Ms. H's Teaching Portfolio

During my formative practicum, I took the opportunity to use and navigate Google Classroom–a platform I had limited prior experience with. The learning curve was manageable and I picked up on the ins and outs quite quickly.

Soon, I was posting assignments, instructions, materials, and resources, as well as communicating constructive feedback to students on their “turned in” work. Students were able to take my feedback, revise their work, and re-submit for final assessment and grading.

In addition, students who were away and missed out on in-class learning could check the Google Classroom from home and see what had been assigned and/or what they needed to catch up on. Educational videos, articles, and other materials I provided in class were posted for students and guardians to view. This was especially helpful for students who were away for an extended period of time, and for students who were present in class but needed/wanted to view the material again.

When I woke up this morning and seen that buses were not running, I knew that the day would not go as I had originally planned. And I was right!

With only 12 students in attendance (less than half), I had to shuffle my lessons and adapt. Originally, I was going to do my fourth and final formal lesson, with my coaching teacher set to observe. But this particular lesson entailed students presenting their career education projects and doing a final summative exit ticket task – something I wanted the whole class to take part in. I didn’t think that it was fair to continue without those students who did not make it to school due to no fault of their own (i.e. no transportation).

Luckily, I had collected cones a few days earlier for a bird-feeder project my coaching teacher had mentioned if time permitted. Well, today time permitted and the students had a great time!

And, what’s more, we had the opportunity to have guests from Quesnel Search & Rescue join us in our classroom to talk about the “Hug A Tree” program and teach students how they can keep themselves safe in the wilderness. This was extremely informative for all the students!

As this day shows, things won’t always go as you planned, but a willingness to adapt and be flexible can lead to rich and fabulous experiential learning for students and teachers 🙂

I haven’t always considered myself an “artist” but I have been working hard to develop a growth mindset when it comes to art class.

So, to say that I was super happy and impressed with the art project I led in my formative practicum would be a total understatement!! The final results surpassed my expectations and the students and I had so much fun in the process!!

This Space Art project, titled “The Universe, For Me”, brought to us by Art with Creations Claudia Loubier, was completed alongside my Science Unit on Space and the Solar System. It was a fairly simple endeavor and only required the purchase of special glossy card-stock (the rest of the materials I had on hand).

If you are interested in trying this with your students, you can find the lesson plan and instructions here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Science-art-activity-and-lesson-plan-for-kids-For-me-the-universe–1573442

Enjoy,

Ms. H – Budding Artist, lol 🙂

When I was a little girl, my dream was to become a teacher, astronaut, or archeologist…lucky for my students, I chose option 1, lol!

But all jokes aside, learning about Space and our Solar System was one of my fondest memories from the upper intermediate years. It is also my favourite part of BC’s grade 6 science curriculum. So, I was super excited that my coaching teacher had not covered this unit yet and was willing to let me take it on during my practicum!

I took the reins and went “all-in”, creating an eleven lesson unit with a good mix of modelling and demonstrating with oral, audio-visual, reading, and written work. Students had opportunities to work as a class, in small groups, and in pairs. You can view my unit here:

I also chose to go cross-curricular and bring Space and our Solar System into the English language arts classroom and the art classroom! You can find my ELA lessons here:

And check out samples of my students’ Space art here:

I hope you enjoy these units and lessons as much as my class and I did 🙂

Just as making connections to one’s students is important, so too is making connections to the families of one’s students!!

Rather than reaching out to families on day 1, I took the first week to really get to know the students before reaching out to their families in the form of a letter at the end of week 1.

I thought that it was important to get to know my students first so that I had something true and meaningful to say to their families.

I hope this letter is the beginning of many positive school-home interactions throughout my four-week practicum 🙂

Knowing your students, and finding ways to build relationships and develop connections, is vital to a teacher’s success! As such, in preparing for my upcoming practicum, I have been planning lessons that will not only deliver on important Big Ideas, Curricular Competencies, and Curricular Content, but also on CONNECTIONS!

My Career Education lessons are planned to do just this – deliver on curriculum while helping me get to know the students I will be teaching and learning alongside for the next four weeks!

I look forward to implementing these lessons and getting to know my students! If you are interested in getting to know your students better, feel free to check out this set of lessons:

Together in education,

Ms. H

In honour of Remembrance Day, I have created the following Core French resource. It is intended for my upcoming practicum in a grade 5/6 classroom, but I feel like it could be utilized successfully in any intermediate classroom.

Check it out below:

Feel free to borrow and enjoy in your classroom this November 🙂

Together in education,

Ms.H