Final Post- An article regarding the polticized nature of literacy

Hey All,

For my last post I thought I'd drop an article about current literacy levels, and how the debate about improving overall literacy levels affects all levels of education. Furthermore, it is a difficult problem to assess, as various means of measurement are often used (who is truly 'literate', who is only 'semi-literate', and how does this change in an increasingly technology-driven economy?). If you got a minute, you might find it interesting...
http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/2939081.html

Other than that, I hope everyone has an enjoyable and happy winter break! See ya in January!

The Best and Worst of the First Semester

It's the end of the semester, end of the year, and end of the decade. What a long, strange trip it's been.
A lot of people come up with "Best and Worst" lists around this time of year--best and worst movies, best and worst trends of the year, etc. So, In that spirit I've decided to come up with a best and worst list for the first semester of our program. Everybody feel free to contribute their own list of highs and lows. Personally, it's been a crazy semester. There have been a lot of great days, but there have also been plenty of days where I have wondered just what in the hell have I got myself into. Anyway, here goes.

The Highlights

--401 with Cressey
--Observation (The best learning experience of the semester)
--Philosophy with Baxter (most days)
--New Friends
--Grad Lounge afternoons (a lot of serious teacher preparation going on)
--The day we went out to the woods with Chris (even if it was a little cold)
--Alternative site visit
--The sense of community our cohort has developed

The Lowlights

--e-portfolio
--Too much busy work
--That class on Tuesday's and Friday's after 780 (although it's getting a bit better, I think)
--The feeling that we are not learning enough about teaching
--Too much emphasis on technology
--Unit Plans (mine has been left until the last second and it's driving me crazy)
--Not enough time spent getting practical experience in a school between the start of the year and the practicum

Cheers
Everybody have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Unpleasant but all too real: Abuse and how to deal with it

Just drawing attention to a news article which came out of Ontario today, regarding the persistence of child abuse in the community of Cornwall (small industrial community, with a large francophone community). The link to the original article follows: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/12/15/cornwall-glaude.html

One of the depressing facts that was brought to light was the institutional inertia which often prevents individuals from pressing for answers. Nobody wants the embarrassment and shame of having a coworker charged with any form of child abuse. Yet often there was too little investigation, and as a result, many cases did not come to light quickly enough. The article touches on a few themes which have come up in a few of my classes recently, such as:

1. No community is hermetically sealed off from the bad things in the world. It is always astounding to hear responses such as 'we didn't think that sort of thing could happen here'.

2. Institutions, even public ones, seem to try to placate this sentiment. Administrators and coworkers seem reticent to follow their instincts when serious issues come to light, and often try to minimize the public impact, rather than attend to the victim's needs.

3. How does a school keep up communication? This seems to be the crucial issue; many institutions seem to get clogged by the 'business as usual' mindset. What happens at your school? Do you feel trained to handle such a situation?

Nikolai Julien Primatesta

Hey guys,

I know this is quite off topic for blogs (sorry Chris) but I just wanted to share the news that most of you have probably already heard. Nikolai Julien was born on December 8th, 2009 at 2:30 am. He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. He's a beautiful little man and I hope you all can meet him sometime in the future. Thank you so much for the card that Haley and Gillian brought to me. Made my already wide smile a bit wider. Thanks for all the support this semester as he was growing in my belly. Hope to see you all soon! If not... Happy Holidays!

Kylie

Technology: Tool or Barrier

Has anyone ever wondered why UVic employs so many online student learning "tools"? I did my undergrad here and during that time plus my time in this program I have had to use - the regular UVic Blackboard, business Blackboard, Blogger, Moodle and Sharepoint. Each of them are slightly different and offers slightly different features. In addition, I have also had to keep track of each of my courses' websites. I have to admit, having these online tools have allowed me to access information from practially anywhere - at home, school, etc. However, sometimes I feel that there are too many to keep track of. During my undergrad, sometimes, I miss information because I forget to check a blog but its difficult when there's 4 other websites to keep checking for my other classes. Why can't UVic provide its students with a student portal that consolidates these tools to make my life easier?

