Christine Ho Younghusband

Back to School

Day 1 (of 187) – September 4, 2018

Welcome BACK TO SCHOOL. It’s been almost 8 years since I had a full-time job. That seems so crazy to say… 8-YEARS!!! I left teaching secondary mathematics in public schools in the fall of 2010 to pursue my doctorate degree and spend more time with my daughter. During that time, I also served as a school trustee, which was another opportunity to stay connected with K-12 education but from a different point of view. I loved teaching secondary mathematics. I loved all of the people I’ve met as a school trustee. Now that I am done my doctorate degree, it was time for the next step.

I am very grateful to be working at UNBC as a full-time Lecturer in the School of Education. I am teaching predominantly teacher candidates during practicum, but also I am teaching undergraduate courses in curriculum and instruction and classroom dynamics, and a graduate course in research methods and design. It’s pretty much a job of my dreams. I am also involved with opportunities connect with school districts and reimagining teacher education. I am really thankful to engage in these conversations and I look forward to teaching the students, learning as I am doing, and creating some educational change that will enhance the learning experiences of teachers candidates, coaching teachers, and university instructors. I just finished my course syllabi TODAY!!!

As seen in the photo above, today was TEACHER CANDIDATES ORIENTATION DAY. I was more of a participant than facilitator. I am still learning about the program’s culture and I loved having the opportunity to meeting Year 1 and Year 2 students, elementary and secondary. There was definitely a nice BUZZ in the room as we engaged in some classic edu-activities to break the ice. I enjoyed chatting with those at my table. I am really excited to start teaching on Thursday. Tomorrow is the second day of the orientation and we will be listening to my friend and Superintendent of Learning Pat Duncan. It’s amazing how small circle things are. Superintendent of Graduation & Student Transitions Jan Unwin also visited our School of Education faculty last week. I enjoy seeing familiar faces.

With our 1.5 hour lunch break, Teacher Candidates had the opportunity to participate in the University’s Orientation events while I had the opportunity to pick up a FREE PLANT for my office, PG swag and maps, and unload some of my personal items to fill at least one bookshelf in my empty office. I am pretty stoked to have an office. It’s really nice to work in. I also used that time to connect with IT, find my class lists, and finalize my course syllabi for this term. I was so happy to get feedback on my syllabi from a seasoned practitioner in higher education. Admittedly, that took some courage on my part to get feedback, but also it’s my choice to take or leave the feedback. I was pretty satisfied with what I had produced and imagined. I did make a few modifications and VOILA… done.

What I realized today is, I will be teaching a graduate course, a Year 1 secondary course, and Year 2 elementary course. This is a nice sampling of the school of education. I am also supervising one student who’s completing her MEd in Multidisciplinary Leadership. It’s really fun so far. I appreciate the help I am getting from my colleagues and the conversations we are having. My mission is to make teaching and learning VISIBLE at UNBC. We are in the midst of change and I’m super excited for our students, the university, and the community. I can’t wait to learn more and see what’s possible. My purpose is to enhance the learning experiences of students. Let’s see how this goes. Apparently, I will be writing a daily blog, so I’m imagining we’ll find out soon via blog.

Embracing Change

Day 0 (of 187) – September 3, 2018

Well… I have taken on the challenge of blogging everyday during the school year. Now that I am at UNBC in Prince George,… living away from my family… this would be an excellent time to reflect on my learning and experiences. Thank you Ian Landy (@technolandy) for inspiring me to do so. I always thought you were CRAZY blogging everyday, but you were inspired by George Couros (@gcouros). I like the idea that one is learning from another. I also appreciate the notion of you don’t know what you don’t know unless you try. So… here we go!!!

Of course, I have started this daily blog challenge one day behind. Yes, it will be a 2-blog day. I could have started with DAY 1 today but I was thinking about this blog entry before writing about DAY 1 – “Back to School.” I’ll get to that blog entry after I get this one done.

First of all, I love this photo. A snapshot of my little family on FaceTime. It’s also how we are going to spend our time together. It’s true… my little family stayed in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast and I ventured alone to Prince George to start a full-time teaching appointment at the UNBC School of Education as Lecturer. I’m pretty excited about this opportunity and the teaching/learning experiences I can be a part of. Admittedly, I’m pretty stoked. It’s a nice match to my expertise and research background. I am super happy to stay close to the K-12 system, teach pre-service teachers, and do research at my own pace. It’s nice.

One thing about EMBRACING CHANGE that I am not a personal fan of… and continue to struggle with… are the people who will come and go in your life. When I was younger, classmates would come and go. I was very accepting of that idea. As an adult and building relationships with those in your workplace, for instance, I am perplexed how some friendships are broken or temporarily set aside, while others stay unscathed and stronger than ever. At some some level, it’s really out of my control and yet on another level, I wished that things would always stay the same. This is a naive point of view. Of course if I am changing and making changes, the people in my life will change. The only way I can accept this phenomenon exists is that to allow new people in my life, others have to go. It’s not like I choose this. Well… I may sometimes, but rarely. This belief helps me through the hurt and unknown reasons why people are no longer in my life.

I look forward to those who will enter my life while in Prince George. I have met so many great people and it so awesome to be reunited with former students, friends from the past, and members of my Twitter PLN face-to-face. Lots have people have entered in my life in addition to meeting really nice people in the community and UNBC School of Education. It is an excellent exercise of making myself vulnerable and open to meeting new people, but also let go of those who no longer want to or need to stay in my life. This phenomenon has happened several times during the last 24 years since I left university during my undergraduate years. It’s something I am noticing and mindful of. In the end, I will EMBRACE CHANGE but in doing so, the people in my life will also change.

Thinking Formative

Yes. I have taken a photo from the archives… well, it was not taken that long ago… last month. I’ve been meaning to blog all week and waited for my moment of inspiration. I almost blogged about bumping in to THREE Sechelt folks in Prince George. That was very exciting, but that was only tweet and Facebook post worthy. LOL. I also thought about blogging about all of the people I know in Prince George, whether it be a former student, trustee colleague, or someone from my PLN. It’s really amazing and I’m enjoying my time trying to connect with these people face-to-face. It’s super fun. My moment of inspiration has come from thinking about the details of my syllabi for courses I’m teaching at UNBC, my associations outside of my employment, and rebranding my website and company.

