Recalling this experience led Cooper to a more positive story of her undergrad experience in her third year , when she found the science ed group " very accommodating ." At the time , Carla was feeling concerned because her youngest son was at home recovering from surgery , and a big project presentation was due . Her instructor , John MacDonald , had said , " Just bring him in ." Carla recalled , " My son just had his appendix out , but he said ' bring him in ' and so I brought him in , and John had a lab set up with a whole bunch of laser activities for my son to do . John kept an eye on him while I did my presentation . Nobody in my class thought ' there she is bringing her kid in .' It was the opposite ... I was celebrated for going back to school ."
Learning from both of Cooper ' s memorable experiences can be seen in her current teaching philosophy . Cooper says , " I ' ve had students coming back to school with babies ; it ' s just , like , babies cry ..." So Carla recalls that on one lecture day , she told the student mother to let her hold the baby , and she says , " I just rocked that baby and taught and said , ' no mom , you do your thing . Let me just hold him .'" Her role model , she says , is John MacDonald . " He is number one ! I want to be John ," says Carla . What makes John special is , Carla says , is " his excitement , and his belief that you can do this . If you can ' t figure it out this way , let ' s find another way . He is so accepting of everybody ," says Cooper . " I can call him up for anything ... I never want to lose the connection ."
Since her time as an undergrad student , Carla has had many other experiences that have contributed to her success as a teacher . Working for a time as Acting Vice Principal , gave Carla the opportunity to develop an appreciation for the administrative side of education . Though she likes to teach , as she says , " outside of the box ," she also respects the administrative process . " Having admin experience has made me a better teacher . I understand the Division ' s vision . I try to keep up on what ’ s been changing with the Division . I want to abide by my Division ’ s philosophies . I don ’ t want to step outside their vision . They allow me to expand the bubble a lot ."
Carla also attributes the experience of working on the writing team for the Health Science 20 curriculum with her new understanding of teaching outside of the box . Through this process , she realized , " We don ’ t have to teach a prescribed curriculum . We have to teach the outcomes , but the indicators can be taught in the way that we like them , or grouped together with indicators from other units , or you can make up your own ."
For Cooper this understanding has unleashed her creativity , which she realizes through the incorporation of arts-based projects . For instance , she decided to model her human anatomy unit after Grey ' s Anatomy . Students are placed in resident groups , and each group is assigned a fictional celebrity patient , those Cooper has assessed as being a match with certain types of health issues , such as Will Smith whom students will diagnose and treat for sickle cell anemia . Using the Diagnosis for Classroom Success program booklet , which is a book of labs to be worked through in a week or two , students " delve deeply ," working through the book over four months . Cooper says , " We weren ’ t learning about the human body for the next few weeks , we learned about a patient , learning through the eyes of a patient ."
Cooper allowed for the ethical and diagnostic conversations that developed , pushing the students to deeper learning . She says , " At that point I didn ’ t know what deeper learning was , but the deeper questions students were asking , we just ran with ."
Because this wasn ' t a Grade 12 course , the final assessment was not a test . Instead , students were asked , " Did their patient live or die ? How did they treat ? Was their treatment ethical ? Did they do invasive or non-invasive ? What secretions did they evaluate , and why ? What was the chemistry breakdown of that ? And , how did the physics work for the CAT scan ? They had to do a peer review and self-review ." Carla created a rubric to go with the project and students marked themselves on the rubric . " These simulations have helped students either enter a scienceoriented career , or decide against it . It has also helped prepare them for their post-secondary classes ," says Carla .
When she first received the news in May that she was a recipient of the Prime Minister ' s Award for Excellence in Teaching STEM , Carla wasn ' t sure if the letter was for real . She sent it to her husband , asking , " Am I reading this right ?" When she finally processed what was happening , she felt humbled and thought , " What makes me different ? I am no different than any other teacher . But I ’ m just realizing that I do things a bit different ." Carla is excited , by the new connections and opportunities to pass on her curricular understandings to others , including preservice teachers , generated by this recognition .
When asked what excellence in teaching looks like , Cooper says , " I don ’ t even know if I am excellent , yet . I feel like I ’ ve done excellent teaching when I ' ve excited students by allowing them to be who they are . We have studentdirected study and I don ’ t put any constraints on that . I don ’ t teach in a box , and I want students I take risks , too . I want my kids to become healthy risk takers . If something flops , it flops . I ' ve adopted the phrase fail forward . We are F-squareds in C-squared rooms ." As Carla continues to envision what teaching outside of the box looks like , she finds her focus moving towards a new kind of box : a sandbox . She says , " My whole focus is practicing real world science and getting kids back in the sandbox . At recess the kids are playing , communicating , problem solving , building , and doing the six big Cs in education . Why are we not doing that ? I take them to the playground , to the teeter-totter , if there is one . So in the last few years , I ’ ve been working to bring the students back to a metaphoric sandbox , but I hope to have a real sandbox in the classroom as well ."
By Shuana Niessen
Education News | Page 9