Week 160 – April 7, 2023 – Heartwarming and Validating
It’s the long weekend and this Friday has become my “be a person Saturday” so I enjoyed the day slept in, made breakfast for my kid, and went out with friend for lunch and dinner. Oh… and it’s time to blog. After today, I will need to be an email and marking machine. I have to get all my work done before an leave for a couple of weeks and a treat to myself. I am hoping for deep thinking time, learning, and exploring. Rest and joy is good too. I can’t wait. Until then, I shall write this blog.
The first thing I would like to write about is EDUC 633 and the CHECK portion of the Spiral of Inquiry. It might be a bit early to comment, but our last class on Wednesday was AMAZING. Each person briefly shared their self-study with the class and what they have learned within their inquiry in context to the course. I was so impressed with the diversity, the complexity, and level of care. Along with each presentation was a short commentary on the course and its facilitation.
The EDUC 633 appreciated the autonomy, community, and personalization of the course. Student agency and student voice equates to student ownership. Only good comments and I felt that it was an incredible learning community. At the end of the class during office hours, one student commented on the quality of the course, my authenticity and flexibility, and my ability to hold space for others as a BIPOC instructor/professor. Honoured, humbled, and grateful for the class.
I guess this would be the unofficial CHECK. I am waiting for the final draft of their papers next week. I am looking forward to their self-study inquiry. I loved how their inquiry helped them to identify the implications of Human Development in education. We learned some pertinent and relevant information about each stage to provide perspective on their practice and course of action to improve the learning experiences for students. I love that this learning is a vehicle for change.
The next day was EDUC 391/421. A full day of teaching and my last class with the Elementary Cohort. I would like to mention that it was a full-moon and the very last class before the long weekend and end of the term. I started the class with the Core Competencies, had an awesome guest speaker (aka. Shannon Schinkel) to speak about Standards Based Grading (SBG), and concluded with the EDUC 421 Summative Assessment. It was a soft ending (or landing) for the course and term. When students completed their “making” of their metaphor for assessment, they had the exit slip of taking a photo, taking notes, and emailing their work to me.
Again, the final assessment for EDUC 391/421 will not be complete until next week, but I am looking forward to seeing what videos or written compositions of their “assessment metaphor” will be do demonstrate their learning of the course. I am also looking forward to reading their practicum reports and finalizing their grades in my courses. I will continue with this cohort with EDUC 405, but this course will be mostly asynchronous. I am very lucky to work with a cohort who were so willing to take risks, engage in different learning experiences, and open their hearts and minds to the land as teacher, co-construction, and community.
Working with this cohort for two terms in 3.5 different classes and an incredible teaching and learning opportunity for me (and I hope they felt the same way too). I had the chance to flex the course content between EDUC 394, EDUC 405, EDUC 391, and EDUC 421 to demonstrate the complexity and interconnectedness between these courses and hopefully they can see that with other courses. Throughout the two terms, I had many kind words and compliments shared with me, and for this, I am grateful. I also acknowledge that we could not accomplish this good work without them. Serendipity of us together made this possible.
Gosh. I might do another reflective journal of my two terms with the elementary cohort. They were definitely part of my pedagogical learning journey and they taught me what was possible. I am a little sad to see them go, but they are ready for next steps as well. I wish them all the best in the next 2 terms in the program and I hope they are able to remain a learning community throughout the program. I will make note of serendipitous learning opportunity. I had the chance to make drums at Giscome Elementary. The learning, the love, and the openness of the process helped me to learn that there are not mistakes, but meant to happen.
I learned so much from the elders and I was grateful for the invitation from UNBC Alumni (and superhero) Kelsey MacDonald. We had a wonderful ride together to the school and I enjoyed learning with the Giscome school community and a few of the teacher candidates who were able to visit the school as part of EDUC 405 from the beginning of the term and make drums as well. What a humbling experience and I learned so much of what is possible and about adaptability and problem solving. There is a wholeheartedness to this learning experience. Thank you Bonita, Cheryl, Elders, and Giscome School. I had so much fun with you!!!
The photo below was the deer-hide drum I made for Giscome. I loved that I got to make this drum. Honoured. And I had the opportunity to incorporate weaving to the back of this drum. I just loved that. But dang, I was soooooooo tired after that. Who knew? I also learned that my fingers will remain swollen for the rest of the week as well as the smell of the hide. Wow. This was experiential learning at its finest. I’ve also learned that this is the best way I learn… EXPERIENTIALLY. This is why I can see that I am an “Action Researcher” focused on innovative practices, how teachers learn, decolonization, and self-reflection and self-assessment.
THANK YOU students for your feedback. I could not do this work without you. 🙂
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