I wish my students knew…

After reading an article about Kyle Schwartz, a third-grade teacher from Colorado, who challenged her kids to complete the statement “I wish my teacher knew” that instantly sparked a trigger in me.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3042711/I-wish-teacher-knew-don-t-pencils-home-homework-heartbreaking-letters-graders-wrote-teacher-eye-opening-lesson.html

I teach an amazing group of Grade 6/7s this year. I think I’ve really found my niche in upper intermediate. That isn’t to say that I haven’t had my fair share of challenges either. I won’t go into detail about the behavioural dynamics of my class because I want to respect my learners. However, I will say that each child brings character into my room each morning. Some come to school each day with a bright smile, others can barely stay awake until recess, and others don’t show up 90% of the time. In fact, I haven’t had all 27 of my kids show up to school since OCTOBER! There’s always one or two, or like today, five kids away at a time for various reasons.

This year, I’ve really developed a passion for social-emotional learning. With such diversity in my class, I’ve come to realize that teaching is so much more than academics. In a nice, middle class neighbourhood, sometimes it’s hard for the parents and kids to not be so hard on themselves, not to care so much about academics.

Inspired my Kyle Schwartz, I knew I had to challenge my kids with the same statement today. I boldly wrote the statement “I wish my teacher knew…” on our class meeting agenda at the beginning of the week. I prompted my kids to think about this statement each day as our class meeting was approaching. Today, after my daily read aloud (Out of My Mind by Sharon M Draper) I asked my kids to think about that statement and make a connection to Melody, the protagonist. A girl with Cerebral Palsy who has so much trapped inside her head that she can’t express. Then, I had them write. What are some things they would want me to know? I pushed my kids to really dig deep, reflect, explore. The results were astonishing. Unlike Kyle, I choose not to share my student’s reflections because that is between me and them.

To end our class meeting, I wrote them a piece that I had prepared called “I wish my students knew…”. Needless to say, I cried. I was vulnerable, authentic, real. I think my kids really appreciated that. Some of them cried too. As I think about the next 7 weeks we have left in the school year, I think about the impression I’ve made on my kid’s lives. Did I make each interaction count? Do my students feel valued? Important? Loved by me? I hope ten, twenty years down the road my kids will still remember me. Not for the lessons I prepared, not for the cool projects we did, not for Genius Hour, not for the way technology was integrated into our classroom. I hope my students remember me for the way I tried to make them feel special and loved, each and everyday.

I wish my students knew…

I wish my students knew that I wanted to be a teacher from a very young age. I think it was Grade 4 when I had that “ah ha” moment in my life. Then, I wanted to become a veterinarian (but having allergies wouldn’t make that possible). In high school, I dreamt of being a news anchor, an entrepreneur, a computer engineer, a dance choreographer! I worked really hard to get into SFU’s business program. They only accept Grade 12 grads with an average of 86% or higher. 

I wish my students knew how crappy I felt during my first few years of university. I was always good at school. I knew how school worked. Suddenly, I was failing classes and almost put on academic probation. That’s where they kick you out of university if you don’t pick up your grades. 

I wish my students knew that I had to be brought down to such a level, where I was failing business classes in order for me to try new things and realize that teaching was meant for me. If I became a marketer or entrepreneur, I don’t think I would have been very happy. 

I wish my students knew that teachers don’t go into teaching for the money. I wish my students knew that I’ll probably have to work over the summer in order to pay for my wedding, a house, insurance, etc. I wish my students knew that I’m not ashamed of that though. I love working, I love being busy, I love trying new things & always meeting new people. I wish my students knew how much my part-time jobs since I was 15 helped me build character, strength, social skills, dealing with conflict.

I wish my students knew that I’m kind of scared to get married. Not because I don’t love my fiancé, but because I really have to be a grown up now. That stresses me out. 

I wish my students knew that teachers still get bullied. By the government; by the public. I wish my students knew that teaching is the one profession where everyone in the world thinks they know how to do our job because they went to school at some point in their lives. I wish my students knew how much love I put into everything that I do. 

I wish my students knew that I’m here, sometimes past 8pm, prepping, marking, creating, researching. I wish my students knew that I know sometimes my lessons suck. I mess up. They aren’t exciting. And when my students ask to do things differently or complain about assignments, I get self-critical. I wish my students knew that that doesn’t make me feel like a bad teacher. I think I’m a pretty good teacher a lot of the time. 

