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Deb Weston Advocacy for public education, Class Size Matters, Differentiated Instruction, Flexible Classroom, Inclusion, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health

Class Size Matters: Then and Now

As I look back on my 1973/1974 grade 5 classroom of 29 students, there are significant differences in how we were taught.

Teacher Qualifications:

Our teacher did not have a university degree and only one year of teachers’ training. (I looked her up).

Today’s teachers must complete a 4 year university degree and two years of teachers’ training before they can become professional teachers.

Seating:

I recently returned to my former grade 5 classroom and knew exactly were I sat as we were in rows in alphabetical order. There was little or no collaboration with classmates and we were expected to sit quietly and work with little or no support from our teacher. In the 1970s, I did a lot of rote learning and paperwork – it was pretty boring. I sat and worked in the same spot for my entire grade 5 year.

Today, classrooms are dynamic with flexible seating and continual student collaboration. Now learning is more active through student inquiry and the use of technology. Collaboration within groups is a key learning skill on report cards.

Class Composition:

In 1973, we did not have any students with significant special education needs as those students were placed in contained classrooms. This was before the inclusion model was implemented. Any students who struggled were likely held back by failing a grade. (I was almost held back due to my undiagnosed learning disability). We also had students who were younger as they had “skipped” a grade.

Today, there is a wide range of student abilities in classrooms. I’ve taught classes with gifted students and students with significant learning deficits. This meant that I had to modify my teaching instruction to several grade levels higher or lower to meet these students’ needs. I once had a student functioning at a grade one level in a grade 7 classroom and was fortunate to have an educational assistant and special education teacher to support this student.

Educational Assistants:

In the 1970s, classrooms with students with significant special education needs had educational assistants/teaching assistants. I can only remember ever seeing teaching assistants in the special needs’ classrooms.  I recently spoke to a retired teacher who informed me that when the inclusion model was implemented into Ontario schools, the government promised teachers significant  support with an Educational Assistant in every classroom. That was not implemented as promised.

With today’s classroom composition, teachers need significant additional supports. A full time Educational Assistant (EA) would give teachers time to work with all students. In addition, when I’ve worked with Educational Assistants, my students have been much better behaved as there are two adults watching them work. Even when students are allocated funding for Educational Assistant support, schools often place EAs with other students who have no funding – as the EA is “assigned to the school, not the student”. This means the student with EA funding never gets their allocated support and the teacher must support this student instead. Teaching in classrooms with a few students with special education needs and little EA support is doable but currently many classrooms have up to a third or more of students with special education needs. This is unmanageable and disheartening when teachers cannot provide enough support to help all students. In this case, students who are capable but need a small amount of support never get the help they need.

Discipline:

When I went to school, students were expected to behave themselves in class. I personally was terrified to get into trouble at school as I would have received significant consequences. I remember a few students receiving “the belt” by the principal. In order the get this consequence, the principal had to document and justify the consequence.

Today, discipline varies by administrator, school, and school board. Students who misbehave can go to a behaviour teaching assistants’ room (if this is available) or to the office. The challenge is that students with behaviour needs really require intervention supports to improve their overall behaviour and academic outcome at school. I personally know of a situation where a student, who struggled academically and with behaviour needs, got the mental health and behaviour support programs they needed and is now thriving academically and with behaviour under control. (This support happened as the teacher did a work refusal due to extreme student behaviour concerns which precipitated extra support for this student).

So why can’t we implement programs like this for all students who need behaviour supports? Funding – recent government cutbacks have meant that these safeguards of mental health and behaviour supports have disappeared leaving only the most challenging students getting this critical intervention.

The Bottom Line:

Class size matters more today than it ever has as classroom compositions are highly differentiated with students with many needs. Further, with fluid and dynamic instruction, students do not sit in orderly rows not leaving their seats. As a teacher, I prefer teaching this way as it is more organic and helps students develop critical collaborative skills they will one day use in the world of work.

The bottom line is that teachers need more support in their classroom with not more, but less students. Schools need more Educational Assistants and Special Education Teachers to support students with significant academic and behaviour needs. Boards of education need more programs and qualified adults to address mental health and behaviour needs with students. Without these supports and interventions, students’ behaviour and mental health needs will only be compounded and student outcomes will flounder.

