Mike Beetham Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education

Harvesting Our Apples

It is that time of year when I am able to enjoy the labours of my endless hours of worrying, endless hours of commitment and endless hours of planning for my students. We call it our harvest time.

At the beginning of every school year a new group of students come into our program with a variety of dysfunctional behaviours accompanied by a lack of success in school and we always start with the same story. I bring out a group of apples in various conditions and ask them which one would they choose. Of course all of their decisions are based on what they see on the outside. Is it bruised? Is it ripe enough? Does it have the right shape as compared to all the other apples? But yet the best part of the apple is the part that nobody can see, the inside. That is who my students are. They are completely judged by what people see on the outside and from what they have experienced from the outside. Often, past teachers have no opportunity to experience what a wonderful, young person they truly are due to the violent, aggressive behaviour they exhibit. My first question to the students is how do we show people what an amazing person you really are on the inside. How do we show them your best part?

That is the question that was first asked over 10 months ago and after a year of academic and behavioural programming we have arrived at harvest time. They are now being judged for who they truly are and not what they previously looked like. Both the adults and students in Room 16 take great pride and enjoyment during harvest time. In our daily circles we are preparing them for that transition back to the regular world. That begins by revisiting awkward or negative scenarios that took place in our room, except at this time of the year we are able to laugh about it. The students shake their heads in disbelief as they have come so far and changed for the good so much, those past behaviours seem incomprehensible to them (self evaluation at its best).

They then begin to identify which strategies or skills have worked best for them over the year. They make a list of their most effective strategies, expressions or visuals and we put that together into a laminated bookmark. That is taken with them as they transition back to their next academic setting and becomes the foundation for their next year’s success.

I hope you are taking the time to enjoy your harvest time!

Shawna Rothgeb-Bird Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

My Experience With a Lesson Study

Last month, my Principal put out a call to the staff at my school: if anyone was interested in participating in a lesson study, she would make it happen. She had briefly filled us in on what a lesson study was at staff meetings, so this was not out of the blue. After debating for a few days, I submitted my name.

A lesson study, for those who aren’t familiar with the term, is a collaborative exercise in professional development and reflective practice. The team creates a lesson together, one teacher delivers the lesson while the others observe the students being taught, and afterward the team discusses their observations. The idea, at least in the case of my school, is to gain insight into how students engage in the lesson and which strategies yield the greatest results for our students. This allows us to reflect on our own practice and see where we can change some things to better help our students succeed.

The response at my school was great. We had enough teachers to run two separate lesson studies, one in Primary and one in Junior. I volunteered my class – a busy, but lovely, group of thirty Grade 4 students – to be taught by another teacher. We planned a lesson related to our School Learning Plan, an annual goal set each year to target our students’ areas of greatest need. Our lesson would teach students about word choice and words with “swagger” (also known as juicy words, to some). We spent half a day setting up the lesson, talking about the students, and deciding which strategies the teacher would focus on using in the classroom.

Two days later, I gave my students a little pep talk, explaining that there would be a teacher delivering a lesson to them while other teachers watched from the sidelines. They thought it was a little weird, but I’m a pretty weird teacher already, so they were ready to roll with it. When the lesson study team arrived, my students got a little weirded out; suddenly there were six adults in the room, including the Principal and their homeroom teacher, and they were clearly feeling like they were under a microscope.

As soon as their teacher – we’ll call her Ms. J – arrived, though, they forgot all about the rest of us. She walked in with spaghetti in her hair (an activation moment for them, as the poem she was reading to kick off the lesson was all about spaghetti) and they immediately needed to know what was happening. She jumped right into the lesson, keeping my students’ attention the entire time. I still don’t know how she did it, but I’m so glad she volunteered to teach the lesson.

While Ms. J was teaching, the rest of us on the team were watching the students, not her. We kept notes on what we noticed – who was fidgeting, who was responding to the strategies Ms. J was using, how the students interpreted the questions being asked, how they interacted with the teacher and each other during the lesson. While the students worked in small groups later in the lesson, we flitted about the room eavesdropping on their conversations, listening to how they interacted with one another. It’s rare that I get to see my students being taught by another teacher, so this opportunity to really focus on them was great.

After the lesson, we had a few hours to chat with each other about our observations. It was interesting to see how we all took notes on very different things, but the take-away from our observations was always the same. That conversation after the teaching was finished was arguably the most beneficial PD that I have had in years. The conclusions we came to, which I’ll mention soon, have had a significant impact on my teaching since participating in this exercise – because we saw just how well the students engaged with and understood the lesson.

