But you can blog about your experiences and not give to much in detail if that is your style.

{ March 20, 2008 @ 10:19 pm } · { School }
{ Tags: RHS, Thanks } · { Comments }

Literally! Some of the guidelines that we followed at Regina Huda School were no makeup and hair in a ponytail (or off your face). The no make up thing wasn’t really a problem. However, by the end of the day the ponytails often left me with a headache! It felt good to leave my hair down today.

Today I was fortunate to sit in on a staff meeting at RHS. I was able to hear discussions regarding some of the issues at the school. Some were elementary issues, some were high-school issues, and some were issues that affected everyone in the school. One issue that was discussed was that of what to do when students leave the school for months at a time. Many families are from other countries and will take trips overseas for long periods of time. Sometimes these parents request that students prepare homework packages for these students (for upwards of two months). The high-school teachers have been asked to prepare their students for final exams and to create a new final exam which can be written earlier. This is an issue for a number of reasons. One: many times teachers spend countless hours preparing homework packages and the students do not complete them. Or the quality of work completed is not acceptable. Two: It is unreasonable to ask teachers to create more than one final exam. Three: In high-school if students can not complete a certain number of hours in a course they should not be eligible to pass this course. It was decided that a policy should be created to help teachers deal with this situation.

This afternoon was PD time for the teachers. I took this time to grade the 66 Computer Lit assignments that the grade 9s completed on Wednesday. What an ordeal! If I had a class of 30+ I would definitely rethink this assignment! One thing I could do differently is have various due dates for each task. However, I was able to finish grading and was pleased with the effort that students put into the assignment. This quiet afternoon also allowed me an opportunity to have discussions with one of the other high school teachers and the principal. We spoke of some of the students. They were generous in sharing stories of these students. The stories allowed me to gain a better understanding of what these students deal with both at school and outside of the school walls. We also spoke of the field of education and of schools and teaching in general. These conversations were enjoyable and provided me with an opportunity to hear more about what is taking place in education today. My only regret with my pre-internship is that I did not have the chance to have more of these conversations! The reality of schools is that they are so so busy that there is not always time to talk and share as much as you would like to.

I’ll admit that I was nervous about pre-internship. However, I have to say that I enjoyed every minute of my experience. This is not an exaggeration. I learned many things, met many kind and generous people, and had the opportunity to teach many unique, enthusiastic and intelligent students. I have to thank my cooperating teacher for all of her kindness and generosity. Over the past three weeks she has been quick to share her time, ideas, advice and resources. She has been a great example of the balance that needs to occur between teaching content and all of the other things that schools and teachers must give attention. It will be difficult to return to university on Monday. I am ready to continue to be in a classroom and to learn more about students, teaching and schools. September can’t come soon enough!

{ March 20, 2008 @ 9:36 pm } · { School, Uncategorized }
{ Tags: good-bye, RHS } · { Comments }

“A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends” (Richard Bach). I have been at Regina Huda School for such a brief time, and although I may not have had time to make new best friends, during my time at Regina Huda School I have had an opportunity to meet many great individuals, both students and teachers. Whether or not the feeling is mutual, I will miss see all of these kind and unique people on a daily basis.

Wednesday was a day of good-byes. Due to a staff meeting and PD day on Thursday, Wednesday was the last day that I was teaching and that I would see Regina Huda School students. Like many people I am not fond of goodbyes. I am awkward at saying goodbyes. Wednesday was a busy day and the dismissal bell crept up on me and I wasn’t able to say good bye to all of the students. Fortunately I have to return my uniform and a textbook next week so I will be able to see the students again.

Teaching today was fairly straightforward. During first period I helped on of the new students with her math. She did not bring any school records from Malawi but indicated that she knew how to do some of the grade 9 work. She had worked on the course review and had done well. We spent time reviewing some math rules and worked through some problems together. Second period, I observed accounting. It felt strange to sit and observe after teaching this class for two weeks. During 2nd period, the President of the RHS Board came to speak to the high school students about their responsibilities and about following the rules. Third period was spent providing last minute assistance to the grade 9s. They were finishing up their desktop publishing assignments. During fourth period I observed a school assembly. The assembly was to recognize and observe that March is the month in which the Prophet Muhammad was born. It was interesting to observe this assembly. It was a little long for the elementary students and they became a little restless about 30 minutes in. In 5th period, Food Services students cooked soft pretzels. They turned out so well and were really delicious.

On Wednesday, I left Regina Huda School with more than a handful of memories about the school and the students. Prior to arriving at RHS, I was concerned that I would miss out on the experience of a large high school. I have to say that I would not trade my experiences at RHS for anything!

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95)once spoke this truth. However, tonight I saw science as more than just observation and logic. I saw science as exciting and fun and the catalyst for one of the best experiences that I have had during my pre-internship. I was a judge for the Regina Huda School Elementary Science Fair. What a fantastic evening! The science fair was for students in grades 3-8. Some were individual projects and others were a partner or group effort. The students were so excited to share their projects. I was judging some of the lower grades and got to learn about topics such at electromagnetism, hydro-electricity, the heart, Venus, flowers, and butterflies. Thank goodness that the students are evaluated by a number of judges. I never would have been able to chose a winner! I would have to say that the most informative project was the one about hydro-electricity. The most interesting was the project about electromagnetism. The students who did their project about the heart were terrific presenters. The exhibit about the butterflies was my overall favourite. This little girl was so enthusiastic and was such a great speaker that I couldn’t help but get excited about butterflies. She also told me a First Nations tale of how the butterfly became colorful and how secrets can be shared with butterflies! I left that presentation with a huge smile on my face. I had such a wonderful time this evening. It was so great to see the students so excited about their work and about sharing their learning.

