Blog – Page 177

January 27, 2012January 28, 2012 Sangeeta.McAuley Classroom Layouts, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students

What’s the noise all about?

How much talk is acceptable in a classroom setting? Or more importantly, how much talk is acceptable in your classroom setting?

We all have different beliefs about teaching and learning and this is reflected in what our classrooms look like and sound like. Just by walking down the hall at your school, you may have noticed differences in:

-desk/table set up

-visuals hung up in the classroom

-students working in groups

-use of technology

or the noise level…

And that’s okay. Because not only do our classrooms reflect us, they reflect our students.

I have 18 boys and 9 girls in my Grade 4 class and yes, my classroom is constantly brimming with activity and talk, even during the lunch hour, when the students are supposed to be eating.

When I realized that this is how they prefer to communicate and share, I discovered so much about them, like: one of my student’s father died 11 days before he was born, another student is getting a new sibling and Bruno Mars is a favourite artist among many of my students.

So I say, bring on the ‘noise’.

January 23, 2012January 23, 2012 Carmen.Oliveira Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Interviews, Report Cards

The Importance of Communication in the Parent-Teacher Partnership

As we devote the next few days to completing our report cards and prepare for our parent-teacher conferences, I’d like to share an experience that really came to prove that how often and the manner in which we communicate with our students’ families and caregivers really makes a difference to in supporting and furthering their learning experience.

I am part of the Portuguese-speaking Students Task Force created by the TDSB. It’s mission is to look deeper into the challenges experienced by Portuguese-speaking students and their families including a very high drop-out rate in secondary school and low enrolment with respect to post-secondary education. We have spoken to the students themselves, teachers within the Portuguese community, and most recently, the parents. We discussed at length issues including: how Portuguese-speaking students and their families are viewed by educators; whether students and families feel supported by the TDSB (programs, resources, etc.); what challenges exist; and possible solutions and/or suggestions.

I found it absolutely fascinating that there was one aspect/challenge that each group (students, teachers, and parents) mentioned as needing immediate attention: communication between the school/teachers and parents. The reality, concerns, and suggestions made were practically identical and so I thought it would be beneficial to share the parents’ viewpoint as we think about our parent-teacher conferences.

Parents commented that although they understand teachers are very busy, they often feel left out of their children’s education because they do not really know what’s going on in the classroom on a regular basis. They said that their children’s education is a bit of a mystery when it comes to what they are learning, how they are being assessed, how they can further support their child, and how the education system works overall. It came down to admitting that they feel intimidated at times to speak to the teacher or ask questions about what is happening in the classroom.

When asked about what they would like to see happen with respect to communication between educators and parents, they put it very simply: they wish educators would reach out to them on a regular basis whether it be through a newsletter, email, webpage, tweet, agenda, phone call, etc. to let them know what the children are learning, how the learning will be assessed, and how the family can support and further the learning outside the classroom. Overwhelmingly, parents said that when teachers care enough to take the initiative by constantly keeping the doors of communication open, they feel more motivated in able to guide/support their child.

Let’s keep this in mind…myself included!

January 20, 2012January 20, 2012 Tina.Ginglo Diverse Learning Needs, Planning, Resources

Drama and Dance Resource

Report Cards are fast approaching and I can’t help hear some teachers comment that they need to teach and assess drama and dance ASAP! For those who are not comfortable teaching drama or dance or for those who do not have much experience or access to drama and dance resources, it can be a challenge to plan regular lessons that integrate as well as explicitly teach students drama and dance concepts and skills. I have many “go-to” drama and dance resources that I refer to regularly to assist me with my planning. One particular favourite is the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE) website. Under the Resource tab you can search for K-12 drama and dance lessons and units. You will find videos of teachers modeling the strategies as well as BLMs that you can print and copy. Some of the lessons are marked “Members Only.” Membership is 50.00/year, but I think there is a discount for first year teachers. What I like best about the site is that there are always new resources added and I really appreciate the dance/movement lesson plans! Feeling Artsy? Have a look:)

January 19, 2012 Erin.Grewar Diverse Learning Needs

Salon du livre – Celebrating French Projects

Oftentimes, French teachers have a difficult time motivating their students when it comes to expending effort on their work. Not to generalize (but I will nonetheless), enthusiastic students tend to put forth a high degree of effort no matter what the subject while those who are not put even less into their French assignments. Engaging the creativity, motivation and enthusiasm of students is no doubt a French teacher’s greatest challenge.

Take heart! The expression that higher levels of achievement are the result of higher expectations also holds true for Core French. With each summative assignment, I always make sure to provide students with the opportunity to maximize their efforts (and end up dragging the less enthusiastic ones along for the ride). To do so, I ensure four things.

1) The project is both engaging and allows for individual expression.

2) The students have concrete and visual examples to refer to.