With this blog, I advocate for all students with special education and behaviour needs to get the support they require to be successful in their education … because without these student outcomes will be grim.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston, PhD

Deb Weston Advocacy for public education, seniority, solidarity, teacher efficacy, Teaching as a public profession

Seniority Matters

Seniority in teaching matters because there is much documented research showing that teachers must practice up to eight years before they develop efficacy in their practice. In the British VITAE study of 300 teachers in 100 schools, authors Day, Sammons, Stobart, Kingston, and Gu (2007) showed that teachers’ levels of confidence and self-efficacy continue to grow until around the 7 to 8 year mark. After 8 years, teachers reached a significant turning point in their professional development (Day et al., 2007).

The 7th year of teaching is significant as it marks about 10,000 hours of teaching practice. Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, states that in order to master any skill it takes “to a large extent, a matter of practicing … for a total of around 10,000 hours” (Gladwell, 2008). This make sense because teaching is a complex and challenging profession and as a result it takes over 7 years to develop high levels of professional efficacy. Further to this, as teachers’ professional knowledge grows, so does their professional judgement.

In the early years of teaching, there is a great deal of trial and error in developing practices that work with students. I content that this process, while occurring less often, is an ongoing part of teachers’ practices as teachers must meet the needs of many students. This results in developing a myriad of strategies implemented in tandem with many students’ needs.

I personally know that if I need collegial advice, I approach the most senior teachers in my school, as they have the depth of experience and knowledge to guide me. Further, teachers with extensive experience know that the work of teaching is complex, and it is naïve to believe that simple solutions will address complex challenges with students’ learning.

To imply that older teachers should not be teaching because of declining efficacy is to imply that other professionals such as older doctors, lawyers, and politicians should do the same.

I dedicate this blog to courageous teachers who strive to work with their colleagues and do the best for their students day after day.

I believe that when working collaboratively, teachers are better together.

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston, PhD

References

Day, C., Sammons, P., Stobart, G., Kingston, A., & Gu, Q. (2007). Teachers matter: Connecting lives, work and effectiveness. Maidenhead, UK: Open University

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Hachette UK.

 

Laura Bottrell General

Teacher Performance Appraisal: Advice for New Teachers

The core element of the New Teacher Induction Program is the performance appraisal process. All new teachers will have two performance appraisals within the first 12 months of their position as part of NTIP. For some, the thought of this can be overwhelming and daunting, even if you’re a confident and experienced teacher.

There are a total of sixteen competencies that the TPA process evaluates. Experienced teachers are evaluated in all sixteen areas every five years (something to worry about later for us!). For new teachers, the TPA focuses only on these eight:

  • Teachers demonstrate commitment to the well-being and development of all pupils.
  • Teachers are dedicated in their efforts to teach and support pupil learning and achievement.
  • Teachers treat all pupils equitably and with respect.
  • Teachers provide an environment for learning that encourages pupils to be problem solvers, decision makers, lifelong learners, and contributing members of a changing society
  • Teachers know their subject matter, the Ontario curriculum, and education- related legislation.
  •  Teachers use their professional knowledge and understanding of pupils, curriculum, legislation, teaching practices, and classroom management strategies to promote the learning and achievement of their pupils.
  • Teachers communicate effectively with pupils, parents, and colleagues.
  • Teachers conduct ongoing assessment of pupils’ progress, evaluate their achievement, and report results to pupils and their parents regularly.
Chances are, you’re already meeting these expectations if you’re a newly hired permanent teacher! This is now an opportunity to officially demonstrate, document and reflect on them.

The TPA process involves the following components:

  • the pre-observation meeting
  • a classroom observation (for new teachers, there are two of these!)
  • a post-observation meeting
  • a summative report that includes a rating of the teacher’s overall performance

Preparing for the pre-observation meeting and classroom observations will take some thought and time, but the best advice I can share – as someone who is knee-deep in the process right now – is that being prepared is the best thing you can do. Aside from having confidence in yourself, of course!

The Pre-Observation Meeting 

The teacher and principal must have a pre-observation meeting to prepare for the classroom observation component of the appraisal. The principal must record the date of the pre-observation meeting in the summative report.

