A Resolution
A resolution has occured (at least, I hope it's a resolution). Our math professor decided to step down and not continue to teach our class. I hope that the students are remorseful and begin to understand the consquences of their words. My bigger hope is that the prof doesn't take this experience as the only one of her university teaching career. I hope that our class' actions do not reflect her opinion of what teaching university is like..
I was talking to a friend this evening during our "peace and global institute" conference/workshop/professional development (whatever you want to call it) session and she was in full agreement with me. It felt good to have someone understand exactly what I was feeling. Anyways, hopefully the class will be satisfied with the new professor and it will be on with our lives.
As I mentioned, I attended a workshop called Peace and Global Institute this evening (and tomorrow!). It has been interesting so far. My first workshop was from Engineers without Borders. The engineer that came into talk to us set up an activity that really got the point across. She divided us up into small groups and each group was given 2 sheets of paper. One with the name of your country (we had to act in our roles) which listed the annual GDP, amount invested in overseas sponsorships, literacy levels, life expectancies, etc. The other page gave us instructions on how to construct a water filter.
My group was Ethiopia. We were given $20 (Monopoly money). We also had the USA and Canada in our class - they received $1000 and $600 respectively. Since Ethiopia isn't as wealthy as the latter two countries, we had no where near enough money to purchase the materials we needed to construct a filter for the dirty bottle of water we were given. So we borrowed. Eventually we did get sponsorship through Canada (nice!) and did manage to get the filter to work.
The whole point of the exercise was to stress the amount of money developped countries contribute to overseas sponsorship (turns out Canada sponsors about 0.2% of our GDP while the US sponsors 0.1%). Additionally, our group had jibberish as instructions to get the point across that literacy was a major issue.
Interestingly enough, our keynote speaker this evening was Alexa McDonough (MP). She mentioned that Canada had set a target of 0.5% of our GDP as an investment for sponsoring poor countries. Of course, this target hasn't been met for quite a few years.
Anyways, I need to get to bed so that I may actually get up tomorrow morning to attend the last part of the conference. Just wanted to say that this conference so far has been really eye opening and that I'm starting to see why we had the Live 8 concert recently (plus reasons for why it's so critical to introduce these subjects into the classroom).
Gnite!
Continuation...
This morning's email turned the whole day on a sour note for me. It wasn't that anything bad happened, but I guess I was just feeling down in the dumps. I "reflected" (ha!) on my mood and my conclusion is that I'm taking this so personally because I guess I had an expectation of the values that teachers hold. The way that they are approaching this problem with our math prof isn't what I would consider appropriate or the best way of handling this situation. At least give her a better change by approaching her after class and talking more specifically about the things they think are not working for them in class rather than attacking her in front of everyone during class time (which is also wasting their fellow student's time). Anyhow.. back to my point: I'm disappointed and also disturbed that my colleagues to be are handling this situation like this and additionally very unhappy with their attitudes.
For those who have absolutely no idea of what I'm talking about: my math prof for a class "teaching mathematics at the junior level" does not have English as her first language. This along with the fact that she only knew she was teaching this course 4 days before classes started made so that things were confusing. She has a hard time understanding the questions students ask and answering them so that people walk away feeling that they understand what her expectations are of them. My class (well, some of my class) has decided to show their feelings of frustration during class time by voicing their opinions about her curriclum and her teaching methods. They also have this way of grouping together and criticizing her one after another (it's very irritating and frustrating to those of us who are sitting there listening). I understand where they are coming from, but I completely disagree with the way things are being handled (as you can see from the above commentary).
Anyways, on a lighter note, I'll be attending a professional development workshop this weekend called "Curriculum for Peace and Global Institute". So far it sounds interesting and I hope that it's a positive experience.
I hope that the coming days will wash away this negative doom that seems to be hovering over my head. Mostly, I hope that the math situation can be resolved in a non confrontational manner that will benefit BOTH parties.
5 Minute Entry
Ok.. I have 5 minutes before I gotta really leave for school (it's almost 7:30). I just checked my email and the entire math class received an email from a fellow student saying that she may submit a letter of complaint regarding our math prof.
Hmm. I know she isn't the best prof in the world and that she does have a language problem (it's not a huge one, but there is a barrier), but is it really necessary to file a complaint against her? They attack her in class every week! We spend at least 30 minutes complaining or criticizing her of her teaching methods (actually, complaining has gone on for about 1.5hrs before). I'm sort of annoyed at the class for being so cruel and impatient. On the other hand, I can understand their frustrations because the teacher isn't very clear about her expectations and she doesn't understand their questions (not that they are worded in a simple fashion for her to understand). I really don't know. I didn't even bother to open the letter that was attached to the email because I was upset about the whole issue. Is this really necessary? I thought teachers would be more understanding and patient?? (there are more reasons of course for why this is going on but I don't have time to get into it now).
