It has been a very eye-opening semester. I truly have learned a great deal about how I want to conduct my future classrooms. I have had experience observing a variety of teachers, teaching a variety of grades. As well, I have had the opportunity to study literature on effective teaching methods. However, across the board, one message seems to be clear. As teachers we need to do more than merely assign novels and allow students to read them. We need to ensure they are reading assigned material through a critical lens. A critical lens will allow students to take a great deal more out of the literature than a surface read ever could. Not only that, by reading literature with a critical eye, students will be able to look at their own life situations more critically.
As I mentioned in a previous post, English class has to be about more than just teaching classic novels. English class should provide students with skills they will be able to carry with them in their lives. Their reading skills, and their ability to pick out deeper meanings in their readings should be upheld over whether students were able to gain the same appreciation for classic novels like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as their teacher.
My time spent in a grade 10 English classroom this semester has shown me the real life importance behind these theories. Following the class having read the novel Of Mice and Men, the students were drilled continually on the underlying themes of the novel. It took a while, but I did observe some definite improvement in their abilities to understand the deeper messages in the text. At the end of the novel study, I quizzed a couple of the students in the class about whether they had enjoyed to book or not. A couple of them said no, while one did say they liked the movie better. This said to me, that while it is important that we strive to ensure that students are able to pick out deeper reading messages in books, we must make sure we do so in a way that does not alienate the reading experience. The love of reading must be fostered alongside the refining of reading skills. There has to be a balance. If I am able to find that balance, I believe that the two should be able to be taught hand-in-hand rather fluidly.
Monday, 3 December 2012
Sweat it out!
I'd like to write about a pretty amazing experience that my time in partner schools offered me last week. One of the teachers I observe invited me and a fellow classmate to take part in a traditional Aboriginal Sweat Ceremony. Since I had never taken part in anything like that before, I figured it would be a great chance to try something new, and become more well versed in Native Studies, a class that intend to teach in addition to English. The opportunity was also a great example of how beneficial place-based education can be for students. There is so much to be learned BEYOND the written curriculum.
First off, we boarded a bus and headed out to Brightwater, just south of the city. It was interesting to see how the Ceremony has experienced modernization. I am not sure what I was expecting exactly, but once we got out there, the tent we sat in was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a heated building with a sheet metal covering, complete with public washrooms and other amenities. Inside the building was where the tent was, and where we all huddled inside for the sweat to take place.
It really was quite an experience. The unfamiliarity of the situation seemed to open everyone's mind to what was about to take place. The ceremony ended with a sharing circle, where everyone got to say a little bit about what they were thankful for and how the ceremony had affected them. I was rather impressed with their answers. Each of the students seemed to really respect the process and had definitely gained appreciation for the ceremony that had once been deemed illegal in the not-so-distant past. Trips like this are absolutely crucial for students - anyone really - to really gain an appreciation for other cultures. Learning about a sweat in a classroom does not teach anything about what it is really like. We must experience these sort of ceremonies first-hand to truly gain an appreciation for it.
First off, we boarded a bus and headed out to Brightwater, just south of the city. It was interesting to see how the Ceremony has experienced modernization. I am not sure what I was expecting exactly, but once we got out there, the tent we sat in was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a heated building with a sheet metal covering, complete with public washrooms and other amenities. Inside the building was where the tent was, and where we all huddled inside for the sweat to take place.
It really was quite an experience. The unfamiliarity of the situation seemed to open everyone's mind to what was about to take place. The ceremony ended with a sharing circle, where everyone got to say a little bit about what they were thankful for and how the ceremony had affected them. I was rather impressed with their answers. Each of the students seemed to really respect the process and had definitely gained appreciation for the ceremony that had once been deemed illegal in the not-so-distant past. Trips like this are absolutely crucial for students - anyone really - to really gain an appreciation for other cultures. Learning about a sweat in a classroom does not teach anything about what it is really like. We must experience these sort of ceremonies first-hand to truly gain an appreciation for it.
What are we reading for?
In starting to think about developing my own English classes and curricula, I have recently been putting more and more thought into what types of books I would include in my list of required reading. Until recently, I had been basing most of my perspective reading choices on books that I, myself have enjoyed reading, and therefore I want to teach it in my class. As an English major, I appreciate classic novels that perhaps are no longer exactly relevant to today's world any longer. However, just because they are classics does not give these books enough credit to actually be taught in the classroom. There has to be a better reason for getting students to read these books.
