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The first day on the job can be tough for any new employee, especially when they are young and just entering the workforce. Summer jobs, part time work, new environments, unfamiliar faces … all of that uncertainty can sometimes combine to create unexpected situations. Like the following, for your consideration …

A young woman was about to begin one of her first jobs ever, and the boss had asked all new employees to meet in her office for orientation. She was the first to arrive (she liked to be a little early to prepare) and found the door to the office slightly ajar. She could hear voices inside, so she took a seat in the hall.  While she waited, she opened her bag and searched for her list of start-up questions, to review again.

A few minutes later the door opened fully and a client walked out. When the client noticed the young employee sitting there, she startled and looked away, then hurriedly left. The boss came out a moment later and when she saw the young woman, exploded.

“That is unacceptable!” she scolded, pointing a finger at her. “That is just awful, you need to alert people if you are there!” Before she could respond, the boss stormed off down the hall.

It is easy to imagine the thoughts that may have been racing through the boss’s mind just before she reprimanded the employee: The chair was right outside my office. She was close enough to hear any conversation inside. I can hear conversations in the hall myself, even quiet ones. She was not listening to music or talking to anyone; she was just sitting there and clearly had been for some time. Of course she heard everything. She was eavesdropping.

Right?

Right???

The above scenario perfectly illustrates a phenomenon that afflicts all of us humans and is especially relevant in education. I’ve heard it called many things: jumping to conclusions, climbing your Ladder of Inference¹, making up a story, assumptions … But the gist of all of them is this: in any given circumstance, our brains filter events and information through our own individual lenses. And as much as we like to think we know (we just know) what must be going on in any given situation, the truth is we really don’t. Not until the person involved tells us. Until then, we are all only ever operating from our own frame of reference and, let’s face it, limited knowledge. The lived realities of others are not a part of our own experiences, so we jump to conclusions based on incomplete and sometimes biased information. And once a conclusion is in your head, unless you stop to question it, it can result in some regrettable actions.

The truth of the matter was, the young woman in the above scenario did not hear a single word of the conversation, even though it took place only a few feet away from her, and here is why: she had severe hearing loss, and unless she was facing a person in the same room, her hearing aids could not pick up sound properly, and any voices or conversations sounded like muffled white noise to her, if they were detectable at all. And because it was not within her frame of reference, she was completely unaware that a typical-hearing person would be able to hear a conversation behind that slightly-open door. But the boss did not pause; she scrambled up her ladder of inference and ended up yelling at her new, eager employee for something she did not do. And demonstrated a bit of ableism in the process.

Oops.

As teachers, we work with students whose backgrounds, identities, and lived realities may be very different from our own. We may not have all of the information required to identify and respond to students’ needs.  And if we are not careful, if we do not find the pause, the quiet wondering, we risk forming conclusions that may be inaccurate, even harmful.  And there are many scenarios in our day-to-day teaching that require questions rather than conclusions …

Look at the terrible lunches the student brings. The parent must not care. (Or does the student have intolerances and sensory challenges, and the food packed in lunches is what they will eat independently, with parents ensuring proper nutrition in supported environments at home? Or is the family experiencing food insecurity and does not know where to ask for assistance? Or something else?)

That child won’t even look me in the eye … so disrespectful. (Or is it social anxiety? Neurodiversity and difficulty with eye contact? Cultural deference to the teacher? Something else?)

Look at this absence list … how hard is it to get your child to school?  (Or is there a chronic health condition? A student with mental illness? Economic barrier? Trauma? Something else?)

A colleague once told me that when she was a new teacher, she did not understand why some parents and caregivers had difficulty getting their children to school regularly.  After years of supporting students and their families, she quietly remarked that behind many an arms-length absence list is a broken-hearted parent.

So, to all new teachers (and seasoned ones, including myself) if there is one thing to remind ourselves of, it is to find the pause, the quiet center in the storm of our thoughts. To resist rushing up that ladder, furiously grabbing at the rungs of our own experiences, hoisting ourselves up to quick conclusions. Because in the pause we may find reflection. Do I have all the information? Might my identity have shielded me from something here? How can I learn more? As Eugene Ionesco is said to have remarked, “It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”

Wishing many beautiful questions to you all.

