Friday, December 8, 2023 – Marking Time

I took a bit of time to slow down this week even though it is “marking time” to enjoy the moments where I am not teaching online at night, prepping and planning in the middle of the night for classes on campus, and attending meetings (or emails) during the week. The fall term is coming to an end and although I did teach class on Monday as well at attend the outgoing cohort’s Celebration of Learning that morning, it was nice to have my evenings to myself to catch up and breathe.

That said, I also took last weekend to rest and found myself working during my “tiger time” on Sunday night from 11pm to 3am working on final practicum reports as the Practice Evaluator (aka. Faculty Associate) for my little EDUC 491 crew. I was so happy that all of the Coaching Teachers (aka. School Associates) completed their reports and summative evaluation form by Monday/Tuesday this week too. I am so grateful to these practicing teachers and a pleasure to work with them.

This term was a challenge for me, for different reasons, and I feel that I am landing a perfect dismount. I don’t want to jinx myself as I am still in the middle my floor routine and approaching the end of it by next week with my marking and final evaluations. I am so happy that I was able to complete practicum and observe the Teacher Candidates with a quick juggling act between taking the planes, transit, or taxi, and grabbing rides from others or use of my friend’s car. That was a ride!!

Moreover, I was able to make good connections with the Coaching Teachers and Teacher Candidates while at school, via Zoom, or by email. Over the 10-weeks, we were a very cohesive team and aside from giving some formative feedback near the beginning of practicum, each of the Teacher Candidates achieved a clear pass. In my 5-years+ at the university and teaching EDUC 491, that has never happened before (for me). It was truly serendipitous and it will be my last time teaching it.

I would say that EDUC 491 landed with perfect dismount. Maybe in keeping with this metaphor, it’s like landing a the dismount at one of the directional runs of the floor routine. For EDUC 796, albeit considered service and not workload in my case, was something I did not anticipate to be a part of, but took on the student to supervise for portfolio. The process overall was a bit rumbly and tumbly, but that course ended with a perfect dismount as well and that person got a clear pass.

A few days ago, I finished reading the final paper paper and summative journal for one of my graduate level classes. The students also submitted reading annotations and they were amazing!! I love the ongoingness of the work and on the one hand, the outcome was predictable, meaning, we’ve been working on the final product since our first class together with the Location Statement followed by a brief write up on our “proposal for change.” It’s like puzzle pieces perfectly fitting together.

I am still reflecting on my reading. I was left with awe and wonder. These feelings are good, but I assesses the work holistically and I wanted to make sure what I am reporting (and feedback provided) best reflects the work of the learner. This grad class is a sessional position and I’ve taught CALR 526 at St. Mark’s College at UBC since 2015 and I teach it every two years. I really appreciate that they honour and ask the previous course instructor to teach the course before moving it onwards.

Once I have settled with the final marks for CALR 526 and submitted them, then I will assess and evaluate the second graduate course I’m teaching, EDUC 606. This group was more diverse that what I am used to. Most of the students were in the field of education but not K-12 educators. I felt some regret choosing resources that were all K-12 oriented, but that’s the limitations of a course syllabus, but it also reveals my bias and expertise. In the end, I look forward to reading their work.

This weekend will be the joy of watching the 5-minute IGNITE presentations from EDUC 394. This course is one of my favourite to teach in the teacher education program. I call it the sampler course. The course is called “Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Teaching – Theory in Practice.” I look forward to listening to and watching their IGNITEs and I appreciated how they were also using technology on SMS program at the university (i.e., Kaltura Capture on Moodle). I hope it worked!!

What I love about teaching a couple of courses with the same cohort of learners is that I have the opportunity to integrate and create interdisciplinary learning experiences. Part of EDUC 405 is introducing EdTech. The IGNITE presentations are part of this course’s learning and we had done several other learning opportunities this term to connect the two courses. EDUC 405 also concludes my marking for the fall term. Portfolios from both Blocks 1 and 5 in the program.

Big picture… it’s been a very fulsome term, but also the most fruitful. This was my first term teaching at the university that felt very reminiscent of when I taught secondary mathematics in K-12 public schools. I felt like I was in the flow and truly authentic to who I am as a person and educator. It’s much like my “boyfriend” Parker Palmer’s mantra: know the subject matter, know the learners, and know thy self. Thank you to all the students from the Fall 2023 term. I am thankful.