Rationale #1 : Improving Aboriginal Student Success Paper
This artifact is a paper I wrote for my Indigenous Knowledge course in the Teacher Education Program. It is filed under Standard 6 because it shows my growth and understanding of improving Aboriginal students’ success in the classroom. I did some research on techniques and strategies that some effective teachers used in their classroom with Aboriginal students. The tools I learned from the research and from the course are incorporated into the paper. It is a reflection on concepts that I would consider using in my own classroom to accommodate and help Aboriginal students build positive identities. My knowledge base concerning Aboriginal culture and history has grown since my Bachelor of Arts degree. Before going into the Teacher Education Program, I took a geography of BC course in which I learned the history of colonization concerning the Aboriginal peoples and an Education course called Schooling and Society that touched on teaching Aboriginal students. The Social Justice class in the TEP program has expanded my understanding on how to help Aboriginal students have higher success rates in the education system. My goal is to continue with educating myself more on the Aboriginal culture so I can have a better understanding on how to interact and help the Aboriginal students in my classroom. This paper specifies some of the tools I would use to create a positive learning environment for all my students.
Doing this paper has had some profound effects on how I plan to address the needs of Aboriginal students in my classroom. The research has provided me with some great teaching techniques and skills to use in the classroom to help improve the success of Aboriginal students. I hope to utilize and expand on the material that I have learned in Education 447 towards my own teaching pedagogy.
Rationale #2: Grade 3 Math Unit Plan
During my final practicum in a grade 3 classroom, I had to create many unit plans for various subject areas. This allowed me to develop and show a greater understanding of relevant curricula I was to teach my classroom students. This artifact is filed under standard 6 because the unit plan shows my broad knowledge base in the subject area(math) I taught. It shows a unit that explores the use of manipulatives, games and everyday life experiences. The unit was designed to be relevant and applicable to what the students' would experience outside of the classroom concerning money. My knowledge base on creating various activities and strategies to help the students understand the various concepts grew tremendously with the development of this unit. I consulted many different sources to develop a unit that addressed the classroom students' learning needs. This unit plan laid foundation of what was to be taught and I expanded out from it based on where the students' learning went.
Developing this unit and many others, helped me expand my own knowledge on the grade 3 curricula. This helped to show my understanding of the prescribed learning outcomes and my sensitivities to the students' learning needs. Creating unit plans for my practicum class, allowed me to learn a precise method of creating an applicable plan that would be suitable to meeting the curricula for any particular grade. It helped me to understand and address the learning outcomes in a sequential manner that would help the students to build upon each concept. The unit plan is a great 'backbone' to help with ensuring that everything is addressed and met for the grade. I plan on using some of the strategies and activities that I implemented from this unit in my future math unit plans.
Rationale #3: Poetry Unit
Grade: 3
This is another example of my development with unit planning. This unit plan was developed for my grade 3 final practicum class. I designed this unit to help the students enhance and develop their writing skills. This artifact is filed under standard 6 because it demonstrates my broad knowledge base for designing poetry writing lessons and a unit plan. This also shows my ability to create an integrated unit. One poem was done in regards to the main character in the novel study unit. A couple other poems were designed to be used to enhance their knowledge on Spring in regards to the plant unit the students were completing. It was a fun unit and designed to appeal to the students' interest in school and outside of school.
Grade: 3
This is another example of my development with unit planning. This unit plan was developed for my grade 3 final practicum class. I designed this unit to help the students enhance and develop their writing skills. This artifact is filed under standard 6 because it demonstrates my broad knowledge base for designing poetry writing lessons and a unit plan. This also shows my ability to create an integrated unit. One poem was done in regards to the main character in the novel study unit. A couple other poems were designed to be used to enhance their knowledge on Spring in regards to the plant unit the students were completing. It was a fun unit and designed to appeal to the students' interest in school and outside of school.
I learned a lot from designing this unit. I also learned about the different writing aspects that need to be considered when developing a poem. I tried to focus on the students' interest as much as possible and to integrate other subject content in as well. This was a great unit that helped me get to know the students even more and to see their creativity. I also learned how to create a writing unit plan that addresses the grade curricula. I will use the knowledge I gained from developing this unit plan into my future writing unit plans.
