Educators contribute to the profession.
I believe that there are many ways to contribute to the profession of teaching, some of which I have not yet had the chance to try, such as hosting a professional development seminar. I did however find ways to contribute to my local community of professionals including my classmates and other teachers in my school. One of the first ways I was able to contribute was by partaking in group discussions during staff meetings, professional development days, and Wednesday collaboration blocks where I was able to voice my own opinions and bring my unique perspective to discussions around the most effective ways to teach mathematics. I was also able to build my own resources throughout my practicums and share assessment tools and lessons that I put together with my coaching teacher. During my afternoon prep block I was also able to talk through problems with fellow teachers and give some suggestions and opinions on a few activity ideas when prompted by another science teacher in the prep room.
One professional development opportunity that I attended during previous practicums discussed a tool called the “BC Tomorrow Simulator” that is a land use simulator that shows how land use is connected to environmental and socioeconomic indicators in an area. I had the chance to use this tool during my 491 practicum with grade 10 science students and then was able to take some time out of class to show my coaching teacher around the resource including how to use the simulator and how to access the lesson plans designed for the BC curriculum.