I wish my students knew, each and every day how much I care for them and love them. I wish my students knew that I’m not against them. Ever. Even when I’m disciplining them, or being constructive, & even critical sometimes. I’m never against them. I wish my students knew that I’m hard on them because I have high expectations that they CAN reach. I want to push your potential to its fullest. 

I wish my students knew that sometimes they hurt my feelings with the way they act and speak towards me. I wish my students knew that I wasn’t always this patient & it’s a skill that I really had to develop over the last 10 years!

I wish my students knew that I know about their home life. I know a lot of their background story. I wish I knew more. I wish my students knew that they shouldn’t be ashamed because of the way their families look on the outside or feel on the inside. I wish my students knew that I accept all of their faults, even if their families don’t.

I wish my students knew that I’ve made big mistakes while growing up. One of those mistakes resulted in cutting off a friend that I’ve known since Grade 3. Her and I have not spoken to each other in 8 years. 

I wish my students knew that they will make the same huge mistakes. But everything in life happens for a reason. We have purpose. We were all put on this earth for a purpose. I wish my students could believe that things will work themselves out. There are many blessings in disguise. 

I wish my students knew that I truly don’t believe in coincidences. It was not by chance that I would be your teacher this year, it was not by chance that out of the 100 Grade 6s & 7s at Dogwood, the 27 of you were chosen to be in this class. I wish my students knew that I hand-picked each and every one of you to be in this class, knowing your background story beforehand.

I wish my students knew how proud I am of them. I wish my students could step into my shoes for one day and see how far the class has come, together. I wish my students knew that there will be bumps ahead in the next 7 weeks. I wish my students knew that regardless of how much they tune me out, defy me, disrespect me, roll their eyes at me or mumble under their breath that I still love you & it doesn’t change. But that doesn’t mean you can take advantage of my kindness. 

I wish my students knew the role I play each day. I am a counsellor, an emotional punching bag, a cop, a juror/judge, a custodian, a banker, a decorator, a comedian, an artist and so much more. Each day, I don’t know what to expect. Each minute I don’t know how you will react. But regardless of it all, I love & adore & care for each one of you.

I wish my students knew how much I love being a teacher for all of these reasons. 

English is sooo easy…not!

I came across this picture today and I couldn’t help but laugh. I was totally geeking out while reciting this aloud, to no one but myself. Why did I enjoy this so much? Well, a bit about my background…I am fluent in English and semi-fluent Korean, and learned Spanish for four years in high school. I travelled to Nicaragua twice for community work in post-secondary and became the primary Spanish translator for our team. Having our French Language Teacher in my room twice a week has also helped me brush up on my French skills this year =). I also graduated from SFU as an English Major. Language is what I enjoy, and something that comes relatively easy to me. It was never something I struggled with; I just got it.

Even with my love of language, I was never an avid reader as a child but I always loved writing (which is why I struggle with condensing my blog posts). Maybe it was because I was (and still am) and only child, so I spent many days making up imaginative stories in my mind as a kid and writing them down. These creative stories turned into journals, songs and plays; in my high school years my interest in writing speeches, expository and persuasive essays also propelled. Yet all this time, my love of writing was far beyond my love of reading. It was only in my 3rd year of university where I truly began to read for pleasure. I became completely (re)fascinated with English literature and the history of this language. I loved deconstructing stories, poems, essays, and articles to find the hidden meanings left by each author. I can confidently say that I was always excited to go to class during most of my undergrad!

The English language came easy to me. I don’t even recall struggling to learn how to read. I loved to write. And given the report card comments from all of my K-7 teachers, I clearly never stopped talking either! But if you really think about it, English is probably one of the hardest languages to actually learn. Being born and raised in Canada, I never gave it much thought until I began tutoring exchange students as a teenager. How do you teach someone what the phrase, “killing two birds with one stone” means? How can you describe to a new English Language Learner idioms such as “give it to me straight” and “packed like sardines” without butchering the phrase or coming off too literally?

