Photo of Erin G

Teaching on the Run

I have recently returned from mat leave to my usual position of Core French Teacher in Grades 7 and 8
(not easy to get out of that one…) but this time with a major change which has greatly impacted my job – no classroom.

For the past 10 years, I have always had the luxury of having my own space (albeit occasionally squished between stoves, ovens, washers and dryers of the Family Studies room) and now I am truly realizing how lucky I was.  At the workshops for the TDSB Summer Institute for Beginning Teachers, there was bound to be some poor soul who posed the question “What advice can you offer to someone teaching on a cart?” While outwardly commiserating, I was always secretly thankful I wasn’t in that position. I can say without a doubt, that in my 10th year of teaching, I have never felt so disorganized, frazzled and somewhat ineffective and not for lack of trying. And I’m one of the lucky ones who only has to shuttle between two different classrooms (on two different floors and opposite sides of the school).

I originally intended to blog about how to effectively teach Core French from a cart but when I was looking online for different visuals of such a piece of equipment, I came across an article from an older issue of Professionally Speaking entitled “The Core of the Matter” which succinctly discusses the major issues confronting FSL teachers. Based on a report authored by Maureen Smith, a teacher with 30 years FSL experience, the area of most concern was a lack of dedicated classrooms to Core French. She outlines in the study that it is not uncommon for some teachers to “give eight or more classes a day, working from a cart set up in the lunchroom, gym or multiple portables, even when there’s an empty classroom in the school.”  Delivering your lessons in time sensitive 42 minute increments is stressful enough, but charging around from one classroom to the next within the 2 min travel time only to arrive and find you’d left your overhead/textbook/assignments behind adds a level of intensity which is taxing on even the most organized and well prepared instructors.

Given the situation, it is obvious that a teacher’s program would be greatly compromised. I feel particularly empathetic towards the newer teachers who must struggle with getting their resources together in addition to teaching on the run. What I miss most about my own classroom (even though my “roommate” is most congenial) is a dedicated spot to display visual aids and showcase student work as well as the flexibility to alter the seating arrangements to best suit my planned activities. Smith concludes that if teachers are expected to deliver a quality FSL education, then the gap “between the classroom environment and the policies that influence it requires careful study.” It’s too bad that as a core subject of the Ontario curriculum, there is no correlation between the huge comment box devoted to FSL on the report card and actual size of dedicated classroom space.

Be that as it may, the reality is that with the advent of full day kindergarden, classrooms in many schools are at a premium and this situation is perhaps a new permanent reality of FSL teachers. In that case then, enough venting…Stay tuned for my next blog (and originally intended article) on how best to teach French from a cart.

Classroom setup

What’s Working

There is nothing like the gift of time. I so look forward to long weekends, not just because I can spend extra time with my family, or catch up on sleep, but also because it gives me time to reflect. I made a few changes in my classroom after March Break and it seemed like the right time to consider what’s working and perhaps not working, and how to make it work. That’s the beauty of teaching…change can happen at any time!

1) The desk arrangement in my classroom seemed to offer less space for movement, so I moved groups of desks together on an angle.

It still somehow feels like too many students at one table grouping…and sometimes group work can be challenging. This one I will have to re-think, perhaps making smaller groups and varying the sizes based on my students.

2) The table basket materials at each grouping often seemed disorganized, and I realized I had assumed that because my last set of Grade 4 students had been relatively organized and independent, this year would be similar. An unfair assumption on my part, given how unique each group can be! Therefore, I tried to add a list to these baskets so students could put materials back in the appropriate spot, thereby allowing them to access what they need.

This idea seems to work when the student assigned to table monitor checks the baskets throughout the day. I’m noticing my students are spending less time getting prepared and more time on actual tasks.

3) Many years ago, I noticed that the amount of unfinished work in different places made it difficult for me to know when my class needed “finish up” time. So, I hung hoops over each table grouping and when students were not finished, they would hang it on the hoop and return to it when they had time. It also helped me to see who might be struggling to complete work and when accommodations might be helpful.

This year, I’ve asked students to put their work on one particular hoop, so that they do not need to search several locations for their unfinished work. I find this method also more helpful for me, so I can support students who have unfinished work at each table grouping.

4) Many of my students seem to have self-esteem issues and it’s hard for them to reflect on what they are doing well. I’ve tried a variety of ideas over the year and most recently, we’ve added this “go-to people” list so that they can feel they have expertise and the ability to help others.

This idea is one I have to followup on and possibly add to, given that some students will not be able to share their expertise in a classroom setting (e.g., swimming)!

