“We learn how to teach by doing.” This was a common reminder throughout my two practicums and it is true; we learn what works and what doesn’t by trying it out and tweaking it for next time. I can think of a number of my lessons that went really well and a few that did not go the way I had hoped; and all of my lessons provided important insight into where my students were at, relevant and current interests they had that could maybe be incorporated into a lesson later that week and better approaches to take or questions to ask next lesson.
“What do you want your students to know in the end?” This was another reminder throughout my practicum and weekly planning. The curriculum is important to help keep us on track with what we need to cover, but our understanding of how the material is understood by a grade 1/2 versus a grade 4/5/6 is essential to our planning. The approach is significantly different. With my grades 4/5/6 students, I was able to explore new materials with them, that even if they didn’t understand it right away, their foundations were already at least minimally in place. With my grade 1/2 students, I had to focus on almost entirely the foundations of their future learning. Anything we were learning, we were learning for the first time, which was a shift in thinking that I was not entirely sure how to approach. I had to work with what I knew, and like a zoom in option, I had to go back to the very basics of this existing knowledge and teach in the most simplified way. This was a great practice for me.
Teaching Toolkit
Outdoor Education:
I have learned that there is so much that we can teach outside! I have done a number of mathematics lessons outside that my students did very well with and there is so much more to do. One of the books that was lent to me this year, was A Walking Curriculum by Gillian Judson. It provides concrete examples of the different kinds of academically focused walks you can do with your students. Of course, we kept our walks to school property this year, given the pandemic restrictions for having additional volunteers.
Literacy:
During my practicum in 2020-21 I administered a few PM Benchmark assessments, then in this practicum for 2021-22, I had the opportunity to administer the Dibels reading assessment. Currently, In my AEL (Alternative Experiential Learning) Volunteership with the LST at the same school that I did my practicum this year, I am learning about the Empower and Lexia literacy programs used in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. This will in turn, show me a little more of what my students who have challenges with reading and writing have to navigate, and how I might better support them in our classroom.
I participated in a Structured Literacy Workshop with Liisa Freure and I highly recommend this workshop. She provided an essential breakdown of the Science of Reading for how we teach our students to read. Given the current climate and the latest Right To Read Report and Inquiry in Ontario, I intend to participate in additional workshops with Fun Learning as I await to see the actions taken by our government.
One of the projects I am excited to do with my class is actually something I did for a group project this year, called Four Seasons Make Up A Year, inspired by the book Four Seasons Make A Year written by Anne Rockwell. It is a Language, Science, Arts and Health and Physical Education cross-curricular activity that I would make into a mini-unit.
I will be creating a host of reading manipulatives for my supply-teaching toolkit and will include pictures of this at a later date.
Mathematics:
I had some concerns around teaching math when I first entered the B.Ed program. When I took the How To Learn Math course by Jo Boaler, I became at ease with relearning and teaching math. Even though I had done fairly well in my own mathematics knowledge in my Psychology undergrad (where you have a minimum of three statistics courses), I realized that knowing the math and then knowing how to teach the math are two very different skills. Personally, I intend to bring a poster from Jo Boaler called Maths Class Norms into my classroom.
I believe that mathematics is an interaction with the environment around you. This is partly why I believe that mathematics practice and learning needs to be exercised in pairs or groups, with manipulatives where they can interact with the math problem at hand and also learn from each other, as much as think about their own learning (providing assessment for and as learning observations). I would provide many opportunities for students to lead the discussion while I facilitate and ensure that it remains focused and on task and within the parameters and purpose of our lesson. These opportunities for students to be in charge of their learning and explore different ideas and strategies with their peers, is actually more representative of the real world, than if they are only ever working on worksheets individually.
I have learned that certain strategies in teaching mathematics does not necessarily equate to a successful mathematics lesson, as I would have thought. For example, using mathematics with art (as fun as it is and as much as I will incorporate it in my teaching on occasion), does take away from the math learning of the lesson; especially for the primary grades. When there is too much to focus on, students have a hard time discerning the math from the art.
I was also lent the book Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions (2nd Ed.)
Assessment:
I am including my Assessment Toolkit as I think it will help you to understand my views about assessment and a few ideas for how I intend to use it in my classroom. I am a strong believer is regular communication with students and families. But I am also a strengths-based educator and believe that students are more likely to improve in all areas if we are aware and proactive and not worried and reactive. I do not believe in surprises, so if there is a concern for one of my student’s learning development, then I will act and advocate appropriately to ensure that we provide the necessary interventions early on and continuously.
I am also a human being. I know what it is like to have things going on in my personal and family life that make everything else seem impossible to manage. I will work with my students and their families who are experiencing this as well and support them in whatever way I can.
Desired research/project/conversation involvement around Equity and Inclusion:
I would love to be better part of the conversation, whether in a research/project based way or just a general teaching philosophy/classroom culture kind of way. Some topics include play-based learning in the junior grades; observing the language we use for gifted students*and why it so often is not the same language we use with all students(*see the discussion facilitation project I did exploring the idea that we should be using more of the same strategies and language we use for gifted students for all of our students regardless of differences); As as white teacher, I am responsible for recognizing what resources and discussions are appropriate and what is cultural appropriation.
Some Questions that I am tuning into for myself include, are our schools actually inclusive/equitable in student learning and in how students ‘see’ themselves in their schools. How are our current literacy programs in schools helping our ELL and ELD students? Are we doing enough for the holistic mental health and wellness of our LGBTQ2S students? Who are assessment wait times hurting the most? Is competition driving a lack of empathy in our school system, leaving some of our most vulnerable students to find destructive means of connecting? Are we putting enough pressure on our government to ensure that no more cuts come to our education system and that all education workers are paid their due? Are graded systems helping or hurting our K-9 students, especially now, as we enter a post-pandemic world?
Professional Learning:
I am currently reading a book called No Contest by Alfie Kohn, as I work on a project with a classmate and friend for our final semester, about whether there should be grades or no grades in schools for grades K-9 in a post-pandemic classroom. This is something that I have grown very passionate about. Having grown up in a graded system myself and then having completed one of my practicums in a school where grades were the motivation for students’ progress and the other completed practicum was in a school where they did not provide grades, unless students were receiving D’s and only focused on providing comments about student progress.
So far, there have been compelling arguments for both graded and non-graded systems, through reviewing both peer-reviewed and anecdotal materials.
I will be sure to include our project here for your perusal when it is complete.
As soon as possible, I intend to do my Special Education, Inclusive Education and Outdoor Experiential Education AQs along with some reading and mathematics AQs.
The Nurtured Heart Approach is explored through workshops provided by Heart Lifting Solutions and is something that I would like to participate in when I have settled into a teaching/work routine that will enable me to do so. I absolutely love this approach.
Natural Curiosity has a number of workshops and webinars about incorporating more nature and outdoor education into your classroom. This is something else I will be exploring more of.
If you haven’t been following Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr’s Making Math Moments That Matter, I highly recommend their workshops. They take you through math problems and we work together as a whole group to explore the answers gradually. I will also be participating wherever I can.