General – Page 74

March 28, 2017 Tammy Axt General

An Idea For Making Learning Fun – Pizza Box Puppet Theatres

Without a doubt, the highlight for this term’s drama classes in the primary grades has been the creation of puppet theatres. We have taken pizza boxes and stick puppets and acted out some familiar stories. The grade two students are currently working on completing their performance of “Where the Wild Things Are”.

Leading up to our performances, we have spent half of each period exploring the story with our bodies, dialogue or reflections, and the other half has been spent preparing our puppet theatres. To prepare the students to really analyze the character’s feelings and thoughts, I have been reading a small part of the book every class and asking students to act out or respond to some part of the story.

A few examples of this are:

When Max’s room turns into a jungle I had students write in first person how Max is feeling.

When Max gets on the boat and travels for several days, I had the students act it out while I narrated the story. At one particular point, I asked the students to freeze and I went around the room interviewing a variety of students about how they are feeling. They were encouraged to speak in first person.

In the part of the story where the wild rumpus begins, I had the students act this out in slow motion focusing solely on their body and facial expression.

The rest of the period was spent creating the theatres. We spent time talking about and imagining what would go in Max’s room and all the other locations in the story. I prepared papers that fit inside the pizza boxes, and students coloured and prepared the backgrounds.

This was my first time doing this kind of assignment in drama with primary students and I have learned many things:

1. Pick a book where there is very little text. You want the students to be adding to the story, not only telling the story as it is. For example, when Max arrives on the island of the Wild Things, there is very little explanation in the story about how the Wild Things feel. We explored the feelings and thoughts of these characters.

2. Create a class set of puppet theatres that everyone uses. Students are able to work on their performance with a variety of people and can play all of the different roles when they don’t have ownership over one theatre. I also use the theatres for all my classes so we created and build them as a large team.

3. Have a narrator with a small amount of assigned lines to help the students stay on track. It is difficult for students in grade one or two to remember every part of a story. Using prompts allows students to remember the part of the story that they are at, and focus on adding their original dialogue to the presentation.

4. Have students give feedback to each other according to the criteria. We listened to each others’ performances and gave feedback. We stapled the feedback to the back of the narrator’s lines so that we could review it before every performance.

March 23, 2017October 13, 2018 Will Gourley Challenging Topics, General, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

Am I teaching in a rut?

It’s March, and things are changing – again. The birds now welcome me to school most mornings with their spirited songs. Not to be outdone, Winter still attempts to poison as many perfectly sunny seasonal days with its cold, wind, and snow. Preparing for outside supervision has required that I keep all outdoor gear at the ready for another March meteorological maelstrom. I am beginning to wonder whether I’ll make it through another outdoor supervision at -15 C or colder.

It’s been tough on our students too. Many times finding themselves cooped up in their classes due to frigid temps. Imagine learning, working, having your breaks, and eating your lunch in the same space as 25 other people? At least teachers can excuse themselves to the staff room. So it’s no wonder that, at the first signs of Spring, energy levels go from sedentary to bristling the moment the mercury rises above 0 C.

Yet, for all their energy, students find themselves confined to hardtop for recess while the weather changes its mind daily. The once snow covered fields are wet and look like pallid straw waiting for the sunlight to warm up its roots with the promise of growing greener. With it, a well worn patch of the mud and muck that has become the current site of a, “I dare you to jump this,” long-jump pit.

https://pixabay.com/en/earth-wet-earth-mud-ground-1280278/

Recently, something stuck to my mind like mud on a shoe. It came after seeing this newly christened jumping pit on the school yard. It was a mucky/dirty patch of exposed earth full of tracks/footprints left behind by the brave who tried to clear it, but fell far short. Indeed, Spring’s official arrival comes with its share of magnificent and messy moments at schools.

the thought process

Those footprints made me think of how difficult it is to extricate a shoe or a car that is stuck in mud. That led to think about the expression,”a stick in the mud”, and how it relates to inflexible attitudes. Then I wondered, am I being inflexible? Could I be in a rut in my practice as an educator? Was I able to avoid the ruts and muck in my professional practice to stay in the groove moving forward, or was I already wallowing in it without knowing? Did I want to know? After all, some people pay big money at the spa for mud baths.

rut or a groove?

