The value of the two week practicum

As I said during class, I thought the two week observation was really beneficial in getting information on what we'll be teaching so that our in-class assignments can be more applicable. Until now, I felt that I was creating a lot of unit plans, lessons and tests that I might not necessarily use. Now that I have a better idea of what content I'll be teaching it certainly makes these assignments (as well as other class content and discussions) more purposeful. It might also be important to recognize that, coming from the Art Education program, I don't have nearly as much experience in the schools as the music and PE students (except for the two week practicum). This might also be why I found it to be more beneficial and worth while compared to what I've heard from my peers in the music and PE program.

I think it would be very beneficial to have more in-school experience for the Art Ed students in the first 4 years. There seem to be a large number of NON-education students taking AE courses as an elective; I've found that quite often the professors of the AE courses adapt the content so that it isn't as geared toward education and teaching (as to not bore the students who come from other programs). As a result, those of us who are actually going into teaching, suffer.

It also really surprises me that there isn't more touched on Special Ed as this is certainly an area of education we will all encounter at one point or another in our teaching career. I know the Art Ed students with only one teaching area have a class in special ed, but it seems that those of us with two teaching areas don't have that option.... hmmmmm

Alternate School Program

During my observation at Kitsilano, I got to spend some time at the alternate program that is associated with Kits, and I wanted to let everybody know what it was all about. The program is called the Vinery program, and it is for students who have difficulty working in a normal school environment. The program is in a separate building just up the road from Kits, and has about 20 or 22 students in grades 8-10 involved who had dropped out or were in danger of dropping out of school. The program is set up so that the learning is self paced, and students work on only 1 or 2 subjects at a time so as not to become overwhelmed. The students will complete Math 9 entirely and then move onto socials, for example. The students are also able to take different grades at the same time, so if they are at a math 10 level but only an english 8 level, they are able to take both those classes. There are 3 or 4 teachers or resource workers who work with the students every day. The program seems to work really well, and the teachers have made each student accountable for their own learning, so that almost all of the students are there on time everyday and complete their work for the day before they leave at 3. The students also take turns doing chores in the building like making lunch for everyone and cleaning the kitchen and desks. The teachers have really made the place a community that the students are proud to be a part of.
The person who leads the program, kind of the lead teacher, is an amazing guy. He is on a first name basis with all the students and you can see that he is totally invested in all his students. He is friendly with all of them and for many of the kids, he is probably a stable adult figure that they really need. Even though he is friendly and more of a colleague with the students than a teacher, he still holds their respect and can lay down the law if a student is not doing their work. It was really interesting to see him walk that fine line between being a 'friend' and a disciplinarian, and is probably something that we will all need to figure out as we become teachers.

Dont Let People C_ _ P on Your Parade!

sometimes i am amazed what people say to me about teachers. i wonder are they ignorant, or just mean. today i arrived home and my neighbor approached me asking me how school is going. happily, i replied it is good i am in my last year ill be a teacher in April. she then proceeded to tell me how little teachers get paid, how teachers are underqualified, and how teachers should not be working past school hours because it is against the union. Funny? she then told me she "was" going to be a teacher, but she does not like the union. i then thought is this lady jealous? anyhow, i told her i love teaching and it is not about the money. i feel so fortuante to have the opportunity to educate myself and to do something i love and get paid for it. Plus as teachers we have the most important job in the world--to teach the youth. our youth is our future and teachers are the guides--you could classify us as "angels of matter." anyway, eventually i walked away from the conversation and shook my head. i even being the teacher that i am began to reflect on the conversation and i began to second guessed myself "is this all for nothing? should i pack it in right now?" then i thought bull_ _ _ _. i felt bad for this lady. she obviously is not working towards her own dreams or goals. actually, i believe she works at a jail. Glad its not me. so the moral of my story is DO NOT let anyone crap on your dreams (and don't kid yourself people will try) or goal in life. im proud to be a teacher and we all should be proud of ourselves for making it to where we are in our lives. cheers to the teachers of the world! now im going for a run.

The Real Deal

Looking back on my observation I really appreciate having been able to get into my sponsor school before my actual practicum. Putting aside the whole teaching classes, lesson planning, dealing with students and all of the other stuff involved with being a teacher, just getting into a school and trying to find your place in the mix of everything is a big shock and can be difficult to do. I am sure I’m not alone in feeling that when I go back in January to actually do my practicum things won’t be as shocking as they would otherwise have been. Looking forward to my practicum, I feel like I have much better sense of what things will actually be like when I’m in the schools, and what will be expected of me when I’m there. I won’t lie though, in a lot of ways I’m still scared of what things will be like in January. Doing university classes for 4 and a bit years is one thing, but actually being out in the schools teaching students is something very different. Having to teach and do classroom management at the same time is a challenge that I don’t think any amount of teaching peers can quite prepare you for. I learned this the hard way this week when I taught a warm up in one of my sponsor’s classes, and found that a lot of kids were not paying attention or messing about, even though I was trying my best to make sure everyone was on task. Another thing that I found really difficult was asking kids questions to confirm if they understood what I was explaining. When I practiced this in our mini classroom lessons in university it seemed to work pretty well, but in the real world it just bogged down the pace of the class. Overall, I’m finding the adjustment to school teaching is trickier then I initially thought it would be. Despite these difficulties though, I think this whole observation period was a really beneficial and needed thing.

