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Beverly Papove Outdoor Education, Play-Based Learning

Here we go with the snow

Monday morning, we went to school in the first blizzard of the year. It was bitterly cold, and the wind howled around, blowing the 20 centimetres of snow into small drifts. Was there ever a question that our outdoor learning block at the beginning of the day would be cancelled? I am not comfortable just automatically calling for an indoor morning during inclement weather, and usually tend to have a Big Think if I do. So, making sure that all my students had the requisite cold weather clothing, we set out in the morning as usual.

In a previous post, I mentioned how baking hot the kindergarten playground is during the warm and sunny months, but I had no idea how miserable it could be in the cold. With the cold weather, it turns into a wind tunnel, creating a crusty surface of snow and ice. WIth the climbing structure now closed, there is little to do when the conditions are so unfavourable. The only shelter is a small plastic playhouse in a corner, and the rest of the area is open to the elements as the wind whips up the hill from the river and blasts the yard. If a student drops a mitten, it creates mayhem as they run squealing after it before it gets pinned by the wind to the chain link fence at the other side of the yard. Hilarious.

So, I admit that while I was hollering the students’ names into the wind in order to be heard while I took attendance, I began to have second thoughts about the idea of staying outside for the morning block. I am glad to say that we decided to stay outdoors, but not in the kindergarten yard which was so inhospitable. We decided, instead, to go on a walk in the snow around the school where we could at least get out of the wind and allow the students to have some fresh air and fun. Having taught in an Inuit community at the top of Hudson’s Bay, I remember recess time on the tundra where it was often cold and blustery and staying indoors was not an option. You dress for it, and without making a point of whatever opinion you may have of winter, you get out into it and enjoy yourself.

As we trudged through the drifts, I was so impressed with the children’s resilience in spite of the cold. There are some students who have never been through an Ottawa winter and who have to borrow warm clothing each day for our outdoor block, and yet, there they were, laughing as they would try to walk in the deep snow and fall into their friends, or as they made snow angels for the first time. We climbed the mountains of snow the plow had pushed to one end of the junior yard, then rolled down the hill at the back of the school into a field of fresh drifts.

It took us over half an hour to navigate the complete school yard and make it back to the fenced-in kindergarten yard. The wind was still howling and a couple of mittens had fallen off during the climbing adventures, so, looking at the rosy cheeks and running noses, my ECE partner and I started a slow filter indoors for any students who were ready for a change of environment. While most children filed into the classroom, a handful wanted to stay outside and asked me for the toboggans. Since we were all well-dressed and well-prepared to continue staying outdoors for a little while longer, the tobogganing was a bonus activity that saw the students continue to independently explore a host of different ways to slide down the hill. Reflecting on what the students were learning, I easily made anecdotal notes for all for the Four Frames, excepting LIteracy and Mathematics Behaviours. What’s more, the students looked out for one another before heading down the hill, patiently took turns, and helped each other up the hill if they struggled with their sled. They were a very happy crew, and when we made our way back to the classroom, although many of them would have preferred to stay outside a while longer, everyone brought their sled back to the shed and stacked it properly without a complaint.

When we got inside and they were peeling off crusty mittens and snowy boots, you could hear sighs of, “That was so much fun!” from the cubby room. It’s only the first snowfall, but I am really happy that it was a positive experience for all the students. I will remember that the next time we get walloped by winter weather.

Will Gourley Assessment, Celebrating Success, General, Mental Health, Report Cards

The upside of encouragement

Photo by Peter Kratochvil https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Photo by Peter Kratochvil https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

It’s that time of year again. Autumn leaves have turned colour and fallen without a care to the ground. Halloween candy supplies are at seasonal lows and sugar fuelled misbehaviour incidents are subsiding.

There is a love-hate feeling attached to this time of year. A love of the beauty that nature has bestowed upon us, and a hate for the extra work it adds to the lives of many. How we see this season may define our perspectives in many areas of our lives. I will not be raking this year, but always take time to enjoy the changing colours.

Fall is also a time for appreciation and reflection. For many educators, it means time to write Progress Reports. It can also be a time of mild anxiety on both sides of classroom.

Teachers might be asking, “Have I assessed enough?”
“Did I give students enough opportunity to demonstrate their understandings?”
“Did I do everything I could to foster success?”
“Did I catch it when they were successful?”
“What will parents think of my assessment of their child?”
“What are the next steps in my class before the next reporting cycle?”

