I've heard from many teachers that they always start getting an itch to get back into the classroom during summer. I can now definitively say that I'm one of those teachers!
I've finished my third year of school, and first year of teacher training. I'm officially a 4th year B.Ed. candidate. What does that really mean? I CAN'T WAIT FOR MY PRACTICUM! I can't wait to meet my students, to meet my cooperating teacher, to find out the hows and whats and whens that I'll get to impact the lives of 20+ students. I can't wait so very much that I've already started preparing. I've been reading professional development books, I've been attending conferences and pro-d workshops, I've been amassing resources, and this week I went a little book crazy at Value Village and brought home $50 worth of high quality literature for my future classroom, which I then spent 16 hours sorting, leveling, resorting, labeling, listing, theme-ing, and then packing. I've started a reader's response journal, so that I can prove to my students that reading gets easier and more enjoyable when you work at getting better at it. I'm also going to be publishing book reports here for the various books I'm reading out of my collection, because I'm a strong believer that you shouldn't ask anyone to do something you aren't willing to do yourself. I have 4 courses I'm taking over the summer semester, partially because I need some extra credits, but partially because a well-rounded teacher is an employed-out-of-college teacher. I'm taking 2 event management/marketing classes. These will be great because I love planning things anyways, but it might give me some ideas on how to round up free or sponsored supplies for my future school, or how to plan amazing events like fairs, community days, and appreciation events! I'm also taking a math-for-teachers course online from TRU-O, and a digital photography course so I can finally learn how to use my fancy DSLR I got for Mother's Day a few years ago. I'll be checking in over the summer with some work I'm doing with my daughter to get her more confident with some skills she's developing. We're already planning our first book, a spin-off of We're Going on a Bear hunt
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Have you ever been to an EdCamp? (If yes, go to paragraph 3, if no, go to paragraph 1)
No. (Paragraph 1) What?! Okay let me break it down for you! A bunch of people invested in education: teachers, students, administrators, parents, student-teachers, and trustees all show up to have conversations (challenging ones!) about education, pedagogy, practice, tech, and trends. There are no agreed upon sessions (except "Things that suck") and everyone gets the same number of votes to put towards the sessions. That means that the sessions are also run by the attendees. It means authentic and in depth conversation. It means challenging questions and thinking deeply about your practice. One of my favorite things is having access to so many master teachers, so many educators that care deeply about their practice AND THAT ARE WILLING TO TALK TO ME ABOUT IT! It's like an hour long twitter chat where you aren't constrained by characters. I am going to disclose that I feel like I abuse the system by asking the most probing questions I can and stealing, outright stealing, the best practices I find that come out of the answers. I'm not sure where that puts me for TRB Standard 1: Educators are role models who act ethically and responsibly. Yes! (Paragraph 3) Allright. *fistbump of awesomeness* Don't they rock? I've had some uncomfortable conversations and still walked away a better person. They aren't all about the warm and fuzzies, and often by about 2:30 I have a -raging- headache. I've learned so much about what is -really- important when teaching, when acting as a colleague, when acting as a role model, when acting as a mentor, and when acting as a mentee. One of my favorite sessions is "What Do Student Teachers Really Need To Know?" I find that hiring administrators -love- to come sit in on those conversations. In January at EdCamp Delta I had three hiring administrators come, sit, and converse with me about the state of teacher ed in BC and the things we need to focus on to be excellent teachers in their districts. On Saturday I sat with many many other Student Teachers (from nearly every University in the province) and we talked practicums, alternative ed, getting hired, and passion for the job. We were joined by mentor teachers (including one I have the privilege of joining in his classroom), university faculty, and hiring administrators! The conversation was vastly different than the first one I attended, but was as beneficial and challenging. To wrap this up a bunch of my Twitter PLN were having a Poetry Slam to celebrate. Haiku's have been done, acrostics too. I'm gonna go with the old standby- a limerick. There once was an EdCamp in Langley, The learning was deep and quite tangly. I went with some friends, and discussed some trends, The experience was very change-ly. (You try and rhyme Langley!) |
AuthorI respond to Sarah, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Smoore, Miss Sarah, (and sometimes Mom!). I have been an DL (homeschool!) teacher for 2 years and am now a proud member of the SD35 team! Archives
September 2018
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