Blog – Page 105

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 Laura Bottrell Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General, Use of Technology

Digital Documentation

Documentation can be one of the most time consuming aspects of teaching Kindergarten and working with young learners. Especially in a program where there are no pencil-paper assessments, but rather the learning is something that is seen and heard.

I found a tool a few years ago that changed the way I document tremendously. Not only is documentation easy, natural and quick – it is inclusive of families and further builds our classroom community.

SeeSaw is an online documentation tool designed for teachers to capture the learning of students through photo, video and audio recording. What makes SeeSaw unique, and in my opinion its best feature, is that it acts as almost a social media tool for engaging parents and families. Here are some ways that SeeSaw is working wonders in my classroom:

SeeSaw is easy and quick, allowing me to capture learning in the moment. I have the app on our classroom iPad as well as my own device. This way, I’ve always got my documentation tool at hand when learning happens. The interface is easy to use and navigate. SeeSaw allows you to create a folder for each individual child, which is visible only to that child and their families. For each entry, I can select individual children, groups of children or post it to the entire class’ journal. SeeSaw allows you to add multiple teachers to the account, which makes co-teaching and collaborating with prep coverage teachers even easier.

SeeSaw has tools that deepen and strengthen learning. After capturing a photo, I have the option draw on top of the photo (even record and replay this drawing), as well as record audio. If I take a photo of a structure a child built in the block centre, I’ll ask them to add a label or verbally describe their creation. I can also record how my students are thinking while writing and view it again later. The opportunities to capture much more than a written sample are endless!

SeeSaw can be used by my students to document their own learning. This takes a little bit of scaffolding, but children as young as Kindergarteners can independently use SeeSaw to document their own learning. In my classroom, we have a designated SeeSaw iPad that children know they can access to take photos and videos of something they are proud of. This is powerful because, even with two educators in the room, we can’t always see everything that happens. At the end of the day, I can scroll through what the children chose to document that day and “approve” their posts to the journal. This provides so much insight into what my students think is important. In the older grades, the opportunities are endless to use this as a tool for paperless assessment.

SeeSaw has become the guide to our “reflecting and connecting” discussions. My favourite time of day is just before we head outside for our second outdoor block, when we all sit down together on the carpet and “see what we saw” – a term coined by one of my year two students! During this time, we scroll through the posts to SeeSaw from that day and talk about them. We might view a photo of an art project done by some students, invite them to talk further about it and then ask the entire group if they might feel inspired to try something similar the next day. This way, my students have a chance to see what other children are doing during the day and be inspired by their ideas. It also allows us to have reflecting and connecting conversations about our experiences. This continues at home, when children and parents can do the same together.

SeeSaw is the “one stop shop” when it comes time for writing the Communication of Learning. When it comes time for assessment and writing reports, I’ve got all of my documentation in one spot. I simply open that child’s folder and then have access to hundreds of photos, video footage and notes that I have entered about that child’s learning and development. I also record my students during their DRA assessments so I can share this with parents and I can refer back to their reading behaviours. This allows me to easily include very personalised information into my comments, including direct quotes from their videos and audio recordings.

SeeSaw brings parents into our classroom and opens doors for family involvement. My favourite thing about SeeSaw is how inclusive it is of families. As I mentioned earlier, it acts almost as a social media platform where parents can view their child’s or class wide content, “like” it and even add comments. The comments build community between families but also acts as a communication line between the child and their parent. If a comment pops up during the day, shortly after I post something, I will share it with the child and then we reply to the comment together. Parents in my class are fully informed about what we’re doing in the classroom and what their child works on during the day. Many parents have told me that it has become a nightly ritual to sit with their child and look at SeeSaw together, discussing the events of the day. Parents love the app because it provides spark points for discussions about what their children are learning, rather than asking what they did that day and being told “nothing!”. SeeSaw also has a messaging tool that allows me to send announcements to families (for reminders, etc) and a private messaging tool that I use for all communication with our families.

SeeSaw is a wonderful tool for all grade levels. So far, I have used it with Kindergarten, 2/3 and 5/6 and have found new and wonderful uses for it in each setting! If you’re looking to try something new with the way you document your students’ learning, I recommend checking out this awesome – and free – app!