Students are probably wondering how they are doing too?
“Did my teacher notice that I am trying my best?”
“Did I do everything I could to succeed?”
“What marks will my friends get?
“Am I below, at, or above average?”
“Will my parents be happy with my marks?”
“Am I happy with my marks?”

Come to think of it, I have been thinking a lot about assessment lately. Educators assess for, as, and of learning. We use conversation, observation, and product to quantify student achievement and qualify our instructional methods. We have achievement charts, success criteria, and demonstrations of understanding all orchestrated to associate a grade, mark, or secure a checkpoint before moving forward. There is however, another key catalyst to move our students towards success. And that is encouragement.

Think of it this way. Have you ever been complimented by someone after something you did? I’m sure it was encouraging? Of course it was because you were noticed and validated for your efforts by someone else. I always value when someone takes the time share their appreciation for something I’ve done. Even when I didn’t see it myself. Each time I receive encouragement makes me want to work even harder. Our students respond this way too.
Why wouldn’t they?

When I look at what educators hold in their actions, words, and interactions with students – it is the power of encouragement that can make the biggest impact. So how can we use it to empower our students to succeed? Have you ever seen a student happy after receiving a mark, or feedback that only magnifies what was wrong with their work? How about after you complimented them after a job well done?

Students, usually, know where they stand in the classroom, whether they are budding on the tree, or withering. This could be emphasised for the better every time educators choose to acknowledge the good that is in each of their learners. Bandura shared that, “Teachers should also encourage students as a way to enhance their self-efficacies and thus improve their learning.” Some might call this Strengths Based Learning. For me encouragement is a simple, yet crucial instructional tool which promotes a positive outlook on effort, learning, and assessment.

When students are encouraged they are free to become risk takers who are safe to try, safe to make mistakes, safe to fail, safe to try again, and always safe to learn. As the marks fall on this year’s progress reports, with encouragement, students will see the beauty in their efforts instead of being raked over for their work.

Mike Beetham Celebrating Success, General, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, solidarity

Remembering To Remember

Life is so busy that it sometimes takes an overwhelming effort to make time for yourself, let alone remembering all the sacrifices that have been made that allow us to live in such a free country. Yet we must and we must teach our children so they understand the why of remembering and not just the act of remembering.

Every year we make a concentrated effort to bring the community and school focus on Remembrance Day. Teachers and students put together emotionally compelling presentations to honour the generations from our past that made the ultimate sacrifice to make Canada the country it is. As part of our daily commitment to students we must commit to educating them not only about the world events that lead us to November 11, but also the small, day-to-day acts that make their world safer, healthier and provides them with a seemingly endless list of opportunities.

Take the time to have classroom discussions about the role of police officers, firefighters, physicians, crossing guards and any other key individuals that impact their life. Write letters of thank you and deliver them to those individuals or organizations. As a teacher (and key role model for your students) model for them on a daily basis how remembering can be demonstrated in such small ways as simply saying thank you.

Finally, as a teacher who has been in the profession for over thirty years, I must say thank you to the generations of colleagues before me. They spent days on the picket line, sacrificed family time and were the target of public scrutiny in order to make my profession what it is. I am blessed to have job security, benefits, peace of mind knowing my wife is treated equitably as a teacher and that my working conditions and student learning conditions are constantly being protected. This was not always the way for teachers.

 “Remember For More Than A Day”

Kelly.McLaughlin General

Flexible Seating

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Working towards my student flexible seating classroom has been an interesting journey so far. The journey started in September with two bean bags, two carpets and one outdoor soccer chair. These items were interesting and were the go to spots in our room. The bean bags were always crowded and students enjoyed working on the carpets while reading or working in groups.

I started to bring in more items and we started to need more room for all of these items. The entire class designed a plan for our room (four in total) and I showed every class in the school their plan. Then, after a winner was chosen, we got to work to re-set up the room.

The final plan included a few new items:

  • an exercise bike for brain breaks
  • two more carpets donated by a grade eight student
  • a large purple bean bag donated by a student in our room
  • two blow up coaches that are hard to handle as they deflate every twenty to thirty minutes
  • one large rectangular table
  • one small hexagon table

We are now almost at our goal, we have seven interesting seating areas in our room. These areas are all different and are available to all students. Students are now choosing where they sit every morning, the seats are not permanent and they are a work in progress. I cannot wait to keep adding items and taking some away as they unfortunately break…

Students having a large say in the way their class looks I believe is the best way to set up a class. I encourage you all to give your class design over to your students!