THINKING FORMATIVE. That’s why I love this photo above from my EDUC454E100 class. It was a photo taken from our last class together as they partake in a learning activity that required a full-exercise of the core competencies of thinking, communicating, and personal/social. To succeed in this activity, everyone had to be operating in the formative. What do I mean by that? Everyone is sharing their two-cents on what they thought the image would look like. Every student contributed to the creation and formation of this beautiful image, “Coming Home” by Coast Salish artist Margaret Briere. Some information shared had value. Some input was taken, while others were not… and that was OK.

I remember the kind of work it took on my part to make this class fun, engaging, and meaningful for those who wanted to participate. One of the most overwhelming comments that came from my students informally was that they were so surprised of the LEARNING COMMUNITY we’ve created. Some said that they knew maybe one or two people in the class prior to the course starting and now walked away with many close friends and colleagues to connect and collaborate with. This warms my heart, but why did this happen? We were THINKING IN THE FORMATIVE as a learning community.

Ongoing formative assessment from my part, class discussions, and an open-door policy were critical. Students were encouraged to ask any questions, seek clarification, or get formative feedback on anything prior to demonstration of learning. This was a BIG IDEA. Some of my students asked for feedback after they performed but what is there to say unless they were going to do that exact same learning activity again. I could give feedback if they planned to do that learning activity in their classes as a future teacher or teacher candidate, but there was no moment when I wanted to give formative feedback after they had been evaluated. Why? What’s the point? This took much explanation for my students to understand the difference between summative and formative assessment.

Can you imagine if you were being judged at every moment and that everything you do was “worth marks” and being evaluated? YIKES. Or worse… believing that we are being judged or evaluated all of the time. With this perception or reality, no one can be their authentic self, be willing to make mistakes, or receive information that might be helpful to them and the learning community. We are all interconnected. Our shared success should matter to all of us. This is the kind of climate and culture I tried to create in my EDUC454E100 class. Some of my students asked me how I created that learning environment. The underpinning to that course’s success and sense of community was knowing that I was on their side and THINKING FORMATIVE. To form and be informed...

One of the downfalls of THINKING FORMATIVE is thinking summative. There is no judgement. It’s not personal. The job of the learner or receiver is to take what is being offered wholeheartedly and do something about it… or not. Sometimes the formative feedback can’t be received or heard because we think or believe that we are being judged or evaluated. This is the EGO talking… wanting to protect self from what is happening and what they can do about it, if they want to. This was a HUGE idea for my students to understand. I offered, many times, that they could have handed in their DRAFT final project to me as many times they wanted formative feedback on their work before they handed it in to be evaluated. Very few took me up on that opportunity and as a result, some received grades that was less than “meeting expectations” (aka. an “A”).

This HIGH STAKES culture needs to shift… and this will take time and practice. It also takes wholeheartedness and vulnerability. Moreover, it will take an open mind, trust, respect, and kindness. It’s complicated. I cannot tell you how many times I had to park my ego as the instructor to make this happen. EGO BUSTING is two-way. Thinking formative is a two-way conversation. My job is to help and support the learner. The learner’s job is to receive feedback and do something about it. This is also reciprocated. Lots of ego parking is needed to forward together and succeed. Do I believe that everyone can get an “A”… the answer is YES. We just have to find a way to get there.

A New Perspective

After moving to Prince George and settling into my new community as I prepare to teach at UNBC (University of Northern British Columbia) for the upcoming school year, I returned back home to Sechelt… to work, rest, and spend time with my little family. Admittedly, it was a little strange. My little family kept on asking me about how it felt to not live here anymore. HELLO??? I still live here… and in PG for work. WE have TWO residences. This was apparently a BIG IDEA. Another big idea was looking through my “past life” shall we say through different lens. I loved giving Sally “dog hugs” and yes… picking strawberries from our garden. This was a big deal. I NEVER PICK BERRIES. It’s true. What kind of outdoor educator am I? So crazy, but I really appreciated the process and the product. Look at my harvest!!! Ok… I live in a strata and I picked every ripe berry in the garden the time. I was very rewarding and somewhat satisfying. I enjoyed cleaning up my house and leaving my house in a particular order. I loved calling up friends and connecting up with them to have coffee or go for a walk. It’s much more meaningful. What’s strange about this whole experience is that I’m not saying GOODBYE FOREVER, but I have said goodbye to other things to make this move happen. In return, I am saying HELLO to a full-time teaching position teaching pre-service teachers, HELLO to a new community, and HELLO to new possibilities. This excites me. Although I am not looking forward to being away (physically) from my little family in one month intervals, I am looking forward to the challenges offered by teaching and learning at UNBC School of Education. I was so glad to go back home for a bit and I am even more glad that my little family have travelled up with me to PG to visit, check out the new digs, and spend time with me. I was craving to turn the page of my last chapter and start a new one in my PEDAGOGICAL JOURNEY. Here I am in PG. Let’s see how this chapter goes. I’m stoked.

Outdoor Math Adventure

#EDUC454E100 – Week 13 – August 2, 2018

Well… this is the last week of EDUC454 evening course at SFU Surrey Summer Session. I cannot not believe that our time together has ended. I also cannot believe that I am well overdue to write this blog reflection on Week 13. I do have a reason… I (successfully) moved to Prince George, BC last week soon after our class. I will be teaching at UNBC (University of Northern British Columbia) as a full time Lecture in the upcoming school year. I am really looking forward to teaching at UNBC, but moving to Prince George felt like going to first year of university all over again… except I am in my 40’s. Moreover, I did not get internet connection into my “new place” until yesterday. I am now connected. It feels good. So here I am, sitting in my apartment in Prince George… blogging… thinking about EDUC454… and imagining about the courses I am going to teach at UNBC.

When I look at the picture above… I think on the one hand that taking photos of my class is a great way to take attendance. The class is certainly not at full capacity on this last day together. There was no exam or final paper due on August 2nd that would lure (or coerce) students to come to class. I would suspect that students who are absent were motivated by getting assignments done for other courses or personal reasons. My view is that we get too preoccupied by the TASK and underwhelmed by the LEARNING experience. I don’t blame students for this phenomena because schools are designed to focus on achievement versus delving into what’s possible, taking risks, and having fun. On the other hand, when I look at the faces of students in the photo smiling above, I think about the “goods internal” to learning and the drive to learn something NEW. I appreciate this a lot because tonight’s class was only about engaging in the learning activities I facilitated (i.e. The Outdoor Math Adventure). No marks. No grades. Just learning.

