Yesterday was Labour Day. I spent my entire long weekend here: For those 72 hours I did little else but soak up the last of the summer sun, laying on the dock and enjoying multiple novels. However, it's September once again, and we all know what that means: BACK TO SCHOOL!!!! Yes, back to school is here, and I have a feeling it's going to be a fantastic year. Although I had some orientation sessions on the University of Ottawa campus already, I truly consider today to be my first day back. I mean, like every other student (and teacher) out there on the first day of school, I got up early (I was awake before my alarm even went off at 6am), brewed my coffee (a must), packed my lunch, and went out to meet my (OC Transpo) bus. I was headed to St. Michael Catholic school, where my Year 2 placement is taking place. There was lots to do right away, as there always is in a classroom, and so I got to work.
At 8:15 am we took our big class list and some masking tape outside and began to greet the students and their families. The majority of our students arrive to school on foot, and so I had the opportunity to see a lot of parents and guardians drop off their child or children. It was very cool to witness a first day of school at the elementary level again, as the last time I was around one would have been my own Grade 6 year, yikes!! Our class has French right away in the morning so we helped bring them in to their class and then went off to prepare the rest of our day.
If you have not had the chance to read this book before, I highly recommend it, especially for the first day of school. It is pretty silly. It gets the reader saying some pretty funny stuff and the kids generally laugh at a few token spots, breaking the ice and putting everyone at ease. Note: If you are unfamiliar with this book, perhaps give it a quick read through before the read aloud, as there are a few tricky phrases in there that you might want to work through first on your own :) Following lunch and recess, we were finally all together as our Grades 4/5 class - all 28 of us! It's a tight fit in the classroom, but I can already tell that it's a great group and we are going to have an awesome year. Part of my planning for today included being responsible for leading an introduction game of some sort. I decided to go with one of my own personal favourites, "Two Truths and a Lie". (For a more detailed description of how this works, click here.) I had a SMART Board lesson all ready for this as well, however circumstances being what they were I was required to go old school, and use... the CHALKBOARD! We read my three statements together, and then I informed the class that one of these statements about me is a LIE! I had them show me their fingers in either a 1, 2 or 3 to indicate which one they thought was the lie, and then I congratulated those who held up number 3, as I in fact do not have a twin sister, but rather a younger brother. The kids thought is was a pretty cool game, and most of them were itching to have his or her own turn to tell the class a bit about themselves. This game offered a lot more insight into the students than I could ever have anticipated. I got to see who leaped at the chance to share about themselves orally, and who shied away. I got to read into personalities and interests based on the statements each student chose. I learned that we have a bunch of athletes in the class, we have one student who is one out of five brothers, and someone who has some royalty in their family bloodlines. Also, I was able to really learn my students' names, as I got them each to say his or her name before they began their turn. The students loved this game so much that I have already begun thinking of ways we can bring it back into the classroom (Two truths and a lie about what I did on the weekend, anyone?!).
The rest of the day was pretty much a blur, until finally it was 2:55 pm and we were getting ready to pack up. We got everyone ready and brought them down to the front of the school where we did the reverse of the morning, handing the children over to their anxiously awaiting parents and guardians, or seeing them safely onto the bus. Once all the students were off, we all gave a little cheer in honor of a successful first day, and then were on our separate ways. What an amazing day! Some things I learned today: -Although we didn't do any 'work', the first day is extremely important for setting up routines and enforcing positive behaviours. These first few weeks are so important, and if we don't get to curriculum right away, it's actually okay. Making sure students know what is expected of them in general will go a long way towards a successful academic year. -It is crucial to be friendly, yet firm, immediately. Letting things slide on the first day will mean that things will continue to slide throughout the whole year. If you see something happening that you don't want to become a habit, break it right away, i.e. how to line up and move throughout the school, how to stand up and get ready to leave the classroom, and how to have class-wide discussions. -Get to know your students. Let them ask you questions and provide answers for them. Ask them questions back and show an interest in what their responses are. I believe that getting to know your students' likes and dislikes will be extremely beneficial for your classroom dynamic. -Don't be nervous! You want to be here. You are a good teacher. The students are lucky to have you; go be a superstar! If Day 1 is any indicator, I am going to love my time at St. Michael. Tomorrow we will begin our intro units in Math and Language, continue to get to know each other through an 'All about me' read aloud, and play some cooperative games in Phys.Ed. I can't wait!!!! Once again, thank you for checking out my latest post, and I welcome all comments and feedback. Stay tuned for more updates on my Year 2 adventures. -Miss. Coleman
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After four fantastic (yet still incredibly busy) months of summer break, today was the day we officially returned to campus to regroup and recharge for Year 2 of the B.Ed. program. The day began in Marion Hall (which brought back some serious [awful] memories of my first year Organic Chemistry classes), where all the Year 2's gathered for a welcome by the Dean of the faculty, Raymond Leblanc, as well as information from the Director, Assistant Director, members of the faculty, and other invited guests from various school boards in the city. It was a lot of information to take in at once, but being surrounded by like-minded future educators again was extremely inspiring, and reminded me once more why I have chosen this career path. I seriously cannot wait to be a teacher!
