School Experience - Reflection 5

The most transformative lesson I learned this week is that I need to stay who I am, and teach with my heart to become an effective teacher.

Goal # 3: Classroom Management and Goal # 14: School Culture:

Today, I truly learned the power of the PBS program, and how valuable it is for students to feel rewarded for doing something right. I told my students beforehand that I was looking for students who were Responsible by being on task during silent reading, who were Respectful during a transition from desk to circle, and who were Relational with their peers. Then I observed and gave some “Positives” to the students who were doing it right (I kept track of names in order to reward all students at some point, because every student is able to do something right! I was truly amazed at the smoothness of my morning transition. Thanks to the "Positive"!!!

Goal # 6: Clear observable vision and Goal # 10: Effective Teaching Practice:

The most transformative lesson I learned over the last five weeks at Raven Kingdom and mostly this week because I taught all day today (and will tomorrow) is that I need to stay who I am, and stay close to my values and beliefs (while reflecting on successes and mistakes). I am different than my TM or the teacher next door. They are fantastic teachers and I am learning from them all the time. A wide diversity of effective teachers is wonderful for students, and it is OK to do things differently because there is never a perfect right way (there are a few wrong ways). Owning my presence as a teacher and teaching the way that feels right to me is what I take away from my school experience.

Goal #11: Valid and reliable assessment practices:

This week, I wrote and marked a science test to assess the end of my mini-unit, and I marked a math test. It really opened my eyes to the need to have a “philosophy” of assessment. Some students really understood the concept but made silly mistakes and lost marks (or missed questions)… Some students really did not get it and I had to put very discouraging marks on their paper… I need to explore what assessment means and how to optimize its validity to reflect student’s knowledge (good we have a class about that coming up at UFV).  

School Experience - Reflection 4

The most transformative lesson I learned this week is that I need to plan lesson with the purpose of fully engaging as many students as possible (Goal #10).

Goal # 3: Classroom Management:

This week, to reinforce my visual about “no talking when the teacher talks” (traffic light), I decided to develop a point system. When I want to achieve silence in the classroom, I give the students a signal (hand up with a finger on my mouth / clapping / hand on head, nose, chin, show me good listening). Once the signal is given, the students have five seconds to be silent: under 5 s, they win a point, over 5 s, I win a point. I created a visual (thermometer) where the students’ points are added everyday toward a prize (50 points = movie / 75 points = movie and treats / 100 points = movie, treats and goodie bags). The party will be on Friday and I am giving lots of chance to the group to earn points and be successful because I believe that a reward system only works if the students earn the reward in a timely manner.

So far, my point system is working well, and the group holds ownership for it. One student asked if some “unquiet” students will not have a party. I answered that the whole class needs to work together. Some chatty students are now being reminded kindly to be quiet by their peers.

This week, I had an incident with a student who is a “justice fighter”. He felt that I was not picking him enough, and that I was giving other students extra attention when asking for volunteers. This made me realize that I was not totally fair to my students, and I was not giving everyone a chance to participate equally. I therefore decided to use the Popsicle stick system to call for volunteers (with an option to say “no” or ask a friend for help). This was great and it increased the participation of students who rarely put their hand up. It also increased attention because anybody could be asked to answer a question. I will not use the Popsicle sticks all the time, and I will have to find a system to avoid calling out the same students (using a check list might help).  

Goal # 10: Effective Teaching Practice:

My most transformative moment relates to the importance of planning lessons with the purpose of fully engaging students. I taught two math lessons last week on T-tables. During the first lesson, I mostly lectured and asked volunteers to come up to the main board and to share their answers. While it worked for a while and helped scaffold the learning, it became counterproductive in the second half of my lesson, and students lost focus and became confused. At the end of my lesson, about half the students did not fully understand the concept of T-table.

For my second lesson on T-table, I followed my Teacher Mentor’s advice and used individual white board and A/B partners to maximize students’ engagement. I still asked for volunteers to come up to the main white board and share their answers, but I also asked every student to answer on their own board. I also incorporated movement to maintain focus and optimize the attention of my students. 

The second lesson went well and after reviewing the final worksheet filled by students, I was pleased to see that most students had understood the concept of T-table. This truly opened my mind to the need of generating movement and planning lessons with the goal to have every single student thinks as much as possible (either alone or in a small group).

