It's the final week! I cannot believe how fast the month passed by. It seemed like just yesterday Sharnam and I were planning out lesson one. Now, after multiple guest speakers, workshops, and attending other cohort members' lessons, I have a lot to reflect upon.
I think I really explored my options for this practicum on many terms. For starters, throughout my years of teaching, I know that I teach students the way I was taught growing up; from the textbook, and specifically with an emphasis on reading, writing, and memorizing. I tended to shy away from debates, and group work as a student so I believed what was best for my students was to learn individually and from the textbook. After just 3 months of learning, I find myself using elements of Minds-on to recap previous knowledge learned last week and scaffold new material for this coming week. Finding ways and examples to make chemistry and math more interesting with concrete and practical examples that are understandable at any level are a great way to teach. School doesn't have to be a place where everyone is serious and only teachers get to convey knowledge; school can be a place of self-instruction and differentiated learning where every student is welcomed to find their own path of learning and purpose as well. I've also greatly explored other avenues of knowledge with an emphasis on Indigenous ways of teaching. I now place a heavy emphasis on the land in which we inhabit and feel quite ashamed that I was oblivious to the settlers on this land before us. I often include examples of Indigenous chemistry in my lessons such as making bleach by boiling maple bark, Indigenous tool making, as opposed to just learning about the Thermite process in western chemistry, and harvesting of ayahuasca from the Brazilian rain forests for natural remedies. I wish for my students to express gratitude and not just take things for granted. Joe Foti also touched on this topic during his talk on Nov 23 about modelling behaviour and beliefs that we want to teach. Many classrooms are diverse and many students may feel removed from the field of science and math because teachers are not representing other gender and races in the teachings. Students need to see themselves in the roles and professions that we teach to be inspired and motivated in their studies. Although many representations will not be shown due to the nature of the diverse classroom, I think just showing diversity allows more gender equality and for students to realize that there is the potential for more diversity in the field. Modelling behaviour can also be demonstrated in the classroom by admitting when I make a mistake, showing my vulnerability, and consequently, my willingness to learn and grow. In the lab, although goggles can be uncomfortable to wear, especially overtop of glasses, I need to demonstrate safe behaviour and follow specific protocols in the lab. I am truly thankful for all those who have supported me on my journey to becoming an educator and my instructors at OISE at well. I am especially grateful to my peers for providing such detailed and thorough feedback for me, for eagerly participating in my lessons, and for sharing with me their teaching tricks and strategies for engagement especially in an online setting. My peers are so unique, with so much to share, and are so patient and wonderful to work with. I am extremely fortunate to have IS143 as my cohort and to spend the next 2 years with them at OISE. I have teaching partners forever in my life to help guide and coach me as I enter into new stages of my learning journey. Christina and Philip will always be with me too. I even am grateful for the "hot" conversation topics we engaged in as this shows our strengthened relationship and our abilities to grow and learn from these experiences. Knowing that our perspectives are so different because we come from diverse backgrounds, it's okay and even welcomed because this makes us unique. We should use these experiences as learning opportunities and try to understand why others think a certain way because it could stem from the 20+ years that they lived through which cannot be erased. The diversity in our cohort is what's welcomed or as Joe Foti puts it, we should "celebrate diversity." In addition, learning is meant to be uncomfortable and if we know everything, there is no learning. Most often learning can come from times of tension especially if it happens in the classroom. We may not be the target of the harm, but it can still happen and it's important we learn from this situation and move on. We cannot harbour bias or bring in previous expectations in the classroom with our students as whatever happens outside of the classroom stays outside. Whatever happens in the classroom should be addressed so we can identify the cause(s) of the situation, propose solutions with all parties involved, learn from this experience, and move on. Humans make mistakes. Humans are controversial. This is what makes us human. Acknowledge when we are wrong, or make someone feel uncomfortable, let that individual know that they made you uncomfortable or the other way around, learn from it and move forward. You can teach an old dog new tricks; any age is a prime time for learning. I think this was my biggest take away from this practicum as I used to shy away from controversial debates. I now see myself taking on more (beneficial) risks while teaching such as when I address questions that can have grey answers like the example with melting glaciers vs. combustion as an example of chemical change as both involve heat in the reaction process. In my next practicum, I hope to include more debate style investigations as this can elicit critical thinking and communication skills, allowing students to explore their own arguments within a topic, making them more globally competent citizens. A final thought inspired by Brandon Zoras about de-streaming, and the benefits of the research portion of the MT program, as well as adult education. The adult education reflection is covered under the post Student Works Painting under the Adventures at Home tab. I believe as much as education celebrates diversity, it also has one common purpose and this purpose should be reflected. Perhaps the naming and labelling of applied and academic classes could be reframed but the original intentions that these streaming classes were developed (to allow different learning styles to be explored in schools) could be kept. In addition, being surplus also doesn't necessarily carry a negative aspect of my job career as much of the learning that happens as an educator is done outside of the classroom. I'll admit that I also was apprehensive about the research aspect of the MT program, but especially since I chose a topic I am passionate about, I can see how I can take my research and apply it in the classroom. Research is just another element of my teaching and learning experience. I am grateful for all the learning experiences I have encountered at this point in my life. I know I will continue 2 teach and 2 learn 4ever on my long life journey of being an educator.