Chapter 8 in Deeper Reading looks at addressing why we read certain texts to students. It is not enough to merely tell students "we are reading this book because it is a classic, and everyone needs to read this book!" Like students, we as teachers have to address why everyone needs to read the books we are teaching. Gallagher looks at the case for 1984, which just so happens to be one of my favourite novels. Yes, it is an older novel, having been written in the 1949. However, many of the themes in the novel are relevant and satisfy several cross-curricular competencies, drawing in social studies elements from the elements of propaganda and totalitarian society in the novel. The key here is to ensure that if we DO indeed decide to teach a novel like 1984 in our classrooms, we need to be sure we correctly frame the texts in a relevant way with students. It has to resonate in a tangible and relevant way with students if we expect them to adequately understand the themes and message that the author was intending to get across. If we do not do this, then there is no point in teaching these older classics. As well, students will have much less chance of developing an appreciation for classic works, similar to mine.
I wrote our recent iSearch assignment on books I felt are truly life changing and great for students to be reading at the high school level. The assignment made me challenge the reasoning behind my novel selections at the high school level. The books I used in my assignment were not classics by any means, but they all portray essential life lessons in an engaging and effective way. I think that's more in line with what English class should be all about.
Chapter 8 in Deeper Reading looks at addressing why we read certain texts to students. It is not enough to merely tell students "we are reading this book because it is a classic, and everyone needs to read this book!" Like students, we as teachers have to address why everyone needs to read the books we are teaching. Gallagher looks at the case for 1984, which just so happens to be one of my favourite novels. Yes, it is an older novel, having been written in the 1949. However, many of the themes in the novel are relevant and satisfy several cross-curricular competencies, drawing in social studies elements from the elements of propaganda and totalitarian society in the novel. The key here is to ensure that if we DO indeed decide to teach a novel like 1984 in our classrooms, we need to be sure we correctly frame the texts in a relevant way with students. It has to resonate in a tangible and relevant way with students if we expect them to adequately understand the themes and message that the author was intending to get across. If we do not do this, then there is no point in teaching these older classics. As well, students will have much less chance of developing an appreciation for classic works, similar to mine.
I wrote our recent iSearch assignment on books I felt are truly life changing and great for students to be reading at the high school level. The assignment made me challenge the reasoning behind my novel selections at the high school level. The books I used in my assignment were not classics by any means, but they all portray essential life lessons in an engaging and effective way. I think that's more in line with what English class should be all about.
Saturday, 1 December 2012
"Your" a WHAT?!
Throughout my semester spent at my partner school, I have to say I have had an amazing experience. Despite the horror stories I had heard prior to beginning my stint as a student teacher, all-in-all the students were far more respectful and motivated to learn than I had been bracing myself for.
This is not to say that there have not been challenges that have presented themselves though either...
I was offered an entire afternoon to teach two grade nine grammar classes, as I had mentioned in a previous blog. As part of my lesson, I gave the class a worksheet to work on their skills. I will admit, a worksheet is not my intended method of assessment, but my co-op teacher brought it up and I really just needed something that would fill up more class time. The worksheet was not overly difficult, and completing it did inevitably give students a clearer idea of what we went over in class.
I had the students hand in the assigned papers for a homework check. That night, I went over them to ensure that they were on the right track. The majority of the students appeared to understand the lesson quite well and answered the questions accurately. A few seemed to miss the point with less than satisfactory results, but it looked like they were trying at the very least. Finally, one of the last papers I looked at had no questions answered at all. In fact, all that was written on the page at all was "your a hoe."
I will admit, at first, I felt like a failure. I felt like I hadn't made an effective lesson at all. But then I thought back to the other students that appeared to be having fun and thought of all the students that legitimately DID understand my lesson and did well on the worksheet. Surely, my lesson couldn't have been all bad?? So after that, I started to feel kind of angry and insulted over the message on the page. This prompted me to correct "your" into "you're" and leave a nice red "0" on the top of the worksheet. Then finally, my thoughts transitioned towards what this student is really trying to say. Writing a message like that on a paper is not normal behavior. I would have NEVER done anything like that and I would be hard pressed to say that I know anyone who would do something like that either. I began to wonder whether the students was going through a difficult situation.
