Category: EDUC 390

Observational Report #4
Mrs. Sara McManus
School of Education, University of Northern British Columbia
EDUC 390: Observational Practicum
Melanie Baerg, M.Ed. – Lecturer
November 23, 2021

Dear Observational Diary,

Today I was at School B, the junior school. My Teacher Candidate partner and I switched pods this morning, which means I was with two new teachers for my last day at this school. I will call them Mr. A. and Ms. E. for anonymity. They welcomed me into their classrooms, and I comfortably joined them on their prep block for the first period of the morning. I enjoyed the much-needed break from a busy classroom. Mr. A., Ms. E., and I each puttered on marking some student work (I had brought some tests with me to grade during my lunch break). While we marked, we casually chatted about many distinct aspects of education.

Mr. A. and Ms. E. shared stories regarding their experiences earning their Bachelor of Education degrees. Mr. A. attended UNBC in Prince George, and although he is certified in the secondary stream, he has also taught at the intermediate level by taking several professional development courses to provide evidence of his expanded training. Ms. E. is in her first year of teaching, and we were able to make the personal connection that her life partner is the teacher who took over the classroom I taught at the alternate school.

The teachers were able to provide me with more information on how the Pod System of the junior school works. They both had a much more positive perspective on the Pod system than the other teachers I had observed and explained how it was researched and developed over a series of years by the previous Administrator. I think that I am finally starting to get a grasp on their complicated schedule. The school has eleven homerooms of grade 8’s and eleven of grade 9’s, but the system is designed for twelve of each, so it has a few modifications that make it look complicated to an outsider.

We also talked extensively about the new school building. It sounded like the move-in date will likely be pushed back from spring break due to the recent shipping delays around the province. The school Administration recently showed the teachers drawings that illustrated each teacher’s classroom in the new building. Mr. A. described that each pair of Pod Teachers would have adjacent classrooms with a removable wall to create one large workspace. The classrooms will be matched with another pair to form a set of four connected classrooms that can be fully opened to form a super-large workspace. In the centre of the four connected classes is a “maker-space.”

With the move to the new building, the entire school is getting all modern technology. The teachers were asked to pack up their personal classroom materials when it is time to move. They are not sure what type of upgrades they will beg receiving. Collectively, the teachers have requested a change from Chromebooks over to laptops with more capabilities for the students. There are not enough Chromebooks in the school for each Pod to have even one classroom set. The English-Social Studies teachers in the schools have become the keepers of the Chromebooks. They have been given priority use over other subjects. Some classrooms have a few desktop PCs installed for students to access, and the new building will have two designated computer lab classrooms.

Each classroom has either a smartboard or a projector and a sympodium. Ms. E. prefers to use her personal iPad in place of the sympodium in her room, as she can work on files at home and then plug it in at school if she wishes to share them with her students on the big screen. One of the other Math-Science teachers in the school has a smart tablet that connects to her projector. She can write on her tablet as she walks around the classroom wirelessly connected as it projects. She uses this in formative assessment by passing the tablet to students and allowing them to answer questions on the board.

For the second block, I accompanied Ms. E. to her Math classroom. She had made some strategic class management changes since I had been a TTOC in her room over a month ago. She has started to use a seating chart. Her class was still objecting to the new plan, but after she put the map up on the screen, they knew she was serious, and they reluctantly moved and settled down after a few minutes. To keep her students from leaving their work in their lockers and continuing the delay of class, Ms. E. has given each student a personal folder for their work in each of her blocks. This is similar to a strategy that I used at the alternate school to prevent the students from taking their work home. At the start of the class, she handed each file out to the students individually. They were permitted to doodle on and decorate their file folder. She collected the folders in the same manner at the end of the block. She found that this also reduced the mess from students leaving her classroom as they rushed out at the sound of the bell.