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The month of November at DSSS is Indigenous Heritage Month and I'm glad that many cohort members are using this opportunity to bring in Indigenous teachings into their curriculum. We had a great workshop hosted by Jordan's theatre friends who are from Indigenous backgrounds. I thought it was a great experience to learn from a topic that I believe is not touched upon very often in school. Ange Loft spoke about the history of Toronto (Taronto) and how there was conflict among the settlers of the Wendat just like how the history books recounted the events. However, what the books don't often depict are the peaceful times when communities got along harmoniously. This brought up an interesting discussion towards the end of the session with Sounia asking how she can authentically portray the history of the Indigenous people when she teaches history. I appreciated how Ange said to teach a topic that Sounia is interested in and then find an avenue into Indigenous knowledge. I personally believe the more interested someone is about a topic, the more they would search for more sides of the story, in order to depict a more accurate representation of Indigenous history. I think this was the approach that Ange was referring to.
I think what I took away the most from this workshop, aside from the insightful history which I never learned in school, was how we got to create something by the end of the session. Ange had us create a poem using 4 things that we reflected upon. These included something natural that Toronto has to offer, a trait that we appreciated in others, a trait that we exhibit ourselves, and a feeling that we have when we do something good. Together, the poem had sentence starters, "consider the____(first blank)____, when we____(second blank)____. I'll always______ (third blank)____ to ensure______ (last blank)____" I really wanted my poem to be a poem which rhymed and not just a literal piecing of words. It goes like this: "Consider the diversity, when we stand up for adversity. I'll always be creative, so we can ensure we stay true to our motives." I really enjoyed how Indigenous history is made tangible for outsiders such as myself and I get to accomplish something together with the community by acknowledging the who, the what, and the where. I will now reflect on the heated conversations we had after Michiko and Emma's class on Indigenous music. Although I did not partake in the escalating debate, it was very uncomfortable being in the class and not knowing how to intervene. I think for the few bystanders at least in POD B who remained neutral, we were not sure how to de-escalate the situation, and most importantly how to prevent further harm to any other cohort member. Although it was Sharnam and my lesson that was up next, it was Sharnam who was the lead teacher that day and I know she would not be comfortable intervening. This made the decision even more difficult, since on the one hand I would want to respect everyone's opinions and not break anyone's thoughts by ending the conversation on a bad note, if I could even end it that is. The conversation did come to an end when Emma spoke up and gave Sharnam a chance to start her lesson. Although I felt powerless, later in the evening, I followed up with some of the members who were directly involved in the conversation to check up on them. I think since it was the first major disagreement that occurred between our tight-knit group, it was a shaking experience for all and I know if I were involved, I would want someone to check up on me. I think this serves as a great learning opportunity for all, because as future educators, we are bound to get into these uncomfortable conversations when boundaries are crossed and it won't be Philip and Christina's job to dispel conversations like these when we are out in the fields. In the future, I know if this was my classroom and I was bringing up a controversial topic, I would first advise the class of the potential triggers in the following conversation and for students to have the right to remain neutral if they do not wish to participate. I would further emphasize that everyone is entitled to their opinion and although we may not all agree with each other, it's important to respect them as after all, everyone is unique and without difference, the world would be boring, monotonous, with nothing to learn from. Even as fellow cohort members, getting emotional and upset at something someone else said I think, is natural and expected in this circumstance because as a Master's student, we have vast amounts of differing knowledge and experiences that contribute to ourselves and our teaching styles. It is this diversity that makes us better educators, the willingness to learn, grow, and be better than we were before. Update: We had a follow up discussion with the whole cohort today on these uncomfortable conversations. I really appreciated when Josh spoke up to defend Lucy when one of our cohort members presented an idea in a tone that could be better used. This spurred Sounia to speak up and defend everyone's right to their own opinion. I found it very difficult to speak up during the entire conversation because I did not want to offend anyone by adding my opinion. However, I did want to contribute, and thus I chose to speak to individual people through the private chat function on ZOOM as opposed to with a whole group. I know I have a difficult time presenting my opinions that don't align with someone else, and I need to do better in the future. Although it may be little easier due to my position of authority to step in between my students when conversations are taken to the next level, I know it is equally important to present differing views at OISE as this can bring up important discussions and considerations. Ultimately, I believe it will strengthen our relationships even more as we all strive to become better educators. Image credits below go to Emma Richardson who took them from Ange's workshop. She gave me permission to use these images in my portfolio. I've taken a more artistic approach for the school portrait of DSSS after all, it is a portrait. If I were to summarize what I included in the portrait here, the big blue hover ship roughly spanning C5, 6, and D5, and D6 is DSSS and the boxes drawn around the hover ship (C3-4, B3-7, A7, D3, E3-4) depict specific features of DSSS that I thought really represented the school well. These include the SHSM sports curriculum, contact room for student support, all the clubs, ELLs, Anti-Idling campaign, with the cars, Indigenous and South Asian appreciation, along with Beth Lisser's amazing work just to name a few. I've depicted DSSS and its feeder schools as hover ships complete with a robot greeter (D5), escalator up (D5, E5), solar panels (C5-6), and Astroturf field (C6) to represent its emphasis on technological education and innovation. I've also included various natural elements surrounding DSSS including Terra Cotta, Silver Creek Conservation, Heart Lake, and Fletcher's creek to symbolize DSSS's unique geographical location and proximity to nature. Furthermore, I've included shopping areas (Shopper's World), common retail stores (Costco, No Frills etc.), along with food places (Freshii, Harveys, Guru Sweets, J Red and Co's Food and Drink etc.), parking lots with lots of accessible parking spots, and parks/sports complexes because DSSS is a very athletic school. The community is enclosed by the 2 major highways (407 and 410) to symbol the segregation of the community (in my opinion) from the rest of the GTA. This is the geographic location of that DSSS has marked in its school zone. Lastly, I've included DSSS students and some activities that I might see the students participating in if I were to travel to DSSS. These include anti-bullying demonstrations (F5-6, G6), planting trees (B1-2), giving out brochures that tell consumers to stop using disposable take-out containers (E2, F1-2), taking out the trash (E3, F3), thanking a custodian (C6), using solar panels in their individual homes (A3-5), a student sampling water from McGregor Spring pond (A1), and students being active - having a soccer game (E6-7), doing yoga (B6), working out, swimming, and playing hockey at the South Fletcher's Sportsplex (G6-7, H6-7). For full complete factors that I've included in the portrait below, please see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MQlrTFea5erwBinpQreJeJF-cPROWe7WK-jppeyahyk/edit?usp=sharing or access the file below.