I started the class with a learning activity that I acquired from the UBC Aboriginal Math K-12 Symposium. We are WEAVING. I wished that I could have delved deeper in my inquiry project from last year that explored CEDAR and harvesting cedar. I love weaving and have a high respect for those who do. I also wished that we could have had someone who is a WEAVER from the local Indigenous community to talk to us about weaving and why it is so important to Indigenous people. What are cedar baskets used for? What role do weavers have in the traditional Indigenous community? How long does it take to complete a basket, hat, or pieces of clothing? How does one create the design and how does he/she implement it? I have so many questions and would love to embed the local peoples into our learning experience. That said, this was an opportunity for my students to realize that and experience the complexities of weaving (using strips of bristol board). Different patterns. Different experiences. Students choose. Students create.

Here’s a beautiful screenshot of a Tweet of our weaving experience. Math and place. I just love it. Thank you Kim for tweeting your final product. It’s an excellent segway to our next learning activity… the YOUNGHUSBAND OUTDOOR MATH ADVENTURE. Well…. it wasn’t that adventurous. Not my wheelhouse, but there were lessons FOR ME embedded in the learning activity… in preparing for it, forming challenging questions, and estimating the use of technology and math efficacy. I was surprised how many students, if not all groups, used technology to answer the 3 BIG QUESTIONS. This goes beyond using their handheld devices as “calculators” but they were using them as “fact finders” and for “unit conversions.” I watched one group solve one problem without going outside (which was the whole point of the activity)… see picture below… I’m in the background. The point of the learning activity was to ESTIMATE space, make realistic assumptions, and hypothesize REASONABLE solutions to the problem. They were asked to use Twitter to make their learning visible and tweet out a Math Curricular Competency from BC’s New Curriculum.

Here are the questions posed to the class. Hindsight, I should have made the questions more vague. Another change I would make is to explore other spaces that we have not gone to before. I was a little wary to start roaming the Surrey Central Mall as a learning space (with mathematical calculations), but I am satisfied how each team had solved the questions and what assumptions they made. A clear demonstration that students did not come up with the same solutions because each group made different assumptions.

Here are a few sample tweets that students have posted. I was hoping for more. As I look through these tweets, I see that not all of the groups posted on Twitter… whether if they forgot the hashtag, did not tweet, or security settings. This goes to show that we should have had a mini lesson on Twitter. What I hoped for was a flow of tweets from students on their calculations and Math curricular competencies. I got some. You have to start somewhere, but I like the potential of using social media or apps like GooseChase to post pictures as a way for students to demonstrate their learning and share with others.

Luckily the groups answered the questions in a timely manner. They returned to class and each team were asked to put their calculations for each question on the board. Students engaged in MUSEUM where most team members observed each team’s solutions while one member from each team stayed back to explain what they had done during their problem solving experience. After we had the opportunity to look at the different solutions and variation of answers, students were asked to pick the MOST REASONABLE solution and explain why… THE MATH DEFENCE. This is where it got interesting and heated. Math got exciting. I loved how students rationalized what was good or bad, what was considered, and what was assumed. In the end, we’re ALL WINNERS and got candy.

We conclude with my NEW favourite learning activity. It was the first time I tried this activity, like the last one, and I was so pleased how it turned out. It is another activity I learned at the UBC Aboriginal Math K-12 Symposium. Well… I learned it from someone who learned it at the symposium the year previous. I embarked on protocol and asked an artist to use one of her images for this activity. The artist’s name is Margaret Briere. I first met Margaret in 2011 at a Pulling Together Canoe Journey. She was one of the Indigenous youth. Since then, I’ve been watching her her growth and development on social media. I could not resist asking her to be a part of this learning experience. I also asked her for her interpretation of the image, “Coming Home.” I loved the metaphor. My students were COMING HOME as they were approaching the end of this course. The learning activity involves scale, problem solving, and communication. In the end, it was an exemplar of COLLECTIVE EFFICACY. We are all in this together. Teaching and learning.

I printed the image on an 8.5″x11″ paper and subdivided it into a 5×5 grid. I wanted to ensure that all students had at least one square to scale. I liked the idea that they would be working with squares versus rectangles. That would be something I would try next time. Students were also given an 8.5″x11′ piece of paper. First, they had to make it into a square and then they selected a small square image to enlarge it. We could have used a grid. Some students folded their paper to form grid creases. Most did not. I liked that because I wanted students to use their intuition, or knowing, with respect to scale. Once enlarged and coloured in, students took their square to the front of the room to piece the image together. They had NO IDEA what the original image looked like. They had to figure it out. I loved listening to the conversations. “Maybe these pieces are the corners.” ” Is this a spindle whorl?” “I think this piece goes here.” The following set of pictures shows the emergence of pieces being added to the puzzle… the students’ collaborating, communicating, and cooperating… and the beautiful formation of Coming Home.

Thank You EDUC454E100. It’s been my pleasure to teach and learn with you.

Focused on Student Learning

My IGNITE presentation below… what a great class… Week 12 and we’re nearing the end of the course. It’s been super fun and I really appreciated listening to your IGNITEs. I was IGNITED. Thank you #EDUC454E100 Summer Session 2018 at SFU Surrey. You rocked!!!

#EDUC454E100 – Week 12 – July 26, 2018

SLIDE 1

THIS is my first course that I started teaching as “DOCTOR” Christine Younghusband… I taught EDUC471 twice before and EDUC454 last year in the morning at Burnaby Campus. It was an awesome learning environment for 454. We were OUTSIDE everyday.

SLIDE 2

So when I got my appointment for this summer, I knew that teaching EDUC454 as a NIGHT COURE at Surrey Campus was going to be a challenge… It wasn’t going to be the same course as last year but I was open to change and wondered if we would ever get outside.

SLIDE 3

Approaching this course, I wanted to try out some of the principles from BC’s New Curriculum. As someone who was part of the Math K-9 Curriculum Development Team, I wanted to see the potential of this curriculum. I wasn’t going to be in the classroom so… why not try, play, and experiment with PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS?

SLIDE 4

Based on my research, we learn best from experience… So I wanted to try a few things and personalize YOUR learning, build math efficacy, engage in inquiry based learning, and have YOU facilitate interdisciplinary learning activities as pre-service teachers while looking at the CORE COMPETENCIES.

SLIDE 5

I created a FRAMEWORK of learning. Although this is not a Venn diagram, it depicts exactly what I was hoping for. The underpinning of your teaching practice is your subject specialty or grade level, with quantitative approaches to environmental education embedded into your practice.

