Educators implement effective planning, instruction, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development.
Standard 5 and myself had some growing pains in my second practicum and again in my 10 week practicum when I was getting used to unit planning. I am great at creating inclusive classroom environments that are respectful and foster student learning and development. The behind the scenes planning was a growth area for me because I was used to planning for 3 hour blocks and found myself always planning too much for one class and it would throw off my unit plan because it would push everything back. I was used to being able to teach content and then fit in lots of activities but in an hour and a half class I had to re examine my teaching methods and embed my assessment opportunities into activities while planning activities that teach the content. This made me look to my unit plan and how I needed it to be more detailed so it could guide me in my weekly plans which could then guide me in my daybook. This planning strategy paid off because I was able to bring SO many hands on learning opportunities into the classroom and my students really appreciated it.
In my Human Geography class, we did an ocean simulation. This took a lot of planning at home because it required me emptying my entire Tupperware cabinet and bringing all of it to school so each table pair could do their own experiment. I brought many things from home including cereal, paper straws, sprinkles, and bits of plastic. All of these things represented something that was polluting the ocean. This particular demo I have done before during my second practicum and through my planning stages I shifted it to include everyone in the process by making it a pair activity instead of something I did in front of the class. I made this adaptation because I wanted the entire class to be able to participate and have that aspect of experiential learning.
During the Middle Ages unit, the grade eights made their own Magna Carta in Social Studies. This took precise planning on my part because I had to give them enough time to build the document with guided instructions, have them take it home to make it look old and I had to go to Michaels and buy wax and a wax stamper so we could wax seal them in class. This was something every student could do because it was rules set for themselves by themselves. This was a very inclusive activity where they could also be creative and practice the FPPL “Learning requires exploration of one’s identity”. This took lots of planning ahead of time because I had to look at school rules about fire (lighter for the wax sealer) and how much contribution students could make when being around the melting wax.
I am prepared that in my first years of being a teacher that standard 5 will be a major focus for me so I can achieve the success I know I am capable of.