When writing assessments, I always think of the audience (my class) and aim to deliver an AoL that incorporates lots of choice, diversity, and encapsulates the mission statement of my home school. The first assessment I put together (titled Assessment #1 attached below), allows students to research more in depth about catalytic converters and explore the arguments surrounding the legal requirement of installing it in every car. Although catalytic converters have been legal in Ontario for the past 35 years, in this assessment, I urge the students to consider the pros and cons and why the Ontario government ultimately decided that the pros outweighed the cons. This assessment has many purposes. For starters, it caters to DSSS's mission to be the change, and to explore environmental as well as technological education. I also included an aspect in the assessment that required students to interview their parents to get an adult's perspective on the issue because their parents are the ones ultimately making the decision to buy cars. By doing so, I urge the students to communicate with their parents and to share their environmental education that they learn at school with their parents as well; something that DSSS values. Finally, I also consider this a critical thinking exercise whereby students will not just accept things at face value as many decisions in society were put in place after careful decisions and considerations from many parties. I hope my students can consider all sides of a debate and not just accept things at face value. For this assessment, I've also designed a rubric that aims to eliminate confusion with "soft" language such as "some, many, insufficient, etc." Instead, I've included numbers of arguments that students should come up with under each level and in class, I would explain and use examples of what a "convincing argument is" in order to communicate effectively the specifics of the assignment. I would take some time to go through the rubric and to see if anyone has any questions to make sure everyone understands their roles. Assessment #2 (I have not formally drafted because I replaced it with a critical thinking activity which I outlined below) is on career exploration designed like a UDL and I think this is an assignment that can be used in any classroom at any home school. For starters, science students often take science courses because they want to understand how the world operates and how living things interact. Thus, an assessment on the practical application of the chemistry concepts that they learn in class is a great way (in my opinion) for students to explore relatedness between school and the real world. I've laid out the framework around single displacement reactions and how exploring careers in metallurgy could be one direction that students take, but as long as the career has chemistry as a major element, the students are free to pursue any direction. The critical thinking activity on single displacement reactions I think is also a great activity to do in any classroom setting, and especially DSSS due to its emphasis on technological and environmental education. Here, students are asked to work in breakout rooms of 3 and document their notes on JamBoard (https://jamboard.google.com/d/1YF9vaNrpbff4LgSOPUQjwPfU8BtMktumtChG6cn4XFo/edit?usp=sharing). They will analyze data from charts that have corrosion rates listed from various materials as well as corrosion rates based on diameters of the pipe. The goal is to find the optimal material and width of the pipe to conduct water to the school. Cost of materials is also included in a separate chart in which students must consider different perspectives to find the optimal design. For example, they are asked to think from the perspective of the school administration team in a less fortunate community, a third-world country where access to materials is scarce, an Indigenous or rural community where well water is the primary source of water, and finally in a school such as DSSS. The hope is to raise students to be globally competent thinkers and know that as North Americans, we are very privileged that we have safe drinking water and sanitation. Credits go to marine.copper.org for supplying the data tables and charts, and Earl Chemistry for supplying the idea. For other AfL and AaL activities, I've put together a lab on single displacement reactions that translates what we might do in class in an online environment. With regards to the needs of our cohort, I've pre-filled the charts in the results sections of the lab and would most likely exclude the fill ins in a SCH3U class at DSSS. The inclusion of a lab is critical, in any science class, in my opinion as many students are kinesthetic learners, and many students take the sciences because they are interested in research in the future. I also noticed that there is no SCH3C course at DSSS and wonder if there may be a reason why not many DSSS students take chemistry. My exit tickets https://docs.google.com/forms/d/139ymj7H4ATpN7KyUIxWC3jXfVcZj5bT1tsMOpTF0_UU/prefill) are also based on slides directly taken from the lesson so students can use it as a gauge to see if they understood the material from class. The benefits of an online learning environment is that these Google Sheets can provide instantaneous feedback allowing students the chance to see their level of understanding before class ends. Furthermore, the use of interactive multiple choice, short answer, draggable, and drawing questions on PearDeck is a really engaging way to teach chemistry. The use of these questions distributed throughout the lesson allows students to focus and put pen to paper - or mouse to screen in a virtual setting - and allows a mini-check in for the students. Finally, I love including fitness challenges in my lessons which can serve as a mini-check in as well as a stretching break that still keeps students engaged in the learning. Often times, when students are given a break, they may take longer getting back to the classroom if there is a long line up in the washroom, at the coffee shop, or they just may be distracted by social media and lose focus. By introducing a fitness break on concepts we just learned, I can test the students' knowledge (if A, then do action X, if B, then do action Z) and even allow muscle memory to develop if I associate the appropriate action with the correct response. For example, students may stand up and sit down if the scenario has lots of collisions, and students may crouch down and sit back up if the scenario has few collisions. This way, I can also cater to different learning styles. The discussion with our chemistry teachable group was fairly interesting and very insightful. Eddia, a year 2 MT candidate who has a class to teach this practicum in a virtual setting provided her input teaching a class of SCH4U. She mentioned that although the use of JamBoard in theory works really well, but in reality, only 5-6 people participate in the breakout room discussions because teachers often don't monitor the breakout rooms. I think this contrasts our APP adapted practicum because when we attend our classmates' lessons, we want to participate and support their teaching in order to give them feedback. Our motivation may not align with the students. In addition, Eddia commented that the class typically has their cameras off so building connection is even more difficult when you don't even know what your class looks like. Again, perhaps only the same 5-6 people are answering your questions in chat. Thus, Eddia mentioned the use of Google Forms as an excellent way to gauge entire class understanding. I think using PearDeck, where the screen projected to the class is anonymous but teachers can see who replied, allows active participation but also teachers to follow up with those who are unsure of the material taught in class.
