Reflecting on Growth

During Pre-internship I taught lessons and received feedback on them.

The feedback I followed in these lessons was given orally, however, official feedback to these lessons is on the feedback page

One of the suggestions I got was in law was to  find cases students could relate to. For the rest of the lessons I experimented with different studies to see what they could relate to. I then tried to make sure they could relate to the studies. I was often surprised by what was relevant and what was not relevant to them. They related easily to the Snowmobilers vrs Farmers example I gave them, and to Problems University students, or parents where having. They did not relate well with people their own age that had made mistakes. They defiantly felt that people their age should be able to take responsibility for their own safety and actions. It surprised me that they related better with older people, and less with their own age group. 

First Lesson

Lesson Plan 1

Date of lesson: Thursday March 27

Course: Law 30

Unit: Civil Law

Topic: Tort law- Negligence

Purpose: To educate students on tort law, and the types of tort law. 

Learning Outcomes Students will know what Torts are, and what Negligence is.

Indicators “Apply law of torts to everyday experience and relationships”

 

Prerequisite Learning: What is Civil law

 Set: 

Romans 13.8-9

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

“The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law you must not injure your neighbour, and the lawyers question, Who is my neighbour? Receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who then, in law, is my neighbour? The answer seems to be- persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question.” Lord Akin in Donoghue v. Stevenson 1932

 

Development: (time)

What is Tort

The Dictionary of Canadian Law defines Tort, as a wrong.

Torts “[provide] a means by which compensation, usually in the form of damages, is paid for injuries suffered by a party as a result of wrongful conduct by another”

-In the case of a Tort there is no underlying agreement that establishes the rights between parties

-Torts fall under three categories

            -Negligence

            -Intentional torts

            -Strict liability

-The word tort simply means a wrong

–It is an injury, physical emotional, economic or otherwise suffered by a person for which another may be held legally responsible

-A Tort occurs when someone deliberately or through carelessness causes harm or loss to another person

-A Tort is a civil law matter

-The main purpose for tort law is for the wrongdoer to compensate the person who suffered a loss or harm

-Much of the purpose of tort law is to determine who is at fault and what the extent of the damage was

-There are many instances where a crime has taken place but no crime has been committed

-Tort law mainly comes from common law (judge made law)

-Courts should only be used after other options to settle the issue have been unsuccessful

-Sometimes someone’s actions are both a tort and criminal

            -Law treats crime and torts as two separate issues

Liability

            -The legal responsibility for a wrongful action

Plaintiff

            -A civil action, the party initiating the action is called a plaintiff

Defendant

-The person alleged to have undertaken the tortious act

 

What is Negligence (first type of tort)

            Negligence occurs when someone acts carelessly or fails to act at all, resulting in injury or loss to another person

Depending on their relationship, people have a legal duty of care to others to act in a certain way or to not act carelessly.

-Ex – motorists owe other motorists and pedestrians a certain level of care

-This general duty to be careful, and to behave in a way that society considers appropriate, is a responsibility under the law

-People don’t have to be perfect

-they must use their skills and abilities that a reasonable person in their particular situation would use.

-To receive compensation with damages the court must find that the harm done through negligence was foreseeable.

Important points

In order to prove Negligence there must be

            -Duty of Care

            -Reasonable steps

            -Causation

            -Damages

 

Duty of care

            – Duty of care is the obligation that is required to ensure that others are not harmed by one’s actions.

Foreseeability

            – As a precondition to imposing duty of care, a court will determine whether a reasonable person could expect that a certain result might follow from an action. If the result is foreseeable for a reasonable person, then liability may be imposed for the action. If foreseeability is not reasonable, courts may not award damages.

Standard of Care

            – the expected standard of care is that which a reasonable person would meet

Causation

–Causation involves whether an act of omission of the defendant resulted directly in the injury to the plaintiff

Damages

Know that damages are the award by a court to a plaintiff who successfully proves that injury suffered is the direct responsibility of the defendant

Read and discuss

McErlean v. Sarel case study

Robertson v. Butler case study.

 Closure:

Questions to ask the class

            -Wrongful conduct can be both a tort and a crime. Should a person who is convicted of a crime face civil liability as well?