 

Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Building Inclusion, Classroom Management, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians

Positive vs Negative Student Balances

When you look at your bank account you work extremely hard to ensure you always have a positive balance. By having a positive balance you are able to pursue so many options in how you may use that surplus. When you are not able to keep a positive balance, you become very limited in the options you have and may in the worst circumstance go bankrupt.

I look at each and every child and each and every family in that way. I start in September with a zero balance as I am just opening up that account. From the first minute I interact with each child as well as their family, I am either making deposits or withdrawals. Each and every positive statement I make, word of encouragement I offer, inflating vs deflating statement said, either builds that account or reduces that account balance.

When a conflict occurs (and it will) you are now having to look at the account you have created and will make a withdrawal as you help that child understand the choice they made and how to learn from it. If you have a built up a strong, positive balance with that child you are able to make that withdrawal without having any ill effects on the relationship that exists between the both of you. If it is a call home in regards to a negative scenario that occurred at school, the family’s reaction will be either supportive or defensive depending on the balance you have established at home with the parent(s).

I use a variety of tools to help foster a positive balance. The two most effective for me are ‘Sunshine Calls’ and rephrasing my comments when I react to the day-to-day events that unravel in my room. In a sunshine call I am truly just trying to send a positive message to each family about their child. It can be as simple as a comment about a great writing effort that occurred today, how their child read aloud for the first time in front of his/her peers or what a positive decision they made not make a small problem bigger. Over time I can actually hear the change in how the parent reacts to me once they recognize their child’s teacher is calling. Within a few months, the calls home are very sociable and appreciated by the family.

The second strategy took me a while to develop. I had to literally think about how and what I would say when events occurred. First I had to examine my approach and found that my initial comments were deflating or withdrawing from that account balance. For example if a student made a mess, I would say, “ You need to be more careful and not make a mess”. This type of statement always puts a student on the defensive. I am learning to rephrase my comments to be able to send a message but not put a student on the defensive. I now say “ Are you okay, accidents happen to everyone. How can we clean it up?”

A very unintentional but amazing benefit of this approach was that I was modelling for my students each day how to be respectful to each other in the way they communicate. Soon, this type of positive communication becomes the norm of the class. There are less and less conflicts between students simply due to the way they learn to communicate with each other and the people around them.

 

Will Gourley General, Teacher Wellness

What’s really scary

Ir’s October 31st, and in the chilling shrills of SCTV’s Count Floyd, “AAH-OOOOOOOOOOOOO, it’s very scary!!!!”

That’s right zomboys and ghouls, two months of school have flown past faster than a banshee in a frighter jet. Did you stop to breathe? Have you had a chance? Did the start of the new school year take your breath away?  A new year can be full of tricks and treats for both new and experienced teachers alike.

Congratulations, by my calculations 20% of this year’s pumpkin pie has been sliced and served. What memories will you take away from these first two months. In my class we take some time to thresh out what’s been alright from the blight.

We had another reorganization due to rapid growth in our school. That meant quite a few changes. Some students had to be moved to new classes, we welcomed new staff, and in some cases routines needed to be re-established with a completely new classroom dynamics. Did you have to re-organize after prepping all Summer for a different grade?

Did you smile? Did you know that some teachers were taught not to smile until November? I couldn’t make it past the first day. Chris Emdin’s TED Talk Teach teachers how to create magic shows us a better way. Now this is something to howl about. AAH-OOOOOOOO!!!

Has your year been a fright or a delight so far? Beware as the chilling thoughts of report card writing are lurking around every corner. When I first started teaching I was tormented by minutia of learning the operating system, communicating learned, strengths, and next steps in parent friendly voice, administrative preferences, and to make sure I had enough data to back it all up. VERY SCARY!!!! With the support of my grade partner(s) and a cauldron of caffeine I have slain the very beast that haunted my early practice.

How are you balancing the tricks and treats of classroom life? Did you give yourself permission to enjoy the experience? I find that teachers get so caught up acting like humans doing that they forget to enjoy that they are human beings. Where’s the treat in that?

You owe it to yourself to take time to take it all in while taking care of everything in your classroom. You’re an educator who stands alongside a room full of time machines, each with boundless ideas and imaginations. So that if we’re going to be afraid of something it will only be the boundaries we try to put around ourselves and therefore our students. Now that’s something scary. Happy Hallowe’en.

 

Tammy Axt General

A letter to an inspiring teacher

Amazing work that encapsulates the heart and art of teaching and learning is happening all around the province every day. Many of us can remember that one amazing teacher who had a positive impact on our life. Recently, I decided to look up that one teacher that really had a positive impact on me and wrote her an e-mail telling her how amazing she is. I realize how impactful she was on my current practice and how I try to emulate her caring nature every day in my classroom.

