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I am Brenda MacNaughton, teacher and first-generation Irish Canadian. I have lived near Lake Ontario most of my life in Williams Treaty Territory. I am grateful to be here at the Heart and Art blog with you as I write my first entry, and I look forward to your feedback.

New Beginnings

September begins with new relationships forming among staff and students in our schools. I’m starting a new role at work as an Early Intervention Teacher, which allows me to work with small groups on literacy and social and emotional learning skills. I’m also continuing a role I’ve had for many years, teacher-librarian and primary prep coverage teacher for kindergarten and grade one. I am excited to help our youngest learners feel welcome at our school as they enter a classroom for the first time. I’m looking forward to seeing students learn and grow over the year ahead. For many educators, students and families this is a very exciting time of year.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

September also brings the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. This month can evoke traumatic memories for residential school survivors and their families. I am listening to the stories of survivors and their families and bringing that learning to the classroom. The Orange Shirt Day movement, started by Phyllis Webstad, helps us understand the reality of a child attending residential school. When she arrived at St. Joseph Mission residential school, Phyllis was stripped of her shiny new orange shirt. She went months without seeing her family. She was hungry and lonely. You can read about her experience in her books, one for younger children, “Phyllis’s Orange Shirt,” and one for grade 3 and up called “The Orange Shirt Story.” The Orange Shirt Day website has lesson plans for Kindergarten to grade 6 that will help students understand the truth that was swept under the carpet for a century in Canada. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation also has a series of online events happening throughout the week leading up to September 30th. This year I found more resources online than I can possibly fit in one day or even one week!

Truth and Reconciliation Throughout the Year

There is much work to be done in Canada to listen to the truth and reconcile with Indigenous Peoples, so I will plan activities that include Indigenous voices throughout the year. I want to build relationships with local First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples. As I lay out my long-range plans, I’m looking for opportunities to incorporate Indigenous guest speakers and books and videos by Indigenous creators. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action call upon varying levels of government to collaborate with educators. Let’s ensure that the message is heard loud and clear, “Every Child Matters.”

Teaching is a beautiful career that I have put my heart into for 30 years. I love the challenge of getting a non-reader interested in books. I love helping students and staff feel welcome when they are new to the school. And there is nothing like seeing the satisfaction and pride a student has when they understand something for the first time. On the flip side of that positivity, it’s easy to get bogged down, even at the beginning of the school year. The TO-DO list seems endless!

At times, the workload can be overwhelming and stressful. I’ve found it’s constructive when I reflect on my feelings and physical symptoms. When I’m starting to spiral into unhealthy habits or thinking, I put some strategies into action to help me be my best self. I do not want to be in a situation where I stay up half the night planning what and how I’ll teach. And I do not need stress and negativity from work to spill over into my time with family and friends. Here are a few of the strategies that work for me.

Physical Fitness
As part of my proactive approach, I have found it beneficial to be involved in fitness classes. I’m online with a group of dedicated individuals three times during the work week at 6 am. I used to laugh at the idea of doing an early morning fitness class, but after 2 years- I love it, mainly because I can connect with friends from university who I don’t see often. For me, it’s more than the fitness aspect. Seeing my old friends is uplifting! Do you have something that you look forward to doing? Something for yourself?

Getting Grounded with Nature and Breath
Even after a great workout, there are times when I get upset about all kinds of things that happen in the school environment. Working with humans of all ages can test my patience sometimes! When any of those stressors get to me, I try to take a walk, observe nature, and reflect on what is happening. I use some of the same ideas I share with students about mindfulness. I let the feelings wash over me and get grounded while watching the ducks swim in the pond or the clouds forming in the sky. Some techniques like box breathing and meditation can help. It’s not always enough, though.

Support at Work
It’s been vital to me over the years to build positive relationships with staff at the different schools where I worked. Having colleagues who have become friends makes any challenging moments tolerable. We laugh and cry together. My current staff likes to gather regularly for food. We have soup lunch on Mondays and treats on Fridays. These weekly occasions get us out of our isolated work situations and make time for conversation. On these occasions, we get to know each other. Over the years, we’ve also had scavenger hunts, noodle tag, and special friend week, where people do acts of kindness for each other. I can’t emphasize just how important it has been for me to work in a place where I know my colleagues well, and we have taken the time to build a trusting relationship.