The principal and the teacher use the pre-observation meeting to:

  • make certain that the expectations for the appraisal process are clearly understood;
  • promote a collegial atmosphere in advance of the classroom observation;
  • identify exactly what is expected during the lesson to be observed;
  • discuss the teacher’s plan for the classroom observation period;
  • identify the expectations for student learning that are the focus of the lesson;
  • discuss the unique qualities of the teacher’s class of students;
  • discuss how the teacher’s performance will be assessed, including a review of the competencies that will form the basis of the teacher’s performance appraisal;
  • establish procedures in advance;
  • set the date and time for the classroom observation

This meeting is an opportunity for you to demonstrate to your administrator how you meet all of the competencies being evaluated. This is when you can portray who you are as a teacher and share information that your administrator might not be able to observe during their relatively short classroom observation. It’s almost like a show and tell, and the best way to prepare for this is to go into this meeting with a variety of evidence of your practice. Prior to my pre-observation meeting, my administrator provided me with some ideas of things that I might consider bringing to the meeting. These things included:

  • your day book including a record of your daily plans dating back to the beginning of the current teaching assignment
  • evidence of long range planning
  • notes on how you are meeting the competencies that might not be observed during your classroom observation (for example, your use of technology, how assessment drives your instruction or how equity is evident in your classroom)
  • notes in your involvement in activities in the school or the system that address the competencies, yet might not be observable during classroom observations
  • notes on your contact and communication with parents
  • all of your student assessment and evaluation records from the beginning of your assignment
  • samples of assessment methods and activities that you have used in your class
  • samples of resources being used in the classroom this year

Preparation for this meeting felt like the most intensive part of the process so far, for me personally. I wanted to have enough evidence to demonstrate all of who I am as a teacher – my pedagogy, my relationships, my practice and my professional growth. It did offer a great opportunity to step back, look at my teaching practice and do a lot of self evaluating (before the actual evaluation!).

The Classroom Observations

To assess teachers’ skills, knowledge, and attitudes, each appraisal must include at least one classroom observation. For the purposes of the performance appraisal, each teacher must be observed in an instructional setting. With the exception of the teaching assignments summarized below, the classroom observation involves a visit by the principal to the teacher’s classroom. For teachers such as physical education teachers, special education teachers, or guidance counsellors, the ordinary teaching environment would include, respectively, the gymnasium, a regular classroom where the special education teacher is working with particular students, or a guidance office or small-group setting where the counsellor is interacting with students.

In my case, the observations are taking place in my classroom. Usually, your administrator will want to see one lesson in math and one in language if you are a homeroom teacher. I have completed my first observation in math and will have my second, in language, next week!

On the morning of your observation, you’ll hand in a lesson plan to your administrator that outlines in detail what you are planning to teach. I went back to my trusty old teacher’s college lesson plan template (brought back some memories!) as it reminded me of all the important and helpful information to record and consider.

It’s wise to include written evidence of how you plan to differentiate and which assessment indicators you will look for throughout the lesson. This takes away the guessing for your administrator and shows that you consider these things in your planning consistently.

The best advice that I received when trying to decide what to teach for my observation was not to try anything new or crazy. Follow your regular routines, engage your students in processes they are familiar with and work with content that they have likely had some exposure to already. This takes the pressure off of you and your students and increases the likelihood of having a smooth, successful lesson take place.

I decided to teach a three-part lesson plan for my lesson as I felt it demonstrated my strongest aspects as a teacher. My class has fantastic consolidation discussions and math talks and I wanted my administrator to see that. Choose a lesson that will demonstrate both your and your students’ best features as teachers and learners.

I have yet to have the Post-Observation Meeting with my administrator, but I am feeling very confident and pleased with how my first observation went! Of course, no lesson ever goes exactly how you plan it but this only provided me with the chance to demonstrate my flexibility and adaptability as a teacher.

After my observation next week, in language, I will meet for the post-observation meeting and will have a chance to look at my Summative Evaluation. I’ll be sure to post again and share my experiences with the consolidation of this process so far!

For more information about TPA for New Teachers, click here.

Will Gourley Celebrating Success, Challenging Topics, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health

Oh wait

For all of the right reasons and in my own best interests I think it best to resolve some issues from what has been a terrible January. As such, I have taken to implementing a number of life changes in order to ensure I am my best me, living and giving my best.