Thanks to our beloved tech class, we now know all sorts of tools that are available to us. But how do we keep it under control? How do we ensure that technology is serving as tools rather than barriers?

I came across this when I was compiling some stuff for the e-binder: Check it out it may give you ideas.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009

View more documents from Jane Hart.

Culture in the Classroom

Alysson, Cameron and I went to the Native Friendship Centre for our site visit. As Alysson mentioned in class, we learned about the issues Aboriginal students face at school. It was really insightful. I learned that some Aboriginal students have difficulties succeeding at school because they think their teachers are racist. Students feel that their teachers lower expectations because they are Aboriginal.

This made me think about things we've talked about in other classes. In Sebastien's presentation for Dr. Cressey's class, he talked about how African Americans placed more value on communalistic learning vs. individualistic learning that Caucasian groups valued. In our philosophy class we also discussed the issue whether schools should establish a uniform culture or have multiple ones.

Should students be expected to abandon their own culture to succeed in the classroom? As future educators, how do we create a learning environment where students can succeed regardless of their cultural background?

The Toll of Athleticism

I have a friend who I've been meaning to bring up in class one day. He is a runner, and has been running for his entire life, right from childhood. He was the captain of the Uvic running team, and absolutely excelled at it. Last year though, he quit. For his entire life he has been told that he would never be the best in the world, because A) he's not from Africa, and B) only one person out of billions can actually be the best. Last year, he realized that he was not that one person, and retired.
Recently, his old high school invited him back to Nova Scotia to coach their track team, which he still holds all the top records at. He talked to me a while after he got back and said that it was very strange going back to a small town where he has real status for following his dream, but having since given up on that dream. He is coaching kids who want to be just like him, who want to try and be superheroes, by his own description, but the odds are infinitesimal that even one of them will make it anywhere. Looking at his own life and the time he spent going hard at his sport, all of the skills he doesn't have now, and all of the opportunities he missed by having his blinders up, all he wants to tell these kids is that they have to have something else. They can't just live for running because it won't be enough. That if they neglect their academics to excel at sports, they are going to wind up miserable and useless (his words).

I'd like to ask some PE teachers about their opinions on this, but what do you guys think? If you had a student who was terrible at school but great at sports, would you encourage them to pursue what they're good at, or would you try to teach them that they need to be well-rounded to succeed?

Serious time , outdoor education

Don't forget the Geminids Meteor shower is on Sunday and Monday night. It's the best one of the year. Dress warmly.  A sleeping bag rated to like -20C would be ideal.

Children Full of Life

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to give you the first of five links to an award-winning CBC Documentary called "Children Full of Life" posted in 8 minute parts on Youtube. It is a look into a grade 4 classroom in Japan over the course of a year as kids learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates. It doesn't avoid the hard parts of teaching (like some of our classes gloss over!) and incidents of bullying, the death of a parent, and other very real-life experiences are shown as they happen. I would really encourage everyone to take a look...it is inspiring in real ways.

Alysson

Eagle Extravaganza!!! at Goldstream!

Goldstream Alternative Site Visit:

We went to Goldstream for the "Eagle Extravaganza". The Goldstream park is a great educational site to bring classes aged K-12. They offer various grade specific programs throughout the year at the Nature House. Each program is season specific, for example now until January is the "Eagle Extravaganza". All visits are by donation! They have a lot great information on the website. Check it out. http://www.goldstreampark.com/

We chose this site after we did environmental educationwith Chris. Its soo important to get students outside of the classroom, and in tune with nature. Learning in a natural setting is key to gain appreciation for our environment. We also really enjoyed ourselves, it was a nice destressor in the midst of a hectic school week. (although it was -2 outside!!!)
We think everyone should check out Goldstream Park, it is definitely worth the drive!