SLIDE 6

I wanted to create a LEARNING COMMUNITY and build collective efficacy… so that we could co-create the course together. I wanted us to define what QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION means to us. Thank you Gillian Judson for getting us OUTSIDE.

SLIDE 7

I also want to thank DAVE BARNUM who talked about HIS PASSIONS of journaling, place-based learning, and community based learning. Both Gillian and Dave came to our class on their OWN TIME to share their passion with us and I am very grateful that they did.

SLIDE 8

I am also grateful for EARLY ADOPTERS… who were willing to take a RISK and PLAY. Learning should be FUN, ENGAGING, and MEANINGFUL. I loved the diversity and your creativity in each student led activity… for warm ups, group facilitations, and reading summaries.

SLIDE 9

I loved how we were able to share our passion and expertise with each other. We were engaged and wanted to learn more. When 60 minutes felt like 20, this is a good sign. We were able to be FLEXIBLE with time, space, and content. I did not want to be held back by grading or strict rules.

SLIDE 10

We were able to COLLABORATE with each other and co-plan interdisciplinary learning activities with fellow pre-service teachers and try something new. I knew by WEEK 6 that there was NO WAY I could plan the details of this course better than what you had contributed.

SLIDE 11

When learning activities were well planned and facilitated well, we achieved a level of student engagement that was no only empowering, but meaningful. There was no question in my mind that we were MEETING EXPECTATIONS.

SLIDE 12

I was so proud that we had students acknowledging the unceeded territory but also delve into indigenous education, have deep conversations about land, place, and identity, and sharing something that was meaningful to us, thus meaningful, purposeful, and personalized.

SLIDE 13

We also took the opportunity to be creative and witty with our learning activities where at one moment we thought we were engaging in the AMAZING RACE, but in the end, we were engaged in something much more deep, historical, and relevant. Feelings I won’t forget.

SLIDE 14

We did get a little competitive at times and took opportunities to EXPERIMENT, continue a story, or participate in MAKER SPACE that can be adapted or modified. I loved how we could be CURIOUS about what we were teaching and learning.

SLIDE 15

FINALLY, we were able to overcome MANY unforeseen challenges and made the best out of the situation. Sometimes we couldn’t be outside. Sometimes we ran out of time. In the end, “WE ARE TEACHERS” and we can adapt.

SLIDE 16

The last thing I wanted to do in this class was be the SAGE ON THE STAGE… I wanted to facilitate learning and be the GUIDE ON THE SIDE. My work was invisible to many of you and I wanted to focus on student learning. Much of what I do happens BEFORE and AFTER the course… and behind the scenes.

SLIDE 17

If I was back in the Math classroom again… I would definitely GO OUTSIDE and use the ENVIRONMENT as a learning tool. I also learned that MATH is INTERDISCIPLINARY and DESCRIPTIVE. I would definitely collaborate with other teachers to create and facilitate meaningful and memorable learning experiences for students.

SLIDE 18

As you know, the LEARNING CYCLE involves doing, reflecting, reimagining, and trying again. My biggest take away is COMMUNICATING STUDENT LEARNING. Each student needs DESCRIPTIVE FEEDBACK on how things went. BLOGGING was not enough.

SLIDE 19

I also wanted to announce to you… I have just accepted a full-time lecturer position at the University of Northern British Columbia in the School of Education starting August 1^st… but we are still doing the YOUNGHUSBAND OUTDOOR MATH ADVENTURE next week on August 2^nd.

SLIDE 20

So THANK YOU for coming on this journey with me… FOCUSED ON STUDENT LEARNING… that’s flexible, dialogical, and fun. Admittedly, I leaned on the COMPETENCIES versus content, but I am satisfied with what was demonstrated and experienced.

September 28, 2018 – Please note: photos were removed based on course evaluations.

The Closers

#EDUC454E100 – Week 11 – July 19, 2018

We are nearing the end of EDUC454 course at SFU Surrey. This is our last week of student-led learning activities. Next class we are heading into our summative assessments with IGNITE, one-page journal summary, and inquiry project. It’s absolutely amazing how this class took over the course. That was my intention. Admittedly, I may have underestimated how much time students needed to delve deep into their warm-up activities, reading summaries, and group facilitation. The other thing I have learned is that students are juggling other classes and LIFE, so some things that are posted online via Canvas may or may not be completed. I understand the complexity of university life, but I also understand how assessment influences learning. I will reveal during my IGNITE presentation that I wanted these students to play, experiment, and learn risk free.

This was our last group facilitation learning activity. This group planned their learning activity to be OUTSIDE. As you can see, we are INSIDE. Another Thursday where Holland Park is closed due to organizing for a community event. Much like other student led learning activities in previous weeks, we had to make adaptions… with space, place, and time. Some had their activities postponed while others managed to facilitate in class. This group opted to contact SFU Surrey security to see if we could use the mezzanine. Thank goodness for another student for sending me a message indicating to me that the park was being closed off due to the Fusion Festival. I passed on the message. This group anticipated a possible park closure… and here we are.

This group wanted to be situated in place… Holland Park… because their learning activity involved using space to Cooperatively Design an Amusement Park in Holland Park. They wanted teams to look and observe the surroundings in addition to have “real people” engage in their planning. This is the unfortunate of our circumstance because we could not postpone this learning activity (it’s the last week) and we needed space and the interaction of others to be a part of this learning experience. So… the group settled with the SFU Surrey’s mezzanine and I like to thank Sandy from SFU for supporting our class, gracefully accommodating us, and managing the short notice (as she was in the midst of setting up a stage adjacent to us). Overcoming this obstacle, this team borders off the learning space with yarn. You’d be surprised how many people OBEYED THE YARN but also observed what EDUC454 students were doing. We were showing off our learning.

I loved the problem based learning of this learning activity, much like last week’s group facilitation. Teams were given a problem… To design an amusement park in Holland Park. We had to consider potential problems and possible benefits to the environment and community. Before we started, we acknowledged the Squamish, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, Katzie and Kwikwetlem peoples on whose unceded traditional territories the three SFU campuses stand. Once given the problem, teams had to brainstorm for a few minutes about what they wanted to create, then they sent in one representative to negotiate with other team representatives as to what space they needed and ensure that there was no duplicates of ideas. After negotiations, it did not take very much time to place MORE YARN to and how one of the group members even brought a wagon to the university to bring supplies for students to work with to create a model of their design.