Less caffeine – down to 4 cups of coffee per day from 6 – check
Drink more water – some is more than none right? – check
Sleep more – at home, not at school or while driving – check
Take time to be still – shhh I’m doing it right now – check
Exercise – I turned my Wii Fit on for the first time in 10 years and it still works – check
Read more – information is armour for the mind and soul – check
Show vulnerability – asking for help and support does not make me weak – check
Seek help – unisolating myself has been a necessary and positive experience – check
Look forward – know that good things are all around even when things look grim – check

Without all of the above, I might have really been physically and mentally weakened by an exasperating month.

Oh wait…there was something else on my mind

With nearly complete media proliferation from all ideological camps, it’s hard to have a moment of tranquility without being bombarded by [mis]information. A person in a compromised position may not have the intellectual immunity to resist the indefatigable onslaught of shady dealers wearing blue blazers and brown pants who persist in spewing surreptitious messages meant to shatter the successful education system we have worked so hard to construct and move forward to be among the best in the world. So it’s understandable that educators, students, and families would want to fight to protect it.

Come to think of it, despite months of patiently waiting for a contract, hearing about unions leaders bullying members from MPPs who seem confused on where to find beer, and from Twitter trolls who spout about how teachers are only after a pay raise to their shared 50 followers, it feels like it’s time to fully engage in this war that is being waged by the government and its partisan proxies on our profession.

Instead of a being an integral partner in education, our government has chosen to become our adversary. In addition to our exceptional daily work in the classrooms, ETFO educators are having to defend our hallowed halls from unprecedented and misleading attacks. Hearing the Minister of Education talk trash about our profession is offensive. It should never be part of an elected civil servant’s mandate.

This doesn’t even begin to address the passive aggressive and staged photo ops via social media or contrived press conferences. How can someone who appears in photo ops at a STEM daycare centre strike camp, in a school district that was not even on the line that day rather than at one of our thousands of incredible public schools, be taken seriously or trusted?

Speaking of trust

Maybe our MOE is the victim of bad advice? What if he is being setup for failure from inside his own party? MBAs (read through to the final footnote) and politicians are notoriously self serving entities. Think of the contracts to hand out to the highest bidding E-Learning providers and private sham credit mills if things go unchecked. There are lots of dollars to be made when you are unscrupulous enough to wallow in that trough, but is it worth your humanity?

What if the goal is to fleece the flock and retire to a cushy Conservative consultancy? After all, what out of touch political party doesn’t love recycling ineffective ideas? So this cut, gut, shame, and run approach will sound fresh again in 20 years since their good old days are an archaic product of a classist’s poor memory.

Perhaps in his limited time in the position and on the planet, the current Minister of Education has not been privy to grace, kindness, or truth? Wouldn’t it be swell if the lack of progress in our negotiations be weighing heavy on his conscience? With Valentine’s Day around the corner, maybe the warmth and solidarity we show as a union in standing up for education can melt his heart, and he will begin to see the impact of this current government’s flawed approach and policies. Until then we will walk and hold the line.

Walking the line

On a chilly Monday I proudly walked the picket line to fight against the legislative tyranny of our current government. 17000 steps in 3 freezing hours. 1 Day’s wages was a small price to pay in order to stand alongside my fellow ETFO members in solidarity. The honks of support, the visits from admin, superintendents, and school board systems level staff meant a lot to us all. Having families and other union members show their support was the encouragement we all needed to maintain our spirits.

Come to think of it, those 3 hours on the strike line have to rank as some of the best moments the month of January had to offer. I know there might be more days ahead, and I am dedicating my attitude and focus on everything that matters to my students, their families, my colleagues, and those who will occupy my classroom in the future. Together ETFO, and our partners in the OSSTF, will continue to make public education in Ontario a global beacon of progress and success through our work in the classrooms across the province. Together.

Thinking of you all, this week as we walk at the picket line shoulder to shoulder in solidarity and support to ensure a future for over 1.3 million students in Ontario’s public schools. Thank you.

A red square with white lettering saying "ETFO Strong."
Tammy Axt General

My Experience Teaching With No Collective Bargaining And No Teacher Union…Part One

I had the privilege of spending the first two years of my career working in a state in the United States that has a ban on collective bargaining. Yes, you read that correctly, since the late 50s there has been no bargaining. Since there is no bargaining, the government makes decisions about education and puts them into action. In addition to no bargaining, the state that I taught in has no teacher unions. The reason why it was an absolute privilege to work there early in my career is because it left me with a vivid example of what our system would look like with no union and extreme cuts to education. My experience there showed me a system where students were set up to fail.