Observation at Spencer Middle School

I have seen and experience a lot during the 2 week observation period at Spencer Middle School. The school system is different than most high schools I have been to. Spencer is on a linear system for their academic classes (including PE) and then they are on a semester program for their electives, except for the grade 7 exploratory classes that last around 6 weeks (I think). So when it comes time for me to teach art and PE I will have kids that have been in PE since September and then kids starting their first semester in Art. The PE teachers at the school have completely opposite teaching styles and I will be lucky to have 2 sponsor teachers. The PE director has been teaching since 1977 and it is his last year before retirement so I find his teaching methods quite old school and his views and beliefs to be quite extreme. On the other side of the spectrum my Art sponsor teacher is very young and has only been teaching for a couple of years; I feel like I can relate to her more and we share some of the same views and beliefs.
A new program that has been implemented in the middle school is a 30 minute block before lunch called Numeracy and a 30 min block after lunch called Literacy. These blocks focus on skills that will be used in the work force (if the teachers actually teach the block correctly). I have seen teacher take many different approaches to these 30 minute blocks and it looks like the principal and vice principal will have to re-examine their time table and the effectiveness of these classes. I may or may not be asked to teach a numeracy and literacy block. The observation period has been helpful and I really enjoyed getting involved in some of the elective classes including; foods, textiles, drama and dance!

Observation at Lambrick Park

My two week observation at Lambrick Park had both it's ups and downs. When we arrived, we were given a large binder by the school secretary that the VP had put together for us, containing information on school policies (such as attendance, exams, extracurricular activities, etc.), list of all the teachers at the school and their subjects, a schedule of the block order, and a calendar with all the important events that will take place this school year. We also were told what classes we will be teaching next semester. We had a couple of meetings: one with the VP, and one with the librarian, who set us up with staff login information for the computer systems, and briefly went over the library system with us. Overall, I was really impressed with their organization. However, on the down side, I find myself in strong disagreement with the teaching style of one of my sponsor teachers. I hope that I will be free to teach in my own style even though it will probably be far different from this teacher's, and he will be open to letting me try some new things I didn't observe in his classes the past two weeks. Other than that, the school is small so I am starting to recognize faces around the hallways- the kids seem nice, and I am looking forward to my practicum next semester. 

Lots going on!

My observation was great! KSS in Qualicum has a very strong music program with several music courses/groups going on throughout the year, concert bands, jazz bands, choir, vocal jazz, guitar classes, regular band classes and several jazz combos or other chamber groups. With so much going on it made for long days (7:20-4:30 almost ever day, usually with about 15 mins for lunch), and not much time to check out other classes. There were two teachers and two band rooms which were both in use most of the day. My very first day was also the same day that the two teachers learned that they would be taking over one of the local middle school's music program two afternoons a week. It was really awesome to watch their first day with the students and see the difference that they were able to make with the students in such a short time. The first few classes were spent establishing new routines, correcting some bad habits and setting high expectations for the students to rise to. The students were playing so much better already by the second week. It was very informative to see what went into taking over a new program. We totally reorganised the equipment room, went through the music library, and rearranged the band room, the next step is to take inventory of all of the school instruments and find out which instruments need repairs, organise a trip for the concert band and get a jazz band started. There is a lot of work ahead but I am excited to see how far they will have come when I come back in the Spring!

Boys only schools?

Hi everyone, I just happened to come across this article on the possibility of a Boys Only primary school opening in Toronto. Let me know what you think!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/torsun/091021/canada/board_eyes_boys_only_school

Here, There, and Everywhere

For the observation I have been piggy-backing at Colquitz Middle School with Kathy. Our first week was spent mostly observing the music classes. At Colquitz, there are more general music classes than performance groups because of the exploratory program. It is very interesting to see how general music varies from performance based groups such as band or choir.
Perhaps the most valuable thing that we did was observe other classes. I observed/participated language arts classes, PE classes, several art classes, a drama rehearsal, a few clubs, and a social studies lesson. It was interesting to see how differently teachers cope with the same behavior problems or to observe the varied class structures. Talking with each of the teachers, one main topic or “words of advice” always came up: you never end up where you think you'll end up. One teacher's area was originally science and everyone thought she'd be in elementary school, but she's in the middle school teaching art, drama, and a little classroom teaching. Another was a PE student teacher who ended up getting her home ec diploma. One more wanted high school but it turned out that she loved teaching middle school students more. The “lesson” they all wanted us to know is to try everything because you never know what or where you'll end up teaching.
In talking to each of these teachers, when talking about students with behaviour problems, in pretty much every instance, the teacher said that they had behaviour problems but they were really a good kid. That is really important to distinguish – the behaviour from the actual kid. There are reasons why the student is behaving that way, in most cases.
These two weeks have been absolutely wonderful and I find that I've enjoyed my entire observation period completely. My most favourite part about the observation was getting to know the students. Maybe it's because I was allowed to be weird and make expressive faces. Though my practicum will be with a different age group (grades 8-12), I would definitely consider teaching at a middle school.

Dear Phil...

It's been interesting. I've seen a wide variety of classes--global studies, creative writing, foods, specialized rowing and lacrosse programs, choir, and all the usuals like grade 9-10 science and English and math. It's interesting how there are similarities between the teaching of these subjects: the school prioritizes note taking and setting clear/strict expectations for the first month before "easing up."

I had originally planned on researching the Claremont Review for this class--this is a magazine/book of student writing published quarterly by the school. I can tell you all about it, and I'd love to because it's really neat. But I've also changed my area of research for this class. I'd like to report on class opening techniques. Does that work?

music can be fun!?

