Week 4: Sai, Khushbu
Week 3: Effie, Randal
Week 2: Amy
Week 1: Gabrielle
Have I missed anyone? Please tell me if I commented on your blog, as I can't remember!
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Practicum is... over?
My last week in Scarborough was incredible, here is why:
I taught an incredible science class. We did an experiment that involved beakers filled with water and syringes: Can liquid be compressed? Can gas be compressed? I knew that class management would be tricky for a class of 28 to do a hands on science experiment, but I had planned it all out in advance. I made sure that students knew that there would be a no tolerance policy on fooling around, I said "If I see anyone spraying anyone with water or doing something that they are not supposed to be doing, I will take away your syringes and your beakers, you will put your head down on your desk and you will get a zero". The class looked at each other in comprehension with "she means business" looks on their faces. This was a great moment. The science experiment went really well, I had everyone fill out sheets that went along with their experiment. Also the group that did the best was a pair of boys who are ussually quite low, science brings out a whole other kind of learning! I was totally impressed.
I lead a school assembly on Empathy. That's right, I was told in my first week at this school that I would be in charge of the "word of the month" assembly for November. Our word was "Empathy". I split the class up into 4 groups of 7. Two students were "directors" and 5 students were "players", this was their "Empathy Ensemble". Through a series of drama classes on tableau, the students came up with four scenarios, each scenario had a tableau "without Empathy" and a resolution tableau "with Empathy". Then, the directors were to touch players in their still images, "when a director touches a player, that character comes to life and tells you what they are thinking". After lots of hard work these tableaux turned out really well. The school was very engaged in the performance and the grade 5 class was extremely proud of what they had accomplished! Many students later told me that they loved doing drama with me, that they had never done Tableau before and they really liked it. I feel very good that I was able to do this and very happy that it turned out as well as it did!
The class performed their interpretive dances. This was magical. Through 4 loaded dance classes, students interpreted hieroglyphic symbols into words and sentences that conveyed meaning. Then, they "bodystormed" movements to match their hieroglyphic symbol. They had to learn about "Body, Energy, Space and Time" in order to create a dance movement. Each group of 4 created a choreographed dance using the "flocking" technique. The first class was the interpretation of symbols into sentences, then they worked on these dances in groups for 2 classes and then performed them in the 4th class. The performance was great! I played a song with a slow and steady beat (Air "Venus") and had the class perform the dances in a circle. Each group did 4 rotations of their own dance followed by the next group that did 4 rotations and so on. It was an amazing experience. After the performance each group showed the class exactly what the sentence was that they had interpreted and the movements that went with it. The feedback from the class was also very good, they really enjoyed watching each other dance and performing their dances for the class!
I am a converted math enthusiast. After 4 weeks of math class every morning I am really seeing the importance of this subject. I was never good at math as a child but I really do believe that this is because the instructions I had were never very good. The way Ms M teachers math is genius; she uses many different techniques and strategies and she splits the class into different groups based on strengths and weaknesses. Usually she uses peer to peer based groups but sometimes she pairs highs with lows. I'm really impressed at the number of ways she teaches the same concepts. This week I tought long division! Anyone who knows me will think that this is pretty impressive... I didn't even really know how to do long division until this week and now I truly believe I could teach it to anyone! Math is great. I also think that I will be writing my Inquiry Research Project on the importance of balancing subjects like Math with the Arts.
The class threw me a party. I couldn't believe it. I was in the other grade 5 class teaching an art lesson on mixing colours using paint; "the colour triangle" and when I walked back into my classroom, all the students yelled "SURPRISE". They were all sitting on the floor in front of a chair meant just for me. I sat on that chair and they showered me with gifts! Many of the gifts were handmade by students! There were all sorts of cards, hand made jewelry, paper crafts and really useful gifts too. Ms M gave me a gift park from Bath and Body Works. It was like my birthday! Then the students had prepared little speeches for me about different things that they had liked about my lessons and reasons why they were sad that I was leaving! It was very hard not to cry! At one point, this little boy did cry! Such a touching moment.
I can't believe that practicum 1 is over. I feel like it went by so fast! All in all, it was the students that made my experience the most valuable. Every one of those 10 year old individuals have impacted me in a different way. I am ever so grateful to have had this amazing learning experience.
