Will Gourley Assessment and Evaluation, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Modern Learning, Resources

Brutalist worksheets

Have you ever seen something that made you wonder whether it’s sole purpose was to make you feel small or insignificant? I don’t mean this in feelgood sort of humbling way like you might ponder a mountain’s majesty or an ocean’s depth. I mean, the way you feel uneasy when looking at a decades old worksheet from a resource 20 to 25 years past its pedogogical prime – where thought and creativity were never part of its iterations. I’m talking about copy after copy of soul sucking work pages given to students only to be regurgitated upon with rote facts and little, if any, critical thought. Let’s call them Brutalist worksheets because, like the architecture, they make the learner to feel small, and powerless, and the learning devoid of inspiration.

Over the years, I have found a number of Brutalist offerings left behind in the photo-copiers, and they make me shudder a bit to think that they were destined for students’ desks and to inevitable irrelevance shortly thereafter. I’d like to say this is a long distant memory, but it is still happening in 2020.

20 years into 21st Century learning and brutalist worksheets are still being shared. But first a bit about Brutalism.

Minds On

In the creative world of architecture there are several styles that have pervaded through history. We have remnants of the Victorian, Mid-Century Modern, Art Deco, and Modernist eras that occupy much of the past century and its edifices. There is another that cannot be overlooked because of it’s austere, raw, and imposing nature, Brutalism.

Brutalism, but this is a blog for teachers? Why are we having an architecture lesson? Why not? After all, design is design and the way that we construct, craft, curate, and create content for our students matters. It is inconceivable to think it can be done without consideration of the learners we are teaching or without differentiation.

Imagine a stark and unwelcoming piece of paper that seems as if it’s sole intention is to crush your spirit. Next, think of a page full of Math calculation questions that you have been handed, and are now expected to complete before the 2 or 3 minute timer goes off. Think of a different, but equally oppressive Math sheet with instructions, but no guiding example or room to show your thinking? Think of a double-sided sheet of French -er, ir, and -re verbs to conjugate. Brutal and absolutely intended as rote busy work to keep students from being their best.

I was visting a school a few years back and came across a teacher with a stack of photocopies at least 1500 pages or more in total. I asked if this was for a whole school letter to which they replied that it was for their classroom followed by, “You have to keep ’em busy somehow.” I walked away very sad at that moment and have tried to hang on to that interaction as a reminder of what not to do.

Brutalism in our profession has no business in any of our classroom resources. In fact, we need to seriously consider the function and purpose of everything we are printing for students. It starts by cleaning out the cabinets and binders that contain outdated worksheets. I know it means having to start fresh for some, but imagine the potential for deeper learning rather than a time filler destined for the recycle bin? Perhaps doing this over the course of the year will make it less daunting. With so many digital tools at our fingertips now, creating and updating content is easier than those Xerox days of yore.

Our shift to digital learning has allowed many of us to curate constructive content with links that are informative and interactive. There are also environmental and financial benefits from avoiding copy after copy too. With a suite of apps and productivity tools. Teachers can create these spaces from a trove of templates and fellow educators who are willing to share. No need for TPT here.*

Start with the incredible digital resources being shared from your school board and from a cohort of amazing educators via Twitter. I know that PeelDSB, TDSB, DurhamDSB, and YRDSB have provided many excellent resources to their staff, and am sure there are more boards out there doing the same for theirs. If you want to start your own, you can always check out Ditch that Textbook, Mathigon, Shukes and Giff, TV Ontario, and TED Ed for ideas. If you have a favourite, please share in the comments below.

All that I ask is that you resist the urge to hit the copy button without considering the content you intend to share with students. Will it make them feel insignificant and under-inspired? Then you might have a brutalist worksheet in your hands and it might be time to go back to the drawing board to design something inviting and engaging to students as modern learners.

* I always think of toilet paper when I see TPT. Sorry, not sorry.

Shawna Rothgeb-Bird General

This Year’s Teaching Adventure: Minecraft

Every year, I seem to take on at least one new thing to try in the classroom. I’m definitely guilty of jumping into things with both feet – and sometimes, just sometimes, taking on a bit too much at once.

This year, I’m trying to limit myself to one “big” new thing. My school board just granted us access to Minecraft: Education Edition, so that’s where all of my creative energy seems to be going this year.

I can’t imagine there’s anyone left who doesn’t know what Minecraft is in a general sense. What you may not have considered previously is that Minecraft: Education Edition provides all kinds of really interesting opportunities for student learning in a highly engaging context.

