Our school has an iPad cart that teachers can book to use with their students for a variety of purposes. While our elementary wing (K-4) has a laptop cart that can be brought into the classroom, Grades 5 and up only have certain periods where they have access to the traditional computer lab. As such, the iPads are a good mobile tech option for us. During my student teaching placement I used our iPads for:– QR scavenger hunts– Interactive options during centers– Research stations– Virtual labs– Taking photos– Recording audio reflections, etc One problem that I… Read More
The Homework Debate
On the weekend I read a post by Justin Tarte called The Truth About Homework in Schools in which he lists his thoughts on the “homework debate”. Being a new teacher I began thinking about where I fall in this often controversial discussion and what my thoughts are about having my students complete homework. I follow many education blogs from around the world and have seen teachers discuss all different types of homework ideologies, from those who are completely against it to those who have assigned homework every single night. I don’t really remember having homework… Read More
Don't Take Credit For Teaching Me
There has been a specific video popping up everywhere online this week: Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc. You probably know the one I am talking about: Jeff Bliss, from Texas, telling his teacher how she should be doing her job. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look: When I watched this video I couldn’t help but think of my experiences in the classroom and some things definitely jumped out at me. The first thing was how the teacher handled the situation. The video, unfortunately, doesn’t show the lead up to this conversation but the student… Read More
What To Order/Create/Find?
Even though I don’t have my confirmed teaching schedule quite yet (I should have it within a few weeks) I can’t help but begin to plan out my classroom for the fall. So even though I can’t really begin planning curriculum aspects, I’ve started planning some of the organizational aspects for my classroom. Right now, the teachers at “S-School” have started making their orders for next year’s classes and I’ve been fortunate enough to be included in the ordering! Here are some of the pictures that have been inspiring me so far. Classroom Supply Organization. Pinterest. http://media-cache-ec3.pinimg.com/originals/71/dc/3a/71dc3acb6d29f17eb4e6ed91896a0e7d.jpg Lets face… Read More
Dr. Kathie Nunley Part 2: Layered Curriculum
*The following is Part 2 of a two-part reflection on a PD session I attended by Dr. Kathie Nunley. Part 1 of this reflection on, A Student’s Brain, can be found by following the highlighted link. Layered Curriculum, developed by Dr. Kathie Nunley, is an instructional method based specifically on her work with neuroscience and how the adolescent brain functions. It is developed as a means to effectively meet the needs of the adolescent learner by taking into account how the brain processes information and reacts to various stimuli. One very important factor in this method… Read More
Dr. Kathie Nunley Part 1: A Student's Brain
Today all the teachers and support staff in “T-Division” had the opportunity to attend a PD session with Dr. Kathie Nunley, an educator and brain-image researcher from the eastern US. I was immediately excited because I have always been really interested in how to engage different parts of our student’s brains and differentiate instruction to best meet their individual learning styles/needs. I can definitely say that I was not disappointed by this PD session! Dr. Nunley is not only just extremely knowledgeable about her subject area but is also a very humorous and engaging speaker (I spent a great deal of the… Read More
A Snapshot of Information
Edvolution. (2013). “So True…”. Available online at: http://edvolution.info/so-true/ Today in Grade 8 Social Studies we did a Jigsaw activity where students, in small groups, researched about different social classes found in Ancient Greece. Once completed, students wrote their findings on the board and verbally presented about their specific social class (wealthy citizen, middle class woman, slave, etc). What resulted was six different sets of information on various social classes that students were responsible for having in order to utilize, in more depth, in the next class. Once all of the information was on the board and students were writing down their… Read More
Whose Job Is It Anyways?
“…These fall more under the purview of the resource teacher. My focus is on the content material as I am a secondary teacher.”[1]Whose responsibility is it when a Senior Years student is unable to comprehend the material presented in his or her content area courses? Upon reaching Secondary School, there is a more predominant release of responsibility onto our students. More often than not, they are expected to take appropriate notes, read/watch assigned material in preparation for class, study independently and ask for help is they believe they need it. What happens, however, if our students are unable to comprehend… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives into Curricula
One of the classes that I am taking this year for my education degree is Teaching of Aboriginal Studies, which I’ve posted about previously over the past few weeks. (For my followers who are from other countries, this course has actually been a Provincially-mandated requirement for all educators in Manitoba since 2008.) Today we discussed Understanding the Integration of Aboriginal Perspectives through Theory and I was especially intrigued by our highlight of the traditional Aboriginal view of education. As I will be entering the workforce (fingers crossed) within the year this discussion really encouraged me to examine specific aspects… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! Emotions, Memory & Learning
“I think it is all a matter of love; the more you love a memory the stronger and stronger it becomes” ― Vladimir Nabokov Think back to your time in the classroom as a student…. do you remember what you learned on that specific Tuesday of Grade 10, what your teacher wore in June, all the steps in a logarithmic equation or how many assignments you completed during a certain week, probably not. Most likely, you’ll remember the highs, how you scored a 98% on that one exam you spent hours studying for or winning the volleyball championship, and… Read More