Ms. E. has also recently tightened up on her cell phone policy. She has implemented a “phones out of sight” rule, where the student loses their phone for the entire day if she spots it. Luckily for the students, she was all bark and no bite today. The students were clearly testing to see if she would actually take their phones.  There were lots of excuses like changing songs or checking the time. I lightly recommended that she pop across the hall to check out Ms. S’s cell phone jail idea. Whenever possible, I would jump in and let her Grade 9 students know that their cell phone immaturity would not be tolerated at the high school, which provided her with a bit of backup. Although she was the Classroom Teacher and I was the Teacher Candidate, I think that she appreciated my authoritative and experienced voice, especially when a student’s phone rang, and he dared to answer it.

I loved how she began her math class with an entrance ticket. It was the first time I had observed this in practice. It was a half piece of paper with three simple polynomial questions on it. Beside each question was a mini-self assessment asking the student to rate how confident they were in solving the equation. For the remainder of the block, Ms. E. and the Pod Education Assistant floated among the students assisting them on worksheets that were leftover from the previous day, and then as they moved onto a new one. I was sad to see for such a new teacher that there was no universal design or differentiated options for her students. However, I noticed that she adapted the worksheet for one student by reducing the number of questions he was expected to do.

For the next block, I moved into Mr. A.’s English class. These students were working on finishing their essays. Mr. A. gave the class a firm – get it done today speech! The students who were done were asked to do some silent reading and let the others work. There was clear, explicit direction for no phones and no talking. It was a work block. I was prepared to sit quietly; I thought he really meant business. Within fifteen minutes, it was clear that very few of his students took him seriously; even the ones who started out reading had their phones out and were chattering away by halfway through the block. Mr. A occasionally reminded them that it was their last day in class to work on their essay but did not bother to follow through on his expectations for no phones or to talk.

In fact, we had an enjoyable conversation in regard to his views on assessment and reporting.  He explained that School B is in its first year of moving all its students onto a trimester system. All the students have both a Math-Science and an English-Socials block for the entire year but rotate electives at Christmas and Spring Break for three semesters and reporting periods.

During the English Block, I was surprised to see that only a few students elected to work on their essays with the Chromebooks. Most students were handwriting their essays, but none had dictionaries or other methods to spell-check or edit their work. I was even more surprised (but maybe, I shouldn’t have been) that so many Grade 9 students were writing their essay using a writing prompt worksheet because they could not write the elements of an essay without it, despite the format being outlined on the whiteboard. In hindsight, I should have asked Mr. A. if he had done this on purpose to differentiate his lesson, or if he started as a UDL and then gave students the option to go above the worksheet.

After lunch, Mr. A. had planned to teach a Careers block, and Ms. E. had her support block for Math. (This is a block where she does curricular Math development work for the department as a whole.) Mr. A., unfortunately, had forgotten that he needed the Chromebooks for his Career class and lent them out to another class during the lunch hour. He ended up spontaneously changing the students’ block to Social Studies instead. He said that this was one of the biggest advantages of the Pod System. As a bridge between the elementary years and high school, Pods can teach the four core academic courses in any format that they wish at any pace throughout the year, just like an elementary classroom. He said that because he gets each Pod class for either two or three blocks per day (rotates per week), he can teach larger units that span several blocks in one or more days and then move onto another subject. So long as they are meeting the curricular goals in the year, the students can have the stability of two regular teachers and then travel outside of their Pods to a variety of elective teachers throughout the year. (I like this idea so much – I’ve been pondering how to work it into my visioning project for a few weeks now.)

In Socials, Mr. A. assigned all of his students the same worksheet with no differentiation. Each student was instructed to read the questions and information in the worksheet and then, using the available two textbooks in the classroom, find the relevant information to complete the answers. Mr. A. announced that it would be necessary to complete the worksheet to have good background knowledge for their next class activity – a class role play on early Canadian history at the end of the week; this finally motivated them!

