Practicum+Field+Notes

= A District Tour  =

The first day of my practicum was busy but very helpful. We were extremely fortunate to have been provided with an itinerary for our entire 2 weeks so we knew exactly what to expect and knew where we were expected to be. Our first day we had a meeting with our FA and standing Vice Principal and were provided with a school package that contained all the information we would ever need to know: school map, demographics, calendar, policies and procedures, faculty names and responsibilities. After our meeting, we were then taken on a tour to the 2 middle schools and 3 secondary schools in the district. We were introduced to all the administration and Tech Ed teachers and exposed to the shops and staff rooms in the schools. For remainder of the week, we will spend each day at a different school observing so we will be exposed to a variety of shop classes, teaching methods, and technologies used in the classrooms. I really appreciate the opportunity to meet all the staff and be exposed to the variety of teaching styles. After all, once we start teaching we won’t have the luxury to observe and learn from others.

Comox is traditionally where the ‘professional’ and white collar workers move to where blue collar workers tend to reside in Courtenay. It was a remarkable and eye-opening experience observing at different schools and seeing how the culture and demographics drastically varied from one school to the next. It is quite interesting to see how much geography influences socioeconomic status and the adverse affect it has on the culture and environment of the school. I am curious to see how much geography and social inequity will effect ICT use in the classrooms.

= Highland  = My first observation was spent at Highland Secondary in Comox. There, I had the opportunity to observe Intro Tech 9/10, Wood 9/10, Wood 8, Power Tech and Drafting. The Tech Ed shops I visited were traditional and I didn’t see any state of the art technology. There was the standard projector/whiteboard (or chalkboard) set-up in most of the shops I saw. I heard rumour of the Automotive instructor that loved to have the latest and greatest technologies but, unfortunately, he was away on the day of my observation so I was unable to inquire. I spent the majority of my time bouncing between classes, speaking with the instructors, and checking out the student’s projects. During my wandering, I noticed a CNC router in a back room that was being used as a table to store student’s projects.

The Intro Tech class was doing the infamous 30 stick challenge only they were building cranes rather than the traditional bridges. In order to receive a passing grade, they needed to lift the sheet metal box; however, most of the cranes were able to life a minimum of 20 lbs. There was a small computer lab at the back of the room where students could research crane designs. The students all seemed to be enthusiastic and on task and, although there were some IEPs in the classes, they were not very evident.

The other classes I observed (Wood, Power Tech and Drafting) didn’t utilize any type of technology beyond the occasional projector to deliver lessons. Based on the geographical location of the school, I expected to see more technology being utilized; however, the one computer lab and unused CNC router was all they had.

(above) A few students testing their cranes in the 30 stick challenge.These cranes were capable of lifting all the weights (40lbs). (above) Another life test and crane design. (above left) A cyborg mask project design. (above right) A student starting his motor in a power tech class.

=   Lake Trail Middle School   = The next school I had the opportunity of visiting was Lake Trail Middle School in Courtenay. It is a very small school but had some new equipment as they had plans to convert it to a high school. Due to the decreasing enrollment and the conversion back to a middle school, there is only 1 Tech Ed teacher and he had one block of Math. The culture and demographics of this school were much different than that of Highland and social inequities were evident.

I started my day observing a Gr. 8 Math class with over half the students having IEPs and behavioral problems. Not long after the start of class, I was asked if I wanted to teach the lesson. I was somewhat hesitant at first; it was only Gr. 8 Math but I wasn’t sure if it was the class to try my skills on. I decided to go for it and the teacher smiled at me and handed me….. CHALK! I had to write on a chalkboard! That being said, the school was old and technology in the classroom was scarce. They still had the old wooden pointer sticks!

What I found really interesting about the school was although there was not a lot of technology in the classroom, there was a lot of support outside the classroom. A Lego Mindstorm kit had arrived that week and 4 or 5 more were scheduled to arrive so the Gr. 7 and 8 students could create teams and compete in the robotics competition. The school also had Vex for Gr. 9 robotics. The Tech Ed teacher had also created a Wiki so that students can access the course schedule and assignments. He uploaded his safety demos and had all the safety tests online so that students could access them at any time or take the test online if they missed class. (above) An example of Lake Trail 'technology'. Students in Wood 9 had to duplicate the board exactly; right down to the millimeter. Instructions were written above the example on the table of the work bench. (above) Sign projects the students were making in Wood 8. (above) The band saw box project the students had to make in Wood 9 after replicating the example piece of wood.

= Cumberland Junior  = My next stop was Cumberland Junior. At that school there is only 1 Tech Ed teacher that teaches Woodworking full-time. The wood shop was a traditional shop and contained all the machines that would be needed for middle school woodworking; however, I didn’t see any ICT; only a chalkboard. The demographics of Cumberland were much like that of Lake Trail only there were more IEPs in every class due to the specific demographics of the community. Although over 50% of the students had IEPs, they were so engaged in their projects that you would never it. The instructor had templates and patterns for close to 100 projects that students could choose from so they could focus on creating projects successfully rather than being limited to a mandatory teacher appointed project. I noticed that in comparison to some other classes, the students were developing more of a passion for woodworking as they were able to choose the project they really wanted to do. I found this to be a fantastic way to get the students involved, engaged, and passionate about woodworking at a young age.

(above) pictures of projects students made in Gr. 8 wood.

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