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Learning Goals: Today we are learning...This will help me...Question of the day,.. Reflection Question
Carmen.Oliveira Celebrating Success, Learning in a Real Life Context

Students as Teachers: the Power of Modelling

Our school organized the annual “Jump Rope for Heart” play day to raise funds and awareness of the importance of heart health.  Since our Grade 5/6 classes are quite responsible, it was decided that the Grade 6s run the events, the Grade 5s act as team leaders and teachers simply supervise to make sure things ran smoothly.  What I witnessed that afternoon was nothing short of pure pride and astonishment at watching “mini” teachers at their best!

Team leaders would arrive at the stations and immediately count to make sure they had every child (JK-Gr4) accounted for.  They would then make sure that the children were sitting and paying attention to the station supervisors.  I was thoroughly impressed as I listened to the way they spoke with the younger children.  “You’ll get to have fun right after we find out how to play this game.  Remember that listening carefully makes it easier to understand what you need to do.  We’ll be asking you to repeat the instructions so make sure you listen.”  Wow.  I took out a camera to film and photograph these meaningful moments.  The team leaders then proceeded to explain and model each step.  They divided the children into those who felt comfortable with the activity and those that needed extra help.  As each group worked on their skipping skills, a leader continued to support them and modify steps so each child was successful!  “It seems like this may be challenging for you and that’s ok because you’re just starting to learn this.  You’re doing really well.  I’ll modify it for you to make it easier, then we can try going faster.”  Did she just say “modify?”  One of my favourite moments was watching them celebrate each students’ success.  High-fives were shared, cheers were abundant, and positive encouragement such as, “You did it!  You’re amazing!  I knew you could do  it!”  was given to everyone.  I simply sat back with a huge smile across my face as other teachers noticed the same thing.

Afterward, I showed them the video and let them know how amazed I was at what I saw that afternoon.  My students were proud, of course, but they reminded me that in our classroom that’s how we talk and act (most of the time).  “We’re doing what you do Mrs. O!”

The truth is that our actions are much more powerful than our words and if we want to teach children how to behave, learn, think critically, etc. the best way to do so is to model it in our daily classroom experiences.  I cannot stress enough the power of good modelling, self-reflection, and the celebration of success as we try to teach our students to become independent, motivated, self-confident individuals.

 

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Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Classroom Layouts, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Planning, Wellness

Demonstrating Community

Last week my Grade 1/2 classroom was open as a demonstration classroom. In the morning, we went through a condensed version of our regular day, and in the afternoon we debriefed in the staff room. Every time I attend or host a demonstration classroom, I feel energized. And with the end of the year approaching, some re-charing is beneficial.

What interests me, is the feedback from the visiting teachers. There is always the usual talk about curriculum planning, instructional strategies, and classroom environment. But last week, there were comments about how the children shared their thoughts and ideas, and how they listened to one another with respect and patience. The visiting teachers also noticed that while at the carpet for dicussion, some of the children sat on chairs they brought over from their desks, and a few got up to perform a quick task, such as check on a date in their agenda to confirm a fact.

Although I am aware of our daily sharing and community building, it has become so interwoven into the fabric of the day now that it is less obvious. However, I know that back in September we spent most of our time on routines, expectations, and classroom community building. In The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning, all of Chapter 3 is devoted to Building Inclusion. There are other areas in the book that also provide ways to sustain community, such as the Morning Check In described on page 101. We started doing this exercise when we were studying our Big Idea, “What is Well-Being?” It gave us an opportunity to talk about how much sleep we had, whether family members were home or away, and how we felt in general. We have continued this in the morning – as it has informed us of one another’s feelings and encouraged empathy. Over the year we have also set limits but allowed a certain amount of movement, free choice, and variation to expectations throughout the day. This has resulted in a more engaged learning and responsibility for the children and less classroom management. Discussing with the visiting teachers the intentions in planning and community building that is needed in September, confirms how effective the outcomes are.