5) The last idea I wanted to revisit was reducing anchor charts to frames that can be used at the tables as a reference. This idea has been helpful for some of my students and I hope to continue using it for art activities as well.

 

The best part is, I have to spend less time trying to find places to hang chart paper! Next, I want to take the papers out of these frames and put them in a book that students can continue to refer to later, if they wish.

Now that I have completed my long weekend reflections, it’s time to head back to eating chocolates…

 

 

Classroom setup with drawings on the wall

Adding More Wall Space

I have often run out of wall space in my classroom. There is always so much I could hang up in my classroom, however, I often run of room. I never really knew what to do about it. But now, I do! Thanks to the teachers at my school, they have helped add more wall or hanging space in my classroom. In my classroom, I have many detachable hooks on my wall with string hanging from them. I used clothes pins to hang my students’ work, which allows me the opportunity to hang more of my students’ artwork. You can get these detachable hooks from many stores, including Walmart or Canadian Tire.

Here are some pictures of how it is set up in my room, and it allows me to hang a class’s worth of papers or artwork:

Writer's wall bulletin board

Writer’s Wall

Do you ever wonder what to do with all the wonderful pictures and cards that students create for us teachers? Do you ever guilty putting pictures in the recycling? I know I have! And I have found a solution for you…

Create a We Are All Writer’s board. On one of the bulletin boards in the classroom, I have posted student work on this wall. This is such a wonderful idea because students get to show their work off to the world, it is all in once place, and students are recognized for being writer’s no matter what they are writing/drawing. My students love to create pictures and cards for me, or for others in the classroom, and having this wall is a great idea!

Here is a picture:

Word Wall Bulletin board

Cross-Curricular Word Wall

As some of you already know, when going for an interview, some type of comprehensive literacy question typically comes up. I have thought long and hard about my answer and I have got wonderful feedback based on my answers (I got got my current LTO simply because of my comprehensive literacy answer). One thing that I think is so very important is to show that you, as a teacher, enjoy cross-curriculum, and bring literacy into all of the other subject areas.

One way I have done this is by having a cross curricular word wall. I have created a legend that is on top of my word wall that explains to its readers what each colour of paper means. For example, Grey is the regular, everyday use words, pink is math words, green is social studies words, blue is science words, and orange is language words. I have yellow post-it notes as the students’ names. As we are still building up our word wall, there are not too many words, however, you start to see how the different colours add to the word wall and you can really see how to bring literacy into all the subject areas.

Photo of Tina Ginglo

What a Difference A Year Makes

This time last year I had just returned from a seven-year absence from the classroom.  During the seven years I was working in various centrally assigned positions, I had many opportunities to visit K-12 classrooms across the Greater Toronto Area.  You could imagine my excitement!  I observed many effective lessons and teaching strategies, classroom set-ups and routines.  I couldn’t wait to adopt some of them for my own program.  As well, I felt my literacy and numeracy program in my last school and teaching assignment was effective and I planned on resurrecting many of those strategies and routines with my new group of students in my new school.

September 2011, I was teaching a new grade (grade 3) in a new school community. I expected my classroom management to be a tad rusty and it was, but there were many initial problems that I could have avoided had I not taken some things for granted.

Prior to leaving the classroom for central positions I taught grades 4 and 5 for more than half my teaching career.  I provided prep coverage to grade 3 students over the years, but I never had a third grade teaching assignment.  I expected grade threes to be similar to my grade fours in terms of social emotional development and their ability to work independently.  After all, it’s only a year difference…what a difference a year makes!    The students were so “little” compared to my grade 4s at the beginning of the year.  I started the year with the mind-set of a junior teacher. I didn’t expect that I would have to model routines such as using the pencil sharpener!  This year, I began the year thinking like a primary teacher.  I take time to model the simplest routines, over and over and over again.   My expectations are more realistic.

I believe in collaborative knowledge building.  My classroom set up has always reflected my beliefs about teaching and learning.  In my last school, I didn’t have desks in my classroom.  I had 6-8 tables and I never seemed to have a problem getting students to work both collaboratively and independently in this setting.  Naturally, when I was setting up my classroom last summer I immediately placed the individual student desks into groups of 4.  The fact that most, if not all, of the grade 2-7 teachers in the school arranged their desks in pairs didn’t register.  Sometimes I need to be hit with a brick to get a message.  My students were not ready to work in groups.  By the end of week two, my classroom looked like all the other classrooms in the school, with students sitting in pairs in long rows.  I hated it, but the students were more settled and were better able to focus.  I managed to finally get them into groups of four when we returned from March Break.

