Should Schools serve Societal interests?

So I know that I'm crossing courses here, but for those of us who were in Philosophy with Baxter this morning, I think some very good points were raised regarding schools serving societal interests.

Essentially, the point that was made in the end of the "debate" was that the MAIN thing to be taught in schools is critical thinking, so students can examine what else they're being taught, regardless of it serving societal or private interests.

What I liked about what Baxter said about democracy is that it basically points to the societal interests of education, and helps everyone relax about it. Because our curriculum is government mandated, it technically serves "societal interests" because we democratically elect the government. And while this means it currently serves a majority, not all the minorities, Baxter's point about democracy is that in time, the pendulum will swing and the minorities will become majorities and THEY will be represented in education. The best part, is that if we as teachers help our students learn to think critically, and we promote tolerance and peace, we can help those who are not being favoured by the pendulum at that given moment.

Carl's Case

I think that Carl's case is an excellent reminder to us to take into account what might be happening in our students lives outside of school. Many of our students will be coming from difficult home situations so they may be arriving at school with more urgent concerns than how to conjugate French verbs or how to pass a volleyball. If we keep this in mind we'll be able to do a better job teaching them and caring for them.

If I were faced with Carl's case, I would talk to the school counsellor to make sure that we went about things the right way to help Carl. I would not bring him home with me.

Health Education

Another method of helping our students prevent the escalation of abuse is through "health education."


As has already been said, numerous times, healthy lifestyles begin with our scholastic system. One of the best places to prevent risky behavior, to educate about healthy behavior, and to get kids (and their parents) thinking about health, is the classroom. Some outlines for teaching health are listed in the PLOs for Health and Career studies, a compulsory class from kindergarten to grade 9. In elementary school, teachers can either teach health as an entity to unto itself, or incorporate it into any number of other subject areas, as long as it receives 45 hours of instructional time. If taught successfully, a grade 9 student should be able to think critically about abusive situations and should have the problem solving skills to find the resources he/she needs. One resource may be the teacher or guidance counselor.


You can access the website for Health and Career education at

Suicide prevention article

Chris and Taryn had posted regarding our buddy Carl and had mentioned their concern for the potential to miss warning signs and potentially mishandling a serious situation, such as in the case study. As I also was concerned about this and I thought I would post a link to our moodle sight as there is an article on recognizing signs of suicide. Not the same topic, but the more we know about how to identify issues like this in the classroom the more prepared we can be to help out students who need it. This knowledge might make it a little less overwhelming once we're in the classroom.

I couldn't upload the article directly to this post so I've added the link to the page on moodle. The article is called "Information about Suicide Prevention"

Response to Carl's Case

Well it seems like everyone has pretty much covered all the important issues surrounding this case, but it's great to see how much thought we as new teachers are putting in to it. My hope is that as we continue through our teaching profession we can all remember cases like this so we won't forget how kids come from all different backgrounds and that they all have different home lives that we may or may not know about.

I think it is admirable that the teacher in this situation, after only teaching in this high-risk school, has created such a comfortable relationship with his students that they can come to him when they have major problems. Carl may have had no other adults in his life whom he could trust, but the teacher was there for him when he needed. Luckily, the teacher knew exactly what to do in order to help Carl.

I believe this has already been said, but I think as teachers we should understand that there will be students who have terrible home lives like Carl's and we need to be there for them in order to provide a safe place if they chose to use it. Remember "in parentis locis'? (Correct me if I spelled that wrong!) I'm not saying that we should provide counselling services for our students, but that we should remember to keep our classrooms (and hallways, playgrounds etc) as comfortable and safe as possible.

UFC in our schools

here is a good story and something to think about as a teacher in high school. A fight occurs in the hallway between 2 Guys. the students come running down the hall looking for a teacher. you are the teacher they find. what do you do? Do you break up the fight or let the students go toe to toe. suddently, the principal and vice show up with 2 more teachers. the 2 guys are still duking it out. one of the teachers trys to intervene and gets thrown into the lockers. another teacher trys to intervene and gets kicked, while another teacher is on the students back trying to pull him apart. in the end the students stop fighting, and next week the guys are seen hanging out as usual. personally, i would let the guys duke it out and i would call the emergency # that the school has laid out. Remember youre intent is to stop the fight, but if you make a mark on the student (bruise) you could be charged with assault. funny how the administrators did not get involved.

Teachers are humans too!!

I’d just like to say that in my mind reading about a case study like Carl’s case, and actually experiencing the events from the teacher’s eyes are two completely separate things. I think it’s very easy to say, to read the study and say, well the teacher should have done this and should have done that, and should have been paying attention to all of these indicators that were affecting Carl. In many cases we would be completely correct in making these observations and prescriptions about what should have been done. I’d just like to say though that the real world doesn’t function in this black and white purely analytical way. Who knows how many other things could have been distracting the teacher away from realizing his student’s predicament? Who knows how well Carl may have been trying to hide the truth from his teacher about what was going on at home? I think this is where as teachers we can and should strive to look for indicators of such abuses so that we can help influence these situations in the positive. But with this in mind, we are all still human and prone to the errors of human judgment. This is not to say that the teacher should have blindly ignored Carl’s symptoms, but this is really good example of the delicate, and complicated tight-rope walk that we as teachers take on when we step into the classroom.

adding on...