3) The appropriate supplies (cardstock, various colours of papers, markers, pencil crayons, paints) are all available for them to use and the proper amount of class time is allocated.

4) They have an opportunity to showcase their work to a larger audience.

For the last point, there are many different options available. The one that I’m undertaking currently with my grade 8 classes is something I call “Le salon du livre” and is the culmination of a “novel study” (albeit a very short one).

Having read the Galaxie reader “Le secret” together as a class, students were asked to reinterpret the story in some way (new cover design / summary /reviews, portfolio of one the main characters, rewrite an alternate ending) and be able to visually exhibit their work at the “Salon”. With their classmates, they are divided into small groups where they orally present their project and the following day, I assemble the assignments from all the classes and give the students the opportunity to see and review everyone’s projects.

On this day, I have selected students who have been nominated by their groups to come to another class for an “author’s visit” where they read a selection of their work. We finish off the event by having refreshments (usually croissants and juice) and taking the opportunity to relax, enjoy and celebrate each other’s company and hard efforts. I find that this kind of event ups the ante and even my most reluctant students rise to the occasion.

January 19, 2012 Erin.Grewar Learning About Your Students, Planning, Wellness

Refreshed, Rejuvenated and Replenished

The beginning of the year is obviously a great time for fresh starts in all areas. With regards to teaching, I find that a break of two weeks does wonders to clear the mind and soul (not to over exaggerate or anything) from any built up negativity, grouchiness or even lackadaisical behaviour on the part of the teacher once the holiday countdown begins.

Coming back to school rested and refreshed allows me to regain a more centered sense of objectivity and balance. I always take this opportunity to switch up the seating plan, reorganize the classroom layout and generally try to freshen up the environment. In addition, I also use this window of opportunity when students come back with hopefully some of the same mindset to resolve any lingering and ongoing issues around behaviour, attitude or work ethic. I find that approaching them at this point, right at after the break, allows for a frank and productive conversation without the build up of aggravation, tiredness and downright animosity on the part of both parties.

In other words, now is a great time to reinvent or tackle anything that had previously been unsettling you before the onslaught of marking, report cards, form collecting, winter activity days, committee meetings, extra-curricular activities…brace yourselves!

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012 Samantha.Perrin Communication with Parents and Guardians, Learning in a Real Life Context, Wellness

New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year!!!

The New Year is a great time to reflect on the previous year and to set goals and resolutions for the year ahead. I spoke to my students about New Year’s resolutions and shared some of my personal goals for school and for myself at home. I felt it was important for the students to see that setting goals help to make a person ‘better’ and that it is no different than the practice and work that they put in every day into their learning. The message was not lost on them, and they were enthusiastic to prove that you’re never too young to start goal setting. In fact, I think that my young students really understood the purpose and value of goal setting because they grow, learn and improve so quickly (for example, in learning how to read).

Together the students came up with their own definitions of resolutions and we discussed the purpose and value of articulating a goal and coming up with a plan for meeting that goal. Then, we all took turns sharing one resolution that pertains to school and one that pertains to home life. The students then wrote about their goals for display in the school. This week I will be sending a copy of the students’ resolutions home with them to serve as a reminder and a discussion point for parents in helping their children achieve their goals.

Click here to see some pictures of this activity from my classroom.

It’s important to strive for improvement, whether it is for the benefit of work or school, but also as busy teachers, for achieving health and balance, which I will be working on myself in 2012.

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012 Tina.Ginglo Assessment

An Integrated Unit- A Chair for Baby Bear

The culminating task for our unit on strong and stable structures was the highlight of my first four months back in the classroom. My colleague and friend, Catherine Little, who is currently teaching science at York University at the Faculty of Education, generously offered her time and expertise by facilitating the launch of this culminating task with my third grade students.

Catherine launched the task by first reading the picture book, A Chair for Baby Bear (2004) by Kaye Umansky and illustrated by Chris Fisher (Barron’s Educational Series, ISBN-13: 978-0764157899). In this story, after Goldilocks breaks Baby Bear’s chair and flees the bear’s cottage, Baby Bear goes to town with Papa Bear shopping for a new chair. In town, Baby Bear was unable to find a chair that was “just right” for him. Catherine stopped at this point in the book, and presented the task to my class. They were to make a chair for Baby Bear using only newspaper and masking tape!

The students had to apply everything they learned about strong and stable structures to create a chair that was just right for Baby Bear. The knew they were successful when they placed a stuffed toy bear on their chair. If their chair were stable, the stuffed bear and the chair would not fall down!

After the students reflected on the process and self assessed their designs, they wrote a procedure or recount for “Professor Catherine” to share with other third grade students she will visit. The students were so proud of their chair. They were focused and I was able to assess what they learned about strong and stable structures, not by giving them a unit test on the topic, but by observing students build their chair, conferencing with them and by reading their self assessments and procedural writing. This is what I love most about teaching and learning!

