Hello! (2004). Uploaded to Flickr by Ken. Available online at:http://bit.ly/1xRryKG It is hard to believe that a full month and a half has gone by since I have actively blogged here! On one hand it seems like forever… and on the other hand I don’t know where the time has gone because it seems to have flown by so quickly. It is not that I didn’t want to be blogging… in fact I’ve started several posts that, for some reason, I just didn’t finish. It seemed as though there were too many aspects pulling my attention… Read More
Manitoba Provincial Report Card Pressure
“…teachers indicated that, on occasion, they had to phone in sick in order to complete their report cards on time and they acknowledged that others did so as well.”[i] In 2010 the Manitoba government announced the development of a provincial report card that would standardize assessment reporting across the province using both a parent-friendly format and plain language.[ii] While provisions were put in place to gain meaningful feedback from teachers, parents, and administrators before the mandatory implementation in the fall of 2013, an unstandardized execution has left many Manitoba teachers feeling the pressure. In a 2014 survey conducted by the… Read More
Flip Your Clothes Pin!
This summer I came across this pin while scrolling through Pinterest: See who handed in work. (Accessed 2014). Pinned to Teacher Life Hacks by Teacher Created Material. Available online at: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/377598749979684674/ I actually had my homeroom Grade 8s last year when they were in Grade 7 Science and even though it was only one class I feel like I got to know them quite well. Specifically…. their habit of misplacing their work and/or forgetting to hand-it in! While I realize it doesn’t take much time to flip through my hand-in box and see what is there, we… Read More
Have You Checked Out ManACE!?
Today I spent my first day out of the classroom attending the annual planning meeting for ManACE (Manitoba Association for Computing Educators). Being that I am almost 4 hours out of the city I don’t get to attend many meetings in person so it was awesome to catch-up with those that I only see once or twice a year! Furthermore, we are welcoming four new members to our board so I am adding new contacts to my circle 🙂 Here are some of the awesome things you want to know about! 1 ) SAGE Sessions – ManACE is… Read More
Welcoming a New Set of Grade 8's to the Blogging World!!
Today my Grade 8 Science class joined the blogging world with the official 2014-2015 launch of Mrs. T’s Classroom! This blog is one that I actually started last year with my Grade 8 homeroom, who ended up blogging regularly for their science class as well as featuring a weekly “Mathlete Friday” post. This year we are maintaining our online presence at Mrs. T’s Classroom as opposed to starting all over again with a new domain. Some of my students have already been checking out last year’s posts and are excited about the potential of competing for page-view statistics! We… Read More
Classroom Reveal!
During the last week of school in June our school began major renovations which included redoing the exterior walls of an entire wing of our building, some roofing restructuring, and a brand-new science lab/classroom. While everyone in our building was (and still is) excited about these upgrades, the construction may continue all the way until January. Understandably, this is creating a lot of inconveniences as we all adjust to new classrooms, half-finished classrooms, unavailable resources, loud noises, etc. Amidst all of the craziness, however, I was surprisingly able to keep my classroom! I am so thankful… Read More
September Currently
If you haven’t encountered a “Currently” post before, it is just a fun post at the beginning of each month that serves as a way to share what is Currently going on in your life! You can link up and share your own “Currently” post by visiting the wonderful Farley over at Oh’ Boy 4th Grade.
Aboriginal Education & Universal Design for Learning – Chapter 7 of U.D.L
To help us work towards our school goal of purposefully implementing the Universal Design for Learning approach to our formal planning (sometimes referred to as “Backwards by Design”, “Understanding by Design”, or “Planning With The End in Mind), my principal has provided our staff with a copy of Dr. Jennifer Katz‘s book, Teaching to Diversity: The Three-Block Model of Universal Design for Learning. As I make my way through the book, I will be summarizing my learning as a means of organizing my thoughts and getting clarification on particular ideas. Teaching to Diversity Cover. (Accessed 2014). Uploaded to Amazon; Portage& Main Press. Available online… Read More
Random Back-to-School Thoughts & FREEBIES!
Today begins the LAST week before school is back in full swing and, to get a sense of how my day is going today, check out my latest tweet: I find that when I sit down to work on stuff for school during the summer I have NO problem flying through the curriculum aspects… you know… the content, “what do I need to teach” stuff. The small details, however, like anchor charts, hand-outs, course outlines, organizational labels, etc, are SO much harder to get done. I’m one of those people that has a hard time visualizing… Read More
Leadership, Policy, and Practice: Block 3: Systems & Structures – Chapter 6 of U.D.L
To help us work towards our school goal of purposefully implementing the Universal Design for Learning approach to our formal planning (sometimes referred to as “Backwards by Design”, “Understanding by Design”, or “Planning With The End in Mind), my principal has provided our staff with a copy of Dr. Jennifer Katz‘s book, Teaching to Diversity: The Three-Block Model of Universal Design for Learning. As I make my way through the book, I will be summarizing my learning as a means of organizing my thoughts and getting clarification on particular ideas. Teaching to Diversity Cover. (Accessed 2014). Uploaded to Amazon; Portage& Main Press. Available… Read More