As a creative who appreciates the value that literature carries throughout our lives, I was very excited for EDLL 3100. I was more than eager to film my video showcasing my read-through of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and I hope that my eagerness to do so comes across to anyone who watches the video! To me, this was the epitome of excitement that I felt when I began this teaching journey in TRU’s BEd program. I had always imagined what it would feel like to get to sit in front of my own class and read them a story that I not only loved, but carried a message that was very close to my heart. The actual file was too large to be supported by WordPress, but I have included the first initial snippet of my reading to showcase my excitement for Language Arts.

In EDTL 3100 we had many discussions of how Indigenous teachings should and could be integrated into the classroom. This was really my first experience with Indigenous modes of teaching, but I’ve since learned a lot. One of my favourite practices that I learned about that I cannot wait to make use of within my classroom is the medicine wheel. It is a metaphor for how some Indigenous groups view the world that showcases the interconnectedness of life, land, and the nature of people. To me, this wheel represents all the tools we should be enacting in our classrooms to create an healthy, happy, and equitable place. Below I’ve posted my graphic design of the medicine wheel created in EDTL 3100 as well as a breakdown of how the wheel brings meaning into my life as well as how I hope to enact it in my future classroom.

My final document to share with you was created in my EDMA 3100 class along with a partner. Together she and I created a lesson plan for math that surrounded a piece of literature. The chosen picture book, Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander uses a fun and engaging story to teach young students about math concepts such as circumference, diameter, and radius, just to name a few. This lesson planning project was one of my first, and though it was initially a little daunting to be tackling a math lesson, I quickly came to realise that there are so many different ways to teach math. This lesson was really my first insight on how there are endless possibilities when it comes to teaching. We can literally go about it anyway way we want, as long as we remain dedicated to our students’ learning and well-being.