After the Bell: Teaching Tips With a Twist
Roy and Martin have taught for a combined 70 years. Join these two educators from North Vancouver, Canada, as they take you on a journey through the wonderful yet challenging profession of teaching. The guarantee of their podcast, After The Bell, is to make you laugh, make you think and give you at least one little nugget that you can use in your classroom.
Released every Monday at 3:01 pm PST, After The Bell.
Learn more at stuntbrothers.ca
After the Bell: Teaching Tips With a Twist
From Practicum To Classroom
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In Episode 86, the Stunt Brothers go back in time...and then look forward!
Remember Emma, Olivia, Chris, and Caitlyn from Episode 49? They’re back—and this time, they’re officially teachers!
After completing their 10-week long practicums, our four former student teachers return to After The Bell to talk about what they learned when the theory of university met the reality of the classroom. They share their biggest surprises, toughest challenges, funniest moments, unforgettable students, and the lessons they’ll carry into their teaching careers.
From classroom management and planning to assessment, building relationships, finding your teaching community, and realizing that you can never get everything done, this is an honest and entertaining look at what it really takes to become a teacher.
Plus, we find out what they’re doing next as they head into their first year in the profession.
Four new teachers. One big leap. Plenty of lessons learned.
The Stunt Brothers are back with another conversation about teaching—with a twist!
key topics
- Practicum experiences and lessons learned
- Classroom management strategies
- Student engagement and motivation
- Differences between university classes and real classrooms
- Advice for new teachers entering the profession
keywords
teaching practicum, classroom management, student engagement, new teachers, education, teacher tips
Learn more at stuntbrothers.ca
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STS With The Stunt Brothers
SpeakerMr. Hunt.
Speaker 2Mr. Stuible, how are you?
SpeakerI'm well. We're not together in the box for this one.
Speaker 2No, we're not.
SpeakerWe're we're going live with with a guest, with four guests in a minute, but uh we are celebrating was it episode three of season three?
Speaker 2Season three.
SpeakerWhat is it overall?
Speaker 2A total episode eighty-six. Eighty-six. Eighty-six. Not far from one hundred, which will be an uh an amazing celebration.
SpeakerYeah, we're we're we're uh kind of into the countdown now to a hundred, right? Yes. And uh it's just kind of fun being back in, back into the guest situation in September, kicking up for the new year, and uh really excited about we have four guests today. Four of them.
Speaker 2And and these guests are are are repeats. They are they are repeats, but there's something amazing about them as repeats because we we interviewed them uh back in way back. Way back. Yeah. Uh when they were uh they had just finished their first practicum, I believe.
SpeakerYeah. This is a bit of a longitudinal study. This is a bit of a longitudinal, how do you say longitudinal, is that right? Longitudinal. Longitudinal. A study with longevity.
Speaker 2Okay, there you go.
SpeakerThat we may return to into the future. There's always a better way to say it.
Speaker 2Yeah. So after their first uh practicum, uh we had an it uh uh episode interview, and the enthusiasm was unbelievable.
SpeakerIt was. And they just they had just kind of were about to start their longer practicum, right? When we first spoke to them, and now they have finished, and they are all qualified teachers.
Speaker 2Yes, they are. And uh I believe they uh will be teaching uh in I think all of them in North Vancouver.
SpeakerYeah, and I think a variety of capacities. Some of them are going straight into the classroom, some of them are hoping to TOC for a while. Um but I think the main aim was in North Van, but they are just honestly, like when I listen to them and and viewers, when you watch them, I think you have great hope for the future. Yes. When you see these four amazing, amazing teachers. I don't have to say student teachers anymore because they are teachers. And it's Emma, Caitlin, Chris, and Olivia. And they first spoke to us uh a while back, and just it was just great to get back and kind of f have this follow-up, right? Yeah. I would think it'd be kind of cool to do it again in a year after their first year getting a paycheck.
Speaker 2Yes, to see uh w when they uh work and get paid and uh find out that they are the what what would it be? The cook, the manager, the bottle washer, the the garbage disposals.
SpeakerYes.
Speaker 2You have to do it all.
SpeakerYou do, and that is the thing. You don't really know until you know, and then you're in there full time with your own classroom and you realize, wow, there's no, you know, the there's no slowly taking on some responsibility. In this job, day one, you got it all.
Speaker 2That's it, right? There the learning curve. It's it's it's it's a learning drop. It is it is you you're you're in the classroom, here you go.
SpeakerEverything, whoosh. Everything to you. So let's not waste any more time. Let's go go visit and meet Emma, Caitlin, Chris, and Olivia and listen and hear about their longer practicum and about their excitement for the coming year as a teacher, a new teacher in our school district. And we want to hear from the old guys, but it's great to hear a bunch of new folk who are just new into the profession and hear what they have to say. So let's go.
Speaker 2Let's go.
