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Dear Emily,

People form different bias either consciously or unconsciously, you have ethical responsibility, as a future teacher you need to unlearn your bias, remove the unconscious bias to ensure every student have equal opportunities to be successful in your classroom. You need to cultivate awareness of your biases, look at the response to environment not character trait. Develop care relationship with your students, have empathy, treating students with kindness, have friends from different cultures. Talk to your students about diversity and bias. Address issue when there is cultural bystander. Create culture responsive learning environment that include every student’s culture background, develop cultural responsive competency. Understand your students deeply with their family and how they learn best. Set high standards and expect every student in your classroom will be successful! 

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You can do it! I believe in you because I know you will be the best teacher that you will ever imagine!

Emily
  
Write your future self a letter or note about why and how you must never forget Murray Sinclair’s words.

 

Dear Emily,

 

It is precisely because education was the primary tool of oppression of Aboriginal people, and the miseducation of all Canadians, that we have concluded that education holds the key to reconciliation  ~ Hon. Justice Senator Murray Sinclair

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     You must never forget Murray Sinclair’s words. Truth and Reconciliation report brings calls for action, not words. As an educator it’s important to bring the history of residential schools as part of the education curriculum. We have the responsibility to teach the truth. We must remember the history and change for the future, history is not only about residential school but to respect its knowledge, history, culture, and language. You must find a balance approach to teach and create an inclusion classroom environment.

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       Bring connections between aboriginal culture and the student’s own culture. When talking about drumming, ask students what their culture uses to bring people together. “Building connections requires creating safe spaces to openly discuss racism and prejudice. It also means avoiding destructive language.” Says Bearhead. [1]

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      Perhaps you may feel nervous and unprepared to bring those topics into your classroom but there are a lot of sources you can use, invite elders, knowledge keepers, and indigenous experts into the classroom. “Instead of speaks for indigenous people, families and communities, don’t do for, do with, teach about the culture”[2] Use inquiry approach to facilitate the learning, be a co-learner with students. Start by learning about many proud and resilient people who were impacted by Canada’s residential school system and contemporary indigenous people. Be prepared to teach indigenous content, develop a pedagogy for reconciliation. You don’t need to be an expert in having all the answers but remember it’s your responsibility to teach the truth and reconciliation!

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[1] From M. Gillmore. (2018). Teaching Truth And Reconciliation: Exploring Residential Schools In Canada. Teach magazine.

[2] From K. Freeman, S. McDonald, & L. Morcom. (2018). Reconciliation in your classroom.

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RESOURCES FOR K-12 TEACHERS:

• Assembly of First Nations (AFN) offers a great online resource called It’s Our Time: The AFN Tool Kit, available at www.afn.ca/education/toolkit. The tool kit has many classroom resources, as well as “Plain Talks” available on iTunes, or as PDFs, that will provide you with information on a wide variety of Indigenous topics, from treaties to languages.

• completing an online course, attending Indigenous events, participating in professional development activities offered through the school board or elsewhere.

• Online sources like goodminds.com or the Martin Family Initiative feature hundreds of vetted resources by Indigenous authors with clear curriculum connections across many subject areas.

• Universities and other education institutions often have great resources online.

• In the Eastern Woodlands, Queen’s University has an outstanding website with Indigenous content that you can access here: http://guides.library.queensu.ca/aboriginal-curriculum-resources/native-studies-resources/websites.
  On the West Coast, the University of British Columbia has K-12 curriculum resources available online here: http://guides.library.ubc.ca/indigenous_ed_k12.

• Provincial teachers’ federations and other organizations may have resources specifically designed to assist teachers in their work to support truth and reconciliation education in their classrooms. For example, see Joining the Circle: An Educator’s Toolkit to Support First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students, published in hard copy in October 2017 by the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) and the Centre ontarien de prévention des agressions (COPA), and available at
  http://copahabitat.ca/en/toolkits/joining-the-circle/guide-and-resources.

• For pan-Canadian topics like residential schools, check out the Hundred Years of Losseducation kit developed by the Legacy of Hope Foundation. The “Kairos Blanket Exercise” offers an interactive exploration of Indigenous-Canadian relations with a focus on residential schools and reconciliation. It can be used in any classroom from Grade 4 to adult learners.

