ECS 300 Field Reflection 2

My cooperative teacher had his grade 7 and 8 classroom set up in rows of desks. This is a very traditional approach to classroom set-up but our cooperative teacher explained that they found this worked best for their class since they were a more chatty group of students. Admittedly, I think this reduced some chatter but was not a huge factor in behavioural management as it seemed for some students, it was regular classroom culture to leave their desks to have a discussion with another student. This was especially an issue during the math period which immediately followed recess. My placement partner and I agreed that this was the toughest time to keep the students engaged and challenged our behavioural management skills. However, I do not think this was a bad thing as it gave us opportunities to try out new things and receive immediate feedback.

In particular, one thing I tried out in math was exit slips. As suggested by our cooperative teacher, each math lesson ended with a textbook assignment. One group of male students always finished early and for as long as we were there, the classroom teacher allowed them to leave the room to go play poker. After 2 or 3 times witnessing this, I noticed the students were often distracting others as they left the room. Moreover, it encouraged other students who had finished early to be disruptive as well. So, I decided to try something new during my second math lesson with the group and asked that once they completed the textbook questions, to come see me for an index card where they will make up their own word problem involving rates and then exchange with a friend and solve each others’ problems. I was nervous to do this as I could not predict whether or not they would listen to me. However, the group of students received the change very well and my cooperative teacher and I were impressed by their attitude towards this activity. The classroom teacher even mentioned that they might incorporate the exit slips regularly.

Another thing that went well for me was a health lesson that I taught in the first period. The students are normally less chatty and more well behaved during the first class of the day. With this in mind, I decided to try out a group activity: a carousel activity. It went over very well with the students. We had great conversations and the students had several insightful responses to questions asked.

Overall, I believe I still have work to do with my classroom management abilities. Another thing I could improve on is anticipating student confusion in my lessons (ie. assuming which textbook questions may create confusion for students). I would also like to have focused future lessons on varying my instructional strategies, especially in math. Overall, in the short time I was there, I was able to make individual connections with students and I am disappointed that I will not be returning to say goodbye.

ECS 300 Field Reflection 1

In the grade 7/8 classroom, there are many informational posters on the walls to aid student learning. Moreover, the teacher has the “I Can” statements for math and English were written clearly on the board for students. In addition to the outcomes, there is also the daily schedule written on the board so that students know what to expect.

Last week, my partner and I presented our first lesson. It was a math lesson on calculating sales tax. For the most part, it went well and I was impressed by the students’ engagement and participation. Moreover, I felt confident and comfortable at the front of the room. For the most part, our target of ‘managing minor disruptions’ was reached. My partner and I utilized direct questioning and proximity to keep the students on-task.

However, one of the biggest challenges we faced was time management and balance. My partner taught the first half of the lesson and she moved at a slower pace. I could tell the students were losing interest and were understanding what was being taught so I sped up my part of the lesson. However, it was evident when the students began the textbook questions, there were some gaps in the lesson since there were many raised hands. After discussing with our co-op, we found a solution to this may be to go over the textbook questions, anticipate students’ questions and address them in our lesson. Although the use of direct questioning was beneficial, the cooperative teacher mentioned that we still called on some students more frequently than others. Thus, our goal for next time is to master direct questioning by calling on more students which will likely improve as we learn more students’ names. 

Additionally, our cooperative teacher mentioned that finding that perfect balance between moving too fast and too slow will become easier the more we get to know our students and how to gauge their levels of understanding.

Therefore, an area of growth for me is to practice finding a better speed for my lessons (as they will vary from lesson to lesson). Another area of growth will be to anticipate student questions and incorporate more “check-in” moments throughout my lesson. Thus, areas for my partner and I to focus on would be time management and checking student understanding more frequently.

ECS100: REFLECTION

PROMPT:

As you observed and interacted in your field experiences, how did the focus questions connect with one another? What connections did you make personally and/or professionally to the ‘interconnectedness’ of our weekly topics, field experiences and assignments? How does this experience affect your journey to become a teacher? What do you need to learn more about? What questions do you now have?  What are 3 professional goals that you are setting for yourself for your next leg of your journey?

As I observed and interacted in my field experiences each week, I kept the weekly focus questions in mind. However, some weeks I found it difficult to accumulate a lot of information on the topic or found finding information on the topic to be unnatural, such as weeks 5 and 6. In these cases, I would ask my co-operative teacher questions concerning the topic or spend extra time walking around the school and taking note of things I found that were applicable to the questions. Overall, the core questions guided my field experience each week by allowing me to focus on certain areas and concepts which maximized my learning experience. Additionally, I found the order of the questions highly appropriate because it began with getting to know our learners and gradually moved towards deeper understanding questions about diversity and the curriculum, before ending with a reflection.

