Class 4 (Sept 25) Exit Slip

On Thursday, we learned how to make rope. I had so much fun with the process that I couldn’t stop making it throughout class. By the end, I had a rope so long that it would be used as a jump rope! We made the rope with long grass. I was fascinated by how simply twisting the grass in specific ways can turn the thin, fragile strands of grass into something strong enough to hold a person’s weight. I was also surprised by the variety of materials that can be used for rope making: bulrush, waterlily leaves, corn husk, and so many more materials that we can see in our everyday life. 

Looking at the rope I made, I noticed the thickness was very uneven, especially the sections I did while also trying to pay attention to what Susan was sharing. It reminded me of what I learned in EPSE 308 about how multitasking can make work harder and lower our performance in the quality of work. I realized that my rope looked the most even when I was fully immersed in the process, concentrating and enjoying the moment. 

When exploring other types of weaving, I experimented with plain weave using bulrushes, and Elsa tried rope making. I was able to show her how to extend her strands, and she was able to use her past weaving experience to help me finish my piece. I liked how we were able to exchange our knowledge: Susan sharing her knowledge of string making with the class, I passed some of Susan’s knowledge to Elsa, and Elsa sharing her knowledge of weaving with me. Together, we were able to build on each other’s knowledge to create a result that everyone was proud of.

This experience reminded me of teaching. Everyone comes from a different backgrounds, so everyone can add different strengths to the class, and by sharing what we know while learning from others, the classroom can become a more engaging, inclusive, and fun place for everyone.

During sit spots, we walked around with some color swatches to match the color to what is around us. I found out that even though many of the colors were named after natural things, such as creeping vine, buckwheat yellow, oat bran, dew drops, and dark forest green, a lot of them didn’t seem to match the actual tones I saw in nature. They were a lot brighter and vivid in general, so instead, many of them matched with the clothes of my classmates more closely. This really surprised me, and it made me wonder how the colors were named. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this activity! :)

Class 4 (Sept 25 ) Entrance Slip - Building for Change From the Ground Up

I had fun reading this article. The part where it talks about acknowledging where our stills are “best suited to aid the community and where [our] internal needs for creative fulfillment can be satisfied”, and “sharing the skills for making something with others” really spoke to me. This reading reminds me of my high school friend. I like to bake, and my high school friend grew up in a family where her dad likes to go fishing and her mom grows different fruits and veggies in their backyard. Whenever I bake cakes, bread, and cookies, I would share with my high school friend, and she would share with me the fish her dad catches, or the figs and lettuce that have grown in their backyard. By doing this, I felt a sense of community, and I felt proud of what I was able to bake and share with others, like the emotional boost the article mentioned. 

I don’t think globalized consumerism is completely a bad thing, as it seems like what the article is saying. Growing up in Taiwan and moving to Canada, imported goods are one of the few ways I can have access to the food I am used to eating growing up, to connect with my identity and culture. So I feel like there can be a balance between community resources and outsourced products. 

Applying to physics classes, in our pedagogy class, we were introduced to many demonstrations that can be built with cheap, accessible materials to visualize concepts for students. So instead of buying imported demonstration equipment, we can find ways to utilize what is around us to teach physics in an interactive way. Hopefully, in the end, we can be like the article says, “[create] situations that fulfill emotional, physical or spiritual needs [that] can subtly open one’s thinking to a new world of possibilities and show people what they didn’t even know they were missing”.

Class 3 (Sept 18) Exit Slip

In today’s class, we picked apples and focused on sounds. I was surprised by how many apples we ended up having just by picking 3 apples per person. I am really excited and looking forward to making apple cider, and I hope it turns out yummy! We also took some time in today’s sit spots to focus on the sounds around us in the garden. When drawing the sounds, I used two colours to differentiate the human-made sounds and the natural sounds. I chose to use two colours for myself, because I am both a human and a part of nature. And I chose to draw both the object making the sounds and the pattern the sounds make me feel. We also came up with performances of the sounds we heard. I was surprised by how many sounds we could mimic with our voice and body, and I had a lot of fun watching what everyone came up with. I noticed during sit spots that it seemed to be a lot noisier today than last week when we were drawing. I think it could be that today is a loud day or that by changing our focus, we are also changing our perceptions. Applying to classrooms, during incidents, giving students strategies to shift their focus away from the incident itself might help students calm down and think of what happened more objectively and less emotionally.

