Category: General

I  often find myself running at the speed of “As Soon As Possible”.  First thing in the morning, I look at my list of priorities from the day before (that are often incomplete) and then reorganize them into the ASAP list…. What must be done this moment, can wait until prep time, tomorrow, or later this week.  It’s like constantly running background noise in my brain while I’m teaching and spending time with students.  

But what if I changed that list?  Not the content or the timing; I can’t change due dates or even the list itself most days, but I’ve been thinking of changing my approach. As soon as possible doesn’t have to be the only title for this list. 

ASAP could stand for As Softly As Possible.  What if I could plan assessment with softness, ensuring that our classroom conversations were emphasizing care and compassion instead of completion?  How would it look differently if my approach was to ensure students believed I genuinely care about their learning?  Perhaps, the questions that I asked them would reflect authentic curiosity about their thinking instead of focussing on whether they could give me the right answer so I can give them a mark.  Perhaps there would be space to share thinking and not just products.  Perhaps assessment As Softly As Possible would help us to all feel better and more purposeful about teaching and learning. 

ASAP could stand for Allow Space And Pause.  Instead of hearing the constant buzzing of deadlines, I could pause and replace that sound with joy.  Our class could cultivate our spaces together in community.  My Allow Space And Pause list could include time for us to build relationships  – both with me and with one another. Maybe I can allow some space for fun in our community after moments of hard thinking or before beginning our day together. Allow Space and Pause reminds me that we all need to take a moment to pause and reflect and, sometimes, begin again. 

ASAP could stand for As Sustainably As Possible.  I could  remind myself that when something goes on my ASAP list, something else has to come off.  It means that I am consciously trying to sustain my momentum; choosing to go slow and steady instead of sprinting as fast as I can.  As Sustainably As Possible means that I give myself space and time to think, feel, and enjoy teaching instead of allowing that stressful rushed feeling to frustrate me.  I want students and colleagues to feel more joy at school and less overwhelmed with that ever expanding  to-do list – and I want that for myself, too!

While I don’t think I’m ready to give up my ASAP list (after all, it IS a strategy I need to stay organized), I can change how I move forward with it. Whether that’s reminding myself to slow down or shifting to take a softer approach, I think there is a lesson here somewhere for me to find.  I’ll just have to add it to my list of things to do As Simply As Possible.

In my previous post, I shared my rational and motivation for striving to become an anti-racist educator. In this post I’ll share one step I took towards building my capacity to do anti-racist work along with a video resource and a book resource that guided my step forward. To reiterate what I communicated in my previous post, my hope is that the insights and resources I share, will help other educators who are striving to infuse their work with anti-racist practices; and by doing so, support the cultivation of a community of anti-racist educators.

In 2021, while collaborating with a colleague to create a series of professional learning sessions for in-service educators on culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), my colleague suggested we use the short video titled, The Archeology of the Self prior to discussing CRP. My colleague wanted to use the video to help educators think about their positionality prior to thinking about pedagogy.  In the video Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz defines the archelogy of the self as a deep self-examination to uncover how issues of race, class, gender, religion, and other prominent identity markers live within a person. In the video, Dr. Sealy-Ruiz goes on to explain that if people, particularly teachers avoid doing a deep self-excavation to uncover their own archeology prior to working with racialized and marginalized student population then intentional or not, they will exact harm. Meaning they will say, do, and/or teach in ways that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or perpetuate other forms of oppression.

Watching this video, then for the first time, I realized the importance of first interrogating what I believe to be true about race among other identity markers prior to engaging in anti-racist work because I understood how those beliefs informed my thinking and practices within the classroom. When I began asking myself questions and thinking about what I believed to be true about race and other identity markers, I was surprised, disturbed and at times disappointed by what I discovered. I was also alarmed by recognizing how my beliefs manifested in my thoughts and teaching practices. Yet I understood this at times challenging and uncomfortable self-examination work to be a necessary step towards becoming an anti-racist educator.

