Discussion results

I realized in the discussion just how easy it is, as Leanna said, to go into a discussion with a "truth:" I picked my topic because it is something I have a strong opinion on, and it is easy to try and pass on that opinion rather than let the students develop their own opinion. Thanks to some good feedback, I was able to realize that as information was presented that began to contradict my ideas/opinion, I was quick to jump in with more information and ideas to try and move the discussion more in my direction, or try and move things along. I wasn't even doing it consciously; I just reacted in the moment, and it was only in retrospect that I was able to see what I was doing.

It just highlighted for me that in discussion, it's important that we present information (from different viewpoints if possible) and don't reveal our biases or opinions; and as much as possible let the students develop their own ideas. Then maybe at the end, if there is a strong message that is necessary to pass on, try and incorporate it into the wrap up - but on questions where there is no clear or "right" answer (just listening to the topics brought up, that seemed to often be the case) to let the students process the info and discussion points, talk about it later with friends/family, look up info if they're motivated/interested, and formulate their own opinions.

post from Mar to discussion group

Group B - Leah, Don, Liane, Adam
Sex Education that Works:It is widely accepted that young people have a right to sex education, partly because it is a means by which they are helped to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. http://www.avert.org/sexedu.htm

Did anyone learn anything from that activity?

I'm at home laughing at myself - what a whirwind intro to alternative assessment practices (I really just didn't want the cookies to go bad for Tuesday's class). So here is an example of alternative assessment:
What did you learn from that activity? (I'm meaning about assessment but you can include what you might have learned about how to run an activity in class if you so choose). Did I make any sense? What did you take away from that lesson and what questions do you still have regarding assessment (asking for questions tells you where students are in the process).
PS I will also give you a shortened version of the powerpoint on Tuesday!

Discussion Group Topic -Group A

Hello Group A (Suzan, Rob, Will, Drew, and Vanessa(and me Ashley))Ok, I just wanted to get some feedback on my discussion topic because it is fairly heated and I wanted to give you guys a choice.
My first pick in order to keep you guys discussing for a full 15 min is the Lebanon-Israel Conflict
If it is cool with you guys I will use this as my discussion topic the link is
BBC News Q&A
If you think it might be too difficult or too controversial or you just don't want to talk about it we can do my second topic which is equally as exciting Historiography, including "what is history?" "how do we look at the author's objectivity/subjectivity?" "what can what is written about in history tell us implicitly about the historical event it is talking about?"
To learn more about historiography click this link
Historiography
I will photocopy either of these options for us depending on which topic you prefer.

Take care of yourself

This seems to be a good place to share how you all plan to take care of yourselves during your practicum. There will be lots of work, but in order to be successful it is essential that you take care of yourself. What kind of support systems do you have or will you arrange? What things will you let slide (that are healthy to let slide...)? What will you do for fun?

What do you know about assessment?

We've all experienced assessment throughout our lives. What has your own personal experience with assessment been? What kinds of assessments did you experience in high school? What is the purpose of assessment?

A couple of things...

1. I fixed the blog so that only invited members to our blog can now comment (I had clicked on the wrong choice previously - so anyone with a blogger account could comment - sorry!)
2.In planning your discussion for Friday - refer to Bloom's taxonomy as well.
3. Your discussion groups for Friday will be as follows:
Group A - Ashley, Rob, Will, Suzan, Drew, Vanessa
Group B - Leah, Don, Liane, Adam, Mar
Group C - Anna, Steve, Alan, Lisa, Lara, Mark
4. I also have had 2 groups of three approach me for co-teaching next Friday - so there is room for 1 more group of three.
5. Here is the link to the BC Prescribed Learning Outcomes (& lesson ideas) - these are the skills and concepts that guide what you teach in your classroom. I will bring a few hardcopies into class yet.
See you tomorrow!

How about teaching styles

I thought perhaps another helpful topic to push us forward in our thinking about our roles as teachers would be to have you respond to what teaching styles work best for you to learn; how can you incorporate the various teaching styles into your subject area; or why should we consider and use all the various styles. What will you struggle with when incorporating another teaching style.
I will share my resistance to direct teaching: I get nervous about lecturing for a number of reasons. For starters, lecturing suggests that I have all the information (which I do not!!! Not even on a topic that I know a lot about). I am not an auditory learner, so lecturing feels ineffective to me (remember this is my resistance - not a truth about learning in general). I also believe that direct teaching establishes a power imbalance (one that can not be escaped completely, and is sometimes important in order to establish classroom expectations and rules). Finally, although attention is nice, I prefer not to be the center of learning - I would rather be on the outskirts watching the possibilities unfold.
That said - there is still very important reasons to use direct teaching. I thought I would share my weaknesses first!

GROUP WORK BITES BACK

I'm just fresh from class and wanted to say a couple things about direct/indirect learning.
I think this is a tricky area especially when we think of indirect learning as "group work." I, for one, was and can be absolutely terrified of group work. My entire degree (English) was done almost entirely without a stick of group work - the classes were structured around lectures, note-taking, and essays. I was comfortable with that, but at times didn't feel challenged. When I took an Environmental Studies course in my last semester for some variety, I nearly dropped the class when I learned of the daily group discussions we would be required to have and the large group project at the end. Luckily I decided to take up the challenge and learned some valuable things about myself and the environment. Furthermore, I felt like I was actually doing something that affected the real world, rather than talking about form and style and why Margaret Atwood is God.
So far I have found that education courses at UVIC are heavy on the group work. As my teachable subject is English, I was required to take 3 education courses as prerequisites last year. In at least one of the classes we were broken into different groups daily and asked to complete some task. This became a chore because it was used so much and was so predictable. The class became monotonous and stale, much like Matt's math class at Oak Bay High.
Obviously, there needs to be a balance between lectures, group work and a variety of other exciting options out there. I'm looking forward to learning how I can incorporate a variety of teaching styles, while still maintaining a certain level of comfort amongst my students.

learning about mud

Employment sites

Here are some key links regarding Teacher on Call or Teaching jobs:

School district 61 Employment opportunities
School district 62 (Sooke) Employment opportunities
School district 63 (Saanich) Employment opportunities

Jobs in BC
Jobs in Alberta

Please add any other sites that you think might be helpful regarding jobs.