Back To College

This past week saw the beginning of classes at the College of Education after 7 weeks of teaching practice and 2 weeks of break. Classes will go on for another 5 weeks before the long summer break begins in late November.

I was interested in seeing how many student teachers had returned. Out of our group of 30 secondary student teachers, I heard only one person left the program but I can’t confirm this. What made the ‘reunion’ more interesting and surprising were the stories people brought back from their teaching practices.

Comparing my experiences with others, mine were mediocre on the spectrum. Some student teachers had to deal with violent pupils, like fighting, tossing chairs & desks, and even talking back using expletive words. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to suffer through that, although, a part of me wishes that I did because it would prepare me for possible future confrontations. The only problems I had to deal with were students talking while I’m teaching, not wanting to do the work, and one kid who was always falling asleep. Also, some student teachers had problems with their associates who would not let them teach their own ways, or just couldn’t get along. Aside from all of that, everyone had fun, and were glad to see everyone else feel the same.

Classes for this week mostly focused on teaching practice reflections because all the professors wanted to hear how we taught and survived in the ‘real’ world. Once the reflections were out of the way, the professors began teaching how to improve classroom management and plan field trips.

For the field trip component, we visited the Canterbury Museum and the International Antarctic Centre for free! The Antarctic Centre turned out to be the best out of the two and I’ll talk about it in my next post. When it comes to planning field trips, there’s a ton of paperwork.

Sadly, on the international front, my beloved Liberal Party of Canada lost the recent federal election, losing more seats but still prevented the Conservatives from forming a majority government. Looks like it’ll be another Conservative minority for some time before the Canadian people get their act together and elect a party that knows how to run Canada. The only reasons why the Liberals lost were because French Quebec punished Liberal leader Stephane Dion in the polls because of his Clarity Act back in 2000 and English Canadians believed it would be unwise to elect a Prime Minister who didn’t speak fluent English. As if they already forgot about Jean Chretien! He didn’t speak English or French when he was Prime Minister!

I do have to applaud the Canadian people for not granting Stephen Harper and his Conservatives a majority government. To do so would be a disaster – another Mulroney era where the country is an American puppet state. I wouldn’t trust Harper with running a garage sale.

What also angers me is the media sham surrounding the future of Stephane Dion’s political career. They’re putting on a great spin that Liberals are calling for Mr. Dion to step down after the election loss. No political leader should step down after one loss! That just shows you can’t handle defeat and are running away. He’ll win the next time, guaranteed.