It is definitely a wake up call and a huge realization that we, as teachers, don't necessarily know everything that is going on in our students' lives. The stresses of being a teenager itself can be pretty overwhelming; I think it's important to consider other possibilities besides 'slacking' and really just sit down with our students and ask them personally what's going on. A lot of the time there are legitimate reasons for certain behaviour and it's important that we give our students the opportunity to explain themselves before we jump to conclusions. If we don't communicate and respect our students, how can we expect it return?

And certainly, we have certain obligations as teachers to report specific incidences. I think it's important to communicate this with the student, as this teacher did with Carl, as opposed to reporting it without the student's awareness. I think one should also explain to the student that reporting the issue is not only part of your job description, but because you care about them and their well being.

Carl's Case

The case about Carl is a good lesson for all young teachers. Probably many teachers nag and hound students to get their homework done or have their project handed in on time or to pay attention in class without ever thinking WHY the student is handing in work late or acting out in class. I think if it is a once in a while event, there is not as much cause for worry, but when it becomes a repeated and constant problem, we need to start looking for an underlying reason. What also strikes me is that Carl came to the teacher first with his problem, rather than a counselor or the principal. We need to be prepared to have students come to us with their problems because they might feel more comfortable with us. I think that the teacher in Carl's case handled the problem well, going to the counselor with him and calling child welfare with him, etc. If a situation like this ever happens to one of us, we should know the steps to take and what to do/not to do and what to say/not to say to the student to make them feel safe. This also means not going beyond our boundaries or capabilities as teachers. If a very serious problem is brought to your attention that you are incapable of handling, you need to do what the teacher in this case did and go with the student to get more qualified support behind him. But if the student tells you something in confidence, what is your responsibility to keep his secret vs. telling a school admin or counselor for the safety of the student?

Carl's Case

What struck me about this case was that the teacher brought Carl home with them. I wonder if this meant that they brought his problems home with them or if they physically brought him home. I will go with the second idea that he actucally went home with the teacher and say that I feel this is a dangerous thing to do. I understand the child was in need however, we have a responsibility as an educator to keep things as professional as possible. I am not sure the correct protocol was implemented in this case and this could create a whole array of problems. This aside, I believe we are going to be confronted by similar situations throughout our career and it is our responsibility to look out for our students. If we can build positive relationships in the classroom more students are likely to inform us of problems they face outside of school. Some may be avoidable and some may not but by having a positive relationship with your students you are far more likely to help in these sitautions. The students have to feel that they can confide in you especially in times of need. I also felt the last sentence about being a teacher of students and not of subjects is a statement about what we do. We not only have to educate the students but we have to do so in a repectful manner, understanding that they all come with their individual needs and differences that have to be addressed.

The case of Carl

When one gets into the profession of teaching, it usually isn't because of just the money, or because it's a steady job, and if that's the case I don't see these teachers lasting to long (although the one or two would prove me wrong). We go into this profession because of the students, and for what we can do to help change their lives. Carl unfortunately is in a terrible situation. The teacher did the write thing in getting the school counselor and child services involved. Although we do want to help as much as we can, we have to remember that it is not our job, nor do we have the expertise to deal with these issues like the specialists.We do need to care, but we are not psychologists or child service workers. Once Carl has been taken care of as much as possible by child services, I would make sure to keep an eye daily on Carl and just to check up on him, make sure he's doing ok, take his mind off his troubles a little, ask him about a cool song or some new trend to take his mind off the worst parts of his life. Also i would be making sure the school guidance counselor was checking up on Carl and making sure to keep tabs on him as much as possible. Although we aren't qualified to deal with the major psychological issues, we are qualified to be caring and compassionate human beings, and that is what we should be doing with all our students, Carl just might need that little bit more attention though.

Carl's Case

As a teacher you spend a significant time with your students on a weekly basis. Over the course of the semester you will learn a lot about all the individuals in your class and there will be a level of trust created between you and your students. Carl’s teacher DID notice a change in his student’s behaviour and was starting to become concerned with Carl’s behaviour in the classroom. I do not think it was his fault for not recognizing more signs of abuse right away because children will hide it to their best of their ability. Hopefully students will feel comfortable and safe coming to you as a teacher for help in any abusive situations. I hope all of us will be able to create that nurturing environment where students can feel respected and protected if something might happen to them.
It is important for us as teachers to know certain warning signs for emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Listed below are some possible indicators for physical abuse provided by the BC Ministry of Education and you can find the BC Handbook for Action on Child Abuse and Neglect at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/sco/resourcedocs/handbook_action_child_abuse.pdf

