Before School Starts

October 2, 2011October 17, 2011 Carmen.Oliveira Building Inclusion, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Learning About Your Students

Getting to Know Your Students Is the Best Time You Will Ever Spend

We just had our school’s “Meet the Teacher” night and the feedback from the parents in my classroom proved that, without a doubt, the best time spent during the first month is in getting to know my students. I was astounded at the fact that most parents felt like they already knew me. They commented on how their child went home and told them all about our fantastic conversations during our morning community circle and couldn’t wait to be the “Rockstar of the Week.” This month I’ve really focused on and enjoyed creating meaningful opportunities to get students to open up and share who they are with our classroom community.

The following are some examples of how we get to know each other:

1. Each student has a Daily Journal. After they come in, they write a “Reflection Question” in their journal and spend the first 10-15 minutes writing down their thoughts. This is a powerful self-reflection exercise that I have started in my own life and felt the difference it makes on every level: personal, professional, spiritual, etc. We then start our morning by sitting in a community circle and volunteering our ideas and opinions. You can literally feel the good energy permeate in our classroom! I have attached some examples of Reflection Questions.

2. We have a “Rockstar of the Week” bulletin board. Each week, a student is chosen to fill us in on who they are! It involves writing about what’s most important to them in life (we read “The Important Book” as a pre-lesson), sharing their favourite books, music, movies, etc., and putting up pictures that can give us a window into their life. During the week, students must ask the Rockstar about any fact or picture they’d like to find out more about. At the end of the week, we have an oral quiz on the Rockstar for points that go to the groups that answer the questions correctly. This is a blast and the Rockstar runs the show!

In a letter to their parents this week, one of my students wrote something that brought tears to my eyes and affirmed why I love teaching. He wrote, This year, I have an amazing teacher. She really cares about us and says our classroom is our home for the day. I like that because that’s how it feels.” And that’s why I love my job!

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

September 28, 2011October 17, 2011 Erin.Grewar Building Inclusion, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students

Building Inclusion through Oral Communication Activities

In the Core French classroom, building inclusion is a must. Students will only feel comfortable participating in an environment of tolerance, security and where they are not afraid of risk. In this type of atmosphere, creativity flourishes and learning French becomes interactive and a more authentic experience. I usually start with simple short dialogues involving greetings and exchanging information (ex. telephone numbers and emails). What makes the outcome so positive is that students infuse their skits with current expressions and it is simple enough that everyone can be successful.

Getting all levels of students to participate is also facilitated when you have visible prompts for those who need more support. Likewise, I also make sure to always to include and model ideas for level 4 extensions using compound sentences with parce que, mais and alors.

Having read through the book, I found several suggestions which would lend themselves perfectly to encouraging inclusiveness through speaking activities. In particular, I thought I would try Carmen’s “Friend Venns” where kids exchange likes and dislikes. Also Shernett’s “Ten Things About Me” incorporated into inside/outside circles would be the perfect and always welcome kinesthetic activity!

September 28, 2011October 17, 2011 Erin.Grewar Building Inclusion, Classroom Layouts, Classroom Management, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students

Surviving beyond the First Week – the Beauty of a Well-Crafted Seating Plan

As a rotary teacher dealing with up to 180 students, building inclusion is naturally a different process than in a homeroom classroom. Establishing a rapport is definitely fundamental however, I have found that this goes hand in hand with effective classroom management. Eliminating the problem of constant chatting amongst groups of friends can go a long way to establishing order.

Instead of seating kids alphabetically or in random groupings, I have always let my students choose their seats for the first week or two. Taking this time to observe the dynamic of the classroom and work habits of the students ultimately allows me to make informed, strategic decisions about groupings. My decision is also based on the contact information form (see attached) which is filled out during the first week of school. The one side serves as a record of parent contact while the other provides me with invaluable insight into each student’s character. At the end, I have classes where the students are comfortable where and with whom they are seated. Preventatively dealing with the minor issues (that can quickly derail your class) allows me instead to focus on building an inclusive learning environment.

EGStudentInfoSheet

Additional tip: When implementing my seating plan, I put numbers on the seats and have students line up at the back of the room. Having called out their name and number, I have them find their seat. This way there tends to be less drama than in calling out the names which can sometimes lead to some raucous reactions. I also preface my announcement by stating that I had only their best interests at heart and therefore eliminate most forms of protest.