Goal # 14: School Culture and Community (and Professionalism)

Central School hosted a family gathering after school with a focus on Aboriginal and Métis People. I enjoyed listening to the Aboriginal stories and dancing traditional Métis steps with staff members and families from the school community. This reinforced my understanding that the impact of a school goes beyond the walls of a single classroom, and that Central is an important keystone in the neighbourhood where families feel supported, valuable and welcome.

Remembrance Day

Last Thursday was our Remembrance Day assembly. I was in charge of making the wreath with my students. I choose to make a wreath based on the kids hand-prints and flags from around the world.

I first read The Peace Book by Todd Parr to my class to introduce the activity. I prefer to focus on peace with my students as a personal belief.  

I printed the flags without colors and the kids colored them, then traced their hand and cut. The flags symbolize the brave soldiers from all over the world who lost their lives to maintain freedom and harmony in our world. They also create a colorful medley and remind us that accepting others and embracing diversity are pillars of a peaceful society.

While I could possibly include every single flag of the world, I made sure to have a fair representation from all continents and from the Stó:lō and Metis population.

Inclusive classroom: some of my students have difficulties with fine motors skills, so I made sure I had easier flag for them to color. I also had more complicated flags to challenge my grade 4 students (I teach a grade 3/4 split).

The Hockey Sweater

During my school experience, I taught a lesson based on Adrienne Gear's Reading Power.

I first read a part of the book The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier and I encouraged my students to write a connection on a sticky note (Connect is the "first" power).

Then the students and I shared our connections as a group. This not only encourages public speaking but also helps students who do not have a connection yet.

Finally, the students are encouraged to use the "connect" graphic organizer (see sample of student work: in the part of the book I read, the little boy gets very mad and break his hockey stick).

At the end of the lesson, I discussed the various connection that a reader can make (Text-to-Self / Text-to-Text / Text-to-World). I read The Grumpy Bird to illustrate Text-to-Text connection and we discussed the Vancouver riot after a Hockey game a couple of year ago to  illustrate Text-to-World connection.

School Experience - Reflection 3

The most transformative lesson I learned this week is that:

Creating successful learning experiences for students is fundamental to build students’ self-esteem and a love of learning.

Goal # 3: Classroom Management:

Last week, my learning related to classroom management was connected to the importance of building relationships with my students to begin to develop a feeling of mutual respect. This week, I learned about the need to implement clear expectations with my students and the importance of wait time (wait until ALL students are quiet before talking). 

At the beginning of the week, I got annoyed by the level of noise and the amount of chatting during my teaching part of the lesson. I had to talk louder and louder to get my students attention, and I felt frustrated because I did not observe that problem with my teacher mentor. After some reflective time, I realized that I never discussed my expectations with my students, and that it could be why I was being challenged. I created a visual reminder on cardboard following the model of a traffic light (red – no talking / yellow – whispering / green – normal talking) and I shared it with my students before every lesson. Clearly stating my expectations of no talking while I talk has truly decreased the level of noise in the classroom, and has improved the attention of my students. 

Another key tip I learned this week is the importance of wait time. Once my expectations are known, I MUST follow up and wait until the classroom is silent before talking. In other words, my actions need to reinforce my expectations or I will lose my credibility as a teacher. While I did not have to wait too long to achieve quietness, I know that students will push the limit, and I must stay close to my beliefs and wait for everybody to be quiet before I start teaching (prior signal could be clapping / give me five / hand on your head, nose, chin, show me good listening). 

Goal # 7: Knowledge of Students:

My most transformative moment is unfortunately linked to a very exciting science experiment I have planned and taught, and the lack of success experienced by one of my students. My lesson was about structural adaptation in animals, and the experiment was to use three different tools (chopstick / spoon / cloth pin) and three kind of food (pasta / chickpeas / toothpick) to mimic bird beaks and feeding habits. While the activity was fun, and all students had a positive learning experience, one student was discouraged and sad. He was assigned chopsticks as his tool and he could not catch any food because he has limited fine motor skills. I felt heavy-hearted because my philosophy is based on nurturing a love of learning, and one key component is feeling successful. Afterwards, I had a private discussion with that student; I congratulated his perseverance and gave him a “sockeye” for being responsible in order to restore some self-esteem. 

This incident clearly emphasizes the importance of knowing the academic strengths and weaknesses of my students in order to implement individualized teaching.  Creating an inclusive environment is a pillar of my teaching philosophy, and adapting some tasks for students who are struggling will support my values. In the future, I will adapt my lesson to support the needs of that student. 