Shortly after the class settled down to work, the Education Assistant arrived with a student in a very fancy wheelchair. As a teacher/teacher candidate, this was my first experience with a severely physically disabled student. This student had a cheerful, Pippy-long-stocking disposition and look about her with her bright red hair in pigtails and freckles adorned her smiling cheeks. I asked the EA if I could move to sit with them and spent the rest of the block enjoying a story about Pirates! The book was tattered, and the pages were torn, and whenever the EA’s reading paused, the student would push out an unclear passage or phrase that she had memorized. I struggled to understand her. I admired the EA’s patience and tone when she would ask the student to speak up and gently wipe the dripping saliva off the girl’s sore chin. It was vastly different from true inclusion. This student was clearly not in the classroom as a peer. There was no possibility of including her in the design of that Canadian History lesson or activity. The EA had to instruct the other students to be quiet so that we could hear the student when she wanted us to know something, like to turn the page back or to show me something in the pictures. Mr. A. did come over and ask her how she was doing, and he asked her what her plan was at the beginning of the class. He “approved” the reading of the pirate book, which had probably been read over a dozen times already this year.  I think about Shelley Moore’s bowling pin analogy and wonder how it applies to students like her, and it makes me excited to dive into our more specific courses in future terms.

The final block of the day whipped by. It was a Science block in Ms. E.’s room. She had the same students again that she had first thing in the morning for Math. When I arrived, Ms. E. had soft music playing on her computer with a campfire glowing on her projector screen. It was clear that she was giving it every strategy she could think of to create a calm atmosphere for this wild bunch of students. I would say overall; she was winning the war. The students settled much better into their assigned seats the second time around. She began Science with a cool little video about discoveries of ocean life to get their brains focused and did a little thumbs up-down formative assessment to make sure they were paying attention before beginning her Chemistry lesson. Using her iPad, she projected the worksheet package that she had previously given the students, reviewed what they had done before, and then demonstrated today’s work. She used explicit instruction to show the students how they could solve the next level of questions in the package. When she was done, she returned the screen to the campfire glow and put the soft ambient music back on as she rotated through the room, helping students individually again.

All-in-all it wasn’t an overly heavy day on the technology end, but I feel like it was an incredibly good day for general observations.  I have one more day at School C, and then where my next practicum placement is, is anybody’s guess for next term!

Observational Report #3
Mrs. Sara McManus
School of Education, University of Northern British Columbia
EDUC 390: Observational Practicum
Melanie Baerg, M.Ed. – Lecturer
November 14, 2021

On November 2, 2021, I returned for my second observational practicum at School B. I was looking forward to our day at the junior school, as I had recently spent the day as a TTOC in one of the observation classrooms. My Teacher Candidate partner and I hoped to switch “Pods”, as we had such different experiences in the first observation, and I really wanted to meet the teacher who I had subbed for to see her with her students. Unfortunately, the school administrator denied our requests to swap places for the day. Although the Principal understood my reasoning and the value of such an opportunity, she could not articulate a good reason for not making the change; it felt like a “because I said so” situation. Therefore, I spent the day with the two Pod teachers I had previously observed. They explained that if the Principal had switched our observations without their consent, she would have likely received push-back. Fortunately, these two Pod Teachers are union reps, and they will see what they can arrange for our next visit at School B. For ease of reference, I will call the Pod Teachers, Ms. S. for the Science & Math Teacher, and Ms. E. for the English and Socials Teacher.

The second school I went to for this observation report was School C on November 9, 2021; this was also my second visit at this “affluent-sporty” elementary school. I independently observed in a Grade 6-7 classroom for the day with a teacher who is the same age as I am. I will call her Ms. Q. because we graduated from Quesnel Secondary School together. Although we were not close friends during high school, it was very nice to spend the day discussing education with someone who has the same memory of how school was as I do. On my day of observations, the grade 7 students wrote their Foundational Skills Assessments during the morning. Ms. Q. stated that it would be an unusual morning in her class; however, I found it engaging to observe.

