Friday 19 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Fifteen

Today is the last day of my undergrad placement! It was once again a super chill day, we had grade 9s first period and they had a work period so I just read the yearbook because it was being distributed that day. Next period was grade 12 which was also a work period and I just went on the computer and did some coursework. Next was lunch and it was extended a bit longer today because of a BBQ. There was a hilarious discussion about where would you go if civilization fell and they were all like I'd go to the zoo to eat the animals there. I honestly would've just let myself die because I don't want to fight against other people, and natural selection would take me out anyway. After that was grade 12 again where I just did my own coursework and answered a few questions about university. At the end of the day I left during Prep because there's nothing more for me to do. I gave her the book "Milk and Honey" and Reese's and she really liked it. Good year of placement!




Until next time!
Suzy

Thursday 18 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Fourteen

Today was a really good chill day. Started off the day with grade 9 English and it was a work period so I just read some of the essays that the grade 9s handed in that were already marked. I think it's quite laborious to mark all those below average grade 9 essays because it's all the same and mostly 75% quality. There was this one kid who said the sweetest thing, he said, "I miss Miss. Zhang's lessons" and I died. It's because they had to work on their assignments and couldn't play games with me. After that was grade 10 English and the first half of the class was a work period and the last half we watched Napoleon Dynamite. There is a kid in that class who is basically Napoleon, an uncanny resemblance. It was a pretty funny movie, surprised that I haven't seen it before. Lunch was chill and I was so glad because I was so hungry. After lunch was Prep where I just did some coursework. Last period was grade 12 and the first half was a work period and for the last bit I showed a Worth It Buzzfeed video and they loved it. One more day!





Until next time!
Suzy

Wednesday 17 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Thirteen

Today was an incredibly chill day, mostly work periods. In first period we had grade 12 English and it was a work period so I just went on the computer and did my own course work. I completed my long list of vocabulary words and formatted my Google docs until it looked just the way I liked. Next we had grade 9 applied first period and I didn't help too much because they were doing their summative. I didn't think that I could help too much because I think it was meant to be an independent assessment but I was able to watch more of "Stand by Me" which was great. During lunch we had some pretty funny conversation topics, all of which I cannot recall right now. After lunch was Prep where I just did more coursework and talked to my host teacher. During last period it was grade 12 English with the same work period. So I worked on my coursework for Health again which was pretty productive.



Until next time!
Suzy

Tuesday 16 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Twelve

Today I got to teach 2 lessons! We had grade 10 English first period and I just observed and did nothing basically. During second period I was able to teach grade 9 English and I taught a lesson about graphic texts. I started off by showing a Buzzfeed video about bullet journals and showed how it was related to graphic texts. Then I gave a handout with an infographic on it, read it out loud and also made a really cute worksheet that I read out loud as well. Gave some class time for them to work on the questions and then took them up. Finally, I gave them some time to practice bullet journal styled writing and doodles which I think was fun. Most of them didn't even know that they were low key learning because I think that they enjoyed it. After that was lunch which was nice, and then the period after I did the same thing all over again. Had some pretty great exit cards which had things like complimenting my personality and how I made English fun which was quite encouraging. And during Prep I did nothing because there's nothing more to do anymore. Fun day!



Until next time!
Suzy

Monday 15 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Eleven

Today was a pretty chill day, we had grade 9 applied English first period and they worked on their presentations and then presented them. Honestly it was so adorable because some of them were so nervous and had shaky voices and all, I couldn't help by smile the whole time. After that we watched a movie called "Stand by Me" and it was so good! We only watched maybe the first third of the movie but I really enjoyed it so far. Next period was grade 12 and we continued to watch the Marshall McLuhan documentary which I found to be quite intellectual and interesting because we related media and technology to how we are today. After that was lunch which was good, and then during fourth period we had grade 12 once again and I watched the same documentary. Last period was Prep and I made my handouts for tomorrow's lesson. I'm kind of nervous and not at the same time it's difficult to say. It took me forever trying to understand the printer and the ink got all over my arm because the paper jammed, but it all worked out and I'm ready to teach!



