Photo of Sangeeta McCauley
Sangeeta.McAuley Classroom Management, Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context

Talking and Listening Chairs

As I look back on this past week, I realize that I spent very little time teaching curriculum and more time working on life skills. I have two choices at this point. I could think, “Oh wow, I’m really far behind!” or “I’ve made a huge investment that I hope will pay off in the future.” I choose the latter.

My students have been coming to with me problems that happen at recess: someone left them out of a game, two friends were whispering something not-so-nice about them or they saw someone being treated badly and didn’t know what to do.

When we talk through these problems, it’s obvious to me that they have the answers on how to solve their issues, but they need a tool to help them do so.

So, I introduce the talking and listening chairs. One chair is marked “T”, the other “L”.

We use one of the problems that happened to illustrate how to use the chairs. For example, “Bill” was upset that “Megan” was not listening to his ideas when they were trying to solve a math problem together. So, Bill sat in the “T” chair and Megan sat in the “L” chair and each had opportunities to talk about what was bothering them and listen to how the other person was feeling. It quickly became evident that they was room for compromise on both ends and they seemed relieved to be able to move on from this problem.

Like most tools, the talking and listening chairs also have boundaries, which I discuss with my students:

* If the person you want to take to the chairs is not ready, you may need to wait.

* If you go out to talk, you will need to attentively listen as well.

* If the problem takes longer than 10 minutes to solve, you may need some help.

* When classmates are using the chairs, we can show respect by giving them some privacy.

* If there are many students involved in the problem, we may need to discuss it as a whole class.

When students ask to use the chairs, I keep track of what time they step out in the hallway and occasionally walk by the door, so the talking and listening remains positive and focused.

As a tool, it can be very successful at helping students who lack confidence to speak up when something is bothering them. I especially enjoy watching, when some of my students who are still learning English approach a classmate to say, “I need to talk to you.”

I have yet to teach a curriculum subject that is more rewarding than that moment.

Mix of a few photos of inside of a classroom with students
Sangeeta.McAuley Professional Learning and Growth, Wellness

A Little Perspective

This past summer, my family and I spent 6 weeks in India. Apart from the wonderful moments we enjoyed with family and the extraordinary travels we embarked on, there was one experience that helped us all gain a little perspective.

 

Our son, Sunjay, turned 12 in June and decided that in lieu of gifts, he wanted to collect money to donate in India when we would be there. Once we arrived, we discovered that one of my cousins had volunteered in a school that needed help and it seemed like the right “cause” for Sunjay’s donation money.

The school was in Dharavi, one of the biggest slum areas in Mumbai. Families live in shacks one on top of the other, with an “outhouse” that drains into a creek. Due to the location and inadequate drainage systems, there are often floods during the monsoon season. It is estimated that anywhere from 600,000 to 1 million live in this one area of the city, so few children get the opportunity to attend school.

My cousin explained to us that the school she volunteered in was running solely on donations from charitable organizations and they offer free education until grade 7, but only for three kids per family. If you have a fourth child, you have to pay for their education.

When we discussed making a donation, it didn’t feel like enough. We wanted to visit the school ourselves and meet the children. Sunjay and our daughter, Maneesha, had also brought stuffed animals from home that they wanted to give the students. Communication between my cousin and the classroom teacher led us a small store in the local market, where Sunjay used his money to buy blank notebooks for the students so they could have something to write in.

That day at the school was one we shall never forget. The students were curious to see 4 foreigners walking in the hallways and while some were friendly, most were shy and hesitant. They were wearing school uniforms, yet some did not have shoes.

The classroom looked so different from what we are all used to…there were 3 kids to one desk, paint peeling off the walls, and no visible school supplies. The noise level when we entered was very high, and the teacher was trying to control the class by pulling some kids apart who were fighting. We learned that parents have very little time to supervise their children because they are often out working when the kids come home from school. It can then fall upon the teacher, to create a community of learners that not only trust her, but each other and the world around them.

Once we handed out the notebooks and the stuffed animals, the teacher asked if the students had any questions and one student said, “Why did you give us these things?” It was a hard question to answer, but we tried to explain how special the school was and how we just wanted to help. Really as I look back on the experience, they gave us so much more than we gave them.

