Entrance slip: UBC orchard Garden and Cultivating Learning network

This article” UBC Orchard Garden and Cultivating Learning Network” by Susan “Gerofsky” (our dearest prof) reinforces the importance of sustenance of the environment. We as teachers can be the crucial part of the multidisciplinary, integrate with the intellectuals of other study areas to build school gardens in our schools and make this as central importance of school such that it is not only beneficial for providing the organic food for our school but also from teaching and learning perspectives.

Things that made me stop:

“In the outdoor, the living world teaches and inspires us”.

Treat the gardens as your co-teachers and treat the soil, plants, forests as our learning resource. This will build empathetic relations with the environment, and I believe that we do not harm the ones with whom we have a loving relationship. So, it is very important to build the connections between students and nature such that our new generation knows the values of preserving the environment. I remember from my childhood; we had a beautiful garden in the center of the school but the sad part was we were only allowed to see at a distance but were not allowed to go inside and enjoy the serenity. We did not have any chance of having an outdoor education but one of my biology teachers, took us to field trip at CIPHET (Central institute of post-harvest engineering and technology), we explored the different types of plants grown and fruits and vegetables processed to use in different items. We also had a healthy lunch made out of fresh organic foods. That experience is still instilled in my memories.

I was fascinated by the thought of forming an embodied way to track the course of the sun throughout the garden year. It is so beneficial for the young learners, new teachers to realize that everything in nature is so interrelated and we can increase our awareness and knowledge by sharing with each other, which is really rewarding in itself.

Although, it was not astonishing for me when the land is viewed as commercial real estate for personal interests and I have come across such incidents in India, where the big farmlands were acquired for the urbanization and commercialization, but no steps were taken to connect the people with nature. But I really feel fortunate that I am here on this beautiful land and will put in efforts to enhance and sustain its beauty.

As a science and math teacher, I can help them to understand the projectile motion while playing with a ball in the garden, newtons laws, forces due to gravity, how will the force of gravity affect the two free fall bodies (one leaf and another one fruit) of different masses. I can also introduce the concept of waves by asking them what will they notice if they throw a pebble in the pond, and then extend the conversation to the different types of waves longitudinal and transverse. There cannot be a better place other than the garden to teach the students the different parts of the plants and the flower. I can also help them to understand the adequate amount of sunlight, water, nutrients required for the proper growth of plants by growing the plants in different settings and let the students figure out the different results if any. Students can be prompted to inquire about the different patterns they notice in the garden. For instance, Sunflower forms a Fibonacci spiral, branches of many trees are in the Fibonacci sequence. Moreover, one finds peace, calmness and feels relaxed in the beautiful atmosphere of the gardens hence, students can get relieved from stress by speaking their hearts out to their friends and teachers. This furthers strengthens the bond between the students and also with the teachers.

I am very inspired by the collective effort of various educational bodies, students from different study areas, faculty members and seek to be a part of such an organization and participate actively for the betterment of our ecosystem.

Exit Slip: Climate change strike

Today's lecture was dedicated to the global climate change strike.We discussed the various ways in which the new awareness about climate change and mass extinction can affect the role of a teacher or mentor, how can the teacher approach to curriculum, how can the teachers approach differently to our teachable subject  As a group, we found that teacher or mentor can be a  role model for their students, they can inspire their students by taking effective measures such as use of  electric gadgets instead of paper, recycling and reusing,refusing to use plastic, using public transit, consuming seasonal and local groceries, reducing the influence of capitalism by leading a simple life, reducing overpopulation by mentioning its consequences to people, switching to energy-efficient sources, banning the burning of fossil fuels. We can teach our students in the open, outside of four walls so that they can connect more to the environment, invite guest speakers, skype a scientist who can educate the students more through data visualizations. As a teacher, we have to realize that it is our individual's responsibility to step forward to make the change, act and inspire the community to make our planet a better place.