I can’t say it’s been smooth sailing. Every time Minecraft gets an update, the game seems to be blocked on my board’s network again – which, this year in particular, can take a few weeks to get sorted out depending on how busy the IT department is. But the game itself is very easy to learn and runs on a wide variety of devices. 

My students LOVE Minecraft. Every day, they ask if they’ll have some time to play. I’m quite familiar with the game as I’ve played the standard edition at home for a few years, but using it in the classroom is a brand new adventure.

Our first foray into the game involved working with a group to create a treehouse. It was a low-stress way to introduce students to the game without too many expectations. It also provided an opportunity to work in a bit of oral language, as students could then show their completed treehouse to the class and give everyone a tour.

I learned a few things quickly:

  1. If I host the game and then leave it running while I work with other students, my Minecraft students WILL create elaborate structures around me as a (harmless!) joke. I have now been encased in glass, built into a tree, had a hot tub built around me, and been set on fire multiple times (both by accident and on purpose).
  2. If I don’t provide clear guidelines for what they are doing, they will quickly throw something together that they think satisfies the requirements and then disappear, having gone off in search of treasure and discovery.

For our second big task, I had students design houses that would fit into 10×10 grids. I used one of the worlds built by the Minecraft team – called Starter Town for those interested – and showed the class the town we would be creating together. I assigned them each a plot of land in the world where they would build their house.

The world with our town in it also contains many other things to explore and discover. This week, I assigned them a scavenger hunt within the town and surrounding area. Not only does it encourage them to go off exploring and learn about in-game features, it also allows me to work in a bit of French reading, as they have to follow clues to know what to look for in the world.

Before I set them loose in the town to build their houses and explore, we discussed our digital community and what sorts of behaviours supported our community or hindered it. Students signed to acknowledge that they knew the expectations as members of the community.

My students are still hard at work building their houses, but they already have two dozen ideas for other things they think the town needs. When we finish, we plan to invite other classes in our school to visit our town and maybe do a scavenger hunt of their own. Eventually, we’d like to find some opportunities to collaborate with other classes in a shared world – we miss working with other classes in the school!

 

I’m really looking forward to finding more ways to integrate Minecraft into the classroom. If you’re also using Minecraft, what kinds of things are you doing with your students?

Shawna Rothgeb-Bird General

Reflecting on Professional Practice During a Pandemic

Three months into the school year, I find myself reflecting on my teaching practice a lot. I started the year feeling frustrated that everything was so different, most of what I enjoy about teaching is gone, and students were more difficult to engage in learning than I had ever experienced before.

Now, as we round the corner into December, I’m realizing that within this very different school year, there are also things to rediscover – things I had lost or forgotten about somewhere in working full time, parenting, dealing with personal issues, trying to survive.

Here are a few of the things that I find are really working this year that I hope to continue once we’re on the other side of this whole mess (and we will, one day, be living in a world where “pandemic” isn’t the word of the year).

Focus on the Big Ideas. All too often, I get caught up in all of the specific expectations in the curriculum. My class goes off on tangents. We get far, far away from the “big ideas” – the key takeaways in each unit. Usually, I’m able to get us back on track after a while, but “a while” isn’t a luxury this year affords.

To keep myself focused, I’ve been posting the big ideas in my classroom. Having them visible – to both students and myself – helps us remember what the point is. My students will connect their learning directly to those big ideas during discussions. It’s helped us have more targeted, intentional conversations about Social Studies and Science in particular.

Don’t be afraid to go back to fundamental skills. This year, I’m teaching a 4/5 split. My grade fours (16 of my 25 students) are in their first year of French Immersion, some with no French exposure at all before the first day of school. My grade fives have been in immersion since last year. The last time I taught this split, I mainly kept very early literacy skills (phonics, word sorts, etc.) to my grade four students because the grade fives were already able to decode, read with decent fluency, etc.

This year, I don’t really have the same ability to split the class and teach only one grade. My grade four students still needed instruction on French phonics, though, and rather than giving the fives independent work during those lessons, I decided I would just include everyone in these lessons. The whole class will do short “chalk and sock”-style lessons, for example – which is a lot to manage with 25 students, but not impossible.

A few months later, I can look back and say that was absolutely the right call. My grade fours are making great progress (some even further ahead this year than I would normally see by December!) and my grade fives have shown huge improvements in their literacy skills. They may have seemed “beyond” these lessons at the start of the year, but that didn’t mean that the lessons would be worthless to them. The extra practice has given them a big boost this year.

Next year, should I find myself teaching grade 5 again, I’ll likely continue whole-class lessons on phonics, spelling patterns, etc.