Months later, this time working alone preparing to create and facilitate a different professional learning session for in-service educators on how to support the language and literacy needs of students from diverse linguistic and cultural communities, I read the book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Hammond. In the fourth chapter titled, Preparing to Be a Culturally Responsive Practitioner, Hammond writes,

“[…] [I]f teachers want to be successful in their work with culturally diverse students, they must first accept and understand themselves as cultural beings. This self-knowledge acts as a set of reference points that shape our mental models about teaching, learning, and dependent learners of color” (p. 56).

This quote resonated with me because I saw parallels between Dr. Sealy-Ruiz’s idea regarding the importance of understanding my archeology to avoid exacting harm on racialized and minoritized students; and Hammond’s idea regarding the importance of understanding my cultural reference points and the way they inform how I see, treat, and teach students, particularly racialized students.

Yet what I appreciated about Hammond’s chapter, that wasn’t captured in Dr. Sealy-Ruiz’s video, was that Hammond included instructions and a list of questions to guide me in thinking about my cultural reference points and by direct extension engage in a deep self-examination to gain insight to my cultural identity.

Some of the questions Hammond poses that helped me to interrogate my beliefs about race and the cultural frames I wear to inform how I see the world include: How did your family identify ethnically or racially? Who were the heroes celebrated in your family and/or community? What got shunned or shamed in your family? What earned you praise as a child? What physical, social, or cultural attributes were praised in your community? Which [physical, social, or cultural attributes] were you taught to avoid?

Note that I didn’t try to answer all these questions at once but rather gave myself time and space to deeply reflect on each question. I think educators who are committed to anti-racist work may find Hammond’s questions useful in helping them to gain insight to the cultural frames they wear to see and interpret the world and in so doing help them potentially progress in their work towards becoming an anti-racist educator.

In my third and concluding post, I plan to share another resource that helped me to identify principles of anti-racist education and how that resource guided me in taking another step towards becoming an anti-racist educator.

Oh the joy of sunny, warm spring days!

It’s not too late to get some seeds started. Flowers, vegetables and even grass can be easy to get growing in the classroom. Growing seeds is such a valuable life skill and a way to get those children who have an affinity for the natural world excited to learn.

Growing seeds can be intimidating when time and resources are scarce, plus the soil can get everywhere! For a no-mess growing activity I recommend bean seeds, paper towel (school paper towel will do) and clear jars or cups. It’s so simple to soak the bean seeds overnight and pop a few in a jar. Squish in some wet paper towel and prop the seeds around the side of the jar. Let the magic begin! Keep the paper towel damp and watch the sprouts get their roots, stem and leaves. I prefer bush beans over pole beans because they can be put in the school garden or taken home to plant without worrying about supporting the plant with a pole.

Perhaps your students do not have access to an inground garden but they could manage a container garden. In this case put a bit of potting soil in a cup or container, add the seeds and cover with the recommended amount of soil. Some easy to grow flowers are marigolds, nasturtiums, sunflowers, and morning glories. Vegetables for small containers include lettuce and radishes but I’m also partial to herbs like basil and thyme in containers.

The wonderful thing about seeds is how easily we can access them! It’s fun to try an experiment using seeds from peppers or squash. How about planting a strawberry or a potato?

Finally, there is an adorable grass head project that has been very successful and so simple! Decorate a plastic cup by drawing a face with permanent marker. Googly eyes make it extra silly. Fill the cup with the soil and sprinkle grass seed on top. Add water and your silly face will have a full head of green hair in no time. Students love to give their grass head a haircut.

We all rely on the plants of the world for their gifts. We can reciprocate this gift by caring and nurturing their seeds to grow another generation of seeds.

My local public library has a seed library where we can sign out seeds in the spring and return a new generation of seeds in the fall. Maybe our schools could start similar projects?

I wish everyone a wonderful growing season ahead!

Brenda

 

This post is one of three where I will share reflections and insights from my work towards becoming an anti-racist educator. In this post I’ll communicate my rationale and motivation for intentionally taking up anti-racist work in my role as an educator. In the next two posts I’ll provide insights and resources that have informed my current thinking and practices in the hope that they will be useful to others who are also striving to become anti-racist educators by infusing their work with anti-racist practices.