 

 

¹ Harvard Business School Online, “What Is the Ladder of Inference?”, https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/ladder-of-inference.

Kindergarten educators are skilled at making the most of the little moments throughout the day. Those few minutes between activities are more than just transitions they are opportunities to build community, spark joy, and prepare children for what comes next. Playful, developmentally appropriate transition experiences help children navigate the daily schedule while creating a sense of belonging. Best of all, many of these activities take just a few minutes to set up and can have a lasting impact on classroom routines and relationships.

Before stepping into my own classroom, I spent several years supply teaching in kindergarten classrooms. I had the privilege of seeing countless creative transition ideas in action. Some educators used mystery bags that encouraged students to ask thoughtful “Wh-” questions, while others turned lining up into a shoe guessing game or energized the class with quick movement challenges. I watched, I learned, and over the years I have carried many of those wonderful ideas into my own practice as a kindergarten planning time teacher.

One of my absolute favorite community builders is a gross motor game called The Hula-Hoop Pass. To play, the entire class stands in a circle holding hands, with a hula hoop resting over one child’s arm. Without letting go of their neighbors’ hands, the group has to wiggle, duck, and step to pass the hoop all the way around the circle until it gets back to the start. It is physically impossible to complete this challenge without everyone’s involvement. Quiet leaders naturally step up, wiggly bodies get to move, and it constantly sparks the sweetest moments of kids spontaneously cheering each other on.

When I want to focus on listening skills and working memory, I turn to a classic round of Broken Telephone. We sit in a circle, and one child whispers a secret phrase into the next child’s ear, following the strict kindergarten rule that you can only repeat it once. The phrase travels all the way around until the last child says it out loud to hilarious, scrambled results. The secret to making this game a hit is choosing completely absurd starting phrases. Sentences like, Chicken chicken banana, Purple socks smell like toast, or The penguin ate my homework, are absolute gold. Beyond the phonological awareness practice, it gently normalizes the fact that miscommunication happens to everyone, and that it is usually just the start of a really good laugh.

Another game I frequently use, which I first discovered during my supply days, is the Your Shoe, My Shoe Game, and it is a beautiful exercise in observation and identity. Everyone sits in a circle, takes off one shoe, and tosses it into a giant pile in the center. After the shoes are thoroughly mixed up, we pick them up one at a time, and the class tries to guess the owner based on size, color, or unique style clues. It encourages the children to truly notice one another, leading to comments like, “Is that Mia’s? She always wears the red ones!” It celebrates their differences and suddenly turns a regular Velcro sneaker into the most fascinating thing in the room.

Finally, to unlock their drama and imagination skills, we love to play This Is Not a Box, which pairs well as an extension to Antoinette Portis’s picture book. I place a simple cardboard box, a stick, or a scarf in the center of the carpet. One child picks it up and, without using any words, mimes using it as something else entirely, like a rocket ship, a mixing bowl, or a giant hat, while the rest of the group guesses what it has become. Because there is no wrong answer, children often surprise us with their creativity and originality during this activity. 

Managing these games smoothly takes a little strategy, but a few quick tricks make all the difference. To match kindergarteners’ energy , I keep these games to quick five or ten minute sessions that keep the momentum high and the fun going. I also make sure to get right down on the floor and play alongside them; putting my own shoe in the pile or whispering the silly phrase, building instant trust and co-regulation. While we play, I loudly narrate the positive social skills I see by saying things like, “I love how patiently you waited for your turn!” or “Look at that beautiful teamwork!” Once the class masters the rules, I even let a student take over as the “teacher” for the round to build their confidence. These moments are short, but the connection they build lasts all day. 

 A cricketer whose bowling average is 12.4 runs per wicket takes 5 wickets for 26 runs and thereby decreases their average by 0.4. How many wickets were taken by the cricketer until the last match?

I can’t remember where I came across that question. It’s still findable on a couple of websites, but I think the first time I encountered it was years ago … perhaps in an ESL teaching resource? I do remember that the author had used this word problem to illustrate the importance of vocabulary knowledge for reading comprehension and solving word problems.