Are there ever signs to tell us we’re in a rut? I have been teaching grade 6 in one capacity or another since starting my career in 2009. The Junior Division is, definitely, one with which I am very comfortable as a teacher. But it’s that word comfort which concerns me because it might be keeping me in a rut and hindering my growth as a constant learner? Let me ask you. How long have you been teaching in the same classroom, subjects, grade or division? If you answered more than 3 years for any of these, you might be carving out quite a rut.

When you’re in a rut you can still roll along without an issue unless you try to get out. Climbing out is dangerous if ever attempted, and leaves one feeling exposed or vulnerable. Yet, if we move our students along from grade to another, why are we not seeking the opportunities to grow into new experiences as well by changing our routines in for some new ones? Sometimes a rut maybe so high that it is more like a canyon where sunlight seldom hits the floor. This means that perspectives become narrowed our hyper focused.

…we are certified to teach much more than we do. We spend tens of thousands of dollars to be certified to teach multiple grade levels, but we are put in a position, or are resistant to being any other position, of teaching one grade level for multiple years. Some teachers teach the same grade level for decades.

At some point, that does not foster growth. It fosters comfort. ” Peter DeWitt, 2015

Have you ever wondered why educators move schools? I know from experience that moving to a new school brings an infusion of enthusiasm, and ideas into a new learning space. We can’t help, but learn from one another when we engage in new situations and with new people. Many of us feel entitled to teach the same grade each year even when we are qualified to teach a range of grades and panels. We have to remember that assignments are not guaranteed for life and that change is ultimately better for our practice.

What about the argument that a rut is really a groove? In my next post, I will share about how we can escape or smooth out the ruts in our practice and get into a groove of our own.

I’d love to know your thoughts about this post. Please take the time to share in the comment section below.
Thank you for reading.

March 5, 2017 Mike Beetham Communication with Parents and Guardians, General, Learning in a Real Life Context, Resources, Start of the year

Allies

The word ally is typically defined as a nation or state cooperating with another for a military purpose. As with most words it of course has been expanded for many uses but retains the meaning of being on your side. So the question I ask you today is, as a teacher who are your potential allies?

From the minute I enter into my school I have an amazing opportunity to make allies, get people to support the work I do with my students, school and community. Allies are everywhere but like countries you must take the time to build up relationships to develop those allies. When you do that, they will be there when you need them most. I am going to talk about several key allies that I have in working with my students and how without them there are many things I would have much greater difficulty accomplishing.

The first ally is of course the parent(s) of my students. Let’s be honest, we both really want what is best for a child even though we may not agree on how to accomplish that. From the moment I know a child is going to be in my classroom I reach out to families to try and start building that working relationship. It starts with a simple call home the week prior to school welcoming them and their child to my classroom. It continues on with my first Weekly News letter home by asking them to brag about their child as they know them best as well as asking them to prioritize two goals they would like their child to accomplish this year. This helps sends the message they are a part of the formula to create success for their child. I continually update them with sunshine calls home, weekly news updates, inviting them to attend events in the classroom and any other way I can include them or make use of their expertise and assistance in my room. Of course not every parent becomes my ally or totally agrees with every decision I make. There will be some parents who just won’t or don’t engage in your efforts. This work I put into recruiting parent allies always pays off with some very strong relationships that are there when I need them most.

The second set of allies I work hard at creating are with the school support staff such as our office manager and custodial team. These are key people who are the heart and soul of the school and can be there to support me in many situations when I need the help. One of the most unique request I made of our custodian was to have our front classroom door taken off so my class could create a drawbridge door for our Medieval Times study. Needless to say I had to have a strong relationship with that person to make and receive such a request. Our office manager (and every office manager) is the heart of the school. He/she is the first and often last person everyone sees when coming to our school. That role is so important and my class spends time on a regular basis showing how we appreciate the work she does. That time and effort has helped me many times over the years when I need a last minute request or forgot some important deadline.