I’ll begin by explaining that I’m striving to become an anti-racist educator because I understand that my beliefs about race inform the way I see, treat, and teach students. I also understand that race matters. Meaning, while racial differences are socially constructed and have no scientific basis, a persons’ perceived race will impact how they navigate different communities. Their perceived race will also inform how they are seen and treated by others from within and beyond their communities. Therefore, I believe that if I opt to adopt a colour-blind politics by pretending that I don’t see the racial profiles of the students I teach or recognize how my racial profile informs what and how I teach, I risk exacting harm on students; particularly Black and other racialized student populations who in general have questionable schooling experiences.

Further, I use the verb striving to describe my work towards becoming an anti-racist educator because I understand that learning to employ anti-racist practices is a continuous and ongoing process that changes depending on a series of factors. Some of those factors include the context in which I work, the students and colleagues with whom I work, the curriculum contents, and the socio-political climate in which the teaching and learning are situated.

I began striving to become an anti-racist educator in 2020 following an Ontario Ministry of Education review of my school board that found anti-Black racism to be systemic issue penetrating every level of the board. A few key findings from the review include some board trustees using derogatory terms to identify schools with large Black populations. Administrators disseminating harsher punishments to Black students for undisclosed reasons; and some educators disproportionately streaming Black students into non-university bound tracks without adequately informing students and parents/guardians of the consequences to their secondary and post-secondary pathways.

What I found particularly disturbing from the review and what compelled me to action were the comments from Black students. During the review many Black students shared that they felt they were streamed into lower academic tracks due to misperceptions about their cognitive and academic abilities, and that they noticed that they received harsher punishments than their non-Black peers for similar misconduct.

Wanting my work as an educator to more purposely support identifying then removing barriers to Black student engagement and learning, I committed to infusing my work with anti-racist practices. I think that any educator who commits to infusing their work with anti-racist practices receives a call to action; a moment when they make a conscious decision to become part of the change that they want to see within schooling then take intentional steps to make that change a reality. I also think that it is imperative that we as educators at any stage in our career remain mindful that we have a sphere of influence where we can effect change.

In my next post, I’ll share one of the steps I took to change my practices. I’ll also share two resources that helped me to take that step by interrogating my beliefs about race in addition to other identity markers and the importance of interrogating inherent personal biases prior to engaging in any anti-racist.

As educators, there are many difficult situations we have to navigate when it comes to identifying the best program pathways for students. One common situation is when a Multilingual Language Learner (MLL, also known as English Language Learners) experiences significant challenges in their learning.

But how do you know whether or not their difficulties are related to possible special education needs, or language learning? How do you know if you should the student to the attention of a school review committee?

This blog is all about what classroom educators can do when they notice an MLL is experiencing difficulties in their learning. You may be surprised to learn that there are a number of actions you can take even before bringing the student to your school’s review process.

Develop a Learner Portrait for the MLL

Knowing your learner is essential to any teaching practice, and there are a number of additional factors that should be considered when the learner is an MLL. Is the student under consideration a newcomer? Canadian born? Where are they positioned in the Steps to English Proficiency (STEP) continua? How long have they been in their current STEP?

A learner portrait is essentially a document where you can take note of a student’s cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge, level of language proficiency, as well as the student’s interests, goals, and other information you may have gathered about the student’s background. You may also want to include notes on what you are observing about their language and literacy behaviours.

With a fulsome learner portrait, you will be better equipped to adapt your programming to meet the student’s needs and address the difficulties they are experiencing. You will also find a student portrait useful if you choose to bring the learner at an in-school review.

Ensure all the Appropriate Program Adaptations are in Place

With a strong understanding of the learner, check to see that you are adapting programming appropriately for the student with accommodations and, if needed, modifications aligned with their STEP. You may also want to consider the following questions as you re-examine your programming:

Are there multi-modal options (ex. Use of assistive technology, alternative presentation formats) for the student to share knowledge and engage in learning?

Is the curriculum content comprehensible to the student at their STEP? Are you leveraging the students’ interests in your teaching and assessment? Is your programming culturally responsive? Does your teaching practice include scaffolds beneficial for MLLs, such as sentence frames, models, and graphic organizers?