I have a lot to say about my practicum but right now I just want to throw this out there. Today I went and watched a grade 8 music class and it was actually really fun. The teacher (who I'm told runs an award-winning program) had the kids wrapped around his finger and I was so impressed with how he managed such a chaotic environment. I think he kind of taught for me, just some of his expressions and behavior seemed a little unnatural, but the kids were hooked and I really enjoyed it. I am not a musical person at all so I mostly heard just a lot of clangitybangity instruments but he could pick out every instrument, every student, and break it down to clapping or whatever and then pick it back up as a class again. Plus, he used sports analogies to explain things to me!

Anyway. It's not that I had a bad opinion of music/music ed. originally, I just never gave it much thought. But I'm glad I went to this class. I got to see some really good teaching and gain a bit of a new perspective.

A teacher's influence

I've found it very fascinating to watch how students behave in different classrooms according to what teacher they have. The cell phone issue is one that becomes very obvious: I observed one class where the teacher wasn't very strict about cell phones and as a result, had more than 50% of the class texting (and some actually watching movies on their iphones!). He has a very relaxed and easy going teaching style -very sarcastic and jokes around with the kids perhaps a little TOO much. The student's seem to really like him. HOWEVER, I'm not sure how much they're actually learning... the student's behaviour and lack of respect seems to be a very clear reflection of the teacher's attitude and standards.

I also observed a class where the teacher had a warning rule for the cell phones: first time's a warning, second time it goes on the teacher's desk, and the third time it goes to the office. However, although the students are aware of this policy, the teacher doesn't actually follow through with it! Even as the policy was being described to me, she turned and asked the same student several times to put their cell phone back in their bag... it became very clear that without consistency in the rules, the students are aware that they can get away with it over and over again.

Today I observed a class where there weren't ANY cell phones out; I was shocked! I mentioned it to the teacher and she said it's because they KNOW if she sees it, she'll take it- no warnings. Another student overheard and commented, "oh no-in this class you don't even try..." I also noticed that, unlike the first teacher I described, she had a professional manner and treated her students like adults. It became very apparent that the teacher truly does set the tone for the classroom; the student's behaviour will clearly reflect the attitudes, energy, tolerance, and standards of the teacher.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The good: I am helping out with the Hockey Canada Skills Academy which is run by certified coaches and also monitored/run by teachers from ADSS. I go on the ice every other day and help out with practices. It's so much fun and they really enjoy having me there as I am making great connections with the female players. I would be in heaven if I ever had the opportunity to be a part of this type of program in the future. I do believe that I will still be involved in this program come January, but I am pretty sure that half way through February they begin dry-land training. I am really interested in checking this out as well and think that I could be a valuable asset to this aspect of the program as well.
Another good: All of my sponsor teachers (i have 3!) are pretty welcoming and helpful. I am trying to get into many different classrooms but am finding it hard to find available and willing teachers. ADSS gets a lot of student teachers from VIU and some teachers don't like having more than one of us in the classroom at one time.
A good/bad: (depending on how you look at it!) Starting in February I will be helping to teach the Golf class. This involves a lot of time up at the local 18 hole golf course where the PE teacher works along with the Golf Pro. On days that we are not at the course, we head to Glenwood center which is a multi-sport center to do indoor golf(this should be interesting). The problem is.... I CAN'T GOLF!! My mentor teacher assures me that I will do just fine and I'll be a pro in no time but I seriously have my doubts!!
A bad: Both of the PE classes I am observing right now have HUGE participation/strip problems. There always seems to be a minimum of 5 students who are not participating and do absolutely nothing but sit on the sidelines. They are not involved AT ALL. Through speaking with my mentor teachers this seems to be an ongoing problem. They say that they call home frequently but see little improvement. Apparently a number of kids fail PE 9 and 10 every year which leads me to my ugly.
Ugly: Currently in SD 70, there are no specialized teachers in the middle schools (grade 8-10). The students remain with their core teachers and these teachers are supposed to teach PE. Often these teachers use eliminating PE as part of punishment or are simply not knowledgeable in the area of PE. My mentor teachers have told me that students are coming to the high school without even a basic understanding of sports and strategies and little to no skill. It has been shocking to watch some of the simplest games fall apart due to lack of understanding/ability. (Now I believe that the current teachers should be teaching the understanding and skill aspects before commencing with a game but this doesn't seem to happen)
Ugly: There seems to be absolutely NO build up to full size games. Each class I have observed begins with a simple warm-up, a static stretch then straight into full games that are played at walking speed and absolutely zero enthusiasm. It honestly makes me fear for my practicum but I am determined to make an impact and conduct my classes in a much more beneficial and strategic manner.
Ugly: Because of the influx of grade 9 students into the high school there is little room for PE classes. They split the main gym which is only one full basketball court in half. Basically the teachers have have of one of our one third gyms to work in. There is also a mini-gym available which is basically a weight room and I have also watched many classes take place in the back room of the cafeteria. Most of these classes have been circuit or aerobics classes but there is barely any room to work with.
Ugly: On a rain day, instead of splitting up the classes and utilizing the other available gyms all 3 classes remained in the gym where the teachers "ran" a game of 4 corner, 3 on 3 soccer. At any time I counted and there was a maximum of 12 students participating and at least 60!!!! sitting out waiting for their turn. It was shocking.
Ugly: When I asked about the ""Daily Physical Activity"requirement I was pretty much told that it was basically non-existent. There is one staff member who is responsible for collecting and logging the minutes but apparently the students do not take it seriously AT ALL.