So what did we learn?

Our biggest take-away was the idea of intentionality. Everything the teacher did in that lesson was intentional, from walking in with spaghetti in her hair, to the poems we chose for group work, to how we built the groups. We had discussed the class beforehand, so she knew which students might have difficulty focusing and she was able to work things into her lesson to grab and keep their attention. Because of the work we put in during the planning phase, there was no wasted time in-class. Everything in the lesson was there for a reason. Being that well-prepared for the lesson meant that during the teaching part, Ms. J was able to adapt on the fly while still sticking to the learning goal.

Another thing we felt was really beneficial was having the learning goal stated explicitly for students at the outset of the lesson. During the lesson, Ms. J would frequently refer back to the stated learning goal any time it seemed like students were drifting off-course. When it came time for them to work in groups, every group knew exactly what to do because they were so in-tune with their goal.

The last thing I want to mention is the idea of letting students engage in the lesson without “judgment”. In order to explain what I mean, I have to give a brief example of what happened in the classroom.

The class had read a poem together as a shared reading exercise. Ms. J then asked them to work with their neighbour and highlight four words in the poem which really stood out – words with “swagger” – and explain why they chose those words. She asked students to come up and highlight the words they had chosen directly on the poem. The first pair of students went fine; they circled a few words, explained their thinking, and returned to their seats. The second pair of students, however, started underlining entire lines of the poem. Ms. J looked for just one brief moment like she was going to stop them, but ultimately she let them finish without comment. In the end, this pair of students underlined four full lines of text, explaining that these four lines summed up the entire poem. As they explained their thinking, it became clear that for them, underlining four words wouldn’t really make the point they wanted to make. They needed all four lines, even though that wasn’t what they were asked to do.

If Ms. J had stopped them and insisted they choose only four words, their entire line of thought would have fallen apart. Instead, she let them do what they had to do without “judging” their response as wrong/a misinterpretation of the task. Because of that, these students were able to demonstrate their learning in a very clear, very comprehensive way. It was a really cool moment, and I suspect it doesn’t come across as well in text. You had to be there.

 

We learned a lot more than just those three things, of course. We still find ourselves talking about the experience weeks later, finding new things to get excited about and implement in our classrooms. If I get the chance to do another lesson study, I’ll jump on it – and I hope you will, too. It’s a great chance to collaborate with your colleagues and reflect on your practice.

Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Diverse Learning Needs, General, Inspiring Students, Learning About Your Students

Sunshine Calls

When my students arrive into my alternative behaviour classroom in September, so do their parents and families. The family’s beliefs and attitudes about school have been shaping ever since their child became a part of the formal school system. For the  family of my students, that means that most communication from the school has almost certainly been a negative scenario that had unfolded. So when I complete my first call home in September what do you think the response is from the parent who answers the phone? You are right, “Okay what did my child do now?”

Just as it takes time to build relationships with your students, so does it take time and effort to connect with families. This is especially true for families of students who have struggled in school or have had difficulty adjusting to school and classroom expectations. For me this starts with an onslaught of ‘Sunshine Calls’. A Sunshine Call is a strategy that I use to gain the confidence of my families by showing that I care about their child, I believe in their child and will balance the type of information that comes home and not dwell on the negative (attribute based approach).

The best analogy I can use to explain the benefits of this strategy is to compare it to banking. The more positive deposits that I put into my account (compliments, sunshine calls) the stronger that balance will be. When I do have to make a withdrawal (call home about a negative scenario) my positive balance will hold me over and the relationship will remain stable and the family will be more likely to support me knowing that it must be concerning for Mr. B. to be calling home about it.

What is exciting for me, is when my students start to understand and realize that their best efforts and positive changes will be shared often and ongoing with their family. I start by asking them if they would like me to cimagesall home and tell their parents about some positive scenario that took place that day. They 100% of the time say an astounding yes. As they come to realize this is a regular part of our classroom, they begin to ask me to call their family and let them know about their math work or reading. That is the time that I know why I will always look to see the glass as half full.

Tisha Nelson Challenging Topics, Diverse Learning Needs, English As Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs), General, Making a Difference Through Education, Math, Questioning, self reflection, Social Justice

Is Math Neutral?

