Will Gourley Celebrating Success, Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health, self reflection, Teaching as a public profession, Year End Reflection

daring pt 2023

Saying goodbye to another year can stir up a lot of emotions. I found myself reflecting about a farewell post to share with you knowing it will be one more that brings me closer to the end of my time here on this platform.

This in itself is not yet a goodbye, as there are still 6 plus months of writing to come. It is, however, a great chance to look back and look forward from the precipice of one year’s end and towards a new year ahead. Maybe this is a function of age or some other memory related trope, but I will prattle on nevertheless.

As a result of this melancholic thinking I find myself asking, “what did I do in the past year that was daring as an educator, and what will I do in 2024 that will be daring as well”? I guess I need to consider what counts as daring because this can be construed as mere subjectivity if it does not mesh well with the minds of others as it is intended. Dare I go on? 

Daring can conjure up a lot of imaginary thinking from one to the next so before you conflate ‘daring’ with dangerous please read on.

Looking back on 2023

From an outsider’s point of view, 2023 couldn’t have been more normal considering the turmoil of the lockdown, online, and hybrid models we taught through in the years prior. The joy of not having to prepare and deliver lessons for two different grades of in-class and online learners while not having to worry so much about social distancing, masking, or illness was cause for much rejoicing. As 2023 started, it felt like we were really coming out of the pandemic and I was able to really focus on my students. 

This meant taking time to reimagine what learning needed to look like for students who experienced learning in a manner that had never been delivered to them before. Daring to go back to old(er) ways didn’t seem right with my students. They needed something else, and that came in the form of social emotional learning more than academics. 

So 2023 started off with more team oriented and collaborative projects that asked students to recapture their abilities to listen to one another to accomplish a goal with just as much importance as succeeding at learning the curriculum infused within it. My goal was to put the individual learner back into the spaces that were stolen from them by COVID19.

Admittedly, there was a lot of work to do when it came to assessment, but that in itself was also a chance to be a bit daring too. Before you dial 911, please remember that we were all given a new hand of cards to play with during the pandemic. What we knew beforehand was only going to serve as a starting point and not a return destination.

It was, to forgive the pun, like the beginning of new year. It was full of promise and without any mistakes in it. Assessment became a chance to have students see themselves reflected in how they wanted to show their learning. We took time to democratize rubrics and methods to demonstrate understanding. For us that meant fewer pencil and paper tests, more conversations and check-ins, more feedback, and many more chances to revisit learning. Instead of teaching, testing, and moving on we learned, lingered on what needed more time, unlearned, and relearned as often as needed.

Yes, we still managed to get the whole curriculum and it was a government mandated standardized testing year as well. 

I think that 2023 also allowed me to dare a little more boldly into my lessons when it came to social justice focused on BIPOC excellence and culturally responsive and relevant learning opportunities that went beyond the heroes and holidays. Instead of a single day or month, these conversations became part of our class logos, pathos, and ethos. Ultimately, it allowed my students to feel seen, heard, and empowered with greater understanding of one another which also led back to the social learning I set out to teach to start the year. 

Being able to work with my class to start 2023 carried over nicely from January to December even with my new, much quieter, cohort of students and I am seeing the fruits from taking those chances earlier in the year even though the delivery is definitely different for this group, the goal to teach to their social emotional needs first remained. 

On a personal level we sold our house, moved, and continue to unpack. In between all of that were 3 weeks of summer school teaching, and a quick trip to bury an uncle. Life did not skip a beat when it meted out the highs and lows of 2023. For all of them, I am thankful to be working in a wonderfully led and staffed school filled with caring and curious learners each daring to take the steps towards discovering and developing their talents.

My next post will look at how I might be daring in my classroom in 2024. I ask you all to consider that too and share your thoughts in the comments below.

Iyanuoluwa Akinrinola self reflection, Social Justice, Teaching as a public profession, Truth and Reconciliation, Year End Reflection

Ontario’s Children: Our Hope & Light

Photo by RDNE

In the heart of young minds, a world unfolds,
Where seeds of change and justice are sowed,
Ontario’s children, our hope and light,
Embrace the path of equality, shining bright.