Goal # 14: School Culture and Community (and Professionalism)

This week, I had to ask for help a few times to various staff members of our school community (custodian for a desk and a chair / EA for extra photocopies / secretary for a class list / teachers for tips on classroom management / volunteer for finishing a bulletin board). I believe that I have established positive relationships with these individuals because I received great support and awesome ideas. .

I have true respect for every member of Central community and I am slowly becoming part of the team. While the school faces many challenges, it feels good to be surrounded by people who truly care about the students and their well-being.

Halloween Bulletin Board

Some very cute Fine Arts projects happened last week!

The students painted some pumpkins. We used pastels crayons (orange and brown) and a quick orange paint wash. It was a great craft to built student self esteem because pumpkins in nature a never perfectly round !!! My teacher Mentor did a step-by-step draw under the document camera and I helped with the paint.

The kids also did some Pumpkins / Frankenstein monsters out of paint sample paper from the store (kindly donated). I first did the craft with my grade 3/4 class and then my students taught their little buddies (grade 1/2). It was a great afternoon and all students fell successful and proud of their projects.

Inclusive classroom: even the students with limited fine motor skills experienced success because no perfection was needed and the cutting for the monster part could be any shape.

Bird Beak - Structural Adaptation

Our grade 3/4 class did an awesome experiment to illustrate structural adaption in animals. After looking at birds's pictures and discussion various adaptations, the students became birds themselves and were assigned a specific beak to eat various food.

• Beaks: spoon / chopsticks / clothes pin
• Stomach: plastic cups
• Food: pasta / chickpeas / toothpicks

The children were supposed to use their beak to catch food (one kind at a time) and to place it in their stomach. They had 45 seconds to eat. When the time was up, they counted their catch and recorded it on a work sheet. The process was repeated until all food was tried.

The kids loved the activity and it was great fun to watch students engaged in a science experiment. At the end, I collected all the data and created a graph to show the student the results of the experiment. We then discussed it and came to the conclusion that the "spoon" bird in a "chickpea" habitat was the winner. 

Inclusive classroom: make sure to adapt beak choice to the fine motor skills ability of the students.

School Experience - Reflection 2

The most transformative lesson I learned this week could be summarized as follows:

To be an effective teacher, I need to be an efficient manager…

To be an efficient manager, I must be a caring builder…

Building strong connections and healthy relationships with my students will create a feeling of mutual respect, and generate a safe learning space with minimum classroom management issues.

Strong Connection with Students:

One foundation of a caring relationship is to give constructive feedback and positive praise to students. This week, I gave out “sockeye” to support the PBS program at Raven Kingdom and I tried to give specific compliments to students regarding their work and their behaviour as often as possible. While the comments like “good job” or “nice coloring” are spontaneous and easy and can be given verbally and frequently, as deserved, it is far more meaningful for a student to know what they did well, so they can do it again. I noticed during a guided reading session that my feedback built my students’ self-esteem and encouraged them to try harder. 

Another crucial element for building good relationships with students and their families is to embrace a “positive” before dealing with a “negative”. This week, I had to write an “AIDE” form (Assistance Intervention Discipline Education) for a student because of disrespectful behaviour, and I am very thankful that I gave her a “positive” last week. Children will mess up and it is part of growing up, but it is fundamental to notice when they are successfully responsible, respectful or relational. I truly want to be a teacher that states something right about a child before I have to deal with something wrong. Therefore, I have to be proactive in giving positive feedback and finding as many opportunities as possible to congratulate students.

Classroom Management:

I learned that respect in one keystone in classroom management, and that respect is earned, not owed (we had a TOC this week and observing the difference in students’ behaviour was definitely a transformative experience!). My students will not automatically respect me because I am an adult and a teacher, but they might respect me because they know I care for them and I have their best interest at heart. Respect is based on relationship and authority on fear, and I believe that creating an atmosphere of fear is unhealthy and often unsuccessful in a modern classroom.

Another important aspect of classroom management is the notion of predictability. I confused many students this week in the “word of the day” routine because I did not follow my teacher mentor’s step-by-step routine. I asked students to guess the meaning of a word BEFORE I wrote the word down… Even though it sounds like a detail, it created anxiety in my students, and it impaired their ability to focus and learn. This also reinforces the importance of presenting the “shape of the day” to the students and to discuss unexpected changes with them. 