It is early in the school year to be thinking about the long winter nights ahead but wouldn’t it be great to have a variety of stress management techniques in place for those days when things are getting to be a bit much? I’d love to hear ideas about how you are proactive about taking care of yourself and what events happen at your schools to help you build great relationships among staff. Take care!

It was the end of September, and my grade sixes were standing in a circle on the grass. It was a touch cooler now, the day bright and sunny, a bit of a breeze.  The students knew the activity we were about to do.  We had been using it over the past few weeks as one of our warm-up games before drama class. 

One at a time, each student would say their own name out loud, and simultaneously create an action to go with it. And then, in an enthusiastic chorus, the rest of the circle would mirror their action back to them and repeat their name. This would continue around the circle  until everyone’s name had been said.   

Personalities always revealed themselves in chosen actions. Abdul said his name with impossibly cool gestures. Jin liked twirling as she said hers. Mike tended to do a short dance move or two. And without fail, the whole class would echo each classmate’s creation, a happy call-and-response comprised only of names and movement, filling the playground with unified sound. 

The simplicity of this game belies its complex benefits to learning and community. 

We have heard much over the years about the positive connection between movement and the brain, with benefits to mood, learning, and focus. The physical representations in this game certainly encourage movement, exploration of physical space, and rhythm.  As teachers, we also know the importance of collaboration within the classroom, of creating situations such as this, where students are engaged with one another in learning tasks. And of course, in order for students to learn optimally, there must be a strong sense of community, connection, and trust in the classroom. Team-building and collaborative games like this may represent one step towards this goal. Indeed, there is something deeply satisfying in seeing all students quietly looking, not at a worksheet or iPad, but at one another. Present in the moment. Waiting for their classmate’s contribution. In our busy and increasingly digitalized world, I wonder how often we stop like this, just for a few minutes, to truly look at each other, acknowledge one another’s presence. And this leads me to perhaps the most important benefit of all for students:

Someone says their name. 

There is power in hearing our names spoken aloud, that one word that represents and encapsulates all that we are. We all know that uplifting feeling when someone remembers our name and addresses us, and the slight umbrage we feel when someone forgets or mispronounces it. It is one of the first things small children learn to recognize and write because of its power to engage; children are naturally interested in their own names. It is one of the first gifts we are given by our parents, one of the first ways we are called into the world. As Dale Carnegie once said, “names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” 

I fear some students may not have this experience as often as they should, may not often hear their names uttered by classmates … The student just learning English, who does not yet have the linguistic capital to easily forge friendships. The quiet student, struggling with anxiety or social cues. The new student, who braves a sea of unfamiliar faces every day and tries to find their place among them. 

In my experience, this unassuming game — with virtually no preparation required other than finding an open space — can sometimes accomplish what no amount of labelled photos, friend books, or other “name-learning” activities can. It engages. It connects. It creates a space of knowing. 

Everyone says each other’s names. 

I do not suggest the above game is the only way to engage students and begin to foster connection. There are numerous, effective activities, used across multiple contexts and subject areas. I offer this activity as a springboard, to consider and share the many ways we can help students connect.

I have used this drama game with countless students over the years, from primary to junior to intermediate. And every time it is a joy to see my students call their names into the learning space, and see those names returned back as a resounding gift. In whatever way you choose to bring forth your students’ names, may your classrooms always be filled with those sweetest sounds. 

*student names have been changed

The beginning of each school year is so exciting! Happy, excited faces of students and teachers and the feeling of something truly special about to begin. While teachers always feel the pressure of time passing quickly, assessments that need to be documented, and looming deadlines, it is important to remember to centre the student experience in the midst of it all. Spending the time to build a safe space and connect with one another sets the tone for the school year and helps students to feel safe and cared for at school.

Building A Safe Space

Set your classroom agreements together. While there are several different strategies that teachers use to set their classroom agreements, they all have something in common: co-creating the norms and rules that everyone needs to have a safe and brave learning space. It’s always important to allow students to share their opinions on what they need to feel safe, but also to allow for the flexibility to add or modify those agreements. Remember that agreements aren’t something to just put on the wall and forget about, those criteria are a working document that fits the needs of the students and the teacher to be successful together.

Connecting Together

Icebreakers can be fun, but also intimidating for some students. Remember to start with low risk activities that everyone can enjoy. Opportunities to create space for safe and respectful conversations through games such as “Would You Rather?” or “Mingling to Music” are easy entry icebreakers that help all students participate at their comfort level and allow for educators to observe how students interact with one another as well as participate in the fun. This can also be time to model how respectful conversation and the classroom agreements can look in real time.

