Freya Jonasson

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Author: fjonasson

What I Learned From My Practicum Experiences

During EDUC 491 practicum, I learned a variety of ways to implement classroom management skills. I tried many ways of capturing the attention of the students, ranging in clapping to a beat, having a list of call-back phrases, and to ringing a bell. For the class that I was in, some of the strategies were very successful, and others didn’t suit the class. I did find more strategies to try during the final phase-out week as I observed in different classrooms and absorbed some ideas from other teachers. One strategy that I feel will suit my personality best would be counting down from five. This gives the students a chance to finish their sentence, get to the area they should be in for the lesson, and ready themselves to learn. The counting down method seems like something I would like to try as the timeframe to transition is clear, and it allows for a conclusion to the side-conversations before turning attention to the teacher.

I also learned about the different interactions between other members of staff. I had a full-time Education Assistant in the class that I was teaching in. I would need to help direct the EA to take a student for a sensory walk, assess and communicate my observations of what the students needs, and work with her to ensure that the students are receiving the support that they require. I also collaborated with the resource teacher and school counsellor to take some students for support during Daily 5 Literacy Skills. The students would attend small group meetings to play literacy games or reading in small groups. We had this extra support each afternoon and I learned about how beneficial it can be to have extra adults to read with and assist students in developing their literacy skills.

Each practicum held great opportunities to learn about different programs that each school offers, to see how unique each learner is, and many different strategies for classroom management. I have loved meeting other educators and hearing their stories about programs or strategies that have worked for them. I feel that each practicum showed a new perspective into what it means to be an educator, and how each group of learners is much different from another.

As learned throughout the courses, I had an experiential opportunity to learn about differentiation within a classroom, and how to ensure that each student can succeed. This has been impactful for thinking through lessons, organizing group work, and designing my own worksheets that have a wide difficulty range, yet meet the same learning outcome. This is the skill that I appreciated the most from the program, and will assist me within my own classroom in the future.

I am so thankful for this learned journey and for everyone that I have met along the way. There have been so many inspiring and supportive people within the education program that I know will continue to support future and current educators as we grow and learn!

My Favourite Memory!

During my EDUC 491 practicum, I had plenty of fun! One of my favorite memories is from a special day: 100’s Day! For this special day, I planned an ADST activity with five different stations. For three of the stations, the students were building. The builder stations included building towers with 100 cups, building anything using 100 pieces of Lego, and setting up 100 dominos. I also included two “cool down” activities where the students did something a bit less hands-on to ensure they were given appropriate breaks, and that the class remained balanced between exciting activities and something more relaxing. This lesson was a huge success! The students were engaged, and the volume remained at the target level. It was exciting to see the students collaborating to build different structures. The students even practiced their own problem-solving skills, only requiring that I moderate one conversation. They were still able to solve the problem between themselves, and I sat with them to check for fair conversations and kind word use.

The reason I chose this as my favourite memory is because of how great this lesson felt! The learners were all engaged in the lesson and had fun building their structures. Watching the students solve problems, collaborate, and develop pride in their work was a wonderful experience. They demonstrated a strong classroom community! I loved how well everyone worked together, and the compromises they were willing to make to be kind friends amongst each other.

UNBC Teacher Education Program Final Reflection

Wow, what a wonderful learning experience! Within the last two years I have discovered what learning is, the many ways that our students learn, and how to differentiate teaching to ensure that the learning reaches all students.

There is one word that describes how I felt during orientation of 2019: inspired. I adored how passionate everyone was. Not only the professors who supported us on our journey, but through the other education students. Each person within our UNBC Education community has touched my life in some way. The professors who wanted all of us to succeed and reach our goal of becoming an educator, the powerful speakers that they brought in for our enrichment, the positive attitudes they have about the career that they have chosen. The professors selected to educate us throughout this program never failed to provide us with motivational influences and to remind us of the importance of positivity and having a growth mindset, something that has impacted my life outside of educating as well.

My fellow classmates: what a great community of friends pursuing the same goal! The support received from classmates, both within my triad and from friends in the program was immense. Everyone was so accepting and willing to help provide ideas and reflections for each other. It is easy to see how they selected the career that they are pursuing: it definitely shows within their patient and helpful personalities!

As for the courses, there were some wonderful experiences that I will carry with me. The 2020 Math Fair was something I think about extensively when planning math activities: having so many mini games to engage students in mathematical thinking was a great way to inspire creative lessons going forward. I also reflect on the Science lesson ideas that were provided, each one engaging and incorporating the element of fun! I am thankful for these courses, as they have inspired lessons and ideas that I have, and will continue to use in the future.