Not everything needs to be a big, creative, grandiose project. I really love finding creative ways to teach concepts and have my students show me what they know. My students generally love them, too. This year, though, it’s difficult to find the time or energy to come up with the same level of engaging tasks as I normally would. I’ve had to scale back my plans and teach in a much more traditional way for some concepts.

At first, I was worried about it. Would my students be miserable? Would they learn as much as they usually do? How deep would their understanding be? While I will admit their engagement in some tasks is lower than I would see in a normal year, I can confidently say that they are still learning what they need to learn. It’s not as fun to teach and they don’t get as excited about it, but they ARE learning.

This is an important lesson for me, because I often take on too much at work due to guilt over not being the super fun, creative, quirky teacher with the wild ideas. I needed the reminder that it’s really, really okay to step back and scale it down. My students will still be learning.

Finally, I REALLY need to get better about packing up well at the end of the day. I sheepishly admit that I have, in pre-pandemic times, been that teacher who has come to school sick because everything was in too much of a shambles to even know where to start planning for an OT. The pandemic really snapped me out of that mindset, but I have a long, long way to go in leaving my classroom “OT-ready” at the end of the day. I still find myself saying, “It’s fine, I’ll put those away tomorrow morning.” Except I can’t be certain that I will be back in tomorrow morning. I could wake up symptomatic and have to get a COVID test. I could have to stay home with one of my children. I could be put in self-isolation unexpectedly.

I know myself well enough to know that I’ll never be one of those teachers who can leave a perfectly tidy desk and classroom at the end of the day, but I can at least try to be better than I have been in the past. I’m getting there – it’s just slow.


I’m sure these won’t be the last little revelations that I have this year. I know none of these are new ideas – it’s just been interesting to suddenly see them differently or be reminded of their value.

Has the pandemic surprised anyone else with some teaching strategies or practices that have worked well and that you want to continue when we’re “back to normal”?

Will Gourley agency, Challenging Topics, Equity, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Social Justice, Student wellbeing, Wellbeing

About those indoor shoes

Winter’s coming and as I share this on the eve of December and our possible first snow day of the 20-21 school year, the timing is intentional.

Recently, I had a moment of clarity while greeting students at the door of my classroom. It started out simply enough as they returned after a snowy midday recess. Amid our usual pleasantries it happened – a simple and often overlooked aspect of privilege kicked me in the thoughts as I welcomed students back inside. Although, there was nothing out of the ordinary on this particular day, all I could think about, in that moment, was indoor shoes.

You know, that 2nd pair of shoes students are expected to bring from home, that stay at school, so they can change in and out of for recess and indoor activities. The ones that every student is told they are supposed to have. The same shoes that can be found classrooms away from their owners’ personal effects after being dribbled down the hallways soccer style by budding Christine Sinclairs and Alphonso Davies’. Those indoor shoes. 

Although an extra pair of shoes might be a small issue for many of us, I wonder whether asking students to have a dedicated pair of shoes to change into for inside school exagerates the socio-economic divisions that are obvious in many of our communities. After nearly 2000 days in the classroom, I am only seeing the ability to bring a second pair of shoes as an indicator of privilege, and that got me thinking about equity.

So, I’ll ask. Do you think that requiring/expecting students to have a 2nd pair of indoor shoes is unfair to those who are unable? Have schools become too demanding to expect this considering that many families are living pay check to paycheck? How are educators working to support their learners without isolating or alienating them by their supportive actions? Don’t even get me started about winter boots.

Clearly, there is a fine line to tread and I am wondering what’s changed, what needs to change in the way we were are doing things, and what else have I/you/we been missing? 

What’s changed? 

Nothing and it is not going to either as long as our socio-political and economic structures remain the same, we will always have students coming to school from places of unearned disadvantages being asked to act like they do not.

When we know that students are in need, how do we as a school community genuinely support them equitably? Is there a way that we can help while being discrete in our actions? One way might be by intentionally looking the other way while still making a note of things like a single pair of shoes, no boots, or a lack of weather protective garments rather than confronting their lack of them outright. How do we provide help without awkward and uncomfortable moments for a child?

What needs to change?

There will always be students with needs. Even though we might have enough, and it looks like they have enough. It is easy to be fooled into inaction by the belief that their enough is actually enough. When students are sent to school with a lunch to eat at school, it’s not obvious at first look whether it is the only meal they are having each day. It starts at relationships. 

