though I was in the class for two week I realized I get to learn something new about the students every time.

Just before lunch an announcement was made for all the Aboriginal students to attend a lunch that had been arranged. My first instinct “There is no one from our class.” Was I ever wrong. Two of the students got up to go attend the lunch. I was caught by surprise. I did not know I had two Aboriginal students in my class. I thought this would be a great way to connect with these two students. So during a independent activity I approached one of the students. I had asked her how her lunch was. I then started asking her questions about what she knew about her background and culture. She did  not know much. I then asked her about her family. That was not a good idea. She told be about her family dynamic. It was very complex. I felt guilty. I did not think such a simple question would strike up a complicated conversation. The emotions on the students face were devastating.

Thinking back to that moment. I am hesitant to ask an question surrounding family dynamic. I was unable to forget the students reaction all day.

It is remarkable how fast time passes. These two weeks just flew by!

Being in the class and interacting with the students directly was such an amazing experience. It incredible to see how the concepts and ideas we learn in class play out in reality.

This week my main focus was to act upon the recommendations and feedback I received on the delivery of my lesson plan. My main focus was classroom management, specifically, pause time. My previous lessons were always in the morning, but, to challenge myself I delivered my last two lessons in the afternoon. WOW! Was that a surprise. The kids excitement and energy levels were much different, hence the lesson went on for a longer time than I expected. I had to pause a lot between activities. There were times where I had to walk over to the student and remind them to stay on task. One time I had to take away the object the student was occupied with.

There was one particular time, which involved me calling out on a student. I felt really bad, but he refused to listen to directions throughout the lesson. The student was preoccupied making a paper finger, something they learned in science the day before. I redirected him four times to put all the material away, however, he refused to listen. Finally, I had to stop the class, call upon the student’s name. I asked, “Student A are you listening?” He replied, “Yes, I am.” I then asked him to repeat what I had said. He could not do that. Then I addressed the whole class on manners and the importance of being respectful. The student went red in the face, but, he stayed on task after that.

I am still  unsure if that was the right thing to do. In the moment it seemed like it was appropriate. Teaching is a learning experience, all I can think is that I have a lot to learn. I will make mistakes and that is the only way I will learn.

I had waited so patiently for this practicum to start. I wanted to jump in and get started, however, I learned to control my enthusiasm!

This week has taught me a lot. The reality is very different. As a teacher your plan to stay on task and get certain tasks accomplished is unlikely. There are so many unexpected concerns, challenges and issues that come about that a teacher has to address in the midst of the day plan. Not everything a teacher plans will happen accordingly. There is always a shortage of time. Also, one task is not done in just one lesson. So much to do and such little time.

In my first week I taught my SEL lesson. It was the third lesson that I had done with the class. I do not know if it is a good thing or bad, but I was not nervous. I had a lesson plan ready, however, I went with the flow of the class and the reactions of the students. My SEL lesson was done within 40 min, which I was very happy with. The kids were engaged throughout the activity. Towards the end the kids were a bit more distracted but it was not too bad. I was very surprised as the behaviour of some of the student. The kids that are known to “act out” or those who were “easily distracted” were on their best behaviour and those who are always on task were acting like jokers.

The one aspect I do have place more focus on is the pause time. It is OKAY if I have to wait a little while for the all the students to settle down. I used the bell to get the students attention but there were times where the students were not interested in listening. They were able to quiet down but continued to chit chat with some of their group member.

After my teaching experience, I want to challenge myself by engaging the students in more complex activities. These activities might involve drama. I have learned that is okay for a lesson to plan. It is okay, as this is the only way to learn what works and what does not.

Let’s see what next week has in store!

Good afternoon,

Energy has been high this week due to Halloween. The chaos was absolutely delightful to be a part of. It took me down memory lane of when I was in elementary school.

My observations is where my inquiry question has stemmed from.

In the afternoon the class was invited to attend a haunted house the grade seven class has created. As we walked towards the haunted house one of the students stopped and sat on chair in the hallway. I was very confused as to why he stopped. Another classmate questioned his action as well. The boy kept saying “take a guess why?” The other student said “you got into trouble, you were misbehaving…”Even I ran out of ideas. When we got back to the class I had asked my SA as to why the student did not participate. I was then told the student is a jehovah witness, thus, the student does not participate in anything. In the transition to the next activity another student asked “Hey! where were you” some answered “don’t you know he doesn’t celebrate anything.” Looking at that particular incident I was bothered in some sense. I did not know how to react to that. That student did not participate in any activity that had a halloween theme.

Thus, my inquiry question is associated to cultural impacts on the student and student’s perspectives. I have not narrowed it down to the precise question, but I would like to look into this topic.