The notion of neutrality speaks to the experience of being impartial or unbiased. It speaks to the absence of asserting value, power or privilege over another or the act of being impartial, unprejudiced and nonpartisan in nature. There are many areas of teaching and learning where the existence of prevailing politics is named and sometimes challenged: Whose stories do we include in the social studies/history curricula? What literature is considered to be the cannon? What art forms are considered cultured? But when educators think about the tapestry of math education, this notion of it being neutral tends to be widely agreed upon because of the perceived objectivity and absolutism that characterizes the ideas that are explored. But I wonder…is math really neutral?

“Math is about numbers. Surely it is neutral.”
This year, in supporting English Language Learners in math, I have learned many new Mandarin and Cantonese words from my students. More specifically, I’ve learned the inherent ways that Chinese characters are written to nurture a conceptual understanding of quantity. For example, the number eleven is written 十一 which means “ten-one” or can be understood as “ten plus one”. Similarly, the number twenty is written 二十 which could be understood as “two tens” or “two times ten”. Finally, the number thirty-three is written 三十三 Which could be understood as “three ten and three” or “three times ten plus three”. The fact that the word for the number eleven, when represented in English, has no relationship to the the concept of quantity speaks to the way numbers are represented are not neutral. This discrepancy in language representation speaks to the biased nature numbers are conceptualized through language. Thus proving an inherent bias in the ways in which numbers are conceptualized and number sense is acquired. Similarly, the bias toward English representation of numbers can limit the conceptual understanding of languages that represent numbers in a more conceptually friendly way.

“Math is about problem solving. Every has the capacity to solve problems.”
Consider the following problem: Brandon travels to the city using the subway. Each car seats 30 travelers. How many people might be on the subway if there are 10 cars? What background knowledge might students need to have in order to understand the context yet a alone respond the the problem mathematically? While the problems we pose to our learners may involve numbers that can be calculated and manipulated in flexible ways, the context, when coming from particular experiences, can deny access to the learning that needs to be achieved. In other words, if the context from which we invite students to explore math concepts can be carefully crafted in order for our learners to be able to relate to the ideas, they can also be unintentionally crafted in ways that could limit students access. In this way, contexts are never neutral because they come from a particular place of knowing or experiences that not all students have access to.

So there you have it. I’ve explored two very simple ways bias is experienced in math discourse. The presence of even one form of bias discredits the neutrality of math. If math, a lens for viewing the worlds through numbers, shapes and patterns, can be ladened with bias and politics, what else about the schooling experience share this similar trait?

Will Gourley Challenging Topics, Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, General, Modern Learning

Movers and shakers

I might catch a little fire for this title.
And thank you in advance for reading.

Every classroom has them- fidgety student(s). You know the ones who cannot get comfortable to sit still, are unable to focus for longer than 8 seconds (there are statistics for that), and are constantly in motion. Some days you see your classroom is more like a garden filled with hummingbirds flitting, buzzing, and appearing to faff about even when totally engrossed in a task.

Are they learning? Can students learn when their distractedness is a distraction? You’re thinking about your students right now(past and present) aren’t you? I am, and yes like yours are incredible capable learners, each of whom possess a curiosity and creativity that we allow to flourish.

So, how do(did) we manage to harness a student’s abundance of energy without blowing a fuse or short circuiting the individual? For me, working with* a ‘busy’ student, whether officially identified with ADHD or not, requires a deft balance of patience, structure, and at the same time flexibility. Inside of this is an expectation of great things that is mapped out and shared with the help of the individual learner. It is not my agenda that gets carried out. Student voice is crucial in this process. Negotiation skills training is included in the deal.

Do you allow students to doodle? This simple artistic expression allows students a place to focus the fidgety moments onto the paper while freeing their attention to concentrate on the lesson. How about a soft foam squeeze toy? In my class we have several available that are specifically dedicated to any students who might feel a bit of stress or the need to keep their hands occupied. Plus they’re fun to throw around the class as a kinaesthetic activity and to practice Math facts or French verb conjugation.IMG_0164

Doodling and fidget toys seem counter-intuitive to many teachers who were educated annually in the art of rote in row after boring row, but can be great ways to support your busy students. Sadly, the education from the good old days doesn’t always honour the progress of humanity in the 21st Century. Especially, when it keeps referring to what worked or is rooted(stuck) in the last one as the only path to knowledge. In my opinion this is antithetical to the needs of modern learners who, as a result of innovation, technology, and pedagogy find themselves barely coping in some classes while thriving in others. 