Unless you are familiar with cricket, you may have stumbled while reading the above passage, just like I did. Sure, I can decode it and read it fluently, but I have no idea what on this glorious green earth it means. I have never played cricket. Don’t know the rules. I’m not familiar with any of the special terms (I had to google “cricket vocabulary” to come up with the title of this blog). It bears saying that it’s not just the vocabulary that stumps me in that question, it’s the context; when I first read it, the entire thing was so befuddling I had difficulty determining even the first step in solving the math. Wickets? The only Wicket I know anything about is the Ewok who helped Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi. And I strongly suspect that will not help me here.

Since my teachers’ college days, I have heard about the importance of activating students’ background knowledge for reading and other curriculum tasks.  Background knowledge is critical in supporting all students’ new learning, and yet instances abound when they may encounter curriculum material that is academically and experientially unfamiliar, and culturally embedded. How many times have I seen smart, capable, students stop in confusion when reading a text about going camping, building a snow fort, or ordering a meal in a restaurant from a menu … If you have never done these things before, how would you make meaningful connections to a story about them? How would you understand the main point of the text? Or solve a math question related to it?

All of this leads me to a professional resource I recently read: Teaching Foundational Skills to Adolescent Readers by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Sarah Ortega, Kierstan Barbee, and Aida Allen-Rotell. In their chapter on background knowledge, the authors summarize the key findings of multiple studies on the effect of background knowledge on learning, and one section in particular offers a helpful distillation:

“When students’ background knowledge is strong, they can more readily comprehend complex texts because as they read, they are able to fill in missing or incomplete information that the author assumed readers know (Ozuru et al., 2009). Conversely, when students’ background knowledge is lacking, comprehension can suffer even for the most motivated readers because they have more difficulty making the logical leaps necessary to fill in the blanks (Elbro & Buch-Iverson, 2013).” (Fisher et al., 2025, p. 35)

So, we know background knowledge has a significant impact on learning new material. But how do we build background knowledge for learners who may not have the experiences and prior learning required to optimally engage with curriculum tasks? And what level of background knowledge is sufficient to make that knowledge, as the multiple studies in the book term it, “usable”?

I wish I could show you the graphic the authors created to illustrate the necessary components of usable background knowledge; it ties it all together nicely.  As a short description, the graphic is a simple circle. The words “Background Knowledge” sit in the very center of this circle, and three interconnected qualities surround it in a continuous cycle: “organized”, “conditionalized”, and “transferrable” (Fisher et al., 2025, p. 38).  To paraphrase the authors’ descriptions, students must have not only an awareness of the topic and its associated vocabulary, but this knowledge must also be organized and connected to other facts, creating a global understanding of the topic rather than disconnected terms and bits of information (defining the term “wicket” may help me a bit, but I need more context); the learner must also know in what conditions it is appropriate to use this knowledge (the authors use a fable to illustrate this one, so I will as well – a student may know a lot about lions and their habitats, but that information isn’t needed when analyzing the moral of the fable The Lion and the Mouse); and finally, the learner must be able to transfer that knowledge to new situations in order to learn (Fisher et al., 2025, pp. 38-42).

Essentially, it is not enough to give students the definitions of unfamiliar words, or perfunctory overviews of unfamiliar topics, before engaging in academic tasks related to them. There is a difference, they quote, between “disconnected facts” and “usable knowledge” (How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, 2000, p. 11, as cited in Fisher et al., 2025).

All of this emphasizes to me the importance of knowing our students, their experiences, their backgrounds. It also highlights the importance of critically evaluating teaching topics and resources … are they familiar and accessible to everyone, or just to students with specific backgrounds and experiences? And how can we guide students in developing their background knowledge, and knowing when and how to use it? To transfer it to new situations?

The authors offer a number of ideas in this regard: initial student self-assessments to determine background knowledge, anticipation guides, and variations on KWL charts by adding a “Use” column as well, so that students are not only recording what they know and want to know about a topic, and what they ended up learning, but also how they will use and apply this information in new contexts.

This entry is not meant to be a comprehensive explainer of the authors’ work by any means, but rather a reflection to pique interest. If you have access to a copy, there are lots of practical, research-backed strategies for your classroom. And many of the studies they cite are available free online too, including some of those listed below.

