I am prepared to navigate tensions by taking on a cross-curricular approach to teaching social justice skills and what is required by the curriculum. If I can manage to find a way to incorporate a specific skill through expectations outlined by the curriculum, then there will not be a need for tension as the curriculum is being followed, and so is the enhancement of inclusivity and cultural appreciation.

3. Who are the people inside and outside of your school who can support you in this process?

 

People who can support me in this process are other teachers in the school who have the same mindset as me, students who are engaged and interested in learning the skills I am attempting to teach, parents and other members of the community who want students to learn about these subjects.

 

 

As a teacher, I would engage community concerns into my daily instruction by brainstorming the concerns that are circulating the community and having guest speakers come in to share their experiences and further educate myself and the students on the issues.

In order to be prepared I would have to make sure I take a lot of time in my planning and how I can make them cross-curricular. It would take some time in adjusting what I would have planned and how to fit it with the requirements of the school. 

3. Who are the people inside and outside of your school who can support you in this process?
 

Those supporters would include students, families,  other staff members and community members. It is important to find allies who can support my work but also vise versa. It would build a network of individuals who share the same goals and are committed in the same things as you are.

4. In what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction?

Bring in community members to speak to the classroom, gaining knowledge on who the students are in the classroom to be able to support them on a much higher scale. 

Collaborating with like-minded educators within the school can be a valuable resource. Speaking with administrators who are passionate about social justice education can also be beneficial, as they may be strong supporters of our approach. Utilizing educational resources, such as professional development opportunities and outside organizations, can further reinforce our stance.

Incorporating tangible community concerns into the curriculum, such as artwork and primary sources, can be a meaningful way to reinforce the importance of social justice. By establishing meaningful relationships with students, families, and the community beyond surface level interactions, we can create a space for open and honest conversations where students can share their concerns and work together as a community to address them.

 

I understand that navigating between what I want to do in the classroom and what is required by the school and district will be difficult. But I believe that it is possible due to proper planning, organization and transparity. It is important to show that the educator gives themselves adequate time to plan the lessons based on school and district standards. Techer can also ask for clarifications based on misunderstandings or of they have any questions.  

 

 

People inside the school who can help support this process is by asking other educators about their own opinions and experiences. For any questions, the teacher can visit the administrations and get their opinions on ideas and ask for support. For outside the school, teachers could ask community members (organizations or individual people) for clarification on topics that they personally can’t relate to or for help to understanding situations. 

 

 

One of the tangible ways that I am dealing with community concerns and daily instructions is by providing videos and books so that students can learn more about certain topics. Another way that you can do is by asking students for their opinions on ways that we can engage in community concerns and trying to incorporate their ideas in the classroom. 

Socio-emotional skills is an area I value greatly when it comes to working with my students. I think it is important to ensure as a teacher that I am focusing on the well-being of my students. When working long hours, it can be difficult to build relationships with students, to support them. As well, it is not always seen as a positive to build strong relationships with the students, as it may be seen as inappropriate. Although, I think there is a way to appropriately develop connections with the students to ensure they are doing well, and they know they have an adult to support them when they need it. 

I am prepared to show documentation of the importance of socio-emotional well being of children to support my focus in that area. Building this does not just mean talking to students one-on-one to build social-emotional skills, but can also come from group work in the classroom, as students are able to build relationships with one another.

Guidance counselors, administrations, other teachers, parents, and community members can support me during this process. 

I would engage community concerns by inviting parents and students to share their concerns with me in terms of socio-emotional troubles students may be facing. From there, I would be better able to support the students in the classroom, or provide resources for the students and parents to utilize. 

 One way I can navigate the tension is by spending time planning and making cross-curricular connections between the curriculum and what I am trying to do in the classroom. Likewise, I can always modify the curriculum while still ensuring the expectations are met. Much similar to the story of the fifth-grade teacher in LA who used a scripted curriculum called open court. The curriculum expectation was writing a descriptive letter on a dog; however, the teacher asked his students to write a letter describing any issues or concern they were having in their own lives. He ensured students met the expectations of being able to write a descriptive letter but focused on personal lives of the students, rather than a dog, that the class found boring. This is one example of how we can navigate the tension between what are trying to do in our class versus what is required by the school/district.

 

 3)Who are the people inside and outside of your school who can support you in this process?