On the first day of school, I did my usual spiel about making smart choices.  I told the students that they could sit wherever they wished as long as they were responsible in the choice they made.  I warned students that if I felt their choice was interfering with our learning I would move students.  This always worked for me in the past. Of course I had to move students around, but it never was a disaster.

This year, I started the year with the students sitting in rows of two per group. I purchased three sets of calendar numbers and taped them to student desks, coat hooks and cubbies.  When we entered the classroom on the first day of school, I invited all students to stand at the front of the classroom.  I quickly reviewed odd and even numbers with the students.  I then invited the boys to hang their bags on an odd numbered hook, pick up their name card, and sit at the desk with the same number as their coat hook.  Next, I invited the girls to find an even numbered hook, pick up their name card and sit at the desk with the same number as their coat hook.  There were no problems at all.  I have groups of two, boy-girl groups.  I have shuffled a few students around, but it really made the first day, first week, first-month of school more structured and settled.  I think it is a bit of a compromise on my part.  I want to keep to my belief that students should have choice and control in the classroom, but at the same time, taking the pressure off of the students who are not ready to make those types of choices right now.  What a difference a year makes! 

This number system really makes planning for supply teachers and lining up so much easier as well.  Instead of having a floor plan prepared for supply teachers. All I need to do is leave a list, 1-22 with each student’s name beside a desk number. I can move the furniture around and not have to worry about updating my floor plan, just as long as I update my class list with desk assignments.  Students also know they must line up in their numbered order.  All their teachers have a copy of our class list with their desk assignments.  It has made transitions so much easier on teachers and students.  What a difference a year makes!

In the years I was out of the classroom, I guess I took for granted all the structure, the little details, that did exist in my past classrooms and the classrooms I visited that would go unnoticed by visitors.  Structure doesn’t necessarily mean that we are taking choice and control away from the students.

Creating the Environment for FDK

As I mentioned in my last post, our Full-Day Kindergarten room was formerly a Special Education classroom, so it is evolving each week as I acquire furnishings and materials. With a limited budget I have been busy searching for some small scale furniture items and resources that will provide an inviting and engaging learning environment. One of the first centres that I focused on was a Reading Centre. Although I had a carpet and cushions to define a reading area, the children were not frequenting the space as expected. Last weekend I was able to source a small set of outdoor furniture from a friend that only required some sanding and painting. I then went to IKEA to buy a canopy leaf that would define the space (hanging a curtain or fabric as a canopy is also effective). Baskets were used for organizing the books, and I also added a container of magnetic letters to use on the front of my desk which frames the reading centre space. The Reading Centre is now an inviting area that is enticing all the students to settle alone or with a friend to look at a book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the photo you will notice a covered chalk board above. I found that the black chalk boards surrounding the areas were not useful, so I covered them with brown craft paper. This provides a neutral background to display the children’s work. In this area as seen in the photo, I glued a piece of black construction paper for each student (26 total) and used paperclips to hang their current “Self-Portrait” representation. As noted on page 85 of The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning, the self-portraits provide a gallery of the children’s work, as well as a source for assessment. Each month the children complete a new self-portrait and it is added on top of the previous month. Over time, one can see the development of fine motor skills, pictorial development, and writing abilities.

The other centres that are popular at this time are the blocks/building centre, drama centre (we just received a fridge and sink), and the play dough table. I do not have a specific number of students for each centre, however we limit according to what makes sense. If 5 or 6 children want to play in the dramatic centre, the children can accommodate to make it work. However, if 10 children ask to go to the drama centre, we say, “There isn’t enough space today,” and the child selects an alternative.  We are still adjusting our centres to meet the students needs and interests. This week I will be working on the art studio, writing centre and math centre. In the next blog, I will provide updates on this progress.

Photo of Roz Geridis

Getting to Know your Students

At the beginning of the year I complete some activities about the classroom environment. I look to build a community environment highlighting the classroom is as much theirs as it is mine. We completed a few activities but I wanted to share this particular one because the student responses really helped me understand and get to know them.

One of the activities we did this year was we talked about keeping the good in and the bad out of us in order to do well at school. We had a conversation about what helps us do well at school and what keeps us from doing well. Some responses about what helps us do well at school were: healthy eating, sleeping, completing homework, asking for help. Some of the responses about what bad things can keep us from doing well at school were: being late, not completing homework, eating bad, not getting enough sleep, bullying, people being mean, depression, anxiety.

