Why I went into Education: I grew up in a crazy sports family.

My dad is one of the biggest influences in my life because of his intense coaching mentality. He always made sure we gave 100% and left our game, competition, etc. with no regrets. He always made us practice endless hours until we knew we were at our best and at times of course I did not enjoy it but now I look back and realize I was a very fortunate kid for having such a caring father who wanted to see the best potential in his kids. The one sport I ended up sticking with because I found such a passion for it was gymnastics. I have an endless love for this sport and cannot wait someday to hopefully have a daughter who loves it as much as I do. Because I care so much for the sport I have adapted my dad's mentality of always wanting to see kids perform their best because I believe that is when one achieves their best self. I got into coaching as soon as I could, and immediately loved it. I loved the freedom of having my classes all to myself to impose my ideas of how gymnasts should be trained for skills and learning. I liked making the lesson plans for what worked for me and knowing what worked best for my gymnasts. My grade twelve year I applied into the U of A program for dental hygiene because I thought that seemed like a suitable career for me, because I love interacting with people. When I received my acceptance letter, for some reason I did not feel the joy I thought I should have but kind of shrugged it off because I thought it was just the jitters of growing up. I was coaching during the weeks in high school and one parent asked me what I was going into for college and I told her Dental Hygiene and she told me she thought that was odd because I seemed like a teacher with how I was as a coach and was so sure I would say education. My mom is a former kindergarten teacher and she always said she saw me as a teacher too but did not want to pressure me into going into it because she wanted me to have the freedom to make my own choices. In August of 2013, I was still set to go into Dental Hygiene

when one night I just had a big panic attack and told myself I have no desire to go into that career, and I think all along I should have just been going into education. The next week I applied here at the college and got into the education program and I felt that feeling of excitement I knew I should've felt when I got accepted into my previous program, and that is how I knew this is where I am supposed to be.

Journal #1-Teaching Approaches When I was in my very first practicum, on my very first day my teacher was no there because her son had gotten sick and could not make it. Thoughtfully another teacher took me under his wing. He was a very chipper guy and I liked him a lot from my first impression. He took me to his classroom and showed me the "I can" statements on the board for that day. I had never seen these before and he said he loved them because it helps build confidence within the students and he really wants them to learn for themselves. When they all came in they recited the "I can" statements for the day which he said helped the motivation kick in early in the morning. They began with math and they went over a concept he briefly gave to them yesterday before they went in depth into it today. He had given them some questions on the board to recap yesterdays lesson just to see how many of them actually understood it. He really emphasized that it was okay if you did not even know the answer to one question because they were all learning and he will help you until you completely understand it. I thought that was so great for a teacher to have such a positive attitude for students who get frustrated at new topics easily. When they went over the questions he took the time to call on lots of students for each question to ask how each one individually got their answer or tried to get the answer, it took a bit of time but it was worthwhile

in my opinion. I watched as he accompanied how each learner worked. Some kids you could tell were visual learners because of how they would draw out the math questions using blocks, and others would use their fingers or rulers to count numbers. He let them know that was okay because in the end they all got the same answer but using different methods. I always hated teachers in high school who marked you wrong on tests because you did not do the work the way they taught you even though you got the right answer. I really admired this man for doing this especially because he was an older teacher and I thought maybe he would be more old school. I saw how student-centered he was and how much he cared to maintain that within his classroom. When I talked to him afterward he said he tries to incorporate that into any lesson he can because it is all about seeing student individuality. He says it really helps him determines strengths and weaknesses among students so he can work on certain things with certain students to make them a more well-rounded student. I really respected this teachers philosophy of education toward the students, I really believe it shows students that they each matter individually and it really progresses into a student lead classroom which is key for the future of students in the education system. I think it is crucial to try your hardest to make an impact on every student, it is a tough task but this teacher made me feel like it was achievable.