My teachers had a kid like that, me. My mom shared, that after some tests and upon the school’s urging our family doctor prescribed some meds which were intended to help channel my “energetic” demeanour. My parents refused. Thanks mom and dad!

Although some of my colleagues might volunteer to renew the prescription for me, I am glad my parents decided not to take the pharmaceutical option. Instead they chose to work with my teachers on implementing strategies which would keep me busy, moving, and engaged.

Do you know how many notes I delivered around the school, erasers I cleaned, or how many times I helped the caretaker sweep? And that was during instructional time. Every recess(2 x 15 mins + 60 mins lunch) was spent running, jumping, climbing, and playing. It was the time outside, in motion, that made the time inside learning tolerable. So it makes me wonder how many others went through, or are going through the same thing as I did?

Without apologies I wish to proclaim and thus forever own my ADHD. In fact I wear it like a badge knowing it was a blessing in my life as a learner and is a gift in my life as an educator. The challenge for learners and educators comes in finding that Goldilocks Zone between perpetual motion and learning progress each year that is just right.

As the researchers note, “in the school setting, the challenge becomes how to create an environment in which creativity is emphasized as a pathway to learning as well as an outcome of learning.” from The Creative Gifts of ADHD by Scott Barry Kaufman in Scientific American

And therein lies one of many Catch-22s in our profession. We have some who have blessed their classrooms for  35 years or more, and others who are just being hired. The gap between youth and experience is not going anywhere? How do we re-invigorate mindsets, open ourselves to greater collaboration, and sharing the wisdom gathered from experience. There is much to gain from having both. Now the challenge is preparing, pairing, and finding some playtime between the two sides.

* I had originally considered using the word ‘handle’ instead of ‘work with’ as I wrote this post. Upon reflection it was wiser to be considerate of the fact that handling a student conjures negative thoughts, whereas working with a student evokes a working opportunity.

Tammy Axt Building Inclusion, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, General

Modifications and Accommodations in the Music Room

Modifications and accommodations happen daily in every classroom in Ontario. Teachers strive hard to make sure that their students have the necessary tools and supports to help them achieve the expectations of the Ontario Curriculum or modified goals. The following are some of the accommodations and/or modifications that I have used this year with a focus on the most common tool used in music…instruments!

When you ask my students what their favorite part of music is, many of them would answer quickly that they like using the instruments. I agree, instruments are AWESOME, but they can also be very challenging for students with impairments in fine motor skills, breath control, impulse control or visual acuity. To help these students, try a few of the following tricks…

  1. Xylophones- Most xylophones have removable bars for students who are overwhelmed with all of the notes laid out before them. I take the bars off that the students don’t need to play a particular song. I also rearrange the bars to make sections of the music more playable for some students. For example, I will move the E and F bars away from the G and A bars so that the student can more easily see the space between the two and identify them as separate. Selecting only part of the melody or accompaniment can also give students with processing difficulties a chance to keep up with the pace of the music. For my students with impulse control challenges, I give them a heads up that while I am giving the instructions I will be holding their mallets and as soon as we start playing I will return them. Furthermore, improvisation can be your student’s best friend on the xylophone as it takes the pressure off of playing specific notes. Finally, metallophones have much better contrast for students with visual impairments than regular xylophones.
  2. Recorders- To help students match their fingers to the right holes on the recorder, I have used small pieces of coloured electrical tape. I put a small piece of blue on the first hole of the recorder and put a small piece of blue on their pointer finger of their left hand. I add one finger at a time and work towards removing the tape when the student is ready. I have also matched a colour coded system to the music that they are reading. For students who have large challenges in fine motor skills, I have also taped the back hole for the first section of the year to let them focus on the front holes.
  3. Drums and Percussion Instruments- When it comes to the percussion family, instrument choice becomes very important. Maracas, bells and guiros are some of the more difficult instruments to use to produce clear rhythms. Rhythm sticks and bucket drums are a much better choice as the sound is more easily produced and controlled. Another helpful tool is to use words to learn rhythms. Using words to help students learn rhythms is great for all students but is especially important for students who need extra support. From the tabla in India to the taiko drum in Japan, there are so many countries that use words to share rhythms. Simple or repetitive words are much more accessible than musical notation for many students.

