Here is what my week looked like:
Monday:
After lunch I was in an introduction to math 10 class. The students are taking this class in order to develop their math skills enough to be successful in Foundations and Pre-Calculus Math 10, which is the required course as there is a provincial examination. It was the first time I was able to see my math mentor teaching and see some of the classroom routines and management that he implements. The class was working on decomposition, which is a way of factoring, although it is one of the harder methods to do. Once again I was able to work with the students while they were doing practice questions and help them to increase their understanding as they completed the different questions. One fun method that I observed was a "Brain Break" which involved working in groups to solve Rebus puzzles such as below. The students loved it and it gave them an incentive that if they worked hard they would be able to have a "brain break" in the last few minutes of class. See if you can solve these!
Tuesday:
In the afternoon I taught my first lesson, on digestive disorders in Biology 12. When designing my lesson I wanted to keep the learning pyramid in mind. Students learn more by doing and by teaching concepts to others. Therefore I chose 7 digestive disorders: GERD, ulcers, Crohn's disease, pellagra, scurvy, ricketts and anorexia. After introducing the class to digestive disorders I got them in groups using playing cards, based on their number, that was their group. Once they were in their groups I had written the disorders on cue cards and presented them face down where the students selected a disorder. |
Wed
nesday:In the afternoon I had the unique experience to be a part of the math department collaboration where we are starting to work on a lesson study. A lesson study, as I understand it, is a process in which teachers collaboratively plan, teach, observe, analyze and refine classroom lessons. It is a way to improve certain lessons, such as in math the concepts students normally struggle with, often across all grades.
We started out discussing our 'why' which I did a blog post on previously that you can find he. The math department head, who was organizing the meeting had actually read my post prior and complemented me on it which was really awesome. We watched the Ted Talk by Simon Sinek (which I recommend). Here is a brief summary: re
This principle focuses on three things:
What How Why
This "Golden Circle" is the reason some can inspire and others do not. Everyone knows what they do, some know how they do it, but very few know why they do what they do. Why - what is your purpose. We normally work from the outside of this golden circle in, starting with the easiest and working their way in. For those who inspire, the difference lies instarting with why
and working their way out. People don't buy what you do.. They buy why you do it.
Problem(s) of Practice
o Factoring
o Algebra
o Fractions
Thursday:
After school we had a Pro-D event - Practicum Mentorship Learning Network. It was for all of the SD 23 secondary and middle school mentor teachers, teacher candidates, administrators, faculty advisors, school/district-based instructional leaders and UBCO faculty members. We were able to see our fellow teacher candidates after being a part for pretty much the longest since the beginning of the program, as well as meet other educators in the district. We also worked with our practicum school team to create a network (below). We each wrote down our strengths, stretches, interests and goals and drew lines to connect us to others in our school.
Friday:
- "Good job answering a tough student question, you acknowledged that it was a good question and addressed it well"
- "A well written lesson plan, outcomes for lesson were measurable, all lesson components contain the relevant components in enough detail that I could teach the lesson - well done!"
- "Great rapport established with the students"
- "Good you recognized the need to not accept all call outs and establish a system to allow quieter students to respond"
- "Another star is born"
In the afternoon I taught a lesson in the math 10 class on algebra tiles. I had created my lesson as well as practice questions into a worksheet packet for them. It was a smaller class, I had not yet spent much time in so as I noted earlier it was hard to get them to speak up at times. My mentor teacher noted however, that even though they weren't volunteering they were still engaged and completing the examples. Hopefully, once again, I think with time students will become more comfortable and willing to share their thoughts.
Final Reflections:
- I was somewhat surprised how drawn I was to teaching the junior grades
- I really enjoyed working with students who had learning difficulties
- Teaching a lesson unexpectedly that I didn't prepare gave me more confidence that I can work well on my feet and also gave me a slight look into life as a TOC
- I was so pleased at all the great feedback I got over the week, especially during my observation by my faculty advisor
- Executing lessons I created helped me get a better idea of timing in different grades/subjects/classes
- I believe I have brought myself into my teaching style ( as Parker Palmer says "we teach who we are")
- My organizational skills will be very beneficial to me
- I was glad I got to collaborate with other teachers
- I am excited to get to do some volleyball coaching during my practicum
- I need to determine what my classroom 'rules' will be and where I will stand on issues such as cellphones
- I am grateful for the great school I am at and all the amazing educators
- I left the school Friday feeling energized and excited for what's to come!