I was quite fascinated to watch the TED talk of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden who has taken the initiative to start an international movement of climate strike and demand the actions from the government for the prevention of global warming and mass extinction. I was personally very engrossed by her talk and it made me reflect on what can I do to save my environment for the upcoming generations.  The rate at which climate is changing will ruin the prosperity, mental health, happy life of the future generation and they will not be resilient enough to undo all the damage. She argues that climate change is a crisis and each one of us knows the consequences of not taking any action. In spite of that, no one is acting owing to their own selfish means and wants others to take initiative. It is high time now and we must feel the pain of having a merely existing environment.

My key takeaway from this lesson is how important is to take care of our environment. I will start making little efforts by finding out energy-efficient alternatives in my daily life, planting trees, spread awareness among students by incorporating the environment into the other academic subjects.

Entrance Slip ( Sept 19): Sustainable mathematics

The article by Moshe Renert on "Mathematics for life: Sustainable Mathematics Education" inspired me to contribute more towards the prevention of climate change and mass extinctition which is increasing at an alarming rate.  I honestly never thought about the connection between math and sustainability. Usually, I associated sustainability with environmental sciences and ecology.

 

While reading the article, the two things that surprised me: One of them is how our eating habits can have a tremendous amount of effect on the ecology of our planet. The article ponders on the fact that eating beef deprives the agricultural resources more in comparison to eating chicken. Therefore, one can reduce the pollution caused by protein production by switching to a vegetarian diet and herbivorous fish.

Another thing that impressed me is the analogy of emitting a pound of carbon with throwing a pound of garbage out the windows of the cars at every mile. This is a very effective analogy to have critical discussions between the students and making them realize that increasing the rate of carbon emmisions can eventually cause discomfort like that of discomfort caused by garbage on the roads.

It also made me curious to know the different ways to implement the two models ( Sterlings and Edwards) in math education to contribute to the sustainability of the planet. The math teaching can be steered to promote the student's creativity by incorporating the new conservation-based real-life word problems which have not even been attempted by the teacher. Hence, the teacher and the students can approach the problem collectively and work together to get the answer. Therefore, the student will not have the restriction to get to the final right answer and explore different ways to do the problem.

  

This can be exemplified as exploring the variation in climate over the time  with the help of graphs, examining the dietary choices to calculate the carbon emissions, in addition to this one can ask their students to find  out the cost of their daily commute vs the alternative eco-friendly ways of commute(carpooling, using public transit, cycling)., Moreover they can also calculate the carbon emissions corresponding to the different vehicles used where one  can be more energy efficient than the other. I really liked how the author connects emotions with math, so one cannot understand the underlying physical idea vividly until one does not feel those numbers. Such as students can feel how big is one hectare by standing in the middle of the big playground.

As a prospective teacher, I will connect math with the environment conservation and sustainability context so that me and my students can realize their responsibility towards preserving their home planet.

Exit Slip: Jo Boaler on student inquiry.

Today we spent the first half of the class exploring the different ways we can manage our classroom time. We found that on average, the teacher spends roughly 125 hours of classroom time with their students, and how to efficiently make use of this time is an important question to reflect on. Here are a few of the many ways by which one can manage to have a multidimensional classroom.

11. Starting the class with a reviewing of the previous class content and also bridging their gaps in knowledge by making analogies based on their common experiences.

22. Hands-on demonstrations wherever possible, so that students can have a better understanding by experimenting on their own.

33.  Peer group discussions to encourage their core competencies of communication, critical thinking and building up social and emotional relationships by helping each other.

44.  Incorporating learning activities through the use of technology, gaming, coding, visual manipulatives.

Although, I am thinking, how pragmatic it will be for me to actually apply all of these in my classroom considering time and curricular constraints.

Video by Jo Boaler was very informative and prompted me to inquire more about the various researches done on math and science education in order to understand the mindset of the students. Moreover, it was interesting to know how essential it is to track the student's approaches to different questions. For instance, children with fixed mindsets think that math is gifted and asks for help without even trying and students with a growth mindset approach the questions more conceptually and urge to learn more with a positive attitude. Now the big question arises is how to change the fixed mindset of the students and make them realize that no one is born smart and anyone can be good at math by practicing more and having an optimistic approach towards problems. As a prospective teacher, I will make my best efforts to create a multidimensional active learning environment in my classrooms rather than direct teaching.