January 23, 2018January 23, 2018 Kelly.McLaughlin General

Venngage: new and useful online program

While visiting Hillfield private school the other day with the grade eight students at my school, I came across many different grade eight presentation displays. We went to learn more about ways to help the environment and after hearing an excellent WE presentation, we were able to explore the grade eight presentations. They all worked on various topics such as the liquid in ice packs, growing habitats for various plants, stereotyping, etc. There were over 50 topics and they were all made on these beautiful display posters. I had to ask the students where they had designed these posters since they looked beyond professional. They had used a program called venngage. A nearby teacher said they if you want them poster size you need to print them with an outside company such as kinkos but if you want them just your standard size of paper then you can print them off any computer.

After leaving that conference, I went online right away to check out the program. There are many things you can do with it that will not cost you any money at all. Some more exciting features such as saving your work to a PDF would involve you paying the monthly costs. After playing around with the program I discovered exciting features such as adding bar graphs to the document, pie graphs, text and various professional looking icons that make the page stand out.

I taught my grade four/five class how to use this program to display their recent data management project results. I will attach a few photos of their finished work. It took them less than an hour and it was a neat and organized way for them to display their results for their final data project. An awesome program worth checking out!

January 17, 2018January 17, 2018 Laura Bottrell Classroom Management, General, Professional Learning and Growth

Guiding Principles

I’ve been doing some self-directed professional development on behaviour management lately. I have a personal interest in the psychology behind learning and development, and as a Kindergarten teacher this is my main area of focus on a daily basis. Before my students will learn literacy and math, I need to ensure their social and emotional well-being.

I recently took a PD session through my board where I was inspired to take a step back and think about my language in the classroom. How do my words and actions influence the behaviour and well-being of my students? After all, behaviour management in a classroom is influenced the greatest by the teacher’s words and actions, rather than those of the children.

As adults, we are tempted to flood our children with rules. These rules make us feel better. If we redirect our students constantly, we will keep them safe and ensure they are doing what we want, right? Well, this isn’t always the case. Think of how many commands, comments or redirection you dole out to your student on a daily basis. These phrases may sound familiar to you:

“Don’t run in the hall”

“Quiet voices inside”

“Don’t build that tower too high”

“Get down from that chair”

“Careful with those scissors”

“Hands to yourself”

“That wasn’t very nice”

“I don’t like to hear those words”

The list goes on, and on, and on, and on. But what if we don’t need to spew out these phrases repeatedly? What if there was a way to get that message across without overloading our kids with what, will inevitably, become white noise to them? We know that overloading kids with language can be overwhelming and as a result, can bring about even more behaviours.

This is where guiding principles come in. For your classroom, choose a phrase or a few words that define what you believe to be the most important rules. In our classroom, we use:

“At school, we are safe and kind”.

Rather than throwing out constant redirection and comments as listed above, we simply repeat this statement to our class. Why is this effective? We’re using simple language with words that are clear and effective. Almost any situation that could come up in your classroom can be successfully redirected using this phrase. For students who are ready, it can be turned into a question to get kids thinking and reflecting about problems as they arise. For example, if a student is running in the hallway I might stop them and say, “At school we are safe. Are you being safe?”, rather than giving the command, “Stop running in the halls”. For a group of students that are not including someone in their play, I might remind them, “At school we are kind. Are you being kind?”. I think of the two words as umbrellas that all desirable and undesirable behaviours can be categorised under.

This method has worked wonders in our Kindergarten classroom. I always know my strategies are effective when I hear my students repeating my language. Since beginning using guiding principles, I hear my students guiding each other through situations by using the exact same phrase, “At school we are safe and kind!”. Undesirable behaviours are being stopped much faster and I’m noticing more mindful students.

I do believe that there is never a “perfect” or “correct” method for anything in teaching, as we know, every group of children is different. This particular method has really changed how I think and interact with my students and has been a wonderful guide to my own approach to behaviour management. I encourage you to give it a try!