Now, I think back the first picture in my post – which some may describe as witty, clever, and even cute – and it makes me reflect on my class. For instance, I have four students in my class this year that are new to Canada. Two have immigrated from China in September and October. I also have one exchange student from Australia and another who has recently moved from Pakistan. I often think to myself, ‘wow, their first exposure to a Western school is in my hands’. Admittedly, I feel a lot of pressure as their teacher to make their exposure to school in North America an enjoyable one. I want each and every one of my students to love Language Arts as much as I did growing up. The reality is, it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Just as I did not enjoy reading until my early 20s, I cannot expect for all my students to love everything about school, all the time. With added complexities to our English language, it is understandable how kids (whether newly immigrated or not) have trouble with reading, writing, and oral language. My goal for 3rd term is to do my best to make Language Arts (and all subjects) accessible for my entire class of 27 kids. I need to be more mindful of teaching in a way where my students will learn best.

Once again, I often forget what it means to be a learner because English (and most of my school subjects) came easily to me. Aside from Math, which I struggled with immensely – but still enjoyed because of my amazing teachers who never gave up on me – I loved, and continue to love school. So much that I want to pursue my Masters of Education in a few years. However, as a teacher I need to constantly reflect on my struggling learners. My students who may not enjoy school, because it is hard. This last quote by Professor Rita Dunn sums everything up beautifully. How are you reaching your students? Do you cater your teaching style to their learning, and not vice versa? That is something I need to reflect on, each and everyday…

Unfinished Business

So anybody who knows me, knows that I’m a really big geek at heart. I say this with pride because being a “geek” to me is about being passionate and finding things in this world that are intriguing to you that may not be intriguing to others. It’s displaying excessive enthusiasm about a certain subject or activity.

For example, when I really like something or find something fascinating I can become quite obsessive. I really give it my all.

Things I geek out about:
1. Candy Crush (despite the fact that I’ve been stuck on level 167 for almost 5 months…I’m not even exaggerating, it’s pathetic)
2. Being organized, colour-coding, matching, patterning, sequencing (yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s a word or syndrome for that…)
3. Reality TV & gameshows (such as Jeopardy, and only Jeopardy)

I won’t bore you with all my geekiness, or embarrass myself any further. But I will go into my enthusiasm for competitive reality TV. I promise this has something to do with teaching…eventually.

The Food Network. Now, I can’t cook to save my life which is why I love the food network so much. It gives me an escape where I am in constant awe of what some amazing chefs can create with simple ingredients. (Once again, I swear by the end of this post there’s some nugget that ties into my teaching pedagogy). My favourite shows on the Food Network are the reality-type shows where chefs have to compete under a strict time constraint. Master Chef, Hells Kitchen, Chopped, and I’m even shamed to admit, Guy’s Grocery Games. Maybe it’s my competitive nature coupled with my inability to cook and my fascination with reality TV that draws me into shows like these. 

As I vegetate after a long 10 to 12-hour day, I watch these competitive cooking shows intently. I make up my mind within the first few minutes of which competitors I like and dislike. There are those that I’m rooting for and those I am not. My favourite moment in shows like Master Chef and Chopped is when they count down the final 10 to 15 seconds on the clock before they have to step back from their plate. 10, 9, 8…I’m literally holding my breath at times. 7, 6, 5…I feel anxious for the chefs who just aren’t going to make it. 4, 3, 2…oh my gosh…1! I exhale. A majority of times, these skillful chefs finish their plates. Sometimes with pride, sometimes with moments of regret. Some realizing they forgot an ingredient only after the clock stopped. And a few failing to complete their dishes altogether.

Now this started to trigger my meta cognitive teaching hat. As I watch these chefs compete I think about the many abilities in my classroom. I’m working on my time management during my lessons this term being mindful of the large range of abilities in my Grade 4/5 class. In the allotted time I give for an assignment some of my students rush through their work, finishing in half the time I have given. I try to challenge them, push their thinking. My favourite phrases are, “Did you check over your work?” and “Add more detail!”, as I am scrambling together a list of what-to-do-next activities. Then, there are those students who take their time, and are elaborate in their work. I also have a handful who have trouble finishing their work in the given time and it carries over to the next day and the next…and the next. Some of my students have unfinished work from first term!