In elementary schools, a sacred space,
Where lessons weave a tapestry, embrace,
A tale of courage, empathy, and grace,
Of breaking chains, to reach a higher place.

In classrooms where the laughter rings,
A symphony of voices, diverse things,
Their innocence, a canvas so pure,
Where colours of acceptance shall endure.

Oh, let them learn of struggles faced,
Of heroes who, with love, embraced,
The fight against oppression’s might,
To carve a future that’s just and right.

Teach them the power of unity,
That strength resides in diversity,
No voice too soft, no heart too small,
To stand for justice, one and all.

As whispers of the past float by,
Lessons of history, they can’t deny,
The pain of prejudice, we must reveal,
To kindle empathy, foster what’s real.

To understand the wounds that scar,
And strive to heal, near and far,
In this young realm, we plant the seed,
Of anti-oppression, urgent need.

In every story shared and heard,
A tapestry of humanity is stirred,
To weave compassion into the core,
And let injustice exist no more.

For as they learn with open hearts,
A world of change, this love imparts,
A generation, bold and wise,
Embracing truth, no compromise.

Ontario’s children, a beacon strong,
In their hearts, a justice song,
They’ll rise above, lift others high,
A future bright beneath the sky.

So let us teach with love and care,
Anti-oppression, always aware,
In elementary schools, the power resides,
To shape a world where all love abides.

Iyanuoluwa Akinrinola Before School Starts, General, Great Gifts for Teachers, Inspiring Teachers, Mindfulness, Wellbeing, Wellness, wellness, Year End Reflection

Summer

Photo by Mariam Antadze

 

In the summer’s warm embrace, we find reprieve,
Teachers, once tireless souls, now stand at ease,
Amidst the sun-kissed days and skies of blue,
A tranquil haven for hearts and minds anew.

A well-deserved respite from the classroom’s heave.
Beneath the warm sun’s glow, they shed their weight,
And embark on journeys to rejuvenate
Seeking inspiration as time flies.

In gardens, teachers tend to bloom with care,
Nurturing life, compassion, they will share.
As flowers bloom, so do their hearts renew,
With gratitude for all the children’s crew.

Amongst the pages of a favourite book,
They lose themselves in tales that kindly hook.
Imagination soars on wings unfurled,
As wisdom from each word begins to swirl.

For even in repose, they still impart,
The wisdom sown within each student’s heart,
For teachers’ nurturing never truly ends,
Their love of learning, like a river, wends.

As the sun sets low, painting skies aglow,
Teachers breathe in summer’s tranquil flow.
For in these moments, they find the grace,
To prepare their hearts for the next school’s embrace.

So, let us savour this summer’s delight,
Relaxing, unwinding, and taking flight.
For when autumn arrives, we’ll shine anew,
Our souls invigorated, ready to inspire once again.

Arianna Lambert Equity, Mindfulness, Teacher Wellness, Year End Reflection

June Reflection

I try to be an educator who continually reflects on my practice and experiences within education. As June signifies the end of the school year, I often consider it the perfect time to reflect not only on the year but also on my overall career in education. In this post, I’m sharing some of my recent reflections and maybe a few next steps as we roll into summer. 

Change Is Constant

Over the course of my career, I’ve somehow managed to have never been surplused.  That is until this year! I wasn’t expecting it and when it came, I was really unsure of what my next move would be. Having just arrived at my current school this year, I was looking forward to starting a STEM program that could be built upon for years to come. I guess that just wasn’t in the cards for me at this particular school. One thing that I’ve learned in education is that change is constant and flexibility is a must. Sometimes what we have in mind, isn’t possible. With this in mind, I got excited about what could be next, applied for jobs and I’m excited to be starting anew in September. 

