Reflections and Activities

What did we learn that we didn’t expect to learn?

One thing that I didn’t expect to have to learn was to manage the workload with delegation. I had the option of using a TA for marking purposes, and I found that one reason I struggled with the workload was because I felt like I had to do everything myself. 

Another new thing to learn was dealing with substance abuse in class.

Best part of practicum?

The best part of practicum was the last few weeks, when students became really comfortable in the class, but the standards are also clear in terms of productivity and behavior. This is when I felt able to execute my lesson plans without having to map out each part of the lesson, and I could implement some more fun activities without having to worry if things were getting out of control.

What was the worst part of practicum?

The worst part of practicum was setting standards early on in terms of behaviour. This happened most notably at the end of the class when I had an online assignment for students to complete, and many of them finished much earlier than anticipated. With nothing else planned, it was difficult to control the class.

The other issue was the workload and the stress.

What was a humorous part of practicum?

Towards the end, every day students would ask me if we could have class outside. We never did, but it became a funny part of class where they felt comfortable asking for something that was random and unrelated to class, and we could make a conversation out of it. I understand that I’m a young teacher and maybe some students were trying to take advantage of me. But I had many students say hi to me at random times during the class to ask me that. I appreciate those student interactions.

Was there a disciplinary issue on practicum?

Not really. The biggest issue was when I was trying to establish my seating plan early, and one student refused to sit in his seat. Unfortunately, this was during my first faculty mentor observation as well. I let it slide during class, but talked to the student the next day about the importance of it and the consequences if it continues. This student understood and we developed a good relationship from that point on.

My teaching philosophy is based on excellence, and building habits for students to succeed on their own. This plays out in my classes, as younger classes will get more structure in note-taking, assignments, and assessment, while older classes will progressively be given more independence but more responsibility. It’s my hope that students become people that take pride in every area of their lives through habits built in many situations, including the classroom.

Positive, energetic, easygoing, clear, intelligent, organized, humorous, well-spoken

Positive – I’m always smiling and encouraging to everyone

Energetic – I have more energy than my students, especially when it comes to math

Easygoing – I am willing to give students leeway in terms of behavioural issues and productivity if we show respect for each other

Clear – I pride myself on keeping the class organized, and lessons simple and understandable

Intelligent – I know the class material and can explain it in several ways. I can also share my life experience in many areas

Organized – The structure of units, and the physical layout of the classroom, makes sense

Humorous – I love to laugh and see students laugh

Well-spoken – I can converse about a variety of issues, which can help me relate to students and show them that I care

During the day of Sucwentwécw we got an opportunity to discuss Indigenous reconciliation and how it matters to people in our district. This involved discussions, and playing a board game which brought to light different facts about indigenous history through colonization. Students became aware of just how many indigenous students there are in the school, and how recent some of these negative events were.

One of the main struggles for teachers is burnout, especially with all of the time outside of class required to prepare. This is a larger factor for new teachers, and during my practicum I dealt with burnout, and a lack of energy. Eventually, this led to taking a sick day, and later reallocating some of my marking to a TA. This all taught me a good lesson about managing workland and setting boundaries so that we can sustainably be the best teacher we can be for the full year.

My teacher mentor challenged me on a couple days where behavior was particularly challenging due to a lack of work towards the end of the class. I needed to be more prepared for situations like that, but also communicate to the students what the standards are, and how they weren’t met in that class. I was frustrated with the outcome of the class, and perhaps the way the challenge was communicated as well, but being clear with the class about my standards helped refocus everybody, and keep order in the class for the following weeks. 

My first objective is to figure out why students are acting in problematic ways, so I like to have a lot of individual conversations with students. Beyond a mutual understanding being found, managing challenging behavior involves a number of strategies, such as particular seating plans (with or away from certain students), collaborating with parents, and involving administration.

