Journal #1 January 20th~ First Day at Sacred Heart

This semester I am in a grade 2 boys class at Sacred Heart Elementary. This

school is a typical Catholic school but it differs because it is gender segregated for the
actual classes. Recess is co-ed but all classroom based learning is boy or girl. I have
never been in a gender specific setting before so this will be a good learning
experience. Today an event that stood out to me was the math lesson. I think it stood
out to me because I was never a good math student, and I always struggled due to the
fact that there only ever seemed to be one way to solve a problem. I know this isnt the
case but that is how I was always taught. My mentor teacher however insisted that they
know numerous methods for addition and then tell her which way made the most sense
to them after doing a worksheet. We spent half an hour going through the ways they
could add single digit numbers together. Add on, take the biggest number and count on
the second number, using their addition of the same number rule, 3+3+6, 4+4=8,
5+5=10...they know that these will always be even numbers. They also learned addition
of numbers plus one, 3+4+ 7, 4+5=9, 5+6=11...they know that these would always add
up to be odd numbers. Then they were taught the make ten technique, where if they
had 9+5 they could go (9+1)+4=14 because they could make the 9 a 10 which made the
5 a 4. After we had gone through several examples of all techniques they went to work
doing their worksheets. I walked around and helped but I was impressed to see the
boys using different methods for different questions. There were few questions because
they had options to try before having to ask the teacher. I found this amazing to watch
and was impressed that my mentor teacher took the time to explain several ways the
boys could get the correct answer. Some things make more sense to different people.

What was easier and faster for one student was slower and more confusing to another.
The end result was the same however, they got the correct answer and felt confident in
themselves. The intended curriculum was taught, but my mentor teacher took time to
teach different ways to achieve the same thing. This led to the boys feeling competent in
what they were doing. Even when I saw a wrong answer and told them they were close,
they did not get discouraged, they just tried another method to answer it. The teacher
had fostered a positive attitude in the boys and there was minimal frustration when
doing their work. Lastly, this lesson created intellectual engagement, my mentor
teacher had the boys waving their hands in the air trying to answer because they were
so excited they understood how to get the correct answer. I believe this was an effective
lesson plan and I was impressed and inspired by what I witnessed.

Journal #2 January 27~ Assessment

This week I was able to work more one on one with some of the boys in my class
as well as see a spelling lesson. During the mornings when I am there I am able to
observe math and LA. During math we were still focusing on addition using the
techniques taught from last class. She reviewed and then had them work on their math
skills on a worksheet. For spelling they all sat in a circle and my mentor teacher put
magnetic letters on the whiteboard and made words that they could sound out together.
She then went into a lesson on making words plural. I likes the visual cues used in this
lesson and saw how interested the boys were. They all had their hands up so that they
could come up to the board and move the letters around. It was an engaging lesson and
I saw that this was definitely beneficial. In terms of assessment, I was able to get a good
sense of how formative assessment works in a classroom. My mentor teacher was

constantly asking questions and having the boys come up and make the correct words.
If the majority of the class understood she moved on to the next concept, if not she
made more examples. I also noticed that this lesson was focused mainly on the two
lowest levels of Blooms Taxonomy, Knowledge and Comprehension. They were
able to retell the rules of making a word plural as well as create it using magnetic letters.
My teacher has also made me aware of a few students who are behind the rest of the
class in terms of reading and writing, so when it came time for these boys to answer
questions, she altered them slightly so that the questions were more in their area of
understanding. I have not been able to observe summative assessment in this class,
but overall from what I have observed, the use of assessment is used in several
different ways and it is beneficial for both teacher and students.
Journal #3 February 3~ Universal Design for Learning
This week was much the same in the sense that we were doing Math and LA for
the morning. However, upon looking closer there were several elements of UDL being
used. There is a diverse range of learners in my class. Some speak English as a
second language, some are not as strong of readers as the rest and one is from a
refugee camp. This broad range of children leads to multiple different learning
capabilities and the use of UDL is important. To start, my mentor teacher is really good
at providing options for perception. She has posters up all along the board showing
the various techniques that can be used to add or subtract. She has colour coded the
important elements in order to make them stand out. For example, one would look like
9+7=___ (9+1=10)+(7-1=6)=16. In addition to these posters, my mentor teacher also
has a verbal lesson and then she has the boys work on a worksheet where they are