Possible indicators of physical abuse
Physical Indicators
» injuries that have a pattern or look like they may have been caused by an
object (e.g., hand, stick, buckle, stove element), and
» bruising in unusual places such as ears, trunk, neck or buttocks
Behavioural Indicators
» afraid or reluctant to go home, or runs away
» shows unusual aggression, rages or tantrums
» flinches when touched
» has changes in school performance and attendance
» withdraws from family, friends and activities previously enjoyed
» poor self-esteem (e.g., describes self as bad, feels punishment is
deserved, is very withdrawn), and
» suicidal thoughts or self-destructive behaviour (e.g., self-mutilation,
suicide attempt, extreme risk-taking behaviour)

Case Study

At the end of the day, I hope that myself as well as most teachers get into the profession of teaching because we love children, and love to teach. We may get caught up in the fairness of our jobs, what is fair as designated by our union, and what our salary is compared to the time we spend outside the classroom. But in the end, cases like this could not help to shake anyone in this teachers position. We can't blame ourselves for not understanding the situation because sometimes we just don't know. I would think that the most poignant aspect of Carls' case would be remembering to exercise patience and compassion each and every day. And it's true that a large part of your compassion may be wasted on students that are acting out for the sake of attention, but for the one student that it means the world to, it may be worth it in the end.
My concern is how teachers in a high-needs school like that can maintain a level-head working in a district such as that. I've always believed that teachers should take time off after working for 10 years or so, just to refresh and gain a clear perspective of what they are trying to accomplish as teachers. I'm not sure how realistic this theory is, but teaching seems like a job with such a high level of burn-out and teachers that lose passion about their job. This is why the teachers who shine always stand out so much, because somehow they have managed to hold on to the love and passion that they started out with.
Overall, Carl's case is one to be remembered, if not read periodically throughout your teaching career, to help you remember all the things going on that you may not realize when you have 30 students in front of you each day.

Boys and school...

I read an interesting article that says more girls than boys are going to university and the gap is only getting bigger: "For more than a decade, universities have been puzzling over where the boys are as the ratio of female to male students keeps climbing. About 56% of Canadian undergraduates in 2006 were women, according to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, a significant change from the early 1970s, when more than two-thirds of university graduates in their mid-twenties were men." The article suggests that Youth in Transition found that about 32% of high school boys had an average of more than 80% compared to more than 46% of girls. On average, the girls studied 6.4 hours a week, while the boys studied 4.7 hours. About 21% of the boys reported skipping classes at least once a week, compared with 15% of girls."

Any thoughts on why this is? What is our responsibility as teachers, to ensure that boys and girls have equal access to university when research suggests it is an effort issue?

Carl

I think this story brings up some important classroom management issues. It is easy to dismiss a student who is acting out, disobeying authorities, or not doing their homework as simply a "bad" kid or a "troublemaker," however it is important to realize that there may be a number of underlying factors which lead to these behaviours. We cannot always be aware of the problems that are faced by our students, especially outside of class, so we should be wary of our initial judgments and try to be encouraging and positive with our students as much as possible. Discipline and rules are necessary to maintain order in a classroom but we must always be careful that we are not simply putting down, punishing or belittling students which is much more damaging to students than it is corrective.

Carl

I think that Carls Case is a real eye opener. I know many of us have talked about classroom management in the past and ways to handle or deal with it. But we never really discussed what underlaying problem that may be the root of the child's misbehaviour. We are taught the types of consequences that we can implement but what do we do if we find out the child has a problem like Carls? When we were learning about classroom management strategies I felt like the situations and consequences were more disconnected from the students but in real life there will be students like Carl where it is more complicated. We are human and we are going to care about our students.

According to Child Welfare 2003 there was an estimated 235,315 child abuse investigations and numbers are thought to be higher,due to under reporting

As new teachers we are going to learn from experiences in the school system. In the case of Carl I think it is important that the teacher became aware that he did not recognize Carl may be having problems at home. Apparently, one of the signs that there are social issues for a student is a drop in grades, lack of concentration etc. A good teacher will reflect on the decisions or experiences they have in the classroom and use this awareness to help facilitate student learning. the future role of this teacher is to "support" the student and allow the social workers to council the family. As teachers, we can only do what we can when we can for our students. If we extend ourselves to far it may end up that we as teachers will need the support of counsellors.

Carl's Story: Self Reflection

A teacher is a human being and it is impossible to go through our 30+ teaching career without having students that make an impact on our lives. There's always students that stick in your memory, for good and bad reasons, but one hopes that after those 30+ years, you'll remember mostly the good. We cannot completely remove ourselves from the fact that we teach students, and just like us, they are bound to have problems in their lives. The teacher in this case, did everything they were supposed to do. They didn't try to fix the problem on their own, they took Carl straight to the counselor, and phoned Child Welfare. I believe that in cases like these, it's impossible not to be empathetic, however, we cannot beat ourselves up for not recognizing sooner. We can take from that situation and keep that in mind the next time you see a student falling behind. If we blamed ourselves for every child's problems, we would fall apart and burn out so much faster.

The teacher said that they were a teacher of subjects, however, it takes a self reflective person to be able to recognize that in yourself. This teacher realized it, maybe a little too late, but they are now aware. Being aware of your own tendencies is important so you can improve. Teaching teaches you to be a better teacher, you just have to recognize those “teachable moments”. One of the best things that I have learned from observations, is that simply taking a step back and looking at yourself (as the teacher) objectively can lead to identifying and fixing problems.

