I read the "dinosaur comics" website every day. For the past week or so, I've been wishing that they were appropriate to use in class, since I really wanted to show this one to my students.
Digestive energy! It's like food chains!
Toni, my cooperating teacher, would call me a nerd for liking this comic. We have a *supportive* *special* relationship. aka we've really bonded and get along well!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
new adventures
It's been occurring to me that I could be continuing to use this site for my more recent adventures. I wonder why I haven't been?
Since September, I have been going to the U of W (that's Winnipeg, for all of you who will think Waterloo), working on a B.Ed. in senior years education. I applied when I got back from Europe last year, and never really expected to get in. Not entirely sure why - something about undergrad taught me the feeling of "can't". But two great references and an entrance essay later, and what do you know.
This program is two (academic) years long, and has two parts to it. The first is our university courses. We have 9-week terms. In the first term, I had three curriculum-based courses (math, physics, and the theory of science teaching) that are designed to introduce us to the MB curriculum, ideas for teaching, activities, evaluation, planning, etc etc. I had the same prof for all 3, and he is extremely knowledgeable and his courses were a great help. The other two were more theoretical - one called Foundations of Teaching and Learning, and the other was Intro to Special Ed. Fdns has mainly been philosophy and psychology so far. Interesting, though not immediately practical. Spec.Ed. was a lot more like a course in classroom management with a section on special ed., which is vaguely unfortunate since I am quite interested in special ed. specifically. Not that the other stuff wasn't useful, but... Next term I continue with math, physics, and Fdns, and add a course about literacy at the senior years. Overall the stuff at U of W is alright, but not stellar.
Student teaching is where most of the learning happens. I am working at a small K-8 Catholic school called Holy Cross. It is amazing. I was placed with a teacher who does grade 7 and 8 science, and K-3 phys. ed. It's an interesting mix, and she's amazing to work with. I've always known that junior high is not my forte or preferred age group, and this experience has verified that for me, so it's great that we have the breaks of being with the little kids. I have a few days left in a block of 5 weeks of being there full time. I've been teaching a unit to our two classes of grade 7s called "Interactions Within Ecosystems." Food chains, photosynthesis, that sort of thing. I've really been enjoying getting in to the community of the school. I will be sad to leave at the end of the year. I've been doing so well on my official evaluations when a woman from the university comes to visit, and my cooperating teacher says she's seen me improving as well. It just seems natural.
Since September, I have been going to the U of W (that's Winnipeg, for all of you who will think Waterloo), working on a B.Ed. in senior years education. I applied when I got back from Europe last year, and never really expected to get in. Not entirely sure why - something about undergrad taught me the feeling of "can't". But two great references and an entrance essay later, and what do you know.
This program is two (academic) years long, and has two parts to it. The first is our university courses. We have 9-week terms. In the first term, I had three curriculum-based courses (math, physics, and the theory of science teaching) that are designed to introduce us to the MB curriculum, ideas for teaching, activities, evaluation, planning, etc etc. I had the same prof for all 3, and he is extremely knowledgeable and his courses were a great help. The other two were more theoretical - one called Foundations of Teaching and Learning, and the other was Intro to Special Ed. Fdns has mainly been philosophy and psychology so far. Interesting, though not immediately practical. Spec.Ed. was a lot more like a course in classroom management with a section on special ed., which is vaguely unfortunate since I am quite interested in special ed. specifically. Not that the other stuff wasn't useful, but... Next term I continue with math, physics, and Fdns, and add a course about literacy at the senior years. Overall the stuff at U of W is alright, but not stellar.
Student teaching is where most of the learning happens. I am working at a small K-8 Catholic school called Holy Cross. It is amazing. I was placed with a teacher who does grade 7 and 8 science, and K-3 phys. ed. It's an interesting mix, and she's amazing to work with. I've always known that junior high is not my forte or preferred age group, and this experience has verified that for me, so it's great that we have the breaks of being with the little kids. I have a few days left in a block of 5 weeks of being there full time. I've been teaching a unit to our two classes of grade 7s called "Interactions Within Ecosystems." Food chains, photosynthesis, that sort of thing. I've really been enjoying getting in to the community of the school. I will be sad to leave at the end of the year. I've been doing so well on my official evaluations when a woman from the university comes to visit, and my cooperating teacher says she's seen me improving as well. It just seems natural.
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