In addition to this, Video by Alfie Kohn motivates me to be an affectionate parent in my future life. It inspires me to listen and reflect whatever my child says, which will help me in making decisions more meaningfully.

Entrance Slip: "On becoming a reflective teacher"

 The article “On becoming a reflective teacher" written by Carl A. Grant and Kenneth M. Zeichner. made me ponder upon the various ways that I can inculcate in my pedagogy to become a reflective teacher. Although it is written in different time and place but I believe the process of self-reflection and critical inquiry to become a great teacher is still the same. I found that the three attitudes (open-minded, responsible, wholeheartedness) presented by John Dewey will reinforce my inquiry process of becoming a great teacher. According to Dewey, in order to become a critical thinker and reflective teacher, one must think outside of the box and do not emulate the “routine actions “and become introspective in all aspects such as educational, social, political wherever teaching is involved.

 As a prospective teacher, I will assimilate open-mindedness in my personality so that I can be aware of the other alternatives of following the methods and procedures in the classroom and be able to decipher the problems by all possibilities thought by the people around (students, colleagues, myself etc.). In addition to this, thinking cognitively, being aware of the consequences of the actions taken in the classroom, working wholeheartedly for the wellbeing of the each and every student and experimenting different activities without the awe of making errors are few of the many ways I will incorporate into my life to become an effective teacher.

I assume that according to the new BC curriculum, teachers are not constrained by the curricular content than before. I am intrigued when the writer makes the general notion that “habits of reflectiveness developed during the preservice training will be washed out” since the teachers have to follow the standardized set of rules regulated by the school authority. This prompted me to inquire about the degree of freedom given to the teachers to work around their own methods. I strongly agree when he talks about the condensed schedule which allows less time available in the class for self-reflection. But it is always possible to allocate separate time to look back and make inquiries about developing better pedagogical skills. I look forward to my practicum and seek the maximum knowledge by making critical inquiries about the curriculum, content, students and school practices.

Exit Slip: Frank McCourt

Frank Mccourt was an Irish American English teacher and a writer. He is known for his unconventional style of teaching and even won Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela Ashes, which narrates the tragedies and hardships he faced in his childhood. After watching his two interviews, I am really inspired by the fact that poverty, adverse circumstances did not pose any hindrance in his path of becoming educated and attaining success in his life. His attitude of "keep going " helped him to survive in his early years of teaching. It is fascinating even without having any experience of being a high school student, he turned out to be a successful high school teacher. I believe this is because he did not have to overcome the apprenticeship of observation as a student and he experimented with his own methods of teaching. On the other hand, novice teachers usually teach the way they have been taught. Therefore, the big Idea which I think is to critically inquire and reflect upon one's pedagogy and cater to the academic and emotional needs of every student. 

In addition to this, I found it very influencing when he says " If you are teaching and not learning, it means you are not teaching". Therefore, teaching is a never-ending learning process and one learns new insights of teaching while working with a diverse group of students who have different abilities and learning styles. I can personally relate to him since I grew up and graduated in India which have different cultures and societies from Canada but his experiences really inspired me to remain confident, honest and true to oneself and also towards the students. Another interesting strategy that I learned from him is to understand the stress, emotions, frustrations they are going through and not to take them personally when they are venting out. This practice will build a compassionate and comfortable relationship with adolescents. Frank Mccourt was very flexible and humble, he goes by his students and would reject the books which his students hated and planned the lessons according to his student's interests. Hence, I believe that it is very essential to adapt to student's requirements by consistently inquiring one's teaching methods and make learning more student-centered so that they start taking ownership and become more responsible. 

Introduction

Hello everyone,
This is Jashan Bajwa. I am a teacher candidate with teachable  physics and math. It is pleasure meeting you all. I am looking forward to have a great year ahead.