Good luck – Yub nub!

 

 

References

Elbro, C., & Buch-Iversen, I. (2013). Activation of background knowledge for inference making: Effects on reading comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17(6), 435–452.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., Ortega, S., Barbee, K., Allen-Rotell, Aida. (2025). Teaching foundational skills to adolescent readers. Corwin Press.

National Research Council. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. In J.D. Bransford, A.L. Brown, & R. Cocking (Eds.), Commission on behavioral and social sciences and education. National Academy Press.

Ozuru, Y., Dempsey, K., & McNamara, D. S. (2009). Prior knowledge, reading skill, and text cohesion in the comprehension of science texts. Learning and Instruction, 19(3), 228–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.04.003

 

It’s that time of the year where I reflect on my practice, and think about THREE major lessons to take away. Here are my lessons from last year, if you are curious! 

This year felt like a lot. Being a combined grade primary-junior teacher (Grade 3/4) combined with starting off in a brand new school took a lot of energy. I felt capable when a lesson was successful and both grades were engaged. Some days I felt more tired.

But I showed up. Every day. And now it’s June, and I’m reflecting on what this year taught me.

1. Positive Self-Talk Matters… so everyone puts forth their best! 

Positive self-talk is about being kind to yourself and building resiliency through hard tasks. By modelling self-talk as an educator, it helps students experience growth and success, especially during times they feel stuck in the learning cycle.

2. STEM Matters… now more than ever!

Building identity, relations, and connection to STEM is important. It helps build resiliency, reasoning and critical thinking skills. By helping students see current diverse role models in STEM, students get the message that “we belong in these spaces.”

3. Handwriting Matters… to build neural pathways ,

In the times of technology, and as wonderful as it is… I reverted back to more pencil-paper tasks. I saw students slow down when they wrote by hand. They thought more. They remembered more (especially capitals and punctuation!). Of course technology is provided as support (or if it was outlined in an IEP).  But by pushing more handwriting tasks, students shared their own thinking more. Their notes, their reflections, their drafts – they approached the work differently. 

It wasn’t a perfect year but it was full of growth and moments where I surprised myself. And for me, that’s more than enough! 

What are your three lessons from this school year?

 

Dear Readers,

Thank you for supporting the Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning by reading, sharing and commenting. After several  years of contributing to the blog, this is a new moment for another member to have the opportunity to learn and grow as a teacher and writer. This is my final blog.

The challenge of blog writing is very similar to growing a garden and I hope the seeds I have planted will continue to blossom over the years. If you found some useful teaching tips in my blogs, please share so that the growth can continue!

The garden metaphor also applies to teaching as our students realize that growth requires patience, care, and resilience. As children learn a new concept or skill they will need a safe and nurturing space for it to become a deeper level of understanding, one that stays with them. Similarly, the water, soil, compost, sunlight and temperature will impact how well a plant can thrive. I am sure that if you are reading this blog you are constantly reflecting on your own practice and exploring ways to grow professionally in order to benefit your students.

One of the biggest influences on my teaching career has been the Every Child Matters movement and hearing the truth about residential schools. Keeping in mind that I am a guest on Turtle Island as a first generation Scots/Irish-Canadian, I have written about my role as an ally to Indigenous Peoples and promoted Indigenous authors. The teachings I have had from people who are First Nations, Métis and Inuit are close to my heart. I am building a stronger relationship with the land and a better understanding of all our relatives. When I say relatives I am including the soil, rocks, plants, swimmers, crawlers, walkers, and flyers. Every day I am grateful to the water, the air, the sun and the Earth for all the gifts they share. I find it reassuring to see changes in schools as Indigenous teachings are being applied and supported. It is my hope that we can move together on a path of reconciliation and have a brighter future.

In the garden I have plants that thrive when there are a variety of species planted together. They are more successful when integrated then if they were segregated into separate growing areas. I hope my blogs encourage teachers to read a great variety of books to their students. I hope those books then launch into experiential learning experiences that include the arts, making learning more meaningful. Igniting student curiosity and giving purposeful tasks often have the greatest success!

