My Ideal Future Elementary Education System
Every student deserves an equal and equitable opportunity to learn and grow in a safe environment that meets their needs. Children come from a wide array of backgrounds; ethnicity, socio-economical, sexual identity, religious identity, and diverse learning needs. As teachers, we need to be aware of each student’s uniqueness and not impose our own beliefs onto them and accommodate this diversity in our schools and classrooms.
Walking into my classroom, I want it to look organized but friendly and open, with bright windows and colourful posters. As students come in, there will be a magnetic “Zones of Regulation” poster where they have the option of putting a tag with their name in the colour section that matches their mood at that time with the possibility of changing it throughout the day. Also on the walls will be a monthly calendar with pictures showing which children have birthdays each month. Ideally, I would have everything in the classroom in English and Sm’algyāx along with American Sign Language. There will be a round table in one corner of the room where students can collaborate and share. In another corner will be a reading nook and include a rug, a small couch, and a bean bag chair for seating options. In another corner will be my desk to keep my things. The rest of the room will have their individual desks where they can keep their supplies and, throughout the school year, learn the importance of taking pride in keeping their space clean and caring for their things. They will get a choice of seating, regular chairs, wobble seats, or a yoga ball; that way, they get the freedom of choice within a structure. In elementary schools, there always seems to be a sink in each of the classrooms; near it, I would like to make a “sharing station.” I would have a snack bin stocked where any child could pick something to eat if hungry, seasonal-based extra clothing like a coat in the winter, and extra supplies that not everybody might have.
When I become a certified teacher, I would love to bring to my classroom land-based learning and Sm’algyāx, the Tsimshian language, and my own personal knowledge of the history of First Nations people and areas. I believe language is the root of every culture and bridges proper understanding. Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in elementary schools in the B.C. curriculum are integrated throughout all areas of learning. In one of our readings, “The Heart of a Teacher,” a quote that resonated with me was “Here is a secret hidden in plain sight: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” (Palmer, 1997). I understand that to mean that children are excellent readers of energy, and when someone is not authentic with them or if they see that the person loves what they do and displays a passion for it, they feed into that. Students learn better when they like and trust their teacher; that has been my personal experience.
Part of land-based learning could be done through field trips. This past summer I ran a youth program where we had someone teach ethnobotany and the history of the Kitselas Canyon. The youth went on walks through the forest and were taught the traditional names of trees and plants. They were also taught the traditional uses of the plants and had a chance to interact with them, whether it was tasting wild onion and licorice root (I was not a fan of that one) or feeling the difference between leaves. We also walked down to the canyon and looked back up the path, and our instructor pointed out the different layers of the old forest garden that the Kitselas people cultivated many, many years ago. This type of immersive education stays with students and makes them excited to learn, explore and ask questions. It certainly was an experience I won’t forget for a long time.
Utilizing technology in classrooms is an excellent way of engaging students and offering a broader learning experience. Technology has helped youth be able to learn anytime, anywhere. These days students usually come to school with a strong understanding of technology because of how accessible it is these days. Most households have smartphones, tablets, computers, and video game consoles. I would not necessarily have to incorporate “teaching technology” into my curriculum. Exploring and figuring things out yourself regarding technology is essential and one of the best ways to learn. If students are struggling, they are more than welcome to ask for help from their peers or me. However, I would talk to them about online safety and always ask a trusted adult if something doesn’t seem right. An example of an assignment using technology would be students using school iPads to look up facts about penguins to make a poster. I would give them a few questions that they can search, such as “How tall does your penguin grow” or “Where does your penguin live,” and they would write the answer down. They could look for images of their penguin to print and include on their poster. Students in elementary are also learning coding, reading, phonics, math, and many other subjects using computers or iPads. There are many “learning games” on the devices for teachers to utilize as a fun break for kids.
Technology can also be incorporated when teaching children literacy. I want to include the “Daily 5” structure in my class. Daily 5 is a structure and not a curriculum; each teacher incorporates their own phonics and is not specifically for assessment; everyone exercises choice and practices at their individual level. Each time, students also get to choose where they want to sit and work quietly, at their desks, the round table, the floor, or the reading nook. Every day all students will practice reading and writing. They can read to themselves, read to others, word work, listen to reading, work on writing, and complete 2-3 rounds as I go around and conference with each group once they start. To start Daily 5, I will do a mini-lesson for each round, and the time limit for each round will be based on the age of the students. Whatever their age is will be how many minutes the sessions are. As the school year progresses, we will work on building the student’s stamina or self-discipline for working.