Ideas ranged from a zipline, a slide, a nature-based park, and a non-environmentally friendly gymnasium area that was situated under a dome (but would make lots of money). I liked how groups were collaborating and making the best of the situation. People who walked through the mezzanine did look to see what was going on. I wonder what this activity would have been like had we been situation in Holland Park with “real” community members engaging with us. That said, the outcome was creative and each team had to report out to others what their ideas were and how one area of the park influenced the other. A student was recording problems faced in their group and how they resolved them. This would have been another interesting discussion to have for this learning activity to describe how they were modelling design thinking and how it works.

In the end, I appreciated how students in the class actively and willingly participate in the group facilitation learning activities. They take about 1.5 hours and sometimes we would take a week or so to delve into the learning activity deeper to explore the possibilities of what they have designed and created. It would also be fun to have the opportunity to engage in self and peer assessment to identify some ways to improve the learning activity and having the opportunity to try again. That would be ideal. That would be leaning towards a methodology class but also it leans towards deeper learning and how we can create these learning experiences for our students. Something to consider in future.

We head back to class after the break (and course evaluations) to head into our last reading summaries. Another student enjoyed the article, Heart of a Teacher, and spoke about the perceptions of teaching if one is not clear about one’s identity and integrity in teaching. While another student did the written summary but I want to include it here as she did hers on PowToon because she wanted to learn more about the application. Why not? Click link below:
https://www.powtoon.com/c/g5zC9hp1Krv/1/m

This student on the other hand opted to make a YouTube video for her Oral Presentation to summarize the weekly reading. It was nicely done. Please watch YouTube below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_754dw3aaQ

The class concludes with three warm-up activities. The first one was facilitated was an awesome activity focused on vocabulary, sense-making, and student composition of meaning. I loved this activity. I would definitely use this one in a high school math or science class. Tami made unique word sets for each group. One person faces away from the board and has to guess the word while the other two are trying to describe the word without using the word. I love the collaboration and innovation needed to do this well.

The second warm up activity involved taking us outside of the classroom. This student acknowledged the unceeded territory and placed markers around the oval. He spoke about his identity and heritage and asked us to walk around the oval to find markers of continents of relative distance away from North America or Vancouver. The student facilitator stayed behind while the rest of us moved forward. A huge cluster of us stopped a Europe, a smaller cluster at Asia, and one person stopped in Africa. We each had small group discussions in these smaller groups talking about place, heritage, and personal identity. After a few minutes, we were asked to return back to class and the student facilitated a discussion. I was so wowed by the concept of distance, being of first generation Canadian, and loss of language thus no connection to culture or may heritage. The discussion was AMAZING and could have lasted a lot longer because it was meaningful, personal, and purposeful. To get a sense of our discussion, Erin and Stephen mentioned this video clip from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Behind the Scenes):  https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1019751037853241344 

We go overtime and our last warm up activity was an IMPLICIT/EXPLICIT activity where students had to draw an important place to them. They traded pictures with a partner and that person had to describe what that saw explicitly and implicitly in the picture, then tell the other what they saw. The room was chatty soon after drawing. Once again, another student led learning activity condensed to 10-15 minutes when it could last for 1-2 hours. It’s amazing what we accomplish in so little time. It also tells me, to focus on the competencies and deeper learning, you need to make and take the time to do it.

No weekly journal questions this week. Poorly timed on my part, but there were some optional questions and excellent questions posed by students for discussion inspired by our last weekly reading, Heart of a Teacher – Identity and Integrity in Teaching by Parker Palmer (1998). Who was my favourite teacher? Mr. Negus (Drafting 11). My not so favourite teacher? (No comment). What I loved about Mr. Negus was that he loved what he taught, he respected students as equals, and he challenged my thinking in a playful and thoughtful way. I could say that about a few other favourite teachers. They loved what they were teaching and they oozed their subject area. Their passion for what they taught was evident and motivated me to learn. It’s like what Palmer said in the YouTube video… I remember how these teachers made me feel, not what they had taught me.

We Are Teachers

#EDUC454E100 – Week 10 – July 12, 2018

Voila. After 10 weeks of classes, here is my first POSED picture by student request. Of course it has to be the blog photo feature of the week. Thank you for this… it really made my day. As mentioned in my last blog, the week before was a week a deliberation as to how to approach assessment and evaluation in EDUC454E100 without losing focus on student learning. This was a tough conversation to have particularly when I have be operating as the “guide on the side” and some students still had to facilitate learning activities this class and the class after. I did not want to influence their performance with my “lecture” on assessment and evaluation. I had to make my intentions explicit.

We were talking about formative versus summative assessment. We talked about how some assignments in my class were pass or fail (i.e. 20% or 0%) based on meeting the criteria of integrating environmental education, quantitative approaches, and their subject area or area of interest together… or summarizing the reading and asking good questions. What did it mean to MEET EXPECTATIONS and climbing towards a ceiling or working from the basement. We talked about focusing on student learning versus student achievement, which sometimes gets in the way of learning. I gave a few examples from my practice in higher education when formative feedback is useful and when it’s not useful. A long story made short, I think my class understood what I was talking about and I am grateful.

I even appreciated the few students who stayed behind after the end of the first half of our class to let me know that they are dealing with different assessment and evaluation practices in other classes, so it gets confusing and habitual. They appreciated what I was trying to achieve and I was even more grateful that they would stay behind to clean the boards and move tables back with me. These are the little things that make me love teaching and learning with students… particularly student teachers. What was even more amazing is, the student led learning activities were outstanding. I cannot believe how these students were able to make things happen wholeheartedly and adapt so easily.

I was feeling for the student who had to follow my assessment lecture and give his presentation. He was providing the reading summary for this week on sustainability. I loved how he took the reading (with honesty) and approached the document as intended. He shared with the class one of his assessments on how well he was doing with one of the checklists and provided himself a rubric or Likert Scale on performance with each bullet point, as seen below. I loved the use of technology and using one of the checklists to see how well he was doing with sustainability. He posed a few questions to discuss on what could be done in schools and another student offered the Weekly Journal Questions (see end of blog) to address for Week 10. Both students “met expectations.”