I had to engage the classroom teachers in conversations to draw out information from them for both focal points: teaching for equity, diversity and inclusion, and professional boundaries. In my email dated November 3, 2021, I wrote briefly regarding the Universal Design Learning used at School B. I will weave other highlights regarding this focal point throughout the remainder of my report. However, I do not have anything specific to write about on professional boundaries at this time. I do intend to reflect extensively on this issue in my upcoming Cross-Curricular Reflexive Writing assignment for EDUC 393.

The first block at School C was Science 8. Ms. S. placed a note on her door, and we moved to the Science Lab room which was four doors down the hall. Apparently, that was a very confusing instruction for grade 8’s to follow on a Tuesday morning. The second half of the class was a hands-on activity allowing students to try a microscope for the very first time. The students selected five slides to view and were asked to draw and describe what they saw through the microscope. All the students loved it. That wasn’t my favourite part of the class; I loved the first half of the class more. I love to watch authentic teaching and practical techniques that I can apply in the future. I really love it when it feels right—an ah-ha moment that’s putting it all together! Ms. S. began her class with a scanned copy of the previous day’s assignment on the smartboard. Using the pen to write the answers on the screen, she worked her way through each question with the students sharing their answers aloud. She thoughtfully included all the students in reviewing the assignment; this kept the entire class engaged and actively learning and provided for both visual and verbal learners. Students who were missing the day before were to write down the answers and note that they were absent. This structure allowed most students the opportunity to learn individually and then review as a group. For those who had not finished the assignment, this allowed them to continue their learning rather than skip over it as incomplete. Students who had made a mistake were to correct their answers but also needed to record their actual score.

I was so please when I saw Ms. Q. at School C do something similar in her morning work with the Grade 6 students. Each student had a general knowledge quiz that they were working on when they arrived from a lesson the day previous. Ms. Q. had a scan of the quiz ready to go and reviewed each question one at a time with the students, in the same manner to reinforce their learning before moving on to the next topic. In both classes, students marked their work and submitted it to the teacher with a score on the top. (So smart – two for the price of one:  review and assessment!)

Ms. S.’s second block was Math with the same Pod students; this was a fantastic hands-on lesson on fractions with Cuisenaire Rods. (She gave the same lesson later in the afternoon with another class of students using fraction circles. It was great to see how either tool could work.) In this block, I learned how to use new technology and a new way to teach fractions without paper! It was an inclusive lesson in which all students could participate easily, but you could see that it was still challenging to everyone on some level. At School C, Ms. Q. also made certain that her math was diversifiable for all her students. She used a scope and sequence program called Math Minute. Every morning, she front-loads her Math in the early morning, allowing the students to work independently to try all the questions. Then before lunch the entire class works through all the questions as mini lessons. Both of these teachers use formative assessment to drive their lessons—neither one moving forward until the class is at the necessary level of understanding to move on.

One thing that has weighed heavily on my mind since my observation of Ms. S.’s fraction lesson is the stark contrast in the teaching philosophies between the junior and high school math departments. I know that my insight is limited, and I do not have the whole picture, as I have only observed one junior classroom two times. However, my experience teaching Math 8-11 in an alternate setting and now in the main high school is giving me a unique perspective to see both sides. From my perspective it is plain to see that the elementary and junior schools have generally accepted the movement towards more formative assessment and the use of hands-on and non-paper-based ways of learning mathematical concepts; whereas the high school is heavily based on summative assessments (up to 80%) with workbook/sheet practice (sometimes with no marking or feedback to the students). I have found it difficult as a teacher moving from the alternate setting, where students were always able to improve their marks through corrections and there were no tests, into the main high school, where tests are everything and “drill and kill” is the status-quo. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for students coming up through primary, intermediate, and junior school learning math concepts and being assessed so differently than what they experience when they reach grade 10.