SpeakerSo welcome everybody. We're with people that we've seen before. This wonderful group of I don't want to see student teachers anymore, this wonderful group of teachers who we talked to way back, episode 49, I think it was. Still, it was still 2025, right? It was episode 49. Yeah. So welcome, Emma, Olivia, Chris, and Caitlin. This is a wonderful chance to reconnect and hear about your your practicum journey and the next stages. And we are gonna do another ABC 123, just like last time. So ABC 123, we're just gonna have Roy will do the ABC. I'll do the one, two, three, and we'll just go around and you can say the first thing that pops in your mind, or you might have a choice of two things. So, Roy, take it away.
Speaker 2Okay. Uh we'll start easy. Uh primary or intermediate.
Speaker 7Jump in.
Speaker 2Go for it.
SpeakerJust jump in. Okay. Okay. Primary.
Speaker 2Primary.
Speaker 6Intermediate.
SpeakerIntermediate.
Speaker 2Intermediate.
SpeakerDid did anybody change their mind? Or you're all you're all where you thought you would be in terms of primary and intermediate?
Speaker 1Yeah. This is where I thought I would be.
SpeakerOkay, yeah. Yeah.
unknownOkay.
SpeakerIt's funny because Olivia. Yeah, Olivia, go. Go ahead.
Speaker 6Oh no. I I definitely changed my mind. I think I mentioned in the last episode I had my heart set on primary. Yes, yes. Yeah, and then I got placed in a intermediate class. And I don't know. I think I think my mind's definitely changed. Um I still want to do some exploring, but intermediate for now.
Speaker 2Okay. Fantastic. Yeah. I I I never wanted to go down that uh very far. Uh but I ended up I I started out in grade seven. I went as low as grade four. Absolutely loved grade four. I did teach grade three a little bit, but that was too low for me. Yeah. Okay. Okay, keep going, right? All right. B. Um a surprise fire drill or a surprise guest.
Speaker 6I think surprise guest.
Speaker 2Surprise guest?
Speaker 5Yeah, I think guest.
SpeakerGuest?
Speaker 5Yeah.
SpeakerChris, what do you think? I'm going fire drill. Okay. Okay.
Speaker 2Fire drill. Because it's like a nice thing. Why a guest?
Speaker 7Well, I I think a fire drill because it's like a break in the day that we get to go outside.
Speaker 2Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SpeakerAnd a guest it depends on the guest. Right? Who's the guest and why why are they here? And what's going on in my class at that moment, right?
Speaker 2Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's one of those things you you you learn quickly how to pivot when those surprise things happen. That's that's the skill set you build. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Uh C. A student finding your social media or running into a student while you're shopping.
Speaker 5I'm okay to run into students.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 7Yeah. I think me too. Run into students. It's kind of fun.
Speaker 4I'm going to go for both. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 1My social media account has been set up so if kids stumbled upon it because I've been a scout leader for a number of years. Okay. Okay. It's me camping and pictures of me painting. And it's I'm proud of the stuff that's on there.
SpeakerYeah. I remember my own kids when they were small, and I I lived in the community I taught at in Lynn Valley at that time. And like on a Saturday, if I was gonna go to Safeway shopping with them, they just they did not like it because they knew that was like what should have been a five-minute jump in and get some milk. I just saw so many people in the Safeway that it became and it was all positive. It was, you know, but it was just some of them were little mini interviews, some of them were just kids who knew me, and
From Student Teacher To Teacher With Emily, Olivia, Emma, and Chris
Speakerthey kind of knew it was not a quick visit.
Speaker 4Right.
Speaker 2And it it's funny about social media. Martin, Martin and I have uh posted some pretty interesting TikTok videos for our podcast, and the number of grade seven students from the school I retired from that they they they're on social media all the time, and you know, they say, fire Mr. Hunt, way to go, Mr. Hunt. And uh I ne I never thought about it, but you know, uh here I am as someone using social media and and really being, you know, um being a uh almost uh like a guide or uh at least showing how social media can be positive. So uh I never thought that uh that's where I'd be, but yeah.
SpeakerThere you go. Okay, one, two, three. Number one, one word that describes your long practicum you just finished. One word, if you could come up with one word, or uh try to make it one word. How about we'll start I'll I'll go by the way it's on my screen, so I'll start with Emma. One word.
Speaker 6Memorable.
unknownOkay.
SpeakerChris? Okay, goodly. Olivia?
Speaker 5Rewarding.
SpeakerOkay. Oh, number two. What's what was the best compliment you got from a student? Best compliment from a student. I'll start with Caitlin and go the opposite direction. Caitlin, do you have one you could share? And maybe maybe nothing came up. Don't feel it's fine if nothing did.
Speaker 5One that kind of stuck out to me, um uh near the end of my practicum, one of my students said, You made math fun.
SpeakerAnd I was like, Oh, that's that's huge, right? That's wonderful. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5So I love that.
Speaker 1Okay. Chris? So it it's funny. When you when you said that my mind went straight to um a moment at outdoor school. I had my class there, and I had one one student who was feeling a bit homesick and wanted to go for a little walk. So I walked out to uh with them. We were playing a little basketball and just having a moment, and then he said, Mr. Dalton, I see now why you like trees.