I am not saying that you have to be completely removed from your students, I just think that you need to realize when you are “consumed” and feel responsible for your student's problems. Do not beat yourself up if you fail to recognize a student in distress, for we all make mistakes. Just know for the future.

Carl's Case

There is a lot to say about teacher-student relationships. I knwo if I was put in a position of helping a student who was being abused I would do whatever I could to stop the abuse. I know just as a human being we want the best for people and we don't want to see anyone get hurt. But it is also hard as a teacher to keep track of every student in every class and what might be going on in their lives outside of school.

I think it's not our responsibility to check up on our students and their personal lives 24/7. However if a student looks distressed or is behaving out of the ordinary I don't think its wrong for us teachers to ask. For 12 years of their lives we are with them for 8 hours of the day. At some point in time many student will probably look to us as "parents/role models" if they can't go to their own parents. We just need to be there to listen to what they have to say and assess what the next step will be to solve their problems.

Carl's case

That's Carl, of course ...not Paul's Case

( that's what happens to English teachers who
still have memories of short stories that never
leave them!!

Case about Carl....

This case touches on something which has crossed my mind every once in a while, and really makes me a little nervous. I don't blame the teacher for beating herself up over how she'd been nagging Paul, and I could see myself feeling the same way. It does say, though, that the teacher is in a high-needs school, and I would imagine that by being in a high-needs school you'd have some sort of idea that these kinds of things might happen. Of course, this stuff can happen anywhere, but if I were working in that type of school, I'd definitely try to do what I could to become more educated in how to help high-needs students.

The final comment in the case "I had become a teacher of subject instead of a teacher of students!" really stands out for me, because I think it represents the spectrum that we'll always be shifting along. Finding that balance between caring for your students, but staying detached enough for your own health and sanity (well, and theirs too!) is definitely something that will take a lot of practice. It will also be different for each student, so we'll need to learn to adapt and adjust quickly.

I think that if we keep an open door policy with our students, then we can have a better idea of what they're going through. While a lot of what they'll need to talk about needs to be done with a counsellor, if they feel safe enough to even just say something like "hey, I'm having a really rough time right now, and i'm working on it with a counsellor" then we'll at least know SOMETHING is going on, without them having to tell us what it is.

Case about Carl, not Paul

My first reaction to this story is sadness for Carl that he has to go through such things while trying to focus on school and everything else in his life. I really like the teacher's last comment about being a teacher of subjects instead of a teacher of students. I think it is important that we always remember that we are dealing with real, live people and that sometimes there are all sorts of circumstances going on outside of school that prevent them from performing properly at school.

I am excited that as a music teacher we often get to create the classroom atmosphere of one that is positive and often different from other subjects. Hopefully, my class will be a place where students can leave some of their troubles at the door and focus their minds and hearts on making music and being part of a group.

GNS at a glace

I had an extremely positive experience during my 2 week practicum at Glenlyon Norfolk Secondary School. Here are a few things that stood out for me:

(1) The teachers! I was introduced in a staff meeting on day one so even teachers who weren't directly supervising me made me feel welcome and ushered me into their classrooms. My PE supervisor took an extended medical leave when I arrived which ended up to my advantage: her substitutes were inept at PE, so I got to teach in everything everyday. Another member of the PE department welcomed me into her class as well, so I ended up getting lots of feedback from a variety of sources. Similarly, in English, all of the teachers wanted to see me teach. I ended up leading an advanced creative writing seminar, teaching two grade 9 classes and ghost marking sixteen grade 11 IB papers. Lots of variety!

(2) Resources! The PE facilities were beautiful--new turf had been laid on the field, and I had access to lots of new equipment. The teachers themselves were also great resources. My principle supervisor in English had a masters in Shakespearean lit, so when he asked me to teach a mini unit in Elizabethan culture/syntax/grammar, he was able to critically assess my material from an academic perspective as well as an educational one. Very helpful!

(3) Class sizes! In English this was a definitely advantage: students were comfortable sharing their writing with one another. Also many students had been classmates for 10-12 years which heightened this comfort. In PE however, this was less advantageous. For example, if a soccer units final objective is to re-create accurate game-play, and if there are only 8 girls in your PE class and there are 11 players per team in a real soccer game, how are you to demonstrate a real-world game?

Unspoken Student/Teacher Respect

Now it has been some time since I've done any observations (I did most of them least a year or two ago), but thinking back on them I remember seeing a lot of good and bad things in those visits. From strict power hungry teachers, to complacent uncontrolling ones, there was, like in many things, quite a variety. Of the successful teaching approaches I saw, there was a big range in terms of style and techniquThe e; but despite these differences there seemed to be this unspoken contract of respect between the students and teachers in all instances.