Hello Ms. S,

My name is Tammy Axt (used to be Gallant) and over 20 years ago I had the pleasure of being one of your students.

Today, I spent the day at a workshop where the following question was asked: “Which teacher had the biggest impact on your life?” That answer was a simple one: it was you, Ms. S.

I joined the cross country running team, which you coached, during my time in high school. I was not interested in joining, but my friends talked me into it. I was definitely not the fastest runner that you ever coached, but because of your perfect blend of high expectations and caring nature, I felt great after every practice. You gave up your time after school to run with us around the neighborhood and taught us the mantra “Kill the Hill” when running up the never-ending hill close to the site where the school used to be. You taught me that hard work pays off and to never give up on difficult tasks. I really believed that you cared about us, our futures and our well-being. I have carried so many lessons learned from that time over the past twenty years.

You also supported me through the opportunity of teaching a dance unit to younger high school students when I was in the upper grades. Talk about a confidence builder. You really took the time to help me prepare and execute a successful dance class during your gym period. You valued my abilities and recognized my strengths that I didn’t even knew I had.  Taking on that leadership role was huge for me, and it started to shape my ability to explain things to other people.

As you might have guessed, I am now in the best profession in the world as well. I am a teacher with the Peel District School Board. I teach music, drama and dance to students in grades 1 to 5 and I love it. I try every day to do what you did for me, for my students.

You also might be interested to know that I lead learn to run clinics in my community, where we also have a huge hill. The mantra “Kill the Hill” continues on. I try to look at all of the runners the same way you looked at me: with confidence and belief in their abilities.

I hope this letter finds you well and if you have a moment I would love to hear how you are doing.

Thank you for doing all that you do every day to help kids reach their potential.

 

Tammy

 

 

Tammy Axt General

Classroom Management- Nothing seems to work. What should I do? Part One

Classroom management is something that has been drilled into me since day one of Teachers’ College. I use my knowledge and training every day to make sure that my classroom is a safe and enjoyable place for students to come and learn. However, I do believe that classroom management is not always perfect. Sometimes a strategy that you have used for years just doesn’t work with a certain student. Also, every year your new group of students brings with them a new set of challenges. Maybe they are a chatty bunch or a group that really struggles with social skills. Therefore, classroom management is always a skill that needs work and constant reflection.

In addition, sometimes your management strategies can be working with a certain student, then one day, for whatever reason, it stops working. This is the position that I am in this week. I have had one of my students for a couple of years in music and this year, the strategies I have used are just not working as well as they have in the past.

As the problem is escalating, I feel like I have tried as many strategies that I can think of to help this student be a positive, productive member of our class, but nothing seems to be working. So now what?

After I exhausted all of my own strategies, my first step was to book a meeting with my special education team. To help facilitate this meeting, I brought in a few notes to help me explain the issues that were happening in class.

The page of notes that I brought was divided into four sections:

Section one– Concerns

This section outlined the concerns about the academic success of my student. In my experience, this is always the place to start any meeting of concern with administrators or advisory teams, as it shows the impact the behaviour is having on the child’s success in school.

This section also briefly outlined the behaviour concerns that I was witnessing in the classroom. I chose two main concerns as a starting place. I know that if the concerns that I chose were managed, things would not be perfect, but the student would be able to learn and begin to have positive interactions in the classroom.

Section Two- Strategies tried and results

This section explained the strategies that I have tried and what the results were. I wrote about proximity teaching, peer helpers, one-on-one assistance, scaffolding and many more. For each strategy, I explained exactly what I said and did, and what the child’s response was to the intervention strategy. This helped the special education team and I to identify trends and allowed the team to begin to see the picture of the interactions in the classroom.

Section Three – What is working/Not working

For this section, I made a list of things that I felt were working in the class such as: entering the classroom, finding their designated spot, sitting in that spot during introduction of lesson without interruptions. I know some of this may sound very obvious, but it helped the team and me to identify some triggers for the student. It also gave us a starting point for further discussions on strategies to help the student.

Section Four-  Next steps

This was a section that I left blank for notes to record all of the suggestions and ideas.

This is only the beginning of the conversation about this student. We will be meeting again this coming week to co-plan intervention strategies and plan check-in points for this student to gauge the success of our plan.

