Mr. Legare's Digital Portfolio

Classes at UBC BEd have started up and are in full swing once again. The main 3 main focuses for this semester are Classroom Management, Assessment, and Inquiry.

I am going to focus on Classroom Management.

What do I want my classroom to look like? More specifically, when I walk into my drafting classroom, what do I want/expect to see from my students? All of this depends on what way I decide to go about managing my classroom. I have seen dozens of different classroom management styles growing up, ranging from totalitarianism style teachers, to more democratic ones; but what works? I find that we all subconsciously inherit teaching habits from out past instructors. We begin to think a certain way is the proper way simply because it worked well for us. As an up and coming educator I need to make sure I don’t fall into this cycle.

Back to what I want my classroom to look like. I want to walk into my classroom and see my students smiling and enjoying there work. I want to see students helping other students. Most importantly, I want my students to be motivated to do their work. This is all good in theory, but the real question is how do I achieve this? The truth is that I don’t totally know yet. I simply have not had enough experience in front of a chalk board to be able to decide how I will make all of these wonderful things happen. What I do know is that I can do my best to create an inclusive space for every student. I believe this is the first step to creating a positive classroom environment, making every student feel like they important and welcomed. Another thing that I plan to incorporate into my teaching is creating somewhat of a Magna Carta with my classroom. I want to come up with the rules for the class through a discussion based assignment, one where we can discuss accountability, self-regulated learning, assessment, and discipline. I feel that if every student is a part of the decision making process, they will feel more obligated to uphold the rules of the class because the expectations are laid out by them. I guess the only way to figure all of this out is to try new things on my practicum, and to learn and build from my failures.

TL

Classes at UBC BEd have started up and are in full swing once again. The main 3 main focuses for this semester are Classroom Management, Assessment, and Inquiry.

I am going to focus on Assessment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               As classes began, I was instantly confronted with a large question. How will I assess my students? At first the answer seemed simple, through testing of course, thats what teachers do right? Im at UBC to become an educator, but more specifically a tech and trades educator. I know from my own experiences that a lot of the classes don’t have tests, or final exams. Tech Ed is largely centred around final product quality, how well does the “project” meet the standard. If a student hands in a beautiful replication of the project, A+. If a student hands in something that barely looks like the project, C-. This is how high school was for me, because of that I think I unknowingly assimilated the idea that this was just how it works, but thats not true. I have been learning that as an educator I can abolish the idea of a “standard” in my classroom. Instead of assessing everyone on the final product, I will assess how they individually achieved their final product. What progress did they make throughout the process, and did their attitude show me that they put in the effort. For myself, I believe this is the most effective way of assessing students because it tailors to their individual needs and achievements. At the end of my day I don’t want to just be pushing students through a program, I want to work with them and help them see their work to the end, and show them that everyone is capable when you apply yourself.

TL

I wish everyone who happens to read this blog a merry merry christmas!!

Enjoy,

TL.

This is a link that will take you to the newly drafted BC curriculum documents for Technology Education!

http://www.bctea.org/new-curriculum-drafts

Cheers,

TL.