SpeakerThat is that's fantastic.
Speaker 1Totally unprompted, and it broke my heart a little bit, and then we went back inside and he was fine. Oh, wonderful. Olivia?
Speaker 6Um, something I thought about is um in one of the cards I got at the end of my long practicum, one of my students said, Thanks for understanding me.
SpeakerThanks for understanding me. Wow. Wow, yeah. That that's one that's wow, that's that says it all, right? Yeah. Emma?
Speaker 7Mine was similar to Olivia's. At the end of the year, I got a card that said, thanks for listening. And I feel like those kind of have a similar essence. That was really nice.
SpeakerOkay, number three, and you can just jump in with if it pops in your head. Was there one thing that helped you get through your practicum? Like one thing that was just, you know, it could be a thing, it could be maybe it's just coffee. I don't know, but it could be something that helped you get through, maybe talking to a friend, someone you taught with, anything. So really open. One thing that got you through your practicum.
Speaker 6I I think for me, like definitely friends in the cohort, but then also outside of the cohort too. It was so nice to have um just like people to talk to about good things and also things that maybe weren't going so well to just have that outlet. I was really grateful.
Speaker 5Yeah, I think I think friends too, and like just having people in the cohort going through the similar thing to just kind of bounce ideas off of. And um, it was nice. Emma and I were at the same school, so it was always so exciting to see her in the hallway. So just yeah, just like my support system.
Speaker 1Yeah, I would say, I would say the community part as well, just having meeting friends.
SpeakerSo Emma's community as well. Chris, okay, yeah, fantastic. Well, so let's get into it. So welcome back, everyone. We're so appreciative of you taking your time. We know you've just done this long practicum, you're still in school, and you've made time to come on after the bell again. So we really appreciate it on a hot summer's evening. So let's get into it. So, Roy, let's start off with uh some of our first questions and see what we get with.
Speaker 2So uh before your practicum, what were you most nervous about when uh going into the classroom? So before what did you have in your head that you thought about that you were?
SpeakerImagining what it could be, yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah.
SpeakerOr maybe you weren't.
Speaker 1You were just confident on day one. For me, I think it was it was all the planning that I'd done and hoping that it was good enough. Okay. And then of course when I got there I realized that I couldn't actually have done that much planning and changed all of it.
Speaker 2So yes.
Speaker 1Yes, yeah.
Speaker 5Yeah, mine was kind of the same. Like I was so nervous because like leading up to it, we did our two-week practicum and then we were having our weekly visits where we were teaching um like an hour a day, and I'm sitting there thinking, okay, like I'm doing an hour a day or a lesson a day when I'm visiting. How am I gonna teach for the full day from start to finish? So just kind of thinking of like the logistics and the transitions and stuff, but it's you definitely fill up the days. There's no shortage of things to do. So no. Yeah. It was super busy. So that fear kind of dissolved as soon as I started. Okay.
Speaker 6I I think mine is kind of similar a bit. Um, I feel like I was a bit nervous about classroom management because again, we had gone in for two weeks and then we had gone in for those Thursday visits. Um, but I think at that time still we were working more with our um essays and kind of observing how they were running the classroom. So to think about how it would be if it was just me. Um that's something I was a little bit nervous about going into my long practicum.
SpeakerAnd at the end of the practicum, h how how did you feel? You felt it was not an issue anymore and you felt you start to get handy. Yeah. Yeah. I was a lifetime trying to figure it out anyway, right? You gotta realize that too.
Speaker 6Definitely still a work in progress, and I think it was good to come in at the end of the year because you get all of these different behaviors kind of. It's almost summer. Um, I remember talking to some of like the people in the staff room and everyone. It was kind of nice to hear everyone was kind of going through the same thing.
SpeakerYes.
Speaker 6Um, so definitely still something that I'm working on, but it it got better and it was okay.
SpeakerGood.
Speaker 7I would say just taking over from for the whole day.
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7You know, having to go from just doing one lesson a day to then building it up and building. I think it was laid out really well for us and in a way that would make us succeed by easing into it, but still those nerves of leading your first day and it going well, and then some days it not going well, and just the back and forth between that. But those nerves were definitely eased quickly once I got into it, and it's when you you know head into that 10-week, it's kind of head down, you just have to go. So it was it was it turned out really well, which was good.
SpeakerNow imagine you can go all go back to that you at that time, that big person who's about to start the practicum. What would you say to yourself at that time, knowing what you now know? Yeah, yeah. Anyone?
Speaker 7I would say definitely, like I was so lucky to have Caitlin at my school, and I you like she heard all of my struggles, all of my hard days. So leaning on people that you have specifically in that school that understand in full and just use your support systems because they're there for you.
Speaker 5Yeah, I feel the exact same way. We put so much pressure on ourselves to, you know, I want everything to be perfect and all of this stuff going into it. But, you know, at the end of the day, we're just trying things out and we're learning and we're reflecting and all these things. So just you don't have to do it alone. You can bounce ideas off your friends. Having Emma at the school was really, really helpful. Um, yeah, just like take risks. It doesn't have to be perfect. As long as you're learning, it's okay, you know.