 

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Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Diverse Learning Needs, Planning, Resources

Say, Show, and Do

In my Grade 1 and 2 classroom, it feels like we have been focused on writing for many months. Writing narratives and reports, using graphic organizers, and editing drafts into published pieces. The children have been “saying” and “showing” a lot, and as their energy is rising with the warmer weather, I think it is a good time for some “doing.”

A couple of weeks ago, our class was invited to watch a Grade 3 class present The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. It just happened that we were enthralled with reading a book about saving trees too, Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. When we returned to our class to discuss the play we had watched, the children were inspired to create their own based on the book about Wangari. I realized that taking the opportunity to watch the Grade 3s perform was beneficial as they modelled for the Grade 1 and 2 class how a non-professional play looks.

 

Our current big idea is “How has the world changed?” with a focus on structures and movement (Science curriculum for Grade 1 and 2). The book, Wangari’s Trees of Peace is a text that lends itself to many other big ideas such as environmentalism, women’s rights, education, and world peace. When we read the book together for the first time, the students also saw its connection with the idea of hope, which was the inquiry question we started with back in September.

 

 

 

This project has revitalized our classroom. We wrote the story into a script format, dividing most of the story into parts that will be read by four narrators. Then we added a few lines for the characters. We discussed the scenes in the story and decided on three scenes. Children readily volunteered for parts in the play, to paint the background images, to create costumes, and to change the sets between acts. During our inquiry periods, I look around the classroom and see some of the children working on draft versions of the background settings, while others sit in pairs or groups practicing their lines and discussing the various roles.

Today, the narrators and actors read their parts in front of the class for the first time. I couldn’t help but notice how attentive the rest of the class was, as I thought their attention at the carpet was previously waning. They offered suggestions to the readers or actors and represented themselves as a community of learners. This play project emerged at just the right time in the year, when the children are comfortable enough with each other to take risks with acting and ready for a new challenge.

I am not sure how long it will take us to prepare for a presentation of the play, as I am learning along with the children. We plan to invite their parents and definitely the Grade 3 class that inspired us!

 

 

 

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Samantha.Perrin Classroom Management, Learning About Your Students, Occasional Teaching

Using Positive Reinforcement for Persistent Misbehaviours

Recently I taught as a daily occasional teacher in a special education, mostly behavioural classroom.   This was my first experience with the kind of group of students where correcting misbehaviours and classroom management was critical to getting through the day safely and working to complete the regular teacher’s goals for the day.   As a daily occasional teacher, I felt some apprehension knowing that an already challenging class could be even more challenging for a new teacher that is out of their familiar routine, but was prepared to face the challenge to the best of my abilities.

One thing that I noticed upon entering the classroom, was that the teacher had laid out a daily behaviour log for each student.  It was broken down into time blocks (corresponding with entry, class periods, recess, lunch and exit) and it included a rubric consisting of levels 1-4 (which corresponded with expected behaviours for each level).    When going over this student information, I recalled reading in Chapter 4 in the Heart and Art of teaching about positive consequences – reinforcing positive behaviour that is consistent with creating a learning focused classroom environment.  I decided that I would begin with this approach to set a positive tone to the day.

When the students entered in a less than orderly fashion, I commended two students for their ‘Level 3 ½’ entry,  and mentioned that their classroom teacher would be pleased to learn of this when I make my notes at the end of the day.  I saw a smile as one student was particularly pleased that I had noticed. The other students overheard, and while some students chose to continue with their off-task behaviour, a few others took their cue and directed their behaviour towards positive praise.   In commending those two students, I also gained two helpers who were inclined to assist me in the classroom routines (i.e., getting out the nametags, advising me who should not be taking washroom trips together etc.).

If you take  look at the Venn Diagram on page 59 of Heart and Art (Students Who Rock, Students Who Are Deciding, Students Presenting Challenges) , I  would say that the class demographic was made up of ‘students who are deciding (on their behaviour), and students who ‘presented challenges’.  With positive reinforcement, I think I was able to encourage a few of the ‘students who were deciding’ to be a little more helpful and focussed, and in this I feel that I averted some additional behavioural challenges that could have existed.

