Until Next Time...

Did you enjoy your placement?

This year was definitely one to remember. Between going to El Salvador, actually enjoying chemistry and being in mentorship, I learned many important things about myself, the education system and others. If you asked me how I enjoyed mentorship or even why I was taking it, I would have said it was an easy mark that would boost my average for university. However throughout the many days of helping students, helping Dr. Bilaniuk, and writing the numerous blog assignments I’ve grown used to the time I’ve spent working in the class or on these blog posts. After receiving the first evaluation I was shocked at how bad I actually did, I knew I wasn’t the best helper at the time but I never knew how bad I was. From the moment I read the evaluation and saw Dr. Bilaniuk’s remarks and assessment I began to change how I acted in the class. This change led me to actually enjoying the placement more because I was actually trying to help the students and be a role model for them, something I didn’t really care about before. In short, I really enjoyed the placement I was given with Dr. Bilaniuk and will truly miss the students, the classroom, and Dr. Bilaniuk herself.

What did you learn? About the education system, about teaching, about yourself?

From my placement I learned many things about the education system, about teaching, and most importantly about myself. The education system, I learned, is more complex than any student realizes. Not only do teachers have to adhere and ensure students learn certain topics, but they also have to take into consideration, themselves, the different types of students. This means teachers have to have tremendous amounts of patience, while be flexible and assertive. During the last month of class, Dr. Bilaniuk had to squeeze in two units, chemistry and biology, while still ensuring the students knew what they needed to know. This short time dedicated to two of the most intricate units caused a lot of students to be irritable, questionable and lost. With students like these, there was no time to argue with them every time and you needed to be patient.

Teaching, I learned, is mainly about patience and determination. Like explained before, teachers need more patience day by day to get through the incessant questions and attitudes of the students.  Even when we had more time to focus on concepts like optics, students took the extra time as play time and caused a lot of grief on Dr. Bilaniuk and myself. Teachers also need determination to make sure students, who don’t believe they need to the material after the course is finished, understand everything. Without the determination the students would just not listen and waste their time in the class by being on their phones, talking or other things. Thus teaching requires more patience and determination that I previously thought.

Throughout this course I always questioned why I was in it, I thought it was for the easy mark but after getting to know some of the students in the class I think it was to make friends with people I never thought I would and to begin to know some of the younger students in the school. These relationships that I built with a few of the students are the best thing I’ve taken out of the course and that is the best thing ever. In regards to what I actually learned about myself, well I learned I can speak in front of others without making a complete fool of myself. There were a few times when Dr. Bilaniuk would ask me to guide the students while she would photocopy worksheets or simply wanted to mark. These days I would always feel super nervous doing it, but in the last few weeks its almost become second nature in the class. Also I learned I have very little patience, while Dr. Bilaniuk would ignore the students when they weren’t paying attention or on their phones, I would repeatedly get angry at them. Thus, this semester I learned I can speak in front of people and not be nervous, and I have little patience.
 

What was the most surprising thing you learned/observed?

The most surprising thing I learned/observed in class was all the stuff in the optics unit. When I was in grade 10 my teacher’s mom died when we started the unit, and had to learn it all by ourselves. While this is how I study nowadays, I never knew how to do it back then. Thus, I never learned about convex and concave mirrors, or did the labs working with the lamps and these mirrors. For me this unit was the most interesting thing as I knew most of the biology and chemistry stuff we learned and missed half the first unit due to being in El Salvador.

How is education different from a teacher/tutor standpoint than a student standpoint?

Education to a student is very frustrating, repetitive, and some days boring. Each day you are taught a lesson and depending on the class it can be boring, repetitive or frustrating. For example in math classes it can be frustrating, at least for me, each day learning new concepts which build on previous days work. In chemistry, there are several days sometimes given to a concept which can be both repetitive and boring. However, as a teacher/tutor education becomes complex. As a teacher you not only have to take into consideration all you need to teach, but there are also students personalities you have to take into consideration. Whereas as a student you only have to think about yourself and how well you understand the concepts, as a teacher you NEED to understand the work in order to educate others on it, all the while changing how you teach to different students.

Has this placement changed your career plans in any way?

This placement has not really changed my career paths. While for some they may say it did, it only really gave me options for if I don’t succeed in what I already want to do, become a doctor. This class made me realize that becoming a teacher is more than just teaching concepts but also about getting to know each student and trying to make a connection before the end of the semester.
 

What was the most important thing you learned from your mentorship teacher?

Dr. Bilaniuk taught me how to be independent, hard working and manage my time well. I always thought I was independent before this class but when I received her assessment of me I realized I relied too much on what others thought than what I knew. I would always ask her opinion before the assessment, but afterwards I began trusting my instincts and helping others when I felt they needed it. This self-trust has led me to be more hardworking as I’ve learned what works for me when trying to learn concepts, it is to teach it to someone and in order to do that you must teach it to yourself. Throughout this course I’ve began taking my other classes more seriously and working harder to achieve the grades I want. I’ve began studying harder and helping others when I see they need it. I also began taking into consideration time sensitive tasks. While before midterms I would skip class just because I wasn’t feeling too well, I began coming to class every day and in fact only missed classes that I couldn’t control whether or not I could be there. Thus, Dr. Bilaniuk has taught me some very important life skills through this course.

What advice would you give to a student taking the IDC4U course next semester?

From my own experience I can honestly tell them to go to class every day, whether or not you want to. Be attentive to the needs of the students because sometimes students are jerks when they don’t want to be or need a reminder to work hard. Encourage the kids, for they need the reminder that even though they might not have done well on an assignment or test, they should still be proud of whatever marks they got. Do you blog posts and put more into it that need be, it will only save you in the long run and they’re actually quite reflective and can help you think better about other subjects. Try to make nice with the students, some of them will become some of the nicest kids you’ll meet in the school and will make the class more enjoyable. Always carry an extra pencil, but don’t let them keep it because they need to know that although they can ask you for help they need to be responsible for their own learning.

Anything else?

I would just like to thank every one of the students in my mentorship class this semester, along with Dr. Bilaniuk and Mrs. Villa. You all made this one of my favourite semesters in my high school career and for that I am very grateful.