Standard 1: Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.
Standard 1 to me means that educators have a responsibility to make sure their students are safe and welcomed into the classroom. Ensuring students feel like they are respected for who they are and cared for. In this scenario, students were taught about life skills, safety, first responders, rumors, and respect.
During my practicum, there was a student having a medical emergency which resulted in first responders having to be called. This happened during recess, so all the students were outside and were not expecting to see a firetruck and an ambulance show up when they were playing outside. This caused a lot of distress in the students and many of them were scared and worried about the unknown of what they were witnessing. As teachers, we had to ensure the students outside remained safe and the student who needed medical attention was given the space to get cared for. We had to keep the students outside within certain boundaries depending on where they were at the time. This meant that some of the students in our class were separated from each other until it was safe to go inside. Students were kept outside until the first responders left the premises.
Once we were all able to go inside, there were some students that were in another part of the school as they were playing in a different area than some of the students in our classroom during recess and the protocol was for students to go with the teacher that was closest to them at the time to ensure the front entrance was left open for first responders.
I had to go looking for the students who got separated from the class as Rebeca stayed with the students who did make it back to class. As I found the students, most of them were very overwhelmed and scared because something so unexpected happened and they were out of routine. I reassured them that everything was okay, and I understood why this was scary for them.
Once we were all abele to integrate back into the classroom, I had to adjust the lesson I had planned and push it to after lunch so that Rebeca was able to have a conversation with the class about safety. I sat back and was a support for the students which also gave me an opportunity to listen and observe how she handled the situation. She did this in English with the students so that they fully understood the point she was trying to get across.
I learned so much from the way Rebeca handled the situation.
She first explained that everything is okay and how each of them played a part in ensuring the student who needed help was safe a taken care of by following the rules.
She then explained how rumours start and that unless the students have seen what has happened themselves, not to assume what happened and that it is not their business to talk about. “Not important to know who it was, but important to know they are okay now.” She explained how our brains like to try to problem solve because it makes us feel better, but reassured them to trust the adults around them to keep them safe.
She asked questions such as:
If there is an emergency and you need an ambulance or a firetruck, do you know what you need to do or who you need to call?
Gave scenarios for students to answer regarding which first responder would be most appropriate to call for which scenario.
Explaining that calling 911 is not something we play with, but if it is accidentally dialed not to worry and to stay on the phone until someone picks up to tell them everything is okay.
- Give yourselves a big hug
- Something happened today that was scary
- But everything is okay
Students well-being and emotions were taken care of regarding what they were feeling at that time. Ensuring that they are safe and cared for is a top priority as a teacher and I thought this as a great example and demonstration of Standard 1. Teacher had to act accordingly and take care of students mental and emotional wellbeing and have a discussion about when these kinds of things happen and how to act accordingly.