Knowing the learner is the key here. Without it, we risk allowing students to fall through the cracks. With recent restrictions to work due to the pandemic, it is becoming clearer that families are living in more precarious circumstances. That fancy car that drops students off at the kiss and ride each morning may about to be repossessed. The top dollar running shoes and brand name everything to wear seems incongruous to the jam sandwich or mac and cheese everyday that those same students are bringing for lunch. I am always hopeful that the child really likes the same lunch everyday, but am also watchful whether it is an indicator that something else is going on outside of school.

What else have I/you/we been missing?

Even though I have used indoor shoes as the soul of this post, they are not the sole indicators of unidentified needs or inequities. At-risk students are everywhere in our hallways. I am trying to pay attention to their actions, words, and body language. I never want to look back on this time and think that our students slipped through the cracks without our support. Conversations with other colleagues also help to fill in the blanks if something doesn’t seem right. It has become second nature to ask a student how their day is going. It is also important to include all of the community resources available to schools too. 

If we pay attention to the little signs, we have an excellent chance to close some of the gaps for our students. It might be as simple as connecting families with access to community supports they may not have known about. This may be a simple as ensuring that there is English language assistance for them when it comes to access. For others, it might mean ensuring there is something extra to eat available for any who are experiencing food security issues. For others it might mean an invitation to help out in class during a particularly cold day at recess. 

Whatever the circumstances, we can walk alongside students as they learn to fill the shoes that are waiting for them in the future. 

Thanks to Tim Bradford and Nicolette Bryan @ACPS for their wisdom and candour while discussing this topic. 

Further Reading:

Equity: The Missing Piece of Most Back-to-School Conversations

Tammy Axt General

Fun times in a Special Education classroom

I currently work in a class for Developmentally Delayed students in a hybrid model. This means that I am teaching both students online and at home at the same time. Last week, my one student had a very difficult day. She cried for much of the morning and just generally was in a bit of a funk. After a very tough morning, I asked her to come outside with me to chat. After a few minutes, she turned and told me what was going on.

She said, “I hate home right now. I am not allowed to have any friends over. I am not allowed to see Kelly or Puneet. I am not allowed to see our family. I want to see Greg and Nancy. I can not see them right now. I am bored at home. I want to see my friends.”

This student captured how most of us are feeling right now.  I wish that I could have all her friends in our class come back to hang out but since that is not an option, making school fun is the best I can do.

Here is how we are beating the blues by making school fun right now!

Drawing pictures and writing letters for our friends that are learning at home. For one week, all the staff and students wrote letters and coloured pictures to send to our friends so that they know we are thinking of them. It was an exciting activity and we can’t wait to hear back from everyone.

 

We have hyped up our daily TV show at my school. We watch our school TV show every morning and enjoy the teacher who is the anchor of the show. He does an amazing job interviewing students and staff and it is just what we need during these difficult times. My students love him! We use his catch phrases often in our class. We asked for an autographed picture of him to hang in our class and we are interviewing him next week online. We are so pumped.

We decorated the classroom A LOT. This year we are not having a gathering at my home for the holidays so we took all of my home decorations and put them everywhere in the room. On the decoration day, I did have to laugh that my student who is obsessed with Halloween showed up in her pumpkin shirt to decorate for Christmas.

We are taking any chance to celebrate. Lucky for us, we have a few birthdays in our class at this time of year. We went big with the birthdays this year with lots of decorating and a big covid friendly celebration.

We have been reading some epic books and I have been taking book requests. My one student has read a lot of the Little Golden books. She is quite the expert on Lightning McQueen and Mater.

We have also started “Favourite Fridays” for both our online and in school students together. Every Friday we become Siskel and Ebert or Rolling Stone Magazine and give thumbs up or thumbs down to things that we like or don’t like. Last week was all about our holiday songs.

We also have added some exciting lights to our relaxation time!

In these times, keeping the excitement and energy is tough but as teachers that is about all we can do to ease our students woes.

Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Teaching Students with Down Syndrome to Read

I have tried to teach my one student with Down Syndrome to read words for the past two years with some success. However, it wasn’t until this year when I read about a different approach that things really started to click. Since we introduced this method into our instruction, she has been able to read a group of words consistently, comfortably and with confidence. It is the first time that she really gets excited about reading words.

In a quest to try something new with this student in October, I picked up a book I had bought a couple of years ago called “Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers” by Patricia Logan Oelwein. The book was written in 1995, which seems quite a long time ago, however from our experience this fall, it was the one methodology that really worked for my student. Also, the general thesis of the book that any child with Down Syndrome can read if the programming is appropriate is a principle that I also strongly believe.

