Task #1

Andra Slavik
Discover Problem of Practice
 What challenges have you faced so far as an educator?
 What strategies did you employ in order to build your classroom management? How did
you respond when it did not work?
 Was there a point where you felt overwhelmed by the classroom setting? Did you ask
for assistance and how did you go about doing that?
 What was a lesson you had planned that you thought would succeed that did not, why
do you think it did not work in the classroom?
 What are your fears going into teaching, what mistakes have you made and how did you
respond?
 How you would define your teaching style in two sentences?
 How have you been challenged by students in your classroom and how have you
responded to push back?
 What problems have you identified in education that you would like to see change in
you time as a teacher?
 Why do you think there is such a push towards wellness in education? (Why are
teachers being challenged to incorporate that into their classrooms or their lives?)
 If you could create an ideal classroom, what would it look like?
 If you could create a model for a new school, what would that look like?

January 17th Interview

Reflect on a time where you felt overwhelmed in the classroom, what did you learn from this
experience?

Rebecca: had a students get worked up because he didn’t want to write. He charged at another
student and had to be restrained, then he moved to the hallway and proceeded to throw
chairs. Mom came and picked him up at lunch.

Q1: Why do you think he responded in that way?

A1: We had a discussion about it after, could be medication. Said that it may have been his
anxiety around teachers and the classroom environment.

Q2: Why was this not a regular occurrence in his education, what strategies were used in order
to make his classroom experience enjoyable.
A2: an “if then” chart and a calming down corner that help him manage his emotion and
identify what he’s feeling.

Q3: What would you take into your teaching practice?

A3: Having discussions with the class about his outburst, being aware of your class and where
they are in order to ensure safety.
January 18th Questions
1. Reflect on a time where you felt overwhelmed in the classroom, what did you learn
from this experience?
Rebecca: had a student get worked up because he didn’t want to write. He charged at another
student and had to be restrained, then he moved to the hallway and proceeded to throw
chairs. Mom came and picked him up at lunch.
Q1: Why do you think he responded in that way?
A1: We had a discussion about it after, could be medication. Said that it may have been his
anxiety around teachers and the classroom environment.
Q2: Why was this not a regular occurrence in his education, what strategies were used in order
to make his classroom experience enjoyable.
A2: an “if then” chart and a calming down corner that help him manage his emotion and
identify what he’s feeling.
Q3: What would you take into your teaching practice?
A3: Having discussions with the class about his outburst, being aware of your class and where
they are in order to ensure safety.
2. What are your fears going into teaching?
Not being able to meet the needs of my students because of how diverse classrooms are, and
not being able to help everyone in the way that they need. I think I have been supported with
that and I think I have learned to stop by less to my high needs students and have a more
holistic approach to my classroom.
3. What mistakes have you made and how did you respond?
I made the mistake of one lesson where we were writing and I spent the entire lesson scribing
for him. The next time I did this lesson I got him to do text to speech which would enable him to
do this on his own so I could focus on all of the needs in my class as well.
4. What problems have you identified in education that you would like to see change in
you time as a teacher?
Q: Unequal funding to schools based on the areas SES. There is the same amount of funding
from each of the areas in Calgary. Rebecca shared a story from her field experience where
some schools in her area did not have access to the same goods and services that others can.
She said that maybe getting parents involved in fundraising for not only their own schools but
other schools across the city that are higher needs schools.
5. If you could create a model for a new school, what would that look like?
Right now it looks like a Y and it separated the bridges kids and the rest of the classes into
grades. It is very separated by grades and I think it would provide interconnectedness between
grades which would build a school culture. I would like to see more of an open concept school
because it would bring people together more and this would be a more communicative space.
This would also allow for more teacher communication and feeling less isolated in their
classrooms.
6. How have you been challenged by students in your classroom and how have you
responded to push back?
One of my students or a few, hates to write. We did a lesson about personal narrative and he
didn’t want to talk about his family because he had a situation at home. So she differentiated
and allowed him to write about his dog and show his thinking through drawing. So even though
he was not writing what the others were, he was still participating and started to love writing.
He told his grandma that he loves writing and now wants to be a writer. It reaffirmed that
relationships with students are so important because I was able to find something in his
experience to link writing to.
7. Why do you think there is such a push towards wellness in education? (Why are
teachers being challenged to incorporate that into their classrooms or their lives?)
I think there has been a push towards health in educations because teachers are on the front
line of children and their health in schools Teachers have strong bonds with students and
therefore are being informed of their health and other socio- economic determents of health.
Students feel that their relationship to their teacher allows them to share personal health
information, and as teachers we have the responsibility to be ready to enact our duty of care
within the scope of our practice for our students.
Three aspects of colleague experience
1. Understanding and working with students with high behavioral needs.
2. Differentiating for students in order to build literacy skills.
3. Ensuring to delegate and intently work with each student in her class
Three unique needs
1. High behavioral student.
2. High levels of differentiation needs
3. Bridging the gap of absences for students
Problems of Practice
1. Challenging high performing students and scaffolding for lower academic students in the
classroom.
2. Delegating and asking for help with higher needs students
3. Implications of home lives in the classroom setting and how this can affect work.