We then transition into the warm-up activity. We start of with two students facilitating a game of SPOONS. I never heard of the game but I really like the premise behind it. 4 teams, 3 spoons, and a fork. Each team brainstorms a list of 10 words related to the key word announced by either student facilitator. Once you finish your list, you grab a spoon (or fork). If you are the team left with the fork, you don’t “get any points” for the round. I love collaborative and cooperative games. They had to rotate players per round. This would be an excellent activity to work through a list of terms for a class or related topics. It could be a summative or formative learning activity. Students were engaged and I appreciated using Non-Permanent Vertical Surfaces as a learning tool.

I could not help myself but to interject and talk about the Core Competencies. It’s something that I wanted to incorporate into my class because it is something that the field is currently grappling with and these pre-service teachers will soon be their peers. I also wanted to explore what it means for students to self-assess their core competencies and play with some ways students can keep this as an ongoing conversation along side with the curricular competencies and content. So, I facilitated a second part to this warm-up activity of co-creating “I can” statements in light of this warm-up of activity and state verbally how did they know that they were achieving or developing that core competency.

Well, it worked brilliantly as well as already being divided into groups for our next warm up activity with another student. He asked groups to brainstorm as many things their group members all had in common. I loved the dialogue and collaboration to make this list of commonalities. It was an excellent activity that I wished that we did at the beginning of the course instead of the end. This was another activity I asked the students if I could interject my thoughts and inclusion of the course intentions to what they were facilitating. After the students made their list, I asked them to place the letter “P” beside the items that reflected PLACE or the environment and “Q” for quantitative approaches or math. Some of the groups labelled all items either P or Q and some used PQ. I was only hoping for one of each to demonstrate that Quantitative Approaches to Environmental Education is in everything that we do. This student concluded that this was an excellent “get to know me” activity to identify our likeness or commonalities versus differences between and with students, then facilitated a conversation on why differences are so important to students.

We headed outside to do our third (and postponed) warm up activity with two other students. Holland Park the week before was gated up due to a concert. They planned for an outdoor warm up activity and although we brainstormed possible ways to facilitate this activity indoors… in hindsight, I am so glad that we waited to do this activity outside.

This warm up activity was a continuation of a previous activity about the penguin who believed he could fly (re: math efficacy), now translated as a STEM or MakerSpace problem. Design a penguin who will fly the furthest distance given a limited use of materials and time to plan. This was very interesting, because the student facilitator did a demo of pasting wings to the picture of the penguin and made it fly (but not well).

One group developed a slingshot (that apparently broke before launching their penguin), another group made a paper airplane penguin and made it fly (as seen below in the photo below), one group opted not to fly their penguin (well, they walked it along), and the rest of the groups attached the penguin onto a rock and threw it… very far!!! The distance achieved exceeded what the student facilitators anticipated by 2.5 times. Time to adapt.

Then they asked a representative from each group to position themselves relatively on the xy-axis. That was a big idea and collaboratively they managed to plot themselves on a graph. I loved this idea. Relative distance. An opportunity to take extensions to this activity such as design a device to launch the penguin into the air… how high will he go?… how far will he travel? (e.g. quadratic functions, angles, trajectory, velocity, acceleration). I also like how this could be a statistics question of plotting central tendency, multiple trials, design thinking, and standard deviation. Many math opportunities that could be made meaningful to hypothesize the best way to help the penguin fly and why.

Finally, we end our class with the group facilitation learning activity. We switched the activities around to accommodate group members. I was so pleased with the group and their willingness to adapt. We came outside because of the warm up activity, as previously described, but I assumed that their activity was designed to be outside… and it wasn’t. But during the break, Ally said that it was OK for her group to facilitate their activity OUTSIDE. I love learning outside and I was so happy that they were willing to adapt. Moreover, we were running out of time and their time to facilitate dwindled from 1.5 hours to 45 minutes. They were up for the challenge and adapted their learning activity beautifully. A group of 4 students facilitated a Build Your Own City activity.

Students were divided up into teams and assigned a city. Each city has different biomes and wealth. This was the first activity in the course that used ECONOMICS as the quantitative approach to environmental education. They were CITY PLANNING. Building things like hospitals, schools, roads, etc… costs money. Each team was give an amount of money depending on what country they were and asked to BUILD THE BEST CITY under the circumstances. What a great discussion on values and making decisions on what was important for the people in that city. Before starting the activity, groups were asked what makes a good city. This is time for teams to put these thoughts into action.

This was not an easy activity, depending which city you are from AND that each city were struck with a natural disaster. With each disaster, they may lose important infrastructures like schools or government buildings. They had to find ways to rebuild their cities while still serve (as best they can) the people in their cities. This was an excellent learning activity as I could see all 3 core competencies in action in context to quantitative approaches to environmental education as it related to social studies, biology, geography, and economics. It’s very complex and one can see that this activity could last at least a week with students getting to the heart of civics, governance, and decision making,

Each group reported out their designs, decision-making, and constraints. We were so engaged in the work that we were doing that we were attracting community members who were strolling in the park to stop and listen to what the students had to say about building their own cities and how complex it is and how relationships with other countries matter when they need financial help given exceptional circumstances like a natural disaster. This learning activity was enjoyed by all such that students at the end of the activity requested the unit plan from this group. Well done Group 6. Given the circumstances, you adapted and excelled. As one said, “of course, we are teachers.”

Weekly Journal Questions

As a teacher, what actions do you plan on taking to improve sustainability in your school?

I like the self-assessment that one student. did during his presentation. I would like to do that with a class to help identify an area of need or of high priority in the school. Then, as mentioned in class, chose one or two areas to focus on during school year. Make it a theme for the course or a topic that the class returns to on a weekly basis to gather data, research the impact, and make changes to student attitudes and behaviour on that topic. I would like to make it a class approach to problem solving and creating the change that they want to see. I would only like to facilitate it and make cognitive space for students to wrestle with the topic and find viable solutions for the school to adopt.

What barriers are there to being a vocal advocate for issues like sustainability in a school?

Culture shifting. Policies. Rules and regulations. Habits of the mind. We do get caught in a routine and if sustainability is a new concept or operating at minimum expectations, it’s best to find others who you can team teach with or collaborate with in different subject areas or grades so that your class or classes can create a momentum to sustain change.

Do you agree that the goals in this guide are attainable?

I believe anything is attainable, but it takes time, patience, and persistence. It won’t be perfect, but it’s always about striving to get damn close to it. I would agree that you can’t do all of it at once. Choose one or two areas, learn from that experience, then transition to other areas when the first two has been widely accepted by the school community.

