EDUC 4030 - Practicum II
Description: This practicum focuses on professional responsibilities, planning for learning, facilitating learning, assessment, and the classroom environment. Students are expected to be directly involved in all aspects of teaching progressing from 50% and achieving 100% for at least three weeks of the practicum.
Reflection: **In Progress**
EDUC 4201 - Capstone (Integrating Ideas, Values, and Praxis
Description: In this capstone course, participants will critically reflect upon significant issues and experiences gleaned from their education, general education, schooling and elective courses, field experiences and practica. The major focus will be upon the development of a professional teaching e-portfolio and an action research project.
Reflection: **In Progress**
EDUC 4361 - Inclusive Classrooms
Description: **In Progress**
Reflection:
EDUC 4107 - Teaching Social Studies
Description: This course explores the knowledge and skills required to implement programs of studies in teaching Social Studies in Elementary (1 - 6) Education. The course will address a range of approaches to develop instruction, plan units of study, integrate curriculum, develop resources and assessment strategies to meet students’ needs.
Reflection: This course aided in my understanding on how to teach Social Studies through inquiry. We were taught ways to successfully create a Social Studies unit plan and have students engage with their communities.
EDUC 4351 - Indigenous Perspectives
Description:
Reflection: This course taught me several valuable lessons and expanded my knowledge and understanding of how to incorporate Indigenous perspectives in the classroom in a meaningful and authentic way. We went on several different field trips and were invited to engage in different Indigenous practices and teachings from Indigenous elders and experts.
EDUC 3108 - Teaching Mathematics
Description: This course explores knowledge and skills required to implement programs of studies in teaching Mathematics in Elementary schools. The course will address a range of approaches to develop instruction, plan units of study, integrate curriculum, develop resources and assessment strategies to meet students’ needs.
Reflection: This class taught me a lot about designing math through inquiry. We learned about math anxiety and growth mindset in students during math. Math can be a very challenging and frustrating subject for students, so learning how to teach math in an approachable way was a large part in my own learning during this course.
EDUC 3106 - Teaching Science
Description: This course provides an introduction to the teaching and learning of Science in elementary schools. The course will focus on instruction, planning and facilitating learning experiences, integrating curriculum, creating and utilizing resources and developing assessment strategies to meet students’ needs.
Reflection: Teaching science taught me a lot about how to teach science through inquiry-based teaching and learning. I was able to incorporate this approach into my fall practicum during the month. This course changed the way I perceived teaching science and helped me to build knowledge and resources for students to enjoy science class.
EDUC 3105 - Teaching Physical Education
Description:
Reflection: This course helped me understand how to include Physical Education in the classroom as well as how to teach it as a specialist. We were required to plan and engage in lessons aimed at different grade levels to inspire us as future teachers. We were able to teach and learn in a variety of different spaces, including the gym, outside, the dance studio, the weight room, and the track. It taught me the vast ways that PE can be taught and incorporated cross-curricular at school.
EDUC 3010 - Practicum I
Description: This practicum focuses on professional responsibilities, planning for learning, facilitating learning, assessment, and the classroom environment. Students will be directly involved in all aspects of teaching for 50% of the required time during their last three weeks of the practicum.
Reflection: My first practicum gave me true insight into life as a teacher. I went beyond the required 50% teaching and taught closer to 100% during my five-week practicum. Out of all of the valuable learning I received at MRU, nothing compared to being in the classroom and applying all of my learnings from the previous three years. I learned about how to effectively plan lessons, facilitate learning, and assess students. More importantly, I learned about relationship building and professional development.
EDUC 3326 - Current and Emerging Technology
Description: This course provides an overview of technological influences in education. It is designed to assist prospective teachers in critically examining current and evolving applications of technology relevant to the teaching and learning process.
Reflection: This course has taught me how to effectively implement technology into the classroom in a meaningful manner. It has introduced me to several new programs to introduce to my students to expand my teaching, and also introduced me to how to make a professional education social media.
EDUC 3108 - Teaching Mathematics
Description: This course provides an introduction to the teaching and learning of Science in elementary schools. The course will focus on instruction, planning and facilitating learning experiences, integrating curriculum, creating and utilizing resources and developing assessment strategies to meet students' needs.