If you do bring the student up to a school review committee, it is important to share what program adaptations you have already put in place so all stakeholders can see the work you are doing to meet the student’s language acquisition needs.

Gather Samples of Student Work

Looking closely at student work: journal writing, writing assessments, reading responses, mathematical problem solving, and other forms of output, can be an excellent starting point for identifying areas of support. You’ll also find having concrete pieces of evidence useful for sharing with family and support staff when discussing your academic concerns about the student.

If you are having difficulty gathering authentic and concrete samples of work from the student, consider how else you might their learning visible. Provide options for them to create video or audio content, or record anecdotal notes about what you are observing about their learning behaviours during group activities and class discussions.

Connect with the Family

Communicating and collaborating with families is critical when a student is experiencing difficulties in their learning. You will want to make sure they are aware about what challenges their child is experiencing in school, and find out if they are noticing anything about their child’s behaviour at home.

When communicating with families, include the student in the conversation if possible. Be prepared to speak to specific examples challenges and strengths for the learner. Keep track of any conversations you have with families, and take notes on what was covered during the call or meeting.

Seek Input from Other Educators that Teach the Student

You will also find it useful to connect with other educators that teach the student to see if they are observing anything similar or different in the subjects they teach them. They may also be able to share additional samples of the student’s work, and give their insights on the learner.

It’s not uncommon for other educators to see a side of the student you may not – the information they share may also help you develop a student portrait.

Find out what your Board’s Protocol is for Identifying MLLs with Possible Special Education Needs

Finally, find out what your board’s protocol is for identifying MLLs who may have special education needs. In some cases, an observation period is implemented, where classroom and support educators try different strategies to determine whether or not a student’s difficulties are related to language learning. Learning what the process is early will also help you to better prepare for that possibility.

I love when ETFO releases their heritage month posters.  They are such a valuable resource that teachers can use all year long and not just during heritage months. Annually, ETFO releases heritage month posters for Black History Month, Asian Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, and Jewish Heritage month. You can find the past years’ posters on the ETFO website. 

These posters are an important way to bring acknowledgement and celebration of different identities to the classroom.  You can be rest assured that the poster designs were created by artists who self-identify with that heritage and they are engaging and beautiful.  Accompanying each poster you will see background information for you, the educator, to feel confident in teaching and learning about the message of the poster.  You will also find a lesson plan or discussion prompts with some of the posters that help to guide conversations with students around the visual. Because they are posted on the ETFO website, you can project past and current posters to a screen or on a device so that you can look at all the details together. 

There are a few different strategies that I’ve used to engage with the heritage month posters.  I do suggest that you read the background information for educators to prepare for questions and guide conversations as students usually have lots to look at and ask questions about when they first see one of these designs. While I sometimes will engage in a whole class discussion or follow one of the ETFO lesson plans more closely, other times I will have an opening activity for students to engage with a few different posters. Two activities that I’ve used this year are: 

Carousel Walk

• Select a few posters to display around the room.  I’ve kept physical versions of past year’s posters, but you can display them on devices or project them onto a board. 
• Place a chart paper with each poster.  Have students circulate in small groups and with a marker or pencil, they write down anything they see on the poster or one word about how the design makes them feel. 
• Discuss and debrief their ideas together as a large group.  I always like to end with an exit card asking the students what they are inspired to learn more about from the posters. 

Think & Mingle

• When I use this strategy, I engage with one poster at a time and display it so everyone can see, whether projecting or a physical poster.  
• Each student receives a sticky note and writes down what they notice and wonder about the visual. 
• After a few minutes, ask students to stand up.  I usually play some soft music and ask them to move around the room and when the music stops they find a partner
• They share what they wrote with their partner and discuss.  It’s great when the teacher also participates in sharing ideas with a partner and really listens to what the students are noticing and wondering
• To wrap up, we create a class t-chart and to use their wonderings to guide a class inquiry

If you’re looking for resources that will spark conversation and inquiry in all grade levels, the ETFO Heritage Month posters are a perfect start.  They provide a launching point for so much rich conversation and are well researched documents that are ready and easy to use in the classroom.  