I taught an incredible science class. We did an experiment that involved beakers filled with water and syringes: Can liquid be compressed? Can gas be compressed? I knew that class management would be tricky for a class of 28 to do a hands on science experiment, but I had planned it all out in advance. I made sure that students knew that there would be a no tolerance policy on fooling around, I said "If I see anyone spraying anyone with water or doing something that they are not supposed to be doing, I will take away your syringes and your beakers, you will put your head down on your desk and you will get a zero". The class looked at each other in comprehension with "she means business" looks on their faces. This was a great moment. The science experiment went really well, I had everyone fill out sheets that went along with their experiment. Also the group that did the best was a pair of boys who are ussually quite low, science brings out a whole other kind of learning! I was totally impressed.
I lead a school assembly on Empathy. That's right, I was told in my first week at this school that I would be in charge of the "word of the month" assembly for November. Our word was "Empathy". I split the class up into 4 groups of 7. Two students were "directors" and 5 students were "players", this was their "Empathy Ensemble". Through a series of drama classes on tableau, the students came up with four scenarios, each scenario had a tableau "without Empathy" and a resolution tableau "with Empathy". Then, the directors were to touch players in their still images, "when a director touches a player, that character comes to life and tells you what they are thinking". After lots of hard work these tableaux turned out really well. The school was very engaged in the performance and the grade 5 class was extremely proud of what they had accomplished! Many students later told me that they loved doing drama with me, that they had never done Tableau before and they really liked it. I feel very good that I was able to do this and very happy that it turned out as well as it did!
The class performed their interpretive dances. This was magical. Through 4 loaded dance classes, students interpreted hieroglyphic symbols into words and sentences that conveyed meaning. Then, they "bodystormed" movements to match their hieroglyphic symbol. They had to learn about "Body, Energy, Space and Time" in order to create a dance movement. Each group of 4 created a choreographed dance using the "flocking" technique. The first class was the interpretation of symbols into sentences, then they worked on these dances in groups for 2 classes and then performed them in the 4th class. The performance was great! I played a song with a slow and steady beat (Air "Venus") and had the class perform the dances in a circle. Each group did 4 rotations of their own dance followed by the next group that did 4 rotations and so on. It was an amazing experience. After the performance each group showed the class exactly what the sentence was that they had interpreted and the movements that went with it. The feedback from the class was also very good, they really enjoyed watching each other dance and performing their dances for the class!
I am a converted math enthusiast. After 4 weeks of math class every morning I am really seeing the importance of this subject. I was never good at math as a child but I really do believe that this is because the instructions I had were never very good. The way Ms M teachers math is genius; she uses many different techniques and strategies and she splits the class into different groups based on strengths and weaknesses. Usually she uses peer to peer based groups but sometimes she pairs highs with lows. I'm really impressed at the number of ways she teaches the same concepts. This week I tought long division! Anyone who knows me will think that this is pretty impressive... I didn't even really know how to do long division until this week and now I truly believe I could teach it to anyone! Math is great. I also think that I will be writing my Inquiry Research Project on the importance of balancing subjects like Math with the Arts.
The class threw me a party. I couldn't believe it. I was in the other grade 5 class teaching an art lesson on mixing colours using paint; "the colour triangle" and when I walked back into my classroom, all the students yelled "SURPRISE". They were all sitting on the floor in front of a chair meant just for me. I sat on that chair and they showered me with gifts! Many of the gifts were handmade by students! There were all sorts of cards, hand made jewelry, paper crafts and really useful gifts too. Ms M gave me a gift park from Bath and Body Works. It was like my birthday! Then the students had prepared little speeches for me about different things that they had liked about my lessons and reasons why they were sad that I was leaving! It was very hard not to cry! At one point, this little boy did cry! Such a touching moment.
I can't believe that practicum 1 is over. I feel like it went by so fast! All in all, it was the students that made my experience the most valuable. Every one of those 10 year old individuals have impacted me in a different way. I am ever so grateful to have had this amazing learning experience.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Bronchitis and the Classroom
I know that I love to teach.