The final ally I want to talk about is a community-based position. My class spends time doing service learning projects and as such we need to have people who trust that I can take a group of 8-11 years old out into the community and perform projects that enhance our community. I have worked a lot with city environmental personnel who over the years have come to value and trust our staff and the request we make. There are community agencies and people who can also become a potential ally for you.

As I began to change the lens upon which I viewed my classroom I began to see more and more how many potential allies (support) I have available to me. I do not have to do this on my own. My educational team continues to grow as I grow relationships and take advantage of the opportunities they can provide me in supporting my students and my professional growth. Allies do not just happen, you must work at creating them.

February 28, 2017February 28, 2017 Will Gourley Constant Learning, General, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Learning About Your Students, Modern Learning

Cultivating a culture of creativity

Recently, I was asked to explain my vision on how to cultivate a culture of creativity in the classroom. After a few moments of reflection came this response.

From the moment that a student enters our classroom fostering a culture of creativity requires 3 key things; fearlessness, fluidity, and failure.

IMO, these 3 are inextricably linked in my classroom. As lead learners first, teachers are crucial to a successful culture of creativity as they model fearlessness to students in our own approaches to learning. When students see their teacher unafraid to take chances and make mistakes, they too will be emboldened to do the same as they approach the new and unknown.

Establishing this in a classroom might require teachers to become Pirates as Dave Burgess shares in his transformative book Teach Like a Pirate. This requires complete commitment and patience. Remember, it’s about the process not the product.

This requires flexibility to escape from what is fixed within a text book, a single narrative/point of view, or schema. A classroom must be a fluid space where the way must be tried (tentanda via), but if it is limited to merely the information provided out of ivory towers; when and where will students have an opportunity to challenge it?

If we want a culture of creativity, we must allow room in our instruction to critically consider/falsify(as Scientists would according to Popper) what is being taught. This takes a mighty courageous educator who is willing to let go and share “power” with students.

Finally, for cultures of creativity to occur, a FAIL mindset is needed. FAIL is a wonderful acronym for First Attempts In Learning. We celebrate failure in the classroom because there is still something learnt in the attempts at something. When students feel safe to learn, try, and supported when they fail then they will be strengthened to extract the lesson, unlearn, relearn, try again, and repeat as a natural part of the process.

Some tangible examples of this in my class have come in my Electricity unit where we have been trying to make a fully functioning replica of BB-8 from Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens movie. Throughout the process we have ideated, iterated, learned, adjusted, tried again. Instead of disappointment after an attempt or apparent failure, there is opportunity to rethink and try again.

Students empowered with a mindset of fearlessness in a flexible environment are bound to be invigorated and engage in their learning/tasks with their creativity emboldened.

I believe these 3 things to be at the core of innovation in education and have worked to embody them in my personal practice.
ps If I was to share a fourth item it would be that a culture of creativity is messy. Often, no path exists and therefore students must blaze their own trails. With the right attitude, the mess and muck of learning and creativity mesh to form a ‘lit’ learning environment.

pss – George Couros is the current godfather of innovative practices in education. He is a brilliant and gifted communicator who shares a passion for education with the world. His book the Innovator’s Mindset is on my reading list and I’d encourage you to add to yours.

If you want to continue this conversation about innovation or to share how you are innovating in your learning space, feel free to share in the comment section below. Thank you for reading. Will

February 27, 2017 Tammy Axt General

A school wide activity to gear up for 150!

I am very excited about Canada celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary this year! There are so many fun activities and a feeling of celebration everywhere you go in our amazing country.

To gear up to a big celebration in June, we have been doing small activities every month as a school to get pumped up.

