Sun Peaks Elementary School
I was extremely fortunate to be placed in a grade 3/4 class at Sun Peaks Elementary for my final 10 week practicum. This unique school is split into three campuses at Sun Peaks, the one of which that I worked in is located right on the ski hill!
Because of the unique location of the school, I was able to experience a school week that is unlike any other in the district. Twice a week for PHE the students are split into small groups for teachers and parent volunteers to take them skiing or snowboarding.
During my stay at Sun Peaks Elementary I also participated in three field trips! On two occasions we skied down to the ice rink to go skating with the students and one time for a strings performance to the Cahilty Lodge.
In the classroom, my teacher mentor Jillian Schmalz supported me through my learning process and introduced me to Adrienne Gear’s Daily 5 program. Through this literacy program I set up four stations daily that students rotated through that included a station for reading, writing, “Words Their Way” worksheets/word sorts, and a teacher table lesson. In literacy I also ran a lit circles unit where students got to choose their own book from 14 different options. They then get into sharing circles to share a “say something” from their books. Afterwards, they would take their “say something” and extend it into a piece of writing. Finally, I would take these writings and give written qualitative feedback on a post-it note and put it in their journal as a formative assessment. Through these writings students were exploring and expanding on their “scuba-diving” thoughts or deep-thinking ideas.
For math, we also ran four stations that students rotated through including problem solving, practice worksheets, games, and a teacher table lesson. Three times a week we did these math rotations and on Thursdays we would do a CGI lesson in small groups at vertical whiteboard spaces. These CGI lessons were developed based on Peter Liljedahl’s work in developing thinking classrooms.
Throughout those 10 weeks I also taught a unit in dance, an integrated science unit, a socials studies unit on connection to land and Indigenous art, and a ADST unit using Blue Bots from the Henry Grube centre. I got to participate and help organize several buddy days with both the kindergarten class and a grade 1/2 class.
All in all, this experience was unexplainably beneficial to my personal growth. I left my 10 week practicum feeling confident and also humble in my practice, but most importantly, ready to take the next step into my career and continue to grow my skills as an educator.