Resources

For my second field experience, I was placed with a cooperating teacher that had mostly enriched English as a second language groups, which is a level I was not familiar with. While doing some research to get a better understanding of the requirements of this level, I stumbled upon this end of year project for EESL groups. The following link takes teachers to the explanation of this end of year reflection, where students must create a poster with writings and drawing of their favourite assignments, things they learned in class, most memorable moments, etc. I showed this resource to my CT, who told me it was a great resource for EESL and asked to share it with them so they could use it at the end of the year with their students! As demonstrated in this resource, I am enacting Professional Competency 9: Be actively involved as a member of the school team. By supporting my CT in their future planning and sharing resources, I am facilitating their work and being a team player!

During my second field experience, I noticed that there were a lot of posters around the school, and especially in the ESL classrooms, that represented diversity and inclusivity. The poster shown on the right is a poster that is found in the entrance of all ESL classrooms. I strongly believe that this low key method of creating a safe space is essential for students to feel welcome and included in their educational journey. Seeing these types of posters around the school inspired me to look further into these types of inclusivity resources for my own classroom. As a result, I found a wonderful free resource made specially for educators by a children’s author and illustrator I love, Elise Gravel. The pictures below are examples of graphics that I would include in my classroom from this series. By making an effort to create a safe space in my classroom, I demonstrate Professional Competency 7: Take into account student diversity, when it comes to diversity of identity, culture, representation, etc.

http://elisegravel.com/en/livres/free-printable-stuff/

During my ESL teaching contract in 2020, I received a lot of help from the Pedagogical Advisor for the school board, who specializes in high school ESL. They guided me to develop my skills on evaluating my students and giving feedback in a meaningful way. I especially required help to collect meaningful evidence of participation in group discussions as I struggled with this a lot. This person shared the document to the left, which is an evaluation rubric for participation in oral interactions. I have used this great resource many times, as it is easy to use and a great way to take quick notes during class, which you can look back to at later time to give a letter or number grade. By using this resource provided to me by a colleague with significant experience, I demonstrate my development of Professional Competency 11: Commit to own professional development and to the profession. I am always open to constructive comments and suggestions about my professional choices. To this day, I still struggle with evaluating participation in oral interactions, but with the resources shared with me and suggestions my peers have made, I am confident I will continue to improve.