The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning has reinforced my belief that effective teaching is both intentional and relational. It is about creating conditions where students feel safe to explore, create, and grow. It is about listening carefully and adapting thoughtfully.  Like any garden, teaching requires ongoing care and attention. The rewards, however, are extraordinary. Every season brings new possibilities, and every learner has the potential to flourish when given the right conditions to grow.

Big Thanks to All!

Brenda

In Part 1 of this series, I explored the importance of social-emotional learning in mathematics and how developing a positive mathematical identity can help students build confidence and perseverance. Once students begin to see themselves as capable mathematicians, we can further support their success by strengthening their foundational numeracy skills.

One of the most important aspects of foundational numeracy is helping students see numbers as flexible quantities that can be composed and decomposed in multiple ways. Developing this understanding allows students to think more efficiently, make connections between concepts, and approach problems with confidence.

From Kindergarten to approximately grade 3, we spend a lot of time focusing on the foundations of math. Creating opportunities for number talks/math talks and teaching a variety of strategies to help students solve problems quickly and build their number sense. Skills such as composing and decomposing numbers, calculating efficiently, and understanding place value are essential building blocks for future learning.

As students move into the Junior grades, the focus naturally shifts from developing foundational skills to applying mathematical thinking in more complex ways. Students arrive with a wide range of experiences and levels of understanding, and when foundational concepts are not yet secure, new learning can feel overwhelming or stressful. This presents an opportunity for educators to reflect on instructional design, consider how time is allocated for revisiting key concepts, and identify the strategies and supports that will help students develop confidence, fluency, and long-term success in mathematics.

In the primary grades, this often involves providing rich experiences with concrete manipulatives such as ten-frames, rekenreks, connecting cubes, and counters. These tools help students visualize quantities, recognize patterns, and develop a deeper understanding of how numbers are constructed and related to one another.

As students move into the junior grades, these foundational understandings continue to support increasingly sophisticated mathematical thinking. Regular opportunities to explore numbers in different ways help students develop flexibility and efficiency. For example, students can recognize that 12 can be represented as 10 + 2, 6 + 6, 8 + 4, or 5 + 5 + 2. This ability to break apart and recombine numbers strengthens mental math strategies and supports success with increasingly complex operations.

Place value remains one of the most important concepts in elementary mathematics. A strong understanding of place value provides students with a powerful tool for reasoning, estimating, calculating, and communicating mathematical thinking. It supports not only whole-number operations but also future learning involving decimals, fractions, and proportional reasoning.

One effective approach is encouraging students to represent numbers in expanded form when solving problems. Rather than relying solely on procedures, students can use place value reasoning to make their thinking visible.

For example, when solving 57 + 36, students might think of the problem as:

(50 + 30) + (7 + 6)

which can then be recomposed as:

80 + 13 = 93

Approaches such as these help students understand the value of each digit and the relationships between numbers. They encourage conceptual understanding while simultaneously supporting procedural fluency.

Foundational numeracy can be strengthened through a variety of instructional approaches. Number talks, math games, small-group instruction, problem-solving tasks, and targeted mini-lessons all provide opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of number relationships and develop efficient strategies. These experiences are most effective when they occur regularly and are embedded within daily mathematics instruction.

Professional judgment also plays an important role. There will be times when students benefit from additional opportunities to consolidate foundational concepts before moving forward to new learning. Providing this time ensures that students have the necessary understanding to access increasingly complex mathematical ideas with confidence.

When we prioritize foundational numeracy, we are setting students up for long-term success. Strong number sense helps students approach math with confidence, flexibility, and independence. When combined with a positive mathematical identity, these skills create a strong foundation for deeper learning and help students see themselves as capable mathematicians.

Over the last few months, I have been reflecting on my time spent supporting students in classrooms and working with small groups in junior grades, particularly during math instruction. Two observations have remained consistent: many students benefit from developing a stronger growth mindset in mathematics, and many are benefiting from additional opportunities to strengthen their foundational numeracy skills.

