Frame of Reference

By Melinda Douglas
I have learned over the years that when teaching any student you have to

think of them as something that you are nurturing and growing from scratch.

When trying to teach and provide any learning experiences it takes a lot of

attention, love, dedication, hard work, and patience.

When trying to grow a garden you have to be attentive at every stage of

growth. Anything can happen whether it be bugs, drought, chemicals or

damage. Unless you are attentive the plant will wilt and be pushed down by

others that are flourishing.

I always thought of any individuals mind as a beautiful new world waiting to

explore and discover new information on their own or with help from others. I

hope to be able to create a healthy and safe place where students are free to

study and learn without criticism, racism, violence or stress.

Education for me is something that should inspire students and make

learning fun. I want to be able to connect with my students and meet their

individual needs while following a curriculum based outline. A student needs

a healthy learning environment so they can explore unhindered to gain new

skills in the process. I want to inspire students to reach for their goals,

achieve new knowledge and to explore their own interests.

In order to create this safe and healthy environment for a student to learn I

will implement community building in my classroom. In any new classroom it

is very important to establish a sense of community and trust in others by

listening to their needs, helping them when its needed and being there for

them. Examples of this would include greetings at the door with positive

enforcement, listening to their stories and checking in at a later time to see

how they are doing. The involvement of a teacher can drastically impact a

student in a positive way. "If you can concur their hearts you can achieve

their minds" Ian Whitehouse, Professor at Vancouver Island University.

Parents are a fundamental part of a students life. They are the role models

from which students learn from the most. Obtaining an open communication

with them so they can know what their child is doing in the classroom and if

their child is having a hard time with anything. I would like to keep parents

updated by monthly newsletters and weekly notices of what is happening in

the classroom. One of my goals is to have an open classroom that if parents

choose to they can volunteer and participate in events happening and class

lessons by signing up ahead of time.

Teaching is forever evolving and changing. Creating a strong sense of

community in the classroom is as equally important as with colleagues

outside of the classroom. One person cannot obtain the knowledge of the

world, but working together we can accomplish a lot. Having an open

communication with fellow colleagues would be ideal to a healthy learning

environment for both teachers and students. By sharing knowledge and

resource we can accomplish more and make learning richer for ourselves and

for the students.

 The involvement of the community in

schools is important. The hard work of the

community is what makes school flourish.

The involvement of the Parent Advisory

Council (P.A.C.) with funding and event

planning shows students that outside of the

classroom and at home the community cares about them. Teacher should be

involved outside of the classroom just as much as inside. Activities such as

volunteering, coaching a team, and placing grant proposals are a few ways

one can be involved. Through doing these

teachers can attain solid relationships with

students, parents and community.

Gary Anakas presentation and books on Brain wellness has encouraged me

to integrate such techniques into my classroom. The enthusiasm and energy

that he surrounded himself with was inspiring. I hope to bring his energy and

ideas in and use them as my own. Brain breaks taught me how important it

is to make time for movement. The era of sitting in your seat for 5-6 hours a

day is over. A students mind becomes numbed after prolong amounts of time

being still; having short breaks gives them an optimal learning environment.

Emotional awareness is progressively getting more prominent in society.

Starting at any age a student can become emotionally aware. If a student

fails to acknowledgement the emotions of self and others the road to success
will be difficult especially if they have not acquired proper regulation

strategies. With the

Zones of regulation by

Leah M. Kuypers it

teaches what emotions

look and feel like,

strategies to regulate

emotions and awareness

of others emotions. Using

this in classroom will help students know more about themselves and others.

By

using

The

power

of

reading and writing by Andrea Gear will help students be armed with the

ability to comprehend readings and better their writing skills. The ideas and

strategies I learn from The Big 5 and Andria Gear are important to me

because it leads to stronger comprehension and writing skills. An English

Language arts program using these resources will create a strong foundation

for any level of reading and writing that a student can start and excel at.
The outdoors can provided learning experiences beyond the walls of the

classroom. Connectedness to nature and the world outside is fundamental in

a students growth. Too much time indoors can degrade rich learning

opportunities that students can do outside. Being outdoors students become

spatially aware of what the worlds provides for them. I aim to give the

students time outside every day to learn from the land and its community.

For the times that students cant go outside I plan to bring nature into the

classroom.

Technology is good to have in the classroom and can help students learn in

many ways, but I plan to make sure they still have connection to land and

the outdoors. I believe some students spend too much time with technology

and lose a lot of what nature can teach us.

Over the years I have learned that there are many different ways to manage

a classroom. Also that every class is unique. Every student will react

differently to how you manage a class and what skills you have. By being

flexible with your students you can create a well-managed classroom. Being
consistent is important. Having routines and the right degree of reaction to

action play a role in keeping a well-balanced class.

The zones of regulation is a great place to start when getting to know your

students. You can build your classroom management around them to better

suit their learning needs. It uses kid friendly language and can help students

manage themselves and relationships with others.

There are many formative and summative assessment methods that can

provided in the classroom. Such as learner stories which provides a student

the opportunity to voice their opinions on their

education throughout the year. This method

grants me a way to become acquainted with

the students and their personality as well as give them the chance to

personalize their own learning. It gives them ownership of the assessment

and the sense of achievement with being involved in their own education.

This also allows teacher to put real fulfilling comments about each individual

student rather than copy and pasting. In order to do learner stories a teacher

must collect evidence over time and spend one on one time with students. It

can be very time consuming, but the payoff is rewarding. The point for this is

that everyone has a voice no matter who you are, education is a right and as

a right you should have a voice in it. "We learn what we live" by Ian

Whitehouse, Professor at Vancouver Island University.