The book is divided into 3 sections. The three sections are: background information about the learner with Down Syndrome, the How-To section and reading units to use with your students.

Background Information

This section is highly important to read before you begin instructing your student. Even though the book was written quite a while ago much of the information remains accurate and up to date. I cross referenced much of the information in this section with the educator guide posted on the Canadian Down Syndrome Website and find the information to be consistent.

As mentioned above, the primary thesis for this book is that all children with Down Syndrome can be taught to read if programming is done correctly. Ms. Oelwein also does a very effective job of describing hurdles that you may face and things to watch out for if your student is not being successful with the methodology described in this book.

Some of the areas that she highlights are:

  1. Medical concerns: People with Down Syndrome have a higher rate of vision problems, hearing problems and chronic illnesses. Ensure that you read your student’s OSR and speak with parents about any concerns in this area. Any unaddressed medical concerns will greatly impact the ability of the student to be successful in learning to read. (Interestingly, according to the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, people with Down Syndrome are less likely to get asthma, many types of cancer and dental cavities.)
  2. Continuous Intervention: Many times, in special education we hear about early intervention and the importance of it. Ms. Oelwein takes it one step further. She speaks about the importance of early intervention and continuous intervention. She stresses the importance of maintaining high expectations for the students and providing them with high quality education throughout their academic career. I feel this is especially important as the student enters grade 6, 7 and 8 in Ontario in an inclusive setting. It is important that the student has modified tasks that are both aware of the social dynamic of this age as well as tasks that are academically appropriately for the child. Ongoing intervention is paramount to the student’s success in reading.
  3. Avoidance Behaviours: My students are very smart. Just like many students, they know how to avoid certain tasks if I have given them things that are too easy, too hard, or not interesting to them. Effective programming is the key to success and using consistent best practices in assessment will help you to develop tasks that support student’s language acquisition.

The How-Tos

The next section of the book explains how to introduce sight words, the alphabet, beginning phonics and writing and spelling.

The instructions are very clear and can be followed by you, your education assistant, your special education team or a parent at home. This can provide ample opportunity for the student to practice the skills. Ms. Oelwein has also provided many, many ideas for activities and ways to keep learning fun and engaging. Below are some pictures of my student following the steps outlined by the author.

  1. We began by selecting a few personally relevant words for the student and followed a number of steps to introduce the words to the student. She surprised us at how quickly she learned them.

2. Next, we spent some time focusing on the beginning letter of the words we introduced.

3. Finally, we created some fun activities to reinforce the words.

Reading Units

The final chapters of the book use the same steps to continue to introduce additional words and many activities to help solidify understanding. All the materials to play games and create activities to build  understanding are provided in appendices at the end of the book. There are units on foods, action words, household words etc.

If your students with Down Syndrome are struggling, this might be one book to try to get you started. The steps worked for my student and it might just work for your student as well.

 

Velvet Lacasse Building Inclusion, General, Indigenous Perspectives, Inquiry, Inspiring Students, Literacy, Mental Health, Mindfulness, The Arts, Wellness

M is for Mindfulness

My inbox and social media feeds are filled with reminders to take care of myself and to focus on the mental health and wellness of my students and community, and I am trying. This month, I felt the phunk of COVID fatigue. I am working hard to create playful moments of joy, and generate my own light.

My teacher friend, Bruce Gramlich, offered me a new resource called, “Fostering Mindfulness: Building skills that students need to manage their attention, emotions and behaviours in the classroom and beyond,” by Shelley Murphy (2019). In this book, Murphy has curated educator stories and several concrete examples of intentional exercises and activities to support the practice of mindfulness. Murphy believes that in order for educators to be successful at supporting students to be mindful, we must focus on our own practice. Like many educators, I am always paying attention and aware of what is happening to those around me, but mindfulness is about paying attention to myself.

What is Mindfulness?
“Mindfulness is both a way of being in the world and a practice. As a way of being, mindfulness is the quality of presence we bring to everything we do. It describes our innate capacity to pay full and conscious attention to something in the moment. It is the awareness that emerges from paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of our experience” (Kabat-Zinn, 2013).

Reflecting the Sky:
When I think about mindfulness, I imagine sitting still and meditating, breathing with intention, not thinking about anything, just “be”ing in the moment. Those moments are very rare for me. As soon as I step into the school building, I am pulled into a current that is swift and fast. I am a strong swimmer, but I have to work hard to keep my head above the water. I rarely float, and there are few moments of stillness. I love my work, and I am grateful every day for the creative flow and waves of energy, but I know that the water needs to be calm in order to reflect the sky.