Getting to know you activities are great for the beginning of the year, but that might not be the only time they are used. Reflective activities, such as creating soundtracks that represent their lives or even word collages of who or what is important to them, may change as the year goes on and students learn more about themselves. Remember that as students feel safer at school, they may feel more comfortable sharing more about their lives. A great reason to revisit these types of activities throughout the year!

As routines settle and the class feels more comfortable, introducing deeper connection activities is a great way to continue building the classroom community together. Opportunities to explore and share more about our identities gives students the chance to really think about who they are. I love name story activities, identity maps, and even sharing goals and dreams together. Whenever I am involved in these activities with children, I always participate, model, and share my own stories. It changes the tone from an assignment from the teacher to building our classroom community. It also gives me some perspective of how some students might feel more vulnerable than others and how difficult it is to think about one’s own self.

The beginning of September is filled with joy and anticipation, but also can be busy with reorganization and disruptions. No matter when your ‘start’ date, it’s never too late to think about building the classroom community. Remember that building community and safe spaces takes time and intention – and it continues throughout the school year.

Who are you? How do you identify? What makes you, you?

You are an educator. Maybe a parent, a son or daughter; maybe you’re a partner, or sibling; perhaps you’re an auntie or an uncle.
We play a lot of roles throughout our life’s journey. Sometimes these roles carry many specific tasks and responsibilities. Oftentimes these roles begin to blur and overlap.
You might be a teacher and a parent, bringing your own children to your school’s fun fair; or perhaps you’re a parent watching your child play a sport with a current or former student. Maybe you are transitioning from being taken care of by your parents to being the caregiver of your parents.

For many years, my sense of identity came from the roles I played in the lives of those around me: teacher, wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend. I strived to be the best at each of those roles. However, what the best teacher needed to do for her students, school, colleagues, principal or community didn’t provide me with adequate time or energy to also be the best mother or wife; or to fulfil any of the other roles I played. Perfectionism consumed me for years. The pressure that, in hindsight I realize I at least partially put on myself, led to burnout, resentment and strong feelings of inadequacy on all fronts.

As a new teacher, I often was reminded of the importance of ensuring self-care was a part of my routine. Sure, I went out with friends, had the occasional spa day or enjoyed family time on Saturday mornings; but what I needed extended beyond bubble baths and the occasional child-free shopping trip. What I needed was better day-to-day balance.
What I needed was the time, space and place to breathe. And I needed it everyday.

Breathing, meditating, reflecting, slowing down or stopping, provided me with the opportunity to truly care for myself. Mindfulness became the best mode of self-care for me. Mindfulness taught me that I am worthy; that I am enough. I reconnected with my “self” and relearned what it means to be me; Now I choose me everyday. I have learned to say no to things that drain me. I learned to no longer let myself down; and I continue to make efforts to let go of the guilt associated with feeling as though I’m letting other people down.

In being still and letting go of unattainable expectations I became much more than I was. I began to better understand all that made me me beyond the roles I filled in the lives of my loved ones. I became Amanda. Not mom, not daughter, not teacher; not anything else but myself. I reconnected with the Gardener, the Chef, the Yogi, the Painter, the Musician, the Writer.

So however you identify, remember to take time to be you, for you, everyday.

September Leaves 

I met Farah* early in my teaching career, just after she arrived from Iran. Farah was a top student at her former school, already spoke two languages, and was learning English for the first time. As she settled into her new class and environment, Farah’s abilities quickly became apparent. She easily mastered math concepts. She also seemed to have an intuitive understanding of science topics, and nodded in recognition when she saw visuals and demonstrations. She began to pick up on English vocabulary quickly. 

But every now and then there was a moment, just after she had understood a lesson or connected with a topic, where she grew quiet. She would lean forward, about to speak, and then stop. Sometimes she would frown slightly, searching for the words. Sometimes she just ended up shaking her head, as if the English she knew was insufficient to express her thoughts. In moments such as these, it seemed that no amount of sentence starters or alternative ways to demonstrate her knowledge would adequately replace her need to explain in Farsi.

As countless students, teachers, and scholars have noted, first language is an intrinsic aspect of our identities.   It allows us to connect with culture, history, and the people we love. It is through our first language we express everything that matters to us, in ways unique and irreplaceable. Through our language, we make ourselves and our ideas heard in the world. And as many have also noted, in a way our first language isn’t just a part of us — it is us.