The Program Planning document on the Ministry of Education’s digital curriculum site is applicable to all curriculum documents from kindergarten to grade twelve. It includes an important part called the Transferable Skills.  This content is part of officially issued curriculum and, as educators, we are obligated to consider this information to guide the implementation of the curriculum and in creating the environment in which it is taught. 

The seven categories of transferable skills, or competencies, are: 

• critical thinking and problem solving
• innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
• self-directed learning
• collaboration
• communication
• global citizenship and sustainability
• digital literacy

These broad competencies are designed for students to transfer skills from one subject to another.  For example, self-directed learning skills are applicable in every subject from language to math to physical education. It allows educators to think about developing skills that will be useful for students in any subject area and any grade level. When you read the document, you’ll see that each of the seven skills has a definition and student descriptors.  For example, the document’s definition for digital literacy is:

Digital literacy involves the ability to solve problems using technology in a safe, legal, and ethically responsible manner. With the ever-expanding role of digitalization and big data in the modern world, digital literacy also means having strong data literacy skills and the ability to engage with emerging technologies. Digitally literate students recognize the rights and responsibilities, as well as the opportunities, that come with living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world.

The first student descriptor is: 

• Students select and use appropriate digital tools to collaborate, communicate, create, innovate, and solve problems. 

These skills are intended to be learned as part of all subject areas and not in isolation.  They are developed through student engagement in practice and in explicit teaching and learning methods.  In planning, this means that we should be considering how we can integrate digital literacy into our teaching, how students can engage in becoming digitally literate, and understand their responsibilities as digital citizens.

Students always seem to be ahead of me in areas of technology; they have more time to consume media, information, and to develop confidence in using tech.  However, when I think about Digital Literacy in respect to the curriculum documents, I recognize that it isn’t just the confident ability to navigate websites and use new technology.  The student descriptors actually lend themselves toward understanding and analysing HOW they use digital tools to enhance their learning. Being able to select the best digital tool to help them learn, critically looking at data, and even understanding how to manage their own digital footprint look differently at every grade level.  

As you look through the curriculum documents, you will also notice that the overall expectations will specifically link to the transferable skill or skills that can be developed through those expectations.  For example, in grade seven language, overall expectations D2 (Creating Texts) and D3 (Publishing, Presenting, Reflecting) both tag Digital Literacy as a competency students should be developing through these expectations. 

How does this inform my educator lens and decisions in the classroom?  I think it looks like decisions that I am making with students, for example including them in the decision to use different digital tools for communication.  Every student I’ve taught loves to create a slide deck, but that isn’t always the easiest way for students to collaborate on a project or to communicate information.  Maybe it’s having whole class conversations to categorize the purpose of different digital tools, e.g., a recorded news report vs a slide deck vs a canva poster. 

As I spend time reading through all of the new curriculum documents, I am finding myself thinking more and more about how students learn and getting curious about how to shape and plan learning experiences that explicitly engage in developing these transferable skills.  Even as the teacher in the room, there’s always so much to learn! 

This year I have been a supply teacher in a particular class a few times so I have built a rapport with the students. On one visit, a student I’ll call Jenna opened up about how she was feeling. Recently her family’s apartment, along with several others, was destroyed by a fire. Jenna went to stay with extended family while her mother stayed in a local hotel and worked with relief agencies to find new housing and get reestablished. They lost absolutely everything they owned in the fire.

The family was relieved to move into a new apartment fairly quickly but Jenna was having difficulty adjusting.

On the day I was supply teaching in her class, 7 year old Jenna got overwhelmed several times and was not able to self-regulate. She was tired from the long walk from her new apartment. She was hungry. She missed her favourite stuffed animal. She had no paper at home to draw pictures because all of mommy’s paper got burned in the fire. Her classmates and I listened and consoled her in these moments but she summed it all up by tearfully saying:

“I’ve learned that sometimes life gives you changes and you have to get used to a new situation very fast. Like what the fire did to me and my family.”

