Building Momentum
Day 17 (of 187) – September 26, 2018
What another incredible day. It’s WEDNESDAY. Hump day… and I mean that. As mentioned in previous blogs, I have learned that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is the PEAK of my teaching week. I’m in the middle of it. Oh my goodness… After being in a trance from yesterday and last night’s course, I spent many hours after midnight planning and prepping for my two classes today. I think that the only reason I’m awake right now is because I am doing my laundry in preparation of going back to my other home on the Sunshine Coast to see my family… and work with FNESC on Monday and Tuesday.
The planning and prepping paid off. We had a great class in EDUC490. We are looking at some changes to the program and I am looking at this cohort to be the innovators, the leaders, the early adopters. It’s a big deal to be THE FIRST. Although it may seem “scary” or uncertain, it’s also an opportunity for growth, improvement, and excellence. We are looking at strategies and tools to create cohesion and closure on their learning experience at UNBC. This is a BIG DEAL. It’s not easy to put your two-years of post baccalaureate professional program. It’s more than just learning “how to do learning”… It’s about learning about learning… learning about learners… and learning about teaching as learner.” These are BIG IDEAS to self-actualize but I am hopeful we will succeed.
So… I feel like we are BUILDING MOMENTUM in EDUC 490 as we approach the 4-week practicum. I love that we had the chance to discuss FORMATIVE and SUMMATIVE assessment via CASE STUDY. I want us to learn how to look at and collectively problem solve situations found in teaching and learning via case study so that “it’s not personal” or too specific. These problems are worthwhile problems… but let’s focus on the problem versus the people or politics of the situation. It’s our pedagogy and educational philosophy that matters in addition to establishing a clear understanding of complex concepts such as assessment and evaluation. We had a great discussion today.
My next class… EDUC360… always humours me. We were discussing the BCEd Plan to place some context of BC’s New Curriculum as we continue to look at Curriculum and Instruction and move towards lesson planning… as our second iteration. During my lesson, I was compelled to get them to move their tables from the U-shape into PODS. I’m a pod teacher… for sure… and I used this as an opportunity to demonstrate PERSONALIZED LEARNING as we discussed key elements of the BCEd Plan. Wow… moving tables was a journey… self-selecting groups… and assigning roles for group discussion. We are learning about what we can do as teachers as learners. It’s super fun. I love this META experience. We had a tonne of fun and a lots of laughs too.
But go figure… you give students CHOICE so that they feel that they are active participants in their learning. It’s about ownership and agency. So I gave my EDUC360 class a set of criteria to problem solve before we started small group discussion. Move two tables to make a SQUARE and have 4 people per square. As joyful as I was to see the U-shape dismantled, there are 16-students. You do the math… there should be 4-squares. After all that was said and done… they made 6-squares!!! Yup. And they quickly reflected on the situation and quickly judged themselves appropriately. You can’t help but giggle. I loved it. Students moving. Students choosing. Students SENSE-MAKING together. What is PERSONALIZED LEARNING? And, what do “teachers” have to RETHINK about?
The day concludes with an evening with Secondary Years Coaching Teachers and Teacher Candidates to facilitate the Inservice session for EDUC490 in preparation for the 4-week practicum. I loved having the students at this event. They bring an energy to the room that’s exciting and optimistic. With my colleagues, we welcomed all those who attended, spoke about upcoming changes to the practicum program, and had a yummy dinner together. I love how FOOD brings people together. We had small group discussions and members of the NEW EDUCATION CLUB are already planning for an EDUCATION CONFERENCE for the summer. LOVE IT. Student leadership. Service learning. Student engagement. I am so proud of the students at UNBC. I look forward to the next coming weeks. I can’t believe it’s already been a month into the Fall Term. I can’t wait for more.