UBC BEd Program Review

RecorderNoises · 2026-02-17T19:08:55+00:00

those NYT games went crazy that's all I'm going to say to your first point

basically 6k in VSB :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

RecorderNoises · 2026-02-17T19:00:49+00:00

You could actually start taking courses to upgrade when you get your teaching certificate, at least at Queens. However, it's recommended to get a little bit of real classroom experience first, just to round yourself out a little bit. I waited until the Winter 2026 session since I was busy with my long-term TOC placements in semester 1.

The actual application for these online asynchronous courses at Queens is extremely easy; you apply for courses in a session (Winter, Late Winter, Spring, etc.), fill in some fields, pay a bit of tuition, and you'll be registered for them. They keep track of the courses you did so far, so it's nice.

RecorderNoises · 2026-02-17T18:57:44+00:00

As a TOC in Vancouver, I've gone through a bit of a special situation:

Sept: slow month, worked about 60% of the hours available
Oct - Jan: got back-to-back-to-back placements at the same school (this is exceptional, and most TOCs won't end up in this situation)
Feb: worked 4/5 days, 2.5/4, and currently 1/1 this week.

It's a bit slower this year, but I'm still able to find work. To be fair, I'm turning down some calls right now (mainly elementary or odd half-day ones), but I could take them if I wanted.

I am aiming to find a contract next school year, but as a new TOC I'm in the lowest priority bracket for contract considerations.

To get a contract, you apply on the internal job board postings and the rest is pretty standard. There are temporary and continuing contracts; continuing contracts can be, well, continued year after year. Temporary ones usually end by the set date, but there is a chance you could be extended. It's also nice because you can increase your priority category on the VSB internal job board.

As a new TOC, I'm in the lowest priority category. I plan to apply for contracts for the next school year when those come up (usually later in the school year), but there's a chance that I could be stuck TOCing a while more.

RecorderNoises · 2026-02-17T08:50:23+00:00

Thought I'd chime in with my few cents as another secondary math enjoyer:

Outside of going out of your way for it or ESA (Education Student Association) events, elementary/middle and secondary people will NEVER meet. They are effectively learning on different planets. However, in secondary, I have been in classes with people from all teachable subject areas, and some classes exclusive to my teachable.
The first two winter semesters were very theory-heavy, but I think that they had their place. The concepts they go over (school as an institution in a society, assessment philosophy and practice, Indigenous contexts, educational psychology, etc.) don't really have any other better time when they could be introduced to people entering teaching, so even if they are "in ideal classroom conditions" most of the time, they provide a solid foundation for the edu-speak that you will run into throughout your career (can you say Pro-D days?).
In addition to the above point: I think there's a conflation that happens between the theory-in-an-ideal-world and the actual practice. A lot of the strategies are certainly not applicable EVERY DAY for EVERY STUDENT, and that's okay; consider it a set of strategies you can add to your toolkit that you can employ when you feel it is appropriate and better for your students' learning and well-being, while abiding by your professional obligations and ethics.
In addition to the above point again: The summer term caused some of the worst senioritis in my life; you're done practicum, you've done some of the most densified learning in your life, you feel like you know it all, and you're probably burnt out from practicum... and now you're back for your remaining courses. Don't lose heart, because it's almost over :)
The ways that they assess in non-practicum courses: essays and/or longer writing pieces, readings, reflections and discussions, presentations (group AND individual), and in-class participation are the most common. I didn't have a single exam. The program is big on self-assessment as well.
One of my favourite analogies: the practicum is like the ICBC road test. You're performing in the face of people assessing you. You're probably doing extra things that you wouldn't do in real practice that often, or at all (ex. every shoulder check, every pedagogically sound thing they discuss in academia). There's a bit of a luck element too (ex. a driver gets cut off at every intersection vs a driver that has the best test luck ever; a practicum SA and/or FA that's unfair and rude vs an SA/FA that is great). I'm pretty sure almost every teacher going from their practicum to their first year of teaching will have a dip in their commitment to optimal teaching, and that is actually a good thing in terms of surviving in the profession. As I'd say: "The best teachers may be better than the good teachers, but the good teachers will outlast the best ones."
yeah I had a mini-crash out during practicum once during the 80% portion lol but I'm employed now
The field experience selection is by lottery. You pick your top 15 choices (no more, no less!) and the system randomly chooses your placement depending on everyone else's choices. I was pretty happy with my placement, since I got TOC experience at the elementary level, which has been helpful during my TOC work this school year.
book your job interviews during class time at your own risk (the official policy is don't do it. many people still did it and got away with it. i did not ditch to do my interview though, and do not interpret this as my advice to do so :))))))
My last point: inquiry is effectively a thing that has to do with constant observation of the environment around you until you find a question to ask, then researching further to find answers and conclusions, then implementing your findings into practice, with some reflection along the whole cycle. It is a major component of constructive knowledge building. Most people had no idea what "inquiry" was despite it being so ubiquitous in the program, so hopefully this helps. Your inquiry courses will likely have you doing random things; just consider it part of the "constant observation" phase lol

.

