Blog – Page 166

June 8, 2012June 19, 2012 Samantha.Perrin Assessment, Celebrating Success, Report Cards, Year End Activities

Reflections of the School Year – Student Written Reports

As the end of the school year approaches, with teachers busy with final assessments and report card writing, and students anxious to enjoy the nice weather and their last month with their class mates, it is a great time for self-reflection, self-assessment and community building in the classroom.

Similar to the awesome self-reflection activities that Carmen has done with her students, an activity that my students have really enjoyed was writing a report card for a friend and presenting it to the class, as sort of an ‘exit speech’ that reflects the events, learning and memories during the school year:

1. Have the students select their own partner, groups of 2 or 3, and give them a list of curriculum and subject areas to brainstorm ideas about the partner that is being interviewed. (*Click here to see an example)

2. Give the students some free time to interview each other and record the ideas and memories for the ‘report card’. (I connected this with the interviews that the students did at the beginning of the school year to learn about each other).

3. Later, send the students to individually write a short ‘report card’ about their friend, using the brainstormed ideas.

4. The partners are also in charge of creating an ‘award’ for their classmate. (In my class, they were given free rein to create a ‘statuette’ or a symbol using whichever materials they could find along with a an explanation for why the student was getting that ‘award’) . The results were creative and the sentiments were funny, personal and touching.

5. Hold a ‘graduation ceremony’ in the classroom, where the students present their partner with the report card (read aloud) and their ‘award’. If the students are not in grade 5 or 8 (and changing schools), the ‘graduation ceremony’ could just mean that the students are ‘graduating’ to the next grade in school, or graduating from your class. Either way, it is a fun spin on an end of year celebration, and its individualized for each student.

The students really seem to enjoy this activity- it allows them to reflect on their relationships and highlights of the school year and they have fun sharing about what was unique to them or their own experiences. The students laugh as they recall events that happened during the year, and also being reminded of their certain tendencies. The classroom vibe is light, fun, creative, reflective and honest.

Carmen’s idea of a report card for the teacher, by the students is a great follow up to this activity, and something I will try in the future.

For me, when listening to the ‘report card’ presentations, I am able to learn about the things that stood out to the students about their school year- their successes, strengths, social growth and even pet-peeves. Not only is it a reflective piece for the children, it serves as a reflective piece for me as well -learning what the students loved, didn’t love, and what learning they would remember and carry on after the final school bell at the end of June. This opportunity of self-reflection is a fun activity for the students and provides me with another opportunity to hone my own art of teaching and learning as well!

June 7, 2012June 19, 2012 Carmen.Oliveira Assessment, Celebrating Success, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Report Cards, Year End Activities

Looking Back, Reflecting, and Celebrating Our Year!

The students in my class understand the importance of daily reflection in order to take a step back and look at the whole picture before continuing on our journey toward the goals we have set for ourselves. They also know that celebrating each milestone and learning from our setbacks creates an attitude of gratitude, a belief in what we can accomplish, and the excitement to take new risks as we adjust our course to take us to the places we imagine in life.

As we near the end of our time together, there are a few activities my students seem to enjoy very much. It gives them the opportunity to look back on their year, reflect, and celebrate both themselves and their journey.

The activities include:

1. Year End Booklet: prompts are used to get students writing and creating art about themselves and their year.

end of year booklet part 1

end of year booklet part 2

Students take pride in creating their year end booklet

The reflections and art are meaningful and fun!

2. Award: the template is used for students to create an award for themselves and another classmate

end of year award

On the back of each award students explain why they deserve to receive it

3. Year End Scrapbook Page: students create a scrapbook page using prompts co-created with the class

year end scrapbook template

4. Bucket List: following a story from the Toronto Star on bucket lists, students wanted to create their own (a wall will be put up in Toronto this summer so people can write what they want to do in their lifetime)

bucket list

bucket list 2

5. Teacher Report Card: students are not the only ones receiving a report card at the end of the year- I do too! It is co-created

based on what students think is most important for a successful classroom.

Teacher Report Card

Believe it or not, I always get a little nervous when it comes time to receiving my report card! It too is a way for me to get a sense of how my year went and how my journey as a teacher will look like as I continually grow in the art of teaching and learning!

June 6, 2012June 19, 2012 Erin.Grewar Celebrating Success, Learning in a Real Life Context, Planning, Year End Activities

Summer’s Here! Oh yeah, it’s only the beginning of June (Part 2)

Pen Pals – Corresponding with Other Teachers and Students

Pen pals (via actual paper!! or computer) is a great way to link up with other students and teachers. This is something that is wonderful to do throughout the course of the entire school year but it’s also a fun thing to end off with as well. You have a couple options – actual correspondence with francophone students or even writing back and forth to your colleague’s classes at a different school. I’ve found that the yearbook page is a perfect lead in to this activity since students basically have already created their profile in French and can choose to alter it as they wish.