Overall, I would like to acknowledge that the Education Program at UNBC not only supported my goal of becoming a teacher but ensured that I felt supported and inspired while achieving it. I am thankful for the support received from both my professors and classmates. We are much stronger as a community!

EDUC 491

Within my 491 practicum, I learned more than I can truly put into words. I learned about myself as an educator, as well as about myself as an individual. This experience was one of the most educational opportunities that I have had thus far in my life.

During practicum I learned about the importance of differentiation. Within my practicum classroom, I had a wide range of learners. Some students were emerging with their reading skills, developing into readers and working extensively to improve and move along the “planet” chart that was used to gauge student growth. I also had students who were extending far beyond the expectations for their grade, reading at a level that was 3 grades higher than the grade they are in. Through seeing this, I developed my sense of how to challenge each student appropriately. For this, I allowed written responses from emerging readers to have an illustration and leave the responses at one or two sentences. For the extending readers, I challenged them to write a paragraph on their thinking, requiring them to use their words to describe their ideas about a more challenging response. The final products of these writing activities differed greatly, and it was a perfect example of how unique each learner was.

Jumping back for a moment: the planet chart to map out student growth was a huge hit within the classroom and it is definitely something that I would like to try in the future. Picture this: a visual of the solar system across the entirety of the wall. Beginning at the sun, this demonstrated each students growth using Dolch sight words and phrases. As the students learn more, they move further away from the sun. Their goal is to reach Pluto, meaning that they have completed their sight words and phrases. Students celebrated each other as they moved further through the solar system, and gave them a visual goal to achieve. I watched as students planned where they would like to land, talking amongst each other about how they would like to reach Pluto before Spring Break, how some of the other students would like to get to the moon so that they are finished their words and can move into phrases. It was a wonderful way to celebrate achieving goals, and demonstrated how rewarding it is to practice.

I also learned a lot about Daily 3 and Daily 5. Once the routine is set in place, students can be very independent and work on bettering their math and literacy skills. This became a peaceful time to work with smaller groups, or even independently with students as the rest of the class worked on their own activity. My coaching teacher had a really effective way of planning these activities: she had charts up on the wall and little pictures of the activities to attach using a paper clip. This showed the students where they would go for each round, and it was simple to reorganize for the next day, placing new activities for the students to go to.

I also learned extensively about classroom management skills. This included different songs to sing to catch the students attention, call back phrases, and using a bell or clap to redirect the attention of students back to me. These strategies will prove to be effective in my own classroom as the wide range allowed for students to stay engaged in these redirection activities.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn and discover throughout this practicum. The skills I have developed allowed for me to gain a sense of autonomy, and gain confidence in myself as both an educator, as well as an individual. Thank you to the practicum coordinators, my practicum evaluator, and my coaching teacher for directing me along this journey and providing me with the tools to flourish as I emerge into this field.

First Triad Meeting of 2021!

Most Influential Teacher

Throughout my educational journey I was fortunate enough to meet a teacher who influenced both how I perceived school, as well as how I perceived myself. During high school I had an English teacher who I really connected with. She spent time getting to know each students’ interests, and put the effort in to acknowledge and incorporate these into our classes.

My personal experience with this teacher was encouraging and inspiring. My greatest interest was writing novels and short stories. This teacher connected me with a local author to discuss publication details and gain some knowledge on writing styles. This teacher also encouraged me to bring stories to class to share with students, or even just for her to read and edit. I appreciated her involvement in my life as it was formative to who I am today. She was the most encouraging person in my life and provided me with the confidence to ask for tips and feedback.

Prior to my experience with this teacher, I was struggling to develop an identity outside grades. Having someone acknowledge an interest of mine was validating and when it became apparent that it was important to her, I found myself becoming excited for school each day.

My high school English teacher aided my ability to write, my confidence to share my writing, and developed my sense of self beyond an assignment-focused identity. She made me feel seen and appreciated, and this is something I can only hope to provide for my students as I enter a career in teaching. I hope to inspire my students to reach for their interests in the careers they pursue.

#OneWord2021

One Word: Grace

As a budding educator, I have discovered that grace is essential for growth within this program and within life. It is important when learning to acknowledge that we are humans and forgiveness to self is just as important as forgiveness to others. Learning can be difficult and with respect to this, we must be thankful for any opportunities we have been given to be reflexive and adaptive.