I honestly feel that most of this ugly that I have witnessed comes from a simple build up of hardships the teachers have faced. Lack of space is a huge issue as is the students beginning ability level. I think this would be a huge issue for any subject-what do you do when you have students that are simply far behind in the abilities needed to run a succesful class? It seems to result in a nightmare for teachers!

But, overall, it has still been great. I am absorbing as much as I can and asking tons of questions. I can't wait to hear how others have enjoyed their observations. I know that in comparing this time to my 2 week practicum the difference in quality is astonishing.

Observation fun

So far observations have been incredible. The students, although all have their challenges they present, really are fantastic and surprise me everyday. Culture (what I'll discuss when we get back) is amazing at Glanford and will take a while to explain. My sponsor teacher has me working with Jazz bands (two of them we have), band 6,7,8 and exploratory music 6,7,8. Come January we will have a brass band for me to work with which I am creating from scratch at the moment. What I've noticed I've learned so far from my observation is self-preservation tactics, and extremely useful organization methods. So many things I figured I would do, my sponsor teacher has shown me ways to cut down on the amount of work, and be just as effective. Ive been allowed to teach a few warm ups and also some exploratory classes based off my sponsor teachers lesson plans. I could keep going for ages, but no one would read anything I wrote then. All in all, what a great experience, I'm definitely looking forward to January.

Big Brother is Watching!

I think everyone is probably aware of whatever discipline problems are present in their classes, and I know we all hope to be the magical teacher that can fix it all! I've been quite pleased to see that discipline isn't an overwhelming issue in my school, partly because of the demographic, but it certainly is there. What I've found most interesting is that I've been the one that's been used to deal with discipline problems! Let me explain: I just came back from a grade 9 music retreat with the kids this weekend, and because I wasn't leading all the workshops, I got to loom over the kids and make sure they paid attention. Also, when it came to sleeping arrangements, after a disastrous first night, I was put into a room with the most disbehaved students, again....to loom over them! Oh and the best one just happened 5 minutes ago! I was asked to accompany a student to the washroom, because last time he asked to go, he never came back! As we were walking down the hall, the student muttered "this is so embarrassing". I've been pleased that each time I've been used as a looming presence, it's been very effective, but then I'm left wondering how these issues would be dealt with if I weren't around as an extra body to chaperone?

On the music retreat, I was very happy to see that the students did respond to me when they were doing group work and I had to correct some near-violent behaviour. So far none of the students have given me lip or tried to stand up to me (thankfully), but I do hope to learn some techniques for those situations, because not all schools will be as easygoing as this one!

from Erin originally e mail to PW

. My practicum placement is going very well. The biggest advantage at this point is that LP is as you mentioned very organized. I know what and where I will be for the practicum. My sponsor teachers are supportive and open and good teachers. The school is small and I'm already getting to know the kids. I like that. I must admit, it's different than the private setting (of course), and one of the things I've noticed is that the teachers are more burnt out than those in private institutions. The result is less energy into their teaching. That's unfortunate. The english department here seems strong, but the PE is majorly old school. They need some young blood to get things moving in a more effective direction. The girls especially aren't motivated and need gender split classes I think. ESL is a huge issue as well. Funding for that would be welcomed by most of the teachers here. I think there are ESL english classes, but for the rest, it's in with the class. Anyways, I'm enjoying myself. Thanks for the placement.

Oh yes- I'd love to speak to resource room/remedial stuff for the class presentation.

Erin

Observation

So far I have attended a number of physical education classes and as such, have
seen no assessment of the students. Many of the phys ed teachers seem
more concerned over the lack of student ability than actually devising a
way to help them and assess them. In one of the classes (grade 11) the
teacher just let them play volleyball 6 on 6. Need I say that the
students could barely string 2 passes together and seemed bored and
frustrated. The teacher insisted that they didn't want to be taught the
skills and that they simply wanted to play. I also observed a class where
one student was physically active for only 5 minutes out of the 35 I
watched for. It seems as though each teacher really wants the best for
the students but large class sizes and poor teaching styles didn't gel.
The students were not given a chance to progress and all to often only the
practice and command style were used. The teachers need more information
on other techniques of teaching to include every student in the class. In
fact, Bo and I were quizzed in a meeting with other phys ed teachers as to
how this can be done.
Games that Sandy Gibbons showed us to start the classes are amazingly effective
and really get the students interacting. It would be great to be armed
with more of these for our real practicums.
We had to sub for one of the teachers as the sub cancelled on him and luckily for us we were under the Principal's supervision. What I noticed was that students were very quick to dismiss
us and believed they could just walk out of class when they wanted to.
One student was following a warm up orchestrated by another student. He
said that if he was made to run anymore then he would walk out. How do we
deal with that as a teacher?? Its all well and good saying that he will
not walk out or there will be repercussions but how do we engaged them so
this doesn't happen? Also how do we deal with the student cockiness and
arrogance that has set in at grade 11? How do we help them understand
that we actually care about their future and that is why we are going to
do the job? Some of the teachers had no problem dealing with this while others just dismissed the problem altogether. It seems as though many of the teachers want to create great lessons but do not have the time to do so.

So far so good

I am loving my observations so far, despite how hectic and busy they have been. I've found that I haven't had any time to observe non-music classes, just because the timetable is so full of music.