January 16, 2018January 17, 2018 Laura Bottrell General, Outdoor Education, Outdoor Learning, Play-Based Learning

A Tree-Mendous Learning Opportunity

Outdoor learning is becoming an increasingly important and celebrated element of the Kindergarten program. As more and more teachers are beginning to embrace true inquiry and play-based learning, time spent outdoors is becoming a focal point of the Kindergarten day rather than a “break from the learning”. Outdoor time IS the learning.

My Kindergarten class spends upwards of two and a half hours outside each day. We begin and end the day outside, which helps us arrive at school smoothly, eliminate transitions (especially with those pesky winter clothes) and get valuable physical activity before entering the classroom. Unless there’s a cyclone, we’re out there.

The school I teach at is very lucky to have an amazing outdoor learning space. Designed by a natural playground company, our outdoor space is filled with sand boxes, stumps, giant logs for climbing and trees. It is an outdoor learning lover’s dream! Not one primary coloured, plastic thing in sight. I really love the pedagogy behind forest schools or completely outdoor schools, and while we aren’t quite set up for that here (or ready for that amount of norm-challenging!), I think our outdoor space comes pretty close.

My students are always engaged when we are outside. Whether it’s finding interesting pieces of nature, building forts, dramatic play or digging in the sand – all of my students are learning.

We love to introduce new and interesting nature activities. In the fall, we began to hone our skills at wood whittling. This can be done safely with proper adult supervision, some potato peelers and freshly picked sticks off a bush or tree. My students always feel so empowered when we allow them to engage in “risky” play!

After the holidays, we asked our families to donate their discarded Christmas trees to our playground. We were so impressed at the response when we returned to find about 30 pine trees laying in our yard! This began the most engaging experience we’ve had outside yet.

Other than a quick chat about making choices that are safe and kind, we didn’t assign any rules to these new materials we had to explore. The children quickly put them to use by moving them around the space, rearranging them into walls, forts and mountains. They climbed on, under and between them. The dramatic play that happened was so rich. Children demonstrated perseverance and grit when they couldn’t lift a tree or got stuck. There was a huge amount of problem solving, communication and collaboration as the students negotiated how to safely move the trees and build different structures.

After a few days of exploring the trees, we interrupted the play by suggesting that we all work together as a class to build a fort. This is when we brought out the hand saws! Saws?! Many people panic at the thought of Kindergarteners using saws. In our program, we are working to empower and build confidence in our students. We want them to have applicable, real world skills. What better time and place to learn how to do “risky” things, than when you have several careful adults supervising and guiding you? So, in our class… we saw!

Students had the opportunity to saw branches off the trees under 1:1 supervision. Once we have enough loose branches, we plan to use sticks and twine to build a large fort in the corner of our playground. We will learn about how to make the structure walls and roof, and our students will take the lead in all of the design and construction process. Talk about a hands-on, authentic project!

We are all at different comfort levels with outdoor learning and exploration. I hope this post might inspire you to rethink and challenge your outdoor play norms to turn it into something valuable and authentic for your students! After all, being outside is our Kindergartener’s natural habitat!

January 13, 2018 Will Gourley Challenging Topics, Classroom Management, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health

The detour

Wanderers, tourists, sight seers, visitors, escape artists, runners…”Hey!” this teacher asks, with a smile, “See any cool artwork today?” or maybe the exchanges are in passing such as, “How are you? How’s your day going?” However, what rarely gets asked is, “Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?”

Have you ever observed a student or few who seem to be conspicuously far away from their usual classroom or floor? Have you ever watched them take the long way around the school to complete an errand? How about the students who take the time to ponder every single art exhibition or piece of student work in the hallways? Not surprisingly, these are the same students who are frequently found quenching their thirsts at the farthest drinking fountains or outside of their friend’s classes waving as well.

At first, I paid little attention to moments like these. Perhaps those students were delivering messages to the office or helping another teacher? Of course it’s a possibility, but I was able to discern the difference quite quickly when the students being observed were empty handed, on the opposite side of the school building relative to the office, and not in possession of a good reason for being in that particular space and time. I have to empathize with students like this. That was me too. I used to take lots of notes to the office for my teachers. I wonder if those notes said, “Please keep William busy for a few minutes and then send him back. Thank you.”?