Summer Is a Time to Breathe

In the summer, I find that I have more time to get out in nature and that I make the time to read. Often with more time in my schedule, I find that it gives me the opportunity to be more intentional about what I decide to do each day. This summer I have two books that I plan on reading and implementing and I’m excited. I’ve gone with two because it’s manageable and I really hope to dig deep into these reads. The first book is Black People Breathe by Zee Clarke. Years ago I found that I was heavily into mindfulness and breath work but over time, I somehow moved past this practice and got back into the hustle and bustle of life. I’m ready to get back into it. I picked this book because it is written by a Black woman. Not only does this book provide guidance on vital tools from an expert in mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork, but woven throughout are deeply personal stories highlighting the many systemic challenges that people of colour face. I’ve got a lot of experiences that have caused trauma to unpack and to work through and I am excited to begin my mindfulness journey again. 

Rest Is Essential

At the beginning of my career, I somehow got the wild idea that I should be filling my summer with teaching or learning – basically work. I didn’t get that the time off during the summer was to rest and recharge. I found myself going, going, going until I was close to being burnt out. Years ago, I took a summer off completely – no work at all – and it changed the way that I thought about having the summer off. I realized the importance of taking time for myself. I learned about slowing down and being in the moment. I learned about enjoying moments rather than rushing to move on to the next thing that is on my to-do list. I find that I’m rushing again and not savouring or enjoying experiences to the fullest so it’s time to rest. This summer, I will be working on a couple of projects but in between I have carved out time for rest. As a practice, I will be using the Nap Ministry’s Rest Deck for some guidance on restful practice. I’ve also been gifted her book, Rest is Resistance and will be using that as a guide for learning to rest with more intention.

The year is over and I hope that you get a chance to congratulate yourself on what you accomplished. Wishing you a wonderful summer filled with rest, breath, and opportunities to consider what changes you might make this coming year.  Enjoy!

Kelly.McLaughlin Celebrating Success, Inclusion, Inspiring Teachers, Literacy, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection, Teacher Appreciation, Wellbeing, Year End Reflection

Celebrations

Congratulations, you did it! We all made it through another year and are now on our much deserved summer vacation. This calls for a celebration! Yesterday at my school’s final PA day of the year, we were asked to reflect and share with our table-top the celebrations of the year. Things that have happened that we can positively reflect on. After everyone shared in the small groups, we were asked to share with our entire staff. It’s funny that with 10-12 different table groups, almost everyone shared the same general ideas. I am sure as you read this, hopefully you will also be able to share in the same celebrations. 

Reasons to celebrate the 2022-2023 school year:

  1. Student growth- the common idea amongst us all was that students grew from September to June. Not only with their reading, writing, etc. but their character developed. Behaviours settled down and students matured as the year went on. We were all able to identify a specific student that amazed us, specifically with their personal growth. I shared about a student who found it challenging to come to school last school year but thrived this year in a new classroom environment. Tears came to my eyes sharing about how proud I am of this student as his personal growth inspired me in so many ways.
  2. Writing- teachers shared about how their students could only write a few words at the beginning of the year but by the end, were writing stories by the end of a school day. I can also relate to this as I have so many students who doubled their writing samples by the end of June. 
  3. Reading- our school’s plan this year was small group guided instruction and we especially focused on this in our language classrooms. Many  of us noticed the impact this had on our students, focusing on phonics really allowed our students to grow as readers. Many of the primary  teachers worked with programs that helped their students read. They noticed large gains and were so excited to share the success that the reading specialist and these programs helped them to achieve. We are continuing with this goal next year and I look forward to starting small reading groups in September. My class especially amazed me with their reading abilities, decoding at grade level and making connections to what they read. 
  4. Making good memories- with the year having minimal disruptions, students had a hard time picking just one memory to share that was their favourite. Opportunities were available again for students to make memories and they were all so excited to share during the last few days of school. When my own students shared this was their favourite year of school, I was so happy to hear! I look forward to creating new memories in September. 
  5. Feeling like a family- something that I am personally celebrating is that feeling of togetherness that every educator hopes to achieve with their class. By the end of June, I can fully look back on the year and say we achieved it. With respect, random groupings, positive affirmations and weekly celebrations, I know that everyone felt that our class was a family. This feeling made the final bell especially hard to hear on the last day of school. However, I look forward to next year and hope to achieve that same feeling again. 

