Today is P.D. Day, and Mr. Yake and several teachers put together a workshop for all teachers. I believe that it is very important, as Mr. Yake put it, to have shared beliefs and understanding among all staff. Staff should be working together for the best interest of the school and the students, so mutual understanding and support are essential. It is good to promote diversity, but if every teacher utilizes a different system in teaching and dealing with students, then the school would be very dissociated. One grade moves into the new school year, and the students have to get used to a new system all over again, and the teacher has to get used to the students with a different set of learning strategies. Therefore, I feel strongly that everyone in the school should cooperate to strive towards a holistic view of presenting education, which I find it happening in Greensborough since my first day.
Ann gave a little presentation on how to help poor readers improve. She suggested that we need to prepare a safe place where they can help each other. To me, it is very true. If I'm not good at something, I would feel intimidated, because I would be conscious of how others see me -- they must think that I'm bad. Learning is not a cautious process, so students should not be taught to be afraid of exposing what they are not good at. They need to be given an opportunity to demonstrate what they know, and to receive guidance in how they can improve. And it should be something between the teacher and the student, as well as among the students. They should not be intimidated by each other, because they are there to support and learn from each other. It is a teacher's responsibility to create a space where it's ok for students to make mistakes, because making mistakes is the first step to correcting them.
I like the activity that Ellen conducted, where each of us were given a card with a reading strategy, and we had to find another person and ask them what they think the strategy means. I shared a card with Ann, and it says "Making Connections: text to text". We discussed it with Jen (Ms. Jones), and I pointed out something. In our discussion, text means print. However, I think that text encompasses more than print resources. It includes images, movies, websites, and all the new media that is out there. Ann wasn't sure if this is what text implies, but we concluded that it is, because new media doesn't fit into "self" or "world", so it must belong to text. It is not until last year that I become aware of all kinds of literature around us, not only books and articles, but also music, dance, and new media technologies. It might seem overwhelming at the beginning, but these "new" kinds of knowledge should be available to us as well as our students, because they are part of our environment, and printed materials are not the only sources of information and knowledge.
Talking about new media technology, I realized that a lot of teachers felt enstranged to the computer while Sean was demonstrating how to set up the report card online. I think that teachers need to be ensured a safe environment while learning something new, as much as our students. Most teachers feel that using the computer is hard, just because they are not taught the basic skills. They need to understand why clicking this button goes to the next page, in order to feel comfortable using it. If they can't make sense of it, then the technology would only be an added-on burden that they must use, and incorporate in their classroom. The fear would overpower the purpose of including technology in education. Therefore, I think that teachers should be well equipped and prepared to accept new media technologies, to become role models for our students that live in the modern and future world.
I'm also surprised by the supply of labtops in the library. My New Media Literacy and Culture course requires us to do a project on new media technology, and it can be anything that relates to the classroom. I thought about making a homepage for Ms. Carson's class, which might include things like classroom news, school news, fun links to educational games, a bulletin board for upcoming activities in the community (e.g. colouring contests, Markham Fair), and an online blog for the students. I actually thought about doing an online blog first, but it would make more sense when it's put into perspective with the homepage. Once a week, the students can type a journal entry (in a few lines) about anything. They can also post pictures of their work that are pre-scanned by the teacher, and the students can reply to any entry. It serves as a social tool for students to interact. After today's workshop, I felt more strongly about it. Mr. Herridge said that some students think that a writer is someone sitting on the desk with a pen and a piece of paper, which is not true. By writing in the blog, children are given a space to express themselves in a new way, without pens and papers, where they can be encouraged as writers of their own life.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Oct.13, 06
Today during Ms. Carson's prep. time, Ms. Curry came in to teach the students Health. She talked about the different categories of the Canadian Food Guide, e.g., Grains, Milk and Diary Product, etc. After the lesson, she gave each of the group an envelope. Each envelope contains some paper slips, which has different kinds of food written on them (e.g., ice-cream). As a group, they had to arrange the paper slips into the categories of the food guide.