I had said that I was going to address classroom management in the discussion and I would still like to. All of the bands at Reynolds have over 80 students in them, a management nightmare!! (On a side note, on the days that the students aren't in band they have PE, there the same kids are split into 3 different classes, consider yourself lucky PE teachers out there!) I'm really nervous about having to deal with classroom management and my sponsor teacher seems to be a bit nervous about this in front of the class as well. He doesn't seem to have any good strategies for preventing the students from talking and playing in between instructions/pieces and even ensuring that the students are always playing when they should be (you can barely see what all of them are doing from the podium). Which leads to making me more nervous knowing that there aren't strategies in place already. Management is going to be by far my biggest issue in the classes and I'd really like to hear what other people suggest and recommend, no matter what your subject area.

First Nations Art

One of the classes that my art teacher struggles with the most is her First Nations Art 11/12 class. My sponsor teacher is not First Nations, but all of the students in the class are. There are at least 6 students with IEP's in the class, and luckily two EA's are usually in the class. Behaviour issues are definitely a problem in this class. The interesting thing is, however, that my sponsor teacher was the one who got the course BAA'd at both the high school and the junior high school when she was there! Of course, the students aren't aware of this fact.

As you can imagine, my sponsor teacher struggled with gaining credibility at the beginning of the term. She is a non-First Nations person teaching First Nations kids their own art form, so naturally the students start out being skeptical. There were a lot of attitude issues at the beginning of the year. Many of the students have artists in their family, or family members who are taking FN Art courses at the local college, so it is hard to believe that my sponsor teacher would know any more than they do about the art form.

For me, I am definitely worried about having to teach this course in the future, although I won't have to during my practicum since it is only offered in the first semester. I think my sponsor teacher has handled it as best she can, by saying "this is how I learned how to do this", rather than "this is how you do it". Also she has provided many books on FN Art and is trying really hard to get a First Nations Role Model to come in for some other projects such as carving.

Teaching in a small town, and motivation issues

My first week of observation went really well. I am at my old highschool in Terrace, which is really fun. Many of my old teachers are still teaching there and have been extremely welcoming, so that has been really nice for me. The teachers who are new and the ones who hadn't taught me before have been really welcoming as well. I think part of it is that so many students want to get out of Terrace after they graduate that its nice to see some familiar faces coming back to the region.

As I have mentioned before, being a teacher and role model in a small town is a lot different from being in Victoria or Vancouver. The other day I went to the grocery store and there were only two tills open at the time we were there since it was late. The person ahead of me in line was an art student, ahead of him was an old neighbor, next to us the cashier was an art student who was serving another one of my students (my boyfriend's cousin) and her mom (my boyfriend's aunt!) This is where I hoped and prayed that my old neighbor wouldn't say anything embarrassing about me since she has known me since I was born!

Anyway I was going to talk about how my mentor teacher engages those students who are in the art room because they think it will be an easy elective. So far, I have seen her work one-on-one with students who are needing a little extra help during class time. Also, she tries to find out what the students are interested in so they can find the motivation within themselves to create meaningful artwork. Unfortunately, in the First Nations Art 11/12 class she has, there is little motivation in many of the students, which is something I will talk about in my next post, as this one is getting long.

I'm wondering, has anyone seen any good strategies for getting those students with low motivation interested and inspired, whether it be in an art classroom or somewhere else? I'd like to hear your ideas.

The advantages at a HUGE Vancouver high school.

After one week of observations I have really taken to liking the students at Eric Hamber in Vancouver. The students that I am teaching/dealing with are great. You can really tell they want to be in choir and they have respect for their peers and teachers. When you have students like this it really makes you appreciate them and you want to do whatever you can to help them succeed.

Being in a school with over 1400 students can be very overwhelming but with such a huge school it gives them more opportunites to learn. They have every elective imaginable at that school. I think its wonderful that so many classes are open to these students. A big problem known to high school students is the stress of not knowing what they want to do after high school. I feel that these different class options it may ease them in finding something they want to do once they graduate.

Teacher Tension

One other thing I wanted to mention was regarding relationships. On the first day I noticed the division between Exploratory teachers and regular homeroom teachers. They don't really like each other! The X (Exploratory) group teachers pretty much congregate together and avoid the staff room all together. Their "staff" room or hang out spot/ venting area is Shelley's office (the music teacher). When I asked Shelley about this her first response was "you weren't suppose to notice that yet." I figured their would be tension but guess I really didn't expect this much. Growing up I always felt this from the other teachers and students....music/band/exploratory's were not really subjects. Well it isn't just students with this problem but teachers too. The regular room teachers treat the exploratory teachers as not real teachers. I've already witnessed a venting session from one of the exploratory teachers to Shelley about issues and problems with other teachers. I now know that I am going to be looked down on by homeroom teachers when I am there and pretty much will have to find my only support in the 4 exploratory teachers. I will spend my lunch hour in the music office and I will probably never see the staff room. I can see the dynamic in the school homeroom teachers vs exploratory teachers, a very tense situation! It is going to make for an interesting practicum experience to say the least. I guess I am very curious to see how it plays out. I am more than a little worried about my first staff meeting considering the stories and topics that my sponsor teacher has told me about.

So far in this observation I am learning a lot more about the people (how the students function and how the teachers interact) rather than how to teach the subject. Which I think has been a real eye opener!

Middle School

The first week of observation is over! This week made me realize that I do not remember my transition years (ie: Middle School) as well as I thought I did. Honestly a lot of the kids are little monsters. Some are cute, quite and harmless others are wolves dressed in children's clothing, they smell bad and they bite. When I say they smell bad, I mean they REALLY smell bad!

As far as the hours that I spent at school the first couple of days were a piece of cake, because I got to go home early. However starting next week its pretty much 7:30- 3:30 every day. Observing the classes wasn't what I expected. I did not know that there was a student teacher currently at the school and I didn't find this out until right before I arrived. Watching the student teacher has given me a different perspective on teaching but I am hoping to see more of my sponsor teacher teach this coming week. I guess I should mention that Karen is "piggy backing" with me for my observation because she couldn't make it to hers in Vernon.

