Flashback to Week 1 of PDPP

Why Education?
During my first week in the PDPP, I created this mind map about why I started the Education program:

The Heart of a Teacher

The Heart of a Teacher by Parker J. Palmer is a poignant piece of writing that I plan on re-reading throughout my career. Since I love quotes, I will share a few that stuck with me:

• "Good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher."
• "The courage to teach is the courage to keep one's heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able..."
• "When we lose heart we need an understanding of our condition that will liberate us from that condition."

 

Reflection from September 8th, 2014:

During my journey from home to campus this morning, I saw some familiar faces smiling as they waved at passing cars. They were holding placards with slogans and statistics, some written by hand, and others printed onto corrugated plastic. These "Teachers Taking A Stand" were my high school teachers. These were men and women who have done so much for me: endless support, encouragement, inspiration, reference letters, and more. They taught me about Leadership, Biology, Chemistry, Science, Calculus... and those are just the course titles. They don't even come close to the life lessons and wisdom they bestowed onto me. Their humour, patience, dedication, and passion have helped me to become who I am today. They were standing up for the future of public education in this province. 

With all of that going through my head, I delayed my trip to campus and hopped off the bus to say hello and thank you to some of the most influential educators I've had in my life. They are rockstars of the profession, in my mind. Great educators, like these ones, can turn situations that are not ideal into teachable moments. If you don't like what's going on, how can you work to improve it? As always, they had words of encouragement for me:

• "You'll make a great elementary educator, but I hope you end up back at the high school."
• "Those kids are so lucky to have you."
• "I'm glad that we're not losing a bright, young educator over this."

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