This year I am teaching a prep teacher. In this role, I am teaching a Grade 1/2 class virtually and it’s so interesting for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it’s been years since I have taught a primary grade. Secondly, in the past, I have had the opportunity to teach in person and when we’ve […]
Remote Learning
Play-Time: Virtual Style
As we are nearing the end of September, I begin to reflect on my first month as a virtual Kindergarten teacher. When creating our timetable for the school year, my teaching partner and I dedicated 30 minutes each day to unstructured, open play. During this 30 minute block, students share what they are playing with […]
Myth of Hybrid Multitasking
I decided to write this blog after reading an article in the Globe and Mail about getting off our cell phones. According to the article “Phone use depraves us of the quality of our sleep, our productivity, and our creativity. It is linked to heightened levels of anxiety and depression, diminished sexual satisfaction, compromised child-parent […]
Attendance Question
NOTE: ETFO’s position on in-person learning remains unchanged. The union firmly believes that the daily, in-person model of instruction and support best meets the educational, developmental and social needs of students, provides the best experience for support, and is the most equitable learning model for all students. ETFO’s expectation is that elementary virtual learning in […]
Top Ten Tips for Attending Virtual Professional Learning for Educators
So much learning is happening virtually now and it is amazing. I recently attended a virtual EdTech Conference in Nebraska! This is an opportunity I never would have been able to take advantage of before the pandemic. I have attended a number of virtual conferences during COVID and I’ve also organized and facilitated virtual learning […]
“Healthy” Eating 101
The Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum requires students in Grades 1-8 to learn about healthy and active living. The curriculum document stresses the importance of healthy eating and the relationship between healthy food choices and strength of the body and the brain’s preparedness to grow and learn. Sounds ideal right? Talking about the positive […]
Exit Tickets
I often try to put myself in my students shoes and think about how I would have felt as a young student learning online during a pandemic. Personally, I learned remotely as an adult when completing my Master of Professional Education degree. But I cannot confidently compare my experience with the experience of these young […]
Break open…and rise up!
Spring is a good time to reflect and pay attention to growth, change and transformation. After a long year of isolation and stillness, everyone is hopeful about the promise of movement and possibility. Planting seeds is a wonderful metaphor of the learning that we are doing together in our school communities. Planting Seeds:Jenny Davis is […]