As we reflect on our successes from the year, they are probably some things we wish to “leave behind”. Whether it be a project, a mindset or a seating plan style that we didn’t quite like, it’s important that we don’t dwell on the negative, but look at the positives. I encourage you all to make a list of things that you want to celebrate from this year and think about it during your much deserved summer break. See you in September!

 

Kelly.McLaughlin Assessment and Evaluation, Celebrating Success, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Report Cards, Reporting, Start of the year, Year End Reflection

The importance of goal setting

A few years ago, I wanted my students to have a deeper understanding of what each learning skill meant so we dissected them as a class. The one we struggled with the most was “self regulation” as it was the only one students hadn’t ever understood. All of the other learning skills were easy to understand as the meaning was in the word but for self regulation, there was no prior knowledge.

 

We looked at a few different documents defining the learning skills and got a better understanding. For that reason, each year I have my students work on setting goals and creating steps to ensure that it’s possible.

 

Each Monday, my students start the morning off by writing a goal for the week. This goal is usually related to school work, relationships with peers, personal life or about something that is challenging them. Throughout the week, they take steps to try to reach that goal and then the following Monday, they write down if they reached that goal or not. Students can share each Monday if they reached their goal or not and what their next goal is. This is optional as goal sharing can be very personal to the student.

 

Then, before term one and term two report cards go home, I ask students to count how many times they met their weekly goal. That determines part of their self regulation mark. I have a lot of students who comment during the week how they are working hard towards their goal and that extra motivation helps them succeed.

 

I also had a student write her entire speech for our school speech competition on the importance of goal setting and how it can help you achieve your dreams. She made specific reference to how setting weekly goals each week helped her achieve bigger goals. I was so excited to hear how this helped her!

 

In addition to these small goals, in September I ask all my students to create one big goal for the year. The goal has to be something that they want to achieve by June. Goals range from:

  • Getting a grad award in June
  • Getting an 80% or higher for report card average
  • Socializing with new people
  • Coming to class each day 
  • Trying out for all of the sports teams
  • Winning athlete of the year 
  • Joining band and sticking with it
  • Winning the most improved student award

 

The list goes on and on. Last week I asked students to reflect on their goal from September and to write about whether they reached it or not. Some students are still unsure as the year has not ended but they reflected on if they think they will reach it or not. Many students have high hopes that they have reached their big goal and can identify at least three or four reasons why they may have reached it. I can tell the students have a lot of pride relating to their goal and are excited to see if they reached it or not. I can say that out of my 25 students, more than 75% achieved the goal they created in September by June. 

 

I look forward to continuing this activity each year as I know goal setting is a big reason why I am where I am today. Having something to aspire towards is sometimes the motivation needed to get through a challenging week. 

Kelly.McLaughlin Curriculum Planning, General, Inspiring Teachers, Mental Health, Questioning, self reflection, Teacher Wellness, Year End Reflection

Reflections from 2022

As I reflect on the year we just had, I can’t help but feel proud of myself, all the educators and of course, the children that endured all of the challenges of the year we had. From countless closures to the uncertainties, our feelings of normalcy were starting to become a thing of the past. For someone who is normally so positive, I found it hard sometimes to carry on with a smile and try to spread the feeling of “All will be well.” So how do we learn from this? How do we use what happened in 2022 to guide us in 2023.

Well as I set goals for 2023, I think I would like to bring a couple of mindsets into the new year:

Never underestimate the power of an experience

2022 was made up of many lovely experiences- whether it be viewing a musical at the local high school or playing in a soccer tournament- students remember every single experience and love to look back on it. So try to take the opportunities as they come. Read every email because you never know when a fun opportunity could come your way. Also, never be afraid to make a fun opportunity happen! I know sometimes I wonder if the students will like something I plan or ask them to plan but they always end up reminiscing on how great of a time it was. So experiences are the greatest treasure I would take from 2022, right down to a game of trivia on the playground.

Nothing is forever 

I remember being upset multiple days during 2022 thinking, “I hope this doesn’t last forever” and the truth is, it never did. So positive thinking almost always wins and stressing over things that are beyond our control never works well. I hope in 2023 that when I am faced with a challenge, I will approach it without dreading its end date and that I can find a way out of it. I know that this will ultimately make me less stressed and will help me stay positive.