 

Beverly Papove Inquiry

Construction Day

Something my ECE partner and I are developing is a more general structure to our week so that the students know what to expect on certain days. We have the usual special activities throughout the week such as Reading Buddies and going to the library, but we have begun to look at having a theme for certain days. So far, we all now look forward to Fridays – not only for the obvious reason, but also because it happens to be our weekly Construction Day (Jour de la construction). We got the idea from one of our colleagues who mentioned that she had heard about a kindergarten teacher who had a building day where the students exercised their burgeoning engineering skills. Given just the general idea of a day dedicated to building stuff, my partner and I jumped on the idea and are now constantly building on (no pun intended) ideas and activities for the kinders as designers, builders and artists.

All week long, boxes are delivered to my classroom from other teachers, from the breakfast program, from the office administrators, and even from the construction workers who were on-site for several weeks putting in a new accessible toilet in the school. In the classroom during the week, the creation station might not be set out, but is always an option if someone asks for it. We do hold on to some special boxes so that there is plenty of variety to be brought outside during the first block of outdoor learning on Friday morning, if the playground is dry. Typically, masking tape, scissors and markers are brought out as well to be used with the cardboard. From our shed, large building blocks, buckets, shovels and sometimes pylons, are also hauled out and presented as possible building materials.

Before we get building, however, we usually have a book and a discussion on the topic, just to stir up the creative energy and to garner ideas of things that are built – either by people or by creatures. Last Friday, we made a list of planes, trains and castles, until one JK student with a fascination for spiders, put up his hand and said that he wanted to build a giant spider web. Great idea! I thought for a moment, then told my ECE partner that I needed to get a few things from inside the classroom. I found 3 different small balls of yarn in various colours and textures for the giant spider web. I attached one end of the yarn to a spot on the chainlink fence, and gave the ball to the student. He easily picked up the idea of how to weave the yarn through the links, and the spider web started to grow. Other students became interested and soon I had fished out 5 more balls of yarn. One side of our school yard began to bustle with children who were pushing and pulling yarn through the fence, trying to attach pieces of cardboard or rocks, some of them even getting ‘caught’ in the giant web as they tried to pass over or under someone else who was weaving. It was a huge success. The web stayed up for about a week, until the arrival of heavy winds and rain, then it soon came unravelled and blew away.

Every Friday, when we come into the classroom, we continue construction activities with whatever we can gather up from our art supplies and toys; playdough; blocks; Duplo; popsicle sticks and white liquid glue; or, chairs, tables and table cloths. We ask the students to draw a diagram of what they plan on building before they get started. For the SKs this is an interesting challenge, while only a few JKs at this point are able to see the connection between what they are drawing and what they end up building. Nonetheless, they like to talk about their ideas, whether the final project looks anything like their ‘blueprint’. Midway through the day, we have a circle so that students can share their creations and hopefully inspire others to build different things than they usually build, like the spider web.

Construction Day offers great opportunities for inquiry and it touches on key aspects (the Four Frames) of the kindergarten curriculum, namely, demonstrating mathematics behaviours, problem solving and innovating. What we like most about it is that it is largely a student-lead day. We have to do preplanning to be ready with a variety of opportunities for building, but we are at our busiest in the midst of a variety of projects, as we try to produce materials that the builders ask for.

Mike Beetham Constant Learning, Inspiring Teachers, Learning in a Real Life Context, Professional Learning and Growth

Self-Guided Professional Learning

As an adult learner, you know what your strengths are as well as what your next steps should be. You understand you current lifestyle, the demands of family and friends as well as the other components that are a part of your busy life. Self-guided professional learning allows you to continue to enhance your classroom pedagogical practice and curriculum knowledge at a pace and focus that is specific to your needs.

There are so many learning options available to ETFO members. It starts within your local federation where your professional learning committee is already at work planning out opportunities for members to continue to enhance their best practice. Talk to your committee, find out what is being offered, put forth suggestions that they can look at or better yet, get involved in this committee.

The next main area that provides a treasure trove of learning opportunities is our provincial organization. If you go to the provincial website (http://www.etfo.ca/Pages/default.aspx) and search under the subsection professional learning you will find a wide variety of options that are offered by our provincial team. The scope and sequence of the options available ensures there is something for everyone. The provincial office also provides equitable access from a geographical standpoint.

Whether it is AQ courses, Summer Academy, one time workshops, workshop series, provincial or local book clubs, or just gathering together as same grade colleagues and having professional dialogue on a topic, find what you need and seek to grow as a teacher each and every day. One of the most rewarding facets of teaching is when students and teachers can continue to grow side-by-side.

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