What is Formative?

#EDUC454E100 – Week 9 – July 5, 2018

Everyday I am learning. This day was no exception. I often wonder why I am doing what I am doing. This is not meant to be an existential blog entry but I am curious about how we can do what’s best to maximize the student learning experience without getting bogged down. Teaching is a complex practice that changes over time because it needs to be responsive to what’s happening in the world. I am always in the struggle of doing what I think others expect me to do versus what I want to do. My thinking always leans into “you never know unless you try.” Reflect. Accept feedback. Re-imagine. And, try again.

I am a big fan of experiential learning and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle and Ericsson’s Deliberate Practice. We need to engage in something to get better (and better) at it. But how do you move forward. How do you bring things to an end? I am stuck between two worlds of tradition and innovation. Yes, I can understand George Couros’s suggestion of innovating inside the system, but there tends to be push back. For example, when designing the course EDUC454 this term I struggled between flooding students with readings and getting them to synthesize other people’s thinking and creating space and opportunities for student learning and students choice. To add to that dilemma and finding that “sweet spot”… assessment and evaluation clouds that decision making.

I am working in a system that has predetermined rules, expectations, and structures… but within that, like the course syllabus, the instructor has academic freedom and autonomy. I wanted to take this opportunity in teaching EDUC454, but also EDUC471 when I am teaching that course, to play around with some of the ideals of BC’s New Curriculum with the understanding of experiencing of what BC’s New Curriculum could be like as pre-service teachers. What does it mean to be in the implementation dip? Here I am. How do you receive formative feedback post demonstration of learning when there is no second opportunity to return back to the activity, unless offered? Furthermore, if formative feedback is to help and support student learning, it should happen before (or during) the demonstration of learning. Descriptive feedback can be provided as summative where students may take them as formative for the “next thing” they do.

I’ve been left thinking about this all week. Next class is TODAY (I’m a really late on reflecting on last class). I wanted to free students from the burden of grading and wanted to take a MEETING or NOT MEETING approach to the learning activities they are participating and facilitating during the course then leave the summative assessment or grading for the end of the course. What makes this complicated is that the learning activities that they had completed during the course are also summative in nature as it was a demonstration of understanding, we are not returning back to those activities, and they get “marks” for MEETING EXPECTATIONS for those activities. In our grading system, it seems so extreme though… 100% or 0%. Yikes! No wonder students get stressed out.

No wonder it’s a strange expectation for teachers to KNOW what exactly they are doing and why… but also create at structure or plan that you are not able to steer away from to meet student learning needs. This seems absolutely crazy to me. I am the professional. If a student makes a mistake, should they be punished or should they be supported such that I make adaptions to make the situation possible for the student? What I realized last class is, it is evident when people are motivated by grades versus motivated by learning. What to do I mean by that? If the expectation is “X” then those who are just concerned about getting the task done and “meet expectations” they make every effort to meet the expectation as if it was the CEILING. But for students who are motivated by the learning and learning experience, the expectation serves as the BASEMENT or floor to what’s possible. I am witnessing this… but is there a rubric to depict this? NO.

I am beginning to question all of what we are trying to do and achieve in schools. Where is the fun? Where is the love? Where is the joy? Do we talk about these attributes at all in education and if so, is it valued? I would suspect not if we don’t put a grade to it or if it’s not substantiated with a list of literature to say that it’s true. Can we not experience fun, love, and joy as part of our LEARNING? This is where we talked at length at the Math K-9 Curriculum Development Team a few years ago… Where is the WONDER in mathematics? How do we get students to wonder when we are focused on worksheets or memorizing the times table so that we can DO mathematics? There are many interests in education that’s pulling us into so many different directions… nothing is getting done. We remain in the status quo and the system remains resilient. Knowing this is not hopeful.

Maybe this blog did become a bit existential… This has been a challenging week which puts me into of a place of reflection. Yes, I’m back into the experiential learning cycle.

I would like to thank the group of 4 this week for facilitating Week 9’s group facilitation learning activity integrating art, nature, patterns, and technology. I enjoyed the GooseChase APP to document learning. It was challenging to decipher some of the metaphors connecting place and patterns, but I think all of the teams met the challenge. I also appreciated using hands on learning using art and nature as a form of reflection of our GooseChase experience. It makes me think further about how we can integrate technology as a learning tool in our classrooms but also hands on learning (like maker space) to sense make, reflect, and personalize learning. Metaphors and working with my hands are not my strengths but I can really appreciate how we can use innovative strategies to invite students into learning opportunities they may not feel comfortable with. I love how this could lend itself to ELA, social studies, and math.

Finally, thank you another student for taking the creative liberty of summarizing this week’s reading on curriculum maps. I liked how you had focused on the learning cycle instead of C.A.R.E., which we did at the beginning of the course. I also appreciated how you connected the learning cycle to your dad’s retirement and honouring him with shaving off your hair. That is BOLD. That is love. I feel honoured that you were willing to share that personal experience with the class and make a connection to the learning cycle. You got me thinking about where we can start in the learning cycle. I had always believed that the cycle started with a concrete experience. Yet, as you point out, it’s a cycle thus you could start anywhere on the cycle. You’ve heightened my thinking.

Weekly Journal Questions

„“All education is environmental education.” – David Orr
What are your thoughts on this statement?

Yes. I can see how environmental education can be an integral part of learning and learning experiences in all subject areas. If back in the classroom, I would like to teach outside and find ways where I could take my students outside to make meaningful and memorable learning experiences where they can take mathematics, for example, into place and connect what they know to the land. I would love to take that further in a Math 8-12 classroom and take learning outside that is meaningful and purposeful. „

„From page 9 of the Curriculum Maps reading, describe how EDUC454 has demonstrated each principle of C. A. R. E. and parts of the learning cycle.

COMPLEXITY: considering the complexity and interrelatedness of natural and human created systems, and how humans interact with and affect those systems
(GROUP FACILITATION)

AESTHETICS: developing an aesthetic appreciation for the natural world that encourages students to learn about and protect the environment
(GROUP FACILITATION/WARM-UP ACTIVITIES)

RESPONSIBILITY: providing opportunities for students to take responsible action and explore the environmental impact of their decisions and actions
(INQUIRY PROJECTS)

ETHICS: providing opportunities to practice an environmental ethic based on an examination of values that can give rise to new visions, possibilities and actions
(INQUIRY PROJECTS AND GROUP FACILITATION)

„Looking at the Curriculum Maps, find your subject specialty/grade level. Imagine and describe what a cross-curricular lesson would look like with respect to C.A.R.E., the learning cycle, and selected learning outcomes.

