And we’re back after an extra week off! We began this class by checking in on how our break went and how we’re doing on our upcoming assignments for this class. My break wasn’t very restful but I was able to squeeze in some Modern Family. As for our assignments, I do have to add my own thoughts a bit more throughout the Dialogue Paper and I also have a pretty good idea for the expectations of the Assessment Demonstration thanks to the video example a few weeks back.

Then we had a mini debate about whether ethnicity, language, and gender were made up of, constitutes, or establishes a culture. I felt that they were all related to culture as did most of the class for ethnicity and language…it’s what connects people together. But in terms of male and female gender I felt that it was part of culture because as soon as you’re born, you’re pushed into a certain path/role in life, until you feel strong enough to step out. Additionally, in some cultures, your gender determines what ceremonies or practices you can do…if one was wiped out, the whole piece of that culture would disappear. I think thinking about culture in the classroom is important because it can determine how or why some acts a certain way, things that they are able to participate in, and why they think or believe certain things. Everyone brings a different perspective to the classroom and you have to try and be as respectful and inclusive as you can.

I then did a quick BLOOMS puzzle to review the six levels which are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.

After the break we discussed “15 fixes to Education.” I felt that the one that would bring the most positive results for students was #5 “Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately,” because so many times students do not have a choice whether or not they will go to school that day. Maybe they’re sick, or the bus isn’t running, or their parents can’t drive them, or they have to work, or they have to watch their younger siblings, and so many other reasons. In my pre-internship classroom, there were kids I saw once, twice, and even zero times because attendance was so bad, and these kids are in Grade 7/8. I felt that the hardest one to achieve as a teacher was #10 which was relying on quality assessments…obviously this is the correct thing to do but I feel that in the first few years of teaching you will question yourself, your methods, and just have to get in the groove of your school’s quality requirements. Also a lot of the pre-made assessments might not be of standard (like on TPT) so finding/creating a good one is hard to come by. My group members and I really struggled to choose between #11 and #12 and still don’t think I know the answer. In the fourth section I felt that including students in the grading process would be the most difficult simply because I like to have control and have things a certain way.

Lastly we discussed the PISA and the PCAP which are assessments across the country and the world. I was sad to see that Saskatchewan was so low but it was encouraging to know that we’ve been improving. Against the world Saskatchewan was okay and I was happy that we were higher than the States in at least one aspect haha. It was really cool seeing the differences between countries and I feel everyone was intrigued by these assessments in class.

My symbol for this class is the globe because I felt the most intrigued by this portion of the class and it will hopefully help me remember the PCAP and PISA assessments.