Category: Uncategorised Page 1 of 2

EDTL 3100

Teaching & Learning 3100 was one of the most useful classes I have taken to date, particularly since we were enrolled in this course during our first practicum. Our professor, Beverly Ruberg, was such an amazing resource for ideas and inspirations while we were learning how to write lesson plans while she would simultaneously encourage us to think about how our grand ideas would actually translate into a classroom of 20 students. In EDTL 3100 we learned the “little things” that no one tells you about before you go into a classroom, and once we started practicum, we would take about 15 minutes each class to talk about different students’ experiences that we could all learn from. Beverly gave us endless resources, and it has been one of the most valuable classes I have taken to date!

EDMA 3200

Having Math 3200 with Amanda Russet has been absolutely amazing. Math can be intimidating or disheartening to many students (including students in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s), but Amanda had done such an incredible job teaching us skills that we can take forth into classrooms, and feel confident carrying out math activities and lessons. Our course has also been heavily focused on the importance of numeracy skills for students, and the many different ways we can practice and achieve goals within the classroom. Amanda has taught us that we need numeracy skills to solve problems and make sense of numbers, these include mathematical concepts found in shapes and patterns, time, measurements in baking, and playing sport.

EDSO 3200

In the brief time that we had Social Studies 3200 with Steve Powrie, I learned very skills of how we can make social studies interesting, exciting, and something that the students can get passionate about. From learning about inquiry-based learning to being given hands-on experience looking at advertisements, maps, and what societal gender norms, social studies has such an important space in the classroom, and I’m so glad Steve was able to share some of his knowledge and resources with us.

Please click on any of the headings shown in the drop-down menu to access information on:

• Professional Standards for BC Educators
• The New BC Curriculum

The Professional Standards for BC Educators are in place to promote forward progression, acceptance, and responsibilities of teachers. Teachers have a very important role in society as we are apart of a community that helps raise children and teach them about the moral and ethical responsibilities we all have. The Profesional Standards for BC Educators details the following:

1. Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests
2. Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility, and reputation of the profession
3. Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development
4. Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools
5. Educators implement effective planning, instruction, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development
6. Educators demonstrate a broad knowledge base and an understanding of areas they teach
7. Educators engage in professional learning
8. Educators contribute to the profession
9. Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis

As educators, we have to make a commitment to teaching students the importance of social responsibility and equality, both inside and outside the classroom.

While going through the photo album on my phone, I had a hard time trying to limit the photos I wanted to include in my E-portfolio. So while sifting through about 25 photos, I came to the decision that I would only add photos that were impactful moments in my life in my journey of becoming a teacher.

I’ve kept the photos in chronological order, as I think this information is best shared as a story. So In the beginning, I had the opportunity to do my volunteer hours in a grade 1/2 split classroom at Kamloops School of Arts, with Mrs. Jenn Coats as my mentor. She was an amazing resource for any time I had questions, and she made me feel comfortable in her classroom, always making me feel so welcome when I would come to volunteer. My class time with the class was spent on a field trip to the Kamloops Wildlife Park (as seen below), while going to the Wildlife Park with the class was amazing, being in Mrs. Coats’ class was so impactful to me because it was the first time I felt like I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of me in the classroom, so I have attached a photo of all of us cold, wet, and tired at the end of a fun day at the Wildlife Park!!

Field trip to the Kamloops Wildlife Park, March 2019

I started volunteering in the classroom right before I began working for SD73 in the After School Sports and Arts Initiative (ASSAI) programs, facilitating both visual art, and movement programs for at-risk youth in the Kamloops area. Through this job, I have had the opportunity to attend workshops and webinars, as well as hands-on experience working with students in a multitude of environments. In the movement programs, I have had the opportunity to teach groups of up to 30 students a variety of skills from soccer, basketball, badminton, tennis, and I’ve even had the luxury of being able to take some of the students rock climbing!

Rock climbing, March 2019. Can you spot me belaying?

Since starting with ASSAI, I have had the opportunity to learn about how sports and movement are separate concepts, and students do not need to be “good” at sports to keep moving! I find many students find this challenging because they tell themselves that they aren’t good at the traditional sports we do in gym class, so they feel that that crosses over to all sorts of movements. Personally, I never excelled in traditional sports which is kind of funny because now I’m the adult facilitating these programs, but I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoy facilitating these programs so much, and also why the students are drawn to the programs.

Hiking in Peterson Creek with students from Kamloops School of Arts in an ASSAI movement program, April 2019.

The programs are not mean to create amazing athletes, we run the programs to allow students opportunities and experiences that they may otherwise never have, all while creating a sense of community and support. Most, if not all of the time, we are playing games, giving high-fives, and encouraging one another in a fun and energetic environment, all while breaking down the construction that you need to be “good” at sports to stay active. Since starting with ASSAI, I have had opportunities

DANC3PL3Y workshop, May 2019.

to teach and practice yoga and mindfulness, go on hikes around Kamloops to learn and observe our environment, and learn DANC3PL3Y with the students of the after-school programs. The overarching idea behind the ASSAI movement programs is to allow students to opportunity to try new things, stay active, and create a sense of belonging.

A “kindness book” that was gifted to me by a student, May 2019

As I mentioned earlier, I also facilitate visual art programs throughout the district which has been equally as rewarding as I get to see children express themselves in such amazing and different ways throughout our 8-week programs. The art programs that I have facilitated are focused on working collaboratively with others to think of new ideas, pushing out of our comfort zones, mindfulness, and limiting the direct instruction that a teacher would give to allow students to work on pieces of art that are important to them. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from the art programs is that students are told what they should be doing all day, and when you give a student the opportunity to choose what they want to do they are both better behaved, and more passionate and interested in the work they are doing. One of my favourite things about the visual arts programs is the amount of artwork that has been given to me by students as a way for me to remember them. 

