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?