I Believe…

I believe…a student’s mental health comes before grades

I believe… each student has strengths and weaknesses

I believe…each student learns differently

I believe…each student shares different morals and values

I believe…each student should respect one another

I believe…respect goes a long way in the classroom

I believe…trustworthy relationships with students is important

I believe…students should have some say in what they are learning

I believe…students can achieve anything they put their mind into

I believe…students can educate teachers

I believe…teachers are to be positive role models for students

I believe…the well-being of a student comes before academic achievement

I believe…school involvement is important for teachers to partake in

I believe…communication between educators and students is crucial

I believe…treaty education is critical to teach to students

I believe…students should not get assimilated into mainstream culture in the classroom and diversity shall prevail

ECS 100: Stories from the Field

This is a picture of my field partner, Jay-lyn (left) and I (right) at Argyle School

NOTE: FOR THE PRIVACY OF THE STUDENTS, I DID NOT INCLUDE ANY PICTURES OF THE STUDENTS OR THEIR JOURNAL RESPONSES

October 10, 2018

“Jay-lyn and I are doing our field experience at Argyle School with Grade 4’s. To begin the day, we met with our classroom teacher who gave us a school tour after introductions were complete. During our orientation, we met some of the students in our classroom who are very outspoken and outgoing. The students very loudly told our teachers that Jay-lyn and I were “very pretty” without even knowing our names or being shy.”

 

October 17, 2018

“After this, students worked on another rock assignment, but Jay-lyn and I did not assist with this project. Instead, Kaitlen gave us the container of journals to comment in. One of the prompts students answered was “what would you do if you were a teacher for a day? What would your rules be?”. Kaitlen had told us that the answers would be funny to read since the kids have wild imaginations. For instances, some students had very thought out detailed responses where they incorporated various school subject for specific allotted times, lesson plan idea and reasons why they chose what they did, while other students said they would have students play video games all day and have an ice-cream party, and one student went as far as saying that they would not make a good teacher and would probably get fired. Comments I wrote in the journals included: “Very neat writing, good job”, “What type of video-games would you play?”, “Your day sounds very exciting!”, just to name a few examples of what I wrote in the students’ journals.”

 

“The highlight of my day though was phys-ed class. In phys-ed Kaitlen had Jay-lyn and I work with small groups to teach volleyball skills. As I have coached volleyball for the past 5 years, I was very excited to work with the children on setting. It was rewarding when the students set the ball with somewhat correct technic and their smiles of accomplishment. “

 

October 24, 2018

“One moment that stood out for me during this project was one kid who is extremely shy, did not want me to help him when I asked the first time I went around helping, then at the second time I went around he asked me for help before I could even ask him. This was a pivotal moment for me as I saw the children opening up to me. Lastly, for the final period of the day, the students played volleyball for gym class. Jay-lyn and I reffed the one side’s games, it was fun as the children enjoyed this. The game was adapted using benches as the net and allowing any type of contact with the ball to be acceptable making the game more exciting for the children as they did not get as frustrated as last class.”

 

October 31, 2018

“During recess, Jay-lyn and I prepped for the activity we were leading with the students. We did not have a lesson plan as the activity had instructions with it and Jay-lyn and I knew the craft very well. We made bat bookmarks with the students. Kaitlen sat the students down and asked them to respect us, and they exceeded my expectations with their level of respect. During the whole lesson, students were helping each other out and listening to us. From this activity, I learnt a couple of things. First off, students are little teachers, they help out struggling students even though we were walking around helping them. Secondly, the students can give ideas of how to make an activity work better. For instance, the bookmarks involved a lot of folding. A couple students used their glue sticks to flatten the folded edges, so the paper would not unfold. After seeing how well this worked, I told all the students this and it helped the bookmarks from unfolding. In the end, the kids all said they loved the activity. Kaitlen also said we did a great job leading the activity, which I took as a confidence boost in my teaching.”