Last week in our assembly, I made up a 150 second challenge that my whole school participated in together. I put a large 150 second countdown timer on the wall and then took students on a tour across the whole country, through our actions and imaginations, before the 150 seconds were finished.

Below are the actions and activities that we did to start to celebrate our amazing country!

Go skating on the Rideau canal in Ottawa
Go skiing in Whistler BC.
Climb a mountain in Banff national park in Alberta
Go fishing in Northern Saskatchewan
Shovel your driveway in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Paddle your canoe in Algonquin Park in Ontario
Eat some poutine in Quebec
Go dog sledding in the Northwest Territories
Watch the Northern Lights in the Yukon
Ride a snowmobile in Nunavut
Dance an Acadian jig in New Brunswick
Wave to my family in PEI
Catch a lobster in Nova Scotia
Go whale watching in Newfoundland
Roll up the rim in Ottawa

February 27, 2017February 27, 2017 Tammy Axt General

Challenging and Inspiring students in Art class

Getting students going on the Creative Process can take some thoughtful planning on the part of the teacher. Students are sometimes stuck for ideas and need someone to provide them with a catalyst for inspiration. The chart above is directly from the Ontario Curriculum for the Arts, and gives some great ideas for how to challenge and inspire student creations.

Recently, in my grade 3 and 4 art classes, I decided that I was going to try a new idea for inspiring creations and see how students responded to a new type of stimulus. I gave them some quotes about inclusion and equity to choose from, and their job was to create an art piece that represented what the quote meant to them. The tricky part was getting them going on their pieces and providing them with support and an environment that would produce the artwork that I knew that they were capable of.

Using the above chart as a guide, I followed the suggestions when trying to inspire my students creations:

Introduce the initial idea, challenge, stimulus, inspiration and experience

Introducing this art piece to my students was tricky. They really needed to get their brains turned onto the issues of equity and inclusion before we tried to analyze our quotes or come up with imagery for our art pieces. I started by reading them the story of Viola Desmond from the book “Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged”. (The book is very easy to understand for all students, and Viola’s sister was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, so the students had some familiarity with the story). This got the students thinking about racial segregation and asking thoughtful questions about Viola’s experiences. I introduced the quotes to them and encouraged questions or collaboration with others to reflect on the meaning of the quote that they chose. I even had some students bring in their own quotes. I gave them a graphic organizer with some questions on it to help to get them started reflecting on their pieces. The completion of a graphic organizer also allowed me a chance to see who needed additional inspiration or support before they started their art.

Provide models, examples and learning goals

As a class, we looked at the Peel District School Board art display for Black History Month on Twitter where many other students had used a variety of images to convey messages. We analyzed what we thought made particular pieces powerful and artistically appealing.

Establishes expectations, defines parameters and help develop criteria for success

Before we started our pieces, we talked through our criteria for successful completion of the art project. The students and I used Anne Davies process for co-creating a success criteria which can be found in the book “Setting and Using Criteria”.

The graphic organizer that I gave to students included the following questions:

My quote is:

In my own words, this means:

The symbols or images that this quote makes me think of are:

The mood I want to create in my art is:

The colours I will use are:

The focus of my piece (where I want people to look) is:

Some examples of the art with the quote that the students chose.

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

February 20, 2017 Beverly Papove General

Home Away From Home

I used to teach in a small school in downtown Ottawa that was about to celebrate its 100th anniversary. There were many activities planned for the celebration, and one of them was a tour of the school explaining how and why it was designed the way it was a century ago. I will never forget hearing about how glorious the original kindergarten room was, with its high ceilings, vast bay window and enormous mantelpiece over the fireplace. Apparently, there was even a big chandelier hanging in the middle of the room, “To make it feel like home.” Today, the chandelier is gone but the bay window is still there, the ceilings have dropped and the mantel was covered over long ago with drywall and plaster – guess that could feel a bit like some homes nowadays, too.

