First Two Weeks of Teachers College at a Glance.

Coming straight from undergrad Physics, teachers college is a completely different atmosphere. Over the last four years, I used to work really hard to strive for academic excellence; working day and night to understand the Physics material and assignments. Teachers college is different in a sense that we, as candidates, are taught tools and skills which are easy to understand, but in essence, require a lot of practice to master them. At this point in time, my brain is still trying to adjust to this dramatic change as it is so used to striving for academics. I realized that even after three years of practicum from the concurrent education program, I am learning as much as ever from all my courses this year. This makes me feel good and bad at the same time; good in a sense that I have more tools in my toolbox to engage my future students and try to help them strive for their goals, but at the same time, I know that I still have a long way to go in terms of professional development. I guess this is why they say that being a teacher is being a lifelong learner. 

I really enjoy my curriculum classes, as they provide superb examples of how to engage students on a specific topic. I also appreciate the fact that professors (especially the curr courses) are doing a lot of integration of technology in the classroom. (Aside: the curriculum math course requires the participants to do presentation of specific technology/programs that can be used in the class.) I found these things to be very helpful for the future, as the classrooms become more high-tech. At the same time I realized that technology can sometimes come at a disadvantage. A teacher candidate in one of my classes exclaimed that her school placement only uses Smart Boards and nothing else. An interesting question raised in my mind was, what happens when there is a power outage? Yes I believe that the Smart Board is an engaging tool for teachers to use, however, in my opinion, schools should have either whiteboards or blackboards just in case anything happens to the Smart Boards. To be completely honest, I still feel most comfortable using chalkboard, since I am really use to it! However, hopefully I can get away from this feeling and move towards integrating more technology into my classroom.

It is nice to go over what is expected in a lesson plan. In another class, the teacher allowed teacher candidates to collaborate together to make a lesson plan outline with where specific parts should be placed. After the outline was completed on the board, many of the candidates were surprised at how much information is needed on a lesson plan. The professor also told us that we had to include a literacy component into the lesson plan; something that none of my associate teachers had me do in my past practicums (learning something new every day :) ). 

I feel that there weren’t too much discussion on the topic of classroom management. I am always concerned about this as students can cause a riot in a class if not dealt with properly. Therefore, for my Prof 191 course, I chose to read the Principles of Classroom Management which provided me with more information on this field. I found it a very resourceful book; not only does it provide theories but it also gives concrete examples to show how the theories were applied in a real classroom. I would much prefer it if professors talked to us about what they would do in particular situations instead of having the class to discuss, since many of us are still new and might not have the best solutions. However, I do enjoy much of the group discussions that do go on in most of the classes. Many interesting ideas pop up during these discussion sessions since many teacher candidates come from a variety of backgrounds. One thing that does intimidate me in teachers college is the fact that I am relatively young compared to many of the candidates. At times it feels as though people have ‘seen the world’ much more than I have, but at the same time it is exciting to hear about their life stories and experiences. 

Overall it has been an extraordinary experience over the two week period, and I cannot wait until practicum starts in October when I can put some of the skills I learnt here to good use! At the same time I can foresee that there will be a lot of sleepless nights.

P.S. I really enjoyed this style of reflection. Get a chance to explore blogging while reflecting my experiences at the same time! I use to have a blog, but was always too lazy to update. Maybe I will pick it up again!