Each day when I walk in my classroom this year, I am grateful. Grateful to have pencils, paper, chairs and an area where I can keep my own belongings. Grateful to have colleagues to talk to and learn from. Grateful that parents are able to send their children to school and they do so with hope, appreciation and respect for what we do every day. But most of all, I’m grateful for the 26 faces I see at the door in the mornings. They remind me why I’m a teacher.

Photo of Roz Geridis
Roz.Geridis Classroom Management, Learning About Your Students, Planning

Flexibility

I have part of a new assignment this year. In the morning I am covering prep. Due to re-organization, my schedule is changing again for Monday. I have completed many get to know activities, learned students’ names and just found out some classes I still have and others are new for me. That being said, it will all work out! Everything does. The students get attached very quickly and now I will get to know even more students.

My afternoon, I teach English, Math, Health and Pool to a grade 6 extended French class. The grade 6 curriculum is the same for me but now I teach a smaller portion of it. I will be busy sharing my plans with the other teacher who now has my class for Science.

That is teaching; change and flexibility. My morning will work out and I have worked out my plans to have the next days covered. I just needed to adjust a few items and have been able to use my current plans. As a school, you may have to go through re-organization. It is difficult. Deciding which students will excel in which environment, which students need to be separated from each other, balancing the girls and boys, special education and ELL needs. It is a very difficult task which also needs to be completed after a long day of teaching a class of 52 kids.

As I need to get teaching (with the new classes) in order to have enough assessment for the Progress Report card, I have decided to incorporate my get to know activities with the curriculum. I am planning to find ways to incorporate these activities as much as possible with my new classes. I plan to start with appreciation fans to help build the community within the classroom. The students all know each other and many know who I am but I need to get to know their names (better).

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Roz.Geridis Building Inclusion, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students, Wellness

Getting to Know your Students

At the beginning of the year I complete some activities about the classroom environment. I look to build a community environment highlighting the classroom is as much theirs as it is mine. We completed a few activities but I wanted to share this particular one because the student responses really helped me understand and get to know them.

One of the activities we did this year was we talked about keeping the good in and the bad out of us in order to do well at school. We had a conversation about what helps us do well at school and what keeps us from doing well. Some responses about what helps us do well at school were: healthy eating, sleeping, completing homework, asking for help. Some of the responses about what bad things can keep us from doing well at school were: being late, not completing homework, eating bad, not getting enough sleep, bullying, people being mean, depression, anxiety.

The last two responses were comments which really made me pay attention to who said them. I immediately contacted the guidance counselor, informed the administration, and spoke to last year’s teachers. These two comments (from two different students) have helped me with my approach to the students. It made me remember, no matter what community you are in students could have a hard life and have a variety of family/life situations to handle. It reminded me of the need to make that connection as a person with the students.

Getting back to the activity; after our lesson, the students got into groups and traced one student in the group. Then as a group, they wrote what helps them to do well at school on the inside of the body and what keeps them from doing well on the outside of the body. The students really enjoyed the activity and every class (from grade 5 to grade 8) has asked to complete the activity. We have the final products hanging in the class as an everyday reminder. This year, I decided to not complete the activity with my prep classes but I will consider it for next year.

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Carmen.Oliveira Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Wellness

Lifeclass Begins

“The difference between school and life is that in school you learn the lessons and then get a test, but in life you get a test and then learn the lessons.”

This year I have decided to dedicate a substantial amount of time and effort to learning about and teaching life lessons that can be  integrated into my program.  Having spent the last few weeks really getting to know my students, I feel that they are a group of kids that can benefit from deep and meaningful lessons because they are both ready to explore them and in need of that support in their life.  I looked into integrating each lesson into our Literacy, Social Justice, Financial Literacy, and Healthy Living aspects of the curriculum.  So far, the students have really enjoyed their experience so I thought I’d share what we’ve done.

