Yesterday after school I met with my cooperating teacher to find out what grade(s) and content I could be teaching during my March/April placement, and I had such a great meeting that I wanted to share it :) My placement is in Crocus Plains high school and my cooperating teacher is Ms. Cook. The meeting was exciting for THREE reasons...
REASON ONE
Ms. Cook and I decided that I will be teaching a novel study unit to her grade ten class. I am super excited because I have not yet taught grade ten, and also because we brainstormed some really great ideas regarding which novel I might teach. I will have to read each one before choosing and then going on to make a rough unit plan. The three books I'm considering are:
1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (by Sherman Alexie)
2. Speak (by Laurie Halse Anderson)
3. Reasons Why (by Jay Asher)
Each one deals with very relevant issues, more specifically identity, rape, sexuality, teen suicide, bullying, and belonging. I am excited to teach one of these novels to grade 10 students because I feel that, through a study of any one of these, I will be able to pique their interest, cover several curriculum outcomes, and, most importantly, educate them in content beyond the curriculum - content that is important for these students to be exposed to, explore, and contemplate.
REASON TWO
I will be observing and partially teaching a grade nine EAL class. Though I have taught a grade nine English class with a few EAL students in it in my previous placement, teaching a class dedicated specifically to EAL students will be a new experience for me! I think it will be a huge asset to me as I move forward in my "journey" as an educator.
REASON THREE
My cooperating teacher is great! I went to her classroom with intentions of having a brief 15-20 minute meeting to discuss things like what grades I might be teaching, where she expects to be in her year when I arrive, dress code, etc, and I ended up staying for two hours! She seems like she is an excellent teacher. By this, I mean she seems like she can really relate to the kids, and focuses on building strong relationships with them. The material she teaches is current and relevant to teens today. As the meeting progressed, we found that our personalities and teaching styles are similar and we aren't TOO far apart in age. The fact that she is only seven years older than me excites me because I will be able to talk to her about her experiences in her first few years of teaching, and how it is to work with high school students when the age gap between teacher and student is so small (two issues that worry me a little).
I am very excited to work with someone who has some of the same views on education as me, who can offer great advice as to how to turn these views into a reality, and who has only been teaching for five years!
OK, this is all wonderful and exciting - but how does it relate to ICT?
Well, in terms of my novel study, I am leaning more towards novel 3 (but nothing is set in stone, as I haven't actually read them all yet). Because it deals specifically with bullying and teen suicide, I would like to incorporate the story of Amanda Todd, since it is a recent and real-life example of what kids in high school around the world are dealing with today. I would like to show the video she posted a month before her death, as well as some online articles that tell her story. I am also thinking of having the students journal on some of the issues throughout the novel as we move through it. This could be done with pen and paper, or it could be done on a blog or some other computerized format, depending on the student's comfort level. As a final project for the unit, perhaps students could work on an anti-bullying project with they could broadcast online. Though I haven't decided exactly what I would like to do in terms of this novel unit, I understand that it is important to stay current as a teacher, and that staying current means using technology in education.
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for next week's post :)
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