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!