As I was walking around, I felt a bit intimidated. This is a difficult activity! I don't know where "oil", and a lot of other food, belong to. I asked Ms. Curry, and she explained it to me so I could help the students. I realize that if I'm planning a lesson, I must really know what I'm doing, or else the students would be confused. I need to show them that I know what I'm talking about, and I can help them and let them learn. I was talking to a friend afterwards, who is also a teacher candidate. She is doing her placement in a Grade Six class, and last time there was a supply teacher during French class, who doesn't know French. My friend doens't know French either, but when the student asked her a question, she went up to another student who knew, so she was able to go back to the student who didn't understand it. I think she handled it very well, and I'm going to learn from her. Facing the problem is an important aspect of being a teacher. Sometimes it requires us to do what we don't usually do, but we must adjust to the situation and make the best out of it.
I noticed that the seating plan is changed in about every two weeks. I think this is helpful for the students in terms of their social skills. I saw that one of the groups didn't work really well together. One of the students in the group likes everything to be done according to his way; one doesn't speak much, but she doesn't listen to the group either; one is frustrated when the rest of the group don't work together; and the other one doesn't get involved in the arguments. It is interesting to see how they work things out, because situations like this don't always require teacher interference. We have to trust that students have the capability to handle it themselves, to let them learn how to communicate and cooperate in a group when they are not good friends with each other. Two weeks later, the groups are going to be changed again, and they are going to deal with other students with different personalities and working habits. Then it's a new experience all over!
As I was walking around, I felt a bit intimidated. This is a difficult activity! I don't know where "oil", and a lot of other food, belong to. I asked Ms. Curry, and she explained it to me so I could help the students. I realize that if I'm planning a lesson, I must really know what I'm doing, or else the students would be confused. I need to show them that I know what I'm talking about, and I can help them and let them learn. I was talking to a friend afterwards, who is also a teacher candidate. She is doing her placement in a Grade Six class, and last time there was a supply teacher during French class, who doesn't know French. My friend doens't know French either, but when the student asked her a question, she went up to another student who knew, so she was able to go back to the student who didn't understand it. I think she handled it very well, and I'm going to learn from her. Facing the problem is an important aspect of being a teacher. Sometimes it requires us to do what we don't usually do, but we must adjust to the situation and make the best out of it.
I noticed that the seating plan is changed in about every two weeks. I think this is helpful for the students in terms of their social skills. I saw that one of the groups didn't work really well together. One of the students in the group likes everything to be done according to his way; one doesn't speak much, but she doesn't listen to the group either; one is frustrated when the rest of the group don't work together; and the other one doesn't get involved in the arguments. It is interesting to see how they work things out, because situations like this don't always require teacher interference. We have to trust that students have the capability to handle it themselves, to let them learn how to communicate and cooperate in a group when they are not good friends with each other. Two weeks later, the groups are going to be changed again, and they are going to deal with other students with different personalities and working habits. Then it's a new experience all over!
Oct.6, 06
Today, I was a bit nervous because it'll be my first time reading a picture book to a class of Grade Ones. First times are always difficult, but I know that after I get through this, I'll feel much more comfortable dealing with a class!
Ms. Carson told me that I would have time to read the book after lunch, so during the first half of the day, I just did what I usually do -- talking to students before class starts and during recess, walking around and observing them during class time, helping Ms. Carson with whatever needs to be done, etc.
One interesting thing that I did was drawing a person on chart paper. I have to admit that I'm not a great artist -- not after I've "grown up", anyway. I don't mean that I'm afraid of drawing, but when it comes to group activities, I won't be the one to volunteer to do the pictures. Ms. Carson asked me to draw a person, colour it and cut it out. It's going to be the material for a lesson on bullying. She told me that she'll ask the students to stand in a circle, and she will hold the paper person in the middle of the circle. She'll ask them to say bad things to the paper person and bully him. Each time someone say something bad to him, Ms. Carson would tear the paper. After the paper man is poorly ripped, she'll let the students say sorry to him. For every "sorry", she'll tape the parts that are ripped. After this, she will explain to them that even though we apologized, it leaves marks on the person being bullied. I think that it is powerful. We as teachers always tell students not to say this and not to do that, but it may be abstract to them. From this lesson, students would be able to see the "wounds" visually, and make connections to how a person would feel deep inside.
