Due to COVID-19, teacher candidates in the 2019/20 Bachelor of Education program have had to quickly adapt their teaching and learning styles through the use of online platforms. We are showcasing some of the wonderful examples of projects created by them as part of the community field experience.
Gloria Lau BEd Secondary (Science)
- What is the name of the community partner or group you are working with?
- Secondary school students and their families
- What is your project’s subject area(s)?
- Junior science
- Tell us about your project!
- For my CFE project, I wanted to create a deliverable that aims to support students during these difficult times, yet continues to engage students in active learning outside of the classroom. I greatly reflected on the purpose and content of my project, narrowing it down to what I believe is important during this time.
As students have not faced a situation similar to what is occurring now, I wanted to place attention on the well-being of students, shed a positive light on what the world has to offer and bring awareness to personal health. I focused less on academic content and more on the core competencies of “Thinking” and “Personal and Social”. I also wanted to accommodate those students who lack access to a computer or internet.
Taking these points into consideration, I developed an information guide which explores the relationships between energy, plants and food, and produced gardening infographics which present basic instructions on growing green onions, bean sprouts and celery. My project is targeted at the junior science level.
- Did you face any particular challenges in the planning, making or delivery of this project?
- In creating this guide, I considered the amount of communication that needs to be done for students to learn. During this time, it is unwise to assume that students are able to learn just as they had previously. With online instruction, students do not communicate with their teachers as often and are given more responsibility to independently learn material. I found this challenging as I needed to design the guide such that little guidance from teachers is needed and information can be easily understood. Within the guide, I used multiple visuals and examples to support explanations. I further modified the language to include simpler words and sentence structure, bolding new terminology and offering synonyms.
I also considered the motivation and time that students have for schoolwork. I learned to make my guide more interactive in order to engage students. Through researching information, I found myself more drawn to websites and readings that are of shorter lengths, visually attractive and fun, such as including random facts. I realized that my guide needed to draw students’ interest. Within the guide, I utilized activities, reflection questions, fun facts and extensions, such as asking students to discover the amount of iron in cereals and looking at First Peoples’ perspectives about the natural world.
As one of my goals is to focus on students’ well-being, I wanted to create activities that bring awareness to students’ health and the natural world. It was challenging in that I needed to think of activities that are suitable for all learners and at the junior science level. I incorporated a nature walk for students to gain a sense of appreciation for nature, to understand energy transformations and be physically active. I also explored the relationships between food and energy, including an activity that looks at nutrition labels, in order for students to understand the quality of food and reflect on their own eating habits. Finally, I included a gardening activity for students to do as it is more hands-on and ties in all of the main concepts of the guide.
- Can you tell us about a highlight of creating this remote lesson plan?
- A particular aspect of the CFE that I felt was extremely valuable was the opportunity to reflect on my own pedagogical approaches and role as an educator. The CFE truly required me to think of the goals I want to achieve through the project and the actions needed to reach them. It has further allowed me to think from different perspectives, taking into consideration the many circumstances students are facing and the diverse needs of students.
Through the CFE, I also became more aware of my own teaching philosophy. I realized that one of the goals I want to achieve as an educator is for students to be actively involved in their own learning and become empowered through their own development.
- What media did you use to create your project?
- Template: canvas.com
For one of the activities, I drew my own pictures.
For the gardening infographics, they are pictures of my own vegetables from the garden!
- Where can we view your project?
- drive.google.com/file/d/14v0l0q1ueyji4r6lI0yH0167EvBw1krL/view?usp=sharing