In the morning, I brought the situation up to my co-op teacher at school. Turns out, the student has had more than a few issues of acting out before. The behavior is also likely attributed at least in part to family problems at home that involves a messy divorce of the students parents. My anger quickly subsided and transitioned to concern for the poor kid. His message, although inappropriate and not appreciated was a cry for help more than anything. It was a learning experience for me as well. As teachers we should not act on impulses in these sort of situations. We need to get to the root of the problem first.
This is not to say that there have not been challenges that have presented themselves though either...
I was offered an entire afternoon to teach two grade nine grammar classes, as I had mentioned in a previous blog. As part of my lesson, I gave the class a worksheet to work on their skills. I will admit, a worksheet is not my intended method of assessment, but my co-op teacher brought it up and I really just needed something that would fill up more class time. The worksheet was not overly difficult, and completing it did inevitably give students a clearer idea of what we went over in class.
I had the students hand in the assigned papers for a homework check. That night, I went over them to ensure that they were on the right track. The majority of the students appeared to understand the lesson quite well and answered the questions accurately. A few seemed to miss the point with less than satisfactory results, but it looked like they were trying at the very least. Finally, one of the last papers I looked at had no questions answered at all. In fact, all that was written on the page at all was "your a hoe."
I will admit, at first, I felt like a failure. I felt like I hadn't made an effective lesson at all. But then I thought back to the other students that appeared to be having fun and thought of all the students that legitimately DID understand my lesson and did well on the worksheet. Surely, my lesson couldn't have been all bad?? So after that, I started to feel kind of angry and insulted over the message on the page. This prompted me to correct "your" into "you're" and leave a nice red "0" on the top of the worksheet. Then finally, my thoughts transitioned towards what this student is really trying to say. Writing a message like that on a paper is not normal behavior. I would have NEVER done anything like that and I would be hard pressed to say that I know anyone who would do something like that either. I began to wonder whether the students was going through a difficult situation.
In the morning, I brought the situation up to my co-op teacher at school. Turns out, the student has had more than a few issues of acting out before. The behavior is also likely attributed at least in part to family problems at home that involves a messy divorce of the students parents. My anger quickly subsided and transitioned to concern for the poor kid. His message, although inappropriate and not appreciated was a cry for help more than anything. It was a learning experience for me as well. As teachers we should not act on impulses in these sort of situations. We need to get to the root of the problem first.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Time is NOT on my Side
Howdy folks! I don't have a clue where this month is going, but it's going fast! A lot has happened in the past couple of days in my time spent in schools, good and well not so good. These are my stories.
This week, my co-op teacher gave me an entire afternoon to teach on my own. Two English lessons for grade 9 students. I had the opportunity to teach whatever I wanted, however I wanted. The only stipulation is that my topic was already defined for me... grammar. Specifically when and how to properly punctuate titles using "quotation marks" or underling (or italicizing).
Good grief! Grammar, as it turns out is a tough lesson to make engaging and fun. Apparently no one likes teaching it. I remained undaunted and did my best to come up with a lesson that would inspire students to underline titles to their hearts content for years and decades to come.
What I came up with was an introduction and rundown of the rules associated with punctuating titles followed by an activity that had students break up into a battle of the sexes: boys vs. girls. Next they would elect one member each to come to the front of the classroom and buzz in to correctly answer which of the two previously prepared sentences were correctly punctuated. They all seemed to enjoy the activity. I had some prizes for the winners of each round. I felt like I was pulling out all the stops to help these students develop a love for grammar.
After the game was complete, I looked up at the clock and to my dismay, the entire activity had taken only 25 minutes!! If that. Luckily, I had also prepared a worksheet for the students to fine-tune their skills. Some students completed it in less than 15 minutes while others struggled and others goofed off entirely. By the last 10 minutes, the classroom was pretty disorganized, entirely because I didn't have quite enough for them to do. What had started out so promising, had ended less than ideally.
The nice thing about having the entire afternoon to complete this lesson was that I had a second chance during the next period to perfect it. This one went even better, I took more time with the activity that I had prepared instead of rushing through it. As well, once the students had completed the worksheet I made up another competition that had them provide their answers in front of the class against a fellow student. When all was said and done, the entire lesson took us almost all the way to the bell. Just a few minutes to spare. I was more satisfied with this.
I learned a lot about time management this week. It is true about what we learned in class. If the students are not engaged and are not paying attention, it is probably because the class lesson was not well planned out enough to get them engaged. That was exactly what happened to me this week. As painful as it was for those few minutes to see my class fall apart, I'm glad it happened because I learned so much.