 People who can support me in this process includes the teachers in the school who might be teaching a similar grade/unit. Likewise, I can also collaborate with parents, community members on ensuring the modifications made lead to lesson plans/topics that students are interested in.

 
4) In what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction?

 I would engage community concerns in my daily instruction by incorporating the students’ lives into the content being taught to them. So, for example, students can use multiple different ways of showcasing their concerns such as through pictures, videos, letter writing etc. Parents and community members can also be invited into the classroom. However, this requires the educator to establish and maintain relationships with parents and community members so that they can be aware of any concerns and how to incorporate them into their daily instruction.

o   I think I am prepared to navigate the tension between what I am trying to do in the classroom and what is required by the school is by finding commonalties among strengths and then playing off of those strengths to hold up the classroom within that district. There is also the factor of possibly adding on top of the curriculum important areas that need to be explored or taught to young students. 

 

 3. Who are the people inside and outside of your school who can support you in this process?

o   Definitely communicating with fellow teachers, admin, and staff members to gain ideas on how to navigate this process, especially as a new teacher it is great to establish connections within the school you are teaching. Oftentimes I hear the saying it takes a village to raise a child. I think this is very true, in that there are many influences a child/student has in their lives that influence who they grow up to be. 

 

4. In what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction?

o   Teachers should always be the voice of their students when there are concerns about anything and everything. Sometimes students ‘brush things off’, however we need to bring awareness to feeling heard and validated for feeling a certain way. A lot of the times students feel that their opinions do not matter, but that is just the opposite. Listening to parent/guardian concerns and validating them too is also a big part of daily instruction.    

Something that i can do to address and navigate this tension is to find ways to align my personal goals for the class with the requirements or standards given by the district. By laying out the expectations from both sides, i can work to ensure they work alongside one another rather than clash and work against each other. Something else that I can do is use the requirements and standards as a stepping stone for students (or as learning goals). Instead of shying away from it, I can find ways to integrate them into my teaching and also encourage students to be aware of what the requirements and standards are. By doing this, i can work with my students to reach all of our goals.

2) Who are the people inside and outside your school that can support you in this?

I think that the people who would be able to best support me are other teachers within the school and the administrators such as the principal or vice principal. The reason being is that these individuals have good background knowledge of the school environment and the children, and as a team, we can come up with ideas and strategies that are beneficial for the students and the school as a whole. Outside of school, I can receive support from other credible places such as professional educational associations, aswell as educational resource opportunities like workshops or conferences.

3) in what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction?

One way to engage community concerns into my daily teaching is to select relevant resources, that incorporate real-world examples and opportunities for learning. By doing this, i am providing opportunities for students to engage in community-based activities, that allow them to continue to learn about the community they're in and how it impacts them. Another way that i hope to incorporate more of, is working with people in the community and developing community partnerships. This can be done through guest speakers, field trips, and other forms of outreach. It is essential that we as educators are responsive to the needs and concerns of the communities we serve. By incorporating community into the classroom, we are teaching students that  they can create meaningful connections between the classroom and the wider world which is an essential tool for all stages of their lives. 

I am prepared to navigate tension by studying the curriculum expectations and making connection to my teaching. I would take time to observe and know my students, building relationships in order to provide a meaningful lesson plans for them to engage and involve parents through sending news letter, communicating through emails and meeting them once in a month to talk about issues, progress of students.

3. Who are the people inside and outside of your school who can support you in this process? 

Parents, teachers, guidance counsellors, administrations, and community members can support me during this process. 

4. In what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction? 

I would engage community concerns by bringing a program where I would invite parents to share their concerns with me in terms of socio-emotional problems they might be facing and asking students by building trust relationship which will allow them to be comfortable sharing their concerns and feelings. From there, I would be able to help and provide support and resources that students in the classroom, and parents can utilize.

 

The curriculums include social and emotional skills as a component of learning; however, it is not evident in many classrooms. When I continue to make connections between their learning and SEL skills in the context of classroom activities and beyond, I believe it will help students foster overall success in their learning across all disciplines. 

 

Students, families, other teachers, staff, community members, and community organizers can support in this process. 

I could engage community concerns in my daily instruction by integrating them with the content delivered in the class. For example, their concerns can align with the class learning objectives through the community-based project. This will allow students to understand and listen to issues facing their community and ensure a deeper partnership.

I am prepared to focus on the social emotional side to my students’ learning experiences by making cross curricular connections through various modes of curriculum planning. 