I had fun in today’s class and I am looking forward to what we will be doing in our next class! :)

Class 3 (Sept 18) Entrance Slip - What We Have Learned From Campus Teaching and Learning Gardens: The Ubc Orchard Garden and Cultivating Learning Network

I really liked how the paper talks about teaching in a school garden with the garden as a “co-teacher”. Before reading the paper, in terms of teaching physics in a garden, the first thing I thought of was to move the classrooms to the garden and do all the activities that can also be done in the indoor classroom, because that is what my high school teachers were doing. But as I was reading the paper, I realized that instead of making the garden a replication of the existing indoor classrooms, I can acknowledge the garden as a co-teacher and make use of the living world, inviting students to connect with “the world of the outdoors using all their senses” and learn from the garden itself. This way, we can, as written in the paper, “develop alternative educational experiences that counter the human-centric approaches of modernity”. From the paper, I learned that by moving our class to The Orchard Garden, we are making the garden an important part of this program rather than a “decorative add-on”, so we are also in a way contributing to creating and sustaining the learning garden in UBC. 

Applying to teaching physics in high school, I thought of using elements in the garden to demonstrate physics concepts. Some examples that I thought of include using sunlight and a magnifying glass to study refraction, observing rainbows from sprinklers, and setting up for the double slit experiment using water in a clear container and sunlight. 

One of the difficulties I thought of is the documents that might need to be done in order to be able to bring the class outside, as I vaguely remember my high school teacher complaining to us about how many forms she had to fill out to be able to take us on a walk outside. But I think this difficulty could be solved if taking students outside becomes a routine, so that there could potentially be less paperwork required.

I also learned about the Roots on the Roof. Being in UBC for more than 4 years, I had no idea that this space existed, but I am excited to go take a look one day! 

Class 2 (Sept 11) Exit Slip

We went to The Orchard Garden for the first time today. I really enjoyed the Sit Spots activity. I’ve always been nervous to try charcoal because I didn’t like how it makes the paper grey, but in today’s class, I had so much fun experimenting with the thickness and the amount of force I put in each stroke. During the activity, I was able to slow down and take my time connecting to the environment. In fact, I got a bit too focused on the observing and drawing part of the activity, instead of the whole purpose of the Sit Spots, so I was walking around, drawing objects and scenes that I observed. I noticed that most of the artificial objects in the garden have sharper angles and are of more vivid colours, so that they stand out in the scene. 

I liked what one of our classmates said, that all the natural objects seem to coexist together. I really liked looking at Jimena's drawing of the picnic table in the woods, as looking at it gives me a sense of peace and serenity. I also had fun eating the pear and blackberries I picked from the garden. It felt extra juicy and sweet because I picked it myself. :) 

Applying it to physics classrooms I think I could bring students outdoors, or stay indoor, and ask them to observe their surroundings to see what forces are in play, for example, gravitational force keeping everything on the ground, normal force making sure that we don’t sink into the floor, tension force in the strings, friction force on objects leaning onto something else, etc. By noticing the objects moving or existing in equilibrium, students can be more aware of their surroundings and learn to take the time to slow down and observe what is around them, like what we did during Sit Spots. 

Class 2 (Sept 11) Entrance Slip - On Becoming a Reflective Teacher

The part about how “prospective teachers very quickly adopt beliefs and practices of those university and school instructors with whom they work” really spoke to me. It made me think of how I wanted to focus more on learning physics through observation after going to my first field experience and seeing how engaging and fun his classes were. I realized after reading this passage that I, too, have adopted the beliefs of my school advisor at the time. I think the reason the author said this could be because in this program, we are all like sponges absorbing all the information given to us. However, after reading this article, I realized that while listening to and absorbing the information, it is also important for us to critically reflect on the information given to us in order to be a reflective teacher. I agree with the article that wholeheartedness is important in teaching. We are committed to teaching ALL students, so we need to actively find different ways of sharing our knowledge that makes sense to all, being open minded about the content, methods, and procedures, and actively thinking why we are doing what we are doing in the classroom. 

From this article, I understood the purpose of doing all those reflections in education classes, so that we are not passively absorbing the information. And I learned to start being a reflective teacher by finding what my current beliefs are, reflecting on my beliefs, examining the assumptions under my beliefs, comparing my beliefs to other people’s beliefs, and considering the consequences for me and others of holding the beliefs. From this article, I realized that I want to become a reflective teacher. I want to try my best to not force my own beliefs on students, but instead, share my beliefs and be open to listening to the beliefs of my students.

Class 1 (Sept 4) Exit Slip

One of my key takeaways from today’s discussion is the idea Susan shared that “just because we said something doesn’t mean that students have learned it”. It made me think about how teaching isn’t just about presenting the information, but it is about using interactive approaches to help students engage in class, apply the knowledge, and actually understand the concepts. When watching Teacher Man and Teacher Inquiry: Frank McCourt, Frank McCourt mentioned that “the best acting is no acting at all”, and that teachers should be themselves when they teach. I was reminded of a reading I did during my field experience about emotional labour vs emotional work. I think that if teachers can be themselves when they teach, and actually be engaged in both the material and what students share, they may be less prone to experiencing burnout, and teaching can be such a fun and rewarding experience. :)

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