I then remember thinking about what exactly it is that gives a teacher this unspoken contract of respect? That keeps students focused and attentive? That's when I had this flashback to one particular english teacher of mine in high school. This teacher like any good teacher was very knowledgeable about his subject area and confident in his teaching style. But to me this had only a small part to play in what made him steadfastly respected by his students. Without a doubt it was his charisma and personality that made him so interesting to I and so many others. I swear he could have been teaching us to weave baskets out of birch bark and we would have paid attention like he was telling us a sure-fire way to win the lottery. Thinking about this teacher really brought me back to one of the key reasons I've for a long time wanted to be in teaching. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking this, but I've always aspired to be that really interesting teacher in school, the one you were never exactly sure which crazy story they were going to tell you, or the one you could never quite pinpoint and categorize. In essence, the teacher that you secretly envied and thought had the coolest job in the world.

hmm...I should do this right

well i AM supposed to actually blog about my experiences, instead of just complaining about the process of obtaining these experiences so.........

one of my best observations was of a grade 2 girls music class at GNS. I was so impressed with how welcoming the school was and how well behaved the students were. The teacher knew which students were more likely to act out, so she put them at the front of the class, right in front of herself. The class was practicing their songs for an upcoming festival and I realized that by placing the most disruptive students right in front of the conductor (as in a soprano 2 or alto 1 position) you can maximize you contact with them, and greatly reduce the amoung of time needed to discipline them.

Part of what made this teacher so effective was (of course) how well she had the lesson planned. I was so impressed to see that her lesson plan clearly did flow from her head, and essentially she made up the specifics of it as she went, but the overal guiding plan was pre determined. I could tell that because she was so experienced she was able to do this naturally, without skipping a beat. ( no pun intended). Hopefully one day we'll all get to that kind of level too!

A lot of the same

I find it really interesting to see how we all have had basically the same types of experiences in schools. We've seen the good, we've seen the bad, and we've seen the really really bad. Most of us also tend to be agreeing on the same concepts: planning and organization are key, keep your curriculum relevant, engage with and care about the students, have clear expectations etc.....

I don't know if I'm just being cynical here, but I don't think I've been as excited about observations as many of us seem to have been....I mean, I just started to find them really redundant, really quickly. I think I've done 30-35 observations in my degree, and I sort of felt like they stopped being helpful after about 10 or 15. The tough thing, though, is if we tell the next generation of mus ed kids to just do 10 or 15, they may get the 10-15 awful ones. I'm really torn on the value of observations, and it really bothers me that I'm so torn! I think that for me, observations would have been more useful/valuable if after doing 10-15 (to get some good variety!) then we were able to do all the other ones focusing on a teacher or school who we felt was particularly inspiring. I totally understand the value of observing the bad to make sure we don't do the bad, but I think that if we observe more and more of the good, we'll be more likely to follow that......we follow examples!

I also feel as though the very short nature of observations (really...a "45 minute class" observation? which will take 3 hrs out of my day with bussing and make me miss 2 other classes that day?) didn't really make them as useful as they could have been. Maybe if we were able to do longer portions in the classroom (half days? or a short practicum type thing?) after we'd done some regular ones, then we could maximize the learning possibilities and minimize frustrating busses! I know I learned the most about being in a classroom during ME 307 where we were actually in the middle school jazz band class each day........just having that consistency taught me as much as all my previous observations combined. maybe the music kids could have a format that incorporated some of what the PE kids have too? so jealous of your mini practicum!

2 week practicum

I chose to do my two week practicum at my old high school in Ontario (Iroquois Ridge High School). I had the opportunity to observe several classes in different subject areas and teach several art classes from grades 9 through 12. To be honest, there weren't really any issues that arose for me; I was very impressed with the teachers I observed, the students I taught, and the overall community of the school.

One of the art/religions teachers I had a chance to observe really impressed me with how well he was able to connect with his students; he was a very funny and easy-going teacher whom the students absolutely adored. He took the time to really engage with each student and see where they were at in their projects. In the religions class, he gave each student the opportunity to present their project in whichever way they were best able to communicate their knowledge of the content (ie: they could write a paper, do a painting, write a song etc. -whatever they chose). This teacher truly cared about his students' learning and wanted to set them up for success- and I think what was critical about this, was that he made sure the students knew it- they KNEW he wanted them to do well in his class.

By having the students aware that he was there to support them, classroom management wasn't much of an issue. The respect he showed toward his students was clearly reciprocated; so, when he DID have to make reminders of noise level, listening, etc., there was a genuine compliance.

I think it can be difficult, as a teacher, to find the balance of being an authoritative figure so that the students respect you and listen, and being "fun and cool" so that they still enjoy your lessons and want to come to your classes; my practicum was a great opportunity for me to see this balance in action.

Classroom Management

I did some substitue teaching in April. I went to see the VP to see my schedule for the day and which classes I would be in. One of the classes I was placed in was a Math Essentials 10 class. The VP also told me that he would be sitting in on the class because the students' behaviours were awful and he thought it would be necessary while I was subbing that class. When we walked into the class, there were a group of grade 10 boys wandering around the class and acting obnoxious. Immediately the VP told them to sit down and they went and sat by their friends. He then put them into a seating plan. I then explained to them their assignments that they were to work on and for the most part they did.