This week, my co-op teacher gave me an entire afternoon to teach on my own. Two English lessons for grade 9 students. I had the opportunity to teach whatever I wanted, however I wanted. The only stipulation is that my topic was already defined for me... grammar. Specifically when and how to properly punctuate titles using "quotation marks" or underling (or italicizing).
Good grief! Grammar, as it turns out is a tough lesson to make engaging and fun. Apparently no one likes teaching it. I remained undaunted and did my best to come up with a lesson that would inspire students to underline titles to their hearts content for years and decades to come.
What I came up with was an introduction and rundown of the rules associated with punctuating titles followed by an activity that had students break up into a battle of the sexes: boys vs. girls. Next they would elect one member each to come to the front of the classroom and buzz in to correctly answer which of the two previously prepared sentences were correctly punctuated. They all seemed to enjoy the activity. I had some prizes for the winners of each round. I felt like I was pulling out all the stops to help these students develop a love for grammar.
After the game was complete, I looked up at the clock and to my dismay, the entire activity had taken only 25 minutes!! If that. Luckily, I had also prepared a worksheet for the students to fine-tune their skills. Some students completed it in less than 15 minutes while others struggled and others goofed off entirely. By the last 10 minutes, the classroom was pretty disorganized, entirely because I didn't have quite enough for them to do. What had started out so promising, had ended less than ideally.
The nice thing about having the entire afternoon to complete this lesson was that I had a second chance during the next period to perfect it. This one went even better, I took more time with the activity that I had prepared instead of rushing through it. As well, once the students had completed the worksheet I made up another competition that had them provide their answers in front of the class against a fellow student. When all was said and done, the entire lesson took us almost all the way to the bell. Just a few minutes to spare. I was more satisfied with this.
I learned a lot about time management this week. It is true about what we learned in class. If the students are not engaged and are not paying attention, it is probably because the class lesson was not well planned out enough to get them engaged. That was exactly what happened to me this week. As painful as it was for those few minutes to see my class fall apart, I'm glad it happened because I learned so much.
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Collaborative Lessons
This week, one of the teachers I work with gave me and a fellow
classmate a big vote of confidence when we were allowed an entire hour
on Wednesday to co-teach a lesson. The lesson was in Native Studies 30
and we were given very little guidance on how to teach the lesson. The
freedom to do whatever we wanted was both exciting and daunting.
We decided that we would do our lesson on the various levels of government that exist and allude back to self-government for First Nations people as well as the existing governing structures that exist in the Aboriginal population. In order to formulate our lesson we met up at Tim's and spent a few hours relearning/perfecting our own knowledge on levels of government so we did not get up in front of the class the following day and be unable to answer any questions. We ended up formulating a Prezi, and outlined all the notes that the students were to take on that program. Me prerogative is that students have to take notes in class, Prezi makes taking them about as much fun as is ever going to be possible!!
Our lesson was not entirely notes based however, both my partner and I fed off each other and shared personal accounts and experiences related to the levels of government that exist in Canada. I feel that by sharing personal stories, the information to be studied is more easily put into perspective for the students and they can better understand how what they are learning can be applied to their own lives. At the end of our lesson we opened up some discussion questions to the class and quizzed them a bit on their knowledge of the government, especially pertaining to the most recent civic election. The activity proved to be pretty engaging for some, not so much for others. All-in-all it was an OK first lesson. Could have been better, but could have definitely been worse. As well, having the opportunity to co-teach with a fellow student teacher helped put both of us at ease in front of the classroom.
We decided that we would do our lesson on the various levels of government that exist and allude back to self-government for First Nations people as well as the existing governing structures that exist in the Aboriginal population. In order to formulate our lesson we met up at Tim's and spent a few hours relearning/perfecting our own knowledge on levels of government so we did not get up in front of the class the following day and be unable to answer any questions. We ended up formulating a Prezi, and outlined all the notes that the students were to take on that program. Me prerogative is that students have to take notes in class, Prezi makes taking them about as much fun as is ever going to be possible!!
