Class Recap: EDPY 416

EDPY 416 introduced us to teaching English as a Second Language which also was my very, LAST, night class in my undergraduate degree. It was on Tuesdays from 5-8pm where Tuesday's were my longest days throughout the week. Seriously, it was class from 9:30am-8:00pm (but of course I had lengthy breaks in between to spend with friends and eat)! 

If you're even considering to take this class, let me warn ya, it's pretty content heavy. There were many concepts and theories and theorists and applications we needed to know. I'm not trying to scare y'all, but be warned. Despite all the information, it all was interesting to know and learn about which will be useful to know when I'll teach! 

Our assignment was pretty interesting for this one. We had to select an ESL speaker, interview them about their history and experiences learning English, then write a paper applying the concepts we learned from class. It was a process, but I appreciated this assignment because it encouraged us to get a hands-on approach of English as a Second Language and putting course content into application. I didn't too bad on it myself! Actually, it was my better assignments all term. Can I get a hoorah?!  

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Night classes are always a hit or miss. I remember taking a night class several years ago and it really DRAGGED. Every minute felt torturous and I just wanted to get the heck outta there. Fortunately for this one it wasn't like that. I took this class with my best school friend and because of that, it flew by quick and at other times, quicker than expected! I'm always grateful for my connections in Education, just because you never know how it'll help me down the road! 

Stick by me with all this nerd-fest, but I think learning about Krashen's Second Language Acquisition was the most interesting. We also discussed about ethics (bleeding into EPS 410) and pathways to open up opportunities when teaching ESL. Lastly, our prof made this class more lively and upbeat. She's a bit sarcastic, like me, and I'm glad she didn't take it personally at all. Once you know me, you'll get my jokes. Trust me. 

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I Guess That's It!

I guess it is it! I should maybe start blogging about other things, other than my practicum because that's been about 2 weeks ago! Move on Mr. Fabia is what you're wondering I bet.

The purpose of starting this blog in general was to share my experiences and help out my fellow educators when necessary. Whether we're face to face friends, facebook friends, legit friends or just avid readers -- I want something that you guys can look forward too! 

I feel that I've been dragging my experiences and posts about my IFX too, however, in the future I want the opportunity to look back, read them and have those memories present. For some people, they take pictures or make Instagram/Tumblr posts. I guess blogging has helped me in ways to express my experiences to the Web. It's also a great conversation starter too at pubs & restaurants!

For now, I'm not sure what I'll be blogging about! This week I started my new job with the Strathcona County Library where I'll be there working for the summer. For sure I'll blog about that. In addition, I look forward to share more book lists, educational resources and stories with all of you lovely people! 

So, for now, don't expect me to blog more about my IFX, as that chapter of my life is complete. My grade 6's happen to love quotes, which is one thing we have in common! To end off, I'll finish with this typical (and cheeeeeeesy) Dr. Seuss quote. 

Subject 5 (and final) - Religion

The last subject I taught was Religion! If you've been reading my blogs (which I hope you have!) then you would know that Easter Mass was during my last week of my practicum! I taught my class certain bible passages that were Easter related.

If you haven't read my blog post about the school's Easter Mass celebration, you can read it here! I listed in that post the two hymns that were played throughout the mass. These songs are on my repeat YouTube playlist without a doubt!

An activity I led in class which summed up the religion topics, was to make a greeting card for grade 2/3 students preparing for their First Holy Communion. This is legit straight from my lesson plan:

"Explain how First Communion is considered one of the holiest and most important occasions in a Roman Catholic person's life. It is the first time that a person receives the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which is the consuming the bread and wine (body and blood). Catholics believe these to be the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Most Catholic children receive their First Communion when they're 7 or 8 years old."

Here are some examples of their greeting cards!

I emphasized the purpose of this activity was to use what they have learned in the previous classes, and explain why and how Jesus is important to all of us. I told them not to put their name on it, as this was anonymous. These grade 2's/3's would be thrilled for their First Holy Communion preparation to be started with a caring, 6th grader making them a card! Here is the template I provided for them. Of course, they were expected to add more! 

Dear Student, 

Jesus is important to everyone because… 

Jesus will always remind me of love, power and forgiveness because… 

Jesus is a part of me… 

Yours, 

A 6th Grade Student

My favorite part about this activity was I gave the students just one block to do and finish it. This block actually happened to be before recess. Once the bell rang, I believe about 8 or 9 kids stayed in, during their recess, to make it more colorful and more meaningful for the students. How thoughtful is that?! It definitely is, shows how caring these students are for younger ones!