The idea that a classroom should feel cosy rather than sterile has come back to me as I teach kindergarten in a 50 year old school. We are lucky to be on a corner, with lots of windows, but the classroom is undeniably square, with painted concrete block walls, a dropped, acoustic-tiled ceiling, and fluorescent lights. When I say square, I mean that everything is at right angles – windows, walls, bulletin boards, etc. Nary a wavy line to be found. That was the way you would have found our classroom until last month, when my ECE colleague and I talked about changing things up to be a little more of a Reggio-Emilia inspired classroom with more natural,organic materials (cosy) and fewer brightly coloured, plastic ones (sterile). With a few changes to the way we set things up and to the materials we use, we feel that the energy of the room is now more calming and welcoming.

There aren’t a lot of changes we can make, but here are few that we tried. For starters, the concrete block walls in the classroom are painted a dull yellow in high gloss paint. The bulletin boards are also painted in a brighter high gloss, and the cupboard doors are a kaleidoscope of blue, purple, green, and yellow – waaaaay too many colours! To tame them down and calm the eyes, we covered the bulletin boards with large rolls of brown paper. To frame the bulletin board, we stapled scrunched up green tissue paper. The effect? With the irregular framing of green tissue paper combined with the brown, earthy colour of the bulletin board, the corner of the classroom has been calmed. The door to the classroom is directly opposite and it makes walking into the classroom much more appealing than the bright, mismatched colours that were there before, and the yellow walls are hardly noticeable any more.

Another thing we did was bring the outside into our room. We have a huge tree branch that I had intercepted from the custodian as he was hauling it towards the dumpster in the fall after a storm had snapped it off a tree in the yard. Hanging it horizontally from the ceiling was not possible due to health and safety regulations, so I stuck the bottom of the branch inside a rigid poster tube, and then attached the tube with plenty of duct tape to the side of a filing cabinet beside my desk. It is now one of the first things you see when you walk in the room. The students decorate it whenever they get in the mood and so it is constantly changing. Dead or alive, trees in the classroom are great. Period.

Another little “make it feel like home” touch we added was a set of white cotton curtains hung to frame the giant white board/projector screen that dominates one wall. Now the curtains cut off the corners of the big rectangular screen and make it look more like a movie theatre screen. Feels a little special. We’ve also talked about bringing in some table lamps to place at some of our centres but we lack enough room along the walls where electrical outlets are located, so we rely instead on the lovely sunshine that streams in from the considerable window space. The natural light is perfect for the plants we’ve got growing on the window ledge. Some live and some die due to a lack of water, or over-watering (depending on whose responsibility it is that week) but there is no doubt that they add another continuously changing organic presence to the room and soften its manufactured aspects. We’ve got kitchen herbs which inevitably get picked and eaten (chives, basil, mint, lemon balm), as well as a chrysanthemum we rescued at the end of autumn from our planter in the school yard, and a sweet potato vine which is growing quite happily in a clear glass vase where we can watch the roots reach down towards the water.

The final touch we add only on the coldest days when it is just not possible to have outdoor learning is projecting the fireplace channel on the whiteboard when the students arrive in the morning. It is a big fire and the gentle crackling sound offers a distraction from the fact that our routine has been changed and we are spending the morning indoors. Most definitely makes the whole room feel cosy and homey. The classroom may not be anything like the home my students return to at the end of the day but we can still try to make it feel as hospitable as possible, a little like their home-away-from home.

February 20, 2017 Will Gourley Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Field Trips, General, Learning in a Real Life Context, Literacy, Math

Express lane to learning

Recently, I was out shopping, and came upon something that’s not usually found for sale on the shelves at local grocers. Insight.

Funnily enough, it was probably there all along. I must have blown past a bunch of times while buzzing about my mental list of must buys. But this time, finding insight was meant to be. I’ll explain in 10 items or fewer.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kirrilyrobert/2355105082/ CC by 2.0

Usually, upon walking into a store, I’m pre-occupied with my mental shopping list, figuring whether something is a good deal or not, and by getting out as quickly as possible. This requires the use of several life, mental Math, and critical literacy skills.