Breaks are for taking a break

I remember trying to plan any break we would get: Christmas, March, summer, etc. I would carve out a few days to plan as far ahead as I could get and not actually spend any of my break on break. This summer, I tried something different. I enjoyed getting married, my honeymoon and then after, I didn’t plan. I didn’t read any documents, instead I watched videos and read articles about first day activities. I read the exciting first day back opportunities our board had made and from there, I let things happen as they may. I started to really plan the curriculum after I got to know my students. Spending weeks of the summer mapping out a plan was something I thought I needed to feel confident about the next school year- however doing so during the first weeks of September proved to be much more productive. By then, I knew my learners and knew the style of teaching I would want to use for that group. This is a style of preparedness I want to save and continue on with for 2023. I don’t think I ever really tried taking time to take a break- a break from the business and the planning. Now I know I can do it.

There are so many other things I’d like to comment on but I have my activities saved in files, my memories saved in photos and of course, actual items saved in my class. I felt it would be most important to write down these mindsets so that others could try them. Although there are many lessons and units I’d love to try again, it’s more important to reflect on the feeling and mindset I’d like to have. Stress is a feeling almost every teacher shares, I’d love to see that change into something else. This blog helps me relieve some of that and I always hope there’s someone out there that will try it too. Either by reading, replying or trying to write their own version. 

Happy new year everyone! 

 

Arianna Lambert Constant Learning, self reflection, Teacher Wellness, Year End Reflection

The Wind Down

2022 has come to a close. As I reflect on the year, there are 3 things that I will be taking with me into the next: finding moments to create; doing what I can; and resting. They’re simple and yet, if followed, I think they might help to make 2023 a little better for me.

Finding Moments to Create

When anyone asks me what I enjoy most about teaching, I say that it’s working with children. Sitting down and having the chance to interact and watching as students learn is very rewarding. In my role this year as a STEM teacher, I’ve had several opportunities to do just that. This month, students used cardboard and Makedo to create strong and stable homes that could withstand the huffing and puffing of the “Big Bad Wolf”. As group members worked together on their plans and designs, I had a lot of fun sitting with them to see how we could bring their ideas to life. It wasn’t easy at first but it was really neat to see how even our youngest students – the kindergartens – got the hang of it and created incredible homes that were so unique. Overhearing some tell the stories of their homes and what happens in their homes at the end was a great bonus. 

Reflecting on the year, the times that I enjoyed myself most in the classroom have been when I’ve had the chance to either watch students build or have built with them. Seeing the excitement that students have as they create something is truly a joyous experience. Whether or not it’s perfect, many love to describe the elements of their creations and often ask to save them so that others can see their work. Knowing the joy that creating brings, I’ve tried to incorporate more time for myself to be creative outside of the classroom. Whether it’s through making jewelry, painting or building with Lego, I’ve enjoyed creating and as I walk into 2023, I’m choosing to make more time to do so, whether or not I’m “good at it”. 

Doing What I Can

At the beginning of my career, I think I was very hard on myself when I had a lesson that didn’t go as planned or didn’t get as far as I hoped in a unit, usually due to time. At that point, I didn’t quite grasp that we teach the students in front of us and not who we expect them to be. Once I did, I found that teaching became easier. Don’t get me wrong, my expectations remain high for my students, it’s just that if more scaffolding is required, there’s learning needed and we take our time as we learn before moving on.

This year I had a few different design projects that I had imagined and yet we’re still on our first one. We’ve paused and regrouped while learning new skills and I’m proud of what we have been able to learn and accomplish so far. In 2023, we will continue to do what we can without judgment, knowing that learning is happening.

Resting

This year it didn’t take long for me to fully embrace the fact that I was off for 2 weeks. In years past, I would do a little work towards planning for January or start thinking about Term 1 reports but not this year. I need rest and I’m choosing to not feel guilty about having 2 weeks off to rest and get myself ready for school to start again. There will be no work beyond some writing for this blog and I’ve learned to embrace that. As I walk into 2023 I will continue to be intentional when I am at work and when it’s time to recharge, I’ll take the time to do just that. I do hope that you’re taking some time to rest and relax during this break. Teaching can be quite demanding. Remember that we need to take care of ourselves in order to make the most of the learning experiences within our classroom spaces. Refill your cup. You can only give what you have. 