I want to include financial literacy in my classroom. That was never taught to me and is something I still struggle with to this day. One idea I have to integrate finances is having play money, and each day students show up to class, they would get ten dollars. If students do homework and show me, they would get an additional five dollars. The idea behind this is school would be like “going to work,” and doing homework is like “working overtime.” At the end of every month, I would open a “store” where students can exchange their money for items; they will count and keep track of how much money they have, then subtract however much they spent. I will keep things at a level that is reasonable for the class I am teaching and slowly introduce more financial concepts such as a bank where students can save their money and keep track of their statements/how much money they have. Along with teaching finances, I want to expose students to different careers outside of the typical police officer, nurse, doctor, or firefighter. Bringing in guest speakers is an exciting and engaging way for students to learn about different jobs and how to get there.
The role of assessment is to find out how much of the material students have learned and where they struggled. Review is essential both for the teacher, the students, and the parents. I understand the need for them; however, I would like to change the approach to assessments in my classroom. The word “assessment” has a negative air to it. It is not something that is fun, and most children do not look forward to it, yet it is part of our lives even after we leave school. If I give an assessment in the form of a quiz or test, I will always allow students the option of a retake. You never truly know how students are that day, they could have had a sleepless night, fought with a loved one, or may have test anxiety. It is my hope with the knowledge that even if they do not do well the first time around that is not the end, they will have another chance to improve their mark, and it will ease some anxiety to see it as a way to show their skill or improvement. Depending on the children’s needs, tests will also be offered in multiple ways, the standard; read and write on your own, or have the teacher or education assistant ask you the question and they would write it down for you (no prompts) or read the question out loud to you while you write your own answers down.
As teachers, we need to promote acceptance when it comes to mental health in our classrooms and for children to utilize the practices outside as well. We need to encourage social and emotional skills, help others, and discourage bullying. Protecting your own mental health needs to be taught to children through boundary setting and recognizing toxic behaviour. I understand that this is a difficult topic where things can be interpreted in many different ways, so having the school counsellor come in to talk to children on a regular basis in short seminars would be a way of teaching students. The counsellor would be able to talk about things in an age-appropriate manner and be able to better answer questions that students may have with the option of seeing them at a different time to dive further into personal issues that may come up. The psychology of education studies the social, emotional, and cognitive processes in education to aid in better learning practices. This way, when a child is acting out, we can understand that there is a deeper issue there, and it is not to just be a “bad kid.”
When it comes to the school as a whole, I would want you to feel so welcome. Before even entering the doors, you would get a sense of the school’s culture, and signs would be in English and Sm’algyāx. Along with regular classrooms, there would also be a Lego lab room where students who need a break can go and relax and get creative for a little bit. There would also be a First Nations resource center; this would hold an extensive collection of resources by and about Indigenous people, books, activity sheets, and other sources. A Culture room where students can learn about the culture of the Indigenous Peoples where we reside. For Tsimshian culture, they can learn songs, and dances, how to harvest cedar for weaving hats or learn and practice artwork. There would be a kitchen/meal room where our school would cook and provide meals to all children whether they brought food or not. As good as it is to help those in need, you do not want to single them out as different. They could feel embarrassed and less likely to use resources, so offering them to everyone can make children feel the same as their peers. A sensory room is a therapeutic space containing various pieces of equipment that provide students with special needs sensory input. These rooms help children be calm and focus themselves on being better prepared for learning and interacting with others.
As stated in the First Peoples Principles of Learning: “Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors” (Chorona. 2019). In our classrooms, we make our own tiny communities, and the experiences we create there can have lasting impacts on children, and it is up to us as educators to ensure that they are good ones.
References:
Chorona, J. (2019, August 8). First Peoples Principles of Learning. First Peoples Principles of Learning. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://firstpeoplesprinciplesoflearning.wordpress.com/.
Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in K-12 Curriculum. Building Student Success – B.C. Curriculum. (2020, October 5). Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/indigenous-education-resources/indigenous-knowledge-and-perspectives-k-12-curriculum.
Robson, K. L. (2019, September 11). A historical overview of education in Canada. Sociology of Education in Canada. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/robsonsoced/chapter/__unknown__-3/.
The UDL guidelines. UDL. (2021, October 15). Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://udlguidelines.cast.org/?utm_source=castsite&lutm_medium=web&utm_campaign=none&utm_content=aboutudl.