While it was a challenging day, I found that approaching the students initially with kindness and praise sent them a message that I knew what was expected of them, and that I would follow through with the regular classroom culture of behaviour tracking, reward and consequences.  While not all students in the class ‘bought in’, I do feel that using a positive-reinforcement approach increased the potential of the  students wanting  to be successful, and decreased the ‘us Vs. supply teacher’ mentality that some students can develop.    This is an approach that I think many teachers already use in their classrooms, but I hope that it serves as encouragement for occasional teachers to employ in any challenging classroom environment.

Learning Goals: Today we are learning...This will help me...Question of the day,.. Reflection Question
Carmen.Oliveira Professional Learning and Growth, Resources

Professional Learning: an AHA! Moment

How many of us have  sat through professional learning meetings, in-services, workshops, and lunch-and-learns and went back to our classrooms feeling inspired and motivated to take some risks in our practice to better our learning and consequently, that of our students? The answer: all of us.

On the other hand, how many of us have left the workshops and meetings and questioned the relevance of what we “learned” as it connects to our teaching, wondered why we were strongly encouraged to participate in the first place, or  felt confused and frustrated with respect to how the PD could possibly help us meet our learning needs and those of our students? The answer: all of us.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a PD session that really got me thinking about the difference between professional development and professional learning.  It was one of the most beneficial experiences I’ve had as a teacher because it really expanded my understanding of professional learning and challenged me to rethink my role as a teacher and leader in my school.  I’ve come to see it as a way to build the capacity of ALL educators in our schools based not only on the needs of the students but that of the teachers as well.  I’ve found that not all professional learning builds a dynamic culture in schools that fosters collective responsibility among educators and we, as teachers, need to question what, why, and how we are learning just as we do with our students.

If you’re interested in exploring how continuous professional learning can expand and refine teaching and increase results for students, a great place to start are the resources created by Learning Forward (the National Staff Development Council based in the USA) and the Leadership Development Unit at TDSB.

Resources:

Toronto District School Board Leadership Development Unit

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Erin.Grewar Assessment, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning in a Real Life Context, Professional Learning and Growth

Communicative Approach – On y parle!

In my recent blog, I commented on the latest approach ripping through the world of Core French like an F5 tornado. In all honesty, it might not be all that avant-garde since many of you are probably already covering some of the basics. What makes the communicative approach interesting to both students and teachers alike is that it is quite practical and offers kids an opportunity to actually speak French. I say “actually” because having students speak in French can sometimes seems achingly futile when, once dialogue scripts are removed, they seem not to be able to say much of anything. However, based on some suggestions from the workshop I attended and feedback from my students, we came up with a summative task that was quite successful for all.

For the past month, we had been working on a music-related theme and focusing largely on the grammatical concepts of adverbs, making comparisons and opinion-based statements. For our speaking assessment then, I proposed 3 options for having them create a natural, authentic dialogue between two/more people discussing their musical tastes:

  • (A) meeting in a music store
  • (B) calling in to a radio station and debating between two newly released songs
  • (C) scenario of their choice.

After handing them all a sample dialogue, I had them find and highlight the grammatical concepts (e.g., find and underline all the adverbs) to draw their attention to familiar elements. I find that always handing out an exemplar is fundamental in establishing your expectations and getting them to use vocabulary and language structures taught in class instead of ending up with a bad Google translation. What I did a little differently after that was ask the class what could be incorporated to make the dialogue sound more realistic and authentic. At that point, we brainstormed a bunch of expressions and inserted them appropriately and by the end, had come up with a great conversation.

Lastly, here are two suggestions that I have also found to greatly improve the quality of work (to be used also with written assignments). Make sure to continuously reference anchor charts posted around the room which for me, included how to structure a comparison, adverbs that add meaning, phrases related to expressing an opinion and brainstormed vocabulary. Finally, as a daily shared speaking activity, have four to five students answer various questions orally that could relate to the dialogue to get them accustomed to spontaneously speaking in French. Take a sample level 3 answer, write it on the board, and then modeling the use of anchor charts, insert expressions to demonstrate how to construct a level 4 reply. By the time of the dialogue, students will feel more at ease with the vocabulary/pronunciation and they will independently be able to add more complexity to their speaking. Bonne chance!