Alan Silverman's workshop on classroom management really helped me tackle the elephant in the room as everyone wants to think about their students being awesome, willing to learn, and contributing to a positive class environment, but we must acknowledge that this will not always be the case. I really enjoyed how he linked helping students to attachment theory, something we learned in CAD class and something I've spent my undergraduate years analyzing. It really allows the message to hit home and the results to be visualized and tangible as it is something that we all can achieve. I further appreciated Alan's honesty when he addressed that his solutions and methods to manage classrooms might not work for all, and I think this is quite true especially with the scenarios he presented today. I know I have a difficult time disciplining my students as I want them to open up to me, and feel comfortable sharing anything about themselves. However, I also acknowledge that there is a bottom line to everything and Alan puts this into a great perspective when he invites us to learn more about ourselves so that we can find out our own triggers.
Alan stressed the importance of unconditional teaching; that all students need 3 things - love, autonomy, and success. I personally didn't find the 3 things he stressed on to be novel factors, but the way he presented them was quite captivating. I first learned and realized that learners need autonomy when I was operating as an operator under the franchise Student Works Painting (read more about it under blog heading "Adventures at Home"). I learned that teaching older learners (young adults) require a lot of hands-off teaching and learning to let go so I can get them to explore the unknown so they can figure out a method to paint themselves. In the real world, once the students grow up, they will not have someone constantly dictating their schedule and they must learn to prioritize the most salient tasks that require their attention. In school, and especially high school, there needs to be a constant effort to build up that autonomy as students transition into university and ultimately adulthood. Especially since going to school, volunteering, attending extra-curriculars, and doing chores and homework can dictate most of one's schedule, it is important to provide as much autonomy as possible in the classroom. This can be as simple as giving students an independent work period, allowing them to be by themselves and giving them space when they seem distressed, and respecting their property and space around their desks. Students are human beings and deserve as much respect as adults do, if not more for all the roles and tasks that they must do at their age. I also enjoyed the fact that Alan included humour as a necessity in his classrooms as a humourous teacher can engage students in the simplest ways even if the lesson content is quite dry. I love word play and making connections between seemingly disconnected things. I hope my students can appreciate my style of humour and the use of the reframing techniques I use to ultimately come to enjoy my classes. However, my big question which I posed in the chat box during the workshop, remains unanswered. I always find it difficult to balance when to appropriately discipline and when to let something go because I still want to maintain that trust in my students. Alan mentioned that getting to know your students is a great way to build connection, but how much you as a teacher should disclose is also subject to discretion and professional judgment. Academia is full of these grey areas and although I welcome debate, sometimes to prevent myself and others from getting into trouble, I would like a solid black or white answer. For this reason I am glad that we are not alone when facing a difficult decision, class or even student. I know I can always draw upon resources and support from my peers and colleagues if I am ever in need or unsure how to approach a situation. Everyone wants the best for their students and it is this collective goal that allows classroom management to be successful. Every individual and every student is unique. Just as our VARK profiles provide evidence of such, as educators, we need to do a better job of making education personalized. I think part of the reason why I really enjoyed tutoring was the fact that I was allowed to create individualized lesson plans for each student according to their needs. For example, in math, some students prefer to see visuals and move objects around when adding or subtracting integers. This can be modelled with different coloured tiles with one colour representing the positive integers and another colour representing the negative integers. This way, if we add more tiles, analogous to adding integers, then we can visually see how many tiles we end up with. The 2 colours of tiles can also make zero pairs where one of each colour will cancel out and thus students can count the remaining tiles of one colour to see how many are remaining. Other students prefer a less kinesthetic approach to learning but still shy away from mental math and thus may prefer a number line where subtraction equates to moving lower on the number line and addition to moving up the number line. Regardless of the case, I believe one-on-one time can really benefit each student as teachers can get to see which approach works best for which student. For these reasons and more, I believe group work is a great way for teachers to check in with students. For the lessons we are making for the adapted practicum, I've been trying to include more breakout room activities in my lessons with Sharnam. In terms of DSSS, I've taken in multiple considerations from the environmental, technological, and Indigenous education perspectives. I like to say I inspired a trend by using Jamie Vickery's 3-part land acknowledgement as each of the lessons after Sharnam and mine were unique land acknowledgements. "Our beloved Mother Nature is a rare gift and should be treasured because it is responsible for life on Earth and doesn’t deserve the treatment that she is currently subjected to. We acknowledge the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the traditional lands of the 6 Nations Confederacy, the Anishinaabek and Haudenosaunee, and the Dish with One Spoon Treaty area. We will work to protect the land that we live on by promoting environmental chemistry and educating the next generation." I think what Jamie stated about just having something there for the sake of having something there is entirely different than making it personal and acting upon it. I think this can relate to the global 21st century competencies that Philip went over in Fundamentals class. To be globally competent, just knowing that there are injustices in the world is not enough, as one must act upon these