The act of shopping really requires planning and strategic thinking to figure out when a store will have the least amount of people as possible in it so that we may park, pickup a cart, procure, pay, and part. It is impossible to ignore the thought required for such seemingly innocuous trips that are made for our milk, bread, and eggs etc.

From now on, and armed with this understanding, I am going to use my trips to the store to seek out and share its valuable lessons. There’s knowledge to acquire about Math(Measurement or Number Sense), to Media Literacy(package design, use of space), and to the development of crucial future life/socialization skills in every aisle.

Consider the yogurt section for a moment; there’s something for everyone in that part of the dairy case. Where else could so many products co-exist so peacefully? In fact where else could such diversity exist(except Canada)? Here gluten free, lactose free, peanut free, Halal, Kosher, vegan, and meatatarian are available to all at the grocery store and share an inclusive space.

Then there’s the produce section.

While perusing here, I saw couples discussing, quite demonstratively, which bunch of Rapini to buy. Then I spied the apple aisle. There was a person who felt compelled to touch all of the apples in the case. I witnessed a grape thieve looking from side to side and then pop a few into her mouth. Here were real lessons on relationships, human behaviour, and decision making all before me waiting to be picked and extended into the classroom.

It’s like that in the classroom or a head of Iceberg(lettuce). Teachers work hard to make learning engaging, extendable, and relevant everyday.What most outsiders see is only the first leaf, layer or ply.*

Speaking of plies. I thought it would be fun for my students to calculate which toilet paper at the store was the better deal based on size and number of sheets per roll.

Talk about a real life problem. Initially, I went around snapping pictures of the different packages and their details to build the questions. The class discovered that there’s a lot going on that can confuse consumers. We came away wiser for the time knowing we wouldn’t get rolled over by the manufacturers next time.

Your turn

Have you ever considered or taken a class to the local grocer? What about a super-type store à la WalMart(wish I could still write Zeller’s here)?

Or how about a homework assignment to include children in the planning and shopping? Who knows it might become fun, or democratize the food choices in some households. It may even lead to conversational and debating skills.

There’s a line forming behind me. Happy shopping. Thank you for reading. Please share and take time to comment to keep the conversation going.

*You thought I’d say tip since iceberg was used, but no!

February 15, 2017 Mike Beetham Celebrating Success, Constant Learning, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Modern Learning, Occasional Teaching, self reflection, The Arts

Jack of All Trades, Master of None

I am for sure aging myself here, but for those of you who may not be familiar with this figure of speech it is used to describe a person who is good at many skills but a master of none. That is the best way to describe who I am as a teacher and how I have evolved over my career of learning to be a better teacher.

Far too often we think that in order to use a strategy or tool in our classroom we have to be an expert at it. We don’t! As a teacher I have to be familiar with the content, the methodology and/or the necessary steps but I do not have to be a master of it. I am going to talk specifically to my personal Achilles tendon of teaching, the ARTS. I am in no way a musician, yet I can share my passion for music, lyrics and the powerful messages found in music. I can learn and teach to the curriculum expectations of my grade. I can partake in professional development opportunities to expand my skill set and knowledge. Even after all that, I will still not be an expert as compared to a music specialist.

My greatest accomplishment in the arts has been my work on understanding drama as a teaching tool, learning dramatic content and implementing it into my program. I have never been on stage (other than as an elementary student at Christmas time). I have never been a part of any formal dramatic theme, other than helping clean up after a school event and yet drama is one of the most successful components of my program these days. Each year my team and I take a group of highly volatile behaviour students and put on a formal dramatic presentation that we travel with to various schools within my board to share. We are currently in mid production of this year’s play.