3. Who are the people inside and outside of your school who can support you in this process?

Teachers, faculty members, families, students, administration, and community supporters can all support me during this process. 

4. In what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction? 

I am engaging community concerns through daily instruction by ensuring that they are directly taken into consideration when program planning. This shows that their well being is being reflected throughout the growth and developmental frameworks of the classroom teachings. 

Question 3

Question 4

I think I am prepared to navigate the tension because through my learning experience as a TC and the knowledge I have gained I feel confident in implanting and planning lessons which will enhance my students learning. I have also learned to handle different challenging students that may arise during my teaching career. However, there are always going to be new challenges that come your way during teaching and I will always try my best to seek support to resolve the issue and come to a positive conclusion. I am more confident in communicating with colleagues, and families which is important to build a positive relationship with each other.
 
3)Who are the people inside and outside of school who can support you in this process?

Some individuals inside the school that can support me in the process are school resource teachers, admin, principals, LTO’s, supply staff and other teachers in the school. Outside of the school we can seek support from other teachers online, previous mentor teachers, families, and community members. 

4) In what tangible ways are you engaging community concerns in your daily instruction?

I ensure that I am creating positive relationships with the students. I am always inclusive towards children needs and provide accommodations if needed.  I would ask students to address any concerns they have by doing a anonymous poll. This way they might feel more comfortable in sharing and voice their concerns. 

In terms of this question, two key points come to mind. More recently, some of the Ontario curriculum documents have addressed many of the social and emotional skills that come with learning. I think that social and emotional skills are crucial to support in all subject areas and are definitely key elements in my teaching philosophy. In addition, when looking at curriculum expectations, there are ways to teach concepts in a context that is meaningful to the students (in this case, directly related to their community). For example, when developing a social student unit on heritage and identity, this can be closely related to students’ own identities and the ones in their community. In doing so, students are still learning what the ministry has outlined for them while also developing cultural competence and a positive view of their identities which are kept components of my teaching philosophy. 

Inside: 

Outside: 

3. Inside school support:

Outside School 

4.

I am prepared to navigate this through my lesson and unit planning. I will ensure my students’ mental and physical well-being are at the forefront of my teaching. In addition, I will teach through a cross-curricular lens to make meaningful connections.

The people who can support me are colleagues (other teachers and support staff), administrations, and family members.

Currently, I take into consideration the connections my students have to their community in my lesson planning. I plan on continuing with this as time goes on as well.

As I think of entering the school boards as a certified teacher it is my goal to prioritize the students I work with as they are the foundation of the school systems. With that being said, although the school district has requirements and standards that need to be met -I plan to prepare my units and lesson with content that is relatable to the students and their experiences. When we create and implement content that is relatable - it is more likely to be understood and meaningful to students. The mental and physical well-being of my students will be at the forefront of my teaching as I practice adaptability to meet the unique needs of all my students. 

The people who will support me inside the school in this process will be; teachers, principals, parents and the students themselves. The people who will support me outside the school in this process will be; workshops, online resources, webinars, resource teachers, and community workers involved with the school. It is important and crucial that I also do my own research in finding the support I need to create a successful and positive learning experience for all students.

To address community concerns, I plan to discuss the issues that students are experiencing or that I am witnessing. I plan to also create a safe environment that allows students to openly speak about the issues they may be facing.Using artifacts such as books, videos, etc. that address community concerns is also an effective way to spark discussion and collectively address issues as a classroom family.

By prioritizing my students' growth and development, I am equipped to address any challenges that may arise. In my opinion, prioritizing the well-being and education of our students should remain a top concern. This means designing programs that not only align with standards but also resonate with their lives. By establishing such a connection, the learning process becomes more relatable and practical. Through my studies thus far, I have learned how to plan engaging lessons that actively acknowledge student voice and choice.

Entering the profession of teaching can be overwhelming, however, it is important to remember that there are numerous resources available to assist me throughout this process. I think my biggest support will be my students. I believe my students will explicitly and implicitly show me the ways in which they would like to be supported. Continuing to look within the school environment, I can look towards OTs, long-term occasional teachers, administration, and other colleagues for guidance. Looking outside of school, I believe the students' families and communities can support me as family members play a pivotal role in a child's life. 

In order to acknowledge community concerns into my instructional practices, I opt for resources that are pertinent to the community and  feature practical examples and learning prospects. In doing so, I am being intentional by creating a space where all students feel empowered and capable.