Standard 1

Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.

It is no mistake that the fist line in the description of Standard 1 is “Educators have a privileged position of power and trust.” I do consider it a privilege to be in the classroom working with learners each and everyday. Recognizing this privilege I’ve been entrusted with motivates me to work incredibly hard in all aspects of the profession. Whether its marking work, building worksheet templates, writing emails, or organizing paperwork, I consider myself incredible lucky, and am grateful for every minutes I am trusted with these responsibilities. Building meaningful, authentic relationships with learners is a critical step in recognizing this position of power and trust.

One of my main focuses is prioritizing and meeting the social, emotional need of learners above all else. I make a genuine effort to engage with and get to know each learner on a deep level, and devote a significant amount of time both in and outside of the classroom to do so. Learners always have a chance to engage with myself, as well as their peers in meaningful ways in my classrooms.

Exemplars from EDUC 491 Practicum:

Creating lit-circle groups — I started out making random groups with the popsicle sticks, and then switched people around so everyone would have at least one friend in their group, one person I’d never seen them talk to in their group, as well as distributed students so that each group had a diverse range of skills and needs.

 

Watching the sun come up with a few of my learners before class — my room was made available as a safe space before school, during lunch, and after school each and everyday. This was a safe space to work, eat lunch, or just hang out.

 

29 Jan

  • In both p3 and p4 took a whole day to introduce myself, have the class write about themselves to intro themselves to me, and did community building activities.

5 Feb

  • Help students who were anxious about the fitness run remain calm and feel safe in the environment

6 Feb

  • Had one on one meeting with each student to check in, regardless of how they were doing academically
  • Had longer meetings with students who require academic support via an LA block – tried to put anxieties at ease about the upcoming novel study. – told them that we are listening to the audiobook and that everyone will be able to have success in the class, and will not need to take their work home, or even to LA, as long as they are putting in the effort in class.

6 Feb

  • Student told me they were going to Mexico for a week tomorrow. They asked for any work they will miss. Instead of given them a week’s worth of work, I set up a meeting time with them when they get back to go over the work, and have made myself available before, during, and after school in my room for them to come in and work on it.

13 Feb

  • With a major upcoming sporting event, a number of students will be away for all of next week – I took some extra time to prepare different materials for them that will be more comprehensive & easier to complete without teacher assistance/facilitation, but have the same learning objectives and outcomes

14 Feb

  • Each and every day I make myself available to my student before school, during lunch, and after school for support. This has been ongoing for all of practicum, and will continue until its conclusion

6 March

  • Have decided to move 4 student’s seats. These four now have an assigned seat until Spring Break. While I have encouraged student ownership of learning, used extrinsic motivation of grades, and contacted parents, these four do not do any work in class
  • I have decided that to help them succeed while in the room, they will not chose where they sit – worked really well today and I did not have any pushback

Throughout my practicum

  • Opened up my class to all students since I already had some coming in to complete missing work
  • By the end of the practicum I had about 6-10 students who chose to spend their lunch hour in my room, as it is a safe place for them to sit and eat either by themselves or with their friends.