I have realized that classroom management is really going to be something that I will need to develop during my practicum. It seems like its even more important to teach them to be good than to teach them the actual subject. Most of the music classes are spent trying to get the kids to behave, stop talking and listen.

Thursday morning I had a chance to teach a beginners brass sectional, which I thought went very well. I had little to no problems with poor behaviour but this was probably due to the fact that I was new and they didn't really know me. Most of the kids seemed very interested in learning to play their instruments.

Karen and I were fortunate enough to sit in on some other classes. Caroline, teaches stage band, choir, art regularly and she teaches french and language arts to a class on fridays. We were able to sit in on the language arts class. I had the opportunity of helping an LD kid with the assignment that the class was working on. After language arts the kids had PE. Oh my goodness, what a gong show. Two classes occupied the gym together. They were bouncing off the walls! Overall I have been learning a lot about these creatures we call "Middle School" students. Who knows what next week will bring.

The wacky world of middle school music

So one week of classes is down and in many ways it was both the longest and shortest week of classes that I’ve yet had this year. From the perspective of sheer course load, the days were very long. Starting at 7:30 and ending on average around 4:30 or so, I’m starting to understand just how superhuman music teachers really need to be. Sometimes it seems like there isn’t even time to eat lunch or breathe through the course of events during the day.

Despite the perpetual busyness factor, I can really see why music teachers enjoy their jobs. All of their hard work is directly displayed in the skills and attitudes of the students in their classes. I didn’t realize it before this week, but middle school students really are a unique and special age of students to teach. They don’t quite fit into the little kid category of the elementary students, but at the same time haven’t quite reached that high school level of independence yet. They talk a mile-a-minute, are super excited about everything and always seem to wear their hearts on their sleeve.

This week I got the privilege of filling in as a chaperone on choir retreat up island with 53 mostly middle school students. Beyond being extremely tired and exhausted, I found it to be a really fun and interesting experience. I don’t think I’d quite realized how different grade 6’s, 7’s and 8’s really are, until I went on the trip. On the one hand you have the fun loving grade 6’s who are a bit smaller than then the rest and always seems to be full of energy, bouncing off the walls at all hours of the day. On a different note, you’ve got the moody and gossipy grade 8’s who seem to be more concerned about their soap opera lives of who “likes” who, then music or anything else. Overall though, this week has a been a great albeit eye opening experience for me, and I look forward to seeing what next week has in store.

So Far,So Good

My experience at Claremont Secondary has been great. At our school the principal has allowed
for the students to pick our mentor teachers, so i have found a super lady to mentor me in Physical Education--we clicked right away. As for social studies I am thinking of the reliable rock , paper, scissors. Next week i will be teaching in PE, volleyball and girls rugby. today i ran with the class to matticks farm for ice cream--its a rough life--and i have implimented tests in lacrosse and for a socials class.
Something to think about? one of the student teachers was unsure how to address the principal in the email he asked us to send to him. how will or would you address the principal by first name, or last name.?
In our meeting today with the principal he addressed this issue by asking us how we would addresss him, particularly when applying for a job? he did not give us an answer, but we may want to think of such things..

Observation - First week - Compassion cards

So day 3 of our 2-week observations has just finished, and I can say that I am absolutely and totally exhausted by the end of the school day.

I knew that many music classes would be outside of the timetable, but I didn't realize how long the days can get. We start every morning at 7:30am, teach during lunch every day, and have after school rehearsals at least 3 days a week. Plus, we're preparing for a music concert next week and a musical. So not including arriving early and leaving late, we are there from 7:30-5 on average. I'm finding it really tough to find time to eat lunch because so many classes are outside the timetable, and I've been encouraged to observe other classes inside the timetable. I'm also finding it difficult to observe other classes outside of my area because my music teacher has lots for me to do already.

But on a good note, the staff has been very friendly to me so far. I've been invited to see a good number of classes, and I've only been mistaken for a student once! My mentor teacher is extremely experienced in both teaching music and having student teachers, so she's been great!

I've learned a fair bit about the attendance program in SD 61 and how it just went electronic this year! I'm also learning a lot about how "attendance" and "participation" marks can be incorporated into fine arts grading so long as it is labelled correctly according to the PLO's and so long as students and parents are made aware of the expectations.

One neat idea I learned from a dance teacher is the "Compassion Card". The teacher understands that on some days, students just don't feel that great or maybe need some time to study for a test. Out of a 10-month course, she allows the students 3 unexcused absenses during the year. She calls this a "compassion" day, where she doesn't question why the student wishes to not participate in class. The student must, however, remain in the classroom for supervision purposes. This teacher keeps a business card box with cards for each student, and there are 3 punch spots. Each time the student chooses to use a "compassion" day, she punches the card. Once the card is fully punched, unexcused absences begin to affect the student's grade.

hello out there all you seminar members!!

Hi everyone

I trust that you are enjoying the change of scene as you spend time in your schools.