Merry Christmas!!
Haley and Gillian

Eduation for Profit

Last week the students in the social studies method classes were exposed to a guest speaker "presenting" their civic simulation. Though his model was interesting, had many well thought out aspects and years of hard work invested it was soon obvious that the nonchalent and casual demeanor of the presenter was a carefully scripted sales pitch. This program was available to teachers at an expensive cost for the teacher edition guide book and the student books. Furthermore, there was a fee per class per semester. I believe that a person is entitled to reap the benifits of their hard work but at what cost to the ideological foundations of teaching should they be compensated? I think that we will see more of this lesson for proffit model as teachers are increasingly overworked and salaries are not sufficient to live in many of the urban centres throughout Canada.

Another aspect of education for profit is private schools. I had the opportunity to work for a year at a private ESl kindergarten in Seoul, South Korea. This situation was an interesting clash of "education" and parent satisfaction. Partially due to cultural differences, but mainly caused by the school as a business model, kids' educations were comprimised due to the priority of student retention. It may be possible to obtain a for profit school model that puts forth a quality education. However, once the main motive has shifted from educating a student to the best of their ability towards generating the most amount of profit who gets left behind? At my private ESL kindergarten I continually tried to convince the school to push their finished educated product as the beacon that would guide future parents towards the enrollment table to sign up their children for 2 years. Unfortunately the tactic undertaken to increase enrolment and maintain student retention was parental appeasement.

I have come to terms with the fact that if I am going to teach internationally that I will most likely be working within an education for profit setting again. However, I hope that there is a focus on education as opposed to profits.

What are your opinions on education for profit? Have you had any experiences with this system? Do you plan to seek employment in this system?

Pay Attention

"We have learned to 'play school'. We study the right facts the night before the test so that we achieve a passing grade and thus become a successful student."

-High School Student

How many of us have felt this way at some point in time during our academic careers? More importantly, how can we prevent our students from feeling this way? One of the answers (and a theme common to our 780 seminar series) is by engaging our students.

Engage - to attract and hold the attention of; engross; to draw into; involve

We all know from our psychology classes that attention is crucial in learning. So my question for you guys is this, how are we going to engage our students? What have we learned in the past 3 months that will allow us to attract and hold their attention? With only 2 weeks left of class, I thought it would be a good time for us to summarize some of the engagement methods we have learned in seminar and in some of our other classes. The video I've posted here is called "Pay Attention" and it's focus is on the use of technology to engage students (it even has a fun little cell phone experiment). It's similar to Shift Happens or Did You Know videos but I still thought it raised some good points about how technology can be used as tool for engagement. Enjoy!!

Cheers,

Erin :)

Food Bank

Hey everyone...I don't know if ya'll read my post on giving/food banks...anyways Cameron and Tara told me they would help get something started if we wanted to help out this Christmas.

Now I am putting it out here! I called the Goldstream food bank about sponsering a family. It looks like a lot to take on, so its understandable if we don't want to take on a family. Rather we could bring it food and non food items, and I could take them down to either the Mustard Seed or the Goldstream Food bank.

Here are the guidelines for a family hamper....let me know what you think???

THE CHRISTMAS BUREAU OF GREATER VICTORIA

DONOR GUIDELINES 2009

Thank you for offering to provide a Christmas hamper this holiday season. The mission of the Christmas Bureau is to help as many families and singles as possible have a merry Christmas. We also endeavour to make sure that the help provided is equitable. We hope that no family will be short changed while another family is overwhelmed by generosity. Attached are some guidelines for the hamper that you assemble.

1. You must phone the family 2-3 days after receiving their contact information - let them know that you will be helping them this Christmas and that you received their name from the Christmas Bureau. Remember to talk to adults only, not children.

2. When you contact the family, confirm their address and all members of the household.

3. If there are children in the family, check the spelling of their names, their gender and their ages.

4. Ask for gift suggestions for children and their sizes if clothes are requested. (If clothes are purchased, enclose a gift receipt.) The Christmas Bureau policy is for all children 17 and under to receive 2 new main gifts, an approximate total value of $50.00 per child. Small stocking stuffers can be added. The main thing is to make sure all children are treated equally within a family.