As I begin to cultivate a practice of mindfulness outside of the classroom, I am learning that there are moments of wonder and gratitude in many different activities, including walking in the park, cooking a delicious meal, listening to music, riding my bicycle, playing with my dog, and doing yoga. One of the challenges for me is to re-create these moments in the classroom. Here are some examples of how I am trying to practice mindfulness and honour stillness with/in my Grade 2 students:

Gratitude:
We begin every day outside in a circle. Before we acknowledge the land with respect, gratitude, and a commitment to take action, I invite everyone to take five deep breaths together. We do “Five Finger Breathing,” and use one finger to trace each inhale and exhale around the fingers of the other hand. Acknowledging land includes noticing and paying attention to all of our relatives: the wind, the birds, squirrels, puddles, and roots in our school yard. We recognize the original caretakers of the land and review our understanding that a treaty is a promise. This daily practice of gratitude is an important part of mindfulness and also supports decolonizing pedagogy.



Listen to the City:
As we sit together and breathe, we use our senses to pay attention. I ask students to share what they hear, see, feel, smell. We talk about seasonal changes and transformation. Murphy (2019) calls this practice “Mindful Sensing.” Soundscapes are a dramatic convention that can be used throughout the curriculum, and can be combined with movement. Students use their voices and/or found sounds to tell a story. We have created soundscapes connected to our learning about water and wind. After reading the book, “Listen to the City” by Rachel Isadora, students worked in small groups to create a soundscape about the city and share it with the class.

Blindfold Tree Walk:
In one corner of our school yard, there is a small grove of cedar trees growing together. This area is being cared for and used as an Outdoor Classroom by many educators. One day, we used our sense of touch to do a Blindfold Tree Walk. We worked with a partner to find a special tree. Then, one partner was blindfolded and guided carefully to different trees to touch, until they found their special tree. Before blindfolding students, we talked about what might be challenging for people who are Blind or have low-vision, and how we can support them to walk safely. After participating in this activity, students reflected on the experience, and described what they noticed and how they used their senses to find their special tree. I also tried this activity and was delighted when I reconnected with my tree.



What Does Peace Feel Like?
This activity inspired us to explore another book called, “What Does Peace Feel Like?” by Vladimir Radunsky. This book is filled with the voices of children who use their five senses to describe peace. Students were inspired to write their own descriptions of peace, and used watercolours to paint what peace looks like. We shared our poetry with a special guest who joined us via ZOOM. Donna Jodhan is a disability justice activist who we met ten years ago when she successfully challenged the Canadian government to make websites more accessible for Blind people. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate, reflect and recognize the importance of allyship and advocacy.



Loving Kindness:
“Heartprints” are celebrations of when we have been successful at meeting our learning goals. Currently, we are working on the following goals: “I can be a good friend”, “I can keep trying” and “I can solve problems.” After recess, I will often ask students to share a story about when they were a good friend to someone, or when someone was a good friend to them. As they are sharing, I write their story on a heart-shaped piece of paper. These heartprints are hung in our classroom. Heartprints support cooperative learning, encourage the practice of gratitude and sharing appreciation, reinforce positive behaviour, and help us to create an inclusive and kind classroom community.



My teacher friend, Kelly Fricker recently supported her Grade 1/2 students to share random acts of kindness and #passiton. Together, they generated a list of positive messages to encourage the adults in the school building, and wrote them on heart-shaped paper. Kelly filled every mailbox with messages such as, “You’ve got this!”, “You are appreciated! ”, “You are my sunshine!” I was inspired and worked with my own students to fill the mailboxes in my school with messages of loving kindness. It was a wonder-full activity. Pass it on!


Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, COVID19, General, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Modern Learning, Occasional Teachers, Occasional Teaching, Professional Judgement, self reflection, social emotional learning, teacher efficacy, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Working Conditions, Teaching as a public profession, wellness, Wellness, wellness, Women at Work, Women's Health

Compassion Fatigue and Teacher Burnout

It is no secret to educators that teaching is an occupation of high stress.  A Johns Hopkins University study ranked teaching as the 4th most stressful job of all occupations.  Educators know that the job is stressful, but sometimes it helps to put a name to something in order to help us cope.  Sometimes, it is enough to know that others are going through what we are going through in order to come to terms with our own feelings. Recently during a webinar workshop from “Right to Play,” the facilitators referred to what some educators are experiencing right now as “compassion fatigue.”  I had heard of this phenomenon relating to emergency response occupations, but I had never really thought about it in terms of education.  What we may consider “stress” in the teaching profession may be explained in better detail by examining compassion fatigue.