Before focusing on targeted instruction and specific mathematical concepts, one of the ways I begin mathematics learning at the start of the school year is by recognizing and drawing attention to the emotional side of learning math. Many students approach math with uncertainty, anxiety, or a lack of confidence based on previous experiences. Sometimes a seemingly small interaction can have a significant impact. A student who hears a peer quickly solve a problem and say, “That’s so easy,” may begin to internalize the idea that they are not good at math. Over time, these experiences can shape how students see themselves as mathematicians.

One of the most powerful things educators can do is help students develop a positive mathematical identity. When students believe they are capable of learning mathematics, they are more likely to persevere through challenges, take risks, and engage in meaningful problem-solving.

Strand A: Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills in the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum provides a strong foundation for this work. The curriculum encourages educators to integrate self-awareness, perseverance, resilience, and healthy coping strategies directly into mathematics learning. By intentionally creating classroom environments where mistakes are valued as part of the learning process, we can help students develop confidence and strengthen their willingness to engage with challenging tasks.

So how do we create those productive opportunities?

As educators, we know that building a positive mathematical mindset develops over time through consistent modelling, classroom routines, as well as opportunities for reflection. When students begin to view mathematics as a space for exploration rather than simply arriving at the correct answer, they become more willing to share their thinking, take risks, and learn from mistakes.

Some ways to intentionally incorporate SEL opportunities into your mathematics classroom include:

• Incorporating regular reflection time through reading stories
• Using exit tickets that invite students to reflect on their mathematical experiences. Questions such as “How did you feel about math today?”, “What part felt successful?”, or “What challenged you?” can help students develop self-awareness and identify areas for growth.
• Modelling positive self-talk during instruction. Statements such as “I’m going to keep trying,” “I can work with a partner to solve this,” or “I can ask for help when I need it” demonstrate the mindset we hope students will adopt.
• Offering open-ended tasks that allow students to approach problems using different strategies and demonstrate multiple possible solutions. Open-ended tasks help students recognize that mathematics is not always about finding one correct pathway.
• Using social stories and mentor texts that model perseverance, resilience, and positive self-talk when encountering challenges.
• Celebrating learning through mistakes by encouraging students to record misconceptions, revisions, and new understandings in their math journals.

These practices help create a classroom culture where students feel safe taking risks and where mathematical thinking is valued as much as the final answer.

It is also important to recognize that math anxiety is not always rooted in mindset alone. For some students, feelings of frustration or avoidance may stem from gaps in foundational numeracy skills, language barriers, learning exceptionalities, or previous interruptions in learning. If you notice that a student is consistently struggling despite classroom supports, consider collaborating with your school’s Special Education or English as a Second Language /English Literacy Development resource teacher. These team members can help inform assessment practices, identify underlying needs, and suggest targeted supports that may help the student access mathematics more successfully.

Once students feel confident engaging in mathematical tasks and sharing their thinking, instructional focus can shift toward strengthening their understanding of numbers and foundational mathematical concepts. Students benefit from reflecting on how mathematics makes them feel and from developing a growth mindset. They also benefit from seeing what effective mathematicians do; ask questions, try different strategies, learn from mistakes, and persevere through challenges.

In Part 2 of this blog, we will explore how strengthening foundational numeracy skills can further support student confidence and mathematical success.

In November at … And Still We Rise, I had the incredible chance to listen to Elisapie speak.  Elisapie is an award winning Inuk musician and she shared with us about her life and her newest release titled, “Inuktitut”.  In this release, she has recorded the songs of her life and childhood that were important to her.  With permission from the original musicians, she sings each song in Inuktitut. Elisapie shared with us that the songs she chose to record each brought back a memory from her childhood; community dances, a moment shared with a friend, and other pieces of her life. The beautiful and familiar songs of my own childhood sung in Inuktitut remind me that life can be experienced so very differently; the same music can bring different memories for people.  

There’s a reflection activity I’ve used at different times of the year is the Soundtrack of My Life.  It’s a chance for myself and my students to share a little about each other in a fun way.  Firstly, we talk about what a soundtrack is and how music can communicate events or emotions. We brainstorm examples together and many students share popular or trending music tied to an event or a memory. So many conversations can stem from this activity and it really helps as a vehicle for us to get to know each other while having fun. 