Moving away from Science and Math, the next block I observed at School B was an English 8 class with Ms. E. When I came into the room, she had all the overhead lights turned off. There was a single lamp glowing beside her fish tank, and the only other lights in the room were from her computer monitor and the smartboard, which projected a scanned copy of the story she planned to read; this was clearly not her first rodeo. She knew that by reading the story aloud and having the students follow along on the smartboard, she would engage more students in the story. During her reading, she would pause and point out words, phrases, and other key elements that the students might need to remember for their assignment later. Ms. E. thoughtfully engaged her students in brief questions where it was appropriate, like what they thought would happen next. In the same way, Ms. Q. also used this technique in her class during her Health lesson, although she did not have the dramatic dimmed lighting. She also added in the opportunity for students to take turns reading. After each of these lessons, both teachers talked with me about the importance of reading aloud to ensure that all students have access to the content. I do not think that either of the teachers were implying that students didn’t need to be able to read, but they were both aware that the reading levels in their classes were very diverse. In order to include all students in an active class discussion or group work, it was the best way to ensure all students had the same information in the same amount of time. This is a scary idea. It almost feels like defeat in a way. It shines a little light on how students can manage to get to secondary school without being able to read to grade level. On the other hand, how could you operate an inclusive classroom effectively and allow students to feel success without finding strategies like these group readings?

To conclude this observation report, I want to add that my practicum notes are filled with little tips and tricks that I have picked up. Here are a few of my favourites from these observations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observational Report 

Mrs. Sara McManus

School of Education, University of Northern British Columbia
EDUC 390: Observational Practicum
Melanie Baerg, M.Ed. – Lecturer
October 31, 2021

On October 19, 2021, I observed a new elementary school for my third Observational Practicum. This school is in a significantly more affluent catchment community than the first elementary school I observed and then returned to observe again on October 26, 2021.  For differentiation purposes in my reporting, I will name each school respectively as Schools A, B, and C in the order of observation.  The main body of this report will focus on classroom management; however, I will begin by providing an overview of School C’s climate, culture and community, and then contrast the two elementary schools’ social and cultural realities.

School C’s climate is perceived to be one of the best schools in the district, and as expected, it had an extremely different “feel” than that of School A. Although there was significant evidence of diversity in student learning needs, School C’s ethnic and social-economic diversity was visibly narrow.  The school’s cultural focus is on athletics. Whereas other schools use acronyms like CARES to help foster values, School C uses the school sports team name for a value statement.  It is evident that the school promotes school pride and spirit. There were posters reminding students of upcoming events, like Crazy Hat Day.  Our practicum happened to land on Swag Day. For this, the Principal randomly drew student names, and if those students were wearing school colours, they were awarded prizes. School C did not have a breakfast program for students but instead had healthy food delivered as snacks to all students, like the large tray of milk and carrots brought to the classroom I was observing in. The school works very hard at building community every day. I participated in a buddy-reading class between K-1 and Gr 5-6 and a multi-class walk-run and was told there were also buddy-PE classes.

The two elementary schools in our observational practicums are excellent examples of local schools at opposite ends of social and cultural reality.  Although both schools have catchment areas large enough for both walking and bus students, some students from School A are bussed in for over an hour’s drive on gravel roads. School C’s catchment is primarily single-family dwelling homes; whereas, School A has many more multi-family units like apartments and duplexes in the community.  Therefore, housing is generally more affordable in the less-affluent community of School A. Students’ names are much more ethnically diverse and include a larger proportion of visible minorities, especially Indigenous students in School A than School C.  One key thing that stood out for me on my second practicum at School A was the fantastic smell of a hot breakfast when we arrived in the morning.  There were tables set out in the gym, and a large student population was invited to have breakfast.  The lunch program at School A is also significant and needs to be delivered by trolly from class to class.  The lunch program at School C was barely noticeable.  The secretary even sarcastically complained about how she would have to start charging parents for delivering McDonald’s lunches to students when it was dropped off at the front desk.

I had the unique opportunities to teach on-call at these schools in the preceding weeks before my practicums in the specific classrooms I observed.  These observations provided me with an interesting perspective on classroom management techniques for both the teachers and myself; this was incredibly insightful, especially given the order of events:  On Tuesday, October 13, 2021, our EDUC 390 lecture and class discussions revolved around the central idea of needing both a blend of good classroom routines and solid student-teacher relationships for good classroom management. It made perfect sense at the time, and I didn’t give it much thought.

