To help us work towards our school goal of improving our understanding and practice of assessment, my principal has provided our staff with a copy of Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right – Using it Well, by Jan Chappuis, Rick Stiggins, Steve Chappuis, and Judith Arter. 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. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning Cover. (Accessed 2016). Uploaded to Amazon; Pearson Education. Available online at: https://www.amazon.ca/Classroom-Assessment-Student-Learning-Doing/dp/0132685884 Chapter 1 – Every Student a Learner Classroom Assessment Literacy The… Read More
Grade 11 Canadian History Resources
I shared in April that part of my upcoming dream schedule would be Grade 11 Canadian History. I am beyond excited about this class and have been putting in a lot of prep time to ensure I am overly organized for when I begin in the fall…. can you tell that I am nervous about returning to work?? As I complete my prep work for each unit I will be sharing the resources I find up on the blog through my updated Manitoba Resources page which now features an active link to my Grade 11 Canadian… Read More
Things I Want to Do… But When?
It seems like I have been preparing to get back into the classroom from the moment I left the classroom. I know that it will be a huge adjustment returning to work and trying to balancing work requirements, extra curriculars, my M.Ed classes, and the day-to-day life chaos with wanting to spend all of my available time with Jaxson. I can’t help but think long-term about all the things I want to implement in my classroom and am wondering when the best time would be to explore these areas. One huge aspect at play is that… Read More
Summer Reading
Summer is right around the corner and that means its time for summer reading. professional and otherwise. Our school is awesome about being quite focused when it comes to the professional development of our staff. You might remember the book study I completed last summer on Dr. Jennifer Katz‘s book, Teaching to Diversity: The Three-Block Model of Universal Design for Learning. Teaching to Diversity Cover. (Accessed 2014). Uploaded to Amazon; Portage& Main Press.Available online at: http://www.amazon.ca/Teaching-Diversity-Three-Block-Universal-Learning/dp/1553793536 You can read my posts on this book by exploring the UDL blog hashtag. This summer I will be exploring, Classroom Assessment for… Read More
Digital Literacies Chapter Review
I recently read the chapter, Digital Literacies: Virtually Connecting and Collaboratively Building Knowledge, from the book, Literacy Tools in the Classroom, by Richard Beach et al. Here are my thoughts: As members of the future workforce and society, today’s students require guidance and education in order to successfully navigate and utilize the digital world that they were born into. Acknowledging the importance of becoming digitally literate, Beach, Campano, Edmiston, and Borgmann (2010, p. 109) share four literacy skills that students develop through the use of various digital tools. The authors summarize the literacies of multimodality, hyperlinking, connectivity, and… Read More
Consider This….
I was introduced to this video last night during one of my master’s classes. New Literacies for a New Age. (2008). Uploaded to YouTube by Margaret Meijers. Available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs2YPGTEWGU Thoughts?
2016-2017 DREAM Schedule!!
When I first received my position at “S-School” in 2013 I was over-the-moon excited to get a permanent position in a small rural school that was only a ten minute drive from our home. Although my schedule didn’t exactly match my teachable background I was told that my schedule would eventually included those classes as the years went on. Here we are three years later and I am THRILLED to share that my principal has definitely spoiled me and I will be going back to work in the fall to my dream teaching schedule 🙂 I… Read More
SAMR – Tech Integration Series
This post is Part ONE of a four-part series titled Model Mayhem where I am exploring and critiquing different models of tech integration. For each model I will provide a general overview of the model, what it might look like in a classroom setting, and attempt to critique the pedagogical theory and foundations behind the model’s development. The first model of the series is the SAMR model, a four-step model of tech integration designed to improve student outcomes, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura . _______________________________________________________ GENERAL OVERVIEW The SAMR Model. (2015). Uploaded by St. Patricks College. Available online… Read More
Magnetic Border – Classroom Decor
OMG I just discovered the coolest thing! If you have followed my blog for a while you know that I LOVE decorating and organizing my classroom. I really enjoy creating a space that feels inviting and comfortable while providing chances to showcase student work and my own personality. (You can revisit my classroom set-ups from 2013 & 2014). Personally, I’ve always felt proud of my classroom because I feel like it differs greatly from some of the more traditional classrooms in the high school setting. One thing that I completed both years was decorating my whiteboards that ran the length… Read More
Model Mayhem – Tech Integration Series
Lets face it, technology is not something that is going away. As technological advances adapt at an increasingly fast rate and the world becomes more interconnected it is our role as educators to provide our students with the necessary skills to be successful in a society that we can really only begin to imagine. We can look amongst our colleagues and, like most aspects of education, we see people at various ends of the spectrum. This discrepancy can be attributed to any number of factors: age, education background, personal interests, comfort level, work experience, and the… Read More