 

Mike Beetham Challenging Topics, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Mental Health, Wellness

When Your Best Is Not Enough

I work with some very challenging students, who at their core, are really nice people. As I get to know them as people first and learners second, what surfaces quite rapidly is that many of their needs are beyond my skill set. I am not a counsellor. I am not a psychologist. I am not a physician. Yet the needs they bring to my classroom are very diverse and more complex than just literacy and numeracy. I find myself often saying, what can I do to help this child succeed and feel good about themselves. As you know, there is no simple answer to this question.

This year I have been faced with a dilemma that I have never before in my career been in. I do not know what to do for a child in my class. All of my efforts, strategies, consultations and professional readings have left me in the same place I started with this child over 6 months ago. This individual’s lack of progress (and at times regression) have been a huge stressful burden on me as I struggle everyday trying to figure out what to do to help this child stabilize and grow as a student should. My initial reaction was that despite my absolute best effort, I have failed this child.

I have a very good friend and colleague to whom I shared this belief about myself with. He was very quick to point out that I had not failed him. The student’s lack of progress is a result of many needs not being met. He began to query me about my approach with the student. The conversation went something like this:

Do you differentiate the work for this student so that it reflects his current academic level? Yes

Do you provide accommodations in his program that meet his individual’s learning needs? Yes

Do you work hard to make that student feel welcome and cared for each and every day in your classroom? Yes

Do you seek out additional supports within your school and/or board to assist you in creating a program for this student? Yes

Do you communicate your concerns in an ongoing manner to your school support team, principal as well as the student’s family? Yes

Do you smile and tell that student what a nice person they are and thank them for coming in everyday and putting forth their best effort? Yes

At the end of that conversation I came to realize that I had not failed this child. I had to the best of my knowledge and skill set did everything humanly possible to help this individual succeed and that despite my best effort, that progress was not occurring. I had not failed him, because I had not given up on him.

Tammy Axt Diverse Learning Needs, General

IEPs for Music

This week I am faced with the task of completing my term two IEPs for the subject area of music. Below is my process in determining the need for a student to be placed on an IEP for music and some of the past comments that I have used for my students.

Determining the need

Every year in term one and term two, I receive a list from the special education support team of students that are on an IEP. Attached to this list is the question of whether or not I feel that any of the students currently on an IEP require specialized goals for music.

The first question that I ask myself when determining whether or not a student requires an IEP comment for music is “Does the student’s exceptionality impair their ability to be academically successful in music?” In order to determine the answer to this question, I gather some assessment data on the student. This can be challenging at the beginning of the school year when the IEP needs to be completed in a very tight time frame. To help speed up the process, I recommend reading the student’s IPRC’s statement of decision or previous IEPs as they can direct you to analyze the student’s specific exceptionality in the context of your class. Afterwards, I watch my students for impairments in things like receptive language, language processing, expressive language, cognitive abilities, sensory engagement, visual spatial processing and both fine and gross motor skills. In a nutshell, after I have read the decision about the student’s needs in their OSR, I watch closely to see how that impacts their learning in music.

Once I have evidence to support my decision, I go about setting the direction for the music section of the IEP. After analyzing the data, I must decide whether to modify the number of expectations or modify the grade level expectations that I am using to assess the student. In addition, if the student is on an alternative IEP, I must create a measurable goal for them. I do my best to create a goal that will both challenge the student and ensure success for them.

After I have decided on the goal for the term, I compile the accommodations, assessment methods and annual program goals for the students. I then pass all of the information over to the teacher in charge of the IEP. See below for some examples.

Comments for Alternative IEPS

will demonstrate a response to a variety of songs once in a music period.

will physically respond to music (e.g., claps hands, whole body movements).

will participate in music 30% of the time

will participate in music class by singing and playing the xylophone, drums and unpitched instruments for 30 minutes every class

will create and perform a simple composition with some support

will perform a musical piece in front of a large audience

will participate and explore on the xylophone, drums and unpitched instruments

will ask music teacher or peers for help

Comments for IEPs

will apply the creative process to create and perform simple music compositions from modified musical notation.

will sing unison songs in tune and play simple accompaniments.

will perform simple music compositions from modified musical notation.

will communicate his feelings and ideas in response to a piece of music.

will respond to a piece of music through movement and using a light show.

will sing unison songs in tune and/or play simple melodies and accompaniments for music from a wide variety of cultures, styles and historical periods.

will create and perform music in unison on the xylophone and unpitched percussion instruments.