During and after lessons I will provide opportunity for student reflection by

doing check-ins and check-outs to ensure that students connect with their
learning before leaving. It is a way for me to see if a lesson was a success or

if it needs work.

I was recently shown Fresh grade which is an online app that allows you to

put students work online for the teacher and parent to see. This idea of

students being able to show off what they have done in class and take pride

in what they have done is what I stride for. It is also a great way to keep

parents involved in their childs learning if they are unable to make it in to

class to see for themselves. You can add self-assessment by having a two

stars one wish or have the student add a comment of how they think they

did, what they are proud of and what they could work on for next time. This

allows students to self-assess and reflect on their own learning.

Reflecting is not only for the student but also for the teacher. A teacher is

not always right when it comes to teaching. Taking assessment from

students on your teaching and asking how they think the teacher should

have done it differently is a great opportunity for bonding as a class. It is just

another way in showing that student can take ownership of their learning.

The role of the new curriculum and competencies allows teachers to think

more outside the box of the old curriculum. It also allows students to be freer

with their learning. Lessons can be more interdisciplinary rather than fixed to

one subject. The students can pick areas of interest and the teacher can

relate curriculum connects to the subject rather than conforming to a set

guide.

This open free idea of learning for students can make school and learning fun
and exciting. It can be a little daunting for teacher how open and free the

new curriculum is, but for the most part I think that both student and teacher

can have fun and learn together.

In the relationship between theory and practice I believe that you should try

everything once. Even though you may not like it or believe it will work you

should still try. It goes back to what I said about every class differentiated

learning. If you tried something that didnt work in the past maybe it will

work for something in the future. Every classroom is not the same, it may

require different strategies, theories or practices that youve tried before.

Unless you get exposure to these experiences and information you might

end up getting lost when you come across a class that doesnt work with

what you have tried before. If you have the exposure you have the past

knowledge and experience to try it again.

Some theories and practices may not work exactly the way it was described,

but being flexible and adapting these things to your own practice can work

for you.

Rather than working against it have it work for you.

In the practice of sustainability and how it impacts the classroom I have a

quote that explains it very well.

Inclusive education is concerned with the quest for equity, social justice,

and participation. It is about the removal of all forms of barriers of

discrimination and oppression and it is about the well-being of all learners.

Professor Len Barton, Institute of Education, University of London.

The needs of diverse learners through inclusive practice is to ensure that all

students feel included in the classroom. How to achieve this is for the

students in class to become self-aware and compassionate.

Bringing in cultural exposure and inclusiveness into the classroom and

educate students on different cultures can be a gate to compassion. By doing

this I can create more understanding in the diversity of the world and values

of others. That all of us are connected, we are all unique, we all share

commonalities and we can find connections in ourselves within others as

well. My example of do this is by connecting to local cultural groups that

would be willing to come into the classroom and share some cultural values

such as food, knitting, dance, song, and stories.

We have a disconnect with nature run by fear, trying to close ourselves it a

room to learn. Nature can teach and provide rich learning and growth

opportunities for students. It is crucial to have students explore, investigate,

know about the wolrd outside of the classroom. It can open them up to

knowing more about themselves and others. Programs are emerging all over

the place advocating the importance of outdoor education and what it can

teach us. To be able to incorporate these program ideas into my classroom

and my students is fundamental. "We teach a way of life, a way of living" Ian

Whitehouse, Professor at Vancouver Island University.

It is my responsibility as an educator to provide the students with what they

need to learn. This means the students who need extra help in school will
 have the resources available so they can be included

in everything that rest of the class is doing. Whether

students need fidgets, body breaks, a scribe, or a

quiet place my most important role as a teacher is to

the students and meeting their

educational needs.

My classroom will have a lot social responsibility

throughout my lessons. By using programs that deal

with Social emotional learning (S.E.L) students can

become emotionally self-aware and of others emotions. It also teaches

students how to positively and negatively react to situations so students

have the opportunity to make a good choice in a safe environment.

I drew this picture after seeing a rough drawing in class one day. It resonated

with me because it shows a visual of what a classroom structure should look

like. I added things in each area to give it more depth, but my main point of

this it that when thinking and talking about inclusion, for me, it means

including everything. A classroom isnt just a standalone room within a

building it involves everyone to keep it functioning. Community, school, and

the land all play a part in our learning.

Governance impacts my teaching practice because running a successful

classroom there is a need to understand the structure in which it runs. In the

classroom this can look like finding funding for students who need more help

to searching for cheaper methods of maintaining the class. If budgets are low

teacher can have students make personalized fidget tools. A teacher can go

find extra funding by applying for local grants or appealing to the local P.A.C.

Perspective can have a huge effect on governance as well. We need to slow

down and take steps to understand others and what it takes to do their job.

Whether youre a teacher, librarian, barista or cashier, everyones job

requires skills that we may not see. We shouldnt jump to assumptions about

people and their jobs or things that we may have heard through social

media. Teaching is a job where a lot of people jump to these conclusions

when in fact they may not know. I can be a good teacher role model and act

ethically and honestly to help people in the public understand the hard work

teachers do. I know its not my job to go out and change peoples minds. For

the many people that I will interact with through my class teacher meeting,

parent meetings and community meeting I can help model how hard

teachers really work.

Throughout the years of being a student myself I have come across some

very difficult situations. From each scenario I have taken key notes on how I

could can do better, what works and what doesnt. It is important to

remember that learning to be a teacher doesnt stop once you graduate it

 continues throughout your

entire life.

Through my hard work I

can develop into an ethical

educator that takes into

the consideration of

others, but the most

important point is the

students education and well-being.