The Thinking Lap

Maybe the students that I’m seeing are taking a lap to think? Most times I use this option as a means to support anxious, stressed, and or physically active learners. A walkabout is an excellent mental health strategy for all of us, but then I started to see some patterns that piqued my attention. The students who I was regularly seeing in the hallways, were showing up at around the same times each day? Was there something going on that they needed to get out of class at the same time each day? It was then that I began to see this through a different lens.

In my role as SERT, I provide resource support in a number of classes throughout the school. Recently, I observed a student from the intermediate panel at a water fountain on a different floor about 30 minutes into the first period of the day. Harmless enough in itself, but what struck me about all of this was the fact that the student would have had to pass at least 2 other fountains along the way. 45 minutes later they were skipping down an empty hall during class to their locker. 30 minutes after that, back at the faraway fountain. I smiled, said hello, and went about my morning.

Perhaps they are enjoying an extended walk to work out some stress? If so, what are the underlying factors that explain this student’s to need be out of class so often? Could all of their self-navigated detours be coincidence? Barring medical issues, this is less likely to be believable based on frequency and time of day. What’s worth noting as well, are the other students who might be taking their own detours around the school.

3 Questions and 3 Answers

Q1. Would these students like to have someone to walk alongside and listen?
Q2. How many others feel like doing the same, but don’t act on it?
Q3. How can wonderlust be infused into these learners’ days to go with their wanderlust?

A1. It depends on whether they will be heard or given a hard time for being in the wrong place at the wrong time without any understanding by others.
A2. If there is one, there are others. Albeit subtle, shifting, shuffling, and staring into space are good indicators to teachers that students need a break.
A3. Throw the map away sometimes. Keeping the learning space, active, challenged, and engaged is often a trip to an undiscovered land. It is an act of re-invention and creativity that takes practice, patience, and persistence. Don’t be afraid to change directions by throwing in detours of your own.

Thank you for reading this post. Please take time to comment and share to keep the conversation going. Enjoy your detours.

January 13, 2018February 1, 2018 Michelle Fenn Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Occasional Teachers, Occasional Teaching, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources, The Arts

Teaching Dramatic Arts-Resource Recommendations

My first Additional Qualification Specialist was in Dramatic Arts. When I signed on at my current school board I worked as an overlay teacher between two schools and taught whatever I was assigned by the Teachers for whom I provided preparation time. I was mostly asked to teach art, drama, dance, and music. These curriculum areas are my passions but not all Teachers feel qualified or comfortable teaching these subjects. Drama seems to be one of those courses that some Teachers “tack on” for a week or two just before a reporting period and with good reason, they aren’t comfortable teaching it and it can become difficult to manage behaviour during dramatic arts.

Drama lends itself well to all areas of the language curriculum. There is a misconception that Drama and Theatre are the same thing and that scripts and plays are the end goal of the Dramatic Arts curriculum. However, there are many ways in which to incorporate Dramatic Arts activities into the daily language curriculum and you don’t ever have to mount a full scale production. Drama doesn’t have to be scary.

One of the best resources that I recommend to Teachers who have Dramatic Arts Anxiety is the DramaNotebook website. It has all of the Drama games you will ever need all in one place and is especially handy for Occasional Teachers for transition times. In addition, it has poems and scripts that you can access from 2 parts up to 30 parts. There is a sign up for a cost, but there is also many free items including 40 drama games for teachers.

Another great Canadian source for drama lessons is Larry Swartz. He is an Educational Consultant, author, speaker and Dramatic Arts specialist. His book, “Dramathemes” is in it’s 3rd edition and is used in many Education Faculties in Ontario. It not only provides “activities” but it creates units that are easily integrated into the language curriculum.

The Council of Drama and Dance Educators has a fantastic website and there are many free resources which are written by educators and can be accessed even if you are not a member of CODE. In addition, they have a conference each year held in the fall which provides opportunities to learn along with other Educators.