One obvious way we can implement indigenous values into our classroom is explicitly. This can either be done by having meaningful discussion about indigenous history (when the time is right), which can help other students understand, but also show that we care about those experiences. Similarly, indigenous principles of learning play a role in how my class should operate. 3 major values stand out to me: the value of story, of generational roles, and of patience and time. These values are accessible to all students, and yet deeply resonate with Indigenous students, and provide them a window from which to access a variety of material. 

Positive relationships with students have to be done on an individual basis. Students don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. This involves taking an interest in some aspect of their lives, usually unrelated to your class. Constantly taking those steps, and making space for students to share things about their lives to you and the class can make the room a better place. By being a role model, hopefully I can help my class be better to each other as well.

In math, lessons require multiple ways to access the lesson. Especially in a class that has a lot of self-guided learning time, I want to create multiple options for students that may be excelling, or struggling. I also want to be cognizant of which students require extra support from myself, an EA, or a fellow student.

Bringing energy and humour to all of my lessons is an easy way to raise student interest. They may never care about the content, but if they care about me when I talk, that’s a step in the right direction. This may involve class discussions as well, both about class content and otherwise. For younger classes, I also like external motivators, such as rewards which tend to favour those in attendance, and completing work most often.

The staff around us is the best resource we have in any school. We have teachers and administration with a wealth of experience, and daily to weekly conversations about dealing with any situation can help us navigate challenges and ultimately grow in a meaningful way through them. I’d also love to have some of these people in my class on a semi-regular basis to have some feedback on what works well, and what I may be missing. In terms of holistic professional development, some areas of particular interest to me are dealing with diverse learners, disciplinary issues, and implementing choice into my practice.

Collaboration may mean working with teachers to develop cross-disciplinary lessons, or as previously discussed, inviting them into my class or into a conversation about how I can improve. But in a classroom sense, collaboration means using each person’s ability to add to the collective knowledge that we have as a group. It’s a necessary skill that we can develop through student to student conversation, which grows social skills, or active group work, which can teach students in a new way, where I am less directly involved. 

Assessment can be done in many ways, but the most important thing is variety. In math, there’s always going to be a healthy amount of quizzes or tests, so the question for me becomes, how can I add in others? We can obviously use observation and conversation as part of our professional judgement, but adding in other options for formal assessment can be helpful. One such instance was allowing students choice for a unit assessment, where they could create their own test, construct a poster, or write a learning guide so a new student could learn the lesson.

One of the main reasons I want to teach is to coach basketball at the high school level. This allows me to teach kids at a deeper level about something that they truly care about. It’s a major time commitment, but it’s an energy-giving process that I’m excited to engage in.

Depending on the severity of the situation, this might involve moving the student to a different location of the classroom, talking with the student individually, or involving administration, either in the classroom or in their office. In an urgent situation, I would take the problematic student to the office immediately, and have follow-up conversations with any compromised students as appropriate to help restore my classroom as a safe place.

3 things that went well:

• I was able to provide specific examples on some things I did well, especially when it came to some routines I would continue, and some areas of growth that I focused on in practicum.
• My teaching topic went really well, as I was able to practice this once before. Because of this, I was able to highlight the key areas in my teaching that were important, while cutting out some unnecessary and confusing information.
• I answered every question with confidence and thoughtfulness. I think that having a strong tone and body language matters a lot, as how we communicate in an interview relates to how we communicate in the classroom.

2 things I need to work on:

• I need to work on providing specific examples of feedback I’ve been given. This may involve sharing evaluations with interviewers, or being able to consolidate this information into a better answer.
• I’m still working on explaining my philosophy with regards to indigenous education. I struggled to come up with relevant examples of implementing that into my teaching.

1 Question I still have:

Why is there only one interview before candidates are hired? Specifically, why are teachers not interviewed before going into a continuing position, to see if they are a good fit for that specific school?