Lastly I understand the importance of planning transitions wisely in order to optimize movement in the classroom. I got the opportunity to experience a very successful transition (moving students from their desks seating to a circle seating with their chairs – I was well prepared and gave clear instructions and expectations before hand) and a not so successful one (moving students from listening to me as a group to work in pairs – I thought that “elbow buddy” was good enough of a plan and I was wrong… it was too much freedom and it created more chaos than order – next time I will have pre-decided pairs).

Connection to my values and beliefs:

This week was not easy, and I faced moments of discouragement. My philosophy in life is that “everyday is a new day with new opportunities to get it right…” I feel that it is the best attitude to embrace when working with children, and it will help me grow as a reflective teacher.

School Experience - Reflection 1

What I have learned with the interviews:

Ä     The principal is the leader of a very dynamic and dedicated team of educators, administrators and support staff members. He is passionate about his work and has a strong desire to create a community of learners that goes beyond the walls of Raven Kingdom Elementary School.

Ä     The secretary is the one of the key link that connects the home of the students with the school. She is in constant communication with the families to guarantee that students are safe and sound. Moreover, she is the first aid person in the school and she acts as a caring nurse when students are hurt or feel unwell.

Ä     The resource teacher helps mostly with behaviour support, both in and out of the classroom depending on the needs. She is on the School Based Team (SBT) and collaborates with teachers in planning IEPs.

Ä     The learning assistant supports academic learning for students with special needs or experiencing difficulties.

Ä     The counsellor is a core member of the SBT and has 35 students on his caseload with intensive to moderate behaviour challenges. He also helps teachers implement restorative practice in the classroom.

Ä     The teacher librarian is a great resource to find appropriate books for read aloud, novel study or independent reading. She also organizes the home reading program and the prizes.

Ä     The custodian maintains a safe learning environment by making sure the building is clean from physical hazards (glass, slippery area, dirty bathrooms) and emotional hurt (graffiti).

What I take away:

¶     Raven Kingdom Elementary School is a school with many challenges including a high incidence of “at risk” students, a low socio-economic neighbourhood, and an unjustified “inner city” stigma.

¶     The theme of the school is community and its purpose is to educate families from birth to death. Its fundamental value is hope, and it is supported by the creation of many opportunities for families, and by the desire to create independence among individuals.

¶     The school has the goals to reach the best of every student and to respect all families without external judgement.

¶     Collaboration is a keystone at Raven Kingdom and effective communication between staff members is crucial to support a constructive working place. All staff members work as a team to create an effective learning environment and to support diversity among students.

How will this support my school experience?

It feels great to understand that one teacher is not alone in supporting children’s learning, and Raven Kingdom offers tons of resources to assist teachers in their work. The school team feels like a tight community who collaborates towards the common goal of enhancing students’ school experience and learning environment.

As an emerging teacher, I need to be humble and ask for help as soon as I need some (the earlier the better). It is important for me to realize that I am surrounded by a very knowledgeable group of colleagues, and that it is in my best interest to know my limits as a new teacher and to reach out for support when necessary.

How to become part of school culture?

To successfully integrate the school culture, I need to respect the value of my colleagues’ work, to understand that everybody is doing their best to support the students in a challenging environment, and to remember that we all have good and bad days.

To be part of the school culture, I need to appreciate the opinion of the staff members and the input of the families without judgement because all have the best interest of the kids at heart.

To become an effective teacher at Raven Kingdom, I need to be curious and enthusiastic, to embrace challenges, to welcome every day as a new day, and to maintain a good sense of humour.

Classroom Management's philosophy

Creating life-long learners is the keystone of my philosophy as a teacher, and it is tightly linked to my classroom management philosophy. I don’t want my students to count, read, or draw because they like me or fear me. I want them to study because they truly understand that they will need these skills everyday of their life. I want my students to believe that learning has a purpose and no physical boundaries. Therefore, I believe in powerful activities and lessons that engage students, and create a strong community of learners. I trust that I have professional competences to teach Math and Science because these subjects are related to my educational background. I have a genuine appreciation for Language arts and Social Studies and this should reflect in my lessons. I have an honest passion for learning, and I feel that I can teach any subject with a true heart and honest expertise. Therefore, I believe that I have the power of an expert teacher.