There are a ton of cool and exciting things coming up this year that I am already looking forward to. The first being the fact that we are in Practicum immediately to start our year. From September 6-16 we are going into the schools to see how the first two weeks of school really look and the types of preparations which are necessary on the teacher's end. It is going to be so beneficial to see the first day of school, see what types of activities my Associate Teacher has planned, how she has set up her classroom, and what the plans for the year will be. After these two weeks we will be returning to the same schools every Wednesday to continue to get to know the students and the faculty. Over this period of time we will be taking on more and more responsibility for lesson and unit planning, leading up to our six week Practicum from November 7-December 16. By November we should be prepared to be teaching a large portion of the day, having created our own unit plans and assessment tools to teach and implement in the classroom. I am actually meeting my Associate Teacher for the first time at the school on September 1, as I plan to attend the faculty's first staff meeting. I can't wait to see my new school and dive into classroom prep and activity planning! In addition to the welcome back and housekeeping, we were also addressed by one of the faculty's Assistant Professors, Michelle Hagerman (who was actually my Curriculum Planning and Assessment professor in Year 1 and who had us create our very own digital space in the first place!), about some super exciting initiatives happening around the use and integration of technology in the classroom. I am especially excited about this, as in the new year Professor Hagerman and myself plan on collaborating on a few projects pertaining to technology integration, and so I feel extra motivated to spread the info! A new website has been created for Education students at the university strictly for information on technology and digital spaces. The website can be found here: Ed Tech University of Ottawa The vision is that all Faculty of Education students will create (if they have not already done so) a Digital Hub where they can post and track their progress and growth in the education profession. This website will then compile all the URLs of these digital spaces and keep a database of information. The Ed Tech site also contains resources and information on Professional Learning opportunities and workshops that faculty and students are able to attend. I personally think this initiative is a wonderful idea and it totally aligns with the current digital age and the emphasis on technological prowess in the classroom. After the morning session we all gathered on Tabaret Lawn for a pizza lunch and some time to catch up with our classmates. The students from the Year 1 program also joined in, and so we were together for the first time as our full faculty. Pretty cool! After lunch, the groupings got small again, and we split off into our individual sections to meet our PED3151 profs to discuss what is expected of us leading up to our September practicum. This meet up was especially memorable, as it happened to be the same group of students as well as the same professor I was with last year. We all became quite close through the Year 1 struggles, and so reuniting to begin it all again, while being a little older and a little wiser, was fantastic. I left campus feeling a little overwhelmed, but definitely excited. Oh, then I stood in line for my UPASS (OC Transpo bus pass) for 3 and half hours. If I wasn't already tired from the information overload, that wait ensured total exhaustion. I foresee an incredibly busy semester ahead, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Stay tuned for updates on my Year 2 journey. Thanks again, Miss Coleman Oh what a day. It is with an incredible amount of excitement, as well as a sigh of relief, that I officially announce that Year 1 of my Teacher's Ed program is complete. This past month has easily been one of the busiest, most demanding time periods of my professional career so far. Join me as I recount the amazing April I experienced, some of my favorite moments, as well as some of the exciting things I have in the works for the summer! General Vanier PS PracticumApril 8th, 2016 was one of the most bittersweet days of my life. After eight long, demanding, fantastic, stressful, exhausting, life-changing weeks, my first evaluated practicum came to an end. The lessons I learned from this hands-on experience are invaluable. There truly is nothing like being in the classroom, planning your own lessons, seeing what the students respond to, and learning for yourself what works and what doesn't. The amount of growth I experienced in these eight long(short) weeks is astounding. I can honestly say that I am on my way to becoming a teacher.
At the end of the book, after the cut-out hearts in each page continued to get smaller and smaller, my AT talked about another feeling: pride. She told our class how proud she was of me for completing my classroom practicum and what a great teacher I will be one day. It was one of my favorite moments from the year. The entire class had signed the inside cover of the book, and in addition to that they had created their own book of memories, pictures and advice. To see the growth in these students' abilities from the beginning of the year to their culmination in the effort they put into this keepsake for me is such a special gift in and of itself. This is a memory I will cherish forever. Back to ClassAlthough practicum was over, the year was not, and on April 11th we all returned to the University of Ottawa campus to finish the final three weeks of the Year 1 program. I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to these last days of class - after being in the classroom everyday, going back to sitting in lectures and completing assignments was not exactly something I wanted to do. But, this is what was required of us, and so with one last push we made it through. Some of the highlights on the end of the year include a field trip to Ottawa Forest School, an Urban Trek through Ottawa's downtown streets and along the Ottawa River (photo below from that day), and finally our last day of class, where our fantastic PED3150 Professor baked us chocolate chip banana bread and told us all how proud she was of us and our accomplishments this year. I am so excited for Year 2 to begin, but Year 1 will definitely be tough to top. Teachers Teaching Teachers Symposium: |
On Wednesday of this week, an especially important event took place for all of us in our first year of the Teacher's Eucation program: Community Serice Learning placements began! A good analogy for you to imagine how this went would be this: picture the first day of school from last week, and now do it all over again. You're entering a brand new school for the first time. You need to figure out what bus to take to get there, how early you need to leave your house to be there on time, and what your first day of school outfit will be. |
Jessica Coleman holds a Bachelor of Education as well as an Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences, both from the University of Ottawa. She is an Ontario College of Teachers certified teacher, currently working towards a Masters of Education degree at uOttaw, as well.
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