Emerging into 2021 let us all pair patience with grace. Let us begin this year with a positive outlook and be ready to meet each challenge with patience and grace as we teach and learn within this final practicum. Let go of the things we can’t change and learn from these moments. Allow them to guide you into your next action, holding strong the idea of being reflexive. Let us see each opportunity as a moment of growth and come to this with a clean slate, ready to start fresh every day.

I selected this word as a reminder to always be ready for new learning opportunities and to see the positive in them.

EDUC 490 Reflection

After completing my EDUC 490 practicum I have reflected on the learning that took place for me on this journey. I learned about verbal feedback, how to gradually increase my own assessment forms within the classroom, and a variety of classroom management strategies to implement that will ensure my students can engage in the lessons effectively with minimal distractions. All of this was essential to my growth as an educator as it is important to understand how to assess students both formatively and summatively within a classroom. Formative feedback became a focus of mine when engaging students in classroom conversations. Responding to students to validate their learning encouraged other students to participate and allowed me to gain insight into students who struggled to put their ideas onto paper. My practicum was in a grade 1 and 2 class, which meant that students were still developing their reading and writing skills. The classroom conversations gave me the extra pieces to the assessment puzzle so that I could really understand where to take the next learning and what skills needed to be touched on some more. Verbal feedback provided to students was important within my classroom management skills. At the beginning of the practicum, I would often phrase my instructions as questions (“Can you please continue your reading?”) and then I learned to be more assertive in directing the learners. “I need you to ____” was a great strategy that demonstrates to students that the instruction is essential to their learning and that there is no option to say no to this particular instruction. Gradually increasing my assessment forms within the classroom started with marking student work and moved into keeping a grade book for the students. I learned about using colours to indicate where the student was at in their learning which made it easy to gauge the classes general needs when glancing at the books. Green indicated that the student is succeeding in understanding this area of the unit. Orange meant that students understood some of this area. Red demonstrated that I needed to spend some more time teaching this student about this topic. I found this easy to follow and showed which students needed support in certain areas.

Moving into EDUC 491 I would like to bring these meaningful conversations forward again and enhance my abilities in questioning. I feel as though the questions I was posing at the end of this practicum were effective and thought-provoking and I would love to bring these thoughtful questions in again to encourage deeper thinking in my students. I would also like to practice further my skills in transitioning and work on adding new ideas to my “teacher toolbox.” So far, I have implemented the hands-on head strategy to gain the attention of my learners, alongside the clapping and lights off techniques. All of these skills were effective, but it would be helpful to have a few new ideas to use so that they don’t become too monotonous in my teaching career.

To conclude, EDUC 490 was one of the biggest learning journeys of my life so far. I learned so much about myself as an educator and about education in general. I am moving into 491 with a positive and eager outlook, ready to learn and excited for the experience.

September 25, 2020 Day of Learning

I would like to acknowledge that I am writing this post from the traditional unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh people. On Friday, September 25th, my cohort at UNBC attended School District 57’s Indigenous Day conferences. I wanted to share parts of this day that really resonated with me.

To begin the morning, shared with us was a beautiful drumming song created by Lheidli T’enneh people. It was a wonderful way to start the morning as it was very energizing. I felt that implementing a local song would be an effective way to connect students to their land and demonstrate a cultural act.

For the first session I attended, I went to Dora Himmlespach from School District 57’s “Storytelling Through Puppetry.” I found the information on storytelling very helpful. Dora lectured about how to create and develop a story that will maintain the attention of students. She demonstrated how to use your voice to catch the interest of students and how gesturing and body language while using puppets can enhance the experience.

The second session that I attended was Bruce Allan’s talk on residential schools. Bruce discussed the trauma experienced by him and his peers through the 60’s scoop. His presentation was eye opening to how common sexual abuse was within these schools. It was eye opening to hear how intergenerational trauma caused the cycle of abuse; whether it be sexual, physical, or substance. Educating our students on this cycle is important to ensure everyone is understanding what the causes are, and to be aware of how to fix it. Bruce found that the use of funding toward trauma workshops was helpful in surviving and overcoming residential schools.

Another piece of this day that has greatly impacted me is a point made by Dr. Sinclair. He discussed on how western pedagogies focus upon the product created by the students rather than the holistic approach of the process. Educators should concentrate on how a student develops their work and why this work is important to them. This has been a focus of mine since this day as it is applicable in all educational circumstances, outside of schools and in.

Going forward, I find what I learned for the Indigenous Professional Development Day will assist with how I teach students. This has demonstrated how important trauma informed practice is, and that accessibility to workshops is crucial in overcoming the cycle of abuse resulting from residential schools.