Goal 1
Week 3 Reflection:
The week before my practicum began, I researched and compiled information about the various First Nations groups in the area, but something I stumbled upon really piqued my interest. BC has The First Peoples Principles of Learning connected to its curriculum. It is a document of nine statements that can help incorporate First Peoples ways of knowing into one’s teaching. Moreover, the ministry website a three-part video series PD session for teachers. I watched these videos and learned that teaching the history of First Nations People is one thing, but that not doing it as a token unit or lesson would be better. By using the Principles of Learning you can incorporate it into every lesson or subject. These sessions also provided a link to a website that broke them down and provided examples of ways that each principle can be seen in the classroom, as well as how they connect to other theories of learning that we had learned about during the course work part of the semester. Many of the principles were similar to constructivist thinking, which was handy because the BC curriculum is explicitly said to have a more constructivist view of learning.
Throughout my practicum so far one big part of my teaching time has been in Outdoor Learning, which is taking the academic subject and bringing it outdoors. This allows me to incorporate the Principles of Learning and the importance of Sense of Place, especially in my nature walk and mapping lessons.
I have found that attempting to incorporate the Principles of Learning into my teaching a more appropriate way to meet this goal, as my students have not been doing any hard study of history or social studies and it allows me to pull it into a variety of subjects, not just social studies.
The week before my practicum began, I researched and compiled information about the various First Nations groups in the area, but something I stumbled upon really piqued my interest. BC has The First Peoples Principles of Learning connected to its curriculum. It is a document of nine statements that can help incorporate First Peoples ways of knowing into one’s teaching. Moreover, the ministry website a three-part video series PD session for teachers. I watched these videos and learned that teaching the history of First Nations People is one thing, but that not doing it as a token unit or lesson would be better. By using the Principles of Learning you can incorporate it into every lesson or subject. These sessions also provided a link to a website that broke them down and provided examples of ways that each principle can be seen in the classroom, as well as how they connect to other theories of learning that we had learned about during the course work part of the semester. Many of the principles were similar to constructivist thinking, which was handy because the BC curriculum is explicitly said to have a more constructivist view of learning.
Throughout my practicum so far one big part of my teaching time has been in Outdoor Learning, which is taking the academic subject and bringing it outdoors. This allows me to incorporate the Principles of Learning and the importance of Sense of Place, especially in my nature walk and mapping lessons.
I have found that attempting to incorporate the Principles of Learning into my teaching a more appropriate way to meet this goal, as my students have not been doing any hard study of history or social studies and it allows me to pull it into a variety of subjects, not just social studies.
Evidence of Achievement:
This picture shows our first off-campus mapping lesson. This lesson connects to the First People's Principles of Learning, most notably the second one, as it relates to the students' sense of place. During this nature walk, I instructed students to pay attention to their surroundings, noting things for their map legends. When we stopped, we formed a circle, so that everyone could see each other and have a chance to share their voice, and listened to our surroundings. We also talked about the uniqueness of our place in the world and how the trees are so large compared to much of the country.
This picture shows a math lesson that took place outside. Students were exploring measurement by measuring things around the school. This lesson connects to the First People's Principles of Learning as it is taking the learning outdoors and connected to our place. It is also an experiential, authentic learning opportunity for the students as they are measuring things in the world, not just worksheets.
GOAL 2
Week 3 Reflection:
The biggest difference I’ve found between the Alberta Program of Studies and the BC Curriculum is that Alberta focuses on the content that needs to be taught, with skills and practices incorporated throughout, while BC focuses on skills that need to be taught with content incorporated throughout. In the Curriculum rationale, it explicitly said that is taking a more constructivist approach to learning. This has allowed me to take full advantage of teaching Outdoor Learning because I can allow children to go and explore what we’re learning. Also, since it is more skills-based it means it is measuring what students can do as opposed know, making assessment easier. As far as formatting goes, I have adapted the templates provided to me in EDUC 3501 to focus on Big Ideas and Core Competencies as opposed to General and Specific Learning Outcomes.
The biggest difference I’ve found between the Alberta Program of Studies and the BC Curriculum is that Alberta focuses on the content that needs to be taught, with skills and practices incorporated throughout, while BC focuses on skills that need to be taught with content incorporated throughout. In the Curriculum rationale, it explicitly said that is taking a more constructivist approach to learning. This has allowed me to take full advantage of teaching Outdoor Learning because I can allow children to go and explore what we’re learning. Also, since it is more skills-based it means it is measuring what students can do as opposed know, making assessment easier. As far as formatting goes, I have adapted the templates provided to me in EDUC 3501 to focus on Big Ideas and Core Competencies as opposed to General and Specific Learning Outcomes.
Evidence of Achievement:
I've attached the lesson plans that coincide to the pictures above. At the top of each are the explicit connections to the BC Curriculum.
math_lesson_measuring_exploration.pdf | |
File Size: | 102 kb |
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social_studies_lesson_nature_walk.pdf | |
File Size: | 113 kb |
File Type: |
Additionally, my practicum class maintains a Fresh-Grade website as opposed to a traditional report card. My Teacher Associate asked me to write brief descriptions for the areas I've been teaching: measurement in Math and mapping in Social Studies. These descriptions are what students are doing and learning while connecting to the curriculum in ways that parents can understand.
fresh_grade_descriptions.pdf | |
File Size: | 51 kb |
File Type: |