Annotated Bibliography (Week 1)

Benjamin Luke Moorhouse (2021) Beginning teaching during COVID -19: advice from newly qualified teachers, Journal of Education for Teaching, 47:5, 749-751, DOI: 10.1080/02607476.2021.1952844

This article talks about the advice that newly qualified teachers during COVID have for upcoming teacher candidates, including mental and physical health. The article outlines 3 main points of advice that the teachers had, and they all hope to make new teachers feel more prepared for teaching during the pandemic. I want to help myself and our fellow teacher candidates to feel prepared and as ready as they can be for teaching during these unique circumstances. 

Kim, L. E., Oxley, L., & Asbury, K. (2021). “My brain feels like a browser with 100 tabs open”: A longitudinal study of teachers’ mental health and well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Psychology, , e12450-e12450. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12450

This article speaks about negative effects of COVID on teachers' mental health and well-being throughout numerous periods in 2020 (April, July, and November). They conducted many surveys across elementary and secondary school teachers, collecting information on the negative and positive aspects of their jobs that contributed to their mental health and well-being. 

Inquiry Project

Powerpoint: educ 450 inquiry project.pptx

Reflection: 

Through doing this project, I learned a lot about teachers; their mental health and how the pandemic has affected everything. It was eye-opening speaking with our SAs, and also counsellors, about their mental health throughout their careers. It made me realize how much effort and time that teachers must put into the lives of their students. It also showed me how these issues have been exacerbated even more due to COVID-19. This required many adjustments and workarounds for the teachers to handle. Ultimately, we chose to do a presentation on teacher’s mental health and emotional well-being because it is a topic that is not discussed enough. Society always stresses the importance of mental health for students, but never for teachers.  

As future educators, we want to do everything we can to aid the students, but we also don't want to ignore our own feelings. Teachers must take the time and make the effort to support themselves as persons in order to create a pleasant learning environment. Self-care is an essential component of our lives that many people overlook owing to their hectic schedules. This is especially important for teachers, who are continuously connecting with and accommodating other students and coworkers. We came to the conclusion as a group that instructors' unwritten obligations are rarely discussed or focused on. Teachers are under more stress during difficult periods such as the pandemic. It was fascinating to learn about and research the support networks that instructors can and should surround themselves with.

Final Reflection

This course taught me how to connect math to different areas of life such as dancing, drawing, music, and making things such as ropes or braids. Doing activities such as the Sit In spots were great; paying attention to all of the senses and how they interact with the surrounding world was a key takeaway. It was enjoyable to recognise and consider the five senses, as well as how they were stimulated in the garden. We do so many things every day as humans, with so many objects and organisms surrounding us. We were able to almost freeze time and concentrate on the smallest details of our environment. This is a crucial aspect of education that I plan to include in my future courses so that kids can reflect on and appreciate life. We also made leaf drawings using forms like circles and triangles to mimic our chosen leaf. This was an excellent activity for demonstrating how angles and lines are important components of everyday items. This class really made me engage with ideas on how to extend mathematics to other areas of life. How can I bring in aspects from other fields to make class material more fun and engaging for my classes?

One of the biggest takeaways from this class was the "grid" concept and how it is incorporated into so many aspects of our lives is intriguing. Grids can be seen everywhere in our society. As a future math teacher, having a structured system will make it easier to transition into the teaching profession. Secondary school teachers have so many students each year that having a tight system might be quite beneficial. This article made me think about how I can "parkour" the grid system. I'm not sure how I'll be able to integrate myself into a grid-like system. It will be beneficial to have such a regimented system in order to understand the structure of the school where I will be teaching and how I might break free from it. Will I be able to break free from the school's rigid infrastructure? 

 

Exit Slip (Dec 2)

In today’s class, we learned about the Plain Hunt on 4, and how this pattern connects to bellringing and braiding. We watched some video clips of students of previous Math classes of the Bed program putting the pattern into practice and application. This really showed me how mathematics can be implemented into the arts, and how it can even be connected to nature! This class showed me more methods of embodied ways of learning; permutations and patterns connecting to music and visual arts. Through learning about all of these methods, I am able to broaden my mathematical horizons and explore different aspects of the subject that I have never done before. It has opened my eyes to including various, creative activities into my lessons that are entertaining and engaging for myself and my students. Embodied ways of learning are especially significant for a kinesthetic and visual element of teaching concepts. This showed me just how innovative teachers can get in conveying information to students in a creative manner. I heavily enjoyed connecting the musical elements of the bells, the embodied element of moving our bodies around, and the visual element of our weaving numbers. I am incredibly inspired to discover and implement creative activities that will embody my lessons. Hopefully, a movement of embodied learning in mathematics helps to inspire children and attempts to reduce the negative connotation associated with math.  

Annotated Bibliography

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pz48_-ZRhdzrqEEwuzsUaatEIA9x9TDbAhxATagp8x0/edit?usp=sharing

Exit Slip (Nov 18)

 

For our Inquiry project, we are planning on focusing on the topic of teachers’ mental health and emotional wellbeing. There are many cases in which mental health for students is heavily emphasized and focused on. However, we wanted to do research into how teachers are coping and dealing with the emotional aspect of interacting with students. We feel that there are many resources to help students with their mental health, but not enough for the teachers! Through this project, we hope to discover and explore the intricacies of mental health and emotional wellbeing for educators, and the ways in which we can navigate these issues. I want to start off by talking with my two SAs about how their past couple years has been in regards to their mental wellbeing, and any strategies they use to deal with these dilemmas. I am very interested in how the COVID-19 pandemic and online teaching has impacted the mental health of teachers throughout the past two years. This will be an important point that I will surely bring up during our discussions. Additionally, talking with administrators and counsellors is another knowledgeable source of information when it comes to coping with stress and anxiety. One useful resource that was brought to my attention recently is EFAP, which stands for Employee and Family Assistance Program. Hopefully, my practicum school has a EFAP associate that I can speak to.  

Inquiry Project Insight

 

We decided to explore the topic of the mental health and wellbeing of teachers, because we felt that there is not enough discussion towards this matter. There is much discussion around the topic of mental health for students, but there should be an emphasis on the emotional wellbeing of teachers as well. As future educators, we want to help out the children as best we can, but we also do not want to dismiss our own emotions. To build a positive learning environment, teachers must take the time and effort to support themselves as individuals. Self-care is an extremely important aspect of our lives that people sometimes forget due to their busy schedules. Specifically, this is crucial for teachers because they are constantly interacting and accommodating other students, peers, and colleagues. As a group, we felt that the unwritten responsibilities of teachers is something that rarely gets spoken about or focused on. In difficult times such as the pandemic, teachers have an increased amount of stress. Taking a deep dive into the support systems that teachers surround themselves with will also be very intriguing to learn and study. I am quite excited to explore the resources and articles (or lack thereof) that are available in regards to our chosen topic! As a result of this project, I want to be more adequately prepared for the emotional and mental aspects of the education career.