I would also highly recommend the Arts resources from ETFO. The Primary ETFO Arts and Revised ETFO Arts resources provide an integrated approach to all of the Arts. You can find them at Shop ETFO on the website by following the link below.

http://www.etfo.ca/SupportingMembers/Resources/pages/shopetfo.aspx

Revised ETFO Arts (2014) $23

Ref. #91.129 The Revised ETFO Arts book is a practical step-by-step handbook for junior/intermediate grade teachers who want to include the Arts in their classroom program by introducing all the elements of dance, drama, music and visual arts.

Primary ETFO Arts (2013) $20

Ref. #91.169 Primary ETFO Arts is a publication that features 10 picture books that will pique children’s interest with their universal themes, issues and questions. Each section of Primary ETFO Arts includes engaging verbal and non-verbal activities to stimulate imagination, communication and critical thinking.

I hope that these resources provide you with some ideas and inspiration. I am always looking for more. If you have some other resources to recommend; please add a comment.

January 8, 2018 Deb Weston Health & Safety

Health & Safety … Make it Happen!

As a classroom teacher in a school, I often forget I am also classified as a worker in a workplace. For teachers, health and safety is an important part of our work environment. It’s crucial that teachers have a safe workplace in order to do their jobs and students have safe places to learn. I know about many of the commonly occurring issues because I’ve experienced them first hand.

Health and safety is important to all workers

Many teachers think that health and safety issues are the responsibility of the custodial staff and/or the health and safety designated inspectors/workers. In fact, health and safety is the responsibility of all workers and workers have a duty of care to report health and safety concerns to the administration immediately. Without these health and safety reports, workers can get injured. Injured workers increase costs as they need to take time off to heal from injuries or sometimes must change jobs if injuries are extensive.

Let’s bring this down to a classroom teacher level …

Teachers love paper!

Teachers love to plaster their classroom walls and doors with student work and messages of inspiration. So what’s the big health and safety issue with paper? Paper catches fire easily and can prevent students and teachers from exiting their classrooms. This is especially a problem when paper is plastered on classroom doors as decorations.

How can students leave their class if their steel classroom door is on fire? A common measurement of excessive paper is about 20% of paper covering the wall space. As a trained designated health and safety worker/inspector, I use bulletin boards to estimate the amount of paper that should be on the walls. Paper should also not be on the ceiling or over doorways as it could fall on students and teachers upon exiting the classroom. Fortunately, I have not had any paper fires in my classroom, but I have had paper fall from my classroom door onto students as they were exiting during a fire drill … it happened when I was a new teacher, Yup.

Advice to new teachers: Keep your doors clear of paper so your classroom exit is clear.

Setting off school sensors is BAD!

Another thing falling paper can do (be it on walls or doors) is set off the school fire and security sensors. Setting off sensors costs money as it means a custodian or security person needs to come in to investigate the sensor trigger. Before being aware of this issue, I was guilty of setting off the security sensors in my classroom which made a custodian upset because it took her 2 hours to find the source of the sensor disruption!

Advice to new teachers: Never get the custodians “annoyed” with you.

Teachers love to decorate their classroom and bring stuff to school!

Teachers love to make their classrooms look inviting. I understand this as a classroom teacher. But did you know that anything electrical needs to be approved? – check out the ESA Recognized Certification Marks for Ontario.

https://www.esasafe.com/consumers/safety-and-security/product-safety/recognized-marks

Inexpensive lamps, lights, and electrical appliances may not have this approval and they could be at risk of catching fire! Appliances can catch fire … I once had my classroom mini fridge catch fire, really, it was bad. Fortunately, I put out the fire before it set off alarms and alerted the office and my principal.

Some teachers have a mini kitchen in their classrooms with fridges, microwaves, kettles, and coffee makers. I’ve walked into some teachers classrooms were teachers could make a complete dinner without leaving their room. Extra kitchen appliances can flip electrical breakers which the principal finds out about. Fixing the breakers costs money. Once my son burnt his hand while heating up his lunch in his teacher’s classroom microwave. Fortunately, it was not a bad burn.

Advice to new teachers: Keep kitchen appliances out of your classroom.