That sentiment was confirmed during one of Farah’s library visits.

A new shipment had arrived at the school that week, and when Farah walked into the library a few days later, I picked a book off the shelf and handed it to her. It was one of the stories we had been studying in class, but this version was in dual language, written in both Farsi and English. She held it in her hands a moment and then looked up at me, eyes wide, and gasped.

“I know this!” 

Her face and her voice in that moment are as clear to me today as they were all those years ago. Recognition, surprise, joy, relief … it was a jumbled mix that I still struggle to describe. I will never forget her smile. 

Moving from an English-only school environment to a framework of multilingualism is vitally important, and not just for students like Farah. When it is natural and common for all students to hear, see, use, and recognize the value of many different languages, all students benefit. As teachers, we strive to ensure that students see themselves reflected in curriculum and learning spaces, to ensure that everyone’s identity is affirmed and included — not as an afterthought, but embedded from the very beginning. Language is a fundamental part of that inclusion.

Over the years, I have encountered many different ways to embed multilingualism in learning, such as researching and writing class projects in first language, multilingual counting games in math and physical education, dual language books and multilingual collections, and subject-specific dual language dictionary sheets, with key curriculum vocabulary listed in home languages as well as English. The preceding is by no means an exhaustive list; recommendations from colleagues and researchers continue to expand options and opportunities for students.  The multilingual framework continues to grow. 

A few months ago I attended a conference given by U.S. educator and ESL specialist Cristina Sanchez-Lopez. During her presentation she described visiting a Canadian school; she recounted walking through the front doors to see, as she had many times before, all of the languages spoken by the students adorning the entrance way. But this mural, she noted, was different. She then produced a photo, and in it we could see a tree, its painted branches stretching across the walls. Set onto the leaves was the word “welcome”, each leaf bearing the greeting in a different language. 

But then she pointed to a far branch, where we noticed a few leaves with nothing on them, their blank surfaces waiting. Waiting for the new students not yet present, waiting for the new languages yet to arrive, but that would one day become a part of their multilingual school. A space was ready for them.

As I begin teaching this September, I wonder what languages will colour our learning spaces throughout the year … what stories they will tell, the experiences and hopes they will express, the knowledge they will share.

This year, may the trees in your school grow bright.

*names have been changed

Hello!

I am so happy to be back blogging for my ninth year on this incredible platform. Last year, I spoke to being back in the classroom after a year of online teaching. This year, I look forward to blogging about curriculum, class-led initiatives, getting back to normalcy and much more. I am excited to inspire new teachers with ideas and to encourage educators to dig deeper when thinking about celebrations, encouraging all students to love math and student-led projects.

This year, I am excited to be teaching a 7/8 split for the second year in a row. For the first time ever, I have four students that I have taught the year prior so I will navigate how to best serve them (without them feeling like they are in grade seven for a second time in a row). I have various needs in my classroom and I look forward to working with an E.A. for the first time in many years. Not only will I build my program around a variety of IEPS, two curriculums and differentiated instruction but this year I will also program for my students who are working on motor skills and life skills. I have a feeling my prep time will always feel short this year!

I wish everyone a great start up as we all rise to the occasion of engaging all of our students and making them feel like part of a community. Month one always feels long but it is so important to establish routines and the building blocks for a successful year. All the best!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario’s 2022-2023 Heart and Art blog. For many years I have worn more hats than I can count. “Writer” is not a hat I’d thought I’d see myself in, yet here I am!

As a student, my favourite subjects were mathematics and science. I swam competitively and played soccer, and did not consider myself the least bit artsy. However, once I was introduced to arts-based methods, and began using the arts as a way to express my thoughts, feelings and ideas, the more I found them to be beneficial to my reflective teaching practice and supportive of my contemplative practice. As the years went on writing became a concrete form of self-expression alongside the arts-based practices. Writing also provides me with the opportunities to track my thoughts and ideas and personal growth in a concrete way.

This year I hope to share some of my experiences and my learning as a long-time Ontario educator and ETFO member, and to inspire and support you, my readers and fellow educators as we navigate a brand new school year.

Whether you’re new to the profession or a long time educator, you have chosen a rewarding, yet challenging career. I hope by sharing some of my ideas and experiences, you will be inspired to incorporate new ideas into your teaching practice as you continue growing and learning on your journey!