Today I had the privilege of being part of #edcampuvic 2020 which is social program dedicated to teachers and teacher candidates which allows them to connect with others to expand their own learning through collaboration and discussion. Compared to Professional Development days I found todays event to be flexible and interactive and I was therefore better able to connect with individuals to gather insights from many other points of view.
Overall I attended four different sessions, all of which I took away something different ranging from inspirational quotes all the way to a full-on lesson plan that I can use in my future classroom. There was one session in particular that resonated with me most and that I believe will follow me into my future learning and experiences as a teacher.
This session that I attended was “Diversification in the Classroom to Reach All Learners”. In this session I had a truly eye-opening conversation with two educators in the province regarding diverse learners and different ways to connect with them as teachers. Something that they taught me was that diversity in a classroom does not always come with the students with disabilities or diagnosed disorders, but that diversity can also come with students who have experienced trauma in their own lives as well. The people in my group educated me on the fact that successful integration within a classroom occurs only once everyone in the class feels safe, this is including the students as well as the teacher and everyone in between.
I gathered two main pieces of advice during this session. The first being to ensure that once I have a classroom of my own I make an effort to set aside space and time for my students to self-regulate their behavior. This is important because if a student is not in the right emotional state whilst in class it will greatly hinder their ability to learn the material being taught, therefore by offering the student a chance to self-regulate they can gather their thoughts and emotions and rejoin the learning when they are better able to do so. The second piece of advice that resonated with me was to be aware that for some of our students the simple act of getting to school and making it through those doors is considered a success. For those students it is imperative that we celebrate such successes so that the act of coming to school does not become yet another hindrance in their lives that they need to fight against and can instead become a place of safety and security for those students who need it most.
I ended the program by jumping around to the other sessions for a few minutes at a time to gather bits and pieces of other conversations and I was hit by a quote by our very own Christine. She said that “we are aiming to design a curriculum where students can see themselves in their learning instead of students changing themselves to fit the curriculum.”. I feel that as a future educator this is advice that I will try to carry with me as a reminder to be aware that each of my students are different, and that there is no such thing as a class average. Each child is unique through their personality and experiences and deserve an education that reflects that.