Assessment Methods

Observation of student playing an instrument

Checklist

music performance

self-reflection after singing a song

demonstration of moving to music

Accomadations

Colour cues

Large size font

Use of headphones

Visual cueing

Extra time for processing

Scribing

 

 

Resources – Here are a few resources to give some guidance when writing IEPs.

PRS Matters has written a great bulletin called “The Individual Education Plan (IEP)-What You Need To Know http://www.etfo.ca/AdviceForMembers/PRSMattersBulletins/Pages/Individual%20Education%20Plan%20Advice%20to%20Members.aspx

A great resource for writing IEPS is located on the Ministry website “The Individual Education Plan (IEP), A Resource Guide (2004)”

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Beetham Classroom Management, Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs

Brain Shifts

Have you ever been on a very long car ride and just as you think you are not able to continue you come upon a service center? Within 10 minutes of having a change of state, you eagerly hop back into your vehicle and are ready to go for several more hours. The same is true for students. By allowing short (1-2 minute breaks) you help energize the students to continue on with their learning, fully engaged.

I call these breaks ‘Brain Shifts’. For example my students just finished working on a problem-solving task in Mathematics and prior to starting Science (which is the next item on our daily agenda) I ask them to do a Museum Walk around our displays. The first benefit is that they are physically moving and thus increasing blood flow to all body parts, including the brain. Secondly they are now focussed on our science topic and have started to activate prior knowledge even before the lesson begins. The final benefit is that it allows socializing to occur amongst my students.

The Brain Shifts are not just random activities but rather have a very specific purpose. That purpose is dependent on what is occurring or not occurring in the class at that particular time. For example, if the energy level seems low, the activity will be chosen to increase the energy in the room (find 3 people and share with them the strategy you used to solve this task). If the students are bordering on being hyper, the task is designed to bring a calm to the room (look around the room and show with your fingers a score out of 10 that you would give this latest chapter in our book). There are so many ways that Brain Shifts can occur. The key is that you develop activities that are a good fit for your teaching style and accomplish what they are intended to be used for.

Beverly Papove Inquiry, Planning

Plans for January

Well, it’s a good thing I hadn’t planned on trying an inquiry on SNOW this year. With the unusually warm weather, I am wondering if maybe an inquiry on climate change would be more appropriate! However, that would be a rather depressing topic for 5 year olds (as it would be for people any age), and regardless of the lack of snow, there is still plenty to explore about Winter.
During the last week of school before the holidays, we had our team meeting to make sure we all have an idea of what we will be doing when we jump back into the game in January.
Here’s what I am planning on doing when we get back:

 

  1. I’d like to do a Winter Web of ideas, to gather what the students know about “What Happens in Winter”. Following a field trip to a bird sanctuary in early December, we have been reading books and talking about what people, plants, animals and bugs are doing as the weather gets colder. A Winter Web will help anchor the ideas and vocabulary we are hoping to expand upon through our inquiry.
  2. Winter Wonder Wall – A Knowledge Building Circle is so helpful for giving students a space to ask their questions, and where possible, to have them answered by their peers. We write “I wonder” questions that need more exploration on sentence strips and will post them on the board beside the Winter Web to be answered as discoveries are made. To help with our Winter Inquiry, we are really looking forward to a presentation from the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre where we will learn to play some Inuit Games as well as see and touch Inuit clothing and tools.
  3. Assessment/Evaluation – Following threads of wonder, each of the educators for our classes (2 ECE educators, 1 English teacher and 1 French Immersion teacher) will provide opportunities, such as the live Bear Cam of two grizzlies hibernating at https://www.grousemountain.com/wildlife-refuge/bear-cam , for the students in both classes to explore in more depth an aspect of the Winter Inquiry (hibernation, adaptation, migration, etc.) The goal is for the students to show us what they have learned about “What Happens in Winter”.

 

I am not sure how this inquiry will evolve. I can imagine our classrooms being completely transformed into wild places where the sand and water tables have hibernating reptiles and insects deep below the surfaces; where the cubbies are stuffed not with backpacks and coats, but furry animals curled up for a long sleep, and where tables and shelves have evidence of the life cycle of various plants. And in the middle of the space (with the windows wide open), the children, dressed for the cold, are playing Inuit Games. Sounds rather perfect, however, we will have to see where the students decide to take their learning. Stay tuned!