When I arrived there, I was brand new to teaching and super keen to get started! The school where I taught had many, many classrooms where the person teaching students had no teaching degree because qualified teachers would not apply to jobs at this school. I was fortunate that I was given a salary of a teacher with 10 years experience which was $30, 000. Teachers here were also not financially compensated for upgrading their degree to a masters or adding additional qualifications courses so most teachers did not continue their university education. Ultimately, they were not paid enough to have enough money for upgrading their degrees. So, what happens when you have a building full of people teaching students without teaching degrees? The answer is that you have well intentioned people looking after students who are not trained in assessment, differentiation or special education just to name a few. You also have an entire group of students who are not learning mathematics or science by someone who has a deep knowledge of the content in which they are instructing. You have basically taken away an entire group of students right to access higher education or be prepared for what high school will challenge them with.

Class size was something that this state had tried really hard to do well. In my time there, I had around 23-25 students in my intermediate classroom and in the last couple of years legislation has come out to lower class size in K-3 classrooms to 20 students. Fantastic right? Yes, however, principals have repeatedly reported that they can not find qualified teachers to fill all the new positions that will be created from having smaller class sizes and have therefore requested to postpone the change in class size for the coming school year.

I taught in the United States at the height of the implementation of George W. Bush’s no Child Left Behind Legislation which had a distinct focus on standardized testing and “accountability”. The amount of time focused on the test, talking about the test, listening to my principal talk about the test, listening to my colleagues talk about the test and receiving teaching resources that supported the test was absolutely silly. Being new to teaching and really struggling to connect with my students I put the testing materials aside and used more engaging materials that would appeal to my students instead of just answering questions. I used my knowledge of modifications and accommodations to try and meet the students where they were at and used materials that were more relevant to them. My school served a population that was low income on average so answering questions about “Bed and Breakfasts” was not at all relevant to their lived experiences. The “accountability” part of the legislation meant that teachers were compensated financially for the number of students that passed the test. This meant that no one wanted to teach our most vulnerable students. This was one of the most heart-breaking parts of working at my school in the district. My students were spoken about horribly amongst teachers in the area. No one wanted to teach them because they feared that they may not get enough of a financial bonus from teaching them. Considering teacher’s salary started at about $22,000 a year and it took 25 years to get to the top of the salary grid many teachers relied on money from the tests. It was a very ugly and awful system that set up our most vulnerable students to be marginalized and forgotten.

A red square with white lettering saying "ETFO Strong."
Tammy Axt General, Why unions matter

My Experience Teaching With No Collective Bargaining and No Teacher Unions…Part Two

In my first year of teaching, some days went very well and other days I was ill equipped to support my students with what they needed. My students came from some very difficult homes. Many had addiction, drug dealing, and consistent violence in the home. One student that I will remember for my entire career shared with me that his job in his home was to hide in the closet while his mother turned tricks and  steal money from the John’s wallet before his mother finished. My students were very quick to anger and had very little in the way of self regulation or an ability to talk through their problems. As one student explained to me, to survive in their neighborhood, you had to punch first. My students needed so much more than I was able to give them. They needed counselling, mental health supports, addiction support and anger management interventions. None of which I was trained in at teacher’s college. They needed people who specialized in all of these areas supporting them and rooting for their success in school. Much of my time at school was spent trying to build relationships with my students so they could actually trust me enough to let me teach them. The majority of my students were 3 or 4 years behind in reading, and writing was an incredibly frustrating experience for all of them. They had needed reading intervention many years before they met me and needed additional supports that just didn’t exist in my school. There was no special education support or Educational Assistants. The guidance department in my school was completely overwhelmed trying to meet the needs. There was just me. A brand-new teacher with all the heart in the world but very ill equipped to support children through daily trauma. The system did not have enough supports to meet the students’ needs.

