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Support students’ love of learning.
Cultivate the students’ natural desire to learn, their sense of discovery and their curiosity by bringing together the conditions required to help them all thrive.
Fourth Field Experience: St-Edmond High School
Feb to Apr 2023
As demonstrated in the first professional competency, during my last field experience, I made it a priority to present to students lessons that relate to cultural knowledge that is interesting to them and motivates them to learn. This in turn creates an environment where students are supported in their learning and enhance their love for learning in classroom, especially in English. Practically, I supported students' love of learning by listening to their wants and needs, and making a conscious effort to incorporate those into my classroom.
Below you will examples of artefacts that speak to my efforts to support students' love of learning.
The video on the right is a TikTok video I found while browsing for my personal use. As soon as I saw this video, I knew it would be the perfect bell ringer activity to engage students in the topic of career exploration. I gave Secondary 4 students a challenge related to this video and they were extremely engaged. They even asked me to rewatch the video a THIRD time!
Video credit: @jordansimons4 on TikTok
Story book rap.mp4
On the left, you can see a note left by a Secondary 4 student in the final assignment they did with me on my last week. This note is a true testament to the power of sharing your love of learning with students. I will always cherish this beautiful message!
Third Field Experience: Georges P. Vanier Elementary School
Aug to Dec 2022
During this field placement, I made it a priority to get to know all students and appreciate some of their interests. As an ESL teacher that has 260 students, it can be easy to forget names and not have the time to show your interest personally to students. However, I did not want it to be the case on this field experience. I made particular efforts to show compassion for my students. As an example, when I noticed that students were reading a novel, I would ask them questions about it, whether it be in English or French. This supported the development of positive relationships between the students and myself. In turn, this helped spark their motivation to learn in my classroom.
I have made a significant effort to create a safe and positive atmosphere in my ESL classroom. As expressing yourself in a second language can be anxiety-inducing for certain individuals, I have ensured that I always offer a safe space for students to make mistakes and build their self-confidence through these mistakes. I dealt with those mistakes by encouraging students to persevere, correct themselves and look for resources around them. Furthermore, I have included in my lessons some cultural references that students are familiar with. This has not only sparked their interest in the subjects I teach, but it has also made them feel comfortable when I teach, as the subject is not too foreign to them.
Finally, I encouraged students to help each other and collaborate in class when possible. Mutual help in the classroom is essential in ESL, and it fosters a positive workspace. An example of this is when one of my stronger grade six students took the time to translate what I was teaching to a peer that was struggling, to avoid bothering the entire group. This student took it upon themselves to ensure that their peer was well supported in class and could follow along, when I was busy otherwise.
My classroom has always been a fun space where students come to learn in a comfortable environment. I want students to see me as an empathic person that is pleasant to be around and that makes efforts to show students that they care. At the end of my field experience, it was a pleasure to see that these efforts have paid off. Many students wrote letters to me before the end of my field experience. To the right, you will see a few examples of those letters that demonstrate my efforts to promote students’ love of learning.
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