Year One: Looking Back to Look Forward

Year One of my teaching degree ended very similarly to the way Year One started: with confusion, a little bit of anxiety and worry, and some excitement for the possibility of what’s to come.

The confusion, fairly, started even about when our spring break was extended by two weeks and I was still working closely with my Associate Teacher to nail down what exactly I should be preparing to teach our classes of grade 7’s. First, I got worried about the timeline of the unit, if it would be affected, if we would have to do more review than expected after the break. These feelings of confusion continued to grow over time as it felt like the longer time spent away from a classroom, the less likely I’d be able to fall back into that routine. This falls in lines with Timperley’s adaptive expert model, where he suggests that teachers learn best when they are actively involved in thinking about, engaging with, and listening to the students in their classroom.

Using that model and applying it to my experience of my first year of my Bachelor of Education, I can see how much better I feel like I learned about teaching and being a teacher when I was thinking about, engaging with, and listening to my students. In learning about teaching from my professors, I feel like I learned more when they turned around and asked me to apply what I’d learned to my students, rather than the hypothetical students of the in-class examples. I also felt better and more sure of my abilities as a teacher when I was in the practicum classroom setting, where I would get instant feedback from the students.

The feelings of anxiety came for me, like they did for the rest of the world as we collectively began to form our new normal for dealing with the new world. I was-- and am still-- worried about where I fit in all this, as a student, and as a teacher. The answer to the first question was pretty easy, as a student I was technically done with my in-class studies. I was very grateful to not have to navigate online learning as a student, as I don’t think that is very compatible with my way of learning.

As a teacher, I was lost, especially because I ride the fine line of having a classroom and well, not actually having a classroom. I wanted the students I’ve worked with all year to have the best chance of success, and how could I help make that happen?

Now, this is where the feelings of excitement started to come in, because I am a child of the internet and I’ve seen the amazing things online connections can do. I’ve seen examples of how teachers have adapted to moving their courses online and how they’ve engaged with their students. As stated, I don’t necessarily think that online classes are a one-for-one substitute for in-class experiences, however, there are ways that teachers are able to engage with their students online to ensure that the students continue to learn and engage with the curriculum. I’ve heard stories of teachers connecting with their students by phone call or text message, not only to check on their coursework but also to check on their mental health. Successful teachers aren’t replicating their classroom environments, but they are creating spaces where the students can continue to learn, and this comes from the teachers’ commitment to their professional learning. At the end of the day, It’s extraordinarily remarkable how teachers have continued to uphold the standards of practice, as they navigate the unknown in the midst of a global pandemic.

For the above reasons, I am in awe and forever grateful to those teachers that I hope to eventually call my peers.

See you next year!