*at some point soon go to the blog and ‘report in’ on your experience so far at your host school. I am keen to know you are doing! — I encourage you to have some exchange of dialogue with your seminar colleagues!
*below is a list of specific topics that you recorded during our last seminar meeting: if you wish to modify/change that topic just let me know
via an e mail and I will the revision. What we’ll do is give everyone a segment of time ( say 10 -15 ?minutes or so to ‘ report back’ and lead a discussion on your issue/topic)
My plan is to find another room ( not so easy around here!) so we can have 2 groups with a variety of topics. We can do this over 2 seminar times
* you may want to look at how teachers gather/record marks --- probably using Integrade Pro— I plan to show you this program in the computer lab in early Nov so that you can try it out . ( while this program itself will probably be replaced at some time
as schools get on to ISIS, I believe Int Pro will be around for awhile, so it’s worth reviewing)


Also, Betty has sent you an e mail that navigates you to the Supervisor /Mentor handbook for BEd/Music/Art students – Jan to April practicum
You can have a read and let your mentors/ school admin know how to access that document on the Faculty of Education website
Here’s how you get there:


On website: http://www.educ.uvic.ca
On line near top are Future Student/ Current Student/Faculty and Staff/.....
Click on Current Students
On left side are headings home/student assn/program/supervisors and mentors ...
Scoll down to Supervisors and Mentors and Click on Secondary Practicum
Then go to your right to tab for mentors
Click on pdf of Secondary BEd Mentor Handbook



‘Lead a Discussion’ topics for Oct 26th and 29th

Kim B – issue(s) in democratic habits
Chris B late/attendance policies and practice
Jonnie B issue(s) in music classroom other than performance
Catherine-G issue(s) in classroom management
Lauren G - assessment in the fine arts
Carly G - implementing classroom policies
Dave H - assigned work and due dates: policies and practice
Stephanie J –attendance issues for classes outside the timetable
Josh K – music exploratory programs
Sam L – tba
Taryn L issue(s) in special needs
Michelle M – lesson openings and introductions
Caitlyn M – student engagement in ‘The Claremont Review’
Izzy M - issue(s) in classroom management
Heather M – fire drills
Karen P – school/classroom policies with technology
Tannis P - diversity issue(s) in the school setting
Mallory S – issue(s) in special education
Kathy S - assigned work and due dates: policies and practice
Amy W – motivating art students or incorporating aborginal ed
resources
Lisa W- issue(s) in special education
Connor W- teachers working with extra curricular activities
Kali W – homework issues
Sam W - issue(s) in classroom management
Alia Y- rehearsal preparation for concerts
Erin V – tba


Phil

Teachers Urged to Critique Games

Hey I read this article in the Vancouver Sun today.....I looked for a link online but couldn't find one yet, but maybe it'll be posted in a couple days.

The article is titled Teachers urged to critique Games

And yes, the article IS talking about the Olympic games. I found it to be a really fascinating article, and I was surprised that there would be such an organized movement in this direction. The opening of the article says:

"BC teachers are being urged to expand their lessons about the 2010 Olympics beyond government-approved curriculum to teach students about corporate greed, exploitation, misuse of public funds, and environmental degradation. The Vancouver Elementary School Teachers' Association (VESTA) is promoting an event late this month called Teaching 2010 Resistance, which is intended to help teachers raise critical questions about the Olympics."

I'm really surprised (any maybe not surprised) that this is being spearheaded by the elementary teachers, and I'm wondering what kind of material they're expecting to teach to elementary students. Personally, I'm all for critical questions being asked, but when the event is called "Teaching 2010 Resistance", it doesn't seem very critical in the academic sense, it seems more critical in the one-sided blaming sense! Hopefully the information will be open-minded and useful for everyone......

Any thoughts on the article?

Facebook Already!

So far my observations are going really well and I am really impressed with the school culture at Esquimalt. All of the staff and students have been very friendly and welcoming.

After the first day we got to go to a staff meeting at the end of the day and one of the big topics up for discussion was whether or not facebook should be banned from the school network. At the present time, the students are not allowed on facebook during class time but they are allowed on during lunch break or after school. At the meeting the teachers came to the consensus that it is actually very difficult to block facebook all together because there are many different ways to access it. They also agreed that they are not having very many problems with it overall, but when they are having issues with it they feel that it comes down to a greater issue of respect and whether students are respecting the rules or not. They decided to have an assembly that dealt with the topic of respecting rules and teachers in regards to technology specifically.

I thought that this was a really good conclusion to come to because by banning facebook all together, it creates an even bigger divide between the schools and the world that the students live in. Also, I think the idea to hold an assembly about respect really deals more with the real issue. Honestly, students should be able to respect the rule that they don't go on facebook during school hours and that they need to save it for lunch time or after school. That is not an unrealistic expectation to have on the students. I thought that it was really interesting though, that facebook was already being brought up as an issue on my first day of observing!

Choices Choices.....

If you could go back what would you choose???

• International Food Studies
• Yearbook Class
• Photography and Graphic Design
• Woodwork
• Metal Work
• Automotive care
• Drama and Set Production
• Jewelery
• Advanced English/English Essentials/English Lit/Regular English
• Ceramics
• Business Ed
• Drafting
• Plus all the courses we all know about already!
  

I think the biggest thing I am finding about my observation at Kitsilano Secondary is that there is just simply too much to observe! I feel like I'm a kid running around a candy shop trying to see every class offered at the school and find out which teachers are "must see"...

And from what I've seen so far, these courses are amazing.

This morning I watched as the Yearbook teacher contacted the parents of 3 different students to inform them that their children would be removed from the class due to lack of attendance. The class is no joke, it is a commitment, and the students are expected to create a worthwhile and meaningful product. The teacher has developed the curriculum for the course, formulated IRP's, built lesson plans and has now sold the entire package to other schools. Four years ago, the yearbook was so racy and controversial that it was almost not allowed to be handed out to the students at the end of the year, and the school had two local tv stations waiting outside the school to catch the reaction of the students/staff on the verdict. I practically read the book cover to cover and was amazed at the articles the students put together; these were not articles you would gloss over without a second thought.