If you’re starting this activity in June, chances are, you’ll only have the time for one exchange but it is still worth it since students will naturally anticipate getting a reply to their letter. Something to consider is also meeting up with the other class and having some kind of event (café/speed meeting, etc) where they can meet and have a personal discussion in French. This exchange can be continued next year when students can continue to build a relationship through correspondence and even future meetings. Not only is this a great opportunity for the students, it also naturally provides a chance for teachers to collaborate with colleagues (much more rare for Core French teachers) on projects and even field trips.

Out of the Mouths of …..Former Students – Serious Words of Advice

Not to give the impression that the entire month of June is a time-filler but between class parties, field excursions, awards assemblies, tournaments, end of the year trips, graduation, etc, there are many days where you need a short/bridge activity. I stumbled across this particular idea entirely by accident when I bumped into four former students in the hallway. With an assembly that unexpectedly ended 40 minutes early and with no energy to entertain the hordes with another French game, I more or less coerced them to come into my class and give a short, impromptu talk about life in high school, and of course, their experience with secondary French.

Tiring of the oft repeated and unheeded “You’re going to need this in Grade 9…,” I figured it would provide my class with real-life renditions of high school experiences and dispel some commonly-held beliefs (or jaded accounts by ill-intentioned older siblings). What resulted was a spontaneous, dynamic discussion that covered a range of topics – challenges, differences with elementary school, preparedness, things they would have done differently, etc.

If you really wanted to play up the French part, it would be a good idea to invite those students who pursued French through high school and to discuss international travel opportunities and future studies/career choices. Somehow, it made a real difference having this frank, open discussion with former peers. They were engaged and because of their familiarity, took their advice seriously. In fact, it was so successful, they willingly agreed to stay and talk to my next class as well. From that year onwards, I always made a point to invite former students back for the same type of discussion. Not only was it beneficial to my grade 8s, it was also an empowering experience for my guest speakers as well.

June 4, 2012June 19, 2012 Erin.Grewar Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Planning, Resources, Year End Activities

Summer’s Here! Oh yeah, it’s only the beginning of June (Part 1)

At this time of year, there seems to be a most distinct correlation between hot sunny weather and a drastically decreased output on the part of students (and if we’re being really honest, teachers as well). It’s been my experience that anything that doesn’t involve soccer baseball is met with a combination of disbelief, outrage and downright disgust. The secret is to engage your students in projects that are just too much fun to pass up. One such activity upon which I rely for such occasions is the “Annuaire” or class yearbook. With enough hype and enthusiasm on your part, they will buy into it as well. I usually give them a rough copy template with the following headings:

Nom
Sobriquet
Classe
Moment mémorable
Bête noire
Ambition personnelle

As with all assignments, it’s important to give students an exemplar for reference, brainstorm useful structures/expressions together and have all information visually accessible in the form of anchor charts. Again, you could also help them out by giving them sentence starters as well. Something that will no doubt grab their attention is if you fill out the sheet as you would have in grade 8 and of course, provide a picture of yourself at that age. In the past, this is what I have used as an exemplar so it serves a dual purpose. I think you’ll find this project will get them focused and productive and also provides a great opportunity for review if you’re discreet about it (le passé compose, le futur proche, les constructions avec deux verbs, etc).

Once complete, you can have the yearbook of each of the separate classes on display (and even use the yearbooks from previous years) – they are naturally curious about the work of their peers and love to reminisce about former students.

*For this to be really successful, it helps if you provide them with the materials they need such as bright, coloured paper, watercolours, markers and pencil crayons. What I also found is that it was much easier if I took their pictures and had them developed so that each student had a picture to accompany their page.

June 1, 2012June 1, 2012 Samantha.Perrin Occasional Teaching, Professional Learning and Growth

My Continuum of Professional Growth – An Attitude of Gratitude

Over the past couple of months, I have had the privilege of teaching in numerous schools and classrooms throughout the TDSB as a daily occasional teacher. I have been the ‘new kid at school’ so to speak, meeting new principals, other teachers and more students than I can count. The greatest benefit to meeting these new people and working in different classrooms has been being able to witness and learn from the great practices that are going on in the classrooms throughout the board, and taking these ideas with me as something that I might later implement in my own classroom.

