Entry 3

Having been thinking of this task and looking retrospectively through several years back, I came to the understanding that the process of becoming a teacher is a life-long experience of constant learning. I believe that constant reflection upon such occurrences is necessary in order to revise and improve the process of teaching and student learning.

2004‐2006: I was actively involved as a member of a project “Dreams + Teams” in Slovakia. The project is a joint initiative set up by the British Council and the Youth Sport Trust. It „uses sport to develop young leaders in schools and communities enhancing their citizenship skills and promoting intercultural dialogue“. We were organizing sport festivals for children of all age categories up to high school students. I used to work in both the organization group (preparing festivals and all details such as media & PR) and the actual group of leaders interacting with children. Most of the work was done in teams and so I learnt how to compromise different opinions into a leadership decision.

2006‐2008: While I was studying at RCNUWC, I was organizing and leading Photography EAC (Extra Academic Commitment) and Long‐distance Running Activity. The students attending were usually my school‐mates – high school students. This experience helped me to understand the importance of pre‐class planning and structuring of ideas. I also noticed that learning outside of school can be fun and it is often this teaching form that engages students the most.

2007: I was volunteering in RCNUWC Leirskule programme as a kayak instructor. Leirskule is a Norwegian weekly‐long outdoor program involving children aged 12‐14 (mostly middle school). For several months, I was leading a group of such students on afternoon trips once a week on local fjords and teaching them basic seakayaking techniques, mostly through playing different games with hidden objectives.

2008: Especially towards the end of my IB experience when the final exams were approaching, I used to tutor my peers in mathematics more and more often. However, I was helping to understand math to a few of my friends on a permanent basis, throughout the whole period of studying at Red Cross Nordic United World College (RCNUWC). It helped me to release that it is not difficult at all to explain a topic to an individual but rather to teach a whole bunch of differently‐understanding minds. Furthermore, I could observe intellectual progress of my friends and their struggles at the same time. For example, I noticed an apparent decrease of focus level when my friend had an emotional unease. She had some issues with boys…

2008-2009: While I was doing my CSIA Canadian Ski Instructor license‐course, I shadowed a few skiing lessons in Fernie, BC, Canada. I was able to actively become involved in the teaching process of young adults and to help them with understanding of the essential concepts of skiing from both technical and practical approach. I kept on mind the safety regulations and procedures and assured that students had enjoyable experience. At the same time, I become an active link of students´ learning progress and parents´ interest; I regularly met with parents after the class referring to them what and how we were doing.

2009+: I have had taken several Educational Studies courses that showed me more theory and practice behind literacy than I have ever thought there could be. My learning and teaching experiences were examined into details two individual projects, both including a learner and a facilitator (please see the Learning & Teaching Project for more details). First, I was learning how to bake traditional American cakes for a period of four weeks. Later, during a different semester, I started to explore the world of teaching Mathematics more seriously. For a period of six weeks, I was teaching a classmate of mine the basics of Graph Theory (Mathemics). I thought in details about what should be the best teaching approach for a individual student.

Moreover, I have been employed as a Wilson Media Lab Tutor (Library Information Services, Middlebury College Main Library) since the end of April 2009. I encounter with multiple questions about technology and use of software on daily basis (well, with the exception of Tuesdays because I do not work then at this particular time 😛 ).

In conclusion, I see that I have already started building a snow ball of knowledge about colleagueship and advocacy. I consider the fact, that I have already such a variety of experiences, to be my significant strength. But at the same time, I recognize that snowballs with huge diameter may become obnoxious at times when one wants to get to the centre. I acknowledge that retrieving the information from beginnings of my learning and teaching discoveries may be challenging. Yet I am ready to categorize my knowledge and think about my actions critically, so that I never repeat a potential stumble of practices I impose.

One thought on “Entry 3

  1. Claudia Cooper

    Erik, this is very interesting and thoughtful (I also admire your precision and enjoy your humor). For purposes of the ROPA rubric, I would suggest splitting colleagueship (in which you demonstrate your understanding and ability to work with other adults in a cooperative manner) and advocacy (in which you demonstrate your ability to work and advocate specifically for young people in your charge through dealing with adults/institutions/service providers) into two separate sections. You basically already have it in there, but you see that ROPA asks pretty specific questions and THEY separate the two. I realize that they often overlap.
    Claudia Cooper

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