{"id":346,"date":"2021-01-28T13:34:21","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T21:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/?p=346"},"modified":"2021-05-01T19:53:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T02:53:47","slug":"sharing-is-caring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/2021\/01\/28\/sharing-is-caring\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing is caring."},"content":{"rendered":"

The artifact.<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Me and my fellow teacher candidate prepping for fetal pig dissections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I invited two other teacher candidates to my dissection lesson, so they would be able to observe some practical ways we explore ideas and knowledge in the Sciences. These teacher candidates came from PHE and Social Studies classrooms, yet they wanted to explore other areas of the school. By observing in my class, they were able to learn from the experience through seeing another teacher candidate teach (another style, new ideas, some inspiration).<\/p>\n

This reminds me a lot of the collegiality I observe in my SAs and around the Yale community these past two weeks before my certifying practice starts next week. I have two SAs (in English and Biology) who work together to make sure my work as a student teacher is balanced and that I have autonomy about how to coordinate my certifying quarter. My mentors work hard to ensure that my environment at school is fruitful, diverse, and conducive to my learning.<\/p>\n

I notice this same level of openness and collegiality with the other teachers at Yale. Last week, I observed a Science 9 class, asked a Creative Writing teacher for some advice for running a Creative Writing club, volunteered with Learning Support Services, and had conversations with the school counselors about their work. Despite being in the last two weeks of the quarter, the staff at Yale showed openness, care, and kindness towards me in my endeavors to broaden my horizons.<\/p>\n

Why it matters.<\/h3>\n

In my experience, there are many schools that are hesitant about bringing in student teachers or other observers for various reasons. Many teachers don’t enjoy feeling like others are peering over their shoulders. Yet the atmosphere I observe at Yale Secondary is quite the opposite. Every teacher I’ve contacted takes the time to answer my questions, have a quick chat with me, or give me a seat at the back of their classroom while they teach. When I pass colleagues in the hallways, they greet me warmly. Despite COVID-19 pandemic conditions at the school, the collaborative and community-oriented atmosphere at Yale is very evident.<\/p>\n

In my initial classroom experiences and during PYP, the collegiality of teachers has been what keeps my learning going. I am so thankful to be at Yale, because it is a community of teachers who work together with the best of students in mind. No teacher should be an island, and being able to share ideas, observe each others’ teaching styles, explore different areas of the school, and take time to answer each others’ questions are all important to establishing unity within the school. If these practices are not a part of the DNA of the school, teachers can very easily become stuck in their ways and avoid feedback at all times. Collegiality contributes to the mindset that what we do is ultimately for the benefit of our students. There is no singular, perfect way to be a teacher, but we can all grow by sharing and exchanging ideas.<\/p>\n

One of the professional standards is that educators contribute to the profession. Yale’s collaborative atmosphere is the embodiment of this professional standard. Many teachers at Yale have had or currently have student teachers, and they often connect with each other to ask questions or observe each other. This is definitely the kind of school community I would like to be a part of. It means a lot to me to feel supported in my profession, especially as a teacher candidate and new teacher. Being able to quickly ask my colleagues a question or ask them for ideas is a huge part of a conducive learning environment, where everyone is contributing to everyone else’s professional growth.<\/p>\n

Next steps.<\/h3>\n

In the coming weeks, as my certifying practicum begins, I will consistently be collaborating with my SAs in the classroom. To further my contribution to the profession, I would love to have admin (or even other teachers and fellow teacher candidates) observe my class. The most conducive activities to have observed would be inquiry-based activities, lab activities, presentations, sharing circles, and other unique instructional techniques that I’ve been excited to try out since my undergraduate degree, that perhaps the rest of the school would be interested to learn about or observe. I’d love to spend a weekly student-teacher lunch time to debrief the activities that worked well that week. Another way I’d like to share my ideas\/resources in the Yale community is in department meetings — by asking my own questions and participating in discussions, I’d like to contribute to the collegial atmosphere. I will also be sharing activities\/resources that work very well for me on my Twitter feed for other educators in my professional learning network to benefit from.<\/p>\n

\n

Professional Standard #8: <\/strong>Educators contribute to the profession.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

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The artifact. I invited two other teacher candidates to my dissection lesson, so they would be able to observe some practical ways we explore ideas and knowledge in the Sciences. These teacher candidates came from PHE and Social Studies classrooms, yet they wanted to explore other areas of the school. By observing in my class, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":925,"featured_media":361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-log","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/925"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":505,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions\/505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/mssommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}