At the start of each week, I post a quote (linked to a life lesson I believe they need to explore) with questions to guide the students’ thinking.  They glue the prompt into their Journals and then have a week to complete the Journal entry.  The entries have written components and can also be expressed in artwork and various media (cartoons, posters, etc.).  The prompt is also posted on our website so students can share it with their families and hopefully discuss it together.

The responses I have received have been such a pleasure to read and I find that the students are working to try and incorporate the lesson into their way of thinking and acting.  They understand life so much more than we sometimes give them credit for!  At the end of the week, we share our thoughts, how we will use the lesson in our lives, and how some of us have already tried.  This week, the first thing out of their mouths as they walked in on Monday was, “Mrs. Oliveira, what’s the life lesson quote this week?”

If you’d like to take a look at some examples, you can find them in our classroom website.  Click “More” and scroll down to “Lifeclass”- it’s a simple idea that has my students learning about life in a way they’re ready to explore.

www.oliveiraclassroom.webs.com

 

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Erin.Grewar Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Planning, Resources, Year End Activities

Summer’s Here! Oh yeah, it’s only the beginning of June (Part 1)

At this time of year, there seems to be a most distinct correlation between hot sunny weather and a drastically decreased output on the part of students (and if we’re being really honest, teachers as well). It’s been my experience that anything that doesn’t involve soccer baseball is met with a combination of disbelief, outrage and downright disgust. The secret is to engage your students in projects that are just too much fun to pass up. One such activity upon which I rely for such occasions is the “Annuaire” or class yearbook. With enough hype and enthusiasm on your part, they will buy into it as well. I usually give them a rough copy template with the following headings:

  • Nom
  • Sobriquet
  • Classe
  • Moment mémorable
  • Bête noire
  • Ambition personnelle

As with all assignments, it’s important to give students an exemplar for reference, brainstorm useful structures/expressions together and have all information visually accessible in the form of anchor charts. Again, you could also help them out by giving them sentence starters as well. Something that will no doubt grab their attention is if you fill out the sheet as you would have in grade 8 and of course, provide a picture of yourself at that age. In the past, this is what I have used as an exemplar so it serves a dual purpose. I think you’ll find this project will get them focused and productive and also provides a great opportunity for review if you’re discreet about it (le passé compose, le futur proche, les constructions avec deux verbs, etc).

Once complete, you can have the yearbook of each of the separate classes on display (and even use the yearbooks from previous years) – they are naturally curious about the work of their peers and love to reminisce about former students.

 

*For this to be really successful, it helps if you provide them with the materials they need such as bright, coloured paper, watercolours, markers and pencil crayons. What I also found is that it was much easier if I took their pictures and had them developed so that each student had a picture to accompany their page.

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Alison.Board Assessment, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Planning, Report Cards, Use of Technology, Year End Activities

Celebrating Our Year

We often think that the last two months of school will be all about reflection and reviewing, yet with so many other demands outside of the classroom – our last weeks can feel rushed and frantic. Teachers are often asked to think about planning for the following year, before they can fully complete the one they are in.

To stay present and celebrate with your current classroom community, here are a few suggestions:

1. Consolidate learning – Spend two or three weeks in June reflecting on the students’ learning and giving them time and opportunity to make connections between topics or skills. As a class, you can can discuss the highlights of the year and chart them, or have students work in small group on their shared topics of interest. This may evolve to look like a yearbook that they make with words and images or a story they create in comic form on the computer.

2. Celebrate learning – Provide students with an opportunity to invite other classes, learning buddies, or parents/friends to the classroom before their projects are sent home. Students can make invitations, create portfolios of work, or set up the room for an open house. The celebration may look like a gallery walk, a dramatice presentation, a sharing of portfolios, or a relaxed poetry cafe.

3. Outdoor Classes – In the last week of school when you are sending home work and generally cleaning up your classroom, take students outside for activities that you would normally do inside. This could  look like a read-a-loud, visual art activities (such as sketching), visits to local parks or public libraries.

We are completing our assessments and writing reports now, but with a little planning for the next few weeks with reflective exercises and opportunities to make connections, the students will be more engaged and value their last weeks at school as meaningful and rewarding.