I realized after this day how important classroom management is to set up as soon as you have your class established from day 1. Before I went into that math class, my sister (another teacher at that school) told me nightmare stories about those specific boys because the original teacher had management problems.

two week practicum & a PE question

I had a really good two week practicum at Rutland Senior Secondary in Kelowna. It was a really great school and I had two awesome and very laidback sponsor teachers. My PE sponsor teacher must, in a not very distant way, be related to Tate (a PE prof here at UVic) and my English sponsor was the school heartthrob and football coach. Both teachers had a very laidback approach to lesson planning and teaching, putting 2.5 hour lessons together in the 5 minutes before class. Rutland has 2.5 hour blocks - 2 classes each day, 4 classes in a term, just alternating A/B. I think the biggest battle most of the teachers faced was trying to keep students engaged for such a big chunk of time. But I got to teach To Kill a Mockingbird with English 10, which was really neat because I've never had the practical classroom experience in English that I've had in PE. Very interesting to see how much diversity is in a classroom and to try to reach everyone. In PE I taught the first couple lessons from an ultimate frisbee unit, which was really fun and I got to teach "trick" throws (hammer, air bounce..) so the students were pretty into it. All in all, I had a really good time and feel like it was such a valuable experience coming into Pro Year and the big practicum to get a feel of what schools and teaching is actually like and to get a lot of ideas for what to do and what not to do.

But one of my big questions that came out of this experience was what do you (sorry, this is pretty PE oriented) think of combined classes? During my practicum PE classes were combined so there would be 60+ students and two teachers. I found it very chaotic and there was always a large chunk of time spent on little classroom management things that I felt could be avoided if it was just the 30 students from each class. Also, they would have all the students in the one gym and because it was two crazy for everyone to be playing at once, half the class would sit out half the time. I'm sure there are many benefits but I feel like it's best just for certain units and not for every single class. Ideas?

Managing Grade 8/9 Boy's in P.E.

First of all, I can't say enough about my two week practicum. It was an incredible experience and I learned a lot from both my mentor teachers. However, one thing in particular kind of bothered me. My mentor teacher for the P.E. classes seemed to be incredibly strict when it came to dealing with his grade 8 and 9 classes. His presence in the gym was always known, and it seemed that if a student had even a smile on his face when Mr. H. was instructing, Mr. H. would stop talking a stare down the student. I will admit that the class listened to every thing that Mr. H. had to say, and he had very few managerial problems, but I remember my grade 8 and 9 teachers doing the same thing and it almost made me want to drop out of P.E. (my favourite class).
I guess my question is whether or not other people in this class had those same types of experience. Is this fear tactic simply the only way to keep grade 8 and 9 boys from killing each other in gym class, or is there a more friendly way to go about it? I for one hope so.

Pay Attention!

After the accidental answer give away with the overhead on Monday I remembered something from my High school History 12 class. Every day in my History 12 class we had to copy down the overhead notes as our teacher was talking/ explaining the material. He would use a piece of paper to cover part of the notes so that we couldn't rush ahead and talk about the subject matter at the same time. To make sure we would pay attention to what he was talking about and what was on the overhead he would say or write something silly in the middle of the notes. Then after he was a couple lines past where the silly insertion was he would ask the class if they noticed or heard something that didn't seem quite right. More often then not we would look at our notes and because we were just mindless writing down what he was saying and or what was on the notes without actually really paying attention we would find some silly sentence in the middle of our notes. Those would wrote it would raise their hands and everyone would have a good laugh. Those who were among the few to notice as we were writing would keep to themselves and wait for him to reveal and see who hadn't been paying attention and instead only mindlessly copying. It made for a good class laugh.

The anthem

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/02/02/nb-lamrock-anthem.html


I found this story on CBC (I read it every morning so I know what I'm missing out in the world), and I found it to be interesting on two fronts: patriotism and human rights. Does the government have the right to enforce the anthem on a school everyday? Obviously parents can opt their children from this, or the students can choose not to sing at all and just stand for the anthem, but at this point are we forcing patriotism on students? I'm on the fence on this one but would love to hear from everyone else on this story. This could happen in BC very easily, so how would you feel about that?

Just some thought stirring and what not:)

Dealing with students in the classroom that have been taken off their ADHD medication

During my two week practicum I taught art and physical education at Fraser Academy -an independent school for students with dyslexia in Vancouver. The first week I was observing my sponsor teachers and their specific teaching styles. Many of the students were medicated for various psychological, mental and/or learning disabilities. During the time of observation my art sponsor teacher was dealing with a child that had just been taken off his medication. This particular student was disrupting the learning environment and causing problems for the teacher. At the end of the day I was talking to my sponsor teacher and he had given me some advice for what happened in the classroom that day.
These particular students have a lot going on in their lives and have many challenges –almost all of these students who suffer from dyslexia also have ADHD (this is a very common trend for dyslexia). As a teacher you may have a great lesson planned but sometimes these students will walk through the classroom doors but will NOT be physically able to engage- they are too distracted with either being taken off their medication or having a particularly hard day struggling with ADHD.
On a particular “hard” day where a lot of students had no focus, the art teacher let them unwind and allowed them to be off task. He did not push them to get into an assignment but he let them work at their own pace or not work at all. He told me “these students struggle so much with their academic courses that it gets very discouraging. The art room is one of the few places where they can be themselves and socialize with their friends away from pressure.”
At first I thought this man was crazy for letting his students be off task while goofing around. But the more I observed I saw that the student’s attention changed on a daily basis, some days the students would be very engaged in their project and other days they would be fidgeting with any material they could get their hands on- it was their own personal struggle fighting their disability. I was impressed by my sponsor teacher’s knowledge in his student's background and how he adapted his lesson/art period to accomodate the struggles that the students were dealing with. He would ensure his students were getting the most out of his class but some days he wouldn’t fight with his students to be on task. This was a teacher who understood the struggles of his students and he would adapt their learning environment to make it a positive experience.