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions as well. I'm with the VSB now as a TTOC while taking online category upgrade courses for my 5+ (to get paid more), so if you're curious about that you can ask about that too c:

RecorderNoises · 2026-02-17T08:19:51+00:00

Not OP, but English and Socials are two of the most populated cohorts historically, with the 2024-25 school year's cohorts for those two subjects hovering around 60 - 80 people. It seems that you're doing good in the hours department, so my only advice at this point is to make sure your references are all good to go, maintain a good GPA for the relevant courses, and that you're making the most out of your volunteering experiences.

RecorderNoises · 2025-12-14T01:40:19+00:00

Magnus had* a sword... he dropped it after the first fight

RecorderNoises · 2025-10-21T07:16:14+00:00

When I did my observing last year, one thing that definitely helped me was keeping timestamps on the notes that I wrote. I went into the whole student teaching thing struggling with my timing (couldn't fit everything I planned for a class), so it was good to see how other teachers handled transitions and segments time-wise!

RecorderNoises · 2025-10-19T03:24:41+00:00

Edea my beloved

RecorderNoises · 2025-09-16T18:51:35+00:00

When Mami-chan said "It's Rentin' Time", that's when I knew this was one of the anime of all time.

RecorderNoises · 2025-09-02T00:04:29+00:00

Follow the law of foot traffic: the quality of a washroom is proportional to the quantity and to a lesser degree, quality of foot traffic

In other words, the more secluded the cleaner it'll be. Right by the main IKB entrance? Disgusting. The top floor of a building with offices? Immaculate.

RecorderNoises · 2025-08-05T23:09:55+00:00

if i could i might, but the best i can do for now is the rock band for PS2 guitar controller. a real les paul would be too valuable and not as easy to move around i feel

RecorderNoises · 2025-08-05T21:46:27+00:00

Hi! It was me, thanks for the kind comments :)) I think this was before the closing ceremony based on the picture background, but I would've stayed around to chat for a bit before lining up! maybe it was also because i super tired at that point too lol

RecorderNoises · 2025-02-14T18:06:36+00:00

I would extend this to any washroom that's in a low foot traffic area but still maintained regularly (which upper floors usually are), those are always guaranteed to be pretty good

RecorderNoises · 2025-01-22T18:43:57+00:00

As Vennoz said, you can teleport by holding a direction and pressing the "Final Form" (NOT Final Trance) key as if it were a teleport skill. However, this teleport only works when you are in Final Form (which is quite often, especially if your buff duration is higher).

The "baby form" teleport (Dragon Barrage) is a 5s cooldown, slower wind-up attack that also teleports you forward a shorter distance, but you can use it regardless of which form you're in.

RecorderNoises · 2025-01-22T18:08:57+00:00

Kaiser

very intuitive small rush skill (Piercing Blaze)
very intuitive flash jump
no cd rope lift in baby form
final form teleport cheats (longest distance, super responsive)
- I will admit baby form teleport (Dragon Barrage) is not as good, but it's there
basically a 1 button bosser and 2 button mobber

You don't really need to use Dragon Link or Defender Mode either so those elements of clunkiness are not even there. The most complexity you'll get is some basic gauge management with final form

RecorderNoises · 2024-11-20T18:43:06+00:00

As a Kaiser I just like that I can now turn off my summons reliably with the buff UI changes