It was fascinating to hear from Laurel about some things that happen within schools, and what teachers have to deal with. On one hand, it’s a little discouraging to be presented with a pretty cynical view of teaching, where everything can become an investigation, admin isn’t to be trusted, and the district is trying to find things that teachers do wrong. I understand that teachers get taken advantage of, and we have to have professional boundaries. It’s tricky because complaints from parents can come from all angles. But I think we also agree that there are far too many teachers still working in many districts that aren’t competent at their job. So it’s disappointing to see that the standards aren’t so high for teacher incompetence, while they are quite high for inappropriate teacher behavior. But in general, it’s no wonder that many teachers in this district are frustrated with administration in their schools. It’s a culture that, at some level, has been allowed to grow by the union, and I would argue it’s not positive.

I’m also surprised by the differences in compensation for things like extracurriculars and class size. It’s good that those things are written into contracts well in Kamloops. But the fact that jobs are decided based on seniority is something I dislike. I’m obviously biased, as a new teacher, and I understand that it’s done that way for the job security of teachers working for decades. But it also creates situations where jobs are given to teachers that are not the right fit for the environment, or who are objectively worse teachers than those with less experience. It’s strange that even the administration of the school doesn’t really have a say in who will be teaching in their school. But still, definitely some advantages to working in Kamloops.

Very nice for Jamie to come in today. The idea of having a website with our credentials, philosophies, future plans etc. is interesting to me. I know that some teachers have their entire class resources on a website too. This especially is interesting to me, as it’s something students can easily access from anywhere, and it’s something students and teachers from beyond that specific school can look at as well. I know that a handful of those sites helped me out a lot during my practicum when it came to structuring lessons and finding resources to use. So the skill of knowing how to design and structure websites, either from scratch, but more practically on a small scale, using wordpress, can be quite helpful.

I chose this profession after a lot of reflection and experiences within the classroom, coaching, and playing basketball. I come from a family with a lot of teachers, and I always was interested in it as a job. Initially through my degree, I explored computer science as an option for a career that I can pursue right after graduation, but without any additional schooling. But as I approached graduation, the job market seemed less promising, and the work seemed increasingly isolating. After experiences playing and coaching basketball at the high school level, I watched young men graduate and pursue university, and in many cases, university sports. It was incredibly fulfilling to watch young men grow up, as I did. So I chose to get into teaching so that I could help others achieve their goals, academically, in sport, and in life. Coaching was the primary vessel that I wanted to use in that process. But teaching would be something that I could use to influence a wider range of people in the same way, earn a stable salary, and would support my high school level coaching in terms of my time. Through this program, I’m increasingly excited by the opportunity to be a light in the classroom; someone that the students look forward to seeing, and that can equip students for the world in many ways.

I appreciate the reminders that Pooja provides on the Hiring Process and on Make a Future. The fact that most school districts use the same sight is a nice way to make applying for jobs, and looking for postings easier, especially with someone like her to guide the site. Unfortunately, this particular presentation was redundant and mistimed. A lot of the information she gave about the hiring timing, and about navigating the website has already been learned by many of us, who have already applied for jobs. Unfortunately, she was unaware of the timing of this program. Additionally, we had already received this presentation from her last summer in this program. Pooja does a good job with her work, and the information she gives is valuable at the right time. For future students in this program, that would be in January or February.

Please provide an example of a time when you had to use problem-solving and judgement skills to navigate a conflict with a supervisor, co-worker, or parent. Please include your approach to managing the conflict, what steps you took, what the outcome was, and what you would consider doing differently in future situations.

Through coaching, parents always have certain expectations of their kids, including how much they play, what role they should have, and how much they should be improving in a season. A lot of that care can create really positive conversations with parents. One time last season, we had a parent who’s kid wasn’t improving as much as expected. Both the child and the parent were frustrated with this lack of improvement. Me and other coaches were able to navigate a series of conversations about how they wanted to improve, and some of the reasons it hadn’t happened yet. A lot of it was navigating our messaging: “as long as they continue to work hard, they will see results individually, and with playing time”. Some of it was also talking about the vision for this player, and some spots that may lead to more success for them. We were able to maintain the support of the parent, and the buy-in of the athlete, leading to some positive moments for him and the team in the second half of the season. While this wasn’t a hugely contentious conflict, it showed the importance of working with parents in their frustration and questions, whether we are to blame or not.