On Friday, October 15, 2012, I was dispatched to work as a TTOC in a Gr 5-6 class at School C.  Previously hearing lovely observational feedback from another Teacher Candidate about this particular class, I mistakenly made assumptions about what the classroom would be like for ME because I clearly forgot the entire lesson from three days previous.  I was so excited to have a great day with these amazing students. When I arrived in the classroom, there was a sub plan on the desk that the previous TTOC had prepared, and I thought I was set!  There was even a shape of the day scribbled on the whiteboard; it was all perfect until the students arrived. Within five minutes, chaos erupted.  Not because I wasn’t their teacher, but because I had no way of knowing the hidden routine embedded within the teacher’s relationships with her students. They all knew what they were doing, but as the TTOC, I did not. I wanted to take attendance, but they would not let me take it without a fight.  I was wasting their gym time.  Their teacher didn’t take attendance in the morning, at least not that they knew about.  The whole day continued like that. There were little unwritten classroom rules, routines, and built-in procedures, like being allowed to eat all day long or not needing to ask to go to the washroom everywhere I turned, including full-size chocolate bars to the winning team for the end-of-the-week prize.  (<–The what???  I had to contact her about that one!)

By the end of the day, the students were tired and frustrated. I had been left a general plan for the afternoon to let them catch up on all of their unfinished work, which meant it exponentially got crazier.  Some boys got into a bit of a fistfight, the classroom looked like a tornado went through it, and the resource teacher ended up supporting me for the last half hour.  I sat there until almost 6:30, trying to recover the resemblance of the classroom I had entered, then I sorted and tried to mark some of the massive pile of work they managed to turn in, and untangled the knots my brain had been tied in, all while I wrote notes for the teacher knowing full well that I would be back for my practicum in two days.

On Tuesday, October 19, the students were terrified when I opened their classroom door again.  I got sighs and looks of disappointment.  One student told me that I was a great substitute; I was just not their teacher.  That was certainly clear.  She had a very casual approach with her students. They were still very chaotic around her, she just had a bigger personality than they did, and she could command their attention quicker than I could.  The format of our two days were very similar. However, the students lined up faster, they listened a few minutes longer, and wanted to please her when they knew she was paying attention to them.  It was easy to see that she cared deeply about building genuine relationships with all of her students.  Other than a rough sketch of the shape of the day, the day’s schedule flowed on the class’s needs. There appeared always to be extra time for more physical activity, more food, and more one-on-one spontaneous learning opportunities.

At the end of the day, I had a brief conversation with her and told her that her classroom reminded me of how I managed my classroom at the alternate high school.  I was all about the relationship. I always had prepared excellent TTOC notes. I had a schedule and materials prepared, but I never shared the details of the relationships-based routines of my students with my subs.  I can now see a different perspective of why I could LOVE working there so much, and someone coming in to cover me for an afternoon might not.  This is something that I will have to think about deeply for my future if I work in an alternate setting again, where building a solid relationship is the key to a student even walking through the door.

I also would like to document one really great PE lesson that the teacher did.  It was an introductory lesson on Volleyball.  The teacher used an “I do, we do, you do” method to teach basic volleyball skills.  She had the entire class line up on a line facing a wall, with just enough space for her to demonstrate between the students and the wall; this meant that there wasn’t a great big gap of gym space for students to be distracted in.  One of her most athletic students in the class came up to join her on one side, and her student with the most severe disability joined her on the other side.  They were both comfortable being her assistants.  She would work with the disability student for each position she demonstrated first, showing him how to hold his hands or feet, etc. Then she would have the athletic student get into position and correct him, even just a little bit, to show how it could also be improved.  Then the whole class would try.  When they were ready to practice with a ball, she demonstrated with the athletic student and had the other student actively count the number of volleys etc., which he enjoyed.  The EA stood back during this time and then joined in when partners were made.  It was a really great example of inclusion in practice.