SpeakerAnd I think that's really important to have that in your mind as you go forward as a teacher to always know that you're not alone and take risks, take a chance. And there'll be someone there you can chat and talk about because sometimes it's a very lonely job, right? Because it's just you. I mean, you're surrounded by kids, but you feel alone, but you need to make those connections.
Speaker 6I definitely yeah, agree with what Caitlin and Emma was saying. It was nice, it was so nice to have Chris there with me. And like we were able to sit in the staff room together and talk to other teachers as well. Um, I think I would also tell myself to make sure to set time aside for myself and to kind of set some boundaries with like all the planning and work because I feel like, and this is probably something that we'll all experience, but you can never finish everything. There's always something else that you can do.
SpeakerYou could be there to midnight every night and you won't get it all done, right? And it's also that the the the earlier you can realize that, the better for your mental health, let me tell you.
Speaker 6Yeah. So I would tell myself to just it's okay, things will get done. You have time during the school day, um, and to just try your best and have fun.
Speaker 1Yeah, good.
Speaker 4Yes, okay.
Speaker 1Yeah, I mean, I think I'm gonna stick with the community answer on that, because uh just like Olivia said, sitting, having lunch, chit chatting about lessons, you know, finding out what what she was excited about, what just went well, you know, what wasn't going well, like all those things were such great um community building and just just feeling like I'm not alone in this.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 1That you know, and I I felt like I was learning so much the whole time, so it's hard to pinpoint one piece of advice and just other than saying just you know, get ready for the ride.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2So what what do you think the the biggest difference is between university classes and actually teaching?
Speaker 1Oh, it's significant. Yeah, university classes are are are great in the sense that they're teaching theory and and you know getting some advice, but but once you actually get into the classroom, I mean that's the real it is the real classroom. Right.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's it's do you think they prepare you enough? Sorry.
Speaker 6Oh no. I'll um that's a good question.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6Uh I think in our cohort and in our classes, we did have like a lot of opportunities to do kind of mock lessons and um kind of planning together and leading during class sessions. But again, like what Chris said, it's totally different to teach with your friends and your cohort and adults who kind of are like, oh yeah, this is serious but not so serious. And then to be in front of a bunch of kids that are just looking at you for instruction. Um you're the one. Yeah. So I don't know if there's any way to change that um because we can't go to university with a bunch of little kids. So yeah.
Speaker 7I don't I don't think that you can ever replicate the classroom will look like. Because yes, we did do a lot of lessons in front of each other and ran different activities, but you can't really be prepared for when the kid loses their tooth in the middle of your lesson or when someone gets a mess, or when two people start to see each other. It's like those are the things that you have to come and just experience to learn to deal with. And it is a lot of trouble. So I would find the university definitely allows for a conversation to be, you know, ask for questions and then learn that kind of stuff and be prepared material-wise. And then once you get into that classroom, it's like, you know, that's where you're really learning all of your little techniques and and who you are as a teacher yourself.
SpeakerNow, uh a lot of people talk about kids these days just being very hard to teach. Their attention spans are so small. Now, the these were the first kids you were teaching. Did do they just seem like normal kids to you, or did you go, yeah, something's going on in this world, maybe whether it's that's if you go online now, go on to discussion forums, a lot is about social media, cell phones, AI now. Is that having an impact on students who it's kind of what people call cognitive offloading, right, to other things? And so when you try to teach as a teacher, it could be hard work sometimes for them, and kids just put up their hands very quickly. So I want to know from the people that are fresh faces in the game, what is your view?
Speaker 1I think it depends on the age. Um a lot of my students, and I was in a four or five class, their big interface with tea with uh screens was video games. Yeah. And I got to know a couple of my kids through video games. So I had lots of conversations about Zelda with one of them. Okay, um Minecraft with another, and that was it was actually like a a way in, a way into that. Like, let's talk about something that you care about. Okay.
unknownOkay.
Speaker 5Yeah, I didn't notice it too much. Much. Um again being in primary, um phones weren't really a thing. A lot of the stuff we were doing was pretty hands-on. Um I don't I don't have anything to kind of reference the attention span, but I think just in general, little kids, you gotta kind of keep things moving, keep things engaging, or else you'll lose them. So yeah, I d I don't know. I can't really speak to it too much on with primary.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6I think for me, I definitely it was a little bit different um from what I expected, also because I didn't have as much experience with the with this grade other than myself in grade six and six. Right, right, yeah. That's it was such a different time and yeah. Um but it was definitely interesting to see, especially the engagement level and the attention span, um and trying to work around how to, like Chris was saying, get to know their interests and see what can really draw them into a lesson that maybe they think is boring or um they don't want to do. And um yeah, so it's definitely a great learning experience for that and um very, very different.
SpeakerBut I think if you can buy into the stuff and under show that you understand where they're coming from, they'll buy into what you're doing as well, right? You have to if that's the key, that foundation that you lay.