injustices. Similarly, what we learned in CAD class with Rupert about allies and how being an ally doesn't just mean you align with someone's view but you must act upon and help that party in order to be considered a true ally. As someone who never heard about the land acknowledgement until I started attending classes at OISE, it is still very foreign to me to use in my daily practice. I even wondered if it was alright to change the wording by making it more personal and relatable to my teachables. I'm glad this answered my question as it is always important to give credit where credit is due and to acknowledge our privileges to live in this beautiful land we call home. Furthermore, I know our POD is a unique class compared to the students of DSSS or other high school students. Many of our POD mates will not remember grade 10 chemistry (a prerequisite for SCH3U) and asking everyone to review their grade 10 science knowledge is not only unfair, but not practical. Thus, Sharnam and I have adapted our lessons in hopes that this previous knowledge will not hinder my cohort members from participating in the lessons. Along with the vast VARK learner profiles of our cohort, finding something for everyone can prove challenging in a 75 min lesson. Thus, I stuck with real-life examples that my class is familiar with as opposed to representing chemical equations with formulas and elements from the periodic table. For example, using the American Presidential debate for a single displacement reaction where Biden over takes Trump in office. I've further tried to include examples of chemical changes that are common to real life such as a chameleon changing colour. In addition, I tried to incorporate DSSS events into my examples such as Rock your Mocs week whereby I have Silicon (and because he's personified to breathe oxygen like a human) and moccasins and thus reacting to give Rock (silicon dioxide is a common chemical formula for rock) your Mocs week. Moreover, I've also included examples of some custodians being more reactive than other custodians as an example of the reactivity series and one way to show that something won't react if the element or substance does not have enough energy. I've demonstrated this by placing a boy and his dog (best pals) on top of DSSS to show that the bully (the element trying to displace the pair) needs to have sufficient energy to reach the top of the building to get to the pair. This shows an example of bullying and what we can do to stop bullying at the school (by making the bully less reactive and to have tight bonds between friends). Thanks to Mira's feedback, I've also realized that although it is easier to write out chemical reactions by hand, some students especially ELLs may not understand handwriting as well as native speakers and thus I should type out the reactions as opposed to writing them out by hand. I think this is a great idea as a future educator, as DSSS is a highly innovative and technologically advanced school and thus black boards would not be as common as smart boards to use in classes. Top left: single displacement reaction with President Biden displacing former President Trump in office Top right: Examples of chemical changes with real life examples Bottom left: Synthesis reaction explanation with Rock your Mocs week example Bottom right: Introducing reactivity series of metals using custodians in honour of Peel Custodian Appreciation Day. I attended the I-STEM virtual open house on Nov 12 to get another perspective on diversity in education. I like how they consider not only the curriculum but social implications and skills that STEM courses can bring to students. This is a school in Burlington that specializes in STEM education preparing students for a career in the STEM fields.
The image below was taken from the open house where the key student insights are provided for a futuresque world of 2067. My first instinct is that these insights are not anything new. In fact, these are insights all teachers try to incorporate and promote in their learning in the classroom today. I think this stems from the fact that education ultimately has the same goals across cultures and disciplines; to help students grow into successful adults and thrive in their present society. I think one of my favourite factors of this pedagogy is that the curriculum is updated as teachers teach. They constantly get feedback from their students and adjust what they teach as they do. Unlike the Ontario curriculum where an update is due every decade or so, I think constant updates allow the school to keep up with current technology, and thus fostering their purpose which is to transmit ISTEM courses and knowledge to students of the next generation. I also love how there's a year long project allowing the students to learn from their mistakes and integrate information as they work on their project throughout the year. Even in a semester school setting, I think a semester long project can work fairly well to solidify understanding, much like the digital portfolio idea that we do during our adapted practicum. I also enjoy the fact that they don't place heavy emphasis on grades as the 3 questions on the application addressing what interests them about STEM, and any curious issue that students want to solve the main criteria that the administration team use to enroll students. Especially during this unique learning environment, grades might not be the best description of the student. What they care care is attitude and positivity which is what they use to measure success. I think this is key and if only post-secondary institutions can also think this way. It will really put less pressure on the grades and more emphasis on pursuing something interesting to that student and true understanding. However, I do think that one of the ways that do they promote the school is with student testimonies who state that they "get to learn real world problems" and that the information they learn is interdisciplinary. Ironically, school is a medium to promote life skills with real life problems presented in an interconnected way. I believe this mindset of students in traditional schools, needs to change as the insights presented below is not anything unique, just that the topics chosen to study are different, which is completely adjustable depending on class dynamics. As part of our adapted practicum, we are required to give feedback to our peers on their lesson deliveries and planning. Since I prefer if my peers give me criticism over praise, I thought I would do the same with my feedback to them as well. It wasn't until actually reading my feedback from my peers that I realized that I must consider the subject discipline that the lesson was built upon because certain subjects such as in the languages and arts, are skills based and the texts chosen or the