Chaos at Best
#EDUC454E100 – Week 1 – May 10, 2018
Welcome everyone to EDUC454 on Surrey Campus. The title of the blog is bit of an over exaggeration. The class went well. I was somewhat disoriented teaching EDUC454 at Surrey versus Burnaby Campus. The experience is redefining my sense of space. My students had to witness this shift in mindset and transitioning into a new space and place to facilitate this course. That said, the room is bright and sunny. We’re on the 5th floor and there is lots of space. Love my students and we’ve just recruited a few more since our first class. I spent a good portion of the class describing to the class “how it was” on Burnaby Campus and “how it will be” this summer session. After the class ended, I felt revitalized, excited, and optimistic thinking about what is possible for EDUC454.
I like spending the first class going over the detailed syllabus and reviewing class expectations and routines. As much as I learned from teaching last year’s class and incorporated some of their feedback from course student evaluations into this year’s class, I was awakened by what this class has to offer. We started the class getting used to our space and getting to know each other better so that I can cater the course to meet their learning needs. What I did learn is, this Q-course is taken by non-math majors. About half the class class are English subject specialists, a third have Social Studies, a few with science, one with French, one PE, and one in elementary education. This picture reveals our continuum activity and their perceived level of math efficacy. I love their honesty. I also love how these pre-service teachers are willing to share and give formative feedback.
I am already learning about them as we composed a closed-ended survey questionnaire about ourselves as well as feedback on my detailed syllabus. And, writing this blog reflection reminds me that I will have to compose that survey questionnaire on Survey Monkey to model one quantitative approach to environmental education and for us to gather data to analyze. I like to do what I ask my students to do. First, my students are asked to write a weekly journal entry. They are posed questions and asked to free-write weekly for 10-weeks and reflect on their learning but also respond to question prompts provided. I too will be journalling weekly as well, but our class is tomorrow, so here is my week’s reflection. See my responses below. Second, students will engage in an inquiry project. I too will engage in an course related inquiry and I just picked my topic.
Who are you and why are you here?
I have recently graduated from SFU doctoral program in Educational Leadership. I have taught at SFU as a sessional instructor for the last two years. I have taught EDUC454 and EDUC471. I am building my experience and expertise as an educator in higher education and learning how to continue to post-doctoral experiences and research as a sessional. I am continuing to write and hope to publish in the meantime. I am super stoked about teaching EDUC454 for a second time. This is my first time teaching at Surrey Campus.
Why are you taking EDUC454?
As a sessional instructor, you apply for courses that you’d like to teach and then you are assigned with what’s available. It is my deepest pleasure to teach EDUC454. I have a background in secondary math education and I use that expertise and my doctoral research experience to facilitate learning in EDUC454. I also like to play and experiment with BC’s New Curriculum and incorporate findings from my dissertation that emphasizes the importance of experiential education, self-assessment, and deliberate practice.
Why are you in the teacher education program?
I am honoured to teach a course with students in the SFU PDP or PLP program. This year, I am also teaching someone from UFV. This is kind of fun. I am really enjoying teaching pre-service teachers. I taught in BC public schools for 16 years and worked independently as an educational consultant for 8 years. During that time, I was also a school trustee and doctoral student. It’s been an amazing career so far in education and I look forward to what’s next. The joy of learning and relationships make the field of education rewarding.
What do you hope to learn in this course?
What I hope to learn in this course is to be nimble and navigate through change with ease and an open mind. I am very excited to teach EDUC454 this term and look forward to co-creating and making this course our own. I am also curious about my inquiry project (to be announced soon) and I always wonder about leadership (and policy) and its effect on student learning and achievement. I also want to immerse myself in ongoing formative feedback and create a dialogical, fun-loving EDUC454 learning community this term.