Speaker 6Yeah. It it was also really interesting for me, especially with my class, is that a lot of the things that they love to do is not what I expected. Like they love to play octopus and um do kind of things that I thought maybe would be more um primary, but um at the same time it also is a good reminder for me that like these students are still kids and they still want to have fun. Um and yeah, it w it was it was a good good thing.
SpeakerI think that's a good key because I I think sometimes we almost you know, we we complain about kids and we say, Oh, they grew up so fast, but we almost push it on them sometimes. Yeah. Like I think when you when you give them a chance to be kids, they could be 14, 15, and they still they they will be kids, right? And that's important to allow that to happen.
Speaker 6Definitely.
Speaker 2What if we look at behind the scenes in the classroom, what do you think takes up far more time than people realize and the public? What what takes more time uh to do, to prep, to plan than people realize?
Speaker 1I think the thing for me that felt like it took the longest time, and and this was an activity that had been happening in the classroom all year, but um the students would be writing a reading journal every week, and half of them would be to the teacher, and then they would get individual responses back. And I really enjoyed making those responses, but when you're writing like 17 or 18 or 15 of them, whatever it is ha happens to be, it feels and you want to make them meaningful and connections and you want to like you know, comment on on what they've said. Um it's a lot of work. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, yeah. Personalizing it, yes.
SpeakerPersonalizing it.
Speaker 2Yeah.
SpeakerThat's why a class of 15 would probably be ideal, right? And then you could really personalize things. Yeah.
Speaker 7For me, something something that I found unexpectedly harder to organize was art. I always felt like that would be so easy. I have so many ideas. I I love art myself, so I think that that would be really fun. And then the more that we did it, it is so much planning goes into every little detail and the paints and the cutting and cutting things out. Caitlin and I were after school hours cutting out these little tiny things that I mean not really much to the whole concept in general, but us making sure that they're perfectly cut and everyone has enough that kind of entry to organizing. Specifically, I think in primary, have it more. But the amount of cutting and paper products, I guess, that we're trying to organize for all of the students, that it takes a while.
SpeakerAnd I laugh about that because just what this is July 23rd, and my wife's a kindergarten teacher, and right now she's in the other room cutting out little things for kindergarten class for September. So, you know.
Speaker 2Yes. Yeah. Yes. Laminating everything. Yeah.
Speaker 5So much cut. I would always run into Emma in the art supply room. Like, oh, what are you doing? Oh, I'm getting cutting all these things. And it's a lot of a lot of prep for art. So if you have like anyone, your any of your friends, hey, do you mind cutting these strips of construction paper? If you can find anyone to help, is is handy. Because it's it's a lot.
Speaker 6I I I I think definitely what I relate to what Chris was saying, like the grading and assessment. Yeah. Um I think especially when you're doing like written responses to individual or even group work. Um because I'm still learning, it took a long time. Yeah. And I'm trying to write like some nice things and trying to word it in a way that they can understand. And even just deciding like how to assess and stuff, um, it took a long time.
SpeakerNow the flip the flip side of that question, was there anything you actually found easier than you thought it would be?
Speaker 6I I feel like I I feel like um something I learned and realized quickly starting in the long practicum is how long certain activities can take. Um, so for example, a lesson where I thought, oh, they're gonna complete this whole thing actually took three lessons. So that was easier in a way where I would be like, oh, so we I have a plan for the rest of the week because we need to finish this. Um that was something that definitely helped and it stretched a lot of activities and lessons and made it easier for me to plan.
SpeakerI think I found like it I went from grade seven and went down to the next one year to grade four or five. And I I was still planning, expecting my kids to kind of go through the level of what the grade sevens would produce, so I would do the same thing. And what I thought, you know, was gonna take just a couple days, it was like two weeks of work. So that was kind of a nice surprise.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think I think for me, because I spent, I mean, this is part of being a student, but we spent a lot of time in the first part of school learning how to develop units or unit plans. And it always felt like this really long, tedious process. Um and then I think for me when I got into the actual process of teaching and I started throwing everything that had planned, not fully out the window, but completely changing it, it went together really fast. And then, you know, when it came to the criteria part of it, um, you know, I had good support from my SA and FA that really just pushed me into like co-creating crit criteria with the students, and that process just became something we did in class. So I think for me, like just the planning got easier with even a little bit of practice, like that just got a lot easier.
SpeakerYeah. And you're never gonna make the unit plans at the level you do in university, right? No, yes, it just couldn't I I would say the same as Chris.
Speaker 7That whole concept of the planning aspect I found got easier along the way. The unit planning was so challenging when we were in for our university classes. But as we started to create them for ourselves and our individual classes, I found ideas for flowing words a lot easier to navigate, especially once we got into our 10 weeks and started to get our knowledge started to get to know our students a lot more. You can kind of take where they're at and what they want to learn about and implement the things that you need to teach through them in that way. So that whole area became a lot easier, I would say, as we went on.
Speaker 2All right. Uh so now uh two days left, and you'll be able to say, I'm out. What what are what are you looking forward to?
Speaker 5I think just working.
SpeakerYeah, yeah.