topic chosen can vary from class to class depending on their interests and needs. However, other subjects such as math and sciences have a set curriculum and we must teach from the curriculum as opposed to purely focusing on skills and interests. Feedback should be considered a "snapshot" (to quote Christina Philips) and not the overall picture. Thus I believe the lens that we give feedback through must be shifted and this is one of the few places I believe the adapted practicum can be better improved upon. Since our class has little to no knowledge of chemistry, it is difficult to teach the grade 11 curriculum (SCH3U) and thus I feel that I would like more feedback on the content that I taught as opposed to just how the lesson was carried out. I would like to know if it was too easy, too difficult, just right or somewhere in between, and how I can amend for future lessons. Using my professional judgement, I also believe that some feedback I got from my peers were not entirely effective (and vice versa - I most likely gave feedback that stemmed from own biases in my teaching areas) because they are looking at my lessons from their teaching areas of specialty. For example, one of my peers mentioned that I was not focusing on teaching the student as I presented some content that they were supposed to cover in grade 9 and 10. When lesson planning, I always keep content in mind along with the class dynamics and thus I chose to cover one concept in the chemical reactions unit for the entire 75 minutes of the lesson which is unlikely for a class of SCH3U. Thus, it is very important for me to give feedback while trying to think from the perspective of a History or English teacher if I'm providing feedback to those teachers teaching those subjects. Just like how I don't agree with some ideas, I also don't want my feedback to be disregarded or elicit a negative affect because I didn't consider the lesson delivery from their perspective. In the future, I will place greater importance on my positionality when I teach and give appropriate feedback in the future. Overall though, much of the feedback and criticism I received are very helpful and constructive to lesson delivery in general. In particular, my speaking pace, including a handout with my lesson, and using more text in my lessons (and not just images) are aspects I focused on changing the most by the end of the third lesson. Since I only covered one topic in SCH3U, I believe the students would be okay by taking notes from the PearDeck Presentation without a handout to follow along; however, I acknowledge the benefits that a handout can provide. Due to my class dynamics, I think a handout can also be suited to the needs of different learners and I will include one for my next lesson on single displacement reactions. Sharnam and I collaborated on this handout together. In addition, I tend to speak fast when I am excited and/or nervous about presenting a topic. Especially in a school like DSSS where there is a high proportion of ELL students, it is important to speak slower, enunciating each syllable as I speak so students of all language skills can understand. Lastly, as a highly visual learner, I know I learn well from lots of images as opposed to text-heavy lectures and most of the students who I've tutored also prefer this style of teaching. However, within POD B, there are 2 students in particular who are not visual learners and I must ensure I present my lessons so they are accessible to all. Resultantly, I've added more text in my slides for the third lesson. Furthermore, as I gain more experience asking for feedback, giving feedback, and incorporating these ideas into my teaching, I realized that my feedback form does not do what I originally intended for it to do. I split up the feedback form into sections on lesson delivery, pace, assessments etc. but I think what I really wanted was feedback on the different activities that I had presented throughout the presentation. As such, I will amend my form for lesson 3, making it activity focused instead of being more general as I constantly ask myself when I did that action that was referenced in the feedback form. The final feedback form is also in the form of a collaborative Google Docs page so it is easier to track and get back to those who provided me with feedback. Finally, although most of the class was engaged and answering the questions I posed even though they have little to no chemistry background, I did notice a few students who did not participate through PearDeck's anonymous answering system. Just like in a classroom full of students in SCH3U, I would actively try and seek ways to engage those who do not participate and in this case it was by privately messaging those classmates on their interests and how I can get them more engaged. One of my peers had a great suggestion on relating to political issues more such as climate change. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this before as more than half the class has a language or history background and thus excel when learning about historical or current issues of significance. Since I pride myself in coming up with connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, I will try to incorporate a historical element into the next lesson. I think I will also introduce a lab as that puts what we are learning into practical significance. Although I am trying to find ways for everyone to participate and speak up in class, I do think that some students prefer not to speak out loud in class regardless of how interesting the topic is to them. In my opinion, this would not affect their learning as it reflects more of their personality. Just like how in real life we don't force introverts to attend parties each day, we also shouldn't force our kids to speak up in class if they don't want to. Thus I believe the use of breakout rooms and JamBoard for everyone to record their ideas during break out rooms, as well as the anonymous answering system on PearDeck, are all valid ways of participation. Students don't always have to speak up to participate and learn in class. Update with the above observation: Eddia, who is a year 2 TC in my chemistry teachable class commented on her experience in this adapted practicum. Since she was a year 2 TC, she had a placement with a class in Halton. She mentioned that although students may seem on the surface to understand what you teaching, if you go into breakout rooms and listen to the students' conversations, many of them actually are not sure of what they are doing. The voices reflected in the classroom may just be a few of the students and it is very important to get input from every student. In this light, perhaps focusing on one topic per lesson but going very in depth, and approaching the concept from multiple angles, is the best way to teach a lesson.
