My first year in the Faculty of Education (and 5th year in university) is DONE! After exams in Individuals with Exceptionalities, Classroom Management and Social Studies Methods (all written today) I can officially say I have completed my first year as an education student! My fiance and I celebrated with a congratulatory brunch at Smitties and going to the theater to see Dr. Suess’ The Lorax (the teacher in me couldn’t stop thinking of the inferential thinking scenarios and the social studies curriculum: sustainable development, environmental implications, ecosystems, infrastructure, politics, economy, etc). One more year to go! I have… Read More
Electricity Unit Plan Freebie!
One of our major projects for our Science Methods class is to create a unit plan. After talking with my cooperating teacher I found out that I would be able to teach the Electricity Unit while I was in his classroom so I naturally decided to complete my unit plan on the Electricity cluster. I have networked with so many amazing people since I entered the Faculty of Education and have been able to access many great resources developed by other people. So in the nature of sharing, I have decided to upload my unit onto… Read More
Resources to Start Off Your Week 7
I can’t believe that it is the last week of classes for us! Next week we start student teaching again and then it will only be a quick 8 weeks before my first year in the Faculty of Education is done. Remember, I will be adding these to my Favourite Websites page so ensure you head over there to check out the full list that I’ve complied so far. 1 ) Topogropa– This a great interactive website all about the geography of Europe.– Teachers could use this website to discuss geography, politics, history or economics and it is all summarized… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! The Agreement Bridge
This term has flown by, we are already on our last full week of classes and it is also my sixth Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday post! I hope that this focus on a specific WBT strategy is helpful to those of you who are wishing to learn more about how a certain strategy may work and what my personal experience with it has been. Last week I highlighted “The Genius Ladder”, this week I would like to introduce you to the WBT strategy of “The Agreement Bridge”. (I realize that my introduction of these strategies are not in any… Read More
Resources to Start Off Your Week 6
Its a new week and what better way to start off our week by finding some great new online resources to use in our classrooms. I actually found both of these resources through discussions with other education students in class today, thanks guys! Remember, I will be adding these to my Favourite Websites page so ensure you head over there to check out the full list that I’ve complied so far. 1 ) The Scale of the Universe (2nd Version)– This website provides an interactive model that allows users to use the scroll-bar to move through a list of objects… Read More
My Thoughts on WestCAST
I’m back safe & sound! All 41 of us from our university survived the 11 hour bus ride (22 hours round trip) to and from Calgary without killing each other (almost) haha. All-in-all it was a great time! I really enjoyed spending time with other students from my faculty, some of whom I had not even met before, and I learned a lot from the sessions I attended. I give props to the U of C who organized a wonderful event with some amazing presenters and super helpful volunteers. I was able to visit family, see the mountains and… Read More
Off to WestCAST!
My bronchitis is almost all better, final projects are getting completed and it is time to head off to the annual WestCAST Conference! WestCAST is an annual teacher education conference hosted by various education faculties across Canada’s four western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Last year’s conference was actually hosted at my university but I was unfortunately not a part of the faculty yet, darn! This year it is hosted by U of C in Calgary, only a short 10hour bus ride away 🙂 I am really looking forward to this conference because:1 ) There are so… Read More
Resources to Start Off Your Week 5: Long Weekend Edition
I can’t believe its been almost a week since I even thought about my blog, I actually forgot it was even Monday! After battling bronchitis I am starting to feel back to normal (thanks to 35+ hours of sleep over a 2 day period!) With that out of mind now, I wanted to throw together a special Long Weekend Edition of Resources to Start Off Your Week with TEN great new resources. Remember, I will be adding these to my Favourite Websites page so ensure you head over there to check out the full list that I’ve complied so… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! The Genius Ladder
I am currently laying in bed seemingly dying from bronchitis but it is also my fifth Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday post! I hope that this focus on a specific WBT strategy is helpful to those of you who are wishing to learn more about how a certain strategy may work and what my personal experience with it has been. Last week I highlighted “The Scoreboard”, this week I would like to introduce you to the WBT strategy of “The Genius Ladder”. (I realize that my introduction of these strategies are not in any specific order). So far, my… Read More
WBT & Manitoba's "Towards Inclusion" Document Part 2
Yesterday I started blogging on how WBT strategies might fit in with the criteria set out by the Manitoba government. I found the Towards Inclusion: Supporting Positive Behaviours in Manitoba Classrooms document and decided to focus on Section 6: Positive Reinforcement (pg. 53) and Section 7: Fair & Predictable Consequences (pg. 58). I quickly realized, however, that this was not a one-post topic and decided to split it into two parts by covering Section 6 yesterday and covering Section 7 today. SECTION 7: FAIR & PREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES The document summarizes that a teacher must establish consequences for inappropriate behaviour BEFORE… Read More