#ONedMentors - Teacher Candidates & Teachers
A weekly tradition of VoicEd Radio is #ONedMentors (Ontario education Mentors); every Thursday night at 9 pm. This weeks show was something new on VoicEd - Teacher Candidate Take Over! I was fortunate to be a part of the discussion this week alongside a panel of extremely talented teacher candidates and educators. I may need to fact-check this, but I believe it was the greatest number of people in an ONedMentors chat!
As I always am when I know that I'll be sharing my ideas (especially on radio!), I felt pretty nervous. And when I say pretty, I mean incredibly. Powering through it, however, gave me a sense of pride and comfort. The group of educators (TC's included!) are so wonderful to speak with. Week after week they create an online atmosphere that makes you feel safe in sharing your ideas and observations about education. All ideas are welcome and most importantly ENCOURAGED.
Some of the questions addressed to TC's included: What’s the biggest difference in yourself from first year and second year?, What are your concerns for this practicum? Concerns about being a TC?, and What is the best thing about being a TC?. Questions asked to T's included: What do you look for in a TC? and Why did you decide to become a teacher?.
One of the most helpful and interesting questions covered was What are some do/do-not’s for a TC?. I couldn't stop taking notes! Some of the points that stood out most to me were:
Don't: Do:
- be scared - share your ideas
- say no to opportunities - be true to yourself
- fail!
That last point about failure was something that I have been thinking about this school year a lot. As a teacher candidate, I don't want to fail. I want to show that I can create engaging activities and lessons that make students want to learn. But in order to get to this spot, failure is inevitable, and I am learning to embrace it. I have focused on Growth Mindset this year with the students in my practicum, and I feel that the best way to show to them that failure is totally okay and that it's how we learn, is to model it myself. During the first week of school I had talked to my Grade 4 and 5 students about Growth Mindset, and later asked them to compose a letter to a 'future student' who may be going through a tough time and to share their story of something that they had overcome. This was a challenging task, but it proved to be rewarding as many students showed that they had overcome some kind of challenge, what ever it may be. I feel that this - failure and positive thinking/growth mindset - is an area in which I would love to dive into deeper during my last year at uOttawa and throughout my years as a teacher.
Click HERE to take a listen to this first-of-its-kind #ONedMentors show!
As always, please feel free to share any comments you may have!
