Pre-internship -- Looking back at week one.

Well, pre-internship is certainly one of the most overwhelming but rewarding experiences I've taken part in.  The first class I picked up was an ELA 20, where roughly one third of the class are EAL students, one third are advanced ELA learners, and one third are known to be disruptive -- and I don't think I would change it.  I really enjoy my class, they are phenomenal.

The biggest reality check I have hit during this time is the fact that an hour really isn't all that long.  On Thursday, our co-op asked Tori and myself to provide her with a 3-week unit skeleton for our respective classes by the Sunday after observation days.  We sent them in, and obviously overplanned.  Tori used her 5 hour unit plan that she made for her assessment class.  In theory it is 5 hours, but in practice, it's more like 20 hours.  Wacky.  So far, if I was following my skeleton, I would be in between last Wednesday and Thursday, and I don't think I'll be able to move much further than this.  I have a major assignment being assigned tomorrow, so I have to budget at least 3 work periods if I expect it to be done before I leave the school, and I already know I'm going to have to take a trip back to Miller after the pre-internship is finished to hand them back.

After much turmoil (and asking 3 different teachers) I was able to get into a class for my minor... sort of.  I'm in a Science 9 class, but I'm teaching chemistry.  This is terrifying as I haven't even taken a 20 level chemistry course, but it should be fun.  The teacher I am working with for that offered me a plethora of resources, so planning shouldn't be too bad.

Everything's coming up Milhouse!

Assessing week one.

So far, pre-internship has been an incredibly interesting experience.  It is certainly overwhelming, but dang is it fun.  As it stands now, I've given out one assignment -- it wasn't anything huge, just an eleven point paragraph, and I assigned it last Monday with the intention to have it handed in on Wednesday.  After quick deliberation with the class, they figured Thursday was more fair.  Thursday came around and we weren't anywhere near where we should have been -- in fact, many kids were still in the pre-writing stage, so I pushed it to Friday.  Still no good. 

I worked with the kids who were on schedule and taught them the value of peer editing (and ways in which to do it.)  Finally, today was the final due date, and I got about 80% of the assignments in -- a big win for my class.  So, I guess the biggest shocker is the sheer amount of time things take to work through.  This 11 point paragraph -- something I could write in an hour -- took an entire week.  

I'm moving into the next big assignment tomorrow, and now that I know how the class works, I've allotted far more time for the class to work, and I plan on having the work periods far more structured.  

Here is the link to view my next assignment -- a reflective essay after watching Stand By Me.

Pre-internship goals

The goals I have for my pre-internship are as follows:

1. Stay professional -- This one sounds a bit strange, as we've gone through professionalism courses, but it's something I struggle with (in a sense).  Not so much of the mindset as it is the presentation of myself.  I understand not to text students and not to discuss weekend escapades, etc.  It's more so in my hair, my clothes, and my overall look. I don't believe in a "professional look," but I'm going to have to to finish this degree!
2. Try new techniques -- I want to move away from the whole "read, analyze, and write" motif that English class is thought to be.  I want to work with films, performances, and use strategies that I'm not used to. 
3. Plan seriously & seriously plan -- I need to realize that this is real.  This isn't a hypothetical class anymore.  These students make up my class, so I need to plan for them.  I need to learn how they work and I most certainly need to over plan.

Implementing Treaty Education.

Treaty Education is the newest buzzword of Saskatchewan's educational system, and, unfortunately, not enough people are taking it seriously.  As pre-service teachers, we are kind of thrown to the wolves, so to speak.  We are expected to incorporate meaningful treaty education into every lesson plan, yet we are supplied with minimal resources.  All I have ever gotten for resources is the booklet from The Office of the Treaty Commissioner – and, to be completely honest, it isn’t very valuable.  The contents are a nebulous web of important topics, however there is no way to hash these topics into subject areas.  

Seemingly, even though Treaty Education is governmentally mandated, the Treaty outcomes and the curriculum outcomes are like oil and vinegar – they work together in the sense that they make a good salad dressing to pour onto a student’s learning/life experience, but (as it stands now) no matter how hard one tries to stir them, they do not mix.  I could have one of my routines being a quick “Did’ja kno!”  fact about treaty’s up on the board, and it could count that I have integrated treaties into my lesson, but is that beneficial to anyone?  Absolutely not.  Students will not remember it, as it has no meaningful impact, and the teacher will get an unwarranted sense of self-satisfaction.  

If students are coming into our classroom with absolutely zero pre-conceived knowledge of the treaties, weaving in and integrating Treaty Education into our lessons is going to be utterly useless.  This is why I believe a compulsory Treaty Education class in, let’s say, grade 9 would be extremely beneficial.  This class would give students the foundational knowledge that other teachers can then build upon in their own classrooms.  The argument about teachers neglecting to teach treaties in their classroom because “they have all had a class on it already, so what is the point” begins to arise when the thought of a treaty based class comes up.  Personally, I don’t think this argument holds much substance – it is still a mandated part of the education profession, so teaching it is not only still necessary, but expected.  

For my ECS 410 class, we had a guest by the name of Tim Caleval come in from the Ministry of Education, and right at the end of his presentation, he touched upon the Maori people of New Zealand and how the Government of New Zealand worked hard to raise the graduation rates of these Maori people and changed the educational system to benefit them.  I see a great deal of parallels between Saskatchewan and New Zealand – the only difference is the governmental apathy of our province.  

If we work together -- get the resources, get the plans in place, and all have a mutual understanding of Treaty Education -- we can implement a meaningful way of learning with the treaties.