able to draw from the lesson or look at the posters. My teacher also provides options
for comprehension, she has given them at least 5 different methods to comprehend
the concepts of addition and subtraction. If one does not make sense to them, they
have more to draw from. Lastly, expression and communication was used effectively
in the form of use multi-media to communicate. For their reading lesson today they
were all given Chromebooks and they logged into RAZ Kids. Here they were able to
read, listen and then test their comprehension on books specifically tailored to their skill
level. This was fun to watch because they were all having a blast reading, even those
who dont like reading normally. These are just some examples of how UDL is used in
my classroom this semester, and I can see how effective it is for all the different
learners.
Journal #4 February 24th ~Instructional Techniques
This week I taught my lesson. I taught an English lesson where I instructed the
boys on the different ways to add ing to words. First I went over what they already
knew and then moved into the new rule of adding another consonant at the end of
words that had long vowels before adding in, for example hop turns into hopping.
In terms of instructional techniques as outlined by Ebert, I used a few different
techniques in order to teach the lesson. First I used Drill and Practice to get the boys
to repeatedly practice the rule of simply adding ing to words with short vowel sounds
as well as dropping the e and adding ing. This was a lesson that had been
introduced to them previously so all I did was give several examples of words on the
board using magnetic letters and invited the boys to come up and properly add ing.
Next I used the technique of Direct Instruction in order to demonstrate the new rule of

doubling the consonant before adding ing to words with long vowel sounds. This
technique uses the lowest level of Blooms Taxonomy but for this case it was important
for me to give them the important information so they would be able to later assess the
words and figure out which way was the appropriate way to add ing. Lastly, I
incorporated Question and Answer into my lesson. This required the boys to take the
new information I had taught them and evaluate and synthesise the information. I
gave them a list of words on the board with the magnets and I had them come up and
add ing in the correct way. They were all mixed up so there was lick which simply
needed ing added, then there was hop which they then had to find another p and add
ing and then there was slide where they had to drop the e and add ing to make
sliding. This made them think critically and it encouraged divergent learning. By
incorporating several instructional techniques I was able to get the boys to learn at
different levels and therefore retain more information.

Journal #5 March 4 ~Social and Cultural Issues

This week I was looking for an example of social and cultural issues coming
into play in class and how it affected the students learning outcomes. The class I am in
is comprised of students mostly from another country. There are only 2 boys who were
actually born in Canada out of 15 students. There are several where their first language
was not English (linguistic diversity) and I can see where this comes into play with
their reading and writing. Also, Sacred Heart is a small school which visibly lacks some
of the perks that other schools have. The area in which it is located is by no means a
prominent area, but it is not a low income area either. The children that attend this
school are from homes where both parents work and do everything they can to provide
for their children. However, Sacred Heart has a breakfast program to feed some
students that come to school hungry as well as having a before and after school
program for those students who have parents who work long hours.
In terms of this affecting the educational outcomes of the boys in my class, I do
not see the cultural deficit theory coming into play with the majority of the boys.
Economic circumstances, poor parenting and students low motivation does not
contribute to their lack of success in most cases. I have one student who was from a
refugee camp, and he is the smartest, most motivated student in the class. He did not
speak English as a first language but his writing and reading skills are above average
for grade 2. However, on the other hand there is another student who lacks motivation
and has no parental support. He speaks English only and was born in the USA.
However, his marks and classroom behaviour show negative results. Due to the
multicultural environment of the class I am in this semester, I can see the positive

effects of the the multicultural policies in Canada. This class, and school are a very
inclusive community where they show love and support for all their students. If a student
is showing tendencies to not succeed due to issues of language or cultural barriers the
staff go out of their way to help this students succeed with no prejudice or judgement.
This inclusive environment is what we need in all schools to avoid the idea that students
from lower income families...have a lower chance of success. I have seen first hand this
semester that this is not always the case.

Journal #6 March 9 ~ School

This week I was looking at the political elements associated with schools,
particularly the funding associated with running a school and what the government
allots. Sacred Heart is an old and pretty small school. The administration and staff make
this school amazing, but you are able to see the years and lack of funding wearing at it.
For a K-6 school there is only one girls bathroom and one boys bathroom on the main

floor, the students on the top floor need to walk all the way down to go to the washroom,
taking away from their class time. There are several aids employed in this school,
however, due to lack of space one of them has a teaching space in a closet like area,
another has a bigger room but they have to put some of their leveled book storage in
the staff washroom. The rest just float from class to class with no room of their own. The
funding from the government is vital to the sustainability of a school, and while Sacred
Heart is doing a phenomenal job at giving these kids the best education they can give it
is just sad to see schools like Webber get both government and private funding.
In chapter 5 it talks about some of the factors associated with a tightened
education budget. One of these reasons is, societies raised expectation of what
educators should do like provide food. Understood that in many schools this is a
necessity for students to learn. If they are focused on how hungry they are they cant
focus on the lesson. However, if there is a cut in budget and the school needs to get rid
of other necessities such as new desks or gym equipment then how is this not hurting
the students learning as well? In chapter 8 it discusses various costs of education,
number of staff, counselling, EAs, school bussing...Sacred Heart has a very small staff,
no counsellor, and a few EAs. This school has already cut down on the cost of
education as much as they can. From my observations they are doing a fantastic job
educating the children at the best of their abilities.