Teachers love to decorate and hang things from the ceiling.

Teachers also bring in extra rugs, furniture, and curtains just to make their classroom feel inviting. But the problem is that these items may not pass fire or school safety standards. Rugs are especially notorious for being tripping hazards as they move when teachers step on them! Yes, as a teacher with a tendency to trip, I’ve tripped over my share of rugs, wires, chairs, and an assortment of school supplies. I was fortunately not hurt.

Teachers also love hanging things from ceilings like tree branches, curtains, mobiles, and other assorted decorations. Based on what I have already written, these hanging objects can be classified under fire hazards and security and fire sensor triggers. Yes, I have also set off a school fire alarm sensor during a winter storm … it was a long time ago before I knew better.

Advice to new teachers: Do not hang things from your classroom ceiling.

Teachers do not throw out their teaching stuff … in case they need it!

Teachers, including me, love to collect stuff … just in case they will need it later to teach a great unit. Stuff in the classroom is not a problem until it is not stored properly and becomes clutter. Proper storage means storing things on secured shelving that is attached to walls. Proper storage also means not storing things high up on shelves as it can fall down on people. Proper storage should not hinder exiting the classroom. Areas around classroom door exits need to be clear of clutter, shelving, toys, shoes, etc so students and teachers can get out of their classrooms fast.

Advice to new teachers: Store classroom items safely and get rid of clutter.

Make health and safety part of your teaching practice!

As a teacher I’ve learned much from my health and safety mistakes and fortunately no one was harmed. As a trained designated health and safety worker, I was educated to be aware of how dangerous a classroom can be for all learners. Keeping our classrooms and schools safe takes a critical eye to recognize hazards.

Remember, accidents can happen at any time. It is just as likely for a classroom door to catch fire, when the door is decorated for one day vs. being decorated every day of the school year. Think of health and safety like wearing seatbelts. We wear seatbelts all the time because car accidents can happen at any time. So practice your teaching with health and safety in mind at all times!

Let’s work collaboratively together to keep our classrooms and schools safe for all staff, students, and visitors.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston

December 31, 2017 Deb Weston agency, Health & Safety, Mental Health, Violence in Schools

Duty to Report School Violence

As an elementary teacher, with 18 years experience, I’ve seen my share of violence in schools. In 3 lockdowns, I’ve had to keep my students quiet, calm, and safe. As a classroom teacher, I’ve had objects thrown at me (like chairs). More than once, I’ve been purposely hit and kicked so hard, bruises were left. I once had a student put an unknown substance in my tea. I’ve been harassed and threatened by students’ parents too many times to count. After making a call to the Children’s Aid Society, I had to be escorted to my car as my student’s mother was harassing me. I have personally witnessed students destroy/trash teachers’ classrooms and their personal property. And based on my own observations, the violence is increasing in schools.

There is research to support my anecdotal observations. Based on information from ETFO (Action on Violence in Schools), ETFO members are increasing facing violent incidents in schools and workplaces. This violence increases physical and mental harm to both adults and children. With violence, teaching and learning is disrupted. Teachers and students can develop anxiety that violence will occur again.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) completed a comprehensive member research survey in June 2017, carried out by Pollara. The survey noted that elementary schools tend to experience more threats and acts of violence than high schools.

The highlights of the report, OECTA Survey of Violence in Schools, were telling:

Nearly nine-in-ten teachers experienced or witnessed violence or harassment in schools
94% of all violent incidents were perpetrated by students
70% of teachers witnessed violence
60% of teachers personally experienced violence
15% of incidence involved weapons – 76% were classroom objects, 22% were a knife/blade, 8% were gun/fire arm/shotgun
elementary teachers experienced … threats of physical assault 43%; attempted physical assault 42%; actual physical assaults 36%

The resultant impact on teachers was also long term:

58% of teachers experienced significant psychological stress
56% of teachers experienced property damage
40% of teachers experienced physical harm
26% of teachers had to take time off work due to resultant health issues

So what are the schools doing about this violence in schools?