5. Ask if the family has any special dietary needs such as allergies, health conditions etc.

6. Arrange a date and time to drop off the hamper (3-7 days before Dec. 25 if possible).

7. Please keep the family's information confidential. If members of an office or group are assembling the hamper, provide them with a profile of the family but not their names (ie child #1, male, 14 years old). Shred the information after Christmas.

HAMPER CONTENTS

1. Christmas dinner basics - turkey, potatoes, vegetables, dessert

2. Treats - any or all of: candy, nuts, chips, oranges

3. Staples - flour, sugar, rice, noodles, soups, juices, tea coffee, crackers, cookies, pancake mix & syrup, canned fish, stew, chili

4. Options - hot chocolate, cereal, popcorn, baking mixes

5. If there are teenagers in the family remember to buy large sizes of hamper items to accommadate large appetites

Behavioural management

Hi Everyone,

So, we have all had our bad days complaining about this our that in our program, but today I asked myself if I felt better prepared to be a teacher then I did 3 months ago. The answer is yes! I feel more prepared to enter a classroom then I ever have before. Even our crazy, yet wonderful, philosophy class has really started to grown on me and I am now seeing the benefits of it.

If I could add anything to this program it would be a class on behavioural management and special needs. Does anyone else feel that more training in these areas could be beneficial or in any other areas? Or does anyone know of any good work shops out there on behavioural management in the classroom? I feel that it will be a major issue in our classrooms and that more training would be great so if anyone has any advice please let me know.

Philosophy, what a class!

Whammy!!!!! So the timing of this thought couldn't have been more perfect because I needed another entry that was an entry not just for the sake of making and entry (I like this last sentence by the way). So I today it dawned on me why I go to our philosophy class and thats because first off its crazy and second because as teachers we need to understand how thinking and knowledge progresses. Now my little realization of what that class is all about may be wrong, but im happy thinking that its teaching us to understand how ideas and thinking get altered and pushed forward over time. Before I was getting caught up in how all those guys we were reading about are just nuts, how old school there ideas are and they all seemed crazy to me. However the reason why I think that there ideas are crazy is because I was raised with very different values, values that are a product of crazy people thinking crazy and then other crazy people bringing forward a newer more progressive way of thinking. This post may not make sense to anyone but to me it's valuable and I don't think anyone but Chris has the ability to remove it so to bad its stuck here.

If you read nothing else here just answer this, what have you guys taken away from this philosophy class we have been taking these past 3 months? Im slow and I finally managed to take something from it so you all must have found something by now.

Peace

Rhy

P.S. Please don't burst my bubble and tell me my thought is ludicrous just leave me with it as it comforts me in these last few weeks.

Alternative Site Visits

As per my last email from Monday, I'd like everyone to engage in an 'alternative' site visit to examine the type of learning that occurs outside of a traditional classroom context. I suggested that you go out in triads in order to decrease the load on the individual, however, you may also go in singles, and pairs, if that works best for you. You have the equivalent of 2 class sessions in order to do your site visit (no class Dec. 4th & 8th).

1.Visit the Moodle to see a list of possible destinations.
File name: alternative_placement_list_2009.doc located in the folder "Files" on left hand margin under "administration". Let me know where you plan to visit.
2. Make sure you contact your chosen site to arrange the necessary times/dates/permissions...etc.
3. Refer to the attachment from my last email which details a more focus look at the alternative site visit.
See you on the 11th.
Chris

Alright, perhaps because it is December 2 and I totally have Christmas spirit (although it is being suppressed by school) I am going to say part of the reason I love Christmas so much is the giving aspect...I love giving! You are probably wondering where I am going with this.

It all relates back to the class we did on that Engaging Minds article we read. I know that seems so long ago, but this has been something I was thinking about since Christmas spirit arrived! Anyways, the one question, from around the room, that stood out to me was the question regarding community work we can do as a class or as a school.

