As a community activist and volunteer in East Calgary, I've had the opportunity to develop my understanding of effective relationship building. I've collaborated with a variety of social justice and social service agencies to host and run events in both Albert Park/Radisson Heights and Mayland Heights. This experience served me well when I entered my field experiences last spring at an East Calgary high school and this past fall at inner city charter school.
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Understanding that trust in relationships are built on demonstrating genuine respect, empathy, integrity and fairness allowed me to quickly build relationships with both my teaching colleagues and students as can be seen by the assessments of my partner teachers and the effort students put into their tokens of appreciation. Any classroom I've entered as a teacher, the first thing I do is find out how my colleagues and students wish to be addressed and any pronouns I should be aware of. The most important words in any language to a person are the ones used to address them. I will always take the time and effort to start my relationships out with a sensitivity to culture and identity.
Student tokens of appreciation
Field III Partner teacher narrative excerpt
Field II Partner teacher narrative excerpt
Image from PURE Research participant session and Research as presented to the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning
Even before returning to University in 2020, I have been committed to life long learning. I've taken courses at Mount Royal on writing, participate in Calgary's annual When Word's Collide convention and attended many volunteer educational events held by the Federation of Calgary Communities to help me be a better community volunteer.
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As a student returning to University after a large break and previous career, I've connected and collaborated with a cohort of like minded pre-service teachers who are engaged and interested in exploring ways to apply research to make our classrooms more inclusive, welcoming and centered in our place on Treaty 7 territory. Some of us participate in a Diverse Literature book club led by two Werklund professors in the hopes of reviewing, and creating resources for teachers in Alberta and beyond.
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As an education student, I've also participated in reviewing, applying, and expanding on pedagogy and diversity research collaborating as a research assistant and independent undergraduate researcher (Downloadable PowerPoint to the left). Being a education researcher has provided an invaluable opportunity to delve into topics and build on the research resources that are part of the BEd program.
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In my Field III experience, I've had an amazing opportunity to design a science unit with my partner teacher based on the Sky Science portion of the grade six curriculum. We organized our outline to coincide the launch of the James Webb Space telescope that was initially scheduled for December 17th, 2021 to connect the content to the world outside the classroom. We also decided on a sky science unit since there was a Sky Science workbook asset we could incorporate and so it could overlap with the Social Studies Unit on Ancient Athens and Language Arts novel study of Percy Jackson, allowing us the ability to create connections across subjects.
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With the oversight of my partner teacher, I also developed assessments for the science unit, including a quiz and different types of projects that would reinforce the learning while incorporating the Arts Immersion focus of the school as can be seen from samples provided. My lessons included connecting sky science to the local Blackfoot sky science and terms and current astronomical events like the planet conjunction in December.
As a student returning to University after more than a decade, I have had the opportunity to stretch my technological muscles in both my classrooms and my students. I've had Field placements at two different school boards using two different student management systems and feel confident I can communicate student progress effectively within those systems.
Image of sky science workbook
Image of moon phases art project.
Image of "Worlds of the Solar System" project examplar.
Image of game pieces designed by youth participants to reflect their identities during PURE research project.
In my Field III experience, I was lucky enough to be at a school that was attempting a digital/online version of Winter concert. I partnered with one of the grade six teacher's to teach the forty-six students their choreography and prepare their dramatic roles in preparation for the filming of their performance.
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There was only eight dramatic roles, so as a team we worked out which student's would be strong leaders and get the most growth in their developmental assets growth by having leadership roles in the performance. We used an understanding of their current development and potential to provide opportunities to the students with the greatest opportunity for growth and/or leadership since the 40 developmental asset program part of the school's Comprehensive School Health strategy.
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My experience as a undergraduate researcher has also allowed me to practice my ability to create an inclusive learning environment. In my research project, I worked independently with a group of youth with diverse gender/sexual orientation backgrounds to play-test and design a print-and-play board game (See the Infinite Habitat tab) that's imagery is customized to be reflective of the youth's identities. The game is intended for spaces in which youth of diverse backgrounds and identities congregate. I have applied to present this research at an upcoming 2022 teaching conference.
In my Field III experience I was happy to discover my school has a whole school approach to indigenous ways into their overall program. One of the school's four pillars is their Circle of Courage which promotes generosity, belonging, mastery, and independence based on indigenous philosophies of child care. All classes have sharing circle meetings at least once a week as commitment to this philosophy.
One of the ways I personally incorporated Indigenous knowledge in the classroom was to focus on local Treat 7 knowledge and teach students about the Blackfoot use and understandings of the Star Cluster Miohpoisiks Mii-oo’h-boo’h-sicks known as Pleiades in Western Astronomy.
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I've also devoted a great deal of time and effort to expanding my exposure to local indigenous voices and activists on social media including Twitter and Tik Tok. This became the focus of a group project during our Indigenous Education course to share social media Indigenous resources and search terms with our classmates so we can all better understand the diverse Indigenous cultures of Canada and the impacts of colonialism including residential schools and the importance of Truth and Reconciliation. It is designed to be a living reference tool that can be updated as needed (Downloadable as a PowerPoint to the left).
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A resource I use and also recommend as an educator is a website that can assist in determining the authenticity of a book a teacher may want to use in the classroom for Indigenous Education: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
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A great deal of my personal teaching philosophy is connected to decolonizing education and is summed up well on my TQS philosophy tab.
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Social Media Resource Tool
Science project exemplar with
Blackfoot term included
Field III Instructor Narrative excerpt
As a former banker I was well prepared for the language of the law and ethics portion of the Werklund School of Education program. In my previous career, I had been responsible for my team's annual review and testing of their regulatory and legal requirements. I am well prepared and practiced in maintaining an awareness of policies and legislation. My ability to commit to professional conduct can be seen by the response of my Field III instructor.
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I've also been volunteering on the board of an East Calgary youth centre for a few years and came into the BEd program with a strong understanding of the responsibilities of Duty of Care when it comes to dealing with young people.
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Teachers like myself have a professional duty to understand and practice the standards set out by us by our professional body, school boards, and legislation like the Education Act. Maintaining this knowledge will be part of my professional practice as demonstrated in my field experience.