Until next time!
Suzy

Friday 12 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Ten

Today was one hectic day! I taught every lesson today at school. So starting with period one we had grade 9 English and I taught a lesson for the whole class, which basically was an article about the refugee crisis in America. I made one student at each table read, and if they were unwilling to read I made a spinner that was lettered from A-D which each student was assigned to a letter. That allowed fate/randomness to choose who would read because they would be unwilling if I made them. After each paragraph I roughly summarized what happened in case they weren't paying attention. I had 4 stations with questions and activities where they had to use what they learned from reading the text and apply it. Finally, I had a trivia round where I gave each group a whiteboard and marker and they had to answer questions and were assigned points. That got really competitive but I think there was a good response from the kids. At the end I had exit tickets where they could write one thing they learned or leave a message for me and I saw some pretty sweet ones like "you're a really good teacher" and "I hope you teach here at Bethune." Although, I haven't taken a look at all of them yet, those are the ones that I took a peek at.

Next period was grade 10, and I prepared a little lesson about coming of age stories, so I played hangman for the word "bildungsroman" and then I explained what that was, and then I had a short interview round where the students were free to ask us any questions. I guess that was sort of fun for them because they didn't have to work and they also were able to hear about us. Next was lunch which was a good break, at Prep I didn't really do anything. And for the final period, it was grade 9 English again where I had to do the lesson once more which was hard on my voice I guess because I lost it by the end of the class. I gave out candy at the end, and received some pretty awesome notes. How exhausting it is to be a teacher!



Until next time!
Suzy

Thursday 11 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Nine

Nope, you are not mistaken. Day eight doesn't exist because I was sick yesterday and had to take the day off. I was just completely bed ridden, head throbbing, sore throat, aching body, and all that jazz. So I decided that it would be in my best interest both physically and mentally to take the day off to rest. Today was a pretty standard day, started the day off with grade 12s and we just watched a documentary about Marshall McLuhan "the medium is the message" all that fun stuff about technology and society. It was quite advanced materially actually and I vaguely remember talking about it in first year sociology. Second period was grade 9 applied English and we finished some questions, read the end of the novel, and then I went around helping students with their summative assignments. Next was lunch and it was quite regular, less teachers today for some reason. A little bit of teacher gossip happened and I was like wow I'm in on the dirt. Just kidding, but it was funny. After that we had Prep where I just prepared for my lessons tomorrow, still need to get the white boards from Moderns tomorrow. And last period ended with grade 12 English again where I had the pleasure of watching the same documentary. That's all! Tomorrow I teach all day!



Until next time!
Suzy

Tuesday 9 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Seven

Today I was randomly overcome with the flu so I felt quite ill for the whole day, stuffy nose, sore throat, exhaustion and all that fun stuff. First period was applied grade 9 English and that was actually alright, the kids were good for the most part and those two troublemaking girls came halfway through the class. We just focused on reading the novel and answering questions. After that was grade 12 and I basically talked to Brandon the whole time and did some of my own coursework which was nice. After that was lunch, and I actually got to stay in the classroom with access to the Chromebook for the whole period because my teacher was doing a teachers versus students trivia competition. I was able to video chat Brandon and do some more course work. After that was grade 12 english where I just worked on my own homework again, and since I did not feel too good I went home early.



Until next time!
Suzy

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Six

I forgot to write on this day whoops, but I had a good day at school and time went by fast. In the grade 10 class we did some quiet time for essay writing where I just read the paper with Mrs. Anderson and man did I feel like an adult. We were reading the Toronto Star at our desks and discussing what was in the paper haha. After that she had a little activity planned where they had to make a graffiti word based on an ideology and I drew a little graffiti example on the board which was fun. I got to walk around the classroom and see what the students were doing and offer help. In the next grade 11 class, we continued the book and answered some questions then it was already lunch. Lunch was pretty chill, don't really remember since it was a while ago. After that we had grade 10 again and I drew another example of graffiti and I really enjoy writing on the chalkboard. That's all I can remember!