September 28, 2011October 17, 2011 Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Learning About Your Students

Becoming One

In just a few weeks, I can see our group of grade one and two students grow as a community. Evidence is in the way they are aware of other’s likes and dislikes, recognize when someone in missing from the group, and readily offer assistance to one other. Like Samantha, I wanted to gather some information about the students to keep on file. In my first newsletter I requested email addresses to set up parents on automatic updates from the class website. I also asked parents the following:

What delights your child? What makes your child uncomfortable? What goals do you have for your child?

The responses were brief, but insightful. It not only gave me some information about my students, but the priorities and perspectives of the student’s parents/families. In addition to the information requests, I also used Aaron’s suggestion of an All About Me Bag in “The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning” (p 45). The children were provided with a paper bag. They brought back their bags filled with five items that they felt best represented themselves. The children were thrilled to share their All About Me bags at the community circle and waited with anticipation to learn more about their classmates with each presentation. To the children’s surprise, there were many areas of common interest that were revealed, which resulted in new friendships that extended to recess and the playground.

September was full of new beginnings. At times I questioned whether we were accomplishing enough, such as the curriculum. As Tina discussed in her blog entry, I needed reminders to “go slow.” So as I planned our reading and writing, I tried to incorporate our community-building activities. Two read-alouds that the children adored and were able to easily connect to regarding self-esteem and inclusion, were: One by Kathryn Otoshi and The OK Book by Amy K Rosenthal. These books provided us with rich literature for our reading and writing program, while supporting our discussions on community.

September 23, 2011October 17, 2011 Samantha.Perrin Building Inclusion, Communication with Parents and Guardians, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students

Getting to Know My Students

During the first month of school, there is a lot to do. Finding myself in a new grade and new school every year, I am seeking out resources, and learning the ropes. One thing that hasn’t changed for me from every differing grade and school, is the need to get to know my students from early on in the first month, so that I am able to best meet their needs in the classroom and transfer the information seamlessly to others. For me, getting to know my students personalities and needs early on, allows me to create a safe learning environment that reflects what the students want to get out of their learning experience and also develop a system that has the information and supports in place for myself, a teacher returning from leave, or a substitute teacher.

This month, I began by learning about my Grade 1 students needs in two ways: creatively– using ideas from The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning (ETFO, 2011); working with the students to develop a classroom contract that reflects their wants and needs for their learning environment, and practically – developing my own personal informational database on the needs, routines and information about the unique students that I am teaching.

To develop a classroom community in Grade 1 that reflects my students’ wants, I drew from Leah’s helpful ideas (p.43, The Heart and art of Beginning Teaching and Learning), to generate a list of ‘promises’ from the students to one another. I’m finding that these ‘Inclusion Activities’ are helping me to establish the tone of the students’ classroom and decide what they think the classroom should look like, sound like and feel like. Last week in Grade One, each student shared one promise or wish for the classroom (for example, not to butt-in in line, or to ask permission before touching each other’s things) and then they illustrated their promise for a class book. The students are enjoying reading and reminding each other of their ‘Promises’ to one another and learning about the kinds of things that help us to minimize conflict and increase safety in the classroom. For me, this activity illustrated that the students want a lot of the same rules and routines that I want in establishing a harmonious classroom environment and we plan on working on dramatizing what these promises actually look like in practice. It has helped me to establish and reaffirm what is important to my students in creating a safe and inclusive classroom environment and pare down what is really important to my students in their daily school life.

I am also gathering important personal and historical information on my students for their files so that I can have a better understanding of their background and so that I am able to meet their safety and learning needs. This will serve as an aid for me when communicating with parents and guardians, and also will enable me to communicate important information to substitute teachers and the teacher that will be returning from leave when my LTO is over. I sent home a Student Background form for parents to complete on their child for my files. :

child’s name, birthdate
siblings, both in the school/out of the school; household members
languages spoken at home
allergies/dietary restrictions (i.e., religious, health related or otherwise)
before school/afterschool care/ who picks up the child (in primary grades)
emergency contact numbers, email addresses, best times to call
routines (i.e., do they go home for lunch, stay at school etc.)
the child’s strengths, areas of need or other important information that the parent wishes to communicate.