Wise words from the heart of a seven year old. Jenna has had to deal with an enormous change in a short amount of time. She is grieving the loss of her home and belongings but also has feelings of relief that her family members survived and they were able to reunite in their new home. It’s quite an emotional roller coaster to ride. No wonder she was experiencing difficulty with self-regulation.

This experience got me thinking more deeply about trauma informed practices in classrooms. Every child has a story and some of those stories include trauma. We see different types of trauma such as losing a home, the unexpected death of a loved one, a car accident, bullying, and many more, including traumas we will never know about. It’s in everyone’s best interest to have safe learning environments where children know they are protected from physical and emotional harm. A classroom teacher will not know all the details about everyone in their class but they can work to ensure the classroom is a safe place for all.

The students aren’t the only ones who are impacted by life’s tragic moments. It’s very important that teachers recognize those times when they need to seek out their peers or professionals to help them through difficult times. We can’t serve from an empty cup, and neither can our students.

Take care,

Brenda

In the beginning of my teaching, I believed that my job was to impart knowledge, to fill my students with the facts and information they needed to succeed. But over the years, I’ve come to realize that my most powerful tool is not the answers I give—it’s the questions I ask.

I remember a particular lesson on ecosystems with my Grade 4 class. We had spent the week learning about different habitats and the various plants and animals that live in them. I had prepared a quiz to assess their understanding, filled with straightforward questions like, “What is the main predator in a forest ecosystem?” and “Name three plants found in a desert.” The quiz went as expected. Most students did well, but the energy and excitement in the room was flat. It was clear that my students were just going through the motions.

Feeling like I had let my class down a bit, I began to reflect on what I could change to better engage my students. This moment sparked a memory from my early days of teaching kindergarten—a time when I skillfully used questions to promote deeper, more meaningful conversations. Inspired by this recollection, I went on a journey of research and collegial discussions, focusing on how to ask good questions. The answer to my inquiry was; open-ended questions.

Here is what I learned. Regardless of which subject, there are a few requirements that make a good open-ended question.  

1. A good open-ended question should encourage a detailed, thoughtful response, rather than a yes or no answer.
2. It should allow individuals to draw from personal experiences and knowledge, validating their diverse perspectives.
3. It often starts with words like how, why or what.
4. It should be neutral and avoid suggesting any specific answer. 

I then decided to try something different the next day. Instead of giving my students more facts, I asked them an open-ended question: “What do you think would happen if we introduced a new species into this ecosystem?” The response was immediate. Hands went up, and the room buzzed with excitement. Students began to think critically, imagining the consequences of their hypothetical scenarios. Some suggested that a new predator might disrupt the food chain, while others argued that it could balance an overpopulated species. The discussion was much livelier, and I could see the gears turning in their minds. We then took our learning outdoors and played games to reenact possible scenarios. In the process, I asked more open ended-questions and the discussions became more interactive. Some questions I asked were:

1. How might the existing animals adapt to the presence of this new species?
2. What changes do you think we might see in the plant life of this ecosystem?
3. If you were in charge of protecting this ecosystem, what steps would you take?
4. How do you think human activities might influence the success or failure of this new species?

These questions sparked even more thoughtful discussions, encouraging students to apply their knowledge, make connections, and think critically about the complex interactions within ecosystems.

This experience taught me that there is something very satisfying about asking questions that have multiple answers.  It does more than just assess knowledge; it sparks curiosity and creativity, it encourages students to think deeply and explore possibilities and feel valued in their diverse perspective. It’s not about getting to the right answer, but about the process of thinking, questioning, and discovering. And that, for me, was a beautiful thing to witness.

Over the years, I’ve made it a point to incorporate more open-ended questions into my teaching. Whether it’s in a science lesson, a language discussion, or even math. Asking good questions push students to move beyond surface-level understanding and engage with the material on a deeper level.

So, to my fellow educators, I ask: How often do you ask open-ended questions in your classroom? What happens when you give your students the freedom to explore without the pressure of finding the right answer? Consider the possibilities that can unfold when we shift from simply imparting knowledge to guiding our students in their own discovery process. What questions might you ask today to open up a world of possibilities for your students?