Category: General

This year will be my fourth school year as an LTO teacher. I have had a variety of wonderful experiences from Kindergarten up to grade six. Aside from having to move schools and build new relationships each year, the biggest downside to being an LTO teacher is seldom (or never) having the chance to revise my teaching and delivery of curriculum. When moving to new positions and grade assignments each year, or sometimes even twice within a year, an LTO teacher is always learning new things. We’re always figuring things out as we go.

Sometimes it can feel like we’re “first year” teachers every year!

I learned, just today, that I will finally get to teach the same grade twice! Tomorrow I will be starting an assignment teaching grade 1/2, the same grade that I taught last year. Finally, I’ll have a chance to reflect, revise and build upon my professional learning from last year and put it into action going forward.

So much of effective teaching is giving students feedback and then the opportunity to revise their work. I’ve always felt that was missing from my experience as a new teacher so far [am I still considered new at this point?] and the chance to do this could really make me a better teacher. I’ve taught entire units or subjects to classes that I knew I could have done better with after the fact, but have never had the chance to come back to it and make the changes I wanted to. I’ve always envied my permanent colleagues that could say, “yes, I’ll try that next year!”.

So with this opportunity, this year I am focusing on being a reflective practitioner!

I plan to recall my experiences from teaching grade 1/2 last year, reflect on my practice and change, revise and improve for this year going forward. I’m feeling relieved not to have to plan every single thing as I go, as I’ve got ideas, resources, planning and experience behind me for the first time.

Yes, every group of learners is different, and of course there will be many new things about the way I’ll teach this new class. Differentiation is a huge part of my pedagogy and approach to teaching. However, having a bit of a plan and some previous experience with the curriculum this year is something that I am looking forward to!

Good luck to all of my colleagues starting new positions this week as our schools experience reorganization! What are your goals and focuses for this upcoming year? Have you been moved to a new assignment that poses new challenges or opportunities for you?

We are Educators, Professional leaders. I will walk with pride into this new school year ready to embrace all that we will accomplish.

This year I have begun with a plan to organize the classes I have and subjects I teach to ensure I have as much cross curricular overlap as possible.  My assignment has changed again as it does almost every year for the past 15 years.  I will be responsible for Grade 5/6 Language Arts, Science and Health as well as Grade 7/8 Language Arts, Science and Health.  I have taught Science many years and know this curriculum in depth. Health, is a topic which I will tread on lightly and openly.

I spend a third of my day in a Self contained classroom too.  I preform best with a visual of the overall year.  I have chosen to create an Excel document with the various subjects and the learning goals. I am also using “Planning for Student Learning” templates. I have adapted these for my particular needs and find them organized in a helpful, at a glance chart. https://shop.etfo.ca/products/planning-for-student-learning

I often say don’t use your summer or time off for planning but my practice is different. I must balance my down time with chunks of planning, life responsibilities and self care. I have found some amazing programs which can compliment the school population and promote Healthy living. “Best Buddies” https://bestbuddies.ca/about-our-programs/elementary-schools/  is a program I am introducing to our school this year. It looks like a great way to provide social interaction with all.

Here’s to all the work you did to welcome everyone this school year.

We are so lucky to have a career that has built-in beginnings and endings.

Beginnings are inspiring and exciting. September brings us a brand new year. For some of us, it will also bring a new grade, new school, new students, new classroom, or some combination of those things. It’s a chance to start fresh, reinvent, rethink and make changes.

Endings bring about mixed emotions. Sometimes there’s a feeling of relief, perhaps after a particularly challenging year, or a year that you felt you weren’t at your best. By the end of June, many of us are exhausted. Endings bring an opportunity to slow down, reduce stress and focus on our own health and well-being. Most importantly, endings give us a chance to reflect.

The best part is that after every ending, comes a new beginning. On a personal level, I am really looking forward to a new beginning in September. I feel that I’ve learned and grown so much as an educator this year and I’m eager to get into my next classroom and apply that learning. The ending to this last school year was a sad one for me, as I said goodbye to a wonderful school and students that I love dearly, but this has only made me even more excited to see what comes next.

Are you feeling inspired by the new beginning that September will bring? What have you reflected on in June that will change you as you head into September?

Our classroom motto is “wisdom begins in wonder”. This quote, from Socrates, represents the core of my beliefs about teaching. I believe that every child holds a natural curiosity about the world around them, and that the most powerful learning happens when that curiosity is answered with opportunity.

Many classes at my school work on a yearly book publishing project, in which each class collaborates on a book that is written and illustrated by the students. I wanted to think of a topic that would engage my students and create a beautiful keepsake for their families, but I also wanted our topic to be authentic and meaningful. I tried to think of what would represent our class, and I remembered that the core of our classroom is wonder.

So I simply asked, “what do you wonder?”. We spent a few minutes discussing some ways to word their “I wonder” statements and sharing some ideas as a group. Then, they were sent off to write.I was so enthralled by their wonderings. Some of the questions they wrote stemmed from our current learning, but most of them were genuine, authentic questions that they had about their world. I absolutely loved reading what they wrote and I felt like it really captured their bright, curious minds.

Earlier in the year we had made some beautiful owl art, so we decided to include that art as our illustrations since owls are also a symbol of wisdom. Here are some photos of our published book!

After about four weeks our published books arrived. As we read the book together as a class, my students were so pleased with themselves as they realized that even in the short time since writing the book, they had already discovered or researched the answers to some of the questions they had written about. It was the perfect illustration of just what I wanted them to see – that wisdom really does begin with wonder!

Parents were able to purchase either a hard cover or paperback copy of the book to keep. Although the compilation and final editing process before sending the package off to the publisher can be a bit tedious on the teacher’s end, it was well worthwhile just to hear that grade one student exclaim, “Wow! I can’t believe we are real authors!”.

If you’re interested in publishing a book with your class, head to Student Treasures to learn more!