            -Should a participant in a sporting event be able to sue another participant in the case that one player inflicts injury to another?

              (This turned into somewhat of a debate, students related well with this topic and had many opinions)

For my last lesson I put students into groups (I selected the groups) I assigned different case studies to each group (one of the many useful recommendations by the supervising teacher). I gave students case studies that I knew they would relate to. The students who seemed to relate to sport related issues got one on a football injury, students who hunted got one on hunting, social issues got one on drinking and driving etc. The cases didn’t necessarily reflect their personal interests, but rather what they responded to other studies.

Law 30

April 2^nd 2014

Hook: 5 Minutes:

Remember how we were talking about self defense being a gray area?

-Share national post article.

Hopefully article will engage students in the refresh

Refresh (15 mins)

            -What are the three categories of torts?

            -Negligence

            -Intentional torts

            -Strict liability

            -What does the word tort mean?

            The word tort simply means a wrong

-It is an injury, physical emotional, economic or otherwise suffered by a person for which another may be held legally responsible

What is Liability?

            -The legal responsibility for a wrongful action

What is Plaintiff?

            -A civil action, the party initiating the action is called a plaintiff

What is Defendant?

-The person alleged to have undertaken the tortious act 

What is Duty of care?

– Duty of care is the obligation that is required to ensure that others are not harmed by one’s actions

Define Intentional Torts?

            -Intentional torts take place when someone deliberately comes into contact with another person or his/her property to the point where damage is done.

Name some Intentional torts

            -Battery

            -Assault

            -False imprisonment

            -Invasion of privacy

            -Malicious prosecution

            -Defamation

Intentional torts involving property include

            -Harm to goods or land through trespass

            -Nuisance

What is Vicarious Liability?

            -The responsibility of one person for the actions of another.

Name some defences to Torts in the Area of Negligence

Voluntary Assumption of Risks

Participation in illegal activities

Inevitable accident

Contributory negligence

What are some defences to Intentional Torts?

Informed Consent

Self defence

Legal Authority

Discipline

Necessity

Recapture of goods

 New Information (15 minutes)

Issues in Civil Law

            -Civil law is based upon the common law and the case law of the nation, there have been statutes enacted by governments to address civil matters deemed to be of importance to the public good.

 Class Action

A lawsuit, initiated by representative members of a group of persons, on behalf of all members of the group.

Criteria for a class action include:

-Numbers of persons included is so large that it is not practical to proceed individually

-The class of persons must be identifiable as allegedly having suffered the same wrong or harm

-The issue of law and facts of the claim must be shared in common by all members of the class.

 Class action suits, where an individual or group of individuals begins civil action on behalf of a class of people affected by an alleged tort, are not common in Canada.

 If Saskatchewan eased class action provisions, justice for individuals may be enhanced. Right now it can be hard for people to successfully go after large wealthy cooperation’s.

 Insurance

Individuals may purchase insurance coverage to provide financial protection in the case of liability for an injury for which they may be found at fault.

 No-Fault insurance

In Saskatchewan, the no fault insurance system is called the personal injury protection plan.

No fault insurance eliminates the opportunity for an individual to be compensated for pain and suffering due to an automobile accident.

 Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanisms

            The system of civil law allows for remedies for harm done by one party to another. The process of litigation is expensive. Individuals may attempt to resolve disputes of a tortious nature through negotiation or mediation.

 Alternated dispute Resolution

The process of resolving disputes through means other than litigation and civil trial.

Negotiation

Negotiation involves two parties who voluntarily and informally attempt to resolve a civil matter without involving a third party 

Mediation

A voluntary process by which parties to a civil dispute attempt to resolve the matter with the assistance of neutral third parties.

 

Activity

Part one (15 minutes)

-Place students in groups of five.

-Have them push their desks together, facing each other.

Give each group a case study.

-Summarize the case

-Which tort is described in the study?

-What defense could the defendant use?

– could the parties involved use negotiation to resolve the problem? How?

– could the parties use mediation to resolve the problem? How? 

Part two (15 minutes)

-Share your summary and answers with the class.