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Roz.Geridis Classroom Management, Occasional Teaching, Planning, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources

Working with or as an Occasional Teacher

When thinking about occasional teacher planning many questions could go through one’s thinking process (what do I leave, how much, what do I bring?). If you are an occasional teacher you need to be able to teach for the time you are in the class with plans or not. If you are a contract teacher, you want the occasional to teach what you would do even if you were there. I just finished having a student teacher in my classroom and as her practicum was coming close to an end, the conversation of occasional teaching came up. She wanted to know how I decided what to leave for an occasional and how much but also what she should expect as an occasional teacher. Below is a summary of what I shared with her:

 

Planning for an occasional teacher

1) Make sure you leave a current seating plan.

2) Leave tips and notes about your students but remember to be professional as sometimes notes are left in the room for kids to see. Only phrase things in a positive language, leave strategies to help the occasional connect with your students, and 1 or 2 students who the occasional can ask questions about the routine.

3) Leave as much information about your class as possible but remember all information will not always be read. Don’t forget to highlight the allergies in the class and if epi-pens are used (if so, where the epi-pens are stored).

4) Leave lessons which your students will be able to complete. Usually, I still leave my lesson (as if I am there), I make sure I am prepared to complete an assessment for learning when I immediately return. The reason for this is the classroom teacher understands how each student learns, the comfort is there for the student to ask questions and clarify misunderstandings. Also, sometimes occasional teachers don’t have enough background information to connect the lesson for the students, students sometimes behave differently with occasional teachers and lessons are taught differently; the full lesson might not have been taught. I can’t tell you how many times I have returned to my class with a note stating the effort was made but the redirection of behaviour took up too much class time. That being said, I make sure lessons are connected to the curriculum but sometimes I may need to do something different than following my unit plan. It sometimes helps to make the occasional teacher’s day a little more fun.

5) Schedules – leave them in the supply folder. All resource, yard duty, classroom schedules need to be available for an occasional to view.

6) If you need items for a science experiment or art lesson, leave items out or in one location and share the location of items with the occasional teacher.

 

Working as an Occasional Teacher

1) Arrive as early as possible to give yourself time to review notes and lessons left by the classroom teacher.

2) Be familiar with the grade curriculum (if possible).

3) Try to connect with the neighbour teacher and ask any questions you may have.

4) Have a Language, Math, Science lesson in your bag, as a back up. On very few occasions you may walk into a classroom which has no lessons available for the day. If you have a lesson for each of these subjects, you can fill the day. Based on the grade, have some addition, subtraction, multiplication, division review fun sheets in order for the kids to complete (begin with asking the students to complete any 5, then to pick another 2, and so on). If no photocopier is available, write the questions on the board or display them on the smartboard and have the students record the questions and answers in their math workbooks. For Science or Language, you can have a story book related to the environment. “Where the Forest Meets the Sea”by Jeannie Baker or “The Lorax”by Dr. Suess are two great examples which can begin discussion on environmental issues, based on a situation you give them have the students develop different endings. Another Science activity might be a recycle sort — go through the classroom garbage bin (bring plastic gloves) and sort out what can be recycled or put in a compost. Again, there are many story books you can tie this theme to. For Language, you can use the newspaper and have the students discuss an article you feel is age appropriate. You can also have the kids write down 3 truths and a lie about themselves — then each student presents the 4 statements to the class. The class has to guess which is the lie. The students really enjoy this activity and it does take up an hour and sometimes even more (if the class size is bigger). Please don’t forget about your diversity of learners and adjust your lessons as needed.

5) Don’t forget about yard duty.

6) Try to deal with classroom behaviour in the class. But of course, if safety of yourself or other students is/are at risk, make sure you immediately contact the administration. Having a little reward planned for the end of the day helps students to look forward to something. Making the connection by saying hello/good morning to every student as they enter helps to start off the day well.

