Standards and Values

I believe that  'Pedagogical Sensitivity' is the most important of the 5 program values as it  incorporates everything into it. By knowing your students you are able to portray social justice and you would constantly be reflecting on your practice to make sure you are making everyone feel included. If the techniques you are using do not seem to be working you will use critical mindedness to let go of what you've tried and be open to try suggestions from others. During all this you will be integrating your knowledge and be practicing on a regular basis to expand.
I believe that the BC performance standard staying'Educators implement effective practices in areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation, and reporting' is the most important because it  incorporates all the aspects I find most important.

Back to UFV

On our first day back to UFV (Thursday), we spent the entire morning debriefing about our experiences. It sounds like most people enjoyed their time but a few people had some interesting stories... to say the least. It was nice that they gave us time to chat about our experiences because I know we would have not been very attentive to any teacher that morning.
Friday was Tropical Day! Because it was so hot for the beginning of the week we decided to skip Plaid Day and do Tropical day instead. Turns out the weather wanted to play a joke on us, it was not warm and well pretty much froze. Fun to see everyone's costumes though!

Intro to Elementary

I'm a little behind on this but I thought it is still really important to reflect on the three days I had in the elementary school. It was interesting to be in a classroom right at the beginning of the year. There was not a whole lot of organization in my classroom due to this. We did work centers every morning but they changed each day. The first day was building, the second day was chalk and chalk boards and the third day was playdough. There was also a time during the day when we did fun centers that they picked themselves. On Tuesday the students met their grade 7 buddies and spent time getting to know them. They also spent time looking for caterpillars. There was a lot of outside time on Tuesday which was nice, although it did get quite hot by the end of the day. Wednesday was even hotter. We spent time on iPads again, worked with the animated alphabet which is really neat,  and tried to do some lessons on sea life. However, by time we go to the sea life lesson the classroom was just too hot and the students could not concentrate. Heck, us adults were suffering. We decided to just let the students draw in their drawing books about what they thought they would see under the sea.
I'm really excited to return in October. I have already found a couple books I'd like to read to the class and before I left we decided which PLO's I will cover when I teach, so there is a lot to think about. It's overwhelming but exciting at the same time. There are a few students I may have to adapt my lesson for, but I'm exciting to see how I can learn from them and how they will grown during my time with them. I'm very excited about my profession and am feeling really blessed! <3

First Day in Grade 1!

Eeeeek! Today I got to meet my teacher mentor and all the kidlets of grade 1! I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight <3 It was an awesome day! The kids are all so wonderful and friendly and my teacher mentor is great too. She's very crafty (loves pintrest as much as me) and incorporates a lot of the principles that we have learned about into her teaching. I think our teaching styles will mesh quite well, which is fantastic. Her eagerness to fill me up to speed on everything on the first day was a bit much though! haha, totally overwhelmed when she said we needed to talk about what PLO's I'll want to cover when I teach... IN THE SPRING! Still a while a way lady, calm down. I'm really looking forward to spending time with the students and my mentor, I know that I am about to learn more than I can even imagine right now.
Feeling really proud of myself right now :)

Placement Day!

Yesterday I officially became a student teacher with my ID badge. I feel so legit and proud to be a student teacher from UFV. I thought that was super exciting. But today topped that! After much anticipation we have finally found out our placements for the year! I'm excited for this new leg of my journey and to share it with Lee-Anne who will be at the same school. I'm glad that they pair us up with other TEPers so we aren't alone and we can visit each others classes and get a feel for another grade. Must get going on my lesson planning though, still so much to learn before I can call myself a teacher!!! Off I go!

Love in the air

Wow! At the beginning of the year we were told that there were 5 engagements last year in TEP. I thought that was a bit crazy for one class to have that many engagements in one year. However, we are now one month into our year and our class has not one, but two lovely ladies get engaged! (insert bitter comment here) Sounds like TEP 7 is well on it's way to reaching that 5!

Personal Philosophy

Reflective, Open & Adaptive

I think it's important for every child to feel included and empowered. The learning of a teacher never stops.  We should always be open to finding new ways to teach and grow within our practice. Not all students will be the same so not all lessons and activities will work the same with each class. It is important for us as teachers to be able to adapt to these situations and not feel confined to one way of doing things.  The more time we take to reflect on what we have tried, and how it has gone, the more we can get out of it.
I really want my students to feel capable.  Not all students will be able to meet the same standards but I want them all to have achievable goals and meet them. Instilling a sense of accomplishment and pride in them would be a great outcome. Creating students who strive to be better would be the best accomplishment of all.

Life is a book

My favorite quote:

"Life is a book, those who don't travel read only a page."

0-30 in 3.5

Today marks one month in the TEP program. Hard to believe as it feels like yesterday I was stressing about getting my papers in for application. It's a crazy feeling that the time has zipped by so quickly. That means that it won't be long until it's June and we are all graduated... But let's not go there yet, I've only just made these amazing friends and I don't want to let them go yet. I still have so much to learn and much more growing to do.
Welcome to my journey, here I go!