-pg 369 answers in page 270

            -Thomas v. Hamilton

 -pg 374

            Young v. Bella

-Page 375

            Wolf, Ward, and Luck v. Advanced Fur Dressers Ltd.

Page 376-377

Philosophy of teaching, so far

Feedback would be nice if anyone has anything to add 🙂

My philosophy of Teaching

 

I believe all students can learn

I believe in differentiation

I believe in an inclusive classroom

I believe in assessment reflecting how students learn

I believe in strengthening both strengths and weaknesses

I believe in treaty education

I believe in a safe classroom environment

I believe in caring about students

 

I believe that every student is capable of learning, but, not all students learn in the same ways. Students learn in different ways and at different rates. Therefore, I believe in differentiation. It is up to me as a teacher to accommodate the different ways in which students learn. I do not believe that students only learn in one way, rather, I believe each student learns in multiple ways. Not all students are at the same level, I believe in accommodating students who are at a higher level in a subject, and those who are at a lower level. Both the formative and summative assessment should reflect the different ways in which students learn.

I believe in an inclusive classroom. Students should not be removed from a class just because they are different. That being said I do not believe in putting others at risk in order to keep certain student in a class. Students who are truly violent and truly a risk to others need other accommodations. I do not believe in removing supports from students who need it. Having an inclusive classroom is not an excuse to redirect funding.

I believe that each student learns in multiple ways, however, they do have strengths and weaknesses. It is up to me as their teacher to encourage them to use their strengths when necessary, but to also strengthen their weaknesses. If we only ever allow students to use their strengths, their weaknesses simply get weaker and weaker. Strengthening our weaknesses is part of education. Education should be well rounded and balanced.

I believe in treaty education. We live in Canada and we must acknowledge both the past and present situations in our country. I believe that by the time students leave High School, they must know about treaty rights and promises, about residential students, and about contemporary treaty issues. Treaty education is not for “them” it is for all of us and it is important. There is not excuse for students not to have this information.

I believe in having a safe classroom environment. Keeping students safe is one of the most important aspects of education. Students should feel safe at school, schools need to be free from the threat of physical violence, and free of any sort of abuse. Teachers and students should both be held accountable for the physical and emotional safety of students.

I believe in caring about students. Students come into our classrooms expecting to learn. It is up to us to care about wither or not they are learning. We must also acknowledge that students have other things going on in their lives. Sometimes school is the last thing on a students mind, we need to care about them and make them feel safe.

The Last Day

Pre-internship was a wonderful, educational experience. I was sent to a school that had an unbelievable atmosphere. The students where polite, caring, and for the most part engaged in their learning and other school activities. The teachers at the school truly care about their students. I can honestly say that if I had a child I would want them to go to this school.

During pre-internship I was fortunate enough to work with three different teachers, in three different classrooms, and with students in all four grades. I feel incredibly grateful for the experience. I was able to figure out what kind of classroom I am most comfortable in, and I was also able to figure out what my skills are, and what I need to work on during internship. I had two different teachers fill out IPP’s for me, an official one from my cooperating teacher and an unofficial one from another teacher. It’s funny how different they look. The only part that looks remotely similar is the section on classroom management.

Classroom management is going to be an area that I will have to work on during internship, I need to find a way of being authoritative in the classroom that suits my personality. I also need to work on assessment and using different kinds of assessment. During internship in the fall I think my main goals will be incorporating treaty education into my units, meaningful assessment, and classroom management.

I also found that I have some strengths. I am good at building a positive student-teacher relationship. I am good at communicating with students and making them feel safe in the classroom. I think students feel comfortable with me as their teacher, and they trust me.

On my last day in the classroom I asked two of my classes to write me something on “I like Miss Parker as a teacher because…” and “I do not like Miss Parker as a teacher because…” I promised the students that no matter what they wrote me I would not cry.

I took their notes home, read them, and I almost lied, I almost cried. Their notes where unbelievably kind. They liked me as their teacher because they thought I was patient, kind, funny, and cared about all of them, even the shy ones, I never yelled or got mad at them and that made them feel safe, and they felt that they really learned something.

When asked to write about what they didn’t like about me as a teacher, many wrote that they didn’t like me because I was leaving, and my leaving made them sad. (and them being sad, made me sad).