By planning creative and inclusive activities I hope to elicit meaningful responses from my students and learn what they really want to get out of their day to day classroom. Be gathering practical information for my records, I hope to better manage important information on my students, so that I can understand my students’ needs, use the information as an ‘at a glance’ about the child, and so that the knowledge of the individuals who make up the classroom community is followed through with when I am away. Throughout both processes I hope to develop a community of students who are having their safety and social needs met and allow for subsequent teachers to do the same.

Building Inclusion in the classroom is something that doesn’t only happen during the first week of school, it’s something that teachers and students should work on and revisit consistently throughout the year. So, if you feel that you may have not done ‘Inclusivity’ justice during your first crazy week at school, rest assured that you have the whole month (and the rest of the year) to bring great activities and ideas into the classroom.

September 19, 2011October 17, 2011 Sangeeta.McAuley Classroom Layouts, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, First Week Reflections, General, Professional Learning and Growth

Choice in the learning environment

Returning to the classroom after working at a central level for 6 years has been an awesome experience so far…I feel like a beginning teacher all over again!

One of the interesting questions that I thought about when planning my first week had to do with choice: how do we know when to involve our students in decision-making and which decisions need to be more teacher-driven?

So, I set out to experiment on the first day of school, by letting my Grade 4 students determine which configuration would work best for the classroom desks. I knew this experiment would tell me a lot about my students, such as their problem-solving skills and how they worked together with their classmates.

It was a new feeling for me, always having had student desks already set up for the first day!

To prepare, I came up with some conditions:

-certain areas were to remain as they were (e.g., the reading corner, the conference area, my desk)

-each group had to present their model and the thinking behind it

-the desks were to be arranged in groups, but the number at each group could vary (e.g., there could be some groups of 6 and some groups of 3)

-they would need to include a space where students could go to work quietly on their own, if needed

-when we add to the room (e.g., new students, a SMARTBOARD, etc.), we may need to revisit the plan

After sharing these conditions on a chart with my class, they organized themselves into groups and set off to plan! It was exciting to see how each group had their own unique style. One group first calculated how many students we had and thus, how groupings could work. Two other groups drew in the conditions first, then planned from there.

Would I do this again? Absolutely!

I learned that as teachers we cannot underestimate our students’ capabilities. Giving them choice in creating their classroom environment empowered my students and the interest they took in actually moving the desks to reflect the plan we chose was amazing to watch.

The fact that I had written the conditions ahead of time led me to realize my students benefitted from knowing that sometimes when we make choices, there are structures and boundaries we need to work within…

Next up, settting up our reading corner!!!

September 17, 2011October 17, 2011 Roz.Geridis Building Inclusion, Classroom Management, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students

I feel like a beginning teacher again!

I am new to my school and was out of a classroom for a few years. Finding resources (which I know are in the building), getting to know staff and the school culture, and starting the school year have been an exciting and great experience. I have an all boys grade 5/6 class. Many colleagues wanted to give me information about the boys but I asked for the information to be about the class as a whole with no names to be shared. I really wanted the boys to have a fresh start to the school year. Since I did know the boys did not feel very good about their learning abilities and have all been together since grade one, the first week was very important to me (and to the students). We did a variety of activities to building inclusion, develop a learning environment for the boys to feel safe enough to learn in the classroom, and setting the classroom management routine.

The week before school started, I mailed out a card introducing myself and asking the boys to bring their ideas for our classroom. This is the theme I have used throughout the two weeks, it is not my classroom it is ours. The kids have really taken to that philosophy and enjoy making classroom decisions. We have a class name “Funky Monkeys”, the boys are researching pets (I gave them a maximum of $100 budget), and we have Ms. G’s bucks where they can purchase new pencils/erasers (to replace lost ones), field trips, fun afternoon off, and I am sure a few more ideas will develop throughout the school year. I have set up the bucks in $3, $4, $6, $7 to help with multiplication for many of the boys. We still have to figure out how much for each of the rewards but the boys have begun to pool their money together for a field trip. It is very interesting to watch a bank concept develop.