Math K-12 was suggested to be interdisciplinary… SO LET’S DO THIS!!! If back in the K-12 classroom, I would love to teach teach, co-collaborate, and design a course or unit that is cross-curricular, outside, and joyful. Let’s get math out of the silo and let’s interconnect.

The Amazing Race

#EDUC454E100 – Week 8 – June 28, 2018

A very clever name to this week’s group facilitation learning activity. The Amazing Race. We were all wooed by the lollipops. A group of 4 students started off the activity by offering each of us a lollipop and explaining the rules of the game. We were then divided into groups of 4 and asked to pick a team name. I was on Team We’re Not Creative. We then participated in several team activities: (1) Grab 2 different coloured wiffle balls BLINDFOLDED; (2) spin around a baseball bat and run; and (3) do a math problem about circles or take 5 photos. In hindsight, these all pretty dangerous activities. I did fall on my knee and rolled on the ground soon after the baseball bat spin.

I love how were were all willing to participate. We did not question the rules nor did we know what we were playing for. What we did know was, the lollipops were important. I was not sure if I should eat one or not. I was confused but played along. I was enjoying myself and I aced the circumference/diameter math problem. Our estimated answer turned out to be a nice rounded answer of d = 14.0 m. I was personally impressed. What I was not impressed about was having to be TURNED AROUND and have to do part 2 of station 3. It set us behind… but this setback played a role. We would soon find out why.

No pics of the three preliminary activities, however the picture below depicts the next stage of the game. There was definitely an “inner group” and an “outer group.” The initial teams were now non-existent and now we were divided into two larger teams. As a member of the “outer group,” I spent most of my time observing and wondering what was going on. Other members of my group were a little more activated and more willing to ask members of the “inner group” of what they had wanted and offered their lollipops with hopes of getting some answers. At first the “inner group” was silent, but as time went on they were more verbal but vague. I learned that 2 of my students spoke American Sign Language: one from the “inner group” and one from the “outer group.”

As a member of the “outer group,” our mission was to get INTO the circle. Look at them… there was NO WAY we were going to get in… and I felt that we didn’t have enough information to solve the problem. We did regroup a few times to strategize. I had the exact opposite response of TAKING their lollipops (later learning that their objective was to NOT let us in and accrue as many lollipops, particularly the orange ones). We had opposing objectives and would say that the “inner group” were achieving their goals. The “outer group” were failing because we were not inside the circle and losing lollipops.

Thank goodness, the group facilitators ended the game (it was getting frustrating) and we regrouped at first as “inner group” and “outer group.” Then we re-grouped as 50/50. This was eye opening. The facilitator in each sub-group asked members from the “inner” and the “outer” group to share what we understood and attempting to do. As mentioned, the “inner group” was trying to keep people out and collect lollipops. The “outer group” was trying to find a way in the circle and some of us had to go in as pairs, triplets, or as singles. We could use the lollipops but did not know how. We were then asked to reflect on how we felt. I remembered someone saying during the last activity, “what happened to the Amazing Race?” It wasn’t fun. Then we were asked to think about COLONIALISM.

Mind blown. What an amazing close to the Amazing Race… hence the clever title. I internalized the feelings of being marginalized, playing a game without knowing all of the rules, and losing. It was like solving a math problem without enough information, such that we are forced to hypothesize some possible solutions, but none of them worked. I was also stunned by the idea of competition and the mindset it instills on each of us. All I could think of with competition was SCARCITY. We were all willing to play without knowing how to win or lose. We were so trusting. As it turned out, the teams from the start of the game who placed a clear first and second were from the “inner group” and the clear losers were from the “outer group.” Each lollipop colour had a point value. This was calculated at the end of the activity. What a complex learning activity… it reminds me of the “brown eyes/blue eyes” experiment done 50 years ago to Grade 3 students.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/lesson-of-a-lifetime-72754306/

After the break, 2 other students lead us though a warm-up activity OUTDOORS after our break. Yes, we continue learning outside. We were doing relays and math problems related to environmentally conscious decision making. I liked that there was a connection to space and real life math problems that Grade 8 students can solve and consider. What caught my attention was the “best buy” concept. In Math 8, “best buy” means the cheapest or cost efficient. But, the math questions posed got students to reconsider what was more important… cost efficiency or carbon footprint. What we traditionally consider as “best buy” is changing and getting students to use, develop, and demonstrate their core competencies using critical/creative thinking, communication, and social justice and responsibility, students can DEFEND which is the “best buy” and explain why.

I love the next two speakers… and we’re back inside to summarize this week’s reading. 2 more students did an excellent job summarizing the article on math efficacy and math self-beliefs… by saying that the article could be reduced from 26 pages to 2 and that if you don’t feel good about math then you won’t do math. Although this seems obvious with respect to any learning, I was hoping that it was obvious to us as teachers that our math efficacy influences how students learn math even though they may or may not be teaching math when they enter the teaching profession. I am hoping that my students see that Quantitative Approaches to Environmental Education is present and play a role in the curricular areas they are trained to teach. Math is DESCRIPTIVE.

One student opted to extend her presentation by sharing her math experience as a high school student. Another student opted to read us a small children’s book (in French and English) about a penguin who believed that he could fly. Both presentations were compelling and creative such that I started to engage with the class about their math experiences and perceived math efficacy such that we did not get to the discussion questions posed and while another student facilitated the closing activity (which is postponed for next week). My students had a lot to say. Some students would admit that they do not have a problem with math (which is great!!!), but others had traumatizing stories that they have (or hope to) overcome. One student said that she taught Math 8 during her practicum and loved it. The experience boosted her confidence. Her attitude was, if I don’t know it, we’ll figure it out... an awesome demonstration of vulnerability. That’s a part of it. I was surprised how similar some stories were from each other and I hope by the end of the course that their math self-beliefs will transform.

Weekly Journal Questions

You may or may not teach math when you enter the teaching profession. Regardless of job assignment, how does your mathematics self-beliefs influence how your students learn math? Or does it?„

SEE ABOVE

„Given what you have learned and experienced so far in EDUC454, how does mathematics (or quantitative approaches) fit into your subject specialty (or grade level)? How does environmental education?

SEE ABOVE