25% of teachers were either encouraged or actively pressured by administrators to not fill out a reporting form (often called Violent Incident Report)
25% of teachers who personally experienced violence were encouraged by administration to not report the incident to police

Teachers also reported that they felt administration did not take violent incidence seriously.

82% of teachers were not given appropriate resources/tools to deal with violent situations
74% of teachers who experienced violence and harassment reported they did not feel safe in their classrooms
72% of teachers reported that students and staff did not receive adequate protection against violence and harassment

ETFO has put an action plan in place, ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence, to make members’ schools and workplaces safer. This includes excellent videos, a brochure, and a poster. I strongly encourage you to check out these resources as they provide critical information to protect you, your colleagues, and your students against violence in schools.

So what can teachers do to support ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence?

Make schools and workplaces safe

ETFO’s call to action and strategy to address violence in school board workplaces involves many stakeholders and it starts with collaboration, training and accountability (from ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence).

2. Know your rights to a safe workplace (ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence Brochure)

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act:

Your principal has a duty to provide you with information about the risks of harm from a person with a history of violence.
You may refuse to work or do particular work where you have reason to believe that the work is likely to endanger you.
If you believe you are being endangered by workplace violence, then report your concerns to the principal right away and get immediate assistance.

School Boards & Principals

School boards and principals are required to investigate and deal with reports of workplace violence and serious student incidents.
Both, boards and principals, are required to conduct assessments of the risks of violence as often as necessary to continue to protect ETFO members from the risks of harm.
Both, boards and principals, are required to take measures and procedures to control identified risks. In the school setting, these steps could include, for example, a safety plan, a behaviour plan, staffing and supports.

You have a duty to report violence in schools (ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence Brochure)

Under the OHSA, ETFO members have specific duties to report workplace violence.
Under the Education Act, ETFO members have specific duties to report serious student incidents. These duties are further described in Ministry policies PPM 144 and PPM 145.
Should workplace violence cause an injury or illness, an accident/injury/illness report is required. It is just as important to seek medical attention for psychological and emotional harm as it is for physical injury when workplace violence happens.
Your duty to report workplace violence and serious student incidents cannot be limited by age, needs or other mitigating factors. If you are having difficulties making these required reports, get in touch with your steward or ETFO local as soon as possible to get support.

Support for ETFO Members

Contact your ETFO local for advice and support at etfo.ca/link/locals.
You can also contact ETFO provincial staff in Professional Relations Services at 416-962-3836/1-888-838-3836.
For information and resources on workplace violence and serious student incidents, visit etfohealthandsafety.ca .

Educate yourself and your colleagues on workplace violence

As noted above, ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence has been put in place to make members’ schools and workplaces safer. I strongly encourage you to check out these resources below as they provide critical information to protect you, your colleagues, and your students against violence in schools.

ETFO’s Action on Violence in Schools

ETFO’s Action on Violence in Schools Poster

ETFO’s Action on Violence in Schools Brochure

Supporting ETFO Members – PRS Matters

I have experienced violence and harassment in schools but I have not been seriously injured. Based on the results from the OECTA Survey of Violence in Schools, I have been fortunate.

Know Your Rights to a Safe Workplace!

It’s up to you to support ETFO’s Action Plan on School Violence.

It’s up to you to fulfill your Duty to Report school violence.

With your support, together, we can make schools safer for our schools, our colleagues, and our students.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston

December 31, 2017 Arianna Lambert Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources

Goal Setting

As the year winds down, I take time to reflect on the year that has past and consider setting a few goals for the year to come. Not only do I do this personally but I’ve often seen the new year as a great opportunity to work with students to consider what they might like to achieve moving forward in the school year.

Over the years, I’ve considered different types of goal setting but have found SMART Goals as being the most effective, personally and in my work with students. SMART Goals are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. This year, I created a SMART Goal Action Plan to work on with my students. Using this Google Doc, students will decide on a goal that they would like to accomplish and answer questions to make sure that their goals are indeed SMART. Now I know that I’ve made New Year’s Resolutions in the past that were easily forgotten by January 3rd, but I also know that an essential part of achieving our goals is support and accountability. By having students turn-in their work in Google Classroom, I’ll have the opportunity to conference with them on their action plan and have ongoing discussions as they progress. Part of the learning is going through the process. I’m really excited to support students in achieving something that is of importance to them and the hope is that by participating in this process, they may gain the skills necessary to continue to set SMART goals, personally and academically.