Reflection: This course has provided me with the knowledge of how to facilitate math learning for students of all ages and how to create a meaningful math lesson. In this course, we completed several reflections based on the textbook, a long-range and medium-range plan, and were expected to teach a lesson to our practicum classrooms. From this course, I am taking away new strategies of how to implement math effectively using inquiry-based learning.
EDUC 3106 - Teaching Science
Description: This course provides an introduction to the teaching and learning of Science in elementary schools. The course will focus on instruction, planning and facilitating learning experiences, integrating curriculum, creating and utilizing resources and developing assessment strategies to meet students' needs.
Reflection: This course taught me how to implement science through inquiry and inquiry-based assessments. We also learned how to effectively plan for science using the backwards design model and the 6E model and why it is important. We learned this through presentations, teaching lessons to our peers, and doing several inquiry-based science activities. We practiced planning lessons around the 6E model and the importance of doing so.
EDUC 3104 - Arts Integration in Elementary
Description: In this course, students will learn how to integrate the fine and performing arts into the elementary classroom. Students will examine current theories and practices in arts education and will develop creative skills associated with each of the fine and performing arts. Drawing upon this knowledge, and within the context of the STEAM semester, students will design and apply integrated learning experiences that enrich student learning.
Reflection: In this course, we learned about integrating art into core academic subjects. We worked with the Alberta art program of studies to formulate lessons and connect ideas to other subjects. We learned that implementing art and allowing students to dive into their creative processes is a crucial part of their learning. We did several reflections of our own teaching practices and learning experiences to relate the content to our personal lives.
Reflection: This course was based on the psychology of education. This class was very beneficial to my future teaching career. Learning about student motivation, children's cognitive development, theories, and more are going to be beneficial in my future teaching practice. I can see myself using and applying the knowledge I have learned in this course to my future practicum experiences.
Reflection: This course expanded my knowledge from last semester's literacy course. We focused mainly on writing and how to assess and plan for writing activities and assignments. This course introduced me to all of the different aspects there are to writing in the classroom and what kinds of things we can do with it. The assignments during this course aligned with the content and gave me a great opportunity to practice planning for ELA and gave me exposure to different ways to incorporate reading and writing into the classroom in more diverse ways than just reading a book and writing about it.
Reflection: This course helped me to understand what different kinds of assessments can take place in the classroom. Through various assignments, it enabled me to practice creating my own assessments as well as use other ideas for assessment. I learned several topics, one of the most beneficial for my was backwards design and how to use it in the classroom for formative and summative assessments. Learning the benefits and disadvantages for assessments and how to enable effective assessments for my students is going to help me in my future teaching.
Description: This course focuses on language development and the importance of literacy. Students will examine certain principles of learning in order to gain an understanding of how language development occurs as well as to determine best practices in teaching language and literacy. Students are required to participate in relevant field experience. The field experience will be literacy-focused, including small group instruction and assessment.
Reflection: This course was solely based on teaching literacy and English Language Arts. We discussed strategies for effectively teaching literacy to students in a plethora of different ways. Our field experience got cancelled due to COVID-19, but we had the opportunity to meet virtually with teachers located in Calgary to discuss how they teach literacy in their classrooms. This course gave me a great idea of the different importance of teaching literacy and different ways to teach it effectively.
Description: This course provides a foundation for curriculum and pedagogy in the areas of planning, facilitating, and assessing learning. Further, it examines issues of power and justice and the ways that the economy, matters of race, culture, class, and gender ideologies, political discourses and other social institutions interact to construct the social systems that make up educational institutions. The field experience will focus on small groups and teacher candidates are expected to teach a lesson.
Description: This course examines teaching and learning processes with reference to psychological, sociological and philosophical influences in contemporary society, addressing the concept of personal worldview and its impact on classroom environments. The course introduces students to professional responsibilities and prompts students to develop ethical and professional attitudes, behaviour, language and conduct. The field experience will have an individual learner focus. In-school seminars may comprise part of the lecture hours.
Reflection: This course introduces first-year students to what it is like to be a teacher. This course gives a brief overview of the psychological, sociological, and philosophical influences in classrooms. Once a week for 10 weeks, students go into their placements and work in classrooms alongside a mentor teacher. This gives students a preview of what to expect in the teaching world through observations and leading small activities. This course has given me an introduction to my teaching career.