This is one of the bookmarks a student made. Here is the link to the instruction guide which I followed to explain the craft: https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/diy-bat-corner-bookmarks/

November 14, 2018

“An aspect of teaching from the Grade 7/8 classroom teacher was incorporating technology. While I did not witness the assignment that was to be completed, I read the assignment sheet and learnt students had to create a video for math class explaining how to do a question. I think this is a good way for students to learn because it is students teaching students while incorporating technology. While the teacher was incorporating technology in the classroom, he was also clear on rules. Halfway during the class, the teacher stood up and asked all the students who had a cellphone. He then proceeded to tell students to go through their social media accounts and camera roll and delete inappropriate. He explained that if a student’s phone gets into the wrong hands, a picture that a student may not want to share with others, may be shared and could have negative consequences. I really like how the teacher asked the students to be safe on their phones since there are negative consequences if an offensive/inappropriate picture is posted. He specifically said he did not want to see his students ruin their lives over one photo, which shows he is a very caring teacher.”

 

 

November 21, 2018

“The students were making posters in groups based on the article they were given about different types of agriculture which they would present to the class. Kaitlen demonstrated what she wanted students to do by doing the project with “her group” (3 students she picked at random). I enjoyed how Kaitlen explained the project by actually showing what she wanted students to do and even incorporating her own group. After the explanation was finished, I went with my group into the hallway to work on our poster. We started by reading the article on agriculture and wild rice. I read the article and after ever 2 or 3 sentences, I asked students if they thought any information was important. If the students thought the idea was important, I asked them to try to summarize the idea and write them on the poster. After the article was complete and the students were happy with their posters, I asked students what information they would want to share in front of the class. The students each chose a fact on the poster they thought was the most interesting to them. I did this because I know how panic sets in when you stand in front of your peers and not knowing what to say. I hoped this would help the group feel more confident in front of their peers. As we returned back to the classroom to the class, presentations began. When my group presented I felt proud of how they were able to recite information off their poster without having to look at it much. I was also proud with how a couple added additional facts to the presentation without the facts being on the poster.”

 

November 28, 2018

“Today, I work with a student who is behind on the assignment. I helped this student get her poster organized by pointing to the words on her rough copy for her to copy onto her good copy poster. This student seemed to flourish with the guidance of words she needed to write down, being pointed at. This student has a tendency to be behind work in Kaitlen’s classroom as well. After watching the student excel at her poster in French, I realized this student is slower in her work process because she needs guidance once in a while. I found this important to note because it is physically it is impossible for one teacher to give every student in the classroom one on one attention. I think if each student could receive one on one attention, the success rate in the education system would be incredible.”

Overall, I can say this was a great classroom to start my adventure as a teacher.

All About Me

My name is Jayden Lang. I was born and raised in the city of Melville. Throughout my childhood, I was involved with the community with various sports and activities, as well as taking part in programs my elementary school promoted. As school became busier, I focused my time on school and volleyball. For Grades 10,11 and 12, I played volleyball for the Melville Comprehensive Schools Senior Girls Team. While I was playing volleyball, I also assistant coached the Junior Girls Team for volleyball and eventually was the main coach for the “B Team”.  I also played club volleyball in Yorkton for 3 years for the same team, creating many memories along the way.

After graduation, I attended Yorkton Parkland College for Kinesiology, taking classes from both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan. As I was enrolled in Kinesiology, I quickly realized that the area of study was not my calling. As I was brainstorming career options, the option that always came to mind was education. I chose education as my field of study because I found the opportunity to teach others to be fun, so within little time I applied to the University of Regina for the secondary education program taking my major in mathematics with a minor in social studies. Also, during this time, I continued to assistant coach but for the Senior Girls Volleyball Team instead.

Aside from school, I regularly return home to my family. As I am close to both my Mom, Dad, and little brother (he’s 3 years younger than me and definitely much taller than me so he is not that little), it is a good stress reliever to go home and talk to them. Also, my brother plays for the Melville Comprehensive Senior Boys Volleyball Team, where I am his biggest fan.

My interests include…

Music (specifically country)

Reading

Watching movies (my favourite movie being When the Game Stands Tall)

Hunting

Camping

Taking Photos

Going for walks (with my dog, of course)

This is my dog, Maya