I know this because I got bronchitis during week 3, and I still WANTED to come to school.
However, teaching with bronchitis is extremely difficult. Everything seems so much louder... and my voice is so much softer... and I can't quite concentrate and can't quite focus... And then there's the coughing...
Good thing I'm feeling better now. Bring on Week 4!
On a side note, I want to talk about "think, pair, share" and how much I love this teaching strategy.
It's so simple; introduce a new idea/concept to a classroom of students (works best if they are seated together at the front), have them think about the concept/idea on their own, find their closest classmate (elbow partner) and share that idea with them. I find it works best in a 2-5 minute time span. This 3 minute break in the lesson provides time for self-reflection of the material and peer-to-peer learning! You can also use strategic seating to have lower-higher kids work together or same-level kids work together. I am learning so much about different teaching strategies. Think, Pair, Share is definitely a favourite.
I know this because I got bronchitis during week 3, and I still WANTED to come to school.
However, teaching with bronchitis is extremely difficult. Everything seems so much louder... and my voice is so much softer... and I can't quite concentrate and can't quite focus... And then there's the coughing...
Good thing I'm feeling better now. Bring on Week 4!
On a side note, I want to talk about "think, pair, share" and how much I love this teaching strategy.
It's so simple; introduce a new idea/concept to a classroom of students (works best if they are seated together at the front), have them think about the concept/idea on their own, find their closest classmate (elbow partner) and share that idea with them. I find it works best in a 2-5 minute time span. This 3 minute break in the lesson provides time for self-reflection of the material and peer-to-peer learning! You can also use strategic seating to have lower-higher kids work together or same-level kids work together. I am learning so much about different teaching strategies. Think, Pair, Share is definitely a favourite.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Week 2 in Scarborough
My second week in Scarborough has been quite interesting for
several reasons. Here are some:
1)
On Tuesday a grade 6 student held his breath
until he passed out, when he woke up he went into convulsions and hit his face
repeatedly on the floor thus resulting in a pool of blood in the hallway
2)
Later that week the same kid beat another kid up
in the schoolyard to a pulp, he and a couple others are now suspended.
3)
There is a student in my class who’s father has
been murdered
4)
If you let a group of grade 5 boys go to the
bathroom at the same time, this will result in mayhem and ruckus – never do this – you will regret it
5)
If you laugh when one of your students calls
another student “a bulldozer”, you WILL lose control of your classroom
6)
Warden subway stop has a little pastry shop with
many inexpensive goodies, if I come back from practicum weighing 10 pounds
more, this is why
My AT is in Choir, Strings and Band, she was gone a lot this
week for Remembrance Day Ceremony rehearsals and left me alone with my grade 5
class several times and for several lessons. This week I taught Dance, Drama,
Science and Language by myself with those 28 kids. At first I was extremely
intimidated. At one point it just hit me “It’s like it’s them vs. me”. I
thought back to an Education Psychology quiz that said “students will never
overtake their teacher”. This gave me some relief because the very thought of
them uprising against me had filled me with a certain sick fear. However, once
I relaxed the teaching just came naturally. I had a few mishaps (like when I
sent a GROUP of boys to the bathroom together, or when I laughed at a student’s
joke). Eventually I was able to teach my lesson, control my classroom (I NOW know
exactly when and how to get my class’ attention and/or wait for silence) and
transition to the next lesson. One big “transition” challenge is to get them
back into “school mode” after recess, after an assembly or after a rotary class
(they take rotary French and Library classes).
I am so proud that I was able to do this. Perhaps I am also
a little disappointed that my AT never saw the classes that I had prepared and
taught or saw the way in which I was managing the classroom – I was able to
retell to her how it went but I still wish she had been there or wish that I
had had a little video camera in the corner of the class recording it all. In
the end I am thrilled that I was able to experience being a “real teacher” and
have my own class to myself. I now also understand that good teaching comes
only with practice… If I’ve learned this much in two weeks, what will I be like
at the end of practicum? Or at the end of June?
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Once upon a time, I was supposed to teach DANCE!
A funny story...