Until next time!
Suzy

Friday 5 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Five

Today is the last day of the week! I'm so happy that we've come to the end of the first week after a long one. Today we started with grade 12s and it was a work period so I just went on the Chromebook and looked up content for my grade 9 lesson next next week on how to read graphic texts. I also got to talk to Brandon on Facebook secretly so that was such a pleasant surprise. After that was a grade 9 applied class which was hectic. I helped some students with their paragraphs and there were these 2 girls that were so unfocused and unmotivated. They're probably going to fail the class but I tried my best to make them interested in what they were doing but because they both distracted each other and were playing with each other the whole class it was not very productive. More like me doing all the work and squeezing some information out of them so it isn't entirely me writing everything down. I also noticed a hickey on one of the girl's neck so that shows a lot about what kind of students I was helping...

During lunch it was quite pleasant, I felt more included now that I was able to contribute a little conversation about those girls I worked with and the ongoing concern about them from the perspectives of the other teachers. After lunch we had Prep where Mrs. Anderson and I talked mostly about Queen's and how it was different from when she went and when I went. I researched a little bit more for my graphic text lesson and then after that was grade 12s which was a chill work period again. I finalized my lesson plans 4/5 of them and had Mrs. Anderson review them for some feedback. I start 3/5 lessons next Wednesday which is crazy! That's like teaching an entire day.



Until next time!
Suzy

Thursday 4 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Four

It's almost the end of the week and I cannot be happier! Today was a pretty good day, started the day off with a grade 10 class where we just took up questions and read the book as usual but I just read this other book that the teacher gave me. It's a really aesthetic and cool book because it goes through the whole history of literature and major novels of each time period and I saw texts like Madame Bovary, Fleurs du Mal, Jane Eyre, etc in there which was cool to see. After that I helped out the Spanish club with their tostada sales which was fun. I recognized many students from last year and a few came to say 'hello' to me which was cute. There were different stations for the various ingredients that were going to go into the tostadas and I just "supervised" and tried to help organize that but many of them were very independent. I also went to supervise this teacher's class for the last 15 minutes, I don't know if I was allowed to but I did anyway. I just let them have free time to be honest and just scrolled the laptop for articles haha.

After that I helped out all throughout lunch, and by help I mean supervise. That pretty much lasted throughout the entire lunch, and I also got a free tostada which was nice. After that we had grade 9s and I just went to the back of the room and used the internet for my own online course which I was so glad about. I was quite productive, and I'm almost done the readings. After that was Prep where I just continued to work on my own readings again and did a little bit of lesson planning that I will do next week. I'm actually going to teach an entire day which is honestly crazy, like 3 classes. But that will put my count to 3/5 so it will make it go by faster.



Until next time!
Suzy


Wednesday 3 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Three

Today was not a bad day, we started with grade 9 in the morning which was nice. We did the usual routine of taking up questions and reading the book out loud. Towards the last half of the class I was able to help a girl work on her paragraph which she seemed to be struggling with. So we had to compare "The First Stone" to text, world, or self and I was trying to help her come up with an example. It was so rewarding to see her open up to me and reveal how her connection to the book was her involvement in fights. And she even told me that she doesn't feel like she fits in at school and that she wants to go back to Oshawa even though it's not the best place to live. I guess it is really difficult for her to feel like an outsider and stick out so much at a predominantly Asian school as someone who isn't Asian.

Next period was grade 12 and I don't really remember too well what happened. But probably similar fashion of reading the novel and answering questions, I remember talking with various people about their university choices for next year and all that fun stuff which was enjoyable. Then for lunch it was back to the staff room and it was not so bad today, and then after that we had grade 12 again and I just talked to students for most of the class about university again. Then for the last period it was Prep and I was so incredibly sleepy but I had to read some articles that I might want to teach next week and that was interesting. We'll see how tomorrow goes! Almost the end of the week!