In my conversations with other teachers, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be doing this. Some teachers were hired straight from pre-service, and developed their programs using the knowledge that they gained in pre-service and through the support of the school and board. One thing that I (and many new teachers that are navigating daily occasional teaching and LTO’s) have, that many experienced teachers did not have, is the opportunity to see and practice the other great ideas, lessons and systems that are going on in other classrooms. Some of the teachers that I have met in my day-to-day encounters expressed that feel that they ‘missed out’ on daily occasional teaching and getting to see great ideas from other classrooms that they could later experiment and make it ‘their own’. I have been fortunate to learn from so many of the great teachers and classrooms that I have taught in as an occasional teacher.

Referring to the ‘Continuum of Professional Learning and Growth’ in Chapter 8 of The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning (ETFO, 2011), I have reflected on how I have evolved through the stages of the Continuum of Professional Learning and Growth. The stages of Orientation and Beginning Practice in my first year of teaching as a full-year LTO were challenging and rich in new learning. Taking in a multitude of information and making sense of how it applied to myself as a teacher was an intense and rapid learning curve- one that has resulted in a steadfast commitment to my own learning and improvement as a teacher.

Over the last couple of years in my continued work as an LTO, I have journeyed through the examination of my own practice, working to find the right fit of strategies that can be used for planning, managing my time, establishing an organizational structure, developing lessons, developing community in my classroom, utilizing school and professional supports, and the list goes on. For me, the Examination of Practice is the ongoing reflection that I do to help me identify how I can best serve and lead my students, and improve my practice. I feel that this is something I will never, and should never, stop doing for as long as I am an educator because it plays a large part in my commitment to being a better and more effective teacher. I have worked alongside great experienced teachers who make this a part of their daily and weekly practice, so that they can make improvements and adjustments daily and yearly. This is probably one of the things that contributes to how great they really are! I have taken note and learned so much from them.

Now, as a daily occasional teacher, teaching in other teacher’s classrooms, I get to observe, practice, and execute the great ideas that I haven’t yet learned or seen over the course of my teaching journey. It is inspiring to see the creative approaches to classroom management, community building, collaboration and so forth, seeing the things that I can later experiment with. Having such exposure, and the opportunities to Experiment and Apply are helping to inform my teaching identity and style (on a course to establishing my Embedded Practice), and I am grateful for having these opportunities.

There are many ways in which a teacher can arrive at opportunities for new learning, experimentation and application. We can collaborate with one another, attend workshops, take courses, read books, follow online blogs and we can also poke our heads into each other’s classrooms and find out what is going on ‘in there’. I have been fortunate that my teaching journey has led me to poking my head into many people’s classrooms, and learning from other teachers through my occasional teaching.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to write for this blog, where I can intentionally share my knowledge and practices with other beginning, experienced and occasional teachers. Intentional Sharing of Knowledge and Practice is located on the end of the Professional and Learning and Growth continuum (p. 122); I am able to do this now through this forum. This is just the beginning for me in the early stages of my career, but sharing knowledge is embedded in my practices as a teacher and as a colleague and it will continue to be a large part my approach in wherever my teaching career takes me. The other loggers have also broadened my perspectives, I have been mentored by their posts and they have helped me to identify other learning opportunities and priorities that will inform my embedded practices. Thank you! This year has been another vast learning opportunity, and I feel it is only just the beginning as I continue to navigate the challenging, rich and rewarding path of teaching.

May 31, 2012June 19, 2012 Alison.Board Assessment, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Planning, Report Cards, Use of Technology, Year End Activities

Celebrating Our Year

We often think that the last two months of school will be all about reflection and reviewing, yet with so many other demands outside of the classroom – our last weeks can feel rushed and frantic. Teachers are often asked to think about planning for the following year, before they can fully complete the one they are in.

To stay present and celebrate with your current classroom community, here are a few suggestions:

1. Consolidate learning – Spend two or three weeks in June reflecting on the students’ learning and giving them time and opportunity to make connections between topics or skills. As a class, you can can discuss the highlights of the year and chart them, or have students work in small group on their shared topics of interest. This may evolve to look like a yearbook that they make with words and images or a story they create in comic form on the computer.

2. Celebrate learning – Provide students with an opportunity to invite other classes, learning buddies, or parents/friends to the classroom before their projects are sent home. Students can make invitations, create portfolios of work, or set up the room for an open house. The celebration may look like a gallery walk, a dramatice presentation, a sharing of portfolios, or a relaxed poetry cafe.

3. Outdoor Classes – In the last week of school when you are sending home work and generally cleaning up your classroom, take students outside for activities that you would normally do inside. This could look like a read-a-loud, visual art activities (such as sketching), visits to local parks or public libraries.

We are completing our assessments and writing reports now, but with a little planning for the next few weeks with reflective exercises and opportunities to make connections, the students will be more engaged and value their last weeks at school as meaningful and rewarding.