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Reference

Gillmore, M. (2018). Teaching Truth and Reconciliation: Exploring Residential Schools

In Canada. Teach magazine. Retrieved from: http://teachmag.com/archives/8934

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Freeman, K., McDonald, S., & Morcom, L. (2018). Reconciliation in your classroom.

EdCan Network. Retrieved from: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/truth-reconciliation-classroom/

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Fall 2018

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Without looking back at your first entry in September, please respond to the following prompts: 

 

a) What is your understanding of the role of education in society? 

 

    In the fast paste of changing world. A teacher is no longer just giving out information, the teacher will give fewer instructors and more a guide of information, by asking different guiding questions lead students to have curiosity and further develop deeper knowledge on what they want to know.

     Education transfers the knowledge giver to Inspire students to be curious and become lifelong learners by asking more open-ended questions. 

Education will teach children critical thinking, problem-solving skills with a real-world connection. Collaborate learning, fluency in technology,  

 

     Instead of textbook-based, will be based on project problem solving, ​The curriculum in the classroom is designed to incorporate many skills and intelligence levels, and makes use of technology and multimedia. Skills and content are learned through their research and projects, 

 

    In addition to the curriculum is the study of environmental issues, truth and reconciliation commission (TRC), indigenous connection, outdoor education, inquiry-based learning and most important to teach students with a growth mindset.  

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b) Why do you want to be a teacher (framed within the context of your understanding of the role of education in society)?

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 I really enjoy learning all the new things. Being a teacher is a lifelong learning process. A teacher is committed to ongoing professional learning integrated into effective practice and to student’s learning.  Ensure students success by applying UDL and DI for individual needs. I will apply different strategies to help students, learn from students and learn about students, inspire for all learners and have current knowledge. Use assessment tools, classroom management skills and be a life coach to guide students in need. A teacher also act as a link of communication between parents and students to ensure learning is an ongoing process outside of the classroom with help from parents.

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    With 21st century learning, In the classroom students will experience new technologies, have fun learning with hands-on activities with MakerSpace education. Seeing students fully engage in the meaningful learning process and their achievement, makes me have a sense of a fulfillment and want to be a teacher!

 

      The educator is not only a role model but also an expert of teaching pedagogy, inspirations for all learners and has current knowledge, experiences for new technologies. Being a teacher also means a life coach for students, guides students in need, and a link communication between parents and students and other teachers.

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     (According to Stephen Downes the role as of the education, he mentioned that there are 23 roles in an educator will be in society.  

The learner: teacher inspired students to learn and a life long learner themselves

The coordinator: organizing materials, classroom organization, thoughtful way of putting students work as a team organizing schedules, setting expectations, managing logistics, following up and solving problems

The coach: role involvement, game planning, setting up goals for the team, to demonstrate and model

The critic: give positive feedback for learners

The collector: A teacher collects all the resources to help students 

A curator: a presenter for parents, lesson pan designer, and  an artist for all the posters

The convener: to bring the community, leaner together  

The facilitator: Create a safe learning environment with UDL and DI in the classroom

The lecturer: gave out information, ask students questions and guiding students with inquiry process)

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c) How will you contribute to an educational community that embodies your vision of education's role in society?

 

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    Start by learning more up to date knowledge and combine those to what I have learned so far. Analyze my AT or previous teachers what did they do to impact my life. What I could learn from them and influence the next generations.   

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Spring 2018

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Why do I want to be a teacher?

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      All my family members are teachers and as a teacher, I always feel it's the best career that I can ever be. I enjoy working with children and constant challenging in learning new things and psychological aspects of it. As a child, I have many different teachers when I grow up. The had a positive influence in my life and made difference in my life. They made a big difference in my life. I would like to be like them one day.

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     When I was young I lived in a very different environment, grew up as an Asia, it's a very different perspective of learning compare to western education. I would like to contribute my knowledge using both sides for my own teaching. Also, I have been teaching violin privately or as a group for many years and among many of them are special needs students. I feel the need to learn more about the different way of teaching those learning differences children and hopefully I could help out more children in the future. One day I would like to look back that I made a difference in someone's life. 

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Fall 2017

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