Until next time!
Suzy

Tuesday 2 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day Two

Today was not a bad day, much better than yesterday I think. Maybe got off on the wrong foot but now I'm slowly slowly slowly getting into the swing of things. So during period one we had grade 9 English and after taking up homework questions and reading the novel, I was able to help the students with their summative in class essays. In particular, I helped this one girl who honestly reeked of smoke but I just knew that if I didn't help her with her essay, she wouldn't do it. I basically guided her through her entire essay structure and I could tell that she didn't regularly attend class and might be struggling because of her lack of understanding of what was going on. Nonetheless I tried to help her gain traction for her summative and have a general idea of what to do. I also helped this other student who I later learned was one of the weaker students in the class which was really nice actually. After that was a grade 10 class and it was similar format, answer questions then read the novel. Finally it was lunch time and it was a little awkward once again in the staff room because they talk about subjects that I cannot contribute to, however, I left early to talk with my last year teachers which I found really enjoyable. I kind of felt like crying for some reason when they asked me how everything was, maybe because I know that deep down I didn't really enjoy my first day and wasn't very optimistic about this placement compared to the great experience I had last year.

Also, with Brandon being so far away on exchange and for such a long period of time, it made me reflect that we're almost where we were at exactly one year ago. After lunch we had prep, where I just worked on my lesson plan about "coming of age." I figured out an activity and a general idea of what to present but nothing totally confirmed yet. After that was last period which was grade 9 again which followed a similar format of reading the novel and answering questions, this time I was able to help a lot more students with their summative assignment because well most students seemed very independent but there were the odd few who finally needed my help! I helped this girl who seemed like she struggled with English and also there was this guy who thought he was all that even though his work was average. He was incredibly confident in his ability and I knew that that smart mouth of his would get into trouble one day and sure enough it did when he told me that his coaches did not like him. It takes a lot of patience and understanding with these students because you never know what kind of background everyone comes from so you need to try your best to be a positive example in the 75 minutes you see them each day. I think that I will work on changing my attitude towards my placement and although it isn't giving me the experience I desire, I can create a better experience through changing my outlook and relying on God more rather than others.




Until next time!
Suzy


Monday 1 May 2017

Third Year Teaching Placement: Day One

Today was my first day of my third year teaching placement and I found it kind of disappointing actually. So the night before I had the hardest time falling asleep because I was so nervous/excited/unsure about what the next day had to offer. Some of it had to do with my host teacher not emailing me about what time to get to school, where to meet her in the morning, what to bring, etc. The morning of, I woke up, got ready, made myself some breakfast and then headed out the door. On my commute to the high school, I forgot which bus stop to get off so I mistakenly got off a stop earlier and had to walk the rest of the way which was kind of a bummer.

Upon my arrival, I went into the main office and talked with the secretary who thought I looked familiar, and she was indeed correct because I met her last year. She called down my host teacher and then I met her and followed her to the English office. It was exactly how I remembered it to be and all. She gave me a little manilla folder of all the resources for the classes, and I felt sort of unprepared going into these classes without having read the books prior. During the first period, I introduced myself and then sat to the side of the classroom to observe. It was a grade 12 class and they were reading the novel "Station Eleven" which is a post apocalyptic sort of novel. She just took up some questions and then read 2 chapters out loud. This happened in the next grade 9 class as well, and I found it to be a bit boring. This sort of teaching is what they tell you in teachers school not to do, just worksheets and then read it out loud. However, in that grade 9 class there was a kid named Brandon who you could tell was the problem student. He was never focused, and during the beginning of the class his hair gel spilled all over his backpack and I had to help him clean it up. I was later told that he comes from a single parent household, lived in a group home for a month, and has been called by the CAS several times.

After that class, we had lunch which was sort of nice because I was getting hungry by then and we went to the staff room to eat. I don't really enjoy going because I feel like it's weird and awkward and I can never really contribute to the conversation because they talk about subjects that I don't feel like I can offer any comments on. After lunch was prep where I just sat at my little desk and read the novel "Station Eleven" and attempted not to fall asleep. During the last period I did basically the same thing sit in the back, read my own book, and have her take up questions and read out loud. I hope tomorrow is more enjoyable. 14 more days to go.




Until next time!
Suzy