There are also many moments where I “rush” my students to finish because they have to get ready for P.E., or French, or dismissal. Many times I’ve catch myself saying, “Quick! You folks need to move faster! We’ve got to get going!” And I can see it in my student’s faces and body language that they are flustered and getting more anxious as I try to rush them through the million transitions we have in a school day.

I think back when I was watching Master Chef Canada the other night and the judges were rushing the contestants. Some chefs became so incredibly flustered they could not even comprehend what they were supposed to cook next. The result most of the time? Failure. I began to think, is THIS how my students feel when I rush their work? I realized two things as I continued to watch Master Chef. First, you can’t rush the process. I know I am rushing my students at times…yet I’m shamed to admit that I do it anyway, because of time constraints. Two, I realize that I also do the polar opposite. I leave things unfinished because I, as a teacher, forget to make time in my day plan to complete unfinished business. What do I mean by this? Well, I like to start very ambitious projects. Projects that my students get excited about. Projects they are engaged in. Then, we move on with our day, leaving the project unfinished. Sometimes it could be an art project, other times a group presentation. I forget to change classroom jobs and math buddies, don’t get around to making better labels for their baskets…My students are awesome at reminding me, multiple times throughout the week of all of our unfinished business. I realize that by leaving work unfinished, it’s inadvertently telling my kids that I don’t value their work. Ouch.

I always put reminders up on my whiteboard of things to do/complete. I feel as the term goes on, that list of things to finish gets longer and longer. The result? My students can lose interest. Time has passed, it’s over and done with. Another assignment Ms Song never got around to completing. This crushes me because I do value their work, tremendously. My excuse for leaving work unfinished? I don’t have one. Just like the chefs who don’t get to complete their work, I know deep down many students may feel dissatisfied and discouraged if their work is left to the sidelines for too long.

So what am I going to do about it? My goal is to slow down. Give my kids time. Ample amounts of it while being able to challenge the ones that always finish early. My second goal? Don’t start a new project until I’ve finished the last. At this point in time, I’ve jumped right into Chinese New Year art before finishing a magazine art project we started two weeks ago. Oh boy, another one of my #firstyearteacherproblems. I’m trying to teach my students to take their time and put their best effort forth. But how can they if I never get around to giving them more time to work, collaborate, reflect, or grow? It’s important for me to show them I am just as excited about starting a project – as I am looking at the process – as I am finishing the project. So as I prepare my class for Student-Led Conferences in a couple of weeks, I’m going to revisit the value of taking your time, putting 120% effort into your work, and allowing my kids to take pride in the work that they’ve accomplished. But it has to start with me.

Culture of Creativity

Today was an incredible day for me as an educator. All day I was in awe at the level of creativity, innovative thinking, and problem solving my kids did on their own. I cannot count the amount of times I did the happy dance (yes, both in my head and in front of the kids). Today my class spent the entire school day on a One Day Creation. A mini Genius Hour, if you will. After a short week of brainstorming, planning, and making blueprints, my Grade 4/5s had the opportunity to explore and create something they were passionate about. All. Day. Long. I challenged my students to make a creation that had a deep purpose. Something innovative. Something that made them think to themselves, ‘Why isn’t there an invention for this yet?’. Here’s a few of the One Day Creations I’d like to share:

(Due to privacy & protecting their identity I am creating pseudonyms for each student)

Pickles

Pickles is a quirky, creative, neat kid. He has wild ideas and can lead the class into amazing (and I mean, amazing) tangents during discussions. Having said that, he is also conscientious and a hard worker. For such an innovative student, I was surprised by how much difficulty Pickles had during the planning/brainstorming phase of his One Day Creation. He changed his mind multiple times and said he couldn’t find anything he was passionate about. Even up until yesterday, Pickles had no idea what he was going to create. Enthused and beaming, he walked in this morning with a huge smile on his face! His ODC? A magnet attached to all of his jackets and a magnetic wall in his room. I think you could put the pieces together. He wanted to find a way to hang up his clothes (the lazy way) by throwing his jackets against the wall instead of leaving them on the floor! Clever? Yes. Did it make me burst out laughing? YES! I thought it was brilliant. As I reflected on Pickles and the difficulty he had thinking of a creation I knew he was afraid of failure. He wanted to think of something that would be successful. Did his invention work? Absolutely. But my goal for this week and rest of the term is to help Pickles and all of my students understand the importance of the process, rather than the product. Sometimes, it’s good to fail.