For my first lesson I've mainly kept the school in mind as well as the chemistry proficiency of the class. I've tried to include a different lens on chemistry as well, namely through the different genders and race of researchers as well as bringing in Indigenous chemistry into the lesson. I've incorporated the elements of DSSS including focusing on environmental education, technological advancements, the school mascot, and Remembrance Day events. I also kept the VARK learning profiles in mind incorporating activities from each aspect of VARK. These include kinesthetic components such as sitting down and standing up to correlate with low temperature and high temperature, respectively, short answer questions for those who prefer to read and write, videos for visual/auditory learners, images and live demonstrations with plastic eggs and velcro to model collision theory for visual learners, and discussions for auditory learners. I finished off by providing an assessment on catalytic converters for the students to conduct research on, including interviewing their parents to encapsulate DSSS's mission statement. I thought I understood the needs of the group quite well until lesson delivery. From the feedback I got, I think I need to cover less content and take the time to consider larger environmental issues such as climate change in the form of a discussion since most of my peers come from a history/languages background. After lesson planning, I realized that it was one of my weaknesses as I know that I am someone who prefers to hold ideas in my mind and act upon them when necessary. I understand now that the purpose of lesson plans is so a supply teacher can read my instructions and carry on with my class as intended. As such, I've been reading through the lesson plans my peers posted especially those from POD A because I have not attended their classes. If I can get an idea of what the class is about without attending the class, I believe that is a good lesson plan. For example, for Stephanie and Lucy's lesson plan in ENG2P on Romeo and Juliet, I really appreciated the rationale that they included for why a certain activity is listed in the lesson plan. I also really liked the inclusion of a "prior knowledge" heading so the students will be able to know if the lesson is good for them as is, or if they need to do a bit of preparatory work. I found the lesson plan easy to follow with clear instructions without being overly detailed. I will incorporate these elements into my own lesson planning, mainly the rationale section as the third lesson is part of a continuous series of lessons in one unit and thus students should have the prior knowledge from previous classes. With Becca and Kat's lesson plan, I really appreciated how they listed the learning objectives starting with "I can....," the learning skills that will be used in their lesson, as well as the 21st century global competencies. This allows all the activities planned to be relevant to the curriculum as well as provide purpose to learning for students. In Sam and Sara's lesson plan, I liked how they included questions after each activity to check in with the learner and to further the students' understandings through the use of AfLs. This lends its way to help auditory learners as well as those who benefit more from speech and talking with others. In addition, it allows teachers to check up on what was confusing for the students giving teachers a sense of how the classroom is doing and if any more time needs to be spend on a particular topic. With Alina and Roslyn's lesson plan on multiplying and dividing monomials, I appreciated how they started their Minds-On activity with a COVID-19 exponential growth video which really sets the stage for a current lesson in the curriculum and to draw upon knowledge that the students have previously known about. I will use this idea to incorporate the USA Presidential election into my third lesson to show how single displacement reactions work. In general, as a class we talked about how even though we are teaching a class of diverse individuals with little to no background in the subject we teach, the importance of chunking information and breaking it down into a way that is understandable by all is very important. Regardless of the age and type of student, sitting for a long period of time is tough for many individuals and absorbing information for lengthy periods especially in a virtual setting can be even more very challenging. In addition, we spoke of the ethical considerations that may arise from using certain types of text and media in class. For example, showing a text on the world wars might elicit negative emotions in some students coming from first hand experience with the trauma throughout their lives. Similarly, a text on oppression would also not be ideal in a diverse class as the teacher may never know the triggers that could lead to a traumatic attack. Thus it is always important to keep your own positionality in mind and to provide warnings and perhaps even consolidate with students before teaching a particular lesson. Although this is more applicable in skill-based and controversial subject matter such as English and History, as Brandon Zoras puts it, "this is everyone's responsibility not just the English teachers." Even in chemistry and math, I can still aim to bring in different viewpoints of underrepresented people and researchers into my lessons. These all have to be under careful scrutiny though, as I may never know what caused one of my normally outgoing and outspoken students to shy away and be traumatized for the rest of their day. I further appreciate how even though we are all educators, everyone brings in a different element into their teaching. I hope to incorporate these ideas into my teaching so I can continue to grow as an educator. Link to lesson 1: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZFmhN6Ehrj6zH5_OPkHVBFyVHagViQeM6MlgN9jyVFA/edit?usp=sharing Link to lesson 2: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14pfvG3X0PJHJ67S3NZ90fQh5xXplkR4bwz5gSl1-frQ/edit?usp=sharing Link to lesson 3: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SM8OLbMMpXFUTuVFsePkiJssEEd9ZVwxvebv9nSjgbo/edit?usp=sharing
Walter Guerra from UTS, a veteran HPE and Spanish teacher for 17 years spoke to us on Nov 10 about professionalism and I think the key takeaway I got from his talk was that getting uncomfortable with what we normally do as teachers is a natural process and one that is even welcomed. I especially loved the discrepancy he emphasized between expanding one's comfort zones vs. taking on a task that is outside the scope of one's profession. I know that like him, I also have trouble saying "no" and especially if I am a new teacher at a school, I will want to take on more roles and show that I am capable and can catch up to the other teachers.