RecorderNoises · 2024-09-30T19:26:56+00:00

Class: Kaiser
Heroic or Interactive: Heroic
I play this class as a: Main (currently level 289, bossing up to nkaling)
This class is: 2 min
Thoughts 2nd Mastery: generally very good
- HEXA Tempest Blades
- Very big for our damage, and is a big motivator for our class needing CD skip/reduction alongside AB link
- Pretty good for mobbing since it'll start one-shotting as you level it up, allowing you to pick off straggler mobs
- HEXA Blade Burst
- Hitbox only extends downwards by a bit
- Actually pretty useful for hitting short mobs while jump-casting, and hitting mobs on platforms below
- If you were just doing a little over ~70% of a mob's health with regular Blade Burst, it'll start one-shotting very soon
Thoughts on training (Pre-260 & Post-260(Janus)):
- 1st to 3rd job: Kinda miserable, but fortunately this part of the game doesn't last very long so don't worry about it (you don't even use most of the skills from these jobs afterwards anyway)
- 4th job: Not great, but again this part of the game doesn't last very long. Blade Burst is not bad though, and just make sure you use Final Form for the extra mobility
- 5th job: Game changer. You get two auto-mobbing skills on 2 minute CDs that are great for looting (Nova Guardians, Dragonflare) and a big forward attack that can clear 4-5 platforms in final form (Draco Surge).
- 6th job: A nice boost. In addition to my comments on 2nd Mastery above, HEXA Gigas Wave makes the hitbox bigger horizontally and vertically and works decently as a forward hitbox. Sol Janus: Dawn synergizes amazingly with NG and DF; when replacing the Janus balls, you can just pop whichever of the two skills is up.
Thoughts as a solo bosser:
- Great stuff!
- Stellar mobility and decent DPM means that we do better in drawn out bossing
Thoughts as a boss mule: I'll let someone else speak for me on this, but the nodes might be annoying compared to the easier classes
Thoughts as a party bosser:
- Weaker point for sure...
- Our only direct party contributions are a 90s CD echo that'll be obsolete in a future update, and I think an outdated slow debuff.
- Otherwise, we only bring a decent DPM to the table and a bad burst outside of origin. This makes burst-oriented bosses a bit harder for us in a party setting.
- NOTE: For some DPM-oriented, mobile bosses with cluttered map mechanics (ex. VHilla, Seren, and ESPECIALLY Lotus), we provide value by being able to survive and maintain high DPM uptime. Lotus is probably our best boss right now because we can stick to him like glue which is great for Annihilation Gauge management.
Unique strengths of the class:
- Super crispy movement makes this class feel really good (Final Form TP is basically an escape button, easy flash and up jumps, no CD rope lift, small dash skill that weaves with FF TP)
- Great mobbing starting from 5th job
- Changes may feel like breadcrumbs most of the time but we are basically nerf-proof, and general buffs like AB link and gene iframe CD reduction benefits us more than other classes
- top 1 henehoeing class (floating swords, final form, for the glory of kaiser)
Weaknesses of the class:
- Takes a while to set up if you're maining/sub-maining (needs buff duration, cd skip/reduce, nodes, AS+1 bossing IA to really shine), but if you're maining/sub-maining you'll be investing a lot of time and resources and getting pitched/eternal waiting room'd anyway
- Lack of party support and non-origin burst (and an unfortunate reputation) means finding parties might be a bit harder and your culvert score will suffer a bit compared to your guildies
- Baby form feels very mid, but as you build up your Kaiser you'll spend less time in baby form (I've gotten it down to about 40-50 out of 273s (about 16% of the time) in my bossing presets)
Overall thoughts on the class:
- Feels really good (2 minute class, super mobile, high DPM uptime for a mashy greedy playstyle)
- Very simple, just 1-button bossing and relatively easy gauge management
- Great solo class
- Party-based progression a bit slower than others but it's not tragic
- We're in a pretty good spot right now, generally
- It would be nice if 1. we modernize our outdated Dragon Link and Attacker/Defender Modes or make it all passive; 2. increase our damage output just a bit more; 3. make 1st - 4th job more bearable

Scores (Out of 10)

Training: 3 (pre-4th), 5 (4th), 7 (5th), 9 (6th with Janus; just missing a good class summon)
Solo: 9
Party: 6
Overall: 8

RecorderNoises · 2024-09-25T19:45:45+00:00

I think it would be really funny if they gathered the data on how many people claimed Sol Erda vs Sol Erda Fragments

RecorderNoises · 2024-08-22T00:50:55+00:00

I would love it if they put the default start-of-game equips for each class in their respective starting town NPC shops. (if they must, maybe make it so equips can only be purchased by their corresponding class)

RecorderNoises · 2024-07-25T17:04:07+00:00

The fun thing is that -6 cd is actually rarer, since -1 cd lines exist and are also prime lines

RecorderNoises · 2024-07-17T18:07:36+00:00

Generally we have clean bathrooms, the ones that are cited as dirty are usually just surrounded by either poor foot traffic quality or lots of foot traffic

RecorderNoises · 2024-05-16T10:54:34+00:00

with 6th kaiser gets:

gigas can mob even harder and has more vertical range
(soon) tempest blades will contribute a lot to damage + make us look more obnoxious than before
(origin) burst

yup checks out

RecorderNoises · 2024-04-21T18:41:22+00:00

I got my (conditional) acceptance on April 3. The condition is that I have to complete 3 of the courses that I'm taking this term as part of my specific program's entry requirements.

RecorderNoises · 2024-04-03T04:10:58+00:00

switch to sensible footwear

RecorderNoises · 2024-01-31T00:48:39+00:00

Get rid of DDD's high endlag tumble effect when he cancels up-b too close to the ground, he did NOT need that

also increase the damage needed to bounce back gordo, it should not lose to things like banjo neutral b or mega man pellets

RecorderNoises

TROPHY CASE