May 28, 2012 Samantha.Perrin Planning, Professional Learning and Growth

Communicating Forward: Supporting our students’ learning journey

Having been in a different school every year, I have been able to see the different ways teachers wind down their school year and transfer information forward to subsequent teachers. I do my best to observe and adapt to the different end-of-year practices so that I am effectively adapting to the school culture, and continuing to hone my teaching practices. In some of the LTO positions that I held that started in September, I experienced firsthand how communicating with last year’s teacher and communicating information forward about the students can help prepare a new teacher for meeting the students’ needs from the get-go, in September. The sharing and transferring the knowledge a teacher has about his or her students at the end of the school year to the following teacher can be as simple as passing along a reading assessment, a writing sample or even a students’ journal that would give a glimpse into the student’s life of the previous school year.

I have benefitted from good communication practices in several of the Long Term Occasional positions that I held and had started in September. One example that stands out for me was when I was beginning as a Senior Kindergarten teacher, I was given a file from the Junior Kindergarten teacher which revealed her own learner background summary on her students from the previous year as well as an outgoing assessment performed on each student (a self portrait, printing their name, letter printing with markings showing whether they could identify the letter, the sound, and number printing). In reading those files, I was able to get a picture of where the students left off and where some of them were developmentally. That information allowed me to get an idea of my classroom profile and where I would need to begin in my teaching with them (for example, based on their printing, I could get a sense of a student’s fine motor skills, letter identification, from their drawing, I could get a sense of where the student was developmentally). Having that information before even meeting my students also gave me a starting point for what I would diagnostically assess them on at the beginning of the school year (which was great learning for me, as I was new to teaching kindergarten).

It was through this experience that I learned that communication can continue and be transferred past the end of one school year, into the next and that the transfer of this information can provide teachers with a more comprehensive picture of their new students. While teachers can access previous report cards and schools maintain the Student Ontario Student Record (OSR) folders as a record of the students’ learning history, having additional access to a tangible student work sample can fill some of the blanks and prepare the new teacher for continuing to meet of the students’ specific needs from the very start.

I am sharing this learning as some ‘food for thought’ for my fellow teachers to view the finishing of a grade in June as a pause in the students’ learning journey before they move onto their next chapter, a new grade the following September, and an opportunity to continue supporting the students as they progress by communicating forward information. By passing the detailed information that we worked diligently to maintain, forwarding student information to the next teacher we can benefit our students and help each other prepare continuing to meet the students’ needs as well.

May 25, 2012 Erin.Grewar Assessment, Diverse Learning Needs

Assessment Strategies for the Communicative Approach

I’m not sure about the rest of you but I’ve sometimes found that it is difficult to assess a summative speaking task. In response to sitting through the umpteenth (sometimes tedious) round of presentations where one has to equally focus on assessing the presenters while keeping the rest o the class quietly engaged, I was forced to diversify my methods. To deal with the latter problem, I found peer assessment to be an effective and useful tool. I constructed a rating chart with levels one to four focusing on the following criteria: spoke clearly with confidence and expression, spoke using vocabulary and language structures taught in class, spoke with natural flow and only minor hesitations, spoke using a variety of communication strategies (asking to repeat, using gestures, asking for clarification), came prepared to present and was focused during other people’s presentations.

I divided the class into strategic groupings beforehand to balance out the “distracted” students, varying levels of ability and particular dynamics. Once in their groups, students took turns presenting while the others evaluated and provided feedback. At the same time, I was circulating around the class and also simultaneously evaluating those students who were presenting. If I missed someone, I came back and asked them to repeat a portion of their presentation. To finish off and showcase some of their work, I asked each group to nominate one person/group to present to the class. At the end, students handed in their written evaluations providing myself and each other with valuable feedback and insight. What was also a major accomplishment was we had also managed to have everyone present in one period as opposed to the course of a week.

Using the same rating scale (minus the bit about being focused and on-task during other presentations), I also had students come up to see me individually. Asking them 4 to 5 theme-related questions, they had to answer them spontaneously. This allowed me a true insight into their level of speaking and an opportunity to hear them talk without any kind of prop. At the workshop I attended, they had suggested videotaping each student so that you could go back and evaluate from the footage but I found that this would make many students self-conscious and thus impact the results and in all honesty, I knew I wouldn’t have the time to do so.

The results were definitely interesting and in some cases surprising. I would strongly recommend attempting this as a final assessment once students had frequent opportunities to become comfortable and familiar with the vocabulary and pronunciation through the many opportunities of practising in class.

May 25, 2012May 25, 2012 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.

May 14, 2012May 15, 2012 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.