Originally, my practicum was to be at an elementary school for the Arts where I was to teach rotary DANCE class! This did not end up working out as there was a conflict between an AT and a TC at that school and the principal made an executive decision to no longer host TCs at that school... However, I did have 4 full STEP days there where I watched and experienced many dance lessons and got to work one-on-one with the rotary dance teacher... I learned A LOT! I also felt that I had formed a pretty good bond with that teacher and had come up with a grade 5 dance lesson that I was very proud of... I have now begun teaching that lesson at my new school in Scarborough and I have kept in contact with my old AT (the dance teacher) who wants to continue to help me to implement these dance lessons!
Here is my first email to her... I can't wait to get her reply and see what she thinks! These will be 4 lessons in modern (interpretive) dance!
Hey M,
How are you? I hope everything is going really well for you...
Things are going quite well for me with my grade 5 class over at ___.
Today I did my first Dance class with them! I convinced my AT to let me do 4 Dance classes (replacing Gym classes), it didn't take much convincing at all and now the other Grade 5 teacher at the school wants me to do dance class with her class as well!
First we started with a basic stretching - you wouldn't believe that the kids complained during the most BASIC stretches! Then I played the drama game "atoms" with them so that we could form groups (there are 28 kids, so I wanted to have 7 groups of 4). First I separated the class into 4 groups of 7, and gave each person in each group one hieroglyphic symbol (4 in total). Then I had them group up with one of each symbol so that there were 7 groups of 4 - and 4 different symbols. Then we talked about hieroglyphics and the different ways that we could interpret symbols using our bodies. I had different children show the class different examples of how they could interpret a circle, squiggly line, spiral or arrow using movements. The examples they came up with were very good! Then we talked about associating the hieroglyphic symbols with a word and a sentence and how that sentence would be the foundation or "theme" of their dance. I showed them an example of a sentence with 4 hieroglyphics, my sentence was "Friendship makes the world go round": friendship: squiggly line, makes: the arrow, the world: the circle, go round: the spiral - I explained to them how I had interpreted each symbol. Then I had them make their sentences in their groups using the symbols - the sentences were to be about the theme of "friendship". I went around to each group to make sure that they were doing well and understanding the task. Most groups were very good! Some needed a little push and a couple ideas before they came up with something. At the end of class all the groups had come up with a sentence!
Next class we will begin our movement work... I would like to use "flocking" as an introduction to choreography... what do you think? I was thinking I could start with 4 random children and do a sort of introduction... Should I also introduce rhythm? Counting to 8? Most of the kids have never done any kind of dance before. I want to introduce to them Body, Energy, Space, Time, Relationship as well, I think I will do that with chart paper... What do you think?
Any input is greatly appreciated! Also, we could get together some time next week and talk about it... perhaps Monday after school? Or Tuesday? When is good for you? I could bring back your French book and the thing for that other teacher.
Let me know! Would love to see you!
Vivian
Originally, my practicum was to be at an elementary school for the Arts where I was to teach rotary DANCE class! This did not end up working out as there was a conflict between an AT and a TC at that school and the principal made an executive decision to no longer host TCs at that school... However, I did have 4 full STEP days there where I watched and experienced many dance lessons and got to work one-on-one with the rotary dance teacher... I learned A LOT! I also felt that I had formed a pretty good bond with that teacher and had come up with a grade 5 dance lesson that I was very proud of... I have now begun teaching that lesson at my new school in Scarborough and I have kept in contact with my old AT (the dance teacher) who wants to continue to help me to implement these dance lessons!
Here is my first email to her... I can't wait to get her reply and see what she thinks! These will be 4 lessons in modern (interpretive) dance!
Hey M,
How are you? I hope everything is going really well for you...
Things are going quite well for me with my grade 5 class over at ___.
Today I did my first Dance class with them! I convinced my AT to let me do 4 Dance classes (replacing Gym classes), it didn't take much convincing at all and now the other Grade 5 teacher at the school wants me to do dance class with her class as well!