As you wind down from the events of 2022, what might you take into 2023 that will help make it better for you? Wishing you all the very best for this coming year.

Arianna Lambert self reflection, Teacher Wellness, Year End Reflection

Wrapping Up The Year

The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect and I’m certain that within our profession, I am not the only one who feels this way. Today being the last day of school, my mind is working overtime as I continue to unpack the year that has past and looking forward to the opportunity to rest and recharge over the summer.  For the last month, I’ve spent time in deep reflection, and starting tomorrow, I’m going to be focused on taking care of myself and making sure that I’m up for the challenge in September. In terms of reflection, I like to think back on the year and consider: what worked; what didn’t; how I’ve grown; what I’ve learned; and what I might like to change for the following year.  As I say goodbye to my current school, I’m looking forward to an incredible new opportunity at my next school. In this post, I’m sharing some of my thoughts going into the summer and looking forward.

Students, Students, Students

It’s what teaching is all about! How we support students; how we facilitate student learning; and how we learn with and from students. When students – and their families – are at the center of the work that I do, I feel a sense of purpose and reward. Over the last few years, let’s face it, it’s been challenging. This year, when the distractions came, I tried to focus on what was most important and what I could do. If there was something that I couldn’t do, I didn’t, without guilt. I worked as hard as I could for students and I’m content with what I was able to do. Also, I asked a lot of questions – why is this important? Who does this benefit? If it wasn’t of benefit to students, I kindly declined. It’s easy to get distracted by the myriad of things popping up on our plates. I’m grateful that this year forced me to focus on students and their learning and I plan on continuing come September.

Take Time to Recharge 

We all know that we can’t be good for others if we aren’t good ourselves.  As teachers, many of us are problem solvers and we jump in and are there to support and care for others.  This summer, please take time for yourself. This past year, I learned the value of saying no to “opportunities” and really taking the time to take care of myself. This summer will be the first in years that I will be completely focused on taking care of myself and recharging to make sure that I’m ready for a healthy September. What will you do? How will you take care of yourself this summer? What does recharging look like for you?

Hear or See Something? Disrupt Publically!

I’ve written extensively about my experiences as a Black student and teacher. Things that I saw, heard, and experienced are sadly, things that I see, hear, and experience in the present day, although there are decades in between. Many of us know the lingo to add to our bios or to say in interviews – diversity, inclusion, equity, disrupting, dismantling, etc. – and yet, I wonder how many of us know what they actually mean within the school setting. When you see something, how are you disrupting? This includes experiences between students but also between teachers and students and between teachers. Notice who enters or doesn’t enter certain spaces within the school building. Why is that? What does it say about school culture? How do we build better community within our schools? I can’t tell you the number of times that people have come up to me in private after something public has happened and apologized for the actions of another. It’s time to publicly disrupt or nothing will change for those most marginalized – students and teachers alike. 

The past few years have been challenging. This summer, please take time to rest and recharge. The year ahead will be another filled with challenges. Let’s do what we need in order to make sure that come September, students can be at the center of what we do. Also, once September arrives, when you hear or see something, please disrupt. Congratulations on completing another year in education. Wishing you a safe and restful summer & a great start to the new school year.

Arianna Lambert Constant Learning, self reflection, Technology, Year End Reflection

Reflecting on Identity Boxes

In my schedule this year, I had a number of periods where I was able to partner with teachers around the meaningful use of technology. During one of these Assistive Technology periods, one teacher brought up the idea of supporting students on creating Identity Boxes, loosely based on the idea of Joseph Cornell’s Box. The idea was to work with students intentionally on understanding the many facets of our identities and how they intersect, and from there, to create a digital version – similar to James Cornell’s – where students could share their learning about themselves, with one another and their families. 