A community of learners, like any other community, needs rules and routines to insure that the rights of all are respected: the right to teach and learn or the right to feel both physically and emotionally safe in a respected environment. While most adults are able to self regulate themselves in society, students need lots of guidance and scaffolding to monitor their behaviour in a classroom. I believe in a collaborative environment that leads towards student-directed as the students grow older either through the year (September to June) or through schooling (K to 7).

Another pillar of my educational philosophy supports my desire to focus on the whole child and to help students reach the very best of their individual abilities. I want children to explore who they are and to use me as a tool to reach their dream. Therefore, I trust that students should be 100 % self-motivated to learn, and that external rewards to study or achieve should be limited. I think students should experience true feeling of success more than collect sparkly stickers in order to become life-long learner. Regarding behaviour, positive reinforcement and prizes could be used to encourage students to respect the teacher and the community of learners. I also believe that the use of Individual Behaviour Plan is a great means to help students self-monitor their actions and manners in the classroom.

Teacher’s main activity in a classroom should be to teach and not to police students around. I believe that any behaviour that do not interfere with the right to teach and learn, or the right to feel both physically and emotionally safe in a respected environment should be ignore until the teacher is done teaching. Private discussion with “off task student” can then be done later when other students are working independently. When some behaviour conflicts with this right, the progression of non-verbal intervention, verbal intervention, and the use of logical consequences is preferable to minimize the time spent away from teaching.

My Teaching Philosophy

Education has the purpose to support human beings in their quest to reach their full potential, both as an individual and as a member of the society. Education helps us to explore our gifts, to strengthen our weaknesses, to interact with others and to learn the rules of our community. Education is also a key to freedom as its open the doors of knowledge and the marvels of our world. I trust that I need to educate the whole child with purposes that go beyond the classroom walls and a yearly time frame. I believe that learning is a life-long process and I want to be one of many tools that children use to achieve their dreams in life.

The role of the teacher in the classroom is to facilitate learning and coordinate students so they can achieve the best of their abilities. Teachers need to know their students, to evaluate where they are in their development, and to support their learning processes. Constructivist classroom and differentiated education are two powerful means to help students experience success and go beyond their limits. I embrace the belief of teaching in a diverse environment where all children are valued for who they are, and where all students have the right to be educated and respected.

Students learn best when they are engaged and when they can make personal connection to the curriculum. I believe in a classroom where students do, experience and live the subjects, and I think that a fine balance between teacher directed and student oriented activities is essential to create a powerful learning atmosphere.

An effective teacher has a passion for learning and sharing knowledge, an intrinsic compassion and empathy for the individuals, and a healthy vision for the group and the community of learners. I owe my students trust in their ability to learn, respect in their desire to be successful, and to foster dignity in their journey to become independent human beings.

Creating successful life-long learners is the keystone of my teaching philosophy. I want my students to explore who they are, how they learn and what they want to become. I believe that teaching should prepare students to live a successful and satisfying life where many doors are opened and many paths could be explored.

Introduction Letter

All About Mrs. Dumont

Dear Community of Learners:

My name is Mrs. Dumont and I am a student teacher collaborating with Ms. S. for the current school year. I will be observing, working with individual students and teaching the whole class on a regular basis. This is part of my journey to become a certified teacher and I feel very fortunate to be part of your wonderful community of learners.

My educational background:

I earned an Engineering Degree in chemistry in France. I took some undergraduate courses for the last few years and I am currently a student teacher at UFV. I am bilingual, speaking, reading and writing English and French fluently.

Volunteer experience:

I have been involved with the school system since my children were babies. I have been a very active PAC president for 3 years, helping with hot lunches, fundraising and many fantastic activities that enhance students’ school experiences. I have volunteered in classrooms from kindergarten to grade 6, supporting students in reading or math. I have had opportunities to go on many field trips and to assist teachers in special events such as sports days.

Hobbies and family:

I have a supportive husband and two active pre-teenagers at home. We have a pet leopard gecko, who is a very special addition to our family.

I love reading, hiking and cooking and I am actively involved in my children’s swim club.

I would like to gratefully and sincerely thank:

• The families and caregivers of thestudents for giving me the opportunity to teach your amazing children.
• Ms. S. for sharing her class with me and supporting my growth as teacher.  All staff at the Elementary Community School for welcoming student teachers.