Thinking back to this past school year, there were so many beautiful moments to take with me.  And just to balance those out, some challenging ones, too. At the beginning of the school year, I always feel so hopeful and excited to meet new students and try new lessons. Mid-year brings different emotions. We’re all in the midst of working hard through the winter as term one comes to an end.  I admit that the shorter days and gray skies weigh on me!  At this time of year, I try to bring more joy to the classroom and school.  We have some fun, hands-on experiments and time for community building activities. By the time spring comes, we have built a community in the classroom. I feel as though we know each other quite well and I hope they feel accepted in our classroom. 

These are all my hopes; my emotions.  They might be represented through some songs, like “True Colours” or “The Dock of the Bay”. These experiences and  songs define my important moments even though they might be different from the students. I try to ensure that the students feel safe enough to share a little something, but I also try to respect their privacy if needed.  Sharing music might mean sharing a story, but it can also mean just sharing a song that we really like and can enjoy together.  I invite you to think of which songs might help to build the soundtrack of your school year and which memories and hopes you will take forward with you to the next. 

I remember being a fairly new teacher and sitting in a professional learning session with a far more experienced educator. When break time came, he rolled his eyes and said to our administrator, who had accompanied us for the session: “Haven’t we been through this already? Didn’t we try this approach years ago?”

Now, as a much more experienced educator, I have suddenly found myself in a similar position. Across Ontario, there has been significant attention being paid to the Think SRSD approach, also known as “Releasing Writers”.

What is Think SRSD? In short, it is a framework of strategies that helps students at all ages to write structured texts, from analyses of non-fiction content to stories. It combines explicit writing instruction with self-regulation strategies to support developing writers. Students are taught clear writing strategies step-by-step. For example, they may learn how to plan an opinion paragraph using a mnemonic that reminds them to state an opinion, provide reasons, and add evidence. Teachers model the thinking process aloud before students practise collaboratively and independently. Graphic organizers, analyzing exemplars, summarizing, writing responses, and using transitions to organize writing are some the teaching strategies that comprise Think SRSD.

For me, many of the approaches are reminiscent of teaching strategies we have been familiar with for some time. Like my more experienced colleague years ago, I am wondering if this is an old teaching method being revived as something new. Many of my colleagues are similarly skeptical when they learn the approach – questioning whether or not it really offers anything novel or interesting for their classrooms.

I also wondered how the Think SRSD approach would work with multilingual language learners, or MLLs. While proponents claim it is MLL friendly, it was difficult to see in the sample lessons how the strategies would be adapted to students learning to speak English for the first time.

As the old saying goes, “don’t knock it till you try it” – so I figured I would give Think SRSD a try with a few eager co-teaching partners and a group of MLLs in grades 4-8. Here are a few of my discoveries.

First of all, don’t underestimate the power of what has been tried and true. Yes, many approaches in Think SRSD are familiar, but the approach really pushes educators to take the time to unpack a graphic organizer and get students to be intentional with their writing. I noticed a shift in my thinking when using the Think SRSD “TIDE” graphic organizer that the purpose wasn’t simply to get students to articulate their ideas, but to really think carefully about what goes on the page. It’s not just about generating writing and then editing after, but getting students to think and act like writers. I realized that for many years I had not really been getting the most out of graphic organizers.

Secondly, explicit instruction in writing may need to be adapted serve the needs of MLLs. Particularly in the most recent iteration of foundational literacy instruction, the unique learning needs of MLLs are not always taken into consideration. In the context of Think SRSD, many of the strategies assume that learners arrive with a pre-existing base of English communication skills. When engaging in activities like finding the “gist” of an academic, content-heavy text, we may need to adjust the text so it is aligned with the student’s STEP or level of English language acquisition. When MLLs actually understand the texts they are reading, they will be much better positioned to use academic vocabulary and summarize their understanding.

Finally, it’s more rewarding to try new teaching strategies with your colleagues! I was fortunate enough to have two very patient educators working with me who had the instincts to change the activity, provide positive feedback, and help me to adjust the lessons I was teaching. We would take a few minutes after each lesson to talk about what went well, what didn’t go so well, and where we needed to backtrack to help students become stronger writers.