H

H is a quiet, thoughtful student who demonstrates analytical thinking but often stays silent apart from recess and lunch when she is with her friends. She enjoys her independence and is shy to ask questions. H spent her day creating a solar-powered reflective jacket. She spent the morning tirelessly glueing on little solar-powered patches to her garment. H had to use problem solving skills while putting it together because the patches were falling off easily. After getting the patches to stay on, she charged it up outside and with some flashlights. The result? It totally worked! Her jacket had a dim glow by the end of the afternoon. You know what was even better? The smile on her face when she had the opportunity to present her One Day Creation to her peers.

Nike

Nike is a vibrant, energetic student. He is passionate, vocal, and expresses his love of learning. Nike is also thoughtful of others and very self-aware. Like Pickles, Nike had a hard time committing to one idea. He first wanted to make a robot toy to keep his younger sisters entertained (mostly so they wouldn’t annoy him so much =)). However, after brainstorming, he decided to create a website for them or an educational app as a backup plan. He came to school well prepared, laptop and iPad mini in hand. The only problem? Our terrible Wi-fi connection. After hours of failed attempts of accessing the Internet, Nike was on the verge of tears. I tried my iPad, classroom computer, and even pulled out my own Macbook Pro for him. Still..no connection. We sent Nike to the Computer Lab, which was occupied. We sent him down the hall because another teacher said she had a strong Wi-fi connection; her room was packed. By this point it was nearly 11 o’clock and Nike had given up. “It’s just not going to work, Ms Song. There’s just no point in trying anymore. I can’t do my One Day Creation” he mumbled. This broke my heart. As an educator, we wear many hats. I am there to teach, yes. But I am also there to comfort. I pulled Nike aside and told him that he was not a failure and that this hiccup was out of his control. He did the very best he could and gave 200%. He did NOT give up the first, second, third, twentieth, thirtieth try. How inspiring is that? How many times, as adults do we give up after one attempt? I know I’m definitely guilty of that. After seeing Nike in his discouraged state, another boy, Bike, asked me if Nike could help him on his One Day Creation, without hesitation. I said yes and yet again, did another happy dance. A happy dance for Nike who didn’t give up the first time. A happy dance that there’s a culture of love and respect in my classroom where we help others in need. At the end of the day, both Nike and Bike took great pride in their ODC that they made, together.

Today was a powerful day for my students to take ownership of their learning. I wish I could share all of the amazing One Day Creations the 27 of them made. Today was also a powerful day for me as a teacher. Being in my first year of teaching, I often feel discouraged because I’ve pushed another unit back, or because my Math lesson wasn’t as engaging as I would have liked it to be. Or because there are so many amazing, inspiring things more experienced teachers are doing, and I so badly want to do them too but can’t. I knew making these One Day Creations would empower my students. I cannot count on both hands the amount of times I heard “Do we have to go out for recess?” or “Ms Song, why are you making us take a brain break? I just want to work on my project!” and “Time flies when you’re having fun!”. I realize that although I don’t have this teaching business down to a T, I don’t think I ever will or want to. I learned the value of fostering a culture of creativity, inquiry, and passion in my classroom. Today, I learned that the curriculum can wait. I learned that huge risks give way to huge reward. And today, I felt rewarded.

So I declare, that I want to keep stumbling in my career. That is what humbles me. That is what makes me want to be better for my students. That is what helps me stay reflective, to take risks and challenge myself each and every day. I realize that as a perfectionist, I can’t strive for perfection in teaching. What would be the fun of being a ‘perfect’ teacher anyway? Is there such a thing? If there is, I know that I don’t want to be one. I want to be a teacher that empowers my students, to love learning, to challenge themselves academically, to be socially and emotionally responsible, to explore their passions, to be creative, to take risks, to make mistakes like I do and fail, and learn from it.

The Learning Curve is How Steep?

My blog has taken the backseat for a couple of weeks but with good reason, I promise!