Observing Drama class I watched as the student started their own drama game with 4 kids and each kid that arrived at class joined in, until eventually the entire class was playing a massive, enthusiastic, self-taught, warm-up game before the teacher had even stepped in the room! This game had so many rules I had barely even caught on by the end of the game, and was amazed at the fluidity that they adapted and played the game as a group.

Oh ya, and I got Italian pizza from scratch in foods class.... not a bad day.

Do I have a point? I guess at the end of the day I struggle to see how I will ever just teach one or two courses at High School when there is so much more I'm interested in, and so many amazing ways to get engaged with students. I may be a TOC for life just to maintain variety in my life... :)

It's Begun!

I'm so relieved that we're finally in the schools, actually doing things now! At this point I haven't had too much opportunity to teach, partly because my sponsor teachers weren't told I was coming! But this is an observational time, so I guess I'm just doing what I'm supposed to be doing anyway!

I've been really pleased with how well welcoming the school has been, and the students have been very friendly and open with me. I'm feeling as though I'm being a little bit thrown into the deep end, though, as I'll be chaperoning and leading workshops on their 3 day band trip this weekend! I definitely wasn't expecting anything like that to come out of this short practicum, but I'm so thankful that my sponsor teachers have invited me along, and they're happy to have me help with workshops. It'll definitely be a great way to have me get to know the kids right away!

How is everyone else's practicum going?

Safety after a bomb threat

As most of you know, there was a bomb threat at Belmont Secondary last week which closed the school down for the second half of wednesday and all of thursday. I have been thinking about this lately and relating it to safety of a classroom. Most of us know that in order to create learning we must create an environment of safety. So I relate this to my practicum experience and the opportunities I'll have over the 4 months at Belmont to create this environment for students. I am particularly interested in, and the reason i'm writing this post, seeing the environment at Belmont. I'm especially interested to see if there is a change at all in the students feelings of safety within the school so shortly after their bomb threats last week, and how it might change (if at all) over the next few months. I wonder if these threats would even impact the students after a few weeks or if it would have affected the way the students are treated by staff and eachother, as well as the way they interact. I can't imagine that a bomb threat would create an environment that promotes safety, but I can't help but wonder how safe the kids were feeling before any threat was found.

What's even more frightening is the idea that students aren't phased by this, and that something like a bomb threat is percieved as a joke. Maybe this threat is just looked at as an opportunity for a day off. That, to me, makes me think that people within the school are not valued and concerned with their environment (which may be due to the run down structure of the school).

I am anticipating this observation period for more than one reason, I just was thinking about it today and wondering what the overall environment will be within the school, and within each individual classroom.

Oak Bay 2 week practicum

Although I already briefly told the class about my issues at Oak Bay (students thinking I was a Grade 12 girl, girls discussing Srgt. Sexy, etc.), there is one unit that I helped to teach that I found really effective. For the track and field unit, all of the PE classes each block would head out to the track, where they were numbered off and put in groups with members of other classes. Each teacher was responsible for one station for the week, and the groups would rotate each day to different events. I personally had to do high jump. I would consider track and field to be one of my weakest units I will have to teach, so for me it was very helpful to only have to master one event, rather than learning them all to teach to students. This way of teaching greatly benefits teachers, as only one lesson plan was needed for each week. The students also seemed to enjoy it, as they got a chance to be taught by several different teachers and interact with other students.

2 Week Observations

So our observations are just one week away and I was just curious as to how prepared everyone feels? I know that for some of us this will not be our first semi-long period of time at a school but for others it will be their first. Is anyone feeling apprehensive? I know that I am feeling a little confused as to what sort of attire to wear on the first day. I was planning on wearing my "professional teacher clothes" and bringing a change of strip just in case I am required to be active in P.E. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Also, I noticed in my last practicum that many of the teachers in the school wore very casual clothes (jeans and T-shirts). Do you think it's appropriate to dress casual like this if it's how your sponsor teacher dresses or do you think that we should keep our appearances more professional?
Does anyone have a particular strategy they're going to follow heading into this observation period?
I know that I intend on asking A LOT of questions. I also plan on observing as many different classrooms as I can.
Is there anything else people are concerned about/excited for during their observation period?

Are Waivers Enough?

So I was just thinking about how we as new teachers are supposed to bring new, fun and inventive strategies and programs to the school but then start to wonder how big we can go. Unfortunately, I find that the events that students find the most fun often have a bigger risk factor than just sitting in class taking notes. For instance, the snowboarding/skiing trip was always the first to fill up on Winter Activity Day year after year at my school. But obviously there is a significant risk factor with this and even though waivers are signed and whatnot, is that enough? I'm no expert but it always seems that if someone gets signicficantly hurt (paralyzed, etc) someone's going to take the fall and it doesn't seem to matter how idiotic the victim was acting or even if it was a complete accident, the blame seems to be placed elsewhere. Just like that case study about the boy who went off a jump wrong while snowboarding and is now a paraplegic - and was awarded 3 million dollars. The teacher was dismissed from that incident and that doesn't seem right in my opinion. The kid should have known that he did not have the skill to go off of a jump and if you decide to try anyway to impress your friends, I don't mean to sound harsh, but you should take responsibility for your actions. And so I often wonder is it worth it? Is it worth putting yourself in the hot seat and taking a chance on the students or should one play it safe?