My 2 Week Practicum

I completed my 2 week practicum at Kwalikum Secondary School and it was an amazing experience all around. Both of my sponser teachers were very welcoming and excited to have me participate at their school and within their classes. My P.E. sponsor teacher was unbelievably encouraging and supportive and it was obvious that she was enthusiastic about having the opportunity to help me begin my career. In addition to my P.E. sponsor teacher, I was lucky to receive support from the entire P.E. department. Each teacher took time out of their schedules to sit down with me and answer any questions and address any concerns I may have had and also invited me to observe their classes. I was exposed to so many different teaching styles and activities and am very excited to implement many of them into my own classes. The amount of feedback I obtained from both the teachers and the students in my classes was awesome and I learned so much from my time immersed in the P.E. department. Much like Kali discussed, my sponsor teacher also included student self assessment into her class which I found was a great way to interact with each and every student, leading to opportunities to discuss both concerns and praise that may be necessary to expose. Another very positive feature that I was excited to observe was the amount of support and discussion between ALL of the P.E. teachers. My sponsor teacher was consistently asking her colleges for ideas and suggestions and it was refreshing to see how comfortable they all felt communicating and sharing ideas. Furthermore, each P.E. class at the school participated in both a running and ab program. This was accomplished through the rotation of 'ab days' and 'run days.' On ab days, an abdominal routine was lead by the teacher for approximately 15 minutes at either the beginning or end of class. On run days, students participated in a variety of running groups dependent on their fitness levels. I was impressed with the amount of trust between the teachers and the students within this activity as it was relied upon the students to be running at the right times, on the right routes, often with minimal supervision. What I found very impressive about both of these activities was that the P.E. teachers were always participating along with the students.
My second sponsor teacher was the Communications 12 teacher at the school as well as the Vice Principal. I was significantly more nervous to enter my Communications class than my P.E. class but quickly gained confidence in my abilities. The Communications class had an extremely large diversity of students, many with learning disabilities and behavioral problems. There were many students that were reluctant to accept my contribution to their class and take my role as their teacher seriously but with determination and effort I was able to connect with the majority of the students and had a great experience. One of the unique aspects of this class was that they only received formative assessment throughout their term and their final grades were determined at the end of term through a one on one discussion and review of their work throughout the term. This was an interesting and challenging feature that I am happy I was exposed to as I gained experience utilizing formative assessment through oral and written feedback.
Overall, it was simply amazing.

2 wk. Practicum

I did my 2 weeker at Elgin Park in White Rock, and couldn't have had a better time. Right from the start, both my sponsors introduced me to their classes and made me feel welcome. There was a staff meeting on my 2nd day, and the principal introduced me to the rest of the faculty. They gave me total reign throughout the school and I could come and go from any classes as I pleased. It was pretty fantastic. I got to see quite a few different teachers and different subject areas, and talked to a few TOC's that happened to be in the school while I was there. As for the acutal teaching, the kids were great as well, White Rock is a pretty affluent area so there weren't very many problems, other than students trying to use cell phones in class. A few things i liked about what my PE sponsor did especailly was that she used attendance rows at the start of class to do attendance super quick and get the kids out and being active as fast as she could. All the students knew what row to be in and in what order so she could just look at the row and determine who was present. Another thing that she did was she had a 3 stars of the day thing for her classes, where everyone would slap their thighs and make a bunch of noise and she would pick out 3 people who went above and beyond in class that day. The kids all really enjoyed it, and they got a bonus mark that day for being one of the 3 stars. I dont really have anything negative to say about the experience, it was all pretty good. The only thing that was kind of negative was I got to experience the boringness of a staff meeting.

My two week practicum

As I said in class, I went to Terrace for my two week practicum. There I taught the grade 10 art class and sat in on a lot of other classes to get a good sense of the variety of teaching styles in the school. Overall I had a great experience with teaching. The students seemed to respond well and welcomed the change of having someone new in their class.

Before I started teaching and was just sitting in on the art classes, I could tell that some of the students had minimal respect for the art teacher I was working with. She is a nice person to work with but I found she bullied some of the students who weren’t participating as they could have. One of the girls she was always yelling at had a learning disorder which the teacher thought she was just “milking” to get away with being lazy. I always like to give students the benefit of the doubt so when I took over I made sure to go around to each student during the class as they were working on their assignments to let them know that I respected and valued their progress and involvement. It was really simple. All I did was talk to them like normal human beings and they responded positively and even produced more work for me than they did for their regular teacher. I made the girl with a learning disorder smile more than once which is something I didn’t see with the other teacher.