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012 Tina.Ginglo Assessment, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students

The Whole Child

As a third grade teacher, I sometimes get caught up and distracted by the fast approaching EQAO assessment. Our school doesn’t fair very well in the EQAO world and there is a lot of talk about getting the students ready. One way our school is preparing students for the assessment is by providing them practice runs at previous EQAO questions. As Sangeeta mentioned in a previous post, I also worry about the amount of pen and paper tasks our students complete. Don’t get me wrong, knowing how to read and write are VERY important skills that must be acquired, but there are many ways to learn how to read, THINK and write, technology being one.

As we neared the end of the calendar year, I allowed myself to forget about EQAO and teach the way I taught when I taught grades 4 and 5 and kindergarten! Even though my students receive their music and art instruction from other teachers, I decided to include it in my program as well. Visual literacy, music, drama, art, movement, design and technology were springboards for incredible thinking and prompted the most meaningful and well crafted writing I have assessed so far this year! More importantly, the level of engagement in my class springboard as I observed students focus and participate in ways I was not able to observe when I did not integrate the arts in my teaching.

I know this! Why do I allow myself to get caught up in the EQAO frenzy? Don’t get me wrong. I actually like the EQAO assessment and take the responsibility of teaching STUDENTS the Ontario curriculum very seriously— but sometimes I think we get turned around and teach the CURRICULUM to students. I think there is a difference. My goal for 2012, is to make sure I teach to the WHOLE CHILD everyday and allow students to explore the curriculum in different ways before bringing out the pen and paper:)

January 6, 2012January 7, 2012 Carmen.Oliveira Professional Learning and Growth, Resources

Let’s Reflect, Read, and Regroup!

Just like Alison, I too enjoy taking some time during my breaks to reflect on the teaching and learning during the previous months in our classroom. I agree with the fact that it’s a wonderful opportunity to take a closer look at our work, experiences, progress, etc. in order to celebrate what we did well while at the same time tweaking aspects that may lead to greater benefits for the students and overall learning in the classroom.

I have taken some time during my break to look at and read some professional resources that had come to my attention during the first term. Below I’ll include them with a brief overview. I also made time to read a new “young adult” series which was recommended to me by my students and, I have to say, they have very good taste because I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Book List:

Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry – Jeffrey D. Wilhelm

Wilhelm shows that it’s easy to teach with inquiry no matter what the subject area. The book includes: examples of guiding questions for every content area; planning guidelines and sample inquiry units; prompts, walkarounds, and dozens of activities to deepen thinking about topics; engaging examples of questioning schemes that promote inquiry-oriented reading; and much more.

Comprehension & Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action – Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels

This book is a guide for teachers who want to realize the benefits of well-structured, engaging, cross-curricular projects. It is an excellent resource for teachers to join with students to explore rich content inside and beyond the curriculum- to wonder, question, build knowledge, care, and take action in the world. I engaged my students in a unit about hunger (which I described in my blog entry entitled: When Teaching Comes Full Circle) which was structured around the strategies shared in this fantastic resource.

Matched and Crossed – Ally Condie

My students recommended this series stating, “If you liked The Hunger Games then you’ll love this series.” They were right! A futuristic fable of love and struggle against an oppressive society, it asks the question: Can there be freedom without choice? A very easy read that had me hooked right from the first page. Well worth it for junior/intermediate teachers especially.

As you can tell, having the first week of the year off was a great way for me to reflect, read, and regroup 🙂

Happy New Year to everyone and all the best for the continuation of the school year!

December 28, 2011December 29, 2011 Alison.Board Classroom Layouts, Planning

Time to Reflect

Our two week break allows time for a much needed and deserved rest. However, it is also a good time to look back on the first 3 months of school and think about what worked well and what might benefit with some tweaking. I always find the return to class in January and the return after March Break, an opportunity to change things up a little. This might be as simple as moving the desks around to give the students a new perspective of their environment, or creating new centres such as a science inquiry corner or a recycled materials corner for exploration and expression.

When I look back at the photos I have taken in the past months, I can see before me the images that show the children engaged in their learning. These images resulted from opportunities to learn together in collaboration and to explore a variety of materials and forms of expressions. It required planning that integrated language, math, science, social studies, and visual art. It confirms for me that I want to continue to provide these opportunities when we return in January. On the other hand, I see a corner of the room that is not utilized, a listening centre that is rarely used, and a need for another table to build or create collaboratively at. So, when I return in January, I would like to make a few physical tweaks to the layout and add something to the listening centre as an invitation (maybe plain tapes to record the child’s retell of the story or paper and coloured pencils for the children to draw their mental images of the story they are listening to).

Whatever the changes are, the children will notice. See the classroom as their invitation to learn. Continue with what works, and edit or make changes to things that need it! Enjoy the start of the New Year!