One of the biggest projects I remember from high school is the food bank. Each block would sponsor a family. As a class we would be responsible for providing all the perishable, non perishable food and some toys for that family. What a blessing and a joy to that family for Christmas. My class got totally into to it and we had at least 3 boxes of food and a toy for each of the children.

I just think during this time of year when families are struggling to make ends meat (not to mention this year the recession happened) coming together as a class to sponsor a family and give them a Christmas hamper is an excellent way for the class to be involved in the community.

Since I live in the Western Communities, I follow the Goldstream Food Bank...There are plenty of other food bank organizations in Victoria, such as the Mustard Seed. The 2 links for the Goldstream Food Bank shows the struggle the food bank is having receiving enough food, because the amount of families in need has gone up. The second link is what kinds of Christmas Hamper donations the Goldstream Food Bank needs this year. The third link is from the Mustard Seed homepage, which let's us know what events and where to drop off the food and other ways to help.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/goldstreamgazette/news/63716412.html

http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/goldstreamgazette/news/69883212.html

http://www.mustardseed.ca/index.html

Maybe there is something we want to do as a class?

Outdoor Education

This weekend I ran the Seattle half marathon.  It was great; I love to run past people that have collapsed on the side of the road.  It makes me feel like such an amazing athlete.  After the race, my friend from Baltimore met me at the race recovery area.  She told me that when she was in high school, her outdoor education teacher forced all the students to run a half marathon.  On one of the class field trips they went hiking, and camping.  At the end of the camping trip they had to run 13.1 miles to get to the bus in order to return home. wtF (that’s with a capital F). Forcing adolescents, or anyone for that matter to run a half marathon is against their rights. I like running now, but angry-teenage-Crystal would have objected to this sort of outdoor education shenanigans.

Friday Nov. 27th Class - Outdoor Env. Ed.

As planned, we will be engaging in a session on the merits of teaching in the outdoors, or incorporating 'nature' in a cross curricular capacity within your teaching areas.
We will NOT be meeting in MacD103
Please meet at the entrance to Mystic Vale off of Parking Lot 1 at 8:30am sharp. (if you arrive late - follow the path down into the ravine - we'll be there).
Directions:
Parking lot 1 is the first lot on your right hand side after University Dr., it has the Glover Greenhouse Facility at the front, and is across from the Wright bldg. We'll meet in the far right corner of the lot (when facing the lot with back to ring road), where it meets the trailhead.
visit - http://www.uvic.ca/maps/3dmap.html for a map
Instructions:
- please bring with you something to write on and something to write with.
- please dress for the weather, and wear proper footwear for a light hike, some stairs, but all on trail.

See you then,
Chris

Gender

Today an important topic was brought up- GENDER. It got me thinking…how influential are gender stereotypes on students?

What are your experiences?

In general, how do you think gender influences teaching, the curriculum, and the lives of the teachers and students in the classroom?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Social Game Theory as a Teaching Lesson

Social Game Theory as a Teaching Method
by Kelly, Moss and Dale

Incorporating games into teaching can be a double edged sword. On the one hand, students respond well to such activities, but on the other, games can very easily become trivial reductions which lack substantive learning. This exercise will illustrate how the use of a social game can be used to heighten a lesson.

In this lesson about McCarthyism, the 'Mafia Game' played out by the students recreates the environment of paranoia, suspicion and baseless accusations that real people lived through in the 1950's. The side diagram illustrates how the method (playing the game) contributes to the content and objectives of the lesson.

Games can be meaningful use of class time with a little planning. In fact as long as it suits the lesson and C.O.M.A (Content, Method, Objectives, Assessment) works well, games can be fantastic learning devices!

Ps. I see the diagram is quite small on the actual blog. If anyone would like to see the full-sized original, please email me at dplotzki@uvic.ca

E-Portfolio Idea Sharing Fest

Hi!