As a teacher candidate, I feel empowered after drawing this paper man. I realize that teachers aren't perfect beings, we have our own weaknesses, but we must help ourselves. In a classroom, we must do whatever we can do to make each lesson worthwhile. For example, I'm taking an education elective called Literacy and Culture this term. I thought that it's about reading texts, but it's actually a new media literacy course. I could've dropped it and taken another course, but I didn't, because I want to try new things, and here's a chance. Most fellow teacher candidates are not familiar with new technologies and how to incorporate them into classrooms, but we must make our best attempts if it enriches our students. We must believe in ourselves and feel confident, because we are the models of the 20 children in our classroom. If we are resistant to learning, then we will not be able to guide the students to learn. We must be brave!
After lunch, I read the story book to the Grade Ones. By that time, I wasn't nervous anymore, because I have been with the class for half a day, so I didn't feel as self-conscious. The story is called "Where the Wild Things are". I asked them questions before opening the book, and they were very eager to tell me what they think about it. As I was reading the book, I let them investigate the pictures, tell me about the pictures, and guess what might happen next. I was glad that there were lots of interaction, that they were enthusiastic and they seemed like they were enjoying it. Ms. Carson said that I did a wonderful job, which really encouraged me. I have studied this picture book in a Humanity course called "Worlds of Childhood" last year, and I am really glad that I took that course. The professor taught us how to analyze a children's book, what are the hidden ideologies, and how should we approach it. I learned a lot in that course, and I became a more insightful reader.
Today is a great day, and I look forward to introducing a Math activity to the students in two weeks!
Ms. Carson told me that I would have time to read the book after lunch, so during the first half of the day, I just did what I usually do -- talking to students before class starts and during recess, walking around and observing them during class time, helping Ms. Carson with whatever needs to be done, etc.
One interesting thing that I did was drawing a person on chart paper. I have to admit that I'm not a great artist -- not after I've "grown up", anyway. I don't mean that I'm afraid of drawing, but when it comes to group activities, I won't be the one to volunteer to do the pictures. Ms. Carson asked me to draw a person, colour it and cut it out. It's going to be the material for a lesson on bullying. She told me that she'll ask the students to stand in a circle, and she will hold the paper person in the middle of the circle. She'll ask them to say bad things to the paper person and bully him. Each time someone say something bad to him, Ms. Carson would tear the paper. After the paper man is poorly ripped, she'll let the students say sorry to him. For every "sorry", she'll tape the parts that are ripped. After this, she will explain to them that even though we apologized, it leaves marks on the person being bullied. I think that it is powerful. We as teachers always tell students not to say this and not to do that, but it may be abstract to them. From this lesson, students would be able to see the "wounds" visually, and make connections to how a person would feel deep inside.
As a teacher candidate, I feel empowered after drawing this paper man. I realize that teachers aren't perfect beings, we have our own weaknesses, but we must help ourselves. In a classroom, we must do whatever we can do to make each lesson worthwhile. For example, I'm taking an education elective called Literacy and Culture this term. I thought that it's about reading texts, but it's actually a new media literacy course. I could've dropped it and taken another course, but I didn't, because I want to try new things, and here's a chance. Most fellow teacher candidates are not familiar with new technologies and how to incorporate them into classrooms, but we must make our best attempts if it enriches our students. We must believe in ourselves and feel confident, because we are the models of the 20 children in our classroom. If we are resistant to learning, then we will not be able to guide the students to learn. We must be brave!
After lunch, I read the story book to the Grade Ones. By that time, I wasn't nervous anymore, because I have been with the class for half a day, so I didn't feel as self-conscious. The story is called "Where the Wild Things are". I asked them questions before opening the book, and they were very eager to tell me what they think about it. As I was reading the book, I let them investigate the pictures, tell me about the pictures, and guess what might happen next. I was glad that there were lots of interaction, that they were enthusiastic and they seemed like they were enjoying it. Ms. Carson said that I did a wonderful job, which really encouraged me. I have studied this picture book in a Humanity course called "Worlds of Childhood" last year, and I am really glad that I took that course. The professor taught us how to analyze a children's book, what are the hidden ideologies, and how should we approach it. I learned a lot in that course, and I became a more insightful reader.
Today is a great day, and I look forward to introducing a Math activity to the students in two weeks!
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