Tammy Axt General, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers

The holiday assembly is this week. Help, I need an idea!

I got an e-mail last night from a friend of mine last which had the subject line “The holiday assembly is this week. Help, I need an idea!” As progress reports were just handed out in the last week or two, preparing for assemblies in December have been put on the back burner for many people. In case you need an idea for this coming week as well, below are some of the songs and features of our December assembly.

The goal of our December assembly is to promote community and have a great celebration before the break. Every student will be involved some way in the assembly either as a member of the whole group sing along or performing with their class.

I have been spending a small part of my music classes over the past couple of weeks getting the students ready for a sing along. Instead of Rudolph or Jingle Bells, I have decided to teach the students two new holiday songs both of which they are loving!! Both of the songs are from a resource produced by Music K-8 which can be downloaded from the internet. The resource is called “All Time Christmas Favorites“ and the two songs which have been very popular are “We Will Jingle” and “Have a Happy, Happy Holiday”. “We will Jingle” plays on the riff made famous by Queen and is going to sound just awesome when a gym load of students are all rocking out together next week! “Have a Happy, Happy Holiday” is a great song if you are trying to be sensitive to all cultural backgrounds and beliefs as it makes no references to any specific holiday. It is light and upbeat and energetic which is perfect for December.

Our holiday assembly is also going to include a great presentation by our Autism Spectrum Disorder Class. They have been practicing the song S A N T A. This song imitates the song B I N G O which removes a letter at a time and replaces them with a clap. Each student in the class is holding one of the letters in Santa and as the letter is replaced with the clap the sign that they are holding is placed on the ground in front of them. Of course, they have Santa hats to wear and believe it or not their therapy dog is going to make an appearance in the performance. Acer, the therapy dog, has a full Santa outfit that he has been waiting to show off.

Another easy to prepare idea is to have a Santa costume relay race. We have rounded up two Santa costumes and we will be inviting some teachers to the front to participate in the race. One teacher for each team will be at the front of the gym and each team will race to get their costume pieces on their person first! We will have each side of the gym cheering for the team on their side. You could easily have some members of your class lead this activity.

Is there anything simple and easy that you are doing with your students this week in an assembly?

Tisha Nelson Challenging Topics, General, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Professional Learning and Growth

The Heart of Teaching – Teaching with Your Heart

I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher. I’m not exactly sure when to pinpoint the start of my journey, but from as young as five years old, I knew that teaching was my calling. Throughout my educational career I had some amazing teachers who provided me with invigorating learning experiences that were creative, challenging and fun. I also encountered “the other guys”. Needless to say, I’m sure my experiences aren’t unique to those who have encountered a public education in Ontario over the past thirty years. Although I can bashfully say that I don’t remember most of what I learned from my ten years of elementary school, even as an enthusiastic and engaged learner, the two resounding life lessons that I continue to embrace are: to never settle for mediocrity and to always go beyond the call of duty. Thanks to my grade 7 and 8 teachers, I continue to strive to apply these key learnings in my life.

As I reflect on my key learnings, I wonder what key learnings I might share with my students. The experience of school in the 21st century is so much different than being a student in the 80s and 90s. The over emphasis on consumerism, the pervasiveness of social inequities and the advancements of technology which birthed the unvaulted access to information definitely add layers to make the schooling experience even more dynamic than when I was a child. How did my teachers prepare me for my future? How might I prepare students for theirs? These are essential questions I continue to grapple with and is the essence of what the heart of teaching is for me.

I believe that at the heart of teaching is the desire to help students be the best version of themselves so that they can be contributing members of society. This may seem like a long-term goal but really, at its core is my desire to prepare students to be their best self now, in order to continue to be their best self in the future. Teaching the curriculum definitely addresses many of the content that students need to know in order to achieve success in their future academic and social experiences. But what might be absent from the curriculum that proves to be essential life lessons that students might benefit from having guidance over? Throughout the past 7 years I have come to realize that more than the curriculum, there are essential life lessons students need to be exposed to. Supporting students as people first and learners second is how we can help them navigate some of the challenges they face in their day to day experiences of schooling. It is not just about the curriculum. We need to reach both the student’s heart and their mind.

Everyday I am constantly wondering about how my students are navigating the world while I address curriculum expectations. These are the reflective questions that arise from my interactions with them:

  • How might we support my students in seeing themselves as capable?
  • How might we support my students to be motivated from within themselves and not based on grades or the need for validation?
  • How might we encourage my students to take risks and try new things when realistically when we evaluate their understanding of curriculum and the consequences of risk taking may not garnish the reward they desired?
  • How might we teach the value of perseverance and that dedication to a task may cause improvement and denounce the rhetoric that practice make perfect.
  • How might we support my students in navigating the social hierarchies in school knowing that creating a respectful learning environment does not guarantee the kind of friend relationships that students are looking for from their peers?
  • How might we support my students in navigating a competitive world while yet embracing the benchmark of their own personal best?
  • How might we support my students in navigating the reality that particular aspects of their social identities (race, accents, culture, etc.) will grant them access into some opportunities but also bar them from others simply because of the ways societal systems are structured and not necessarily based on personal attacks?
  • How might we nurture confidence in our students?
  • How might we make students accountable for their choices?
  • How might we support students in embracing self-love in a society that values constant validation from others?
  • How might we support to identify their emotions beyond happy, mad and sad and how to effectively navigate them?

Like many of the questions that I pose, I don’t always have the answers. As I continue to reflect deeply, I can only hope that my pedagogical choices can address some of these concerns. As I teach to the minds of my students, what I hope for is to reach their hearts. Teaching from my heart, I pull back the curtains of curriculum and instruction and see the person and not just the learner. This unveils the weight of the task set before me.