I mentioned this in class, but I will briefly state it again, that if you’re working in a small town it is much different than living in Victoria or Vancouver. Your privacy is somewhat restricted as rumours fly a lot faster so its important to keep a good public profile. Chances are you will run into a student, colleague, or even a parent (gasp!) if you go shopping or even to a pub and that might be hard to get used to for people who haven’t grown up in that scenario. For me I am used to it and I like running into students around town because then they can see that you have a real life too, and you are not “just” a teacher. However, we are always setting an example for the students, whether we think we are or not, so it’s best to always keep in mind things like dress, language, PDA’s etc. Small towns are great though,and it’s much easier to get on the sub list and/or find work!

Engaging and not so engaging teachers

I went on my practicum at Oak Bay and was fortunate to observe some excellent teachers. One teacher in particular used differentiated instruction to engaged the whole class. He used a text book to deliver his math lesson and had students work at their own pace answering the questions. He would go through each question or any potentially troubling questions for those who struggled while the other students moved on. Those students that had moved on were also invited to share their problem solving with the rest of the class, engaging every student in the classroom. This allowed each student to work at their own pace and also take on the role of a teacher to their classmates.
On the opposite end of the scale I observed a teacher that had all the accolades, excelled in his job and produced results. However, this teacher was the reason I never wanted to be in school. He was so dour and boring. He possessed absolutely no charisma or savy. He was monotone and failed to smile once. His class was extremely well behaved and obviosly wanted to be there but I could not imagine why this was. His teaching style was as dull as it gets but produced results. It led me to wonder if it was the right way of doing things.

Teacher Observations from St. Andrews

Unfortuantly, the lack of a positive environment and teaching diversity was what i experienced in my practicum. The effects of these actions by the teacher had a negative affect on the class. The students were afraid to make mistakes in the pe setting--the kids were motivated to "not" break the rules or make a mistake and get humiliated, rather than perform the skill.
On first impression i was disappointed in how the teachers related to and taught the children. i thought what we were taught for the last four years was could be thrown out the door. i believe the teachers i worked with would be alright people outside the class room, but im sure glad i was not one of their students. i learned that i will not teach this way and if i ever do ill leave the profession. i was also realized i was happy because i did not spend thousands of dollars on my childrens education to expose them to teachers as such.

Curriculum on Repeat

Throughout the past three years, I have observed a spectrum of teaching styles. This ranged from the teachers who's style was natural and easy, to teachers that seemed not to care a whole lot about whether the class understood. Unfortunately, one experience that occurred repeatedly was the teacher that has been teaching the same curriculum for the past twenty years. The problem with that, is that students, teaching approaches, and technology have have changed since then. Their curriculum remains the same so the material does not reach the students the same way. I do fear that if I become comfortable with a curriculum design that works once, that I will stop development as a teacher altogether. Therefore, I do believe that the strongest part of being a good teacher is the ability to adapt and incorporate any changes, whether it be the students, the school, or our ever changing technology.

Thoughts from Observations

As others have been mentioning the keys to keeping giant music classes under control is planning and routine. During class you need to just be able to continually move ahead with relevant material. If you hit a road block with your lesson plan you need to be ready to pick up with something that is not a waste of time for you and the students. Also, when it comes to classroom management, having every student in the room know your expectations and the ramifications if they are not followed will allow you to move on from disciplining back to the students' learning more easily.

Last year I was involved in organizing a music festival. This experience showed me that routine and planning will apply even when outside of the classroom. The older teachers who knew the drill and had sufficiently prepared the students for how to behave and where to be when were able to quickly and efficiently move 100+ students from the bus, to warm-up, to onstage. Less experienced teachers had, well, chaos on their hands.

Its all about the planning and the routine.

Practicum Experience

I completed my practicum at St. Michael's and was particularly intrigued at the way my sponsor teacher dealt with a case of dyslexia within a school system that puts extreme emphasis on academic performance. This particular student was extremely bright, however, she could not spell and could not comprehend the curriculum literature. Financial support was by no means an issue for the school or for the parents of this student, so they hired a personal tutor that was fluent in five languages. The tutor worked with the student and my sponsor teacher and together they learned to identify root words. Spelling became a non-issue once the student was able to identify the original language and tense of a given word. My sponsor teacher also realized that this student could not comprehend texts because her brain worked overtime processing images related to the text. Comprehension was decreased because she was spending too much time picturing each word. The solution for this was to read sentences backwards as a means to slow down her reading so that her imagination could catch up. My sponsor teacher initiated this change and the result was incredible.

I read a paper written by this student and would easily admit that she had a greater understanding of the text than I had. At grade 10, she could walk into an English master's degree and succeed, given the depth of analysis she was able to write. This student would have never made it in the public system, but given the support available both educationally and financially, this student is able to access her potential and demonstrate brilliance.

I was very inspired by my sponsor's teacher's initiative and support.