Our lesson was not entirely notes based however, both my partner and I fed off each other and shared personal accounts and experiences related to the levels of government that exist in Canada. I feel that by sharing personal stories, the information to be studied is more easily put into perspective for the students and they can better understand how what they are learning can be applied to their own lives. At the end of our lesson we opened up some discussion questions to the class and quizzed them a bit on their knowledge of the government, especially pertaining to the most recent civic election. The activity proved to be pretty engaging for some, not so much for others. All-in-all it was an OK first lesson. Could have been better, but could have definitely been worse. As well, having the opportunity to co-teach with a fellow student teacher helped put both of us at ease in front of the classroom.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Confidence is Key!
Confidence. I really can't say enough about it. It is one quality that I feel is inherently important to my student teaching at Evan Hardy. To stand up in front of students and teach them about various subjects and topics, I HAVE to be confident in the words coming out of my mouth. I HAVE to be confident in my own capabilities of maintaining order in the classroom. I cannot falter and come across as though I'm unsure about my own capabilities to run a classroom or I fear that I will lose a great deal of credibility as a respected teacher in the classroom. In reality, I do not have all that many years on the the older students in the school. So especially in relation to my Grade 12s, I strive to differentiate myself as someone who is less of a buddy and more of a facilitator of learning that demands a certain level of respect in addition to being very approachable by students.
To date, I feel that I have maintained a healthy level of confidence in front of the classroom. I have conducted a few largely informal lessons in front of both English and Native Studies classrooms. The most recent scenario involved me taking half of a Grade 10 English class under my guidance and going over their responses to a reading they had completed the day before. With only minutes of prep time available prior to diving into the lesson, the situation is a classic case of "running by the seat of your pants." For every bit excited I am to have the opportunity to have control over my own classroom of students, it can also be nerve wracking. The story they are learning is new to me too. Not to mention, the literary terms and devices the class is learning are oftentimes somewhat unfamiliar to me since I have not necessarily looked at them in many years. All this uncertainty has a tendency to lead to anxiety, and as I began to teach my lesson it began to take it's toll...
I could hear the uncertainty in my voice as I answered questions from students about the writing style of the articles. I died a little inside as I stammered to find the right words to say in framing the story for the class. I was worried I was on the verge of losing control of the classroom as I saw visions of all hell breaking loose with the students uniting together to turn on me. Fortunately, that did not happen. And it's all thanks to confidence. I pulled it together. I told myself that even though I was unfamiliar with the story, I DID understand it. And even though I maybe haven't looked at some of the literary devices that I was teaching in many years, I DO know what they are and I AM capable of helping these students better understand them too. So even though I maybe wasn't as well versed in the most effective way to answer student questions as I would have liked, I still remained confident in the answers I put forth. As a result, the vast majority of the students were engaged with the subject matter for the half an hour of allotted time that I had with them. I left the classroom having earned a positive rapport with the students. All it took was confidence in my own abilities. Next time I won't be so quick to second guess myself.
To date, I feel that I have maintained a healthy level of confidence in front of the classroom. I have conducted a few largely informal lessons in front of both English and Native Studies classrooms. The most recent scenario involved me taking half of a Grade 10 English class under my guidance and going over their responses to a reading they had completed the day before. With only minutes of prep time available prior to diving into the lesson, the situation is a classic case of "running by the seat of your pants." For every bit excited I am to have the opportunity to have control over my own classroom of students, it can also be nerve wracking. The story they are learning is new to me too. Not to mention, the literary terms and devices the class is learning are oftentimes somewhat unfamiliar to me since I have not necessarily looked at them in many years. All this uncertainty has a tendency to lead to anxiety, and as I began to teach my lesson it began to take it's toll...
I could hear the uncertainty in my voice as I answered questions from students about the writing style of the articles. I died a little inside as I stammered to find the right words to say in framing the story for the class. I was worried I was on the verge of losing control of the classroom as I saw visions of all hell breaking loose with the students uniting together to turn on me. Fortunately, that did not happen. And it's all thanks to confidence. I pulled it together. I told myself that even though I was unfamiliar with the story, I DID understand it. And even though I maybe haven't looked at some of the literary devices that I was teaching in many years, I DO know what they are and I AM capable of helping these students better understand them too. So even though I maybe wasn't as well versed in the most effective way to answer student questions as I would have liked, I still remained confident in the answers I put forth. As a result, the vast majority of the students were engaged with the subject matter for the half an hour of allotted time that I had with them. I left the classroom having earned a positive rapport with the students. All it took was confidence in my own abilities. Next time I won't be so quick to second guess myself.
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