Journal #2In my first practicum my teacher let me know that she had many coded students for behaviour, etc. and this was actually one of the toughest classes she had ever taught. They were only grade four so their maturity did not help either. She said with the recent budget cuts this has been crazy stressful on her because she only gets one aid to share with the other grade four teacher and he gets her most of the time because he has more students. She told me she had written multiple

letters asking for more assistance, but constantly got denied. She was very understanding but also I could feel how stressed she would be about having to get lessons done to stick with the year plan but lots of students just were not ready to move on with certain concepts. She started an after school program for her kids for one or two times a week where they could have extra help particularly in math, but other subjects were open too. She would send home notices to parents to let them know when she was offering and why. She let me know this sparked an interest in the parent's lives too because they began to worry for their childs education. She created the open door policy because she wanted parents to really get involved with their childs education because clearly a lot did help. She also loved this idea because she really needed the help in the classroom she was not receiving. She started lining up parent volunteers to come in three days a week during the mornings for centres because of the focus these centres had on particular subjects. She said once they started coming in, things changed within the students. They were more focused clearly because more eyes were on them and more ears as well. She loved having the parents know what the kids were learning. She would also have teach the parent nights where she invited any parents who wanted to come to learn what their kids were learning in order to help with the homework. I thought this was a great idea. She told me about 70% of the parents would show up, which I thought was pretty good. Her determination to make sure the parents knew what was going on with the students really made an impact to me. I think teachers lose that as students get older because they believe kids are able to make the effort themselves. But I think making the parents realize their kids need the motivation at any age could really make a difference in their attitude toward school. As students get older they deal with a lot more of stress from their personal life and the outside world, I think teachers should not lose the motivation of getting involved with students families and informing them of whats going on. My biology

teacher in high school constantly e-mailed my parents about upcoming big tests and as much as I hated it, it made me study because my mom and dad would always be on my case about being prepared for my big test. If I would've had that in all of my classes, maybe it would've made me a little more motivated as a student. Not that I was terrible, but having my parents support really changed me. I think as a teacher I will try my best to have an open door policy because parents have the right to make sure their child is being taught in a well thought out manner. Journal #3

My practicum teacher is very good at making sure the student's do not sit for too long as they will become tired or weary from constantly staring at their work or the smart board. She likes to keep the brain in motion. That is why she emphasizes on brain breaks for them. She can tell when they are getting bored or restless with their work easily. She'll put some music on and a timer on the board to make sure they have enough time to get up and walk around, check their phones (which we all know teenagers go through withdrawal without.) The kids seem to really enjoy them and even like to spend the time talking to their teacher which I think shows a good relationship with the students and their teacher. Sometimes when the kids and her are in a good mood she likes to play a quick game with them. That always changes the mood of the classroom to being nice and upbeat and the kids all feel really involved. I think this can make an entire shift in the students mindsets and learning ability. I know I always hated the classes in high school that were 70 minutes long with nothing but PowerPoints and copying notes. I realize my class sizes were a lot bigger and it would've been tough to do some physical brain break activities but to still receive brain breaks would've been nice. I would find myself daydreaming or checking my phone secretly and having no idea what the teacher was saying for the past forty or more

minutes. I think knowing your classmates are similar to you, helps you feel more comfortable around them. The way the students interact in these brain breaks develops a good relationship between them. They may feel more comfortable to ask a fellow classmate for help or to ask questions out loud in class without feeling scared of what the other students think of them. I was always that student who was afraid to ask or answer questions with the fear that I would seem dumb to my classmates. I have many students in my class who I could not even tell you their name so I did not want to make a fool of myself in front of them. I think the environment overall that my teacher has established for the students is so welcoming and positive that you cannot help but see the aspiring learning students. The students respect their teacher more when they know they care about their learning and want to have fun. The environment is important and I think when you walk into a classroom you must feel welcome and know your learning and want to learn is important to the teacher. Having these brain breaks makes a difference for the students, I hope high school adapts to them and realizes students need these to reach their full learning potential.