Subject 4 - Health (or the elementary version of CALM class)

Health and Religion were interesting classes to teach, because there's no Alberta Program of Studies (POS) available online. However, my MT had certain objectives, similar to the POS that she has. She listed the outcomes I must focus on, thus my lesson revolved around that.

Here is an example of one of the objectives: R6.8 The students will analyze the influence of groups, cliques and alliances on self and others; e.g. at home, in school, in the community.

I introduced this class with a movie trailer and transitioned into a class discussion about cliques vs. group. I had to use examples and some kids even asked me "Mr. Fabia, were you a nerd?" I told them the truth. ;)

Here's the trailer I showed! They seemed to enjoy it, somewhat, maybe?

Teaching health was pretty cool, and I don't mind teaching it more! I also focused about community and forming relationships with older people. The outcomes were straight forward, it's the matter of using modern (and easy to assess) activities to use in class.

PS - Instead of playing the trailer above, I was going to play Mean Girls. However, the trailer was not appropriate for a Gr. 6 Catholic school class. Good thing I switched it last minute!

Subject 3 - Physical Education or "The Best Class Ever" According to Some

During Spring Break, I did a vast amount of prep work, which included lesson planning for gym. The PE teacher at the school (who, by the way is such a gem) and my MT decided I'll be teaching the line dancing unit for my grade 6 class and a grade 7 co-ed class. First though in my mind was Grade 7, whaaaat? 

This is such a given, but grade 7's are just one grade older than grade 6's! Only difference is the elementary/junior high division. Truthfully, I had so much fun teaching the line dancing unit because it wasn't in a classroom, and I was able to incorporate a range of music too!

My best friend gladly helped me out in how to teach dance. I have never taught dance, let alone know how to do it, so I called in reinforcements. She has danced (and taught dance) for practically her whole life, that it was amazing to see the breakdown of step-by-step dancing. Did I also mention she teaches ZUMBA?! Uhm, yeah. You the bomb.com!

The four dances I taught were Electric Slide, Cadillac Ranch, Cha Cha Slide and Cotton Eyed Joe! I didn't want to do partner or "social" dance at all, strictly line dancing. For the Electric Slide, there's not a specific "song" that goes with it, unlike the other 3, so I introduced 3 different songs with varying pace to dance with. Check them out!

Average Speed

Average Speed 

Faster Speed 

And finally! The last two days on my practicum, I had supervision outside before school started. Some students asked if I could play the songs from the line dancing unit from my phone. Without hesitation, I quickly grabbed my speakers from my car, connected it to my phone and was now a walking, supervising, DJ. By the end of it, there was about 15 students just dancing along, remembering the steps I taught them all. How proud was I at that moment? Very! 

Subject 2 - Language Arts

While teaching language arts, my MT gave me the responsibility to teach and assist with newspaper writing. I assigned, I think 3 or 4 different ones and marked them individually, giving each student a score and constructive criticism for their future writing!

I'm such an elementary teacher, I gave stickers (of either stars or happy faces) with their comments. A happy face described something I liked and a star is an area I suggested they could improve upon. At grade 6, they still love receiving stickers. I swear I'm going to be using them everywhere and still be finding an excuse to use them in whatever. I think it's because they're cheap, I can get a lot for so little money, and anyone under age 12 will do anything for one. Win-win-win. Ha. 

I didn't just give out the assignments and let them write their article. Instead, after each one I read them all over that evening and decided, where as a class we can spend the next lesson on. I remember doing a lesson about closing paragraphs, as most were just not finishing their article as strong as they could be! I also pulled out student examples of strong paragraphs, and discovered that students got that "aha!" moment from realizing what their peers have written!

Click here to find PAT examples under the Alberta curriculum. I used these examples during my instruction too! 

Subject 1 - Science (Rules!)

Teaching Science 6 was the first subject I taught! Pretty exciting and overwhelming, I must say, especially since this grade has Provincial Achievement Tests in June. I love elementary science because it's not as boring as high school. High school I remember taking physics and chemistry, not the most exciting topics out there. 

I taught not just my homeroom grade 6 class, but all the grade 6 classes science. Also take into the account that each class had approximately 27 children. So if I do my math right 3 x 27 = 81 children's names to know within the first two weeks. Ha. Welcome to my life. On top of learning their names, I also struggled with learning classroom management skills, teaching the science topics and assessing their learning. Of course all those improved significantly for me! #proudteacher

The science topics I taught was from the science unit Evidence & Investigation where the students learned about fingerprinting, forgery and analyzing crime scenes. How wicked is that!? The topics I specifically taught included chromatography, fabric samples and soil samples. All these lessons included discovery learning and varying experiment trials. It was pretty neat to watch the kids learn like this!