What goals are you setting for yourself and for your students this year? All the best for 2018!

December 30, 2017January 1, 2018 Will Gourley Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Modern Learning, self reflection

The destination

This is the companion post to The drive shared on December 30, 2017. I wrote it because trips are always more fun with a partner.

When I was in grade school, there always seemed to be one adult whose job it was to ask students, “What do want to be when you grow up?” For some reason, this was more of a cruel conundrum rather than a sparkling conversational point. I hated hearing this question in my day. I still cringe whenever it gets asked today. Secretly, I hope students respond with something creative like Unicorn rancher or underwater coffee shop owner – anything will do, as long as it changes the subject.

I see the question more like asking students to pick the trip of their lifetime without ever having a chance to take a Geography lesson, browse a web-site or read any reviews on TripAdvisor.¹ Even though our jobs are to provide and guide our students, we still must let our learners decide their own destination(s).

This is cause for concern because I fear we’re running out of road(s) for some of our learners. For many, the destinations are leading to dead-ends instead of their dreams coming true. If we consider the ruthless nature of the real world our graduates will face, there will be many detours, breakdowns, and accidents outside of the classroom courtesy of life. And yes there will be traffic, road closures, and potholes. This makes it even more crucial for us to be paving new roads with our learners.

It’s hard to drive.
It’s even more difficult to discover what drives us.
Then there’s always the destination where departure times depend.
Decidedly, education helps define destiny and dignity.

Over the past 9 years of my teaching journey, I have sped past a few common sites along the way. Like the repeating background of an old cartoon or the cookie-cutter rest stops that line the highway – each with the same caffeine, food, and fuel options. They are;

A. Our students are taught to worry so much about the destination that they risk getting lost or forgetting the reason for their journey all together. If all they are taught to see is a mark, then it is time to redraw the maps and reprogram the GPS.

B. There is no amount of training to completely equip educators for every iteration of classroom they will work within. Some or most of the learning will come on the job, and that’s okay. Redrawing the map required, again.

C. Worksheets are neither the solution for active engagement, nor parents who demand homework for their child. They are most likely mind-numbing disengagement exercises destined for the recycling bin if not managed. How can students be free to think when the answers are fed to them to regurgitate on a page? Maybe this paper could be used for the maps instead?

D. No matter how much teachers care for their student’s well-being, academic achievement, or future they will still be allowed to fall through the cracks due to decisions made outside of our school walls. This is hard to understand, but we have to accept it and support these students where possible inside of the system.

E. Students have voices that need to be equipped and amplified. If we are not listening to our learners when they whisper, it will be too late to help when they are screaming at us. Asking students for feedback, ideas, and improvements has been one of my favourite and frightening activities. It can hurt the ego from time to time, but can also break down barriers in the classroom that can lead to more effective and honest feedback as learning.

Destination TBA is A-OK

Over the course of their learning, students will change their minds 1000s of times. They will find something interesting one week and then something different the next. What worked to inspire them last year may be the thing that gets in their way the next. As educators, we have to consider the importance of our work in preparing students to reach their destinations not ours. We must always be creating new roads for them to travel not just maintaining existing ones. We must also be teaching our students to read and draw the maps to their own future.

There will also be slamming brakes, reversing at full speed, doing donuts in snowy parking lots, and tearing out engines for rebuilding. We will fill their tanks, provide directions, and clean windshields. Yet, as elementary teachers, we rarely get to see our impact on students once they’ve traveled further down life’s roads.

Hopefully, they’ll send an occasional postcard and maybe a map to let us know they’ve arrived at their destination.

1. I used to tell people corporate lawyer so they would leave me alone. It seemed to cover all of the bases even though I would have rather pursued diplomatic or NGO work overseas. And now, here I am – a teacher, writer, and question askerer.