Journal #4

As part of my practicum we do dance academy. There are a lot of aspects to dance academy besides dance. The girls work on their fitness and flexibility as well. My teacher is big on watching the girls improve over time. The girls get to learn many styles of dance such as ballet, jazz, hip hop, acro, maybe more. When it came to acro it was interesting to watch because that is a very tough style of dance for many to pick up on. With a gymnastics background I have

learned most people are born as natural gymnasts with hard work you do become better, but gymnastics is not a sport you work at from the beginning with no natural skill. Seeing some of these girls who are natural dancers and athletes do acro it was nice. But seeing some of the girls who you know this is not quite the sport for them it was interesting. Having coached gymnastics I have dealt with both types of gymnasts so I know the work ethic in both kinds. When it came to acro they would take a simple skill such as a handstand and break the girls into three levels. The lower skill level girls would do headstands, the middle girls would do handstands, and the higher level girls would either work on headstand to handstand or front walk overs. The girls all knew their level and all seemed content with just trying to achieve their own personal goals. The girls were also good at getting excited for each other when they achieved a new skill level. The girls were assessed on not just their skill but participation and ability to improve. I think all of these are important because I always hated the athletes in gym class who automatically received an A grade just because they played on the schools sports teams, yet they barely showed any participation in class. I think the trying atmosphere helped the girls have the will to learn and succeed. Plus its not your usual do an assignment get a grade, this is all about personal physical input. It is like other assignments though, you get what you give. This assessment is more fair though because you get to watch all of the effort and students cannot "copy" and get a good mark. Journal #5 I have not experienced any cultural issues in my practicum that I have noticed, especially because of this practicum only being for nineteen hours. This topic was a tough one for me to think of something to write on, that I actually left it for my last entry because I could never think of what to write on. Until one day I was in dance academy with my class, my practicum teacher

and a local dance teacher they had hired to teach the girls acrobatics. It was a fun day of learning new skills for the girls and also humorous with them as they tried these skills. I watched as there was one shy girl who seemed to keep to herself but was absolutely wonderful at the skills brought to her. She had no fear and picked up on everything so fast and acro is not a sport that is easy to pick up on especially when you take it through school and only for a couple hours for a couple weeks. I thought this girl must take acro because I have never seen her at gymnastics when I have coached and I am usually pretty good at remembering faces for the most part. So I asked the local teacher who was hired if she taught this girl acro or if she said she was in gymnastics and the teacher told me that this girl said she used to be in gymnastics but had to quit because her family could not afford it anymore. If that does not break your heart I am not sure what would. I immediately felt so much compassion for this girl because I knew she had such a knack for this sport but she could not even fulfill it. I never realized how your parents social status can really affect a child so much. This girl has so much potential but you would never know. It really impacted me because growing up that was never an issue for me. If I wanted to do a sport, I would. And my parents even encouraged/forced me to do almost every sport out there. It was like I could not fathom how a kid was not allowed to do a sport. I was so impacted by this I went home that day and thanked my parents for gracing me with the opportunities I had as a child. I still think about this girl a lot and every time I see her I wish I could do something for her, and not even that all of the kids who aren't blessed with the opportunities they should have. I wish sports had more programs for kids who come from wore income families because every child deserve the chance to do extracurricular activities. They are good for a kids mental, social, and physical health. Something we should really look at when we have our own kids.

Journal #6 One thing I really like about my teacher is that she does summative In class assignments that are almost like tests except you can use your notes. But you still do them by yourself. I've seen her do this in math, I'm not sure if she does this for science as well but I think that is such a good idea for math because students always struggle with math. To me math is one of those subjects that you either get it or you do not. There was not an in between for me growing up. She does not seem to do as many tests instead she does these assignments. I think this is wonderful for the students because it tests their ability to look at their given work and apply it themselves on their own. I know in high school I would be writing a math test and I'd forget one step or just need a quick refreshment for one thing in a question I forgot to do. If I could have just glanced army notes for a second it would have given me way more marks on a test instead of me getting lost second step in on a five step question and losing tons of marks. Sometimes it was a simple as remembering if something needed to be positive or negative. I would get a question completely wrong just because I forgot a negative. I think these students should take advantage of being able to use their notes because it can really strengthen their memory for skills in math. Some students do not even need to use their notes I noticed and that is fine but I think having those notes there as a safety net really meets the needs of all students because they all have an equal and fair chance to achieve a 100%. She always tries her best to make sure every student understands the concepts before these summative assignments as well so I think that plays a major role for these students as well leading into these assignments and they know they get their notes as helpers which helps calm the nerves of the test anxiety students.