I am going to miss pre-internship. It was a lot of fun and I can only hope that internship will be an equally positive experience.

Parent Teacher interviews

In my last week of pre-internship I got the privilege of sitting in on parent teacher interviews. My cooperating teacher uses a checklist to make sure he spoke to each parent on the most important areas. I like this idea as it stops the conversation from going off track, and allows the teacher to make sure each parent gets the most information possible in a limited amount of time. It was strange being on the other end of the parent teacher interviews, I remember going from classroom to classroom with my parents. It is a different experience sitting and waiting for the next group of people to arrive. I was surprised by how many parents came without their child. As a student my parents always expected me to join them for interviews.

I can see now how vital it is to have parent teacher interviews.  Student success is important to both teachers and parents. No one wants to watch a child fail, or not meet their full potential. It was nice to see a group of people come to together, and work together, to support a students learning and to highlight their achievements. Not everything in parent teacher interviews needs to be negative. I noticed that much of what my cooperating teacher said was positive. Telling parents that they had a good kid, and highlighting their achievements, before he started talking about any concerns he had. He never said anything untrue, but telling parents positive things about their children before anything negative made everyone more comfortable with the conversation.

Parents should come meet the people who are educating their children. It is easier for everyone if everybody is on the same page. Teachers want your child to succeed, we are on the same team. Like sports teams we need to take a time out, and plan a course of action to win the game. I know people have busy work schedules and some parents even need to leave the city for their jobs. It can be hard for parents to find the time to get to the school. I wonder if there is a way that in my future career I can make myself more available to parents, any ideas?

 

Pre-internship update

I still feel like I am learning, I’ve been having so much fun. I did not realize how much “homework” I have been doing until last night. It’s been at least 5 to 6 hours each night. Apparently the work was interesting enough that I did not notice the time fly by. I’ve been teaching two christian ethics 9 classes per day, a law 30 class, and History 10.

Some lesson plans took longer than others, but I tried to put equal effort into each class. Christian ethics was a good learning experience, the classroom environment there is like the one I hope to create in my future classrooms. Teaching the same class twice in a row was useful, if I didn’t like how one lesson turned out I could change things that did not work. I tried different things in that classroom. Somethings work out some don’t but thats part of the learning

In law30 I tried lectures, debate, and case studies. I found out very quickly that I needed to be careful about which cases I used. Students need to be able to relate to the studies, and the cases need to make sense of them. Otherwise they get either bored or frustrated very quickly. They do not need to agree with the side I give them in debate, but, they do need to be able to relate to the cases.

My favourite lesson plan from History ten was one I did with BYOD (Bring, Your, Own, Device). I created a powerpoint that had red blanks, or words in red. Students could use their devices to find the answer to the blank, or the definition of the red words. There was a prize for the person who got the correct answer first. I did not tell them there was a prize, until after the first person answered a question, then I simply walked by and placed a prize on his desk. They answered the next question very quickly and the whole class was engaged in the activity. There are changes I would make in the future for an activity like this, but, I will use it again. Unfortunately creating this lesson was pretty time consuming.

I was not sure if I wanted to remain in education before this experience, but after my time at the High School  I am sure that being a teacher is what I want to do.

Pre internships a blast!

 

So far pre internship has been an incredible learning experience. I feel like I am learning more in the school than I have been in my ed classes. During Orientation week my field partner got to know the school, its atmosphere, and the atmosphere of our cooperating teachers classroom. Our cooperating teacher invited us to go to a staff meeting/s on Friday, so I finally got to find out what teachers do on PD days. Obviously I respect these teachers and I wont say anything more about the meetings other than I thought it was a positive experience and that these teachers really care about their students.

Last week I got to teach history ten, and one day I got to direct the learning in two social 9 classes. I assigned their next projects and got them working on them.

This week and next week are looking promising, and I am more than a little excited. Today was a great day, I observed a law 30 class, and I get to teach some of it coming up this week! I am very happy about this. I taught two Christian ethics classes today, I think they went pretty well and I learned lots in a short amount of time

My goals have changed.

#1 is still classroom management

#2 is now time management

#3 is speaking up

I still think that differentiating and treaty education are important. However, I need more practice right now with the first three.