This week was my first day in the grade 4/5 class in which I will be doing my short term and long term practicums. I spent majority of my time observing the different characters in the class. I wanted to see who was the classroom “clown”, “over achiever”, “popular kid”, and “good listener”.  I finally got a chance to get a good sense of the classroom community.

These kids are so talented. They have so many good ideas that they want to share, explore. They are so eager to do everything.

There was one student that really stuck to me while I was in the classroom. He was very quiet when working on the tasks assigned. I assumed he was a quite kid, but when it came to interacting with his peers he was very involved. I was very confused with his behaviour. I shared my observations with the classroom teacher. She gave me the background of the student, which entailed neglect in the home environment due to the size of the family. He was one of the seven children of that family. Through out day I felt myself gravitate towards him. I was trying to get him to converse with me. I was trying to see what he liked and did not like. I was giving him positive feedback on the work he was doing. I just wanted him to feel as though what he did, said and thinks does matter. I know I could not fill the void, but, I still wanted him to feel he was being noticed.

How do I refrain from feeling this way? Every classroom is going to have certain students who come from different family environments, how do I help them? Is it even my place to do something? Would I be intervening in the students life if I were to try to help/comfort the student? Is it normal to become emotional?

What a day to simply absorb and embrace all the characters of a classroom.

Today, I was focused on observing all the different characters of every classroom while still keeping in mind the ways in which teachers ask questions and how the students answer. As an observer I felt the teachers were constantly asking questions, either it be while reading a story, providing instructions or trying to engage the students in a conversation. It almost left like the teachers were acting like the young child that keeps saying “But why?”…”But why?”.

As childish it may seem to being asking so many question, it is actually the simplest way to know what the students know. It is a way to assessing their funds of knowledge. I observed as a teacher you have to ask many questions and that too in various ways as the students provided answers that are very general, however, the more questions that are asked the more specific the question get. Asking questions is actually way of letting a student know what they know and what they do no know. It also engages their curiosity as well. Listening to the responses of their peers either a student will give the same answer or will try to give a different answer. Most of the times I observed a student would rephrase what the first student had provided as an answer.

There was one incident that stuck out to me the most. A teacher was asking the students “what things around us are blue?”. As the students were giving there answers the teacher was drawing the items on the chart. There was one student in the class that has an EA for support. The EA was not in the class at that time. The student was very fidgety, but it seemed as though he/she knew exactly what to do to self regulate. However, there were a few times where the teacher did not pick the student to answer as he was being disruptive. When she did pick the student to answer he/she actually got more frustrated. The student’s speech was challenged, therefore, when the student answered “sharks” the teacher heard “socks”. The teacher was unaware of the student’s frustration. The student was now being more disruptive than before.

Observing this incident I did not feel asking questions was helping that particular student. How am I as a teacher supposed to accommodate that student? What strategy should I use to effectively engage all students who may have a variety of learning challenges?

My very first day at school as a teacher candidate…

I could not sleep all night. My stomach was full of butterflies. It reminded me of the first of school as a student.

I did not know what to expect from the day. When I entered the first class I was very nervous as I did not know what to do. Do I stand in one spot? Do I try to communicate with the students as the teacher is teaching? Do I approach the students and try to help them as they work on the activity? What kinds of questions do I ask the teacher? What does the teacher think of me? All these questions were running through my head at the same time.

Thinking back to my time in the three different classrooms it is now clear that not every class is the same. Not all the classes require the same type of support. Not all classes are made up of the same students. Not all classes will have the same sense of community. Not all classes will function in the same way. Not all resources and activities will have the same outcome in all the classes.

Observing all three classes I have a better understanding of the challenges I as a teacher may come across. There is a difference between discussing the possible challenges and then actually witnessing them and then resolving the challenges in a timely manner.

As a teacher candidate I need to develop a certain skill set in order to efficiently manage a classroom and become an educator. I need to be flexible with time, students and the activity on hand. I need to adapt to the different situations that may arise as students interact with one another. I need to understand that if a student is not in the mind set to function I first need to calm the student down and progress forward. I can not expect a student to follow my directions if he or she is not ready.

I have come to a realization that there is much more to being an educator. A teacher is not only an educator but a support system a student looks up to for stability, support, and motivation.

I extend my welcome to all teacher candidates on my journey of a SEL teacher candidate to a SEL teacher.

I would like to share my experiences as a SEL teacher candidate with you, my PEERS! I hope to provide thorough reflections on my experience and seek support when challenged.

Together we can collaborate and build a foundation of support for one another. Together we can become SEL educators!