Photo of Alison Board
Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Classroom Layouts, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Planning, Wellness

Demonstrating Community

Last week my Grade 1/2 classroom was open as a demonstration classroom. In the morning, we went through a condensed version of our regular day, and in the afternoon we debriefed in the staff room. Every time I attend or host a demonstration classroom, I feel energized. And with the end of the year approaching, some re-charing is beneficial.

What interests me, is the feedback from the visiting teachers. There is always the usual talk about curriculum planning, instructional strategies, and classroom environment. But last week, there were comments about how the children shared their thoughts and ideas, and how they listened to one another with respect and patience. The visiting teachers also noticed that while at the carpet for dicussion, some of the children sat on chairs they brought over from their desks, and a few got up to perform a quick task, such as check on a date in their agenda to confirm a fact.

Although I am aware of our daily sharing and community building, it has become so interwoven into the fabric of the day now that it is less obvious. However, I know that back in September we spent most of our time on routines, expectations, and classroom community building. In The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning, all of Chapter 3 is devoted to Building Inclusion. There are other areas in the book that also provide ways to sustain community, such as the Morning Check In described on page 101. We started doing this exercise when we were studying our Big Idea, “What is Well-Being?” It gave us an opportunity to talk about how much sleep we had, whether family members were home or away, and how we felt in general. We have continued this in the morning – as it has informed us of one another’s feelings and encouraged empathy. Over the year we have also set limits but allowed a certain amount of movement, free choice, and variation to expectations throughout the day. This has resulted in a more engaged learning and responsibility for the children and less classroom management. Discussing with the visiting teachers the intentions in planning and community building that is needed in September, confirms how effective the outcomes are.

 

Heart Picture
Samantha.Perrin Classroom Management, Learning About Your Students, Occasional Teaching

Using Positive Reinforcement for Persistent Misbehaviours

Recently I taught as a daily occasional teacher in a special education, mostly behavioural classroom.   This was my first experience with the kind of group of students where correcting misbehaviours and classroom management was critical to getting through the day safely and working to complete the regular teacher’s goals for the day.   As a daily occasional teacher, I felt some apprehension knowing that an already challenging class could be even more challenging for a new teacher that is out of their familiar routine, but was prepared to face the challenge to the best of my abilities.

One thing that I noticed upon entering the classroom, was that the teacher had laid out a daily behaviour log for each student.  It was broken down into time blocks (corresponding with entry, class periods, recess, lunch and exit) and it included a rubric consisting of levels 1-4 (which corresponded with expected behaviours for each level).    When going over this student information, I recalled reading in Chapter 4 in the Heart and Art of teaching about positive consequences – reinforcing positive behaviour that is consistent with creating a learning focused classroom environment.  I decided that I would begin with this approach to set a positive tone to the day.

When the students entered in a less than orderly fashion, I commended two students for their ‘Level 3 ½’ entry,  and mentioned that their classroom teacher would be pleased to learn of this when I make my notes at the end of the day.  I saw a smile as one student was particularly pleased that I had noticed. The other students overheard, and while some students chose to continue with their off-task behaviour, a few others took their cue and directed their behaviour towards positive praise.   In commending those two students, I also gained two helpers who were inclined to assist me in the classroom routines (i.e., getting out the nametags, advising me who should not be taking washroom trips together etc.).

If you take  look at the Venn Diagram on page 59 of Heart and Art (Students Who Rock, Students Who Are Deciding, Students Presenting Challenges) , I  would say that the class demographic was made up of ‘students who are deciding (on their behaviour), and students who ‘presented challenges’.  With positive reinforcement, I think I was able to encourage a few of the ‘students who were deciding’ to be a little more helpful and focussed, and in this I feel that I averted some additional behavioural challenges that could have existed.

While it was a challenging day, I found that approaching the students initially with kindness and praise sent them a message that I knew what was expected of them, and that I would follow through with the regular classroom culture of behaviour tracking, reward and consequences.  While not all students in the class ‘bought in’, I do feel that using a positive-reinforcement approach increased the potential of the  students wanting  to be successful, and decreased the ‘us Vs. supply teacher’ mentality that some students can develop.    This is an approach that I think many teachers already use in their classrooms, but I hope that it serves as encouragement for occasional teachers to employ in any challenging classroom environment.