I think this way, teachers will also be able to show their authentic selves to their students as we make mistakes trying out something new and by getting feedback from our students. This can demonstrate vulnerability and connect with the students on a more personal basis instead of just being someone with power and authority at the front of the class. This idea of being comfy with being uncomfy parallels the talk by Tisha Elliot from DSSS later in the afternoon as standing up against white supremacy is also something that may be uncomfortable to address for many teachers. Especially as the new teacher in the school, other staff members expect that "the newcomer" will try to be quiet and try to fit in before suggesting a change in reform and I truly do commend those who rise to the challenge, never backing down from what they believe in. However, if we as educators, do not model what we want our students to be like; to take a stand against injustice and fight for equity, then those are not very good educators. A bystander who says and does nothing is part of the problem, even if they are not actively contributing to the situation at hand. In the classroom, we shower the students with these social justice issues or as Tisha refers to them as "culturally responsive pedagogy," but if we don't model this behaviour, then we cannot expect our students to take on that courageous role and be the first to speak out. The power of Tisha's words was further pronounced when she mentioned that even if one person brings it up, that initial barrier of silence is broken, causing more awareness of the issue to perpetuate throughout the school. We may be uncomfortable at the beginning talking about certain racist or political issues, but if these issues are addressed on a daily basis, it can become habitual to think and thus act on their behalf. This, in turn, will dismantle the associated stigma. I don't think I truly believed in the power of an individual until that session this afternoon. Bringing these ideas together, it is also important I mentioned at the beginning on learning how to say "no." You might be doing someone a favour by gently refusing their request as it can involve someone's safety. True to staying authentic, teachers are not superheroes. We need to eat, sleep, and take care of our own selves too. Especially the mental challenges that go into being a teacher; if we do not execute proper self-care, our ability to take care of the students' needs and consequently respond to their needs are diminished and can cause more harm than good. By this thought, Tisha mentioned that "if the first encounter you have with a student is a negative one, don't do it," as kids have a lasting first impression of someone. Usually if this is the case, a teacher would spot a student running down the hallways or mildly inappropriate behaviour while the teacher is off-duty. It is therefore your own time and perhaps it is a better outcome to leave the issue to the hallway monitors who's duties are to discipline misbehaving students. Don't bite off more than you can chew, but always make that extra effort to leave an excellent first impression on a student as they can remember that for years to come. Thus, by being professional as a teacher, yes it means constantly learning and trying out new ideas to see what works and what doesn't, but it also means staying true to your motto and mission statement and not doing anything that can jeopardize someone's safety or create conflicts of interests. Having a method for self-care and setting aside blocks of time dedicated to your other roles as a parent, partner, daughter/son etc. is just as important as fulfilling your duties as a teacher in the classroom. What Philip spoke this morning about thinking of a way to leave behind your legacy I think speaks to me on a variety of levels. This was always something I've told my students to do; to act upon their own unique traits and preferences in order to carry on actions that speaks to themselves. Like a chef coming up with their own unique recipes, undeniably, the dish is something that speaks to the chef and if done effectively, speaks to the connoisseur a story that is unique to the chef himself. I believe leaving behind a legacy is a trait that all leaders should have, if not everyone in general.
A great leader is not one who purely acts like a leader in front of their own group. A teacher is not out of their teaching role outside of school hours. From the way we carry ourselves and from how others interpret and understand us can impact how students learn from us and the lessons we want our students to take away. For instance, Chef Robert Irvine from Mission Impossible does not just intrude on failing restaurants, works his magic then disappears like the magician he is. Instead, he coaches restaurant owners and staff how to run a successful restaurant and finds the root of the issue. In this regard, even if Robert leaves, the restaurant owners can survive in the restaurant industry feeling confident that their abilities can keep the restaurant afloat. A great leader is one who educates, instead of one who dictates. I believe this translates 100% to the classroom as teachers "don't just teach curriculum, they teach kids" -quote by Allison Bailey (Nov. 9, 2020) from DSSS speaking to us today. As much as I am passionate about math, I don't want my students walking away from my classes only knowing how to factor. I want them to know how to factor and I want them to know the reason why it is important to learn factoring. Math, like many subjects, is a field that teaches one how to critically think. As an adult in society, answers are not going to be readily available to the individual and instead, that individual must gather facts from their surroundings, just like how students must pick from the available formulae in math class, and use pieces that are salient in their problem to formulate a reasonable solution. Thus, because everyone is unique, each person can have a unique way of getting to a solution and it may differ from their other classmates. However, the ultimate goal of the solution is the same and thus even if answers are different, the issue that caused them to think of a solution in the first place is resolved, which is really what ultimately matters. I believe my legacy that I will leave behind to my students is one about originality. 90% of factors that describe me are "different" than others and I believe this allows me to embrace my originality and inspire my students to do the same. Having worked 4 jobs totaling 80 hours of work in one week, while commuting 3 hours to school in undergraduate and having majored in 3 different fields, I have a knack for seeing connections even amongst things that seem very unrelated. As such, I can translate course knowledge in a way that is understandable to the students regardless of what their interests or what school profile, or what holiday it is. I believe this will allow my students a different perspective on curriculum that is typically taught in school as well to see connections between school and the students' interests that do not typically make themselves defined in a school setting. This is seen in my lesson 1 design for the adapted practicum using cohort 143 and DSSS as the school, examples I used to show single displacement reactions in lesson 3, and my assessments that I created. Complete links to my lesson plans and lessons are in above posts. Please check out the fitness challenges I've attempted below in my affiliate blog page!
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AuthorHi! Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey. I hope you can take something from my experiences and share yours in return. Don't be shy! ArchivesCategories |