As for the rest of the day….Computer Lit 9 was a bit harried again today. Once again there was the problem of not enough computers. RHS is growing so rapidly that the resources and facilities are quickly becoming insufficient (8 new high-school students since February. Considering there are now 35 students this is quite an increase). However, we once again did the best we could. I advised the students that they only had 2 more class periods to work on their assignment so they quickly got down to business. Although the students are diligent, I am going to revise my assignment. The original assignment consisted of 7 tasks but I think I will reduce it to six. I don’t want the students to have to take class time from their regular class teacher.

This afternoon the students in Psychology spent time discussing their action research projects and what they must do for the write ups. In Food Studies I spent time helping students complete questions about leavening agents. Although we were in the computer lab, the students worked so well. Most were able to complete the assignment within the class time. Tomorrow is my last day of teaching. As many other pre-interns have mentioned on their blogs, it will be a difficult day. Being at a small high school, I have had the opportunity to learn many things about the students. I would love to see where the end of the year finds them, both academically and personally!

But definitely in a good sense. The day was so full of activity that it again passed quickly. This morning I observed two classes before teaching Computer Lit 9. The students are continuing to work on their Desktop Publishing assignments. Some have made a lot of progress. Others have not. However, this is not due to their lack of effort. The grade 9s are very diligent and always put a lot of effort into creating perfect work. The problem is the computers. Some computers were acting bonkers. Assignments were not opening correctly, some computers were not allowing students to use clip art features and also there were not enough computers for the number of students in the class. We did the best we could though and students were still able to get some work done.

During study hall I helped a student with a Food Studies assignment. The assignment is fairly straightforward but the student requires some guidance. In the afternoon I continued to help her during 4th period. In 5th period, I made myself available to help some of the Computer Lit 98 students who had fallen behind due to the computer problems. Two students came to the lab and they both made a lot of progress. They are now in line with the other students.

I only have two teaching days left and tomorrow will be another busy day. I will also be attending the RHS science fair in the evening. I will be judging grade 3-8 science projects. I am excited to see what the elementary students have created!

I would have to say I agree with this Chinese proverb. The mornings at school are full of activity. I teach two classes in the morning and generally have little down time. I feel full of energy and time plays that audacious little trick of passing in a flash. My afternoons are a different story. They are usually spent observing and assisting students with work or projects and when I am sitting down the energy slowly creeps away. Thank goodness the afternoons are shorter than the mornings!

Today accounting class was held in the computer lab. The lesson was about using electronic spreadsheets for accounting purposes. Both of the students have used Excel before and have a good grasp of the accounting concepts so they were given a challenge problem to complete. The class was not long enough to complete it, so they were assigned the remainder for homework. There were not really any challenges in regards to classroom management (remember only 2 students) but there were other challenges in the lab. The computer lab is also used as a classroom, so there was a math lesson going on at the same time. It was a bit noisy but my students were able to stay on task. Today was my last day to teach accounting. This experience was a lot less intense than I imagined! Grade ten accounting, two diligent students…I know this wasn’t a typical but I still think that I was able to learn from this experience. And I still have three lessons in Computer Lit 9 so let the learning continue! Speaking of Computer lIt 9. Today’s class went well. The students did a timed keying exercise. They then continued with their Desktop Publishing assignment. They are progressing well but I think the assignment may be a bit lengthy for the time we have. I will have to see how much progress they make on Monday. I may have to take one task out.

In other news….Today during lunch I sat down to talk with a few of the grade nine girls. They were asking me a tonne of questions about university. In grade nine and already worried about university! They wanted to know how big classes are, how long you will have to wait in line to talk to the prof, how long it takes to get to one building from another, how to take notes, if you have to read a lot etc etc. They are really concerned that they will not do well. I advised them that from what I have observed, their teachers will have them prepared in no time! The girls also talked about their summer plans and most are excited to return to their home countries for the summer.

Today the grade 9, 10, and 11 students had a presentation regarding outdoor education. There have been outdoor education trips at RHS for the past few years. The students got to see some pictures and here a bit about what will take place if the trip gets the go ahead (the board has already approved it, now it is just up to the parents). The principal talked about fundraising and the rules of the trip. RHS outdoor education trips would be similar to those of other highschools. However, there are some considerations that are specific to a Muslim school. Boys and girls must engage in all activities separetly (think swimming etc) and also time must be given for the preparation of prayer and prayer. Some of the students were very excited about this opportunity. Some also want to stay behind! These students have never been camping or fishing and do not want to experience it. I grew up in the Land of the Living Skies and life without camping and fishing just doesn’t seem complete. I made sure to tell them what a wonderful experience it would be.

Well, two weeks down and one to go! This is a short week at RHS. There are no classes for students on Thursday. There is however, a full day staff meeting. It will be interesting to see what takes place and what issues they discuss.