Personally, the field experiences further affirmed my choice of career and gave me the opportunity to explore many aspects of the teaching profession. Professionally, I was able to build a repertoire of resources from the guest lectures, and discussions with my co-operative teacher. Further, the discussion forums allowed me to network with my peers which is a valuable and transferable skill for my future career in education. Moreover, the weekly topics, field experiences, and assignments have largely guided my first teaching experiences and moved me along in my journey towards becoming a teacher. Furthermore, it has provided me with the resources and experience that will assist me for the rest of my journey.

Although my partner and I were given opportunities to work with small groups of students, I still have a long way to go in terms of lesson-planning and classroom management. However, these are skills I hope to practice in my next placement and I can not wait to apply what I learned this year in those classrooms as well.

Lastly, three professional goals I am setting for myself for the next segment of my journey are as follows:

1. To prepare and lead a lesson for an entire class of students.
2. To build my network. (Possibly online through social media such as Twitter.)
3. To get more involved in extracurricular and after school activities during my next placement.

 

ECS100: WEEK 7

PROMPT:

How is technology used in your classroom? Take note of the technologies you see in the classroom and school. Visit the school library…what technology is available for student/teacher use? How are students engaging with technology (in school and outside the school)? Have an informal conversation with 2 or 3 students to see how they use technology, how they think technology helps them in their learning & ways they would like to use the technology. Have a discussion with your cooperating teacher to see how he/she uses technology in their instruction, assessment & professional knowledge.

This week, my partner and I visited the library to take note of the technology available to the students. However, my partner and I noticed a lot of other things that stood out to us about this library. Most notably, the library is not its own separate room. It is an open area on the main floor of the school and it has a lot of neat spaces. There are reading nooks and holes in the walls where students can read. Interestingly, there is only one computer in the library for the librarian’s use. However, the students are often allowed to read books online, with the use of school-provided chromebooks, during their read-to-self period in the classroom.

In addition to reading, literacy and math games are often played on the chromebooks by the children. The most popular game is Mathletics which many of the teachers use as a task for students once they have completed assigned questions in class. The students also use technology in its basic forms such as typing out reports on the chromebooks. Outside of school, the students interact with technology constantly in the form of cellphones. However, at school, the students are asked to hand in their phones at the beginning of the day and they do not get them back until they leave the school at the end of the day. This is much different than my experience in school where we were allowed our phones all day and it was up to the classroom teacher to make his/her own rules in regard to cell phone use.

Furthermore, the teacher uses technology in his instruction by using his projector to display a handout while he explains the concept to the students. In the past, he has also used youtube videos to strengthen the students’ understanding of a certain topic. For his lesson planning, he borrows outlines and ideas from division websites. He finds these very useful because they save him a lot of time and keep him from overworking. Fortunately, he offered to email the links of the websites he finds most useful to my partner and me.

Overall, I learned a lot about the use of technology by both students and teachers. Unfortunately, Monday was my last field placement day and I am sad that the practicum has come to an end. However, I am beyond thankful for the learning experiences it has brought me.

 

ECS100: WEEK 6

PROMPT:

What is being taught? How are students learning? Do students see the meaning and relevance in what they are learning? What are the stories of curriculum? What are the stories of learning?

My second last day at my field placement was another great day for attendance. There were nineteen kids! My field partner and I find it interesting that even six weeks in we are still seeing new faces in the classroom. However, this can be challenging as we find it is not enough time to get to know the kids well. On the other hand, my partner and I ran our own literacy and numeracy groups on Monday and working with the students in small groups allows us to get to know their individual personalities as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

My partner and I are in the grade 6/7 classroom during the literacy and numeracy periods. After taking attendance, the teacher reads the students a chapter from the novel that they are reading together as a class. Before he begins reading, he asks the students to recall what happened in the last chapter and they discuss together. This is teaching the students reading comprehension which is something, our co-op mentioned to my partner and myself, that some of the children struggle with. By recalling the previous chapter, the students are drawing from prior knowledge and learning through group discussion which is very beneficial. In the numeracy period, the students have developed a strong understanding of the meaning and relevance of their current unit. This week the students were beginning their unit on fractions and have been working on adding and subtracting fractions, finding equivalent fractions, and converting from mixed to improper and vice versa. As the teacher mentioned to us and the class, fractions is an important unit in grade 6/7 as it is highly applicable to regular life events such as cooking and baking. I am glad that the students are able to find meaning in what they are learning at school.

Overall, I am sad that our placement is coming to an end but I am so grateful for all that I am learning during my time at my placement school.

