Monday, May 12, 2014

Mr. Tram's Diary: Day 5

We're up to the fifth entry in Mr. Tram's diary. I think it's safe to say he paints a horrifying picture of my short tenure as a student teacher. Some questions came up regarding the background all of this, and so the other day I replied to one of my correspondents with the following:

I don't like to tell my side of the story because every time I do people (the "haters") jump all over me for leaving stuff out. But what you need to know about the diary is that it was a secret diary: I didn't get my hands on it until six months after I was kicked out, and long after my final appeal was exhausted. Mr. Tram kept the diary for exactly two weeks; the day he made his final entry, he turned it over to the principal, and I was kicked out of Gordon Bell the very next morning. There is no other documentation associated with anything that happened in my teaching practicum, other than the letter sent by the Principal to the University requesting that I be removed.
I hope that clarifies matters somewhat. Without further ado, here is the penultimate entry in Mr. Tram's diary...

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Nov 17, 2011
Mr started with the same experiment and talk about the lines of force (which is not part of the curriculum) as well as rotation and distortion in salt molecules (which are also not part of the curriculum). He went on and spend great length of time on the topics and eventually lost student’s attention.  XX then stood up and asked for permission to teach the class. Permission granted so XX did demonstrated that the class learned practically very little in the last 6 classes. Many other students then requested to be taught new materials. They got frustrated for seeing the same thing over and over again. He sent YY out because YY listened to music in class. YY on way out said, “I was not learning anything here anyway”. ZZ my top student got frustrated because all the old materials.
Again there is no lesson plan presented, no assessment. Kids worried and asked him about what will be on the test. Mr. green talked for the rest of the class.

Meeting during lunch
I and Mabini again reminded Mr. Green to unit/lesson plans for the block which starts on Nov 22, 2011. So far he did not provided any lesson plan nor having a clear objective for each day that he taught. Mr. Green insisted that he will not and cannot teach the way we suggested. He also mentioned his difficult time at the U of W and said “the  U of W will kick me out of the program. However, I will only leave on my own terms” twice. I am not sure how to interpret that except sensing that this might be a threat. Mr. Green will not follow any advice.

13 comments:

  1. It doesnt sound like you were teaching anything in the curriculum, sure teaching some extra tidbits now and then is fine but it sounds like you werent concerned at all with the provincial curriculum. Having well drawn out lesson and unit plans with forms of assessment for the outcomes you were reaching were required and was clearly stated to us.

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    1. I'm going to repeat for you a couple of things I told JennifersBFF and Mr. Confused, the other former classmates who were posting anonymously last week:

      1. I'm getting tired of people who post anonymously, call me a prick one day and say "your an idiot" the next day and then say "I'm not a hater". If you're not a hater, identify yourself. Or at least sign a moniker that distinguishes you from all the other haters.

      2. I'm surprised at the number of people who form an opinion about what happened in my practicum without hearing my side of the story. That includes you, Principal Skull, and the Dean of Education.

      3. I'd be more interested in your opinion as to why I deserved to get kicked out of university. You weren't at Gordon Bell, but you were there with me in class at the U of W. What did you actually see me do?

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  2. Where in that statement do I call you a prick say you're an idiot? This might be the problem, anyone that doesnt agree with you or looks for further information or is critical (which I dont feel I was) you go into full on fight mode. Tell us, what happened in your practicum that Mr Tram isnt telling us. Were you actually assessing, lesson/unit planning? I think a few people have asked since you started posting Mr Tram's diary, what actually happened? Is your side coming once you finish posting all of his? Its hard to form an opinion when you tell us some things but not everything, we want to hear your side, you expect people to side with you but you wont answer their questions, I get that the University may not have let you defend your self, so here is the place to post your side and get people on your team, you're making it hard on yourself.

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    1. I wonder why you can't understand that when you post under the same name as someone else (another "unidentified classmate") who called me a prick, that you are also calling me a prick?

      Delete
  3. Stop being a child. There is nothing attacking you or malicious in either of my posts, they are very reasonable and look at how you respond Marty. I am Anonymous, that's what I want to be known as. I am simply trying to get on your side, or at least get to hear it and whenever you are asked to give it you refuse. Are you going to answer those questions you asked?

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    1. How do I know which posts are yours? The banner under which you so proudly post your opinions is the same banner under which you and your fellow classmates hide in this forum so you can call me a "prick" or an "idiot" (or a "child") with impunity. I don't agree much with people like Ms. Redboots, Ms. Fricken, WalksWithFire or JennifersBFF, but at least they have the integrity to separate themselves from the howling mob.

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  4. Point blank question; Did you provide lesson plans for your CT? The Unit plan I am not as concerned with because those tended to be somewhat vague with room to move. Did you actually put pen to paper (or finger to key) and hammer out a daily lesson plan for your block?

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    1. Like all of us, I had a whole book of Lesson Plans that we prepared for Prof. Bell's course. So yes, I did "put pen to paper and hammer (them) out". But no, I never gave them to my CT. Did you?

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  5. Some CT's asked some didnt. I personally drew out a very rough draft of a unit plan, when I saw people handing in binders five inches thick I was a little worried but nevertheless what I had drawn up was fine and my CT never even asked to see it. Depends on who you had I guess.

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    1. Here we go again. Are you Mr. Confused, or are you a new anonymous poster? Either way, I'm going to remind you what I told the others: when you sign your posts with the same name as the people who call me a prick or an idiot or (like Mr. Confused) a "child", you are also calling me a prick.

      Delete
    2. You are mistaken. I did not call you a child. That was a different anonymous. I called you an idiot. But that's beside the point...

      Before I began my teaching block (in BOTH practicums) I sat down with my CT's and scratched out the unit(s) that I would be responsible for. Prior to each lesson I went over my lesson plan (which was very formal and followed the triple A format) WITH my CT. At this point, my CT offered suggestions or recommendations, which even though I didn't always agree with, I incorporated into my lesson plan. If the strategy they suggested didn't work out for me... at least I could say I had tried it and obviously this was something that was very successful for them, but didnt work as well with my teaching style (but... thanks for the suggestion)

      Did I ALWAYS have a lesson plan? Yes. ALWAYS. I scratched notes on them before, during and after every lesson. My CT's were extremely pleased with this level of self reflection and organization.

      Did I submit a UNIT plan. Nope. Not at all. I didn't have to because my lesson plans always specified the SLO's which I would be covering and all my CT's kept a running tab of them. They always felt as though they were approving my lessons, and I was fine with that. Kiss ass? Maybe. Successful? Very.

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    3. Okay, I answered your point blank question. Now I have one for you. What did you actually see me do at the U of W to justify me getting kicked out of class?

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  6. You are like a broken record. I saw a guy who questioned the strategies of most instructors to the point where it sucked up valuable class time. ALL OF THE TIME.

    Do I think that warrants getting the boot? Yes. To exhibit so much resistance against your instructor is detrimental to your career. You can call me a sheep if you want. You should have kept your eye on the prize instead of acting like the prize was already yours....

    That's great that you wanted to do it 'your way' but this does not demonstrate to your peers that you are open and willing to collaborate. Kind of like you were entitled to be there. But we've been through this before....

    Can I remember specifics? Nope. You need to stop asking this, we have all moved on and filed this in the 'irrelevant' file. Sorry.

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