The last two responses were comments which really made me pay attention to who said them. I immediately contacted the guidance counselor, informed the administration, and spoke to last year’s teachers. These two comments (from two different students) have helped me with my approach to the students. It made me remember, no matter what community you are in students could have a hard life and have a variety of family/life situations to handle. It reminded me of the need to make that connection as a person with the students.

Getting back to the activity; after our lesson, the students got into groups and traced one student in the group. Then as a group, they wrote what helps them to do well at school on the inside of the body and what keeps them from doing well on the outside of the body. The students really enjoyed the activity and every class (from grade 5 to grade 8) has asked to complete the activity. We have the final products hanging in the class as an everyday reminder. This year, I decided to not complete the activity with my prep classes but I will consider it for next year.

Classroom Set-Up

Setting Up My Grade 3 Classroom

A week and a half before school started, I accepted a Grade 3 LTO position at Joshua Creek Public School in the  Halton District School Board. As this was my very first experience having to set up my classroom and start the  school year off with my own class, I was a bit nervous yet very excited. I spent numerous days setting up  classroom, from bulletin boards, to desk groupings to our classroom library. I never knew how much time this  can take, but I feel it is key to have a welcoming class for student arrival.


How did I create a welcoming classroom?
* Posting a “Welcome” sign on my door with my name (Ms.  Pryde), room number (RM 25) and class designation  (3-1).  My welcome sign had frogs on it,  so I also wrote a catch  phrase of “Leap Into Learning”, and had small  frogs posted  on the door with each students name written on them
* Having students names posted on their locker and desks,  so they knew where to put their belongings
* Having colourful colours on my bulletin boards
* Labeling the classroom with pictures and words, so all students know a) where they can find things and b)  where things go (i.e. pencils, markers,         rulers, dictionaries, pencil crayons, erasers and I also labeled the  book bins in our classroom library)
* Created a central meeting place, which includes a carpet for students to be seated at

 As my school is a TRIBES school, I put my students in groups- 4 groups of 5 students. I also tried to ensure that  each group had roughly the same number of boys and girls (luckily, I was quite successful at this as I have very  close numbers of boys and girls). 

While setting up my classroom, I envisioned the different uses of my  classroom. So, I included a central meeting carpeted area with an easel  for modelled and shared instruction, as well as a comfortable place for  community circle or reading independently (or with a partner). I also set  up my guided reading table with chairs for my students. Textbooks,  dictionaries, classroom library books, clipboards, math manipulatives  and indoor recess games are placed on the shelves which are at student  level. I set up our listening area, with a stereo, audio books and  headphones, as well as a place for our classroom computer.

Overall, I was very pleased with my classroom setup, although it was a lot  of hard work! Luckily, my students really enjoy our classroom and I know  that all my time and effort was well worth it!

 

Photo of Alison Board

Getting Started In A New Grade and School

As I return to blog about my experiences this year, I have a different perspective of some of the challenges that September brings. In addition to a new program (Full-Day Kindergarten), I am also at a new school. The change is exciting, but learning the culture and practices of a new school takes time, as occasional teachers know all too well.

During the first week I was focused on creating an inviting and supportive environment for all the new students, and with staggered entry the number of students grew each day from 17 to 26. However, I was also getting accustomed to the many bells (bells for students and bells to remind teachers of duty), locating printers that were close to my classroom for print jobs, and learning school protocols for various incidents.

In addition to Carmen’s good advice in the previous post, I would like to add:

  • Be flexible. We love to plan, however flexibility is needed throughout the day dependent on the needs of the students, your colleagues, and your administration.
  • Be innovative. You may not have the materials or resources that you want for your ideal program, so draw on your own creativity and innovation.
  • Have a sense of humour. When things go array, see the humour and enjoy the laugh.
With Phase III of the Full-Day Kindergarten program being launched at my new school, we are all adapting to the unexpected. It helps that we communicate daily on what is working to establish consistent routines for entry, lunch hour, and dismissal in all the FDK classrooms. My classroom was previously a Special Education classroom. I set up the room with limited resources and furniture, though it is expected to arrive soon. We are waiting for a carpet, chairs, easels, and kitchen units for the drama centre. However, some creative borrowing has provided the necessities for the first few weeks of school.
I am attaching a photo of my room (15) before the make-over to a Full-Day Kindergarten room. Then I will post photos as the room evolves with materials, resources, and the children’s work. If anyone is interested in ideas for centres, let me know and I can also add a specific post in response to a question.
Room 15 (Before becoming a FDK room)