 

ECS100: WEEK 5

PROMPT:

How is your school community honouring diversity, equity, and human rights for all students (including sexual and gender diversity) within their schools and communities?

Firstly, I would like to mention that yesterday was a great day for attendance at my placement school: 17 students were present in the grade 6/7 class! Additionally, my partner and I ran our own literacy stations once again and it was awesome to work with the students in small groups.

I think the Connaught school community honours diversity, equity, and human rights for all students within their school and community in a few different ways. First, by taking a walk around the school, I have noticed several GSA posters. As mentioned in my previous post, the GSA is a Gay-Straight Alliance Club that has been available to Connaught students since September of 2017. Secondly, the bathrooms at Connaught are very different than the ones in most schools. There are no “boy” or “girl” signs on the doors. They are just one stall bathrooms with no signs dictating who can and cannot use them. I think this is wonderful, especially for a smaller school like Connaught where there is no need for large bathrooms with several stalls so keeping the bathrooms non-gendered was a great decision. I think this is a better option (when possible) than having a gender-neutral washroom because kids will not be singled out or targeted for using a separate washroom. Lastly, as mentioned in a previous post, Regina community schools have a program that provides the students with a snack and there is also a breakfast program available for the students who come early to eat before school. I think this is equitable because the students who belong to families that may not be able to afford to send their kids to school with food are still being fed. Additionally, it is not made obvious to the other students who these children are that cannot afford to bring a snack every day.

Overall, I have been fortunate to observe the honouring of diversity, equity, and human rights for all in a variety of different ways at my placement school.

 

ECS100: WEEK 4

PROMPT

What are the different forms of diversity you observe within the classroom and school? What may be some forms of diversity that are not visible? In what ways do you observe the school, classrooms and teachers honouring inclusive practices? 

This was an exceptionally special day for me at my placement because I was able to work with the students more closely. My co-operative teacher assigned both my partner and me a literacy station each for the daily five. I was able to work with three to four students at a time on a worksheet for writing introduction paragraphs. This also gave me the opportunity to observe the different levels of reading and/or writing abilities amongst the grade 6/7 students. The separate groups varied greatly in their strengths and weaknesses. After reflecting on our day with the co-operative teacher, he asked my partner and I if we noticed the varying degrees of writing abilities in the groups. After speaking with him for a while, he mentioned that this class has the greatest amount of disparity in learning that he has seen thus far in his short teaching career. Overall, I had a lot of fun and it was a great hands-on learning experience for my partner and myself.

Within the classroom and school, I visually notice diversities among ethnic and cultural groups. However, I understand that my visual assumption of someone’s cultural background is not to be taken for absolute truth. Furthermore, I notice diversity in learning and comprehension which is not always a visible diversity. As mentioned by my co-operative teacher, the grade 6/7 students vary greatly in reading levels and grade levels, with many students performing below their appropriate level. Students who are not working at grade level for math, sometimes go to another room to work with an LRT during numeracy class. Most of the time, however, all of the kids remain in the classroom for the numeracy lesson which is an inclusive practice.

Some forms of diversity that are not visible include sexual orientation and gender identity. An inclusive practice that relates to this is that there is a GSA- Gay Straight Alliance at the school. Furthermore, there are several posters around the school promoting the GSA that include meeting times and location.

Overall, I had another great day at my field placement and I look forward to next week.

 

ECS100: WEEK 3

PROMPT

How do you see teachers honouring different ways of knowing? How do you see teachers promoting knowledge in the classroom?  What are the key supports that teachers rely on? How do teachers continue to build their own professional knowledge?

 

The morning of Monday February 25th was my third time arriving at my placement school. The theme of this week’s story from the field is teachers and knowledge. My co-operative teacher promotes knowledge, ways of knowing, and coming to know by using various methods of instruction. He understands that each student learns differently and because of this he uses both audio and visual instruction when explaining concepts and ideas. When presenting the class new subject matter, the co-operative teacher gives examples of both right and wrong answers. He uses the projector to help with his lesson and this week, he showed the class a youtube video to begin his literacy lesson on summarizing stories. The video showed the students how to summarize using their hand as a guide: “use the 5 fingers, in 5 words or less, in less than 5 minutes method.” The video went on to break summarizing down into 6 steps (a step for each finger plus your palm): who, what, when, where, why, and how. After speaking with Mr. McMann, our co-operative teacher, he told us that he finds technology is a useful support in his classroom. He noted that it is especially helpful in math for students who are finished their work early because they can play Mathletics (a computer math game). Mathletics allows the students to continue to learn and practice math after their class work has been completed.

