On Tuesdays, I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. In Manitoba, we have a standardized report card template that communicates attendance, academic achievement, learning behaviours, and includes teacher commentary on individual subjects. Full information about