7) Say good bye to the administration and thank you to the office assistant(s).

8) Most of all…enjoy the day!

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Erin.Grewar Assessment, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs

Response to Tina’s Idea of Stations – a Great Teaching Tool

I was really excited to see Tina’s blog on using stations as a teaching tool. I echo that when I’ve used them, the students have been engaged, on-task and really enjoyed the variety of learning experiences offered to them. I also agree that they are a lot of work to set up but the end result is definitely rewarding.

Stations are valuable because they can be used for all levels of assessment – diagnostic, formative and summative and also are ideal for differentiated instruction. Depending on how often you use them, it can definitely be worth the investment of time and money.

In Core French, it would be interesting to have a listening station and related activities especially if you had access to a wireless portable lab. Even reading stations could be a really creative way to focus on different types of texts and useful strategies. In fact, as long as you have gone to the trouble of setting them up, stations don’t have to just be used for one day but could even last for a week-long investigation/activity.

I could also see them being used as a way to keep the rest of the class productively occupied while affording you the chance to work with a small group of students (that in itself could be one of your stations) and a golden opportunity for differentiated instruction/assessment. I think that if you were to use them on a regular basis, it would also be beneficial and efficient to practice each activity with the whole class beforehand so that, on the chosen day(s), they would know exactly what to do and no long-winded explanation would be necessary.

As a final inspired thought, you could also chose selected students who were trained in advance to run and supervise each station as a leadership opportunity which would free you up to kick back and relax – enjoy an extra large cappuccino and the front section of your morning paper while the class virtually runs itself like a well-oiled machine;).

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Samantha.Perrin Diverse Learning Needs, Planning, Resources, Use of Technology

Teaching Music When You’re Not a Music Teacher

I did not have a very extensive musical education as a student. I could tell you that every Good Boy Deserves Fudge: and FACE are some things to remember when you are reading notes.  I may not have an extensive musical background, but that’s not to say that I can’t teach music:

I truly do appreciate music. I like a variety of melodies and enjoy paying attention to lyrics, instruments, beats and rhythms of songs, and I believe that discussing an appreciation of music can be educational and fun for students and the teacher. From time to time I incorporate this kind of music appreciation into my classroom, and now that I am daily occasionally teaching, I find it an excellent back pocket idea for instances when I am called into teach Music for the day or when I have some time and need to settle an active class.

I found ‘music appreciation’ to be successful with the students that I was teaching, because they like to sing and they can move to the rhythms. Music has also been shown to improve cognition in younger students: http://alumni.news.yorku.ca/2011/10/27/york-study-verbal-iq/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign.  And let’s be honest, it’s fun to just groove out sometimes.

In my planning, I identify a genre of music (e.g., Jazz), read up on its history, instrumentation etc. and after playing some music for the students, we just discuss it. My I phone is very helpful- I can YouTube some music and Google additional information on it and play it for the students.  We talk about how it made us feel and what we liked about it or didn’t like.  Later, we learn to sing the song, we analyze the lyrics and research the genre some more through media literacy (e.g.,  I’ve had the students learn more about Jazz styling by exploring websites like  http://pbskids.org/jazz/join_the_jazz_band.html.)

I hope this gives some beginning teachers some inspiration to make the most out of music instruction, even without a formal background in it. Good luck!

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Tina.Ginglo Diverse Learning Needs, Planning, Resources

Another good resource for teaching the Arts curriculum

Some time ago I shared a great website resource for  drama and dance lessons and units- http://code.on.ca/resource

I have another favourite on line resource created specifically for Ontario teachers.

Learning Through the Arts hosts dance, drama, media arts and visual arts lessons based on the revised Arts curriculum for Ontario teachers.  I like that I am able to watch the integrated arts lesson unfold with real students.  You can browse by division or by subject.   I am going to attempt the third grade animal legends unit in May.   I hope you find this resource as useful as I do!