In March of 2023 I participated in my 3 week block at Winston Knoll Collegiate High School. I was very excited to be placed with a high school science teacher, as that is my long term goal. Finally being immersed in a high school setting was very exciting and I was prepared for a lot of learning to occur. For the first few days, my partner and I co-taught Science 10 chemistry before moving into our independent lessons. This accustomed us to get used to our environment, observe our teacher, and allow the students to get familiar with our faces in their class. For the following two weeks, I taught grade 12 biology while they were in their organization of life unit. We touched on defense mechanisms, classification of living things, and movement in both plants and animals. After teaching about dichotomous keys, I was able to do a candy lab with the students. They received a bag of candy and were instructed to create a dichotomous key with the different candies. Whether they chose the flow chart or paired statement style was up to them. It was really enjoyable to see them interact with each other and become comfortable with me as their teacher. I ended off my 3 week block where I started, with science 10. This was such an enjoyable group for me. They interacted so much with me, but also listened when necessary. I did a lab with them to show factors that affect the rate of reactions. Most reaction included hydrochloric acid and sodium thiosulfate. It was very eye-opening to see the amount of prep it takes to perform a lab smoothly, but also how rewarding it can be for student engagement. The moment I knew they enjoyed having me was when I was leaving their class to go observe another teacher and many of them started yelling “Nooo Miss. Smith, we don’t have you today?”. They were all very upset when I was leaving and wished I could have stayed longer. It is the little things in this career that make it so rewarding.
Throughout my 3 week block, I was able to learn so much. I learnt more teaching techniques, how to prep, how to interact with high school students (who are close to my age), and what I can work towards to better myself as an educator. I was able to observe many other classes that gave me different perspectives as well. This experience left me very excited to move forward into my internship. I am looking forward to learning so much more, through challenging myself with lessons, engagement, and relationships. I am excited to get involved with the school community and continue of this journey to becoming an educator.