How is everone elses experiences going, mines been great, and I’m excited for the rest of it. I am grateful to the teachers who have allowed me to come into their classrooms.

Pre-Internship goals, and such

So pre-internship starts next week, and I am more than a little excited.  I am so curious about how it is going to go (good I hope) and what I am going to learn from the experience. I have many goals for pre-internship, three in particular I would like to give special attention to.

First I hope to work on my classroom management skills. In my previous field experiences I was in elementary schools, these were great experience, but I was only in the classroom for half a day per week. I feel that the students in these classrooms may have been on their best behaviour during those times. I don’t remember having any issues with classroom management during these experiences. I do not think that students well be on their very best behaviour during my three weeks in the school this term, so hopefully I’ll get some practice and figure out what works for me before internship.

Second I want to practice incorporating Treaty Education into my teaching. I think this is incredibly important, and I want to practice doing so while I have someone more experienced to collaborate with. I also feel like feedback from both my cooperating teacher and field partner will strengthen my skills in this area.

Thirdly I want to work on differentiation. Like treaty education, I think this is important for all students. Some students are going to excel and well need differentiation to keep them engaged and actively learning. For students who are behind in school (or just have specific weaknesses) differentiation can help address this in order to help these students learn. In any case differentiation should be used to strengthen both a students weaknesses and to allow them to use and improve their strength. It should never be used to avoid things that a student is bad at, rather to supplement their learning and to make improvement possible. ( on a side note, it is important to pay attention to your students in the middle, and not to forget to play up their strengths and work on their weaknessess)

Although, I want to give these three goals special attention during pre-internship I do have many more. I want to find out where my own strengths and weaknesses are. So that I can use my strengths when I need to and work on improving my weaknesses during internship next fall.

Some minor things that I know I’ll need to work on are;

Not playing with my hair, clothing, or jewelry, as this is distracting and somewhat unprofessional

Not saying like, or um, or however too many times. Or any other strange words I use as a verbal tick without realizing

Working on time management skills and giving manageable directions

And last but certainly not least I need to SLOW down while talking. I have no idea how people understand me when I’m nervous and or excited, oh and I could probably learn to speak up a little without yelling because I seem to only have two volumes lately. Quite and too loud. (this I could probably work on in general, and I am sorry to my classmates, thanks for putting up with me)

Treaty Education Project Reflection

We recently took a look at treaty education in our subject areas, something I feel passionately about. Treaty education is important for First Nations and Non-First Nations students alike. It is something that is relevant to Canadian society and is a key part of our history. Treaty education should not be ignored. For our assignment we took a look at the Treaty Essential Learning’s (TEL’s), the Saskatchewan Treaty Outcomes by grade level, and at a particular piece of curriculum. My partner and I chose to do our assignment on Social studies 20, and made connections to the individual units; Human Rights, Population, Environment, Wealth and Poverty, and World Governance. We also came up with examples that could be taught in class that hit outcomes from the curriculum, the TEL’s, and the expected grade 11 Treaty outcomes. This project also included a lesson plan and a Treaty resource package.

I liked this project, it is something that I believe well be useful during Internship. I really feel strongly about including Treaty education and Aboriginal perspectives into my teaching, therefore, it is useful to me to practice this in a controlled environment. As a Social Studies Teacher it is even more important that I include treaties in my teaching, however, this is proving to not always be as easy as I want it to be. It might be easy to find something that connects the curriculum to Treaty outcomes; it is more difficult to make sure that this is done in a way that is meaningful and respectful. Teachers in other topic areas are going to of course find this much more difficult, but it is mandated by the province and it is important.

Feedback is essential; one thing that I need to work on is differentiation. Students have different needs, and as a future educator I need to make sure I am capable meeting the education needs of my future students. One thing that I took from this assignment is that I need to work on adaptive dimensions. The differentiations that my partner and I did include in our project were: using three different reading levels in the handouts, allowing time for discussion for oral learners, and finding a video for students who needed one.

Classroom Management and Anti-Opressive Education.