According to Joanna Krop, author of  “Caring without Tiring: Dealing with Compassion Fatigue Burnout in Teaching,” compassion fatigue “is a form of burnout characterized by extreme mental, emotional and spiritual exhaustion, and it’s an occupational hazard in the caring professions.”

Teacher burnout is not something new.  Recently, however, there have been a number of articles written on the topic of teacher burnout.  A few days ago, the CBC released and article with the results of a survey completed by 2,000 teachers about the pressures in education. One third of the respondents are thinking about retiring or seeking a new career.  One third.  Some educators cite that the pressure and stress is coming from trying to maintain the best educational experiences possible for students while also trying to adhere to pandemic rules and guidelines.  Teachers hold themselves to a high level of integrity and service in their work, in addition to wanting to help their students and their families.  Then add a global pandemic on top of the regular burnout reasons.  As if that wasn’t enough, there are so few teachers available for daily occasional work that teachers feel more guilty than ever when they need to take time for their health.  For many educators, teaching isn’t the only thing that is leading to that compassion fatigue as many teachers have the added pressures of taking care of children and/or aging parents. The most challenging aspect of burnout is that what seems to be the biggest factor in burnout is dedication to the job.  The more dedicated the teacher, the more apt they are to experience burnout. Teachers are burning out because they care.  Hardly seems fair.

The question becomes then, how do we counteract compassion fatigue and burnout? From what I’ve researched, it is all of the things that we know are good for our mental health:

  • figure out what you can control and what you can’t and focus on what you can control
  • temper your expectations of yourself and your work (remember that we are in the middle of a global pandemic and the circumstances are different)
  • small steps towards getting outside, eating betting, exercising and doing creative things
  • surround yourself with supportive people and trusted colleagues
  • be aware of toxic positivity or the rabbit hole of complaining about things
  • show your true self to your students, be authentic so that your students have permission to be authentic too
  • quiet time for yourself and for being mindful

All of that sounds wonderful.  All of it sounds like common sense.  However, it isn’t as easy to put into practice as all of the research makes it sound.  This can appear of just another long list of things to do added to an already long list of things to do. Sometimes burnout can get to a point where you feel immobilized or you may even be at the point that just getting through the next breath is all that you can plan.  As someone who generally plans the menu of meals for our family a week in advance so that we can do our groceries, I know the chaos I feel with uncertainty.  Right now my plan is to try to be patient and gentle with myself.  Everything is going a hundred miles an hour and I keep thinking that I have to keep up or somehow I’ll miss the bus.  However, I also know that if I get to the point of exhaustion, I become less self aware and I’ll end up getting run over by the bus and won’t be good to anyone.

It feels like an impossible task to willingly accept less of myself than I normally expect.  I feel like I will let others down.  However, if I don’t temper the expectations that I have of myself and my work I’m going to have tire tracks on my back and that won’t be good for anyone.

Tammy Axt General, Special Education

Down’s, Downs, DS?

I know I am bias, but I truly believe that I have one of the best jobs in education.

I am the proud teacher of the most amazing group of students, many of whom have Down Syndrome.  The school and the community that we visit often (under normal cirucumstances) have been so kind and welcoming to us over the past three years. However, what I have seen over the past three years is that there are a lot of errors that people make when referring or speaking about people with Down Syndrome.

Student with Down’s / Down’s Kid / Down’s Person

This is the most common error that I hear people make. They often refer to Down Syndrome as Down’s and until I took this job, I made this error as well.  To clarify, Down Syndrome was name named after John Langdon Down  because he was the doctor that first described the genetic condition not because he had Down Syndrome himself. Therefore, the possessive apostrophe s is incorrect.

Down Syndrome Kid / Down Syndrome Students / Down Syndrome child

Another common error is to speak about student’s with Down Syndrome by using their disability first.  This really diminishes who my students are and focuses only on one part of what makes them amazing. The goal should always be to use person first language.

They are so great / They are amazing / Wow, they are fantastic

This happens in my school and community often when we are out and about. Many people speak about my students to me when my students are standing right there. My advice is instead of speaking to the teacher, speak directly to the child. Instead of “they are so great”, use the phrase, “you are so great” and look directly at the child. Imagine how you would feel if everyone spoke about you when you were standing right there.

Suffering From Down Syndrome 

This is another common thing that I hear. I can assure you, my students are not suffering. They are vibrant, energetic, creative and brilliant members of our class. They teach me many things every day. They contribute a lot to our class, school and community. They do not suffer from Down Syndrome.