My second day of subbing in a classroom before my observation was on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, and I was assigned to a Kindergarten-Grade 1 split classroom in School A. Two teachers share this classroom.  I was in the class for a full day teaching, but only part of an afternoon in the practicum. (I will have to name the teachers, or this might get confusing too!  Ms. X will be the experienced K-1 teacher I subbed for on Wednesday.  Miss Y will be her younger, job share teacher, who I observed on Tuesday, and Mrs. Z will be the Music teacher with who I observed with the same K-1’s.)

The students were wonderful on both days, but everyone around me seemed to think they were “wild.” Ms. X left me an amazing plan full of details about her students and exactly how the class flows through the day.  Her classroom was filled with great visual instructions and reminders for students.  She has the support of a dedicated EA, who was particularly helpful, and other support workers who floated in and out of the class throughout the day.  It is undoubtedly a busy classroom with lots of high needs students, including three ASD students. Each student had a large square assigned for them on the carpet, and group tables had name tags taped to their spots.  The students knew the routine well; they just needed help getting through it.

On my day teaching the class, the District Occupational Therapist came to observe a student. I felt like her presence may have affected the behaviours of the support worker more than anything else. The support worker was having a tough day.  The result was seven adults in the classroom where I was teaching and the removal of a student without my consultation.  At the end of it, I felt kind of run-over as the TTOC, who they knew was a student-teacher. I hope I don’t have a situation like that again.

During our observation, Miss Y was very hands-on in teaching with the class.  She was sitting on the carpet playing cars with the Kindergarten students, not busy doing paperwork, which was refreshing to see. When I complimented her on some of her classroom routines and learning décor, she acknowledged that much of that was the work of Ms. X.  Personally, I have had a terrible job sharing experience in teaching already in my career.  I know that this is something that I will not be able to do again. I am a creative person, and I don’t like to hear the word “no,” I prefer to find solutions.  I’m all for collaboration and teamwork, and my experience has shown me that I tend to overwork, which makes it easier for my partners.  I hope Ms. X doesn’t feel that way and Miss Y isn’t taking advantage of Ms. X’s generosity.

I’ll close with the super friendly Mrs. Z.  Wow! She loved using positive words to the point that  I worried for her.  I was scared that her cup was almost overfilled.  The K-1 class was full of energy during her music block.  I had not seen them that bouncy, even after my entire day with them as their teacher, nor during our observation in the classroom.  Additionally many of the students were missing, including all three ASD students.  They would not sit on the floor.  They were hands-on, masks off, rolling around, and being little monkeys!  It was hard for me not to step in and help establish control in the class, but I resisted.  I kept hoping her sweet, “Hey, friends!” would work its magic, and they would settle down. Whenever one of the monkeys would run by me, I would snatch the opportunity to ask them to mask up, or stop yelling, etc.  The three of us, Teacher Candidates, tried to model good behaviour by sitting nicely, listening, singing along to songs, etc.   Overall it was an excellent experience to be in a classroom with a teaching style so different from my own.  I can concretely say, the overly sweet, super friendly, bubbly teacher is not me.

Post-script Monkeys:  I often use the term monkeys to describe a group of children who are not behaving within a defined set of expectations, monkeys; this comes from my scouting background.  Rudyard Kipling, the author of The Jungle Book, was good friends with Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts.  When Baden-Powell developed the Wolf Cub program in 1916, he created it based on The Jungle Book.  Banderlogs are the monkeys in the jungle who do not follow any rules.  They do not follow the Law of the Jungle that the rest of the jungle animals do.  They jump from tree to tree with little care for anyone else in the jungle. They are only afraid of one creature in the jungle, Kaa, the python, because he can hypnotize them and then swallow them whole! I use this as a teaching tool to help my Timber Wolves remember their Law, which teaches them not to give into themselves, essentially to follow the rules or what is asked of them. When they do not, they turn into Banderlogs… little monkeys!  Then they need to think about what it means to be a real Timber Wolf by remembering their Scouting Promise and Law.