So our next three e-portfolio entries aren't exactly looming yet, but lots of other assignments are and I was thinking lets share ideas of how we can use our assignments as e-portfolio artifacts. Maybe it's killing two birds with one stone, but I think it is also good to reflect on these assignments rather than the old undergrad style of get it finished, hand it in, forget about it.
Everyone with me? Awesome.
Our 401 papers for example. Those took a lot of research, thought and effort. Mine was on Emotional Competency education so I'm thinking of using it under K3 (knowledge of child development and contextual influences).
Any other ideas??

Happy Monday/401 Studying,
Justine

The Educational Lessons of Star Trek

Don't worry: girls can read this post, too.

Did anybody see the new Star Trek movie? It was good, even if you don't like Star Trek. And did anybody else notice that the Vulcans totally use Skinner teaching machines? That's right, those little holes in the floor are the perfect condition for the little pointy-eared children to receive the undivided attention of their virtual instructors. They learn without distraction, are quizzed verbally, and we can presume that the content is paced to match each student's needs and strengths.
And clearly it works, too, because Vulcans are freakin' smart.

However, look at their social skills! Useless when it comes to people, zero emotional competency, no charisma. Just look at how they deal with other people, how they avoid conflict until it explodes out. Poor little Spock, being teased about his mother and then beating that older kid up. This is not a well run institution!

The problem is that Vulcan schools are all academically oriented. There’s that real push to achieve in grades, to get your diploma, and to go out to the Vulcan science league or Starfleet academy or something. Actually no, not Starfleet. That’s kinda’ the Vulcan equivalent of community college. Anyway, there’s no time spent in communal classrooms learning from other students and engaging in nourishing social contact. I bet they don’t have any sports teams either.



I’m… really sick right now. Just bear with me.

Projects that challenge your students

Hi everyone, I hope that you are enjoying your reading break so far.

I randomly came across a great article in The Province online. The article is about an art project done in a Langley grade 11 art class. The class painted portraits of each Canadian soldier who had died

in Afghanistan since last Remembrance Day. Students in the article discuss the impact that the project had on them. The teacher for the class also discusses his initial hesitation about doing such a controversial project and how he chose to not get in to the political debate about Canadian troops in Afghanistan and instead focussed on the fallen soldier's lives. The article can be found here.

I found this article really tied in to many topics we have been discussing in class. This teacher used a potentially controversial topic to inspire his students. This project succeeded in large part to how he framed the project. He also made a connection between the art in the classroom and real world issues. From this article the responses seemed to be overwhelmingly positive. I think this is a really interesting example of a teacher taking a risk and really enriching the education and lives of his students.

Any thoughts on things that this article shows? Do you think this project is a good idea? How could this topic be addressed in other subjects?

Non-Linear?

During last class one of the ideas discussed was “non-linear” learning. In the discussion we were trying to see how something could be taught in a non-linear way. The idea that all learning is linear is a strong argument. At the time, many of us could not brainstorm a good example of non-linear learning. I think linear learning is just relative to the person who is learning the subject matter. There was an example of teaching someone how to fish. What do you teach first? How to cast, how to reel it in, tie on the lure, or which species are tasty to eat. I don’t think there needs to be a specific order. Who’s to say which should be first? The same goes for teaching students about farming. I believe the students could be taught in a non-linear way. The students could be taught by many different guest speakers from the community. The guest speakers would most likely teach different subject matter, at different academic levels. Examples to be taught could be fertilizers, watering, garden tools, or nutritional value of produce. Some of the topics would overlap, but others would not “lead in” to the next topic. The students would learn “chunks” of information that eventually, overtime, would come together in one concise fluid idea. However, these “chunks” about farming would appear linear to the student. I hope this idea makes sense; I’m a little preoccupied with the puppy I’m dog sitting, dumping my tea all over this laptop.