Speaker 5It's gonna be nice to just kind of get started.
SpeakerMake some money.
Speaker 5Yeah, make money. Like, you know, it's it's fun being in the school setting. Like it was funny when Emma and I were leaving our school, we were like, this is weird because we feel like we work here already. You know, you spend so much time at a practicum, you get into the routine, you know, you see it's like fun coming to work every day or to practicum every day. Um, so I guess I'm just like excited to do it for real.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 5Like, you know, as we start.
Speaker 1For sure. Absolutely. The idea of getting a paycheck, amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 7Yeah. I think it'll also be really cool for us to, if anyone is lucky enough to get a contract job in September to see what a classroom looks like being built up because we didn't have that um experience in September. We started going in the first week of October, I think it was. So it'll just be cool to be able to build relationships with students from day one. Yeah. And to see how different that looks. And it'll just be a a cool new experience. And yeah, hopefully we get we get there.
unknownYeah.
SpeakerYears ago they would do the practicum. There was a 13-week practicum and it was started in September till end of November. And I think that at least you you had a chance to see it get built, right? Rather than parachute in and everything's in place, it's a bit of a mystery.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's interesting because it's hard to it's hard to come in when everything is already established and then make changes.
Speaker 2Yes. Yeah, and and and in in a in a couple ways. If it making those changes in a structural way, because you would like this maybe to be changed because it flows better for you in the way you think, but also in in the changes that would happen because the teacher has set up a certain um you know, way of interaction with the students that works for them. And I I think the exciting part is when you get a classroom, it's like it's like getting your uh your your own apartment. I mean, the furnishings are really weird. But the the the fact that you're able to organize it and and and have it kind of work for you, and then and then you bring in the uh the students and then you work with them and it it there's this uh there is quite a magic to that that I I know I always I always looked forward to it every year. The new batch. Yeah. Yeah.
SpeakerDoes anyone have a moment in your practicum that really stands out as uh just stellar? Something that where it all just came together and you just you think about to that you think to that moment often now looking back?
Speaker 7I I actually have one that I didn't think that just came to mind, but it was Caitlin and I helped coach track and field, which was something new to us. We were with a new group of kids that weren't none of our primary students were involved in track and field. So we were meeting new kids and and all this. We we ended up going pretty far with going taking away school events and and stuff like that. And I just remember a conversation that she and I had. Like, this is such a cool job that we are here like during the day coaching this track and field team with these amazing kids who didn't really know us before, but were so welcoming and you know had questions, needed our advice, just things like that. Like, we are so lucky to be in this position where we can have this be a part of our day and a part of our job that we we get to see every everyone, and it's it's really cool.
Speaker 5I think for me was like teaching, for example, I taught like a unit on plants, and like, you know, you're teaching and and students are doing what what's been asked of them, their tasks and stuff. But I did have moments where like students are making connections about what we were learning about throughout the day, or we'd be like out on the playground and they'd say, Oh, look, there's there's this type of plant, or um, students coming home and bringing me artwork that is related to what we're learning. So they're going home and they're thinking about these things, or they're seeing what we've learned in their environment. Um, and just kind of seeing like how their minds work and how they're applying the knowledge. And like, I wasn't expecting it. Like, I was, I don't know. It's just really cool. I'm like, oh wow. And like all the students, they would have little like nuggets of things that we learned. And I don't know, it was just kind of cool. I was like, oh wow, like great application of what we just learned.
SpeakerBut that's golden, right? When it's not just memorizing facts that you're giving them. They're they're taking it and they're applying it to another level. Yeah. That's nothing like that.
Speaker 6I think the first time because the long practicum was the first time I taught science because I hadn't taught it a lesson at all before. Um and the first lesson was okay. I was teaching evolution, and then the second lesson I did more of like a hands-on experiment. Um and I just it was a lesson that just went really well. Um, and the students were engaged and they were I was asking questions and they're like, Oh, it's camouflage, and it just it went really well. And I just I wanted to soak in that moment because I was proud of myself, but I was also proud of my students that they were following along and engaging and doing hands-on and talking with one another. Um, and that was kind of at the beginning of the practicum. So I thought about that a lot um as I went through.
Speaker 1Thank you.
SpeakerChris, anything?
Speaker 1I think you know, and so Olivia and I ran this movie club, and it was by far the highlight of the practicum for me. Um so for all ten weeks that we were there, and that we had what 40 kids show up on the first day, all intermediate students, and they were so keen, and they wrote, directed, acted, and uh made shot a movie and then uh on the tenth on the tenth week they invited all the intermediate all the intermediate students to come watch it. Yeah. So it was a blast.
Speaker 2Yeah, it would be awesome.
SpeakerHaving done that myself for years, to hear you did that, this is fantastic. And you have this experience to bring to it too, and from your own previous career, right? So wow.
Speaker 6Yeah, Chris was amazing. I Chris was amazing, and to see the kids um see themselves, like when we would show them the clips or the the clips that Chris had edited, there was this bus scene that was incredible. He did a green screen, um and they were just so amazed and so happy. Um that was awesome.