This past month, I had the opportunity to work with students to start the process of bringing their boxes to life and it’s been a great experience to work with them on using technology as a form of communication. From learning to link Slides and the meaning of symbolism to inserting images and formatting text, it’s been an interesting journey with students as they take their content and try to make it visually appealing for their audience. For me, this experience has reinforced three things: understanding identity is important; use of tech should be taught; and children love sharing about who they are when they know you will listen. In this post, I share about these three things.

Understanding Identity Is Important

Everyone is navigating and figuring out who they are in an ever changing world. Children are no different. At a very young age, they are identifying and learning about the different “parts” that make up who they are. While some are obvious, there are also parts that may be hidden or are yet to be uncovered. I think it’s important to discuss aspects of identity with children from an early age. Through open conversations, experiencing supportive relationships and seeing other people with similar identities being valued, children are able to develop a positive sense of self. 

In years past, I’ve worked on different activities to help students understand the various facets to identity. Depending on the age and the group of students, this work can look very different. The way we might discuss identity with a kindergarten student would differ greatly from a grade 7 or 8 student. Not only that, it would also depend on the work that has been previously done within the classroom to build a community where these important conversations can be had, without causing further harm, particularly to students who are already marginalized.

It’s important for teachers themselves to understand identity and how their own identities impact the way in which they teach and interact with students. As such, I always suggest that teachers take the time to do some of their own learning first. judy mckeown has provided teachers with an excellent resource – Pause and Ponder Social Identity Self-Assessment – that teachers may wish to use for themselves. The questions are rich and call for much reflection on how we navigate the world inside and out of our profession. I don’t think that there is one specific way to teach or do identity work with children – there are a variety of approaches that could be effective – but at minimum, I think it’s important for us to start by understanding what it is and how it influences how we navigate the world. 

Use of Tech Should Be Taught

Children are incredible with tech! I remember when my nephew was 2 and the joy he had on his face when he was able to use his iPad to pull up “Baby Shark” on YouTube. I didn’t think it could happen with him not being able to spell the words baby and shark as of yet, but if you can sing or say, “Baby Shark”, an iPad can find it with ease. 

Armed with this knowledge, I think that many believe that if we just give children a device, they’ll figure it out. Most times they do, but I’ve noticed that in order for tech to be used meaningfully, there needs to be some support with the learning. I mentioned in a previous post that I had the opportunity to partner with another teacher this year around supporting students in developing their proficiency with Google Slides. It was a really great experience because students were able to learn some of the basics that supported their use of tech and allowed them to communicate more effectively. These are skills that not only help for a particular assignment but that can be transferred across multiple subject areas and are skills that can be used beyond the classroom. 

Over the years, I’ve seen many strange and interesting things. Centering a title or the line spaces on text are important skills that students need to be able to understand how to do easily.  I’ve seen some who are excited to hit the space bar until the cursor lands somewhere in the middle of the screen. I’ve also seen students hitting the enter button to be able to double space their text, only to realize that if they change the font, the spacing is all off. These might seem like little things, but they’re also easy to teach kids in mini lessons. 

For the project on Identity Boxes, I helped students: link slides; share their slides in preview mode; and in the creation of collages of their images. Simple things that I don’t think we should take for granted that students will somehow be able to know how to do. Going forward, I really want to be intentional about creating mini lessons for students that support them in being more proficient in effectively using the G Suite for Education Tools. 

Children Love Sharing About Who They Are When They Know You Will Listen

Sitting with some of these students, it was apparent that they were eager to share parts of themselves with me. As I sat, I heard stories of their countries of origin – what they missed and what they brought with them – and also heard students share about the languages they speak and love. Although these are students that I also teach French for one period a day, having them share their Identity Boxes was almost like getting to know them on an even deeper level and it was an opportunity to see them in a different light. I felt honoured that they would share parts of themselves with me, so freely and with such joy. This experience has me thinking about the need to further offer students the opportunity to bring their whole selves to school every day and not just on days where they present parts of who they are. 

Reflection has been an important part of my growth over the years. This post allowed me the opportunity to reflect on one assignment, however, I will be taking more time for reflection and really thinking about what I will carry into next year and what I might just leave behind.