The Cognitive Teenager

Colin brought up a good point about students' readiness for what we as teachers are ready to teach them. We rely a certain degree on the Ministry's reccommendations, IRP's, PLO's...etc., but when do we consider the 'readiness' of our particular group of students?
Consider in particular the kind of learning that we were talking about today in class, bigger picture, debate-initiating, identity re-formation type of learning.
Enjoy your reading break.
Chris

The Neutral Teacher

Just following from our discussion in class today. What is your approach to your own subjectivity in your class? How much bias (passion/emotion) is okay? What are ways that we can balance our approach to a topic that leaves the 'learning' (interpretation) to the students?

No marks off for lateness

Hello All,
This was actually brought up a while ago but I found it written in one of my books and I remembered that I meant to blog about it so here it goes! Recently in Kelowna the school board decided that no marks will be allowed to be taken off for late assignments because that is not assessing the student's learning but their organizational skills. Personally, I think organization is a big part of the learning experience and while the content of an assignment may be amazing, if it is not done on time there should be some sort of natural consequence. In the professional world lateness could result in the loss of an account/client, or the loss of a job. Is the purpose of high school to prepare students for the workforce? And if so, as educators should we be assessing all aspects of students' academic performance, lateness included? If not, is there another consequence that educators could use to reinforce the importance of handing assignments in on time?

No child left behind!

After class the other week I couldn't get it out of my head what we had discussed about the no falling policy in schools. Should we really have this policy? I understand that our goal is to get all students through school, but at what cost? Are all students ready for the next level just because we have to pass them? Wouldn't this lead to students who don't try because well really they don't have to?

This also plays into our adolescent psychology class in which we are discussing age grading. Should we clump all students together just because they are at the same grade or should we focus more on their cognitive abilities?

As a future teacher in B.C. this policy really worries me. What are your thoughts?

Student Responsibility

This came to mind a couple of nights ago when I was thinking back about our super stellar observation period. Student accountability and responsibility is something that needs to be promoted by all teachers. As i'm sure all of us will agree that as upcoming high school teachers we are all gonna be pulling for our students to keep their "stuff" in a pile with handing in assignments and coming to class on time or whatever. No student wants to be nagged at or constantly reminded that "they need to grow up and start taking responsibility for their actions" (this of course would be said in a very grown-up type of voice) that is so invasive and irritating for a young person to hear over and over. So I was considering the alternatives to promoting responsibility, work ethic, etc... in another manner. One great alternate approach that I saw on observation at SMUS was that the school has actually turned the majority of club and extra curricular program responsibility onto the students and the teachers and or volunteers play a more passive role and just are their for support. I think this was a brilliant method as it injects kids full of responsibility and they may not even see it in that sense, and I believe that this could carry over to a whole mass of other things. Ok this is getting lengthy and I doubt anyone is that interested in what I have to say but just because I love sports I have to throw this at you, athletics is another great way to develop good work ethics and discipline. Being involved in sports and committing to a team I believe is another way to discretely develop those hard work and discipline skills that will most certainly carry over into the rest of life.

Technology and The Classroom

Over the last four weeks most of us have been introduced to some fascinating new technologies that schools have the opportunity to integrate into the classroom. With that said, I am wondering if anyone actually witnessed Smart-Boards, Clickers, Blogging, Blackboard etc being used during their observation experience. Although I did notice that about 50% of Limerick’s classrooms were equipped with projectors (along with 20 feet of extension cords and power bars hanging from ceilings) I didn’t see any other technologies being used. In fact one teacher actually used a 30’ T.V. to show a piece of footage, when he had access to an 80’ screen via the projector! Out of the 12 classes that my buddy and I observed only one went as far as using PowerPoint to deliver a lesson. One teacher (SS10) actually preferred to use the text Crossroads: A Meeting of Nations, printed in 1987, over a new text that was in the library. This was a surprise to me. Parts of me actually found some comfort in the fact that high school had not changed that much from when I graduated (2000) however, I was a bit surprised to see most textbooks that I used (that seemed dated even then) still being used. I am interested to hear about other people’s experiences during their observations, and particularly about how technologies were integrated. Although Lambrick Park is a “middle class” school, in my opinion they are slow to integrate technologies into the classroom, at least the technologies that we have been learning about. Is Uvic perhaps out of touch with the reality of most school budgets, and what most schools have access to? What are your thoughts?