Like in almost anything I was not comfortable with as a teacher, the students’ skill set, passion and innate ability to learn took over and I was just left to facilitate their growth. The second message is that when you share your expertise with your colleagues (collaborative planning) the saying that no one person knows more than all of us holds true. I am writing this for all teachers to understand that is it okay to take risks, it is okay to make mistakes in your classroom and learn from those mistakes and it is certainly okay to be a jack of all trades and master of none.

February 2, 2017February 2, 2017 Laura Bottrell General

A Beginning Teacher’s Journey: Part Two

There are so many realities of teaching, both wonderful and challenging, that don’t cross our minds until suddenly we find ourselves living them. We’ve all gone through the B.Ed certification, taught as Teacher Candidates, taken the AQ courses, memorized the buzz words, read the books… the list goes on and on. All of these things are there to prepare us for teaching, though I’m now determined that nothing truly prepares us until we’re actually doing it.

I’m currently in my second LTO position teaching a grade 2/3 class and I’m learning new things every single day. For anyone else starting their careers like me, I want to share some some of the most important things I have learned so far.

Suddenly, it’s all on me. This was a daunting realization but so exciting at the same time. I’m the one responsible for the well-being, success and learning of my students. This is it, this is the real deal.

There is so much more for me to learn. Just when I think I’ve learned so much, I’m quickly reminded about how much I don’t know yet. This is overwhelming for me, as someone who strives to do the best at everything I do. The only way to learn some things is by experiencing them, and I know that with my own years of teaching experience, this wisdom will come.

Much of my first year of teaching will be spent learning how to do things while doing them for the first time. Prime example of this? My first time writing report cards. Report cards were only one of the many “firsts” that I’ve had this year. This is, in my opinion, the hardest part of being a new teacher. There are so many things we are expected to just know and do that we have never known and never done.

I will have many moments of pride and confidence, but also moments of uncertainty. There have been moments that I’ve felt on top of the world. I’ve had moments of feeling like I’m doing what I was born to do, that I know I’m doing amazing things with my students, and truly feeling that I’m making a difference. There have also been moments of, and I quote, “I have no idea what I’m doing”.

Many things will not go as I planned them. Something that I love most about teaching is that no two days are ever, even remotely, the same. I’ve spent hours planning wonderful lessons and experiences for my students that have completely been derailed by the unexpected – fire drills, forgotten assemblies, tired students, you name it. I’ve learned that my ability to be a good teacher is not only based on pedagogy and planning, but on my flexibility, my open mind, my ability to embrace change and my ability to laugh it off.

It’s more than okay to ask for help. I’m lucky to have worked in two wonderful schools so far with supportive administrators, colleagues and support staff. I think new teachers can all be a bit apprehensive to ask for help at first – we want to prove we can do it ourselves. It’s so important to ask for help from those around you. Experienced teachers have years of wisdom to impart and wasting any opportunity to learn from them is wasted potential for me.

There is no such thing as “being caught up”. Finished marking? More coming my way! Wrapping up a unit? Time to plan the next one! Organized the bookshelf? It’s been two hours and it needs done again! These things will fill my to-do list for the rest of my career. Some items on my list will be small, like organizing bookshelves, and some will be big and important. What is just as important is to take time for myself. There will always be a to-do list looming over me at the end of the day, but taking time for myself and my own well-being is non-negotiable. I’ll be a better teacher for it, too.

It’s impossible to do everything I told myself I’d do. I’ve spent the better part of my life thinking up wonderful things to do with my classroom and my students. My Pinterest board is over-loaded with things I want to do – everything from making adorable reading nook furniture to engaging my students in global initiatives. I’ve learned that it is okay that not all of these things will happen. I’ve learned to prioritize and put my energy where it is most important. Sometimes all my wonderful ideas will have to take the back seat to other things, like eating and sleeping.

Despite all of this, I will never work a day in my life. This is the best thing I’ve learned about this career and about myself. I absolutely love doing this. The late nights, the endless hours of learning while doing, the never ending to-do list, the discouraging moments – they’re not work. They’re a part of being a teacher and making a difference.