For these weeks, I essentially had to create one lesson plan, because it was the same for the three classes. At first, I didn't like doing the same lesson 3 times a day as it was tiring and repetitive for me, however it was the best opportunity to improve my teaching skills with different classes! I was able to see where my weaknesses were and change it for the next class right after. The only downfall with this was... there were SO many of them! I mean 81 names to know within the first week? Tough. Now I know that in the future, is to create my own seating plans! (Which I did during Spring Break)

Since I taught science with using science experiments, I remember getting the materials the night before. I was scrambling around West Edmonton for soil and fabrics because I needed the right, and I mean the right materials for my lessons. Then, I had to go home and test it. Those were long prep days, but totally worth it! 

Soil Samples

Soil Samples 

Pros & Cons of Group Work

Group Work. Ohhh group work. Every semester I expect to work (or partner) with people in terms of assignments or studying, and this semester was no exception. Having only three classes, each one had some sort of partner or group work component.

In assessment, we had to do a two-part assignment either by yourself, with a partner or with a group of three. I worked with my fantastic friend (and partner in crime) who I met this past year! We got pretty decent scores in our assessment assignments that it wasn't something major we stressed about--as we had each other to rely on.

During music, we had to do a group lesson about a topic from the POS (Program of Studies). I worked in a group of 4, and to be franc, it was a little bit of a headache. I felt that there were more hiccups than necessary but then again, it wasn't worth that much. I'm thinking in my head "only 10%, only 10%, only 10%." I did learn from this though, how group work you're forced to work with people who have different work ethics than you and how people voice their ideas differently. Sometimes, you don't even have control with whom you're with. You just have to deal with it, which exactly is what I did. Rather than just getting frustrated, all it takes is time. Time to adjust, time to explain and time to absorb the different learning styles people have. Will Smith says it best... I think.

Lastly, for science, we were presented the biggest group term assignment so far in my undergrad. Where with a group, you plan a lesson plan (ours was relating to Air & Aerodynamics!), deliver the lesson and answer a bunch of questions analyzing our experience and evidence. I worked in a group with 5 other people, where hands down was the best group I've worked with school wise. I think it's because we meshed well right at the beginning. Usually, I take a leadership role come group work but I didn't this time around. I felt that every person contributed to our term assignment equally. Did I mention that it was worth 35%!? Yes, 35%! We met multiple times and helped each other constantly as it lightened the load of the assignment itself.

If someone asked me what I learned from working with my science group, I would have to say how teachers are very supportive of one another. I always felt that way during this course and I look forward in the other teachers I'll be working with later in my career (or even during my practicum)! All in all, I really did luck out in working with an outstanding group of pre-service teachers. Even though this meme brings some truth and humor, it does not reflect my experiences of group work this past term. Or did it..? 

Recap: EDEL 330 Science Curriculum

The second class I took this term is EDEL 330, also known as Pedagogy and Curriculum for Elementary Science. I find that a lot of EDEL courses you sit in table groups, instead of rows, and for this class specifically we did A LOT of table/group/partner work!

The topics in elementary science are pretty darn cool. I mean in grade 2 you learn about magnetism and buoyancy/boats. Grade 4 students learn about light and shadows, wheel and levers, etc. And in grade 6 students learn about air & aerodynamic, flight, evidence and investigation (which, by the way, is what I'm teaching during my practicum!) and other concepts. There's so much more variety and interest with elementary science. High school was just a big blah with only chemistry, physics and biology available. Good thing I'm going to be an elementary teacher, because seeing me teach chem or bio, will end up great! not be the best decision! That's where I need my friend Ms. L!

There was this one major term assignment that this class consisted of, where the quick and dirty version of it is plan a lesson, deliver the lesson to grade 6 students (topic - Air & Aerodynamics), record their observations and answer 3 questions (broken down into a, b, c, etc) with your group. I won't go into detail here, since I'll talk about it another blog post, but group work can be challenging. For this huge term assignment, I got the best of the best (group member wise). Expect a post from me soon where I'll talk about group work more in depth and its strengths and weaknesses.

Here are pictures of what my partner and I built during class. Basically, using art-straws the goal is to support several textbooks. It also has to be at least 50cm high and be considered an "elegant solution". This was one of our class activities where we analyzed science, technology and linking it into STS proper decision-making skills.