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I don't want to be the Debbie-Downer, and I'm so excited for those of you who have posted about wonderful and positive observation experiences, but I also feel like we need to look at the flip side of the coin. 

My observation was a positive experience in the end but there were moments within it where I definitely had the "why am I doing this moments?" And even though it ended up being something I walked a way from with a smile, I definitely have new worries that I never even would have considered pre-observation.

That is what is great about this program. We have time to come back to UVic, reflect, and talk it all out; we get to share the good, bad and ugly and learn from each other.

So what are some things (little or big) that you guys are now worried/concerned/nervous about?

I bet between all of us and Chris we can figure a lot of them out!!

My time at Wellington

From the other posts people have had some interesting experiences at their schools So I thought I would share some of mine. At the school I was at they had a couple of interesting program set up that I would like to hear people's views on. The first was free fresh fruit was put in classrooms for the students to eat, thus encouraging them to have a healthy snack. I think this is a good program but based on budgets these days I am surprised they can afford to do it. Another program they have in place is that at the start of the last period of the day everyone, students and all staff, are suppose to silently read for 20 minutes. Now in practice this is done with most of the junior student’s, grades 8-10 at this school, but is not done with the senior students and basically none of the staff actually read during this time. I think it is a good idea that is not working the way it was originally planned.

Another experience I got to do is going to a staff meeting after school. It was interesting to see all of the teachers acting like students sitting in their chairs doodling while people were taking. It was interesting to see all of the various programs that the school had running and to hear people talk about the progress of these programs. Since I went to the same school district I imagine many of these similar programs occurred at my school but I was totally unaware of them. This could show that all of the programs available to students are not always made clear.

I am also curious how many people got to actually stand up at the front of the room and teach. For one day I got the run all of my mentor teacher’s classes. I made up the notes for the day and gave all the directions for the students. My mentor teacher just watched and forced to the students to come to me for questions as I was in charge for the day. I feel that the students did respond to me and my mentor teacher told me I did very well. This is encouraging and I was glad to get the experience at the front of the classroom.

Words of Wisdom

Here's a selection of some of the best quotes from teachers I wrote down from my 2 week observation at Oak Bay High. Some are funny, some are serious. But they are all very insightful. Enjoy.

• Teacher: “Do you remember what we did last week?”

Student: “Wha?”

Teacher: “When someone asks you a question that you don't understand, you don't

say 'Wha', you say 'Pardon'”

• “Guys, you have to learn what chivalry is. It's very important. Ladies always go first”

• “All that matters is what you learn. Making mistakes is o.k.”

• “EXCELLENT! FANTASTIC! HIGH-FIVES ALL AROUND!”

• “Good rapport works way better than a good lesson plan”

• Teacher 1: “I smell burning, have you been burning something?”

Teacher 2. “I haven't burned anything yet today. Well, except for that one late student”

• “Is this making any sense to you guys? No? Not really? Ok, just forget it”

• “Homework. I don't assign a lot of it. Generally the kids who do it are the ones who don't need it, and the ones that don't are the ones who need it most. It's flawed.”

• “ I am going to ask you to read that one more time. But this time just a little bit... better.”

• “I am not super keen on the plot of this book. Not all us men are bastards.”

• “You walk into my class late, making a distraction, with no excuse, DURING a quiz?! Sit down and be quite. You're getting a zero.”

• “I want the answer to this one, and I am going to wait till I get it. Cause I know one of you has it in you”

• “Don't forget, kids mature!”

• “Did you actually just start that sentence with 'Ummmmmmm'?!”

• “Guys, I am not gonna lie to you. I don't know the answer to that one”

That's about it! Why not add some of the quotes you picked up during observation in the comments?