The 10 most important things I learned in EDUC 394:

  1. I need to be able to hold a mirror up to my soul and like what I see, before I can teach effectively. Teachers are all unique and have different passions, so it’s important to know what my passion is.
    Great teachers “are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students, so that students can learn to weave a world for themselves. The methods used by these weavers vary widely: lectures, Socratic dialogues, laboratory experiments, collaborative problem-solving, creative chaos” (Parker Palmer).
  2. Making relationships with the students is the most important thing we can do. This builds a firm foundation of trust and allow the students to want to engage with and listen to us. It can be scary to really show up and let people in but we have to become vulnerable in order to learn.
    • The four pillars of courage are vulnerability, clarity of values, trust, and rising skills. We need to create a culture of courage in our classroom!
    • Allowing our students to show feelings – Kevin Lamoureux’s story about crying over the dying deer but his family didn’t laugh at him. They understood.
    • The importance of a community that makes us feel safe and confident cannot be underestimated. The quality and quantity of work increases when we have this reassuring environment.
  3. When assessing students, give a positive mark instead of a negative one. +2/20 looks better than -18/20 and shows that there is a lot of room for improvement. ALWAYS look for the strengths in our students.
    Think of mistakes as opportunities! Without them, we don’t learn as well.
    Assessment as Learning instead of Assessment of Learning or for Learning. With this model, comparison with other student is virtually irrelevant (Lorna Earl).
  4. The foster care system has a huge percentage of Indigenous children in it, and according to Carolyn Roberts, it has replaced the Residential School System. Knowing this is important so we can be empathetic.
    We need to assume trauma when we interact with anyone, and take the time to learn a child’s story so they don’t have to walk alone (Cecelia Reekie). Kindness is free so give it to everyone.
  5. We can all add indigenous perspectives to our teachings even if we aren’t indigenous. We need to not worry about making mistakes when teaching it because the only mistake we can make is to not try to teach it.
  6. When thinking of curriculum, we should think of it as a recipe and ask, “does this nourish the students and does it taste good?” (Lawrence Stenhouse). As teachers, we need to change the recipe sometimes so that everyone can eat it.
    Use the word opportunities instead of courses – it sounds like the kids are offered things that will make their life better.
  7. The best way to motivate students is:
    • Give them Autonomy – they get to make some decisions to direct their own lives
    • Allow them Mastery – Let them get better at things that really matter to them.
    • Let them find their Purpose – everyone has the urge to do something larger than ourselves.
  8. Support all children no matter what gender the decide they are. Being a guiding force in a child’s life is such a special gift and we need to take that seriously.
  9. Remember that ARC-BC is there for support when we require texts in a different form than hardcopy.
  10. Place-based learning and Land-based learning really are beautiful ways to learn and collaborate with classmates. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but I found it easier to talk to others in a different setting. I would definitely bring a class to the Two Rivers Gallery, the Prince George Public Library, and Cottonwood Park if I got the chance.

This is my worldview map that I made for another class, but I think this class relates a lot to my worldview and made me a stronger person.