Downs / Child with Downs

Another common mistake when abbreviated Down Syndrome is to add the S onto the word Down. The correct way to abbreviate Down Syndrome is by using the term DS not Downs.

Your students are so happy / People with Down Syndrome are so happy

This is something that I often hear about my class. The reality is that all of my students have been upset or angry and they don’t spend every day, all day as happy people. I have some students who are incredibly shy and some who are incredibly outgoing. Every child in my class is unique and each have the same emotions as the rest of society.

If you are teaching a student with Down Syndrome, The Canadian Down Syndrome society has created a fantastic Educator Package for you to use in helping to support your student in class.

Will Gourley Equity, General, Inclusion

About those special days at school pt 1.

The end of October finds me at an intriguing intellectual crossroad this year, and I wonder if anyone else has come to it too? You see, I have noticed that there seems to be a lot more hype around certain, let’s call them superficial things, than others this month. This got me thinking about why it is this way, and what I could do about preventing more of the same for the rest of the year and beyond?

To be clear, respect and equity are at the heart of all this. Other than the Mike Harris years, teachers at all points in their careers are overcoming challenges unlike any time in our history. So I know this post might cause a few jocular utterances and for some retrospection to occur, but it is solely written to strengthen the spirit of education and the heart and art of teaching.

Inclusion and equity.

Two incredibly important words that we hear at the start of the school year and then only infrequently afterwards. After all there is so much curriculum to teach and damn you if you miss a single specific expectation for some reason even though the meaningful and culturally relevant lessons you’re sharing mean a world of difference to students marginalized by systems of oppression such as poverty and racism. So how are you prioritizing Inclusion and equity in your classroom? I am thinking through this question too and to be completely transparent, it has its difficult moments. So I work towards what works in my practice – relationship building.

For me it starts with knowing the students beyond their assignments and test scores. This means listening, and it is harder than it seems. Especially, when educators are falsely tricked into believing that their voices are the ones to be heard the most. I have learned that the more listening that I lead in the classroom, the deeper we are able to go in our level of care towards one another, the stronger our classroom community grows, and the more committed that each student becomes towards their learning.

In order to ensure that each student is comfortable and feels included; here are a few things to consider for now and the future that have helped me when it comes to special days in my classroom.

Start at the beginning

Discuss the history behind the special days with your students. Sharing origin stories, values, and beliefs can be really engaging. It is a wonderful way to remove assumptions and to create an interactive and open space. When it comes to special days it is good to know whether learners observe these days or not. This can vary from community to community too. October is a month filled with many opportunities to build bridges in your classroom each time students are able to share. By and large though, the most prevalent are Thanksgiving, Islamic Heritage(month), Purple Shirt Day(s), and Hallowe’en.

For all the right reasons I may have intentionally bypassed Thanksgiving. Not out of ingratitude, but more out of a deeper need to remain focused on continuing our deeper inquiry into Residential Schools as an extension of Orange Shirt Day. Remember that conversations around Truth and Reconciliation do not need to be confined to a single day. In fact, my grade 4/5s extended their learning into thoughtful conversations around the injustice and racist behaviour of settlers towards the Mi’kmaq First Nation in Nova Scotia. This was a direct extension of the critical thinking work students developed as a result of not celebrating Orange Shirt Day, and will serve as a lens for future work we interleave this year.

What I found very powerful from our collective learning was how students were willing to call it like they saw it. In some ways, teachers have to be prepared for the blunt and brutal honestly of students in a way that does not lead to a perception that they are being disrespectful. It then becomes our job to refine these moments, but not censure them as behavioural or compliance issues. Students are entitled to be angry when they learn of injustices and inequities in the world around them.

Imagine how mad they were when they began to read about Black Lives Matter and the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other victims at the hands of racist oppressors. Here’s what mine said:

Why would anyone be racist?
Racism is stupid!
Racists are stupid! What is wrong with these people?

It took courage to say this. It took a safe place to make it happen. Grade 4 and 5 students speaking truth with clarity and wisdom that excedes many. Watching all of this unfold told me that students are more than able to process and respond to issues around systemic racism as evidenced in our discussions and responses around Residential Schools, the Mi’kmaq First Nation, and Black Lives Matter. Is it possible that we as educators have placed an invisible age barrier between our students and the world around them when we do not include them in our classrooms?

I’ll leave this part with one more question to ponder.

Is it easier to share a seasonally themed non-confrontational worksheet instead?

In About those special days at school Pt 2, I will continue sharing some of my approaches to teaching tough subject material to students and how to approach calender cliches with caution. Please click on.