Just as my students were not supported, neither was I as a brand-new teacher. On one particular day, I had a lesson that was not going well. One of the students in my class had an altercation with another student the night before and was having extreme difficulty being in the same room with him. During this lesson, he got up and attacked the other student. At this moment, a senior teacher at the school came into my classroom and sat down and told me that I was being evaluated by her. I was not notified of this evaluation and I was not clear about the parameters of the evaluative process. The teacher stayed and heavily criticized me for my performance. The teacher did not provide me any supports or ideas of how I could improve. It was to this day one of my worst days in the profession. When I inquired about the process of evaluation in my district, I was told that the principal could assign a senior teacher any day at any point to come and observe me. The turn over rate of teachers is around 10 percent a year in this state. Without fair transparent evaluation practices and processes in place to support newer teachers, beginning teachers are not set up well to support their students.

My school was a very also a very violent place to work. There was some form of student on student or student on teacher violence daily. There were no stats collected on violent incidents and there was no accountability from administrations to follow up on violent incidents. There was never a plan to stop the violence or improve the violence within the building. What I was told on more than one incident by my administration was that I was not from here and that I didn’t understand the community I was teaching. Basically, there was no expectation for the situation to improve for the students or for the teachers in the building. Again, my students were set up to fail because there was no one looking at changing the system in which they were exposed to violence every single day.

I was also discouraged from protecting my students outside of school. During my first round of parent teacher interviews one parent stood up and grabbed a meter stick off of my blackboard and attempted to beat their child. I luckily had a phenomenal hallway of teachers that I worked with and they assisted me with stopping the parent. I went to an administrator and notified them that I would be calling child protective services. Again, I was told that I wasn’t from around her and I didn’t understand the community. There was no union to call and no support to ask for.

All of these experiences remind me why I will stand up to any cuts or erosions to our current world class Ontario education system! I stand up and fight back because….

  1. Supports for kids in need are a mandatory part of a strong education system. Taking away funding from students with special needs is not okay. Taking away funding from students with mental health needs is not okay. Taking away funding from students who need to have additional support to be successful in school is not okay.
  2.  My students deserve a well qualified, highly educated teacher. Most teachers have two university degrees and countless Additional Qualification courses. I have two degrees, 8 AQs and an extensive list of other self-directed learning to become the best teacher I can possibly be. My colleagues have Master Degrees, PHDs and College Degrees. The reason why Ontario has a world class education system is because we have world class highly educated teachers who are committed to education. un
  3. Hiring practices/Evaluation practices need to be fair and transparent. Otherwise, you end up with an entire teaching profession that looks like the principal they were hired by.
  4. Violence in school is not okay. Reported incidents needs to be transparent and analyzed to find solutions to protect all students. Every child deserves to come to school every day and feel safe. For many, it is the only place that they are able to be safe.

 

Thank you to the 83, 000 teachers that have stood up to stop the cuts to our education system over the past two weeks. The students of today and tomorrow will thank you for it!

 

 

Laura Bottrell General

New Teacher Induction Program

Most newly hired permanent teachers aren’t exactly “new teachers” by the time they achieve permanent status. This is actually my fourth year as a classroom teacher, and the case is similar for many (most?) others.

However, participation in the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP) is a mandatory part of a new permanent teacher’s first year in their position. The program consists of the following three elements:

  • orientation for new teachers to the school and school board
  • mentoring for new teachers by experienced teachers
  • professional learning relevant to the individual needs of new teachers

In addition to the three elements, all new teachers are evaluated twice within the first 12 months of their teaching position through the Teacher Performance Appraisal (TPA) process.

At first, the process might seem daunting or overwhelming for someone in a brand new position, especially if they are a somewhat new teacher. Not to worry – so far the process has been easy, clearly defined and even enjoyable!

All school boards implement the orientation, mentoring and professional learning in their own way. In my board, I have participated in two wonderful experiences so far.

First, I attended an NTIP Open House one evening after school. The board organized a drop-in event for new teachers to become acquainted with certain board staff members, board level services and introduce themselves to their mentoring groups and mentors. I had the opportunity to chat and network with many other people in the same position as I am. Booths and stations were set up in the room for teachers to visit and chat with board services such as Human Resources, Early Years, Speech and Language, Resource Libraries and many more. It was a great “get your feet wet” event that offered a glimpse into the rest of the process to come.