Last Friday the 13th 😉 I accepted my first full-time teaching contract until the end of the school year! I’m at an amazing school (right in my old neighbourhood) teaching Grade 4/5! I have dreamt about teaching this age group for years! The admin and staff have gone above and beyond to help me settle in, the students are energetic and surprise me every day. Not to mention how encouraging it has been to see such parent involvement. Aside from my 12-to-13 hour days, I leave my classroom each night and wake up each morning excited to teach again.

Needless to say, a lot of learning has been happening over the past few weeks. I’m learning how to juggle a combined class. I’m learning how to nurture and foster a caring community of learners. I’m learning how to support my ELL students and other students with needs to the best of my ability. I’m learning how to become a BYOD classroom the right way, and use technology to transform learning instead of replacing it. I’m learning how to create engaging, hands-on, minds-on lessons. I’m learning how to navigate around the supply and storage rooms. With learning comes appreciation. I’m appreciating my amazingly incredible Learning Support team. I’m appreciating my students asking curious and even silly questions. I’m appreciating the opportunity to take risks with technology. I’m even appreciating my oddly-staggered chalkboards that elevate in 3-tiers…it’s so strange, only a picture would do justice. Lastly, I’m humbled. Yet again. I’m humbled by the fact that I don’t have all the answers. I’m humbled when my math lessons go awry. I’m humbled when my student’s correct my punctuation because I tend to forget apostrophes on words such as don’t, and periods at the ends of my sentences. I’m humbled when a student yawns because that’s when I know I’m talking too much.

But with great challenges comes great reward. I feel rewarded each and every day I am in my classroom. Right now, I’m still taking baby steps. There are many days where I think to myself, ‘The learning curve is HOW steep?’. Nevertheless, I’m asking lots of questions and receiving a ton of support! I am also finding joy in the little things like when my Shape of the Day headers got laminated by our wonderful PAC. Or the time I had enough magazine holders for each subject duo tang. Or yesterday, when I finally received a document camera! Now that was like Christmas day =). But that is incomparable to the joy and excitement I get when my students have that ah-ha moment. Or when they say, “Oh! I totally get it now!”. Not to mention, when their faces light up because they’re pumped to write creative short stories! It’s moments like these that make my passion for teaching unquenchable. It’s moments like these that make the additional 6-hours of prep work after a long school day bearable. (Our lovely custodians definitely know my name by now). 

So, as I continue to learn, appreciate, and be humbled by the first weeks of having my own classroom, I am thankful. Thankful to be part of an amazing school community. Thankful for the resources and my mentors. Thankful for my students. Thankful for my family who still cook dinner for me on days I walk in the door at 8:30pm. Finally, I leave with a wonder. I wonder what I will learn from my students tomorrow? 

Ready, Set, Go!

First of all, I am not going to apologize about how scattered this reflection is. Blogging is a huge challenge for me and is something I only started to explore last year. Rather, I hope you are encouraged by my humble words from someone who is learning and growing each day.

Exactly one year (and one day) ago, I was at home frantically putting together the final touches of my unit plans for my 405 practicum. I remember finding out just days prior that I would be teaching a multi-age cluster class of Grade 5, 6, and 7 students. What?! How is that even possible? But a full year later I never imagined I would be where I am today.

Let’s backtrack a little. After finishing the Professional Development Program at SFU last December, I went back for the final semester of my undergrad. With new experiences under my belt I was ready to tackle my last three upper-level English courses. I must say, it was hard to concentrate on school when all I wanted to do was go out there and teach! Working on my resume and portfolio took precedence over 15-page research papers; I spent hours on end obsessing over font size and formatting. Not to mention, I was extremely discouraged receiving no calls back from any of the districts I applied to. I started to doubt myself and lacked faith in my abilities as a teacher. As person after person in my module was getting hired before me, I was extremely discouraged.

During this time, I also volunteered at my old high school (#fhlearn) and thought to myself, what am I doing here? But Valerie Lees (@v_lees) really challenged, encouraged, and mentored me during this time.

After writing the very last final of my undergrad

Fast forward a few months. Suddenly it was April 19th. I submitted my last paper, wrote my last final. Ever. I had been a full-time student every semester since 2007,  and suddenly it was all over. It was bittersweet. More bitter because I still had no job and…no job. The next two and a half weeks were gruelling. I spent hours cleaning my house, going to the gym, and watching reruns of The Ellen Degeneres Show. The most exciting thing I accomplished during those two weeks was running in the Vancouver Sun Run! Then, I got into a car accident. Rear ended on my way to drop off another application. I fell back into a funk, unmotivated to do anything at this point.