Finally, I’m going to talk about the kindergarten class I was placed in for practicum, and my teacher mentor Mrs. Tessa Watson (photo removed). I consider myself the luckiest person in the program just based on the fact that I had such an incredible teacher mentor for my first practicum and such a diverse group of children in the classroom. Tessa was such an amazing resource for me during practicum and has continued to be a mentor for me since we finished practicum. From the relationship she and I built, the relationship I had with the class was equally as strong, and I continued to go visit the class multiple times since the practicum ended. During these visits, I was fortunate enough to help her with the students’ kindergarten assessments, as well as helping her get them all ready for their Christmas concert. I am so grateful for the time I had in her classroom for our first practicum, and I will never be able the thank Tessa enough for the support she gave me.

Response to a classmate #1:

Flipping Burgers – History

Historically, teachers assumed that students from higher socio-economic backgrounds would always outperform students who were more disadvantaged. From your own experience, what evidence do you see that teachers are still making these kinds of assumptions?

I really enjoyed reading your reply to the history prompt. I feel that the personal experiences you chose to share shed light on how we individually have seen different instances of socio-economic status possibly affecting students’ performance in school.

I have also worked with the students of Beattie Elementary, and I was quite surprised when all their parents came to pick up in their children from school in Audi’s and BMW’s because at the time I didn’t know you had to pay for your child to go there. From my personal experience working there, I have come to conclude that there is a fine line between being wealthy enough to be living comfortably and spending time with your family, being able to help your children with their homework, and reading to them at night, versus being so affluent that your life consists of working and sleep. There is something to be said for the middle class having the benefit of a good education, and their parents working a traditional 9:00-5:00 day job, rather than low-income families that are juggling multiple jobs to make ends meat, or even very affluent parents that are consumed with their workload and may not have the time to spend with their children. With this I am not taking into consideration the effect high entry cost private schools… I would be very interested to learn about how different private education is in comparison to public education!

Something else I began to thought about when reading your response was immigrant families that speak English as their second language or do not speak English at all. I am currently working with a student at Beattie that’s family was very well off financially, yet the student and her family can only speak Spanish. This is a large social barrier between her and the other students, as well as between the teacher and family. However, the school has come to pull many resources together in order to support the student and her family as much as possible. What I think is interesting about this, is that I have worked in schools in lower-income areas as well where many of the parents cannot speak English, and the schools’ teachers and administration simply write it off as something they can do nothing about, and they have just accepted that they cannot communicate with one another, rather than making the smallest effort to better the students’ education by using google translate to create a newsletter as a tool to aid the child education.

Response to a classmate #2:

Bang Bang you’re Dead- History

Do you think we, as a society, have become more tolerant of violence as depicted on television and in video games? What evidence would you use to support your position?

Great response Alex!  I absolutely agree that as teachers, we need to be able to inform students as much as possible about the realities and fantasies we see through multimedia; however, in this new era of ultra-realistic fantasy technology that’s coming out, how do we do this?
The case study discusses how realistic video games can replicate gunshots and injuries, which I ague we may not be able to decipher if the gunshot is real or fantasy without context. If I am watching a movie with my favourite actor and he gets shot in a movie, I have a good understanding that the special effects team was so talented that they could make the gunshot look real. However, in the age of “fake news” being constantly blasted through media, how can we tell if the media we are watching is real or fake if we have no idea who is creating the news stories photos, and videos we are watching. Because what happens when what we are watching appears to be real, but in fact, is created using computer programming, and it is 100% fake? Confused? Click this link and watch how special effects can create photorealistic fake videos https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/4/17/17247334/ai-fake-news-video-barack-obama-jordan-peele-buzzfeed.

I believe we should be teaching students to question the nature of what they are looking at, and questioning whether or not they think it is real or if had been created using special effects, what are reliable souses and how to find information using these reliable souses, and fact-checking the information they’ve collected use multiple sources.

Response to a classmate #3:

Alone in a Crowd: The Case

What strategies did Jim use to support Darlene in the classroom? How effective were these strategies?

The personal experience you wrote about is very interesting to me, and it really made me think about how these adaptations to the students’ day began and how long they will last for in their academic career. I remember being in elementary school and two of the students in my grade both had an individually set positive reinforcement plan and would have time outside of the class for “breaks” with what I would look back at and assume was a CEA. But looking back, the CEA’s seemed to stop coming around as grade 5, at least as frequently as they did before in previous grades. Individual positive reinforcements were still used until grade 7 for both of the students in my class, but what happens next? What happens when these students transition into middle school or high school and struggle with the lack of support, more bells and busy transition times, and a higher volume of people? How can we support these students learning of personal and social awareness not only in grades  K-7 but somehow creating opportunities for students to gain experience and confidence in uncomfortable and overwhelming situations rather than avoiding them altogether? Perhaps this is what the CEA’s in my elementary school was working on with the students that needed additional help, and over time they were able to do things on their own and feel more comfortable in overwhelming situations! Reading your response really opened up my eyes and made me realize that I have no idea what CEA’s do, and I really need to learn more about the support systems within schools!

The BC Curriculum website has been such an amazing resource for me and my fellow Teacher Candidates in our journey of becoming teachers in British Columbia. The new BC Curriculum website highlights the key features of “essential learning, literacy and numeracy foundations, and core competencies are the base of our new curriculum.” bases on a “Know-Do-Understand” model that is carried out through the concepts of Content, Curricular Competencies, and Big Ideas from K-12.

Click the link below to be directed to the new BC Curriculum website:

The BC Curriculum