Our co-op also noted that the LRT is someone he considers to be a support to him as a teacher. Additionally, he mentioned that an EA is a support he wished he had the privilege of having in his classroom on a daily basis. His students vary greatly in their math and literacy levels and he thinks an extra support in his room would benefit the students who are struggling in those subject areas.

Overall, this field placement taught me a lot about the different levels of comprehension and understanding amongst students and some of the supports available to teachers to support all of the learners in their classroom.

 

ECS100: WEEK 2

PROMPT

Who are the people in your school? How would you describe the school and surrounding community?  What and who do you see as creating the links between school and community? Have someone take a photo of you standing in front of your school – great keepsake to add to your Professional ePortfolio. Inquire as to if your school has a school website – spend some time becoming familiar with your school community.

My second field experience took place on Monday morning, February 11th. As I mentioned last week, attendance is often an issue at my placement school. Our co-operative teacher explained to my field partner and I that low attendance and tardiness is a result of the trauma and hardship that is dealt with by the students, their families and the surrounding community. The grade 6/7 teacher hinted that poverty and abuse is common and also notified us that a couple of the students are the primary caregivers at home. This was hard for me to hear as my heart goes out to these children and their families but it also brings me joy to see the loving and comforting atmosphere that this school provides for them.

The school seems to put great value in community. When exploring the school, I noticed several posters about leadership and respect. On the grade 6/7 classroom door, there is a poster that reads “SOAR”. After inquiring about it to our co-operative teacher, my partner and I learned that there is a program in place at the school called S.O.A.R.:

• Strive for a “Growth Mindset”
• Offer Kindness
• Act Responsibly
• Respect Others and the Spaces we Learn in.

Moreover, there is a wall that has been painted in large print with the words “At ECCS, we are a community of leaders, who create excellence in life and learning! No Excuses.” I think this speaks volumes about the school’s approach to community and the community they have created within their walls. The students are empowered as they are reminded everywhere they look that they are leaders. This helps them understand the importance of their choices, words, and actions.

Under the “community” tab of the school website, I found kindergarten registration, literacy links, school cancellations, and more. This is a great way for the school to keep connected with the parents and the rest of the community. Our co-operative teacher uses the app “remind” to communicate with his classroom parents. When asked about it, he told us he finds it very effective for communication about field trips, permission forms, events, and more. Upon further exploration of the school website, I discovered a School Community Council. Another thing I noticed when visiting the school website was that written beside kindergarten registration is “now is the time to join our community of excellence.” This furthers the idea that the school, itself, is a community.

Although the community outside the school may be experiencing hardships, the school has a community of its own that includes and empowers the students and their families.

ECS100: WEEK 1

PROMPT

Who are our learners? What does the learning environment look like? Spend some time talking with students to get to know who they are. If possible, join students on the playground at recess or break times and have informal conversations (and let them get to know a bit about you too as they’re always curious as to who the new ‘teacher’ is). Take a photo of the classroom (empty) or draw a sketch of what the classroom looks like. Does this remind you of your own schooling or is it very different? How does this space make you feel?

My first field experience was Monday morning. Before the students arrived, our co-operative teacher informed us that his class of grade 6 and 7s is very diverse and a bit guarded. He warned us that it may take some of his students a little while to warm up to new faces in the classroom. He also spoke about the common issue of low attendance and tardiness. After 13 students arrived, the bell went and announcements began with 2 more kids filing in a few minutes late. When I had the opportunity to talk to the students individually, I noticed what the teacher meant by some being guarded. Several students were quiet and hesitant to share much about themselves with me. However, one student showed no signs of being shy and spent most of her recess shooting questions my way.

The grade 6/7 classroom has many helpful posters on the walls in various areas of the room. The students sit in rectangular tables that are grouped into five sections with room for four students at each. Additionally, there are two kinds of chairs in the classroom. One is a rocker chair and the other is called a wobble chair. The seating arrangements are very different from the classrooms I was in throughout school. In all my classes, each student sat in a single desk which was lined up in a row and had a chair that could not be moved or rocked. Another difference from my schooling experience was the diversity in the classroom. For being such a small group, I was surprised by how many ethnicities were represented in the room. Another thing I noticed was that the school provided the students with a snack which also never occurred in my school. I think this is a great program for public schools to be implementing.

The classroom atmosphere was comforting to me. Our co-operative teacher played soft, relaxing music while the students were working. Additionally, the principal entered the class while the kids were working and she approached every student individually. She asked them how they were and told them each how happy she was to see them. I think this is an awesome way for the principal to show the students their presence at school matters and that others care about them.

Overall, I enjoyed meeting the students and I am looking forward to spending more time with them next week.