Gotta go. Bye.
Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines!
I really should be moving my butt and getting ready to go to school at the moment, but I'm feeling a bit slow moving this morning. :P
Last night I started to get myself organized. After reflecting (omg..) about the time I'm going to have once my practicum (student teaching) starts, I started to realize I'd better get my things in order and even start working on projects and assignments that are due in November if possible! Many people I've talked to are saying the same thing: they are exhausted after three days of classes and they have no idea how they are going to handle the work load once practicum starts.
Anyhow.. I did a little summary of all things due (well, as much as possible, some profs haven't been clear about readings and due dates yet) and the schedule (see above) is really packed. Ugh. What to do..
On the less whinier note, I had an interesting class yesterday. Someone from the Ottawa-Carlton school board came in to give us a presentation on "Everest: The Climb to Higher Learning 2005". This project was intensely interesting and made me feel really enthusiastic about being a more technology oriented teacher. Six schools from Ottawa followed the Mount Everest climb of a woman from Ottawa this past year. Wow. One of the big aspects of this project was technology. They used satelite phone, video conferencing, emails, instant messaging, online journals, digital pictures, video clips, etc. to communicate with her during her climb. Additionally, a whole bunch of curriculum was integrated into this project (such as learning about oxygen levels, the culture of Nepal, etc.). A fantastic project that blew me away. I hope I can be involved with something like that when I begin teaching! For any of you that are interested, the website for this project is here.
Anyways, I'd better get moving along. Gotta get to school to run an errand and meet my group members to discuss our project (I really feel like vegging today *sigh*).
Ciao.
Pity Me
Self Discipline Has Gone Out the Window Today
Oh darn it. I was aiming to not take a nap and to do cardio this after arriving home from classes. Unfortunately for me, I was just too exhausted to do accomplish both of these goals and have also proceeded to procrasinate my way to this very point in time (I have a chapter summary due tomorrow and have various readings I should be doing right now). *Surprise surprise*
I had my first "Computer Science" class this afternoon (It's teaching computer science) and boy was it a s-l----o------w dragging one. I think I was just tired and really wanted to get out early. The prof isn't bad and it's not any of my courses are super boring (nothing can compare to CS courses or Business courses as of yet :P)!
When I walked into my class this afternoon, another thing occured to me: with education students, you have a really hard time identifying the prof vs. the students sometimes!! Many Education students are older - some are married with children, some are coming back to work from parenting breaks, some are changing careers, etc. Anyways, I almost asked these two ladies if we were suppose to sign in or something because I thought they were official people or something.. turns out that they were just students.. boy am I glad I kept my mouth shut!! I would have felt so stupid!
Anyways, I had better stop procrastinating now.. Maybe I can still fit in a workout later.. hmmm.. *YAWN* .... We'll try again tomorrow.
Monday Mornings.. UGH
Its Monday and I have an early morning (8am) class - joy! HEHE.. anyways, the prof let us out really early today (because half the class didnt have the course materials so we couldnt go over the readings and since it was the first class for this course).. so here I am in the Learning Resource Centre (Ooo la la.. education students have their own library, MAC and PC labs!!) typing away my time.. BTW, FYI this is a French keyboard and I have no idea how to make apostrophes appear so bear with me please).
I just went out for a mini walk around campus .. I was hoping to try to learn my way around campus (which is slowly happening) and I realized that I am still having a 'hard' time (YA!! I figured out how to make apostrophes!!) getting used to seeing so many Chinese people. Now, let me clarify. Not Chinese in the sense that they've just arrived from overseas but Chinese in the sense of CBC's (Chinese Born Canadians NOT the Canadian Broadcasting Council :P). Every CBC I come across in Fredericton, 99% of the time I've known them for pretty much my entire life.. it's definitely different here!!
Classes are going well so far. Lots of reading and I've already got some assignments due. I'm still not keen on this class participation thing... I wonder if I'll ever get used to having to speak up in class! (Can't figure out where the question mark key is). I tend to stay quiet unless I'm forced into speaking.. and I hate being forced to volunteer information if I'm not comfortable. On the other hand, being a "to be" teacher, I can understand why they want us to participate.. *sigh* my dilemma... Ho hum.. gotta live with it for another 8 months.. it's not that bad, right!
Alright, I have to go. Time for a washroom break and then I'm off to my 2nd class of the day (HAHAHAH.. this is what happens when your classes are 3.5 hours each!!)
Ciao!
Embarking on a Teacher Ed Journey
So I've had two days of classes. In general, my classes seem to be pretty good and the profs remind me a lot of some very mothering elementary school teachers (which is good). One thing that is starting to try my patience (already!) is "reflecting" about things like "why did you take this course?", "what is your major goal when it comes to teaching this subject?", etc. I don't really know how to pinpoint the answer to any of these questions, I just know that they are valuable courses and that I want to teach them to the best of my abilities. Anyways.. hopefully these questions don't keep surfacing after week 1.
