As excited as I am about being back in the blogging world, I am nervous that I will fall off the wagon again as soon as Baby Thompson arrives in 2 weeks?… 3 weeks?…. any day now?… I know I will need to maintain some semblance of focus, however, because I also resume my master’s classes at the start of September. I am hoping *fingers crossed* to attempt to set aside some time every 2-3 days while baby sleeps (is that delusional thinking?) to work on my classes, blog, and attempt to maintain my sanity. Resourceaholic Reflects. (2014).… Read More
Charlie Appelstein: No Such Thing As A Bad Kid
On Friday all of “T-Division’s” teaching staff and EAs had the opportunity to attend a PD session with Charlie Appelstein; a youth-care specialist, author, and father. Being that we are now into December, and only have a short ten days until the Christmas break, I was apprehensive about attending a PD session when there is so much to do in so little time left. On the other hand, classroom energy is always high at this time of year so it was nice to have a day away to think and recharge! Mr. Appelstein was an incredibly entertaining presenter… Read More
First Steps in Math – Day 1
Today I began the First Steps in Math program with four other educators from our division. Several years ago our division sent one of our colleagues to the First Steps in Math training program and he has now spent time each year educating other teachers in our division and was actually trained by David McKillop, who I saw last year in Brandon. My new books (provided by our division): the First Steps in Math Number Sense course book & work book. First Steps in Math was developed in Australia in the early 1990’s as a means… Read More
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
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
Block 2: Inclusive Instructional Practice – Chapter 4 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
Block 1: Social and Emotional Learning – Chapter 3 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 at: http://www.amazon.ca/Teaching-Diversity-Three-Block-Universal-Learning/dp/1553793536… Read More
A Framework for Teaching to Diversity – Chapter 2 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
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
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