Speaker 2So then we're talking about students then. Uh was there one student that you'll never forget? A student from your from the beg very beginning to the very end of your practicum, someone that just to say I will never forget that student.
Speaker 1It's hard to pick one.
SpeakerOkay. You can you can you can share several.
Speaker 1That's fine. I mean there were there were a few of them, right? And and one who, you know, was so proud, she um we didn't we did an art project and her art project was selected for a district um art show and and uh you know I I met up with her and her family at this art show and and she was just so proud of it, and her family was so proud of it.
SpeakerYeah.
Speaker 1Um you know that's a hard one to forget. Um yeah, I mean, I could probably list off my entire class. I think every single one of them are just so memorable.
Speaker 2It's amazing.
Speaker 6I think uh for me, like Chris said, because it's our first our first student, I think they'll always all be so memorable memorable to me. Um but I had one student who he just really amazed me um in his creativity and just his curiosity. It was so refreshing um to have a student in intermediate be so like passionate and excited to to learn and he would build, he loved he loves building. Um and we had like a project where he had to make models of ancient um artifacts, and he made and this is not the first time, but he made a catapult, and it was so cool. It was a giant catapult with wood, and like it worked, and um there's so many like his Halloween costume, he was like the car from uh what's it called, back to the future, and it was a working like it had music playing and lights, and um yeah, he he's awesome. So I'll remember him too.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5Yeah, I think like I I can't agree more. It's like it's just the fact that this was our first class, like I'll I'll remember these students forever. Like I learned so much because everything is new, you know. I felt like I was learning with every interaction, but then just kind of those students who when we came in in October the the students were very um kind of attached to my essay, and she she does such she's so good at building relationships with her students. So a lot of times like certain students kind of wouldn't engage with me that much, and and you know, like they're just kind of really relationship kids, you know. So then by the end of it, to just, you know, I know what they need, I know what they need to be set up for success, they know I've got their back, and like just building that relationship, and I'm like, oh wow, I feel like we have that bond now. Um was just really special because like the relationships are such a huge part of it. And then after spending 10 weeks there, I feel like I I really was able to form those connections with the students. So yeah, I mean, but honestly, I'll rem I'll remember them all forever, I think.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 7Just reiterating what everyone said, like it is such a unique and special situation to go through every new lesson with this group. Like anytime that I taught really anything, I was like, this is my first time teaching this. You guys are the ones saying I can tell if you like it or if you don't, if I need to change everything. It's all they're so a part of the process um of learning this year. So it it's just such a special and unique thing that we'll never get again. It'll always be that will be our first class. And it's just a really cool thing to have.
SpeakerIt's true, because like as you speak, I I I have memories right now flooding in my brain from my practicum that I had in 1989. You know, it was 89, it's grade seven class in Vancouver. And what is that? Is that approaching 40 years? Like, we'll be like, what did we how many years is that? That's a long time ago, right?
Speaker 2That's a long time.
SpeakerAnd I can I can tell faces, names, I can I could give you stories right now. So you will never forget that, right? And I mean, I have many other classes that I can remember too, but there's something about that first group where it's all new to you. And and when it works out, you realize this is what I'm meant to do, right? That's just the wonderful feeling, too. I'm sure.
Speaker 7Yeah, I think it's the process of it all affirming and being you you fall in love with the job and you fall in love with being in the school, and and everyone, the students, like them being a part of that and us being just our little unit and our little team. It's I can't imagine ever forgetting it. I talked to other people, um, to other teachers at our school, and they all could remember their practicum class. They could list the names of the students. There is just something so special about the group of kids that you're with when you just fell in love with the job.
SpeakerWell, we appreciate that. I don't think we'll keep you much longer because we really appreciate this extra time you're giving. So just like what do any of you have plans for September? You know where you're going? Are you gonna stay in town? Are you gonna teach elsewhere? Do you get a TOC? Let us know what your next steps are now that you are professionals and teachers and ready for this career.
Speaker 7Yes.
SpeakerAnyone?
Speaker 7I I was I've been put on by a Northman and Westman. I'm so grateful just to have those opportunities for TOC. And we'll definitely be looking to see if there are any contract jobs available just for a little bit more job security. But I'm very grateful to be even just a part of both of those districts and I look forward to whatever it brings me and and if you know, if there is something available, I might throw my my hat in, but we'll see.
SpeakerYeah. And TOC gives you a chance to learn what schools you like, learn different grades that are out there, try them out, right? But also have the flexibility, right, to to be done. And not have all those other things that are overwhelming with the job. Yeah.
Speaker 7I think that it is a a pretty great way in. Um and to just be able to see different grades, what you were saying, different schools, different districts, just to see what the career can bring. Um it's it's all it's all great.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 5I think I'm also going to TOC. Okay I I've applied to North I got my application in a little late, but hopefully North Ven and perhaps West Ven. Um but yeah, TOC, I think I'm happy with TOCing for now, but if any opportunities come my way, I will not say no.
Speaker 4No, yeah, no.
