MY TQS Evidence
The Teaching Quality of Standards, or TQS for short, the Teaching Quality Standard provides a framework for the preparation, professional growth, supervision and evaluation of all teachers.
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Below are some of the ways I met the TQS for 2018 during my PSIII experience. Click the right arrow below to view all standards.
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Fostering Effective Relationships
How am I meeting this goal?
A teacher builds positive and productive relationships with students, parents/guardians, peers and others in the school and local community to support student learning.
Achievement of this competency is demonstrated by indicators such as:
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acting consistently with fairness, respect and integrity;
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demonstrating empathy and a genuine caring for others;
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providing culturally appropriate and meaningful opportunities for students and for parents/guardians, as partners in education, to support student learning;
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inviting First Nations, Metis and Inuit parents/ guardians, Elders/knowledge keepers, cultural advisors and local community members into the school and classroom;
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collaborating with community service professionals, including mental health, social services, justice, health and law enforcement; and
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honouring cultural diversity and promoting intercultural understanding.
At the beginning of my social units, I send a letter home inviting the parents of all backgrounds to come in and to share in the students learning experience, and to participate in the classrooms cultural discovery. I also reached out during my Ukraine unit, and talked to a local Ukrainian dance group in order to have them demonstrate their dances and traditional clothing. I was able to obtain samples of their clothes, as well as have multiple dates for students to watch their performances. This was followed up by a tour through the Galt museum where a member from the community educated us about Ukrainian clothing, dancing, music and some of the history of immigration to Canada. This was followed up with an FNMI lesson from a local Blackfoot Elder. Students learned about their local community members, and developed a deeper appreciation for their culture.
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We honored cultural diversity and promoted intercultural understanding in multiple ways in my classroom. We participated in the Orange Shirt Reconciliation activity in my classroom, where I educated the students on the cultural significance of reconciliation for the residential school system and what their people went through. We also took a tour of the Galt museum, where an FNMI elder taught us some of their traditional ways of living.
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I reached out internationally using a program called Flip Grid, to try to set up an international pen pal for the students. In mid October I started cooperating with another teacher in our school to set up penpals for both our classes and someone from the U.S.A.
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I believe it is important to maintain a strong relationship and communication network with the parents throughout the year, especially so in the beginning months of teaching these grades. I send home regular newsletters informing them of upcoming events and subjects their children will be learning.
This unit is created around the concept that all communities and cultures are unique, while drawing on their similarities to our own culture. I want to encourage the students to have the opportunities to see that things familiar to them connect to the larger national and global picture. I want them to value diversity and to respect the differences and multiple perspectives of a variety of cultures. The creation of community within my classroom is the most important aspect, especially in the early months of a new school year. The creation of community within the classroom is strengthened by the students engaging in presentations, group research activities, and class discussion/readings.
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I believe that a good teacher keeps TQS 1 at the forefront of their mind at all times, looking for ways to integrate this competency within their lessons.