It feels like I am in a time-warp, as I vividly remember writing this post last year when I got my teaching schedule for my VERY FIRST year as a teacher. Somehow, it has been over a year since that time… oh, where did the time go!? I am now almost finished up my first year at “S-School” and I have gotten my teaching schedule for next year. I am happy to announce that I will get to remain as the Grade 8 homeroom teacher (although I will still have classes ranging from Grade 8 to Grade… Read More
6 Steps For Creating Exams?
Deep breathe in..1..2..3.. Deep breathe out..1..2..3.. Feel that? That is the sound of one relaxed teacher. One relaxed teacher who just put the finishing touches on the last of her final exams! A relaxing planning spot can solve everything! After a full semester, or even a full year, of activities, experiences, and assessments, it is hard to not feel nervous about preparing a final exam that somehow encompasses all of that in a 2 hour event. Personally, I do not believe formalized, traditional, exams are a good assessment technique and resent the fact that the set-up of them… Read More
Free Summer PD From Home!
Summertime is here… or nearly here for some of us. While society tends to believe that teachers do not do anything for the two months of summer holidays, we all know that is not the case! If you are wondering what kinds of professional development are available in your area or are thinking of beginning a new project next year but need to learn more, why don’t you check out Coursera? If you haven’t heard of, or checked out, Coursera before, they describe their idea as: “Coursera is an education platform that partners with… Read More
June Currently
Guess what!? It is June, JUNE! In only 18 short school days my very first year of teaching is going to be done! When I look back at the year it was incredibly busy and, at times, overwhelming & stressful. Yet, on the other-hand, the year went by insanely fast and was full of amazing moments. It is definitely true what they say,”If you love your job, it never feels like work” and I couldn’t be happier to have found a career that has not felt like work once! The view out our picture window;can’t wait to be… Read More
Welcome to Our City: Math Tech
For the past week, my Grade 8 students have been working on creating 3D Model Cities as part of their summative assessment in our math unit, Measuring 3D Shapes. They were asked to develop a unique city that required them to: – Create appropriate 2D nets (with measurements) to create the building shapes they wanted – Determine the surface area of each building – Determine the volume of each building As a side project, we then created videos to show off their awesome creations! Each student filmed and edited their own movie using their personal devices… Read More
Diversity from A-Z! Chapter 1 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. … Read More
7 Chapters To a Better Understanding of U.D.L
One of our school goals this year is to purposefully implement 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”, the Universal Design for Learning is a three-block model designed by Dr. Jennifer Katz at the University of Manitoba. Design. (2011). Uploaded to Tach @ Riverdale by Meg Krause. Available online at: http://blogs.riverdale.edu/techintegration/2011/11/26/understanding-by-design-the-backward-design-model/ Being fresh out of my B.Ed, the Backwards-by-Design method is what we were exclusively taught in our Assessment & Evaluation classes and is something that… Read More
Masters Here I Come!
Earlier in the year I submitted my application for Brandon University’s (B.U) Masters of Education program. After completing my Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and working in their own-campus residence program for 5 of those 6 years, wanting to reapply felt like going home. Last month I shared my pre-admissions writing test, which was the second portion of the application process, and I am now happy to announce that I have officially been accepted into the program! Starting in the fall of 2014 I will officially be a student again (only this time by distance),… Read More
No Notes? No Problem!
This year I’ve struggled with my Grade 9 Math class, a concern that I’ve mentioned a few times during my embarrassingly infrequent 2 Stars & A Wish posts. While there is no note-worthy behavioural challenges, this particular group of students is incredibly diverse in their foundational math skills & we have everything from Middle School to post-High School levels. Furthermore, there are still a few students who are still adjusting to the different requirements of High School compared to Middle School (although this transition is fairly smooth being in a K-12 school). I have been trying my best to differentiate… Read More
Teaching Interviews 1 Year Later… Interview Prep
It has officially been one year since I went through the interview process and was offered a position at my dream school only a 10 minute drive from our farm! This was also the same school where I completed two of my hour student teaching placements so I felt very comfortable with both the students and staff. My husband was offered a job in the same division (15 mins down the road from my school) two weeks later and our grad, wedding, and 8 months of teaching later we are in May again…. can someone say busy year!? With… Read More