I find myself surprised at times as well. My "teaching intermediate/junior math" prof's mother tongue is not English. I believe she comes from India but that's not really the point. Yesterday, during class, someone raised a question from the class outline (we didn't understand what the prof wanted). There was obviously a language barrier and what surprised me was the way the students ("Teacher Candidates") handled it. Instead of simplifying the language or trying another way around it, it seemed like they were shooting off different ways of asking her but NOT in plain english. Furthermore, they seemed to be very impatient and were also indirectly mocking her amoungst themselves. I felt really bad for the prof (she did start to get frustrated with them too after a while). I was also thinking to myself, if you people are going to have such an attitude over a situation like this, how do you expect to deal with students who can't speak a word of English - it happens you know! *Argh*! I absolutely hate it when people behave like this, it seems like a problem of superiority and respect.
Anyways... besides that, people in my classes seem to come from a huge range of experiences with children. So far, it seems that most of them haven't had TEACHING experience, just experiences dealing with children. I hope this gives me a leg up when it comes time to job hunt. The other thing that I'm really excited about is that I've heard mention (twice today) that there is a huge demand for teachers who are able to integrate technology into their classes. One of my profs said there is a huge "phenomenon" across Canada at the moment in terms of demand for technological savy teachers (as many teachers who are current in the system do not like to deal with technology). YAY! :D
I was reflecting on my way back from school this afternoon (lots of time to do that while walking back and forth from the bus stop to my apartment) that I feel different. Usually, when I'm in a situation where I don't know anyone and there are many many strangers around, I feel like hiding. This time around, I'm feeling more confident and have been able to meet quite a few people (I've actually got the courage to introduce myself!). I'm so proud of myself! (hehehhe.. I'm not trying to brag, ok? :P) I'm also really proud that I'm able to take the bus by myself..okokok, I know that sounds really elementary school-ish, but people, if you know my sense of direction ... you'd get what I'm talking about :P
Alright. That's all for now. Don't make fun of me!!! (you'll take the courage away).
CIAO
JY
Intense Schedule To Come
I had my first day of class/orientation yesterday and now I'm beginning to realize the workload that is coming. My schedule is really intense. We have class Monday - Wednesday (beginning at 8am, usually running to 4:30/5:30pm) with Thursdays and Fridays being spent student teaching. In addition to this, we're also suppose to attend these compulsory (or so they say) seminars & workshops that range from evenings to WEEKENDS! There are these things called Tribes (don't ask me.. I'm not really sure what they entail except that I think they are professional development workshops that are open to teacher candidates & teachers in Ottawa) that run for 3 days each (about 5-6 of them throughout the year). These are on Fridays (3:30-10:30pm), Saturday (8:30am-4:30pm) and Sunday (8:30am-4:30pm) *gasp*. To make matters worse, they are $130 each! I'm not sure I'm going to attend all of them, but I think it'd be a good experience and I'd learn a lot.. but.. the expense & the time (it'll mean there is no rest period for 2 weeks straight!). We have to take all of the "tribe" workshops in order to get a certificate and they are also suppose to be a really good time to network. Hmmm... what to do..! Besides Tribes, we've also got workshops on portfolio creating, resume writing, interview skills and other teacher related subjects. Man.. the schedule for extra workshops/seminars is 4 pages long!!
On the brighter note, I'm pretty impressed with the faculty so far (besides the late information given to us). The dean seems to be really friendly and very approachable and some of the profs are really hilarious (which makes them interesting teachers!). We have this class called "Reflection in Practice" which is sort of our "homeroom" because we are in the same class with the same people for the whole year. This class is to let us talk about our experiences in the classroom and to brainstorm new ideas of handling things as well as to explore specific topics (such as classroom diversity and equality). The people I've met so far (not very many because we haven't officially started classes and orientation consisted of us sitting through 2.5 hours of speeches) are so diverse and from all over. There are three Maritimers (including me) in my class. One from Nova Scotia, one from PEI and of course yours truly from New Brunswick.
I'm pretty settled in and am happy to report that I'm starting to figure out how this bus system works (its sort of confusing because you really need to know the routes and directions in order to make sure you get on the right bus!).... at least I know how to get to school and back without going to the airport ;). I'm also starting to recognize streets which is a good feeling. The downside to exploring is the money that is spent. Ahhh... so much to buy and so little money!! HEHEHEHEH
Anyways, thats all for now. I'm off to bed (sleep like a log these days). I'll try my best to post entries, but as you can tell.. the schedule is off the wall.
Good night! Happy Labour Day Weekend!! ^_~