Next, was a full day of Professional Learning offered at the board office. New teachers were divided into groups based on their area of teaching. I teach grade 3/4, so I was placed in the Primary mentoring group. The day consisted of whole-group learning as well as time with our individual mentoring group. Led by various board staff, the whole-group session offered information about board resources, the NTIP process, basic board orientation information, discussion of best practice and even some mini-PD sessions led by various mentors that offered exposure to new resources, tools and ideas. Each mentoring group was assigned three or four mentors (experienced teachers), who led their smaller groups through further professional learning that was relevant to our specific positions. Time was given for informal conversation, a chance to ask questions and get to know other mentees.

For me, the most valuable information that I was given was a full explanation of what to expect during the TPA process for new teachers. We were provided with a full description of the process, advice for a successful TPA, time to ask questions and even a head start on filling out our Individual NTIP Strategy Forms.

The Individual NTIP Strategy Form is intended to serve as a vehicle for discussion and learning, as well as a means of planning, tracking, and recording the NTIP induction elements in which each new teacher participates. It is intended to reflect when a new teacher has completed participation in their program – almost as a diary of your learning. This form helps guide your professional development over the year and is a tool for documenting that learning for you and your administrator.

I left our first official day of NTIP feeling empowered and prepared for the next step of the process, the Teacher Performance Appraisals – which you can read all about in my next post!

Still curious about NTIP? You can read more about it here!

 

Arianna Lambert Design, Inspiring Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Math

The Chocolongo Challenge

Every year, I somehow manage to incorporate my love of chocolate into an activity that I work on with students. This year was no different. As I skimmed through the Guide to Effective Instruction for Mathematics for some ideas for our unit on measurement, I noticed the Chocolongo Challenge and immediately knew that this sweet challenge would be exciting for all. Although it’s an activity for Grade 6 students, I made modifications and we got to exploring. 

After a bit of review about perimeter, area and volume, I asked students to consider the following question: A rectangle has an area of 24 square units, what is its perimeter? Students quickly got to work trying to figure out what the connection was between area and perimeter and came up with a few potential ideas. 

After a bit more practice with area and perimeter, we took things to the third dimension, volume! With linking cubes, students were given the chance to explore perimeter, surface area, total surface area and volume. When I knew that they were ready, the Chocolongo Challenge was presented and they were excited designers who were interested in solving a specific problem.

 

It was amazing to see how engaged students were when they felt as though they were solving a real problem. They started reflecting on packaging at home and thinking about the waste involved and ways in which we can bring about change for the environment. Some students also thought back to their design projects that they have been working on and wondered if there was a way to really bring about change in relation to the amount of packaging on products in stores.

 

We connected this activity to Media Literacy as students considered a target audience for their bars and came up with unique commercials to connect with their audience. From being more eco-friendly to having delicious ingredients, these students showed what they knew about measurement and media in an amazing way. These past 3 weeks have been my reminder of the importance of making sure that the learning in the classroom is hands-on, relevant and honours the creativity of students.

Arianna Lambert Challenging Topics

Dear Basketball – Saying Goodbye & Finding Our Passions

On Monday morning, as students entered the school there was a different sort of energy; an eagerness to talk, and yet a profound sadness greeted me at the classroom door. At every entry, I check in with students, greeting them by name and often asking a question to gage how they might be doing. On this particular Monday there were a few tears, some sadness and mostly disbelief in the responses students gave to the question, “What are you feeling most today?”. 

As students put away their winter gear, they noticed Dear Basketball on the screen and the conversations about Kobe started. Resoundingly, students couldn’t believe that he had passed the day before. They sat down and we started to read and talk.

My decision to speak about Kobe Bryant and his contributions to basketball and the world was based on the fact that many of my students are true fans of basketball and several play in leagues. While I understand that there are many for whom his name alone may bring diverse feelings based on his sexaul assault of a woman, 16 years ago, I felt as though I still had to honour who he also may have been in the lives of my students. All over twitter there were mixed feelings about should and how educators “honour” – if that’s even the right word – Kobe within classroom spaces. I don’t for one second, discount what happened at all and I also can’t discount his contributions to the game. It is with this on my mind that I decided that Dear Basketball was going to be the way we started our conversation. 