I just read a blog post by Russ Skiba a professor of school Psychology at Indiana University. The post is titled Beyond Zero Tolerance: Achieving a Balance in School Discipline,  in summary the post is on the problems with suspension and expulsion as classroom management tools. Skiba claims that when we expel and suspend students from our schools and our classrooms, we end up creating future criminals. He also argues that suspension and expulsion lower school safety, increase drop out rates and lower the level of academic achievement within a school.

I agree with Skiba, if a student is misbehaving we must try and figure out why they are behaving the way that they are. Skiba argues that in many cases differentiation in instruction is what is needed in order to meet student needs and manage our classrooms. Instead of punishing students for not learning, we must try and help them to learn.

Expulsion and Suspension are negative for schools, students and teachers in other ways. Removing students who have disciplinary problems from a safe environment because they are disrupting learning is not going to fix the problem. That student is not going to learn outside of the classroom, and they are not going to be able to modify their behaviour. If a student is misbehaving because they do not want to be in class, suspension is rewarding them not punishing them.

Furthermore, removing students from the classroom can be incredibly harmful to them. In cases of abuse you are taking away a safe place for them to go, are destroying your chances of getting to know the student, and because of this you may never be able to give them the supports that they need. If students are not in school and home is not safe, you are sending them somewhere that is likely unsafe. They can get themselves into trouble because they do not have a safe place to be and do not have something constructive to do.

Although I do not agree with suspensions and expulsions I can understand when there is little else we as educators can do with some students. Students that are a legitimate threat to the safety of other students, may need to be removed from the classroom. In these instances there must be another option than to throw them out of school. When someone behaviour is threatening to others, we are not doing a service to them by removing them from school. If they are not in school they are likely being threatening to others somewhere else, and the behaviour is not being modified. At the same time if an individual is a threat to the safety of the school it is dangerous to both staff and students to keep them in the school. This is the dilemma that keeps me up at night. The lives and safety of students and staff should come first in our education system, but the students that are a threat to others also need our help. So what do we do. I like to think of public education as a right not as a privilege. However, there are students who pose a real threat to schools. How can we help these students, without putting others at risk? 

Chapter 6 Response and Reflecting on Assessment

 

Assessment should be meaningful and authentic. It should not just exist as a way to create grades. The chapter argues that assessment should include four features. First students should feel comfortable with the assessment, it should be familiar to them and second chances should be provided. Secondly assessment should promote learning, and the content in which the assessment is based should be meaningful. Third students should have options and choices in how they show their successes. Finally students should receive enough time to successfully complete the assessment activity. The chapter also argues that teachers should use multiple types of assessment, make their expectations clear, and use rubrics.

I agree that approaching assessment in the ways that the chapter outlines would be beneficial to students. However, I did struggle with the chapter in some ways. The chapter focused on forms of assessment that would help Aboriginal students, and depicts Aboriginal students in a certain way. This is unfortunate because I feel that the purpose of the chapter was to challenge colonialism and system racism. There is a deep history of racism and colonialism within this country, and schools have been deeply embedded in this process.

I recently attended a lecture in which the speaker claimed that in many instances we have replaced the word race with the word culture. This was an issue with the chapter, assuming that a certain group of students is going to learn a specific way based on race, is wrong. Do not misunderstand me, I believe in respecting culture, and different ways of knowing, and many of our students will have different ways of knowing. People brought up in a certain cultural context may learn in certain ways that are traditional within that culture. However, just because a student has a certain cultural background does not mean that they have been raised in that culture, or learn best in that context. So it is not ok to assume that someone learns a certain way based on their race/culture.

Our reflection questions were “Reflect on your understanding of assessment. Why is it necessary? How can we ensure that assessment benefits students rather than penalizing them?

Assessment is necessary because we need to know where students are at with their learning, if they understand the material, are reaching outcomes, and if they are being successful learners. Assessment should be beneficial to students, it should show what they know, and where the holes in their knowledge are. If we can identify gaps in knowledge then we can attempt to fill them. Assessment, especially pre assessment lets teachers know what students already know and allows them to plan accordingly. If we only use one kind of assessment and never give students second chances, we only penalize them for what they have not learned, and they do not get rewarded for what they have learned. I liked the suggestions that the article made about assessment, second chances, and options; they are good recommendations that would be beneficial to all students not just one group of students.