Consolidate Information to 1 page. This helps hiring managers to see all information in one place.

Over time, put my professional experience first, followed by my leadership experience, and then my education. As my career grows, my degrees matter less than how long, where, and what I’ve been teaching.

Where possible, put links on my resumes to reference public work done, whether it be awards, recognition, or contributions. 

Update references over time. If I was submitting another resume now, I would give my most recent teacher mentor or faculty mentor. 

I would add experience to my resume over time, including:

Experience related to coaching, both at the high school and club space. This shows my willingness to contribute in extracurriculars, and care for the community

I might add some teaching or coaching certificates, such as post-bachelorette certificates, or provincial basketball coaching certifications

Contribute as a teaching volunteer on school trips, especially those outside of the province. 

Coaching at the university level, likely as an assistant. 

Presenting at conferences or workshops, specifically for new teachers. 

I would also like to expand BC Basketball Metrics to become an official part of the Basketball BC ranking system, and/or expand the website to senior girls.

What I talked about in my 1 minute video:

Emphasized this as the purpose of my becoming a teacher, and the interconnectedness of both jobs in my life.

Where I’m from, where I was born, grew up, and went to high school

Talked about my basketball career, both in high school and university

Explained my degree, and my path to become a teacher

Talked about why coaching and teaching was something I wanted to do together (because of the connection with school, and the time commitments of both)

My name is Asher Mayan. Born in Ontario, I moved to Langley, graduating from Langley Christian School. After receiving an offer from the Men’s Basketball Team at TRU, I moved to Kamloops to become a member of the Wolfpack, where I’ve stayed up to this point. Through my time there, I was able to grow as a student, graduating with distinction with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics. I was also able to grow as a basketball player, and a leader in my community both in Kamloops, and in Langley. In Kamloops, I’ve been a student leader for first-year student athletes study sessions, hosted Alpha sessions on campus to create a space for athletes to ask questions about God and the world, and coached at basketball camps and with club teams. In Langley, I’ve spent many of my summers working through basketball at Impact Hoops. Through this, I’ve won several awards for community service, including the Canada West Men’s Basketball Community Service award in 2025. It’s these experiences that have led me back to teaching at the high school level, an opportunity I’m tremendously excited for. I plan on returning to teach at Langley Christian School this coming school year, focusing on Computers, Physical and Health Education, and high school boys basketball coaching.

Collaboration and teamwork are central to a healthy school culture. Can you describe a time when you worked closely with colleagues to support student learning or create/improve a school initiative? What was your role, and what was the outcome?

Prior to the Grade 8 District Numeracy Assessment in June, the math department decided that we needed to give our students some preparation for the type of questions that students are asked, and the sheets that needed to be filled out. So we spent our PLC time deciding on a problem that all students would complete during a double block, and gave some reminders on what students struggle with, and how to teach students about this assessment. For me, this was particularly helpful as a student teacher who hadn’t learned about the DNA, who wasn’t sure how it would be marked, or how students are to record their responses. I showed that a joint effort to connect classes and have everyone work toward a common goal is important for the strength of a department, and the learning of all students.

Tell me about a time you incorporated First Peoples Principles of Learning into a class assignment or activity?

As a beginning teacher, I still have a lot to learn about First Peoples Principles, and I want to include their ways of knowing in a way that is meaningful, rather than trite. This has led me to incorporating indigenous values and ways of knowing more than using cultural examples in my teaching. Story and choice are the biggest ways that I have included these principles in my teaching. This corresponds with principles ‘learning is embedded in memory, history, and story’, as well as ‘ learning requires exploration of one’s identity’. One project supporting these included a math project where students had to buy items for their own project. They could be baking food, making an outfit, or constructing a house, for example. Students had the option to choose whatever project they wanted, allowing them to explore their own identity within the context of math. While this is a small example, I look forward to learning more about Indigenous culture and history in the regions I inhabit, and to include this in my classes in meaningful ways.