So now we’re in May. It’s May 6th to be exact. The day I was hired as a L.I.F. Support Teacher at Forsyth Road Elementary (woo hoo! Go Falcons!). Aside from two days of TTOCing, I went straight into a full-time contract until the end of the school year. (I promise to blog about my incredible experience as the L.I.F. Teacher another time).

I’m going to fast forward to present time now. After running into an awesome FA (@gallit_z) at the SFU parking lot today, I felt encouraged to blog again. If I reflect on the past year of my life, I can only say that there’s a time for everything. And I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason! Had I been hired right in December, I most likely would’ve had to postpone my undergrad for an additional semester. I wouldn’t have been able to convocate with my cohort nor would I have received my Professional Teaching Certificate. Also, with three upper-level English courses, I don’t think I could’ve given my all to TTOCing or school if I had to do both. I was hired by an amazing principal (@davison_carol) who was confident in my abilities; someone who really believed in me. And I was hired into my dream district!

Okay, so where’s the nugget? What am I actually trying to say? I am truly grateful for each and every one of my experiences. I feel extremely blessed to be in such a humbling profession. I had inspiring educators who believed in me when I felt hopeless. Not to mention, some AMAZING 405 students who left me with a book of encouragement letters (#gvlearn)! Nothing I accomplished was of my own doing. As I start the year off as a TTOC I’m going to bring that with me, every school I go to. There’s a lot of uncertainty walking into a new classroom everyday, not knowing the staff or the students. Afraid of how everyone might receive you. But we are human! We get nervous, anxious; we worry too! I want my students to know that I AM HUMAN! I make mistakes! I doubt myself all the time! But I pick myself back up (with help, of course) and I learn from it. I grow as an individual; I grow as a teacher.

So ready, set, go! I have my safety kit all packed and I’m off to TOC for a very, very, VERY awesome teacher (@TeacherRempel) tomorrow. Funny how a full year later I go from being a student teacher in her class to being her teacher teaching on call!

I am passionate about growing and learning each and every day. So I am declaring to the world of WordPress and Twitter that I will try to blog…at least once a month. Please keep me accountable =)

PJ Day w/ some of my kids from 405

Embracing the Change

Schools aren’t like what they used to be. When I was in elementary school, the use of technology was foreign to students and teachers alike. During our Computer blocks we learned how to type with all ten fingers. If we wanted to do a research project, we would go to the library and use an encyclopedia to gather information. We had all the tools but didn’t know what to do with them; we didn’t know how to use them effectively. For the past month, I have been Student Teaching at a wonderful school that embraces technology. Class sets of iPads, allowing students to utilize their iPod touches, creating iMovies, and using laptops for something other than All The Right Type…at first, this was overwhelming!

I grew up in a generation where the spark of this trend just started to ignite towards the end of my highschool years. Yes, I used the Internet to do research but I hadn’t even heard of Facebook until 2007. By the time I entered university, the integration of technology had spread like wildfire but that was normal; we were all young adults using technology for our benefit. But I never thought I would see it used in elementary schools this soon. I remember thinking to myself, how is it that these kids are adapting so quickly? I mean, I just bought an iPhone last month and that in itself was life changing! (Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit…but I do love my iPhone 5 :D)

As I spend more time collaborating with teachers and colleagues, exploring social networking sites such as Twitter, and now starting my own blog and eportfolio, I feel as though I’m finally embracing the change and the movement towards integrating technology in the classroom. Yes, there are many precautions we should make known to our students such as cyber bullying, chat rooms, or even forgetting the good old pencil to paper writing techniques. I am not diminishing their significance by any means. But I think it’s time to start using the resources we have available to us to enhance the learning experience for our students. If we focus on the positives rather than reprimanding our students for using their iPod touches in class to Google the definition of a word rather than using a dictionary, I think the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages any day.

As a prospective teacher, I am excited to bring technology into my classroom! I still have a lot to learn…not only about technology but teaching in general. But I guess that’s why we are called life-long learners =)