TQS Reflection #1 - Establishing Inclusive Learning Environments

This week I focused on creating lessons that were able to engage all students at their skill level
and create a learning environment that was safe and welcoming for all students. There is a
large discrepancy in the skill levels of students in my class, in both reading, writing, arithmetic,
as well as abilities to stay focused on tasks and and to be able to complete tasks on time. This
can make it a challenge to keep all students engaged for the entire lesson as some students
may become frustrated as others finish before the end of the lesson. To address this I created
sponge activities that were relevant and fit the program of studies. In science I created
assignments that used an online circuit building game. Not only does this game meet the
program of studies in that it teaches students technological skills and all of the circuit knowledge
outcomes but also the assignments were based on inquiry which is the overarching philosophy
of the grade five science curriculum. In social studies I focused on sponge activities that
challenged students ideas about identity, identity is a main theme in both of the grade five social
studies and throughout the k-12 curriculum. By using these sponge activities I was able to meet
the needs of all the students in the classroom while challenging students who already had a
good grasp on the basic content of the unit.

However, I think one of the biggest ways I met this TQS goal this week was through building
upon classroom culture and community in one of my social lessons. In the unit we are focusing
on the Iroquois Confederacy. To introduce this, we talked about the flag of the Iroquois
Confederacy and what it represents. To deepen their learning about the First Nations group but
also to build classroom community I had them create and present class flags that represented
how they felt about the class and their school. This was a way to both include the school
philosophy of the seven habits, create a safer and warmer learning environment, while also
addressing program of studies outcomes for First Nations knowledge, symbolism, and artistic
skills.
TQS Reflection #2 - TQS Standard 5

This week my social studies classes have focused on teaching students about the ways of life of
the First Nations groups in the Great Lake / St Lawrence region of Canada. Students did this in
a hands-on activity that combined art, social studies, historical and critical thinking. For this
activity students built 3D longhouses that represented the houses that the First Nations groups
lived in. The students coloured, then glued together the pieces to create a three dimensional
longhouse. Students then drew and cut out objects that represented different aspects of the
group’s day to day life and glued them in and around their longhouses. These objects included
things such as snowshoes, canoes, drying racks, spears, etc. Students had to do a write up
about each object and explain why they believed that each object would be important for the
ways of life for the First Nations, how it would have affected their quality of life, and where they
would have gotten the materials for each object. Emphasis was put on how each object was
connected to the land and to nature and how important then the environment would have been
to these groups. This was tied in to the First Nations ways of knowing and how the environment
and nature is reflected in how they lived.

I chose to do this activity for this content of the unit for several reasons. Firstly, I believe that this
is an engaging way to teach the content of First Nations ways of living and their connection to
nature. I believe that students are much more likely to retain the knowledge when doing a
hands-on activity such as this rather than just doing worksheets or listening to a lecture.
Secondly, I believe in integrating cross-curricular skills and activities whenever possible and this
activity both had multiple art outcomes represented as well as english arts outcomes. Thirdly,
and most importantly, I believe when teaching FNMI content it is crucial to not just teach the
base knowledge so that they know the names and places but to emphasize their ways of life,
the connection to the land, and FNMI ways of knowing.
TQS Reflection #3 - TQS standard #1: Fostering Effective
Relationships

In the previous week of classes I believe I had fantastic opportunities to build

relationships with students. This was the week before Valentine’s Day as well as the week
before spring break and so it was an odd week where we did a large amount of activities that
weren’t necessarily subject specific. This gave me lots of opportunities to spend lots of quality
time with the students to get to know them better, learn about their lives and their interests. For
one activity we had students create their bags for Valentine’s. We encouraged students to
decorate their bags with ideas that showed off their interests and likes. This made it easy for me
to engage students in conversations about things that they were interested in and learn more
about them personally.

Later on in the week we did a leadership activity in which students had six puzzles mixed
together and they had to work together to create all of the puzzles. This allowed me to learn
more about them as a group and how they can work together, and also to learn who might be
the leaders in the classroom. It was again an opportunity to talk with students outside of a
typical classroom setting and to connect with them on a more personal level. These activities
helped foster the TQS ideas of fairness and respect as students needed to work together and
only succeeded if they helped others and not just their own group.

Personally, I also felt like I grew professionally in the past week in regards to part E of
this TQS. I had the opportunity to work with experts at my school as well as use reports from
medical professionals outside of the school to create a plan of action for a student in my class.
This showed me the importance of having strong connections and relationships with experts in
the community and gathering ideas from multiple perspectives before creating goals and plans
for students who need extra help and support.
TQS Reflection #4 - TQS 3 Demonstrating a
professional body of knowledge
This practicum has allowed me the opportunity to demonstrate my proficiency in planning,
assessing, and using varied learning strategies. My philosophy with planning lessons to look at
the outcomes in the program of studies and to try to address these outcomes in a way that is
the most engaging to students. I believe student engagement is extremely important. I believe
that while it is important for students to enjoy school it also makes it much more likely for
students to retain knowledge and be able to apply what they have learned if they enjoy the
lessons and are engaged. In my practicum I have used several strategies to meet the program
of studies while still trying to engage students and have them enjoy class: student choice,
variety, and cross-curricular lessons.

I believe that student choice is crucial for students to be engaged in lessons. Even if the choice
is between two things that they may not like, I believe they will be more engaged if they get to
choose. This gives students more agency to what they do and more of a personal responsibility
to complete what they chose to the best of their ability. They can also choose what they are
more interested in so that they can still learn the content of the program of studies but in their
own way. Some examples of this that I have done in this practicum: a ELA lesson about their
favourite books that could be presented as posters, google slides, or an imovie; a science
lesson where they had to build a switch but could use whatever materials they wanted or in any
way that they wanted; a social lesson on the underground railroad in which students could
present as a picture, comic strip or long answer.

Variety is important to keep students engaged and learning content in the long term. Because of
this I try to always mix instructional strategies and activities so that each lesson is new. I try to
have a mix of inquiry lessons where students learn on their own through discovery, lessons
where I’ll lecture to start and then give them an activity, lessons where they discover through
group work, lessons where we learn together as a class, etc. In activities and school work I try to
have a mix of handouts, hands-on activities, chromebook activities, reading activities, group
work, etc.

Finally, I try to often incorporate cross-curricular ideas and outcomes into my lessons. Examples
of this are having art style lessons in social, english outcomes in science, etc. This gives
students the opportunity to show their learning in a different modality, which helps me assess
student learning. I also believe that it may help engage more students. If a student does not like
science, but likes art, they may be more engaged in a science lesson if they are able to
artistically represent one of the concepts that we are learning. Some examples of this that I
have done in this practicum are: creating 3D longhouses in social studies, creating class flags
for leadership, having students draw circuits and houses in science, students creating comic
strips and writing stories in social studies.