This was also my earliest class this whole year, not just this term. So I'd be lying if I looked forward to this class every Monday and Wednesday. 9 AM classes and me just for some reason, don't get along. Yes, our professor would mention information that would be on the midterm and final, but it was also the people that I sat with made the class even more enjoyable. I made a great choice sitting with them on day 1!

I'm also relieved in how the cards have been dealt. What I mean is that I am teaching a majority of science in my practicum. Taking EDEL 330 specifically this term is going to propel me into being the best science student teacher for these 6th graders! Science does rule!

Recap: EDEL 325 Music Curriculum

One of the three classes I took this term was EDEL 325, or Pedagogy and Curriculum for Elementary Music. Going into this course, I was really excited for it as music is not classified as a core subject--rather an option. I do have a tiny music background singing in a city choir and used to play piano and the French Horn that I was looking forward in my background knowledge to be of use. 

Our professor was the best! Really, it didn't feel like a lecture class. Instead, there were times were we played instruments (like the recorder and the xylophone!), we sang to songs and participated in activities that broadened our musical understanding. Our professor also introduced cool concrete manipulatives, seen in the photo below. Learning music is best achieved not just sitting in a desk, but also with moving, participating, singing, dancing, and much more. 

Felt Staff Concrete Manipulatives

(Yes those are my salted and graham crackers, I got hungry at that time as music class was during lunch time!)

There was this assignment during our class where we had to choose a piece of children's literature, and incorporate it into teaching musical concepts, as in the Alberta Program of Studies. We had to write 5 mini lesson plans and create a display for it. With my library knowledge, I used the good ol' Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? as it's an all time classic of mine! For my display, I took selfies of each of the actions and glued it to one side, and on the other it's the animal itself. This would help students, such as with limited English vocabulary, to also be familiar with the animals in a kinesthetic learning environment. Along with the action cue cards, I made stick puppets of the animals too. 

Purple Cat, Brown Bear, Green Frog, Blue Horse, Yellow Duck

Can you guess which animals I'm doing the actions for?

This is such a great class for beginner music learners because each class helped me to build upon my fundamental skills from before. I highly recommend this course for anyone who is looking for an interesting option and who wants to further explore elementary music! Seriously, it was the one class I looked forward to every Monday and Wednesday.

First 2015 Post!

Yep, here it is! I finished my first week of winter term. Were you thinking that 2015 is finally here? Well that's here too. I'm not one for new years resolutions, in fact I give that awful look to people who says stuff like "new year new me" or "20xx will be my year". Stop. You're doing favors for no one. 

It's been a week or two since I've blogged! I think that's because I worked a lot, watched a ton of TV and just finished my first week of school. It is so refreshing to have class from Monday to Thursday, that means I have Fridays to relax. Actually, not really since it's volunteer-with-elementary-kids day. Fridays actually make it fun for me to look forward to! 

All my courses this term are condensed, aka are 8 weeks longs because of my IFX. IFX = Introduction Field Experience = first student teaching practicum!!! We start in middle of March, but we have 3 observations days starting this month. School just started this Monday and we already have school visits. I even just finished my letter of introduction to my (future) mentor teacher! I'm actually so excited, but nervous, and hesitant, and worried, all at the same time. I'm sure my emotions will get jumbled into each other the closer I start my practicum. But right now, I feel content. Though I'm sure it's going to be a new emotion every day. Who knows?

This term I'm taking science curriculum, music curriculum, assessment class and a seminar for IFX. I'll try (at least) to update about my courses as I think they are critical to know as teachers. Also, upon entering my practicum I hope to stay on top of my blogging and I would love to share my experiences here. With that said, stay tuned! 

Recap: EDEL 316

Recap of EDEL 316: Communication through Mathematics Education

During elementary and junior high, I personally excelled in math. I found numbers and calculations easier to work with rather than words and stories. Thus, going into this course I wasn't worried as I was able to relate back into my own personal experiences and enjoyment of math and how I could apply that when teaching it. (I was actually THAT kid where the teacher would announce who got that highest mark on the test when giving them back... guess who's name they'd called.) 

Thoughts Throughout

The grade for the course was divided into 1 final exam and 4 assignments. Now, you may be thinking that 4 assignments seem excessive, but truthfully I found it more of a fair way to assess our understanding of the mathematical content than resorting to (just) midterms. Our assignments ranged from group to partner to individual assignments, so when looking back on them I can't be more happier with the people that I worked with. Also, I walked away with marks and constructive criticism that I can't complain about!

