1. Fostering Effective Relationships
Empathy: The glue that holds relationships together. Throughout my teaching experience, I have built an exemplary ability to “demonstrate empathy and a genuine caring for others”. I have exemplified my care for others by taking the time to greet and spark short conversations with staff members in the halls. I start my class off everyday by having my students shake my hands before coming into class. I utilize this time to compliment my students and build relationships as they come in. Before starting a new unit, I always make it a habit to create classroom contracts to foster respect within the classroom environment. At the beginning of the year/semester, I get my students to create a name tag, and inside the name tag, I ask them to write 1 cool fact about themselves and 1 skill they require of me so that they can be successful. I start off the year/semester with a student-centered approach, to assure my students that I have their best interest and that their success is my ultimate goal. I strive to present at least one assignment per unit that involves assistance from the student’s community/parents. I have uploaded an assignment that required the students to interview their parents as a resource for their learning process. I have also uploaded feedback that I have previously received from one of my partner teachers and students (ELA 10-2).
2. Engaging in Career Long Learning
We are always told to be positive role models for the to students to follow. Part of being of positive role model is to exhibit the importance of lifelong learning. Last year (2019) I made it a goal to learn more about “First Nations, Métis and Inuit worldviews, cultural beliefs, languages and values” and mental health. I find great importance into bringing indigenous ways of knowing into my classroom as alternate ways of learning. My educational journey has also shaped me as a teacher. I have learned that I need to ensure the wellness of not just my students but myself. I have also attended workshops on “teacher potential liabilities” and “teacher wellness” (by the ATA). Career long learning is more than attending workshops. It is also about wanting to seek feedback and criticism to “enhance my teaching practice”. I have provided an example of critical feedback that I have received in my professional learning class that I happily accepted. Going forward, my goal for professional learning consists of gaining a larger insight on how to implement daily class activities using technology. I would like to immerse myself into more learning opportunities regarding mental health as well, it is such a fickle topic that deserves more attention than it is currently getting.
3. Demonstrating a Professional Body of Knowledge
For my Interdisciplinary Learning Class my group and I created a unit aimed to Grade 7/8 students with the intent of finding evidence to the lack of clean water in specific communities. The unit plan below resembles a long-range plan, dedicating a whole week within the unit towards exploring “local, provincial, national and international contexts and issues” pertaining water quality. From this, students may be inspired to dive deeper into the authentic problem, feel empowered to ask insightful questions, discover the long process of water filtration, and with the help of experts, create a solution as stewards of the environment. Students participate in weekly assessments that require them to build on their collaborative work skills so that they are prepared for their final summative assessment. These collaborative activities allow for me to track the students desired outcomes and learning needs within their journals. With this information I can adequately prepare and adjust their lessons for the next days to come. One of the learning tasks in this unit requires the students to practice their presentation skills. To ensure that ALL students are mentally present, all members of the class had to participate in peer feedback after the presentations. The intent on active peer feedback is to allow students to track their own learning curves and foster reliable relationships among students.
Links and Downloads:
4. Establishing Inclusive Learning Environments
Not a day goes by that I do not affirm my students that they are cared for, respected, and safe. I exemplify this right at the beginning of the day, when I shake their hands, and solidify that trust between educator and student. At the beginning of every new unit, I establish a classroom contract. To me, the contract is more than just a document of expected in class behaviours. It is a classroom management strategy that communicates the purpose of their learning and affirms the students that they all have the opportunity to be safe and successful. Being of a different ethnicity myself, I find that is it truly important to incorporate my student’s cultural strengths into their teaching and learning experience. In my Field II experience, I introduced a Coming of Age unit. Following the classroom contract, I surprised my student with a coming of age in different countries mural. I communicated with my partner teacher to ensure that all cultures within the class were represented on the wall. The students were so happy, engaged, and ready to start their new unit. Prior to the Coming of Age unit, I distributed my partner teachers Romeo and Juliet Summative Assessment. This class had 3 coded students. The unit plan below demonstrates my plan to meet those student’s strengths and tackle their learning challenges. For one student, I gave him only one sheet at a time. The second, I created a smaller version of the test, and the last one required regular check ins and affirmations.
5. Applying Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit’s
My interest towards indigenous literature began when I first took an Indigenous Literature (Winter 2018) course during the completion of my English degree. However, simply reading indigenous literature is not enough to fully understand the historical and political presences of indigenous peoples. I stepped into Indigenous Education (Fall 2019) with many false pre-conceived notions and was open to learning and growing. Below is a link that demonstrates my personal growth towards “understanding the historical, social, economic, and political implications” towards FNMI. Within two and half months of taking the course, I consider myself to be an ally and my battle ground is the classroom. For my Field III experience, for Social Studies I taught the Youth Criminal Justice Unit. I paired this unit with the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. This novel incorporated youth justice from indigenous point of views. To support student achievement, I had some lessons that focused on the role of Elders and community members within their justice system. For the final Social Studies summative, I had the students create a story post to represent the process of youth rehabilitation from various Canadian articles of their choice. We had a brief lesson on totem poles and its historical, cultural, and contemporary representations of FNMI. This lesson also stemmed out to lessons on FNMI art and The Seven Sacred Teachings.
6. Adhering to Legal Frameworks and Polices
My Ethics in Law and Education (Fall 2019) course has led me to become quite acquainted with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I have learned about the rights and responsibilities of my students and self, misconduct, tort of negligence, Vicarious Liability, teacher conduct, and teacher ethics. I have also learned that the Teaching Qualified Standard is an evaluation of a teacher’s professional growth. I have uploaded two papers that I have written in collaboration with a few peers that demonstrate my understanding of the legal frameworks and polices that provide the foundations for the Alberta Education System. The first paper focuses on the Right to Freedom of Expression and character infringement. The Right to Freedom of Expression was analyzed under section 2(b) and questioned through the Oakes Test. The second paper required my peers and I to apply three schools of ethical thought to a provided scenario. Through reasoning and concise analysis, the paper explored resolutions for the dilemma in accordance to the ATA Code of Professional Conduct.
Links and Downloads:
- LT 1 – Right to Freedom of Expression (.docx) © Thanh Huynh-Stachura (2020)
- LT 2 – ATA Code of Conduct (.docx) © Thanh Huynh-Stachura (2020)
