Reflections

The blog entry that stood out most for me was Education Philosophy Interview with Jason from October 17. While I was quite confused and unsure of what to do when we were first given the task of finding four objects that represented our education philosophy, this activity ended up being one of the more memorable events in the course. Thinking about how my educational attitudes and beliefs could be represented by objects was sorta weird at first but when I found my objects and had the opportunity to explain them to Jason, I was very satisfied and notably happy. I found that associating my beliefs to something concrete really helped me cement my education philosophy in my mind. Seeing Jason’s objects and listening to him explain what each of them meant to him was also interesting. I was nice to hear what he thought was were some of the most important aspects of education and comparing them to my own. I’m not sure if these were the intended outcomes of the interview activity (sort of seemed like it was supposed to be a lesson on interviewing skills) but this is what stuck with me.

Two things that changed:

1. I see myself more as a teacher of students and not just a teacher of math/physics
2. I realize that I have a lot to learn

Two things that have stayed the same:

1. I am very happy with path that I have chosen
2. Getting to classes on time is difficult (This will not be a problem when I start my long practicum!)

Inquiry Article

Title: A Special Kind of Tutor

Author: Linda Brown Anderson

Publication: Teaching Pre K-8

Year of Publication: 2007

Description: Anderson describes how cross-age tutoring can not only increase learning for both tours and tutees but build up a sense of community in the school. She explains how contrary to what many may believe, the tutor benefits the most from tutoring. The most shocking thing about the article is that Anderson teaches students with emotional and behavioural disorders and she implements the peer-tutoring program with these students as tutors. She goes on to say that these students showed improved academic performance following their tutoring. She also describes three successful models in place in the US in both elementary and secondary schools. It may be important to note that this study was done on elementary-aged children.

Questions from Class

On Late Assignments:
While we cannot deduct marks for late assignments, are we able include work habits in our grading criteria where handing in assignments on time would be taken into account?


On Testing Practices:
How effective is having multiple versions of a test within a single classroom at reducing the amount of cheating? Will students find a way to cheat no matter what you do?

Is having a test that takes students the entire block to complete too stressful for students? Or is it better to have a shorter test taking maybe half the block leaving the remainder of the class for other activities?


On Assessment:
Should students who know their material be required to complete all homework assignments? Would it be good to make homework optional and have it considered more as practice questions rather than a form of assessment? Or would that lead to many who need the practice not doing the work because of the lack of extrinsic motivation?

Can students still find value in homework assignments if we don't mark it? Or should we be marking all homework assignments?

Should effort and student ability be considered when marking tests?

Refocusing Our Efforts

Throughout the article, I thought of my experience in high school and what motivated me and from what I remember, from grade 8 to grade 11, how I did on tests was important to me but it was not my primary motivation. For the subjects that I was interested in, it was the intrinsic motivation the pushed me. It think it is important to note that in grade 12, the extrinsic motivation of marks and competition became a big factor in my efforts in school. I wanted the high marks to get into university and I am confident that this I am not the only one that felt this way. I also think this is quite interesting and possibly puzzling that I feel that of all my years of schooling, this was the time that I learned the most. While my grades in that year were the highest I’ve had, I would not say that is the reason why I consider this to be the period of the most learning for me. I think that I say that I learned the most in this period because I believe I have retained the most information. Thinking about the importance of the grade 12 year, I wondered how their study would have gone if they had chosen a Physics 12 class instead of Physics 11. I was glad to see that they mentioned this at the end in their reflections. I think changing the focus to learning will be tough and I think, as pointed out in the last line, that it requires changing the culture of grading.

Using Research to Analyze, Inform, and Assess Changes in Instruction

The first part of the article that stood out for me was when she talked about how she “viewed instructional strategies as hit or miss” but how she had “come to realize that research can inform the selection and implementation of instructional strategies and, as a result, make a huge difference in whether a strategy hits or misses.” This stood out for me because I have heard many times this year that it is inevitable that some our lessons will flop. Taken the wrong way, one could easily just take a flopped lesson to mean that it just wasn't a good day and fail to reflect. I think that it is important to remember that while your lessons may not work out as well as you may have hoped, there is often something that we can adjust that can improve the likelihood of that lesson being effective. With our lessons, it is important to think about why something worked our didn't work so we can change our selection and implementation of instructional strategies.

What was also interesting was the section about higher-level thinking and how he implemented these higher-level questions into his class. In my experience, if you go through any math textbook or test, you will find very few questions requiring deeper thought. We did go through Bloom’s taxonomy in another course but, honestly, I don’t think I would have even considered it when writing a test or assignment just because it is something so uncommon in most math classes. This article really got me to think about how important it is to promote this critical thinking.

Inquiry Project - Student Leadership

What is your question and how did it arise for you?

What are the impacts of increasing student leadership in schools?
How can we improve and implement student leadership programs?

Why is your question significant (to you and/or to others)?

I currently am part of a youth leadership development program at the YMCA and the practicum coordinators at Tupper have recently implemented a student leadership program aimed at involving students in the development of student teachers.

I hope that my findings are able to show how leadership opportunities affects students involvement in schools and if there are any other positive (or negative) outcomes.

What resources will you draw on to explore your question?? (e.g. journal, readings, curriculum/policy documents)

journals, readings, interviews with students and teachers

What do you expect to find out?

I expect to find examples of student leadership programs which have been implemented in secondary schools in North America and how these have impacted the students and the school community. I hope to be able to get these findings from both a researcher, teacher and student perspective.

Reading the Inner Life of the Young Person

I found many parts of this article very relatable. I could easily identify with the students who felt embarrassed for being recognized for doing well. As a student, I did well on math contests which were required for the accelerated math program I was in. When I would be recognized in grade assemblies, I would feel that I was put into the same category as other students who were often considered uncool and often talked about negatively by my peers. I would feel good for doing well and having my name in a plaque but I what was more important to me was how my peers viewed me. When grade 9 ended and I was no longer required to take these exams, I stopped. I didn't want others to know that I would be volunteering spending time doing math. 

I agree with the van Manen’s assertion that “ a good teacher is able to read, as it were, the inner life of the young person.” Looking at my situation above, I believe that our approach as teachers should not be to stop recognizing the efforts of students but to do so in while being sensitive to students’ relationships with their peers. At the same time, I believe we should try our best to remove this uncool stigma attached to math contests and similar activities.