Speaker 5Yeah, just kind of getting out there and trying different grades and just you know, get just getting some experience under my belt is what I'm excited for.
SpeakerYes, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 6Yeah. Me and Olivia, what are your next guys? Um I'm also I'm so grateful I got hired as a TOC for North Van as well. Um and yeah, I think I'm gonna stick with TOCing for a while. Yeah. Um, just so I can like you said, try different schools, even though I'd love to go back to my school because I miss I miss it. Um but different grades and um meet new people and make connections. I'm just so excited.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 1I um I also will be TOCing in North Vancouver, but if if there is an opportunity to get a contract, I I just want to jump in with both feet. I'm so excited about getting a classroom and just building routines and starting to build in up projects and yeah, and yeah, running a movie club. It's all those things, like they're all so exciting to me that I will TOC.
SpeakerBut and and at the very least, there's often short-term contracts that come up, right? Someone's on sick leave, so you get a chance for three months to try it out, and then you know, you don't have to do the whole thing, right, for a full year, but it just gets a chance to to have that contract going. Yeah. But it's but it's a good time to be out there because there are jobs at least, right? So yeah, you do have a choice.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Yeah. Even if it's a job share, that that would be great as well, because it's, you know, what what a way to get into a teaching career with a mentor or someone you can work alongside.
Speaker 2Yeah.
SpeakerI always wish that there was a way to build that into the system more, right? Where you right away did start and you still got your full salary, but you had this mentor to work with as you get paid, right? I just think it's so important because it's the job where you on day one, you're doing the same as you would do after 40 years, right? And you're in that class. So it's uh that's pretty overwhelming too, right? So some kind of connection with a mentor is valuable.
Speaker 2Yes.
SpeakerWell, thank you, everyone. We appreciate this on this hot July day, and we appreciate you connecting with us. And you know, we'll stay connected. Maybe, maybe in the future sometime we could do once, you know, just another check-in, but we'll see how it goes. But we really appreciate this second chance to to hear how it went. And it sounds like you've all again, like I I the I must say I I had this feeling after you when we first talked, you'd only done your half day visit. It was clear you all had chosen the right profession then. Yes. Like some people don't know that right away, but that came up. Roy and I talked about that right after that that meeting we had together, and we just knew, you know, and I'm sure you have some colleagues that knew this wasn't the profession for them too, and then they've gone on to other things, right? So it's good to know that, and it was clear. So we appreciate having this opportunity to see see your future before us.
unknownYes.
Speaker 5Oh, thank you. Thanks for having us. Thank you.
SpeakerYeah, thank you so much. See you around North Fan, work hard and we'll enjoy it, and we we appreciate it.
Speaker 2I might even bump into you.
Speaker 6Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2Roy Roy's a TLC. Yeah. I'm a TOC. Uh so I I'm in in a variety of schools, so who knows? Our paths may cross. Yeah. Looking forward to it.
Speaker 6Yeah, that'll be awesome. Right.
Speaker 2Okay.
SpeakerThanks, everyone. Thank you. Bye bye. There we go. See you. There we go. So that was Emma, Caitlin, Chris, and Olivia.
Speaker 2Wow.
SpeakerProfessional teachers.
Speaker 2You know, I I think what I'd really like to do is go into uh faculty of education and just listen to all the new teachers. Yeah. All the all the students who want to become teachers. Uh, they're just the because the energy from from these four is unbelievable. Unbelievable. And uh it makes me want to go back a little bit, go back into the classroom, and because the the energy they have and and and the the excitement they have, I had that, you had that. Yeah, yeah.
SpeakerAnd and it's just um we kept it up. But you can't help become a little jaded after years of doing it, right? And the noise starts starts to wear on you, right? So to hear people that don't have that yet, that just have the pure, uncensored excitement. Yes, nothing is holding them back. That's that just it just reminds me of my time at the beginning. And it also kind of makes you realize just what a great job this is to hear the that these people and realize the noise is the noise, but let's just celebrate sometimes the joy of being a teacher and having a classroom to work with.
Speaker 2Yeah.
SpeakerSo there you go. That's it. We we love we love having them on. And and if we could work it out again in a year, just to kind of a final follow-up of this longitudinal study. Not very scientific, but no, well, no, no. But it'd be like this old show I used to watch where they actually kept visiting these these kids. It was called Seven Up, and they were these British kids, and they visited them every seven years, and they're actually having the final one, and those kids are now 70 years old.
Speaker 2Wow.
SpeakerAnd so they've every seven years they've been getting back together. Now, some of them, a few of them died along the way, right? Some of them dropped out, but about ten of them have been coming back, and you just get this longitudinal study of of people from different different backgrounds and different areas in England, and it's just it's just kind of a neat thing to be the uh a kind of a reality show that to me is more reality than some of the rubbish. Yeah. So thanks everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the season three of After the Bell, and everything we do, we always just have such pleasure giving to our listener. So stay healthy, stay happy, stay fit.
Speaker 2Uh, sleep well and eat well.
SpeakerAnd we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2Bye bye.