As we read, students noticed that he wrote from a place of true passion for the game. A couple even stated that they thought his writing was interesting because it seemed like a love letter you would write to a person instead. They reflected on the emotion that it might take to walk away from something that you love so much and yet, they were able to recount ways in which he still contributed to the world of basketball, even in retirement. 

Our conversation ended as a slight admonishment. I asked students to reflect on their lives. They’re young but in the text, Kobe was able to identify his passion as early as 6. I asked them to think about what they are passionate about. Is there anything that they truly love or are excited about in the same way? If so, how might they continue to pursue that passion, even in times where it might be difficult.

I’m not always sure if I do things “the right way” in education but I knew that there had to be a conversation and an acknowledgement of how my students may be feeling. I’m always happy to learn. If you’re up to it, share what you did, didn’t do and/or your thoughts in the comments. Thank you!

Will Gourley Challenging Topics, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health, Resilience, self reflection, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Working Conditions, Weather

The end is here

The end (of January) is here. Thankfully. I thought wrapping up 2019 would have signaled my surrender. I didn’t know another white flag needed to be waved so quickly, but here goes.

The month of January has been particularly trying on my mental health and well being. When I say my mental and health and wellbeing, it’s important to know that it implies the way a lot of my colleagues in education are feeling right now. It’s tough sledding right now. Let me explain what’s been going down.

The usual demons

The entire month has elapsed as a slow motion dream sequence of continually compartmentalized interactions. Meet here, teach now, listen here, discuss there, teach again, receive devastating news, listen, meet, teach, share, support, listen some more, put on a brave face, teach, weep for a student lost in a senseless act, grieve, cope, support, listen even more, meet, teach, and try to make sense of what the heck happened?

I’d like to blame Mother Nature for the storms, poor commutes, and frigid school days, but I can’t because I bought snow tires which ensured that the weather would only be bad on weekends this month. I’d like to say it’s the flu, but I can’t because I got my first flu shot in 10 years. I’d like to say that my students are being difficult, but I can’t because they are truly interesting and engaging learners.

So it’s got to be me right? I’ll own my part of things knowing that I am sharing with 7.2 billion others in January right now. Let me reiterate. It’s been an incredibly difficult month even though my usual January demons were uncharacteristically co-operative? Now that the month is over things can get better right? Either that, or something really bad is in store for the future once the demons get back from vacation. Fingers crossed, salt over my left shoulder, ladders put away, black cats all in their homes, and artificial rabbit’s foot rubbed something more positive is possible. Anything will be better than the start of 2020.

This January’s tragic events were completely out of our hands. Yet, as teachers, we were all working together in support of our students, as well as one another. At my school, the death of a student on UIA Flight 752 was devastating. Upon confirmation of the news, it was as if the air had been taken from our lungs in a flash. It was hard to breath that day. We were all in shock, and had to put on a strong face for our students and each other as the news unfolded which was not easy.

We are told to try and return things to normal as quickly as possible, but all I remember is feeling numb in the weeks that followed. I wonder how normal I looked trying to hide how it hurt to lose a student? In fact it has taken me a few weeks to even process the feelings in order to share them here.

Despite, therapy dogs, social worker support, and incredibly kind admin/school board officials it has been one of the toughest times I’ve ever experienced as a teacher.  When tragic and senseless events occur the losses are hard to overcome regardless of the supports in place. Finding “normal” again would have been very tough without help, but isn’t enough in itself. This leaves many of us having to manage some of the restoration on our own outside of school.

Setting aside a bit of quiet time to process each day helped. As simple as that sounds, it is hard to shut it all down at the end of the day or over the weekends. Taking time to remember the good things and dwell for some time on positive memories helps healing to begin. Sometimes laughter helps too. Especially, when the humour comes in the form of a joke, a meme, or a witty remark. Thank God for animal videos and Reddit.

As teachers we live and breath our callings. Our learners occupy a huge space of our thoughtlives. We have them with us as we process our days whether we are at school or not. There have been countless times where I’m reminded of a student, past and present, in a casual conversation with friends or family. The life of an educator guarantees that you will accumulate some incredible memories, and this is largely a good thing. For me there has been so much joy in reflection back on 2019, but in contrast comes a much harsher start to 2020 with the loss of a beautiful soul from our school family. As February takes over the calender, I am glad to say the end(of January)is here.

Wishing you all health, happiness, and good memories for the rest of the year and beyond.