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Sangeeta.McAuley Building Inclusion, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Wellness

One student at a time…

Sometimes when I look at my students, I wonder: how can I meet the needs of everyone?

Will I be able to support the student who is feeling bullied or the student who struggles to grip a pencil? Will I figure out the best way to explain to a parent that we are focusing on inclusion and gender equality when that may be contrary to how she was educated?

And the answer that comes to mind is definite: not every minute of every day.

But…I can start with one student at a time.

Take “Matthew”. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and takes medication daily to help him manage impulse control and the challenges he has with filtering his thoughts. Matthew’s medication is time-released and so the first few hours of the morning are very difficult for him until things start to ‘kick in’, as he calls it.

So, I tried a few things. I gave him time to do something hands-on when he first came in, but he became frustrated. I used my gym time first thing in the morning to help him work through some of his excess energy, but it seemed to distract him more.

Then last week, I decided to make a morning message for him. I recorded a personal greeting that gave him information about what we would be doing that morning and how he might be successful in those tasks. As he listens, it helps him to access an inner voice he knows he has, but he just can’t hear yet.

Of course, there is no magic answer for Matthew or for any of my kids for that matter. Like us, they will have up and down days and sometimes things won’t work. But maybe if I take on one student at a time, I can start to meet their needs…and mine.

 

 

Photo of Sangeeta McCauley
Sangeeta.McAuley Before School Starts, Mentorship, Professional Learning and Growth, Wellness

Go-to-People

Thinking about Roz’s commitment to taking care of herself, I realize that one way I have been taking care of myself is by making a mental list of “go-to-people”.

In my classroom, my students have “go-to people” they can approach when they need some help: it may be someone who draws comics well or someone who likes to incorporate humour into their writing. But this concept isn’t limited to just kids…

There are a variety of colleagues I am learning from who I can go to when I need to talk about curriculum planning or when I have a student that I’m trying to reach. That’s the beauty of teaching: we are not alone working in our little cubicles, there are doors open to us and we need to take advantage of that, for our own peace of mind and wellness.

The relationships we nurture with our students is just as important as the relationships we nurture with our colleagues.

So, when you look around, who are your “go-to-people”???

Photo of Sangeeta McCauley
Sangeeta.McAuley Building Inclusion, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Learning About Your Students

Making Connections with Family

Thinking about Carmen’s experiences at her “Meet the Teacher” night reinforces for me how important it is to connect with the families of our students.

Building inclusion goes beyond what we do in our classrooms and if we are going to connect with family members, using less jargon and the words of our students can make a difference.

When our “Meet the Teacher” night came, I asked my students, “What would you like to share with your families about our classroom?” and the answers started pouring in. Not surprisingly, there was very little emphasis on curriculum!!! They wanted to share what they had helped to create: our reading corner, the desk setup, how they can earn class points and so on.

So, I took all their ideas and made a checklist, which they could access when they came in with their families. It was so exciting to observe my students bringing their families into their world at school. It also gave me an opportunity to observe the relationships they have with parents, siblings and grandparents. Once the “tour” was done, then I could chat with family members and answer any questions they had.

Each family left with handouts of the topics we would be covering throughout the year (which still tend to be a bit of an overdose on jargon) so to balance this out, I also send home newsletters with questions that family members can ask my students about what they are learning (see section below). We call it an “Ask-Me” letter and my students helped me develop the questions for their families.

Writing Personal Stories – Ask me…

-what is a seed story and a watermelon story?

-what is the difference between storytelling and telling a story?

-how am I writing the lead to my story?

Problem-solving in Math – Ask me…

-what are some ways you can solve a problem?

-what is one strategies that has worked for me?

-what is “working backwards” or “guess and check”?

 

Ideally, I hope to have them design the next newsletter, but for now, it’s a start!!!

 

 

 

Photo of Sangeeta McCauley
Sangeeta.McAuley Classroom Layouts, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, First Week Reflections, General, Professional Learning and Growth

Choice in the learning environment

Returning to the classroom after working at a central level for 6 years has been an awesome experience so far…I feel like a beginning teacher all over again!

One of the interesting questions that I thought about when planning my first week had to do with choice: how do we know when to involve our students in decision-making and which decisions need to be more teacher-driven?

So, I set out to experiment on the first day of school, by letting my Grade 4 students determine which configuration would work best for the classroom desks. I knew this experiment would tell me a lot about my students, such as their problem-solving skills and how they worked together with their classmates.

It was a new feeling for me, always having had student desks already set up for the first day!

To prepare, I came up with some conditions:

-certain areas were to remain as they were (e.g., the reading corner, the conference area, my desk)

-each group had to present their model and the thinking behind it

-the desks were to be arranged in groups, but the number at each group could vary (e.g., there could be some groups of 6 and some groups of 3)

-they would need to include a space where students could go to work quietly on their own, if needed

-when we add to the room (e.g., new students, a SMARTBOARD, etc.), we may need to revisit the plan

After sharing these conditions on a chart with my class, they organized themselves into groups and set off to plan! It was exciting to see how each group had their own unique style. One group  first calculated how many students we had and thus, how groupings could work. Two other groups drew in the conditions first, then planned from there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would I do this again? Absolutely!

I learned that as teachers we cannot underestimate our students’ capabilities. Giving them choice in creating their classroom environment empowered my students and the interest they took in actually moving the desks to reflect the plan we chose was amazing to watch.

The fact that I had written the conditions ahead of time led me to realize my students benefitted from knowing that sometimes when we make choices, there are structures and boundaries we need to work within…

Next up, settting up our reading corner!!!