Tomorrow in my Science Methods class we are having a “portfolio fair” in which we take turns sharing our professional teaching portfolios. We are able to see what other people have included, get formatting/organization ideas, critique for errors, etc. In case you missed it the first time, I actually took a very big step (for me) and decided to share my portfolio to the world via a blog post last month. While I can’t say I received any constructive criticism, I did receive a lot of kind and supportive comments so that must mean I am doing something… Read More
Connecting, Reflecting & Creating: Why We Blog
I have exciting news I want to share! A fellow student teacher, Tyler L, and myself will be presenting our very own Professional Development sessions!! Tyler and myself are both avid bloggers and we have actually spent some time this year sharing our experience with first year Faculty of Education students in their “ICT in Education” class. After some consultation with a professor we began working on our own Professional Development session on how blogging can benefit educators. What resulted was, Connecting, Reflecting & Creating: Why We Blog. “From being used as a reflective… Read More
Case Study of Aboriginal Content
One of our assignments that we worked on completing while student teaching was a case study of Aboriginal content in our schools. Was Aboriginal perspective being incorporated, was education inclusive to Aboriginal students, what would we have changed, what did we do, etc. For the most part, we had free reign in regards to what topics we discussed but it had to be within five pages. This did limit me to what I could cover but I tried to touch on as much info as I could. Here is what I created: ________________________________________________ Where I Was I… Read More
What Makes A Good Portfolio?
A major component of almost ALL of our Faculty of Education classes is our professional portfolio. This is what we will use to “sell ourselves” and let potential employers know what we have to offer their schools. It can be electronic:– Website– Blog– Slide-share– PowerPoint– etcOr it can be done in a hard-copy form:– Scrapbook– Binder– File System– etc I had started a portfolio last year when I first entered the Faculty of Education but now, looking back at it, I realize that it is not the best reflection of who I am. In that short… Read More
Back to the Life of a Student!
My student teaching placement officially finished up on Friday and I am so sad that it had to come to an end! Now don’t get me wrong, this placement was definitely my most intense one yet (if you couldn’t tell from my severe lack of posts during the past few weeks) but I still didn’t want it to finish. I am not sure if it is because I am getting more experience or if it had to do with the school itself, but this was the first time I had really felt like I knew my… Read More
My Evaluation From My Students
Tomorrow we will start our LAST week of our student teaching practicum and I can’t believe how fast it went by. I am so sad to think that I will be leaving my students already but I am happy about how well everything has gone over the past four weeks. I have had two formal evaluations by my supervisor from our university as well as two evaluations by each of my cooperating teachers and they have all gone wonderfully! I am happy to say that I received some great feedback as well as gaining some wonderful references for… Read More
Canadian History Class
On Friday I shared what was going on in my World Issues class and now it is time to find out what has been happening in Canadian History. I didn’t mean to take so long to make this post but I had many pictures that featured students and I wanted to be sure on our division’s picture release policy before I posted anything. This was the title screen of my PowerPoint I used as part of our learning! The entire unit that I started has been focusing on “British Colonial Rule” following the fall of New… Read More
What To Do When You Aren't The Right Person For The Job
Yesterday I posted about how things have been progressing in my World Issues class (I will be posting about my Canadian History class on Monday). One thing I did not mention, however, is one of the difficulties I experienced. As you know, we have been learning about “Indigenous Peoples of The World” and have been comparing and contrasting the First Nations groups of Canada with Indigenous groups in Ethiopia, Kenya and New Zealand. On Friday I presented some information on First Nations people in regards to clothing, food, employment, and homes. I will note that most… Read More
World Issues Class
I can’t believe it is Friday already! Student teaching has been ALL consuming and I am trying so hard to make a good impression and provide meaningful learning opportunities for my students. I want to share all of the things I have been doing with my two main classes so I am dividing this into two separate posts… First, World Issues! My Grade 11 World Issues class only has 9 students so I really wanted to try my hand at working in options that were inquiry-based that allowed the students to have more control of their… Read More
And it Begins… with Canadian History
Yesterday I had my first day of actual teaching in the Grade 11 Canadian History class. The start of the class was a little hectic as we got called down for picture day as soon as class began. I tried to roll with it, however, and had students fill out short questionnaires on que-cards as they came back. I asked them to include their:– Name– Favourite Subject– Least Favourite Subject– One thing I love about history is…– One thing I hate about history is… I explained that this would help me learn more about them so… Read More