Some topics that we learned in this course included how to teach the different operations and how to concretely, visually and pictorially represent numbers in various ways. This includes using various manipulatives that are appropriate for children, such as base 10 blocks and pattern blocks. Our professor also introduced us to everyday materials that we can incorporate in our math lessons, like how to use straws and pipe cleaners to make 2D shapes and 3D objects. Wicked right? I was actually going to put a picture of what we did on our first day, but I cleared out half my data on my phone, including most of my pictures... so not I can't. Silly me. (No really, I was so excited to show you readers!)

Final Thoughts

I have to remember that especially in elementary schools, to not always use testing as a consistent assessment tool. I had a conversation with a teacher last week in how product should not be the only tool. He said how along with product, there's also observation and conversation. This means that there are other ways in assessing a student's understanding rather than using unit exams. I mention this because I felt our math professor used this triangular method in class. When she was marking our many assignments, she considered our conversations we discussed in class through observing and noticing our discussions and interactions within our tables. Honestly, I don't mind group work, only when the other group members are contributing. If they aren't, group work becomes my nightmare. Not this class though, I felt that the people that I sat with have constantly contributed during class time. What's that phrase? Sharing is caring? Good thing I'm not Mitchell Pritchett. 

Recap: EDEL 305

Recap of EDEL 305: Language Arts in the Elementary School

When I was building my school schedule for the fall term, it was required that EDEL 305 was to be taken in the fall term, before my IFX. Thus, this course is a pre-requisite for my student teaching. I initially registered in the 8 am class, forced to have a huge break from this class to the next. Luckily, closer to the start dates I was able to transfer in the later class time, happily getting rid of my break.

Thoughts Throughout 

The grade for the course is broken down into four components: midterm and final (understandable); major assignment and participation marks. I found the midterm and final fair as it was all written, but my hand and wrist were hurting for hours on end right after the exams. I find that with curriculum classes we sit in tables forming groups (roughly about 6), rather than in individual rows. This approach was helpful because our professor provided multiple opportunities for group collaboration within our table partners. I remember we did group activities such as playing spelling games, creating concrete poems and analyzing children's literature. Fun, right? Here's a picture to prove it! 

Some topics that we learned and discussed were reading, spelling and writing. I never knew before, until this course, is how emphasized language arts can be, and is, globally. Also, exposure to language arts at an early age has an enormous influence in learning not just language arts, but learning and experiencing language in a child's later years. My favorite topic that I learned from this course related to the importance of children's literature. With my experience from working at the library in the summer, I was expected to read children's literature (mostly picture books) to children of various ages. Understanding more about the differences between a read-aloud and shared reading, gives me more guidance in choosing more appropriate books for my students, especially the younger ones.

What are my favorite books to read to children? You can check them out here! If you also know of any other fantastic children's book to read to children, please share them! I'm curious in what other people think. 

Final Thoughts

As mentioned earlier, other than our midterm and final, we were also graded on class participation and an assignment. I participated and attended in every class so those were easy marks. However, our one main assignment for the course was worth a whomping 40%. Yes, our assignment was worth double our midterm mark. To sum up our assignment, we were to choose ten resources (i.e.,. children's literature, community resources, etc.) and 10 activities and introduce them to a language arts classroom tying it all together to a theme we individually selected.

We didn't get our assignment back not until we wrote our final. After talking to our professor, she wanted to give each of us thoughtful comments and feedback about this assignment. After waiting (extremely) patiently for them, I couldn't be happier with my mark and feedback given by my professor. But I'm glad that we were given this assignment because it'll be something I can reference to when I am teaching language arts! 

Fall Term is Finally Finished!

So I'm fresh fresh fresh FRESH "off the boat," with this blogging fanatic. I'm trying, yet struggling a bit. Kidding, though, but I feel that I'm still so new to this blogging thing. I kind of think of myself as Anne Frank, only male, and a future teacher and writing electronically... and not in danger. All jokes aside, if any of my experienced friends could give me 1 of their most valuable tips or tricks or advice about blogging, I would very much appreciate it!

Also, if my friends know me well I volunteer at not one, not two but three different schools. I know, I must be insane. Yesterday, I volunteered at an elementary school, specifically a kindergarten class with Mrs. W (for privacy settings and respect of confidentially, all references to other people will use a different name). Mrs. W is such a fantastic teacher who is both, directly and indirectly, teaching me her wise words of wisdom and knowledge. Yesterday was the last Friday I'll be in her classroom helping until 2015 due to next week I still have a final (yes, just one more!). In a nutshell, I help out Mrs. W with tedious tasks such as cutting & gluing projects and with table centers. These tasks I'm given help me realize the "behind the scenes" administration duties a teacher must do while graciously helping her out. Her students are the greatest, and I can't wait to see them again in 2015!