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Roz.Geridis Classroom Management, Occasional Teaching, Planning, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources

Working with or as an Occasional Teacher

When thinking about occasional teacher planning many questions could go through one’s thinking process (what do I leave, how much, what do I bring?). If you are an occasional teacher you need to be able to teach for the time you are in the class with plans or not. If you are a contract teacher, you want the occasional to teach what you would do even if you were there. I just finished having a student teacher in my classroom and as her practicum was coming close to an end, the conversation of occasional teaching came up. She wanted to know how I decided what to leave for an occasional and how much but also what she should expect as an occasional teacher. Below is a summary of what I shared with her:

 

Planning for an occasional teacher

1) Make sure you leave a current seating plan.

2) Leave tips and notes about your students but remember to be professional as sometimes notes are left in the room for kids to see. Only phrase things in a positive language, leave strategies to help the occasional connect with your students, and 1 or 2 students who the occasional can ask questions about the routine.

3) Leave as much information about your class as possible but remember all information will not always be read. Don’t forget to highlight the allergies in the class and if epi-pens are used (if so, where the epi-pens are stored).

4) Leave lessons which your students will be able to complete. Usually, I still leave my lesson (as if I am there), I make sure I am prepared to complete an assessment for learning when I immediately return. The reason for this is the classroom teacher understands how each student learns, the comfort is there for the student to ask questions and clarify misunderstandings. Also, sometimes occasional teachers don’t have enough background information to connect the lesson for the students, students sometimes behave differently with occasional teachers and lessons are taught differently; the full lesson might not have been taught. I can’t tell you how many times I have returned to my class with a note stating the effort was made but the redirection of behaviour took up too much class time. That being said, I make sure lessons are connected to the curriculum but sometimes I may need to do something different than following my unit plan. It sometimes helps to make the occasional teacher’s day a little more fun.

5) Schedules – leave them in the supply folder. All resource, yard duty, classroom schedules need to be available for an occasional to view.

6) If you need items for a science experiment or art lesson, leave items out or in one location and share the location of items with the occasional teacher.

 

Working as an Occasional Teacher

1) Arrive as early as possible to give yourself time to review notes and lessons left by the classroom teacher.

2) Be familiar with the grade curriculum (if possible).

3) Try to connect with the neighbour teacher and ask any questions you may have.

4) Have a Language, Math, Science lesson in your bag, as a back up. On very few occasions you may walk into a classroom which has no lessons available for the day. If you have a lesson for each of these subjects, you can fill the day. Based on the grade, have some addition, subtraction, multiplication, division review fun sheets in order for the kids to complete (begin with asking the students to complete any 5, then to pick another 2, and so on). If no photocopier is available, write the questions on the board or display them on the smartboard and have the students record the questions and answers in their math workbooks. For Science or Language, you can have a story book related to the environment. “Where the Forest Meets the Sea”by Jeannie Baker or “The Lorax”by Dr. Suess are two great examples which can begin discussion on environmental issues, based on a situation you give them have the students develop different endings. Another Science activity might be a recycle sort — go through the classroom garbage bin (bring plastic gloves) and sort out what can be recycled or put in a compost. Again, there are many story books you can tie this theme to. For Language, you can use the newspaper and have the students discuss an article you feel is age appropriate. You can also have the kids write down 3 truths and a lie about themselves — then each student presents the 4 statements to the class. The class has to guess which is the lie. The students really enjoy this activity and it does take up an hour and sometimes even more (if the class size is bigger). Please don’t forget about your diversity of learners and adjust your lessons as needed.

5) Don’t forget about yard duty.

6) Try to deal with classroom behaviour in the class. But of course, if safety of yourself or other students is/are at risk, make sure you immediately contact the administration. Having a little reward planned for the end of the day helps students to look forward to something. Making the connection by saying hello/good morning to every student as they enter helps to start off the day well.

7) Say good bye to the administration and thank you to the office assistant(s).

8) Most of all…enjoy the day!