First we started with a basic stretching - you wouldn't believe that the kids complained during the most BASIC stretches! Then I played the drama game "atoms" with them so that we could form groups (there are 28 kids, so I wanted to have 7 groups of 4). First I separated the class into 4 groups of 7, and gave each person in each group one hieroglyphic symbol (4 in total). Then I had them group up with one of each symbol so that there were 7 groups of 4 - and 4 different symbols. Then we talked about hieroglyphics and the different ways that we could interpret symbols using our bodies. I had different children show the class different examples of how they could interpret a circle, squiggly line, spiral or arrow using movements. The examples they came up with were very good! Then we talked about associating the hieroglyphic symbols with a word and a sentence and how that sentence would be the foundation or "theme" of their dance. I showed them an example of a sentence with 4 hieroglyphics, my sentence was "Friendship makes the world go round": friendship: squiggly line, makes: the arrow, the world: the circle, go round: the spiral - I explained to them how I had interpreted each symbol. Then I had them make their sentences in their groups using the symbols - the sentences were to be about the theme of "friendship". I went around to each group to make sure that they were doing well and understanding the task. Most groups were very good! Some needed a little push and a couple ideas before they came up with something. At the end of class all the groups had come up with a sentence!
Next class we will begin our movement work... I would like to use "flocking" as an introduction to choreography... what do you think? I was thinking I could start with 4 random children and do a sort of introduction... Should I also introduce rhythm? Counting to 8? Most of the kids have never done any kind of dance before. I want to introduce to them Body, Energy, Space, Time, Relationship as well, I think I will do that with chart paper... What do you think?
Any input is greatly appreciated! Also, we could get together some time next week and talk about it... perhaps Monday after school? Or Tuesday? When is good for you? I could bring back your French book and the thing for that other teacher.
Let me know! Would love to see you!
Vivian
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
The Ghost Song
Here I am in a book store in Busan, S. Korea, December 2009, performing a song that I wrote "The Ghost Song"
November 1st in Scarborough
So far I'm really enjoying my practicum.
In many ways it is different than I expected but what I am enjoying most of all is the relationships that I'm beginning to develop with my grade 5 class.
I am also really beginning to warm up to my new AT, Ms. M. She has a different teaching style than I do (more authoritative) but I very much respect her. I have a feeling that she is going to be teaching me a lot. She is an extremely strong teacher.
This morning I helped Ms. M teach Math by going from desk to desk and answering questions as well as checking students' work. This was an exhilirating experience. Why? Firstly, I hate math. I've always hated it, or said that I hated it and the truth is, I think I just never really gave it a chance. I don't think I ever had a very good math teacher until grade 11 (when I finally did well in Math but also took it for the last time). If I had had a Math teacher like Ms. M, I think I would have done well in Math and perhaps took a different approach to school in general. Anyways, my point is that I really enjoyed being able to help kids with their math because it felt really good to understand it myself and to be able to explain it to them so that they understood it too.
I also taught 2 drama classes today. One of them went well and the other one went not so well. I think I tried to pack too much into one lesson. Hurrah to being overly ambitious!
I have also been informed that I am in charge of a school assembly on Empathy that will be taking place on November 24th...
On Thursday I will be teaching Gym and on Friday I will teach Science and Drama again.
In many ways it is different than I expected but what I am enjoying most of all is the relationships that I'm beginning to develop with my grade 5 class.
I am also really beginning to warm up to my new AT, Ms. M. She has a different teaching style than I do (more authoritative) but I very much respect her. I have a feeling that she is going to be teaching me a lot. She is an extremely strong teacher.
This morning I helped Ms. M teach Math by going from desk to desk and answering questions as well as checking students' work. This was an exhilirating experience. Why? Firstly, I hate math. I've always hated it, or said that I hated it and the truth is, I think I just never really gave it a chance. I don't think I ever had a very good math teacher until grade 11 (when I finally did well in Math but also took it for the last time). If I had had a Math teacher like Ms. M, I think I would have done well in Math and perhaps took a different approach to school in general. Anyways, my point is that I really enjoyed being able to help kids with their math because it felt really good to understand it myself and to be able to explain it to them so that they understood it too.
I also taught 2 drama classes today. One of them went well and the other one went not so well. I think I tried to pack too much into one lesson. Hurrah to being overly ambitious!
I have also been informed that I am in charge of a school assembly on Empathy that will be taking place on November 24th...
On Thursday I will be teaching Gym and on Friday I will teach Science and Drama again.
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