Term-endous! (Term 1: Accomplished)

It has been a week since I submitted the final assignment for my first term of the PDPP. I have now completed the following teacher education courses:

• Field Experience Seminar,
• Indigenous Education,
• Learners and Learning Environments (Educational Psychology),
• Literacy and Language, and
• Physical Education.

The past few months have been intense, but nowhere near as intense as the next year of the program will be! Before starting the 2015 chapter of my learning journey, I will be spending time reflecting, visioning, and expressing some of this through blogging. I will be writing more specific posts, but here are a few things that I learned this term:

• I am so lucky to be sharing this journey with an incredible cohort of colleagues. As we have learned from sources such as this video by Alan McLean, "affiliation, which is a sense of belonging," is a key ingredient in motivation, along with "agency, which is a sense of confidence and self belief, and autonomy, which is a sense of being self determining and trusted." I am so grateful to all of them for what they have taught me, and for their continued support.
• Mind maps are an effective way for me to document my learning. During my B.Sc. studies I used them as study tools before midterms and final exams; this term I started to use them as in-class note-taking tools. I find it helpful to spatially organize ideas, and to leave room to add future reflections or insights.
•  I am qualified to teach French Immersion practicum placements, so I will be signing off as...

Mlle. Allen

Blackout Poetry

I happened upon this blog post about Blackout Poetry, and it reminded me of how much I love that form. My first experience with it was in my English 12 class, but I would love to try it with students at the intermediate primary and middle years levels. It allows for reading practice, creativity is encouraged, and poems can be made without being slowed by printing and spelling. Since the words are all on the page, you just have to find your poem! (This would be a great use of pages that have been printed or copied by mistake!)

I happened upon this blog post about Blackout Poetry, and it reminded me of how much I love that form. My first experience with it was in my English 12 class, but I would love to try it with students at the intermediate primary and middle years levels. It allows for reading practice, creativity is encouraged, and poems can be made without being slowed by printing and spelling. Since the words are all on the page, you just have to find your poem! (This would be a great use of pages that have been printed or copied by mistake!)

More examples can be found on Newspaper Blackout.

What's your favourite form of poetry?

Miss B. Allen

A New Chapter

Hello, fellow learner!

Through this blog, you can join in on my adventures in Education! This is a new chapter in my journey of lifelong learning: two weeks ago I started a 16-month PDPP (Post-Degree Professional Program) in Elementary Education. Prior to this, I learned about the science of life through a B.Sc. program in Biology. For over four years I have been delivering hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) outreach workshops and camps, and those experiences have led me to the Education profession. (For a little more detail, you can check out my LinkedIn profile.) Here's is a little homage to one of my life's previous chapters, which also serves as an introduction to my penchant for puns:

 

I have long admired the teachers' blogs that I have found while developing science curriculum. They have inspired me to join the education "blogosphere"! I look forward to expanding on this site as I learn and grow as an educator. In future posts, I hope to include:

• Links to great teaching blogs,
• Cartoons with puns,
• Reflections on my journey through the PDPP, and
• Curriculum ideas.

Do you have any other suggestions? I would love to hear from you!

Miss B. Allen