Course Reflections

Fall 2021

EDUC 3104: Arts Integration in Elementary

EDUC 3016: Teaching Science

EDUC 3018: Teaching Math

EDUC 3326: Current & Emerging Technologies

Winter 2021

EDUC 2013: Teaching ELA

• This course is a required course for second years in the Bachelor of Education program. It takes an extensive and critical look at the English Language program in Alberta for elementary schools. We learned about curriculum requirements, instructional planning, ressources, unit planning and much more. There were a variety of assignments like a lesson plan, novel study unit, resource bank all of which helped integrate learning to real life practices. We completed many readings and videos throughout the course that all attributed to my learning and aided with comprehension of the material. Some of our key topics that resonated deeply with me were writing assessment, novel study, word study/spelling and puppetry. Overall this course has prepared me for future endeavors within teaching ELA and I have acquired new techniques and strategies to meet the adverse needs of students.

EDUC 2321: Education and Individual Development

• This course is a required course for second years in the Bachelor of Education program. We examined many elements of human behaviour like emotional, cognitive and moral development. We analyzed classroom implication of many of these factors with specific focus on memory, motivation, learning styles and more. I learned about many behavioural elements through our assignments like the KWL paper, motivation paper, classroom management and finally our exams. Through our readings and classroom discussions I was able to apply my learning to classroom situations and develop strategies to implement them into my future classrooms. This course has allowed me to understand the "why" and "how" of learning. Learning how the brain works is beneficial for teachers and is helpful in regards to meaningful instruction.

EDUC 2375: Effective Assessment

• This course is a required course for second years in the Bachelor of Education program. It takes a deep look at the assessment of learning with specific regards to differentiation and learner performance. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, field study did not take place. We instead completed weekly workshops with specific relevance to the weekly topic of the course. We viewed many detailed and academic stimulating videos of educators. Some of these topics include backward design, reliability and validity, formative assessment, effective feedback and more. We had complex assignments that all aided with assessment comprehension and allowed me to investigate and engage in detailed learning. Through these assignments, like the written journals, visual journal and assessment dossier we applied many assessment concepts necessary to guide authentic teaching. I learned everything important about assessment for my future classrooms and have learned the importance of differentiation. Every student learns differently and we as teachers have a duty to provide exceptional teaching regardless of how they learn.

EDUC 4321: Philosophy of Education

• • This course is an education elective in the Bachelor of Education program. This course explores significant issues in the promotion of learning and what is sensible, right and good in educational beliefs. We explored many theorists and paid particular attention to Parker, J Palmer and his reading of The Courage to Teach. Through this novel we learned about what "good teaching" actually means and participated in many assignments. We had written novel responses and PLC group discussion about the novel all of which aided in Fall Fall 2020

• EDUC 2237: Language Development and Literacy

This course is the main course for the fall semester of second year in the Bachelor of Education program. This course deep-dives into the necessary parts of the development of ELA for students and teachers. Lots of importance was placed on phonetics, high-quality literature, adaptability and small or whole group instruction. Our core assignments all were detailed and surrounded previous topics like our reading logs which were to compile high-quality literature and intro lesson ideas and ways to connect these to the Alberta Program of Outcomes. I learned many things about the art of teaching through this course and developed my instruction skills. I was able to analyze many documents and learned greatly about the instruction of phonetics and differentiation for students. Because of covid-19, we were not able to be in classrooms this year with our mentor teacher. I was placed in a grade 3 class and we had weekly meetings with our mentor teacher. We discussed many important topics like differentiation, ELA programs, teaching online and more. These conversations were very valuable to me as a future teacher and I was able to directly relate these conversations with in-class learning topics. This course helped better prepare me for many instructional challenges and I learned many new things about effective teaching.

EDUC 4471: ESL in the mainstream

• This course was an education elective I took that I felt would be very beneficial for my future classrooms. It is really important to make sure your classrooms are as comfortable and diverse as possible. Being able to learn so many things about ELL students and how to better teach them is crucial. This course focused on how to better support ELL students and parents and properly teach them in a classroom environment. This varied from at home to at school and even through friendships/relationships. We discussed agencies here in Calgary who partner up with arriving immigrants and help them set up to school and did projects on different differentiation lessons. We learned about different tiers and levels of English language learners and how to properly assess and teach them. We had many course readings that taught me many things about the issues currently in classrooms and how easily these things can be fixed by proper education and teaching. Learning about how to support all your students despite their academic capabilities or cultural backgrounds is an essential part of being an influential teacher.

• FREN 3349: French Phonetics

  • This course was a subject completely new to me as I had never really explored English phonetics so to do them in French was different. This specific course is a French language requirement for my minor. We learned basic API lettering and explored many words and phrases and how to translate from API to Latin English and vice versa. This course was all about the way we pronounce words so we did many oral exams and listened to many voice tapes to learn. We learned the essential sounds in words and how so many letters are silent and unnecessary in words. Through this course, we explored many different sounds, letters, abbreviations, tongue twisters and SMS texting all to do with sound. This course will be very helpful for my french minor and in future french immersion classrooms because it taught me the importance of articulation.

• GEOG 2230: Regional Geography of Europe

  • This course was an elective course as a part of my program. Europe is a place that fascinates me greatly and I would love to visit there so this course seemed fitting. We discussed and learned many and all things in Europe. From population, languages, politics, religion etc... we covered many topics. I was able to understand and learn about many important and popular things about big cities but also learn about more local cultures. We explored many cultures and I was able to diversify my understandings. Not only did I learn more about Europe but we related many topics to Canada, so my ideas and learning of Canada also expanded. In relating things to Canada it makes it more real and important and allows me to use these facts and theories in my future educational classrooms. This course allowed me to explore many topics I have always wondered about and let me see Europe virtually.

• • constructing a personal philosophy. Other assignments included a subway map which had us reflect on the most significant teaching moments in our life. We participated in leadership tasks which allowed me to apply my learning to teaching. Some of the most influential classroom activities include circle meetings and PLC group discussions. These were beneficial to my learning and allowed me to integrate philosophical learning with course concepts. Because of this class I know have a foundation teaching philosophy to bring with me in my future school classes and teaching classrooms.