PHOTOS
Throughout my experience I have taken a number of photo’s. Whether it’s changes in hallway art or the classroom that I spend my afternoon in, I have used these for reflection of my placement and stories within the observing that I have done!
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STORIES FROM THE FIELD: PIECES OF MY WEEKLY BLOGS
Week 1:
· In my school, the people are French and English teachers, as well as both French and English students- depending what classes they’re in (my class being an English one)! The school itself is not newly built (built in 1962 with multiple renovations and add-ons over the years is what I’ve found out from the school website), though it remains in good shape and is always kept clean inside. There is a lot of artwork in the hallways from both current student projects and paintings that are kept on the walls permanently keeping the hallways looking bright and lively, which I love! As for the community, the homes surrounding are not very old, some outside of the school actually look quite new.
Week 3:
· I joined the grade 3/4 French classroom one afternoon for an hour to see what that might look like and loved it so much! We started with them cleaning up the classroom, then went into math class where they rotated in groups to 5 different areas of learning. I really liked the way she set up their learning to be done in different ways by having these groups: table help with her at the back of the room where they’d do an assignment, tablet math games that the kids LOVE, correcting their own assignments at their desks, colouring with math equations, and card games. I was able to go around and help kids with their math, play card games with them, help with colouring, and watch them play their games while being “Madame George” for the day.
Week 4:
· The students got to do a makeshift “escape room” that was done in the classroom using clues such as letters and directions within a number of papers. The escape idea of it was that the students had to get through a series of a few locked boxes while working to complete some codes that needed to be found and filled in on a tablet at the same time, which was set up online through the same company that creates the physical material for the activity. This was a really fun activity to work on with the students as it was the first time that myself and Jody got to participate in what was happening in the classroom and interact with the kids way more than we usually get to!
Week 6:
· I went earlier than usual and got an idea of what happens in the students’ morning class, which is math, before their lunch break. I was happy to have done this as I was able to spend the entire class helping a student with his math assignment that he was struggling to start on his own, and got him finished right at the bell with what I feel was a better understanding of the concepts they were covering.
· Our teacher referred to the Saskatchewan curriculum and brought it up on her computer for us to look at with her. It was really quite exciting to get to look right at the curriculum and be told a little bit about how one would go about following it! She covered the two classes that we see the students do every day because it is our only real focuses while we are there. With this, she mentioned the booklets that the kids are doing for their novel study and how it relates to the curriculum by having multiple attachments to the outcomes and indicators that should be involved in what the students are doing, and what they should be learning from their work. As for PAA, we were shown the grade 7-9 Practical and Applied Arts curriculum and shown that there are actually only guidelines for this, then explained she likes to treat it like a “life lessons” class. Getting to have an example of how the curriculum is followed in everyday work and an explanation for everything that it has to do with it was really informative, while I had another moment of excitement for my future career from discussing this as well!
FINAL REFLECTION
Throughout my field experience, I was able to engage with the students and school in a way that allowed me to connect to myself as a future educator, the students and staff, and the ECS 100 course with all of the knowledge it has to offer upcoming teachers. From my placement, I have really been able to look at the profession of teaching in a way that has overall ensured my desire to pursue this career. As I observed the classroom and those within, interacting when I had the opportunity, I found that our weekly topics and focuses were very much present within the classroom, or the school as a whole. The most apparent of our focuses, in my opinion, was the use of technology, diversity, and curriculum use. These topics are continuous and extremely important as there is always development and growth within technology use that allows students further access to learning opportunities when used properly, there is diversity all over the world, and the curriculum practice strives for academic development to prepare students for current and upcoming grades. Seeing these connections from a different standpoint than I had as a student, I can now connect to the focuses by comparing my own schooling to what I have learnt at my placement. In my high school, there was very minimal diversity compared to École Elsie Mironuck, where there is diversity racially, physically, religiously, culturally, etc. Going to school in a small town, there were only about 300 students in my school between grades 7-12, and only one boy, who I believe is about five years younger than me, is African- American. Although there is only this one student, my school did have First Nations students and children from families of refugee’s just as École Elsie Mironuck does, while also having the use of technology and curriculum too of course! Aside from these specific topics I covered, I do find that there is a lot of similarity between my old school and the one I have spent the last eight weeks in as well. Being able to view these similarities and differences to become more connected in my understanding of these weekly topics has undoubtedly educated me, affecting my journey in becoming a teacher at the same time as well.
As I have begun my path to becoming a teacher, I have become more aware of the things that are more apparent within schools and classrooms that I had not noticed beforehand. Because of this, I now have some different insights on teaching and what it means to be a teacher. Teachers, in order to be successful, must have an understanding of different circumstances regarding students, their home lives, and what you cannot see physically on a person. Through this placement, I was fortunate enough to not only have been involved in the work of kids with the advantage of healthy homes and lifestyles, but to connect with those who do not have this style of life outside of school too. This experience has affected my journey into becoming a teacher as it has brought my attention to the topics that we have covered throughout the past eight weeks, as well as all of the different students I was able to learn from, opening my eyes more than they ever have been. Although I have already learnt so much from this course and the field that is with it, I am still left with questions and curiosity towards other topics in which I look forward to learning the answers to over the next three years. To start, I feel that I am in need of more instruction on what the curriculum is and how to use it as I was given some insight on it from my field, however I would like to know more in depth information on its use within the class as it is of the utmost importance in everyday teaching. Additionally, I look forward to learning how to plan and prepare every lesson for students in a way that is attainable and effective. Some questions that I now have include how the school system is changing every day, where teachers find assignments for their students or how they go about making them, and if there are guidelines in creating a grading rubric/ how one would decide how to make it in specific. Many of my questions come from the small curiosities I have had as I observed my classroom throughout the last few months. Lastly, as I continue on with my studies in becoming an educator, I am looking to set a goal of becoming more engaged in online resources provided through my courses, along with ones available online, to become more familiar with the profession of teaching and how to develop into a remarkable teacher with professionalism.
Without this first-year placement I would not have been able to learn the many ways that concepts like community or diversity play such a large part in schooling. Knowledge, schooling, and society are connected in ways that are both noticeable and unobserved. Schooling is often linked to the idea of knowledge and society in the sense that one gains knowledge from schooling while society and those within thrive off of the outcomes that schooling gives: jobs, careers, etc. As much as this is true, the three ideas also come together to create an ideal concept of education. Having involvement from individuals within society like parents and other household members, as well as a clear understanding of what is happening in their child’s schooling, would be the perfect example of a healthy home and school relationship. I feel as though I have been able to take in so many little things because I did not play such a large role in the classroom, and while I had wanted to be more involved, I think that it was overall more effective for me to absorb the environment and have a greater understanding. This field experience has, without a doubt, allowed me to see this idea clearly through the weekly questions and observations that I have been able to make.