An early routine to help with classroom management is classroom rules, which are referred to regularly and utilized. Looking back at my first week reflection, I would like to share a great lesson I completed in relation to classroom rules. I started off the activity by giving the boys post it notes and asking them to write one rule on each post it. The boys were then asked to post the rules on the whiteboard. We then went through each of them (some were really silly, we all just laughed) and grouped the rules in similar piles. Interestingly, the kids had come up with six topics, which will lead us to the six rules. You want to keep the number of rules to five or six. Even less for primary students. We then identified each pile with a title or lead word. I then read a story to them about school rules (a variety of titles are out there and ask your librarian for an age appropriate recommendation) which led us to develop some sample rules. We started with the title or lead word and the boys gave me some sample rules, in positive language. I did have to guide the process of positive language through examples. Once everyone gave their ideas, we looked at all the rules on the board and combined rules where we could. Then we talked about rules being very specific or big enough to include many aspects. For example, respect people when talking, respect other people’s cultures led to respect others. Once we were down to two suggestions, we voted on the rule to keep. This process took three days. It is very important for the students to have ownership of the rules in order to follow them. Once the rules were developed, we started referring to them right away. This week, I overheard students reminding each other of the rules.

Classroom management is not included in the curriculum but is equally important in teaching. You need the students attention in order to teach. Take the time to invest in building an inclusive environment, involve your students and really enjoy the start of the school year. This is the best time to get to know your students; have fun with it.

September 12, 2011September 23, 2011 Samantha.Perrin Before School Starts

I got the job and school starts in a few days….. now what?!

A post for beginning teachers who JUST got the job.

First of all, Congratulations! Your Principal has seen your dedication, skill and dedication to teaching and has chosen you to become a member of the school community and guide these young learners. It’s a great feeling of excitement and adrenaline but it’s also often laced with a twinge of anxiety over where to start. As a teacher who has been teaching in LTO positions for the last few years, I understand what it feels like to go from completely uncertain, “do I even have a job?” to hitting the ground running, “I have 3 days to set up my class for the year???” in a matter of seconds and with only a few days before the first day of school; sometimes with little direction.

Many new and beginning teachers find themselves in this situation. Contract postings are available throughout the summer, but Long Term Occasional postings and some contracts often come up during the mid-to-late August, which means that candidates are being interviewed a week or two before the first day of school, and are discovering their new school and grade merely days before the school year starts. This can be a little intimidating for new teachers who are new to a school, have few resources in their bag of tricks and don’t have the explicit or implicit knowledge of what needs to be done to ready yourself and your students for a new school year.

I have found myself in this position a few times now, and have learned (often the hard way) some practical tips and tricks that will make my classroom infrastructure a little less chaotic and a little more seamless for transitioning to a new school, new grade and new classroom. I’m here to help and expand on Before School Starts, Chapter 2 of THE HEART AND ART OF TEACHING AND LEARNING: PRACTICAL IDEAS AND RESOURCES FOR BEGINNING TEACHERS (ETFO, 2011). I’ve compiled a list of things you should consider doing (and I wish I knew during my first year) in the days before school starts/during the first week as well as practical solutions for what to do in the event that you are missing the tools or information you need:

Do you have…	If the answer is no…
A room key, class list, timetable and supervision schedule?	Speak with the office staff, administrator and caretaker
The basic supplies (i.e. pencils, masking tape, staples/stapler, pencil sharpener , chart paper, markers, notebooks, paper, glue, scissors, rulers, construction paper, file folders ) to start you off?	First make a list of the things you need to get you through the first week or two. Ask the office staff or administrator for some staff email addresses so that you may begin the ‘beg and borrow’ process. Then obtain the Stock Order Catalogue from the office staff so that you can place an order for the things that you need and can’t access. If the catalogue is too intimidating, ask a teacher in your grade (or a grade close to yours) for a copy of their order lists to see what they order as class necessities. Looking at the supply lists for other classes may help you conceive of what you will need and it will save the precious time you have.
Enough desks or work spaces for the students?	Speak with the caretaker or include the number of desks and tables in your ‘beg and borrow’ email to other teachers. Peruse the halls of the school. Often teachers will leave furniture out in the halls that they no longer need. Ask before taking! Peek into other classrooms for ideas and refer to pages 26-30 in “The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning” for some ideas and inspiration
The emergency procedures (i.e. for Fire and Lockdown)?	If you can’t find any information in the classroom, ask a neighbouring teacher and make a copy of theirs or ask the office staff for help. Include a copy of your class list, pencil and paper, label it “Emergency Folder” and hang it by the classroom exit ( I use a pushpin and a binder clip). I find this helpful to get out of the way early in my set-up because there is usually a fire drill during the first week of school.
Textbooks or teacher guides in your classroom?	Ask around. Your school may have a resource room where teachers may sign out the shared resources, or another teacher may have them sitting in their classroom already. You may need to include a request for this in your ‘beg and borrow’ email to teachers.
Books for the students to read?	Go to the school library or email the librarian to help compile a variety of books for the students to enjoy during the first week. Think about including a request for ‘book donations’ for used books in your first news letter to parents to build your classroom library.
A computer?	Find out where the closest one is so that you can type up class lists and do your timetabling at school If you have a computer in your classroom and it isn’t set up, contact the teacher-librarian or board technology help desk for how to log-in and connect to printers in the school.
A place to store the students work?	Think about using classroom budget to purchase plastic bins, or plastic storage drawers for storing some of the students’ work books. I found that sometimes relying on students storing their work in their desks can be a bit of an organizational nightmare, especially in the younger grades, as students can often ‘forget’ which folder is which and spend a lot of time looking for it. It also makes it easier to collect the student work when it comes to assessing their workbooks. Find containers that can be used for storing class supplies for the students’ easy access (pencils, rulers, scissors, pencil crayons). It may be an empty soup can for storing pencils, or you may wish to purchase some smaller baskets and label them. It will save you a lot of running around if the students can independently locate the things that they need in the classroom.

I have figured out that these ‘basics’ are a priority in helping me to orient myself for my new school, classroom and what’s to come in the days approaching the first day of school (and during the first week of school, if you don’t have the luxury of a few days). There is more to do (which I will expand on in subsequent posts), but you will be busy over the next couple of days accomplishing all of these things first, for a smooth start.

Don’t worry as much about the frills and how to beautify the classroom, that will come with time and it will reflect the classroom community. Try not to compare how your classroom looks to neighbouring teachers. Many of them have been at this a lot longer than you! You were chosen for the position because you are the best candidate for the position, and you will bring knowledge, your experiences and heart to your classroom and your students. Remember that there is a big learning curve with every new school and each grade that you will teach, and with some direction it will get easier…you will be amazed at how much you will learn and how much you will grow this year.

Congratulations again and best of luck over the first couple of weeks!

Sincerely,

Samantha Perrin

September 11, 2011October 17, 2011 Alison.Board Before School Starts, Building Inclusion, Classroom Layouts, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students

Starting Anew

Every school year is an opportunity for a new start for all teachers. Whether it is getting to know new students, new staff and teaching partners, or even a new classroom. This September I am experiencing all three, and after the first week of school I am just beginning to reflect on all the change. I am welcoming the renewed energy (after a very relaxing summer) and the challenges that teaching brings.

In the last week of August, I took the time to think about the classroom environment and what changes I could make to create an inviting and inclusive environment for the children and for me. Although it is a Grade one and two class, I want the students to have areas/learning centres that will encourage inquiry and collaboration. So, I started with a new layout that includes a reading corner, an art studio, and a math centre using cozy corners and spaces with shelving along the walls. Then I made two groups of six desks, one group of four desks, and added two round tables (I would have preferred round tables for all the students, but had to improvise with what was available). There is a place for individual book bins and pencil/materials trays for the students to access easily, so they don’t have to keep anything in their desks (allowing for flexible seating throughout the day). On the first day of school, I let the children sit wherever they want and place their “portable” name card at their desired spot. It was interesting to observe that all of the children, except one, kept the same seat all week!

Our first weeks together in Room 3 are important for creating an inclusive space and building our classroom community. We are learning about one another with Tribes activities, such as passing an inflatable globe and sharing “What’s important in my world?” Last week, we read the book One, by Kathryn Otoshi, which recognizes differences and encourages kindness and inclusion (already deemed a favourite by the kids). In their tribes, the children used watercolour paints to demonstrate their own feelings and connections to colour. These paintings are displayed in the classroom to remind us of our own similarities and differences. Otoshi’s book continued to inspire us through the week as we shared personal experiences about feelings at the carpet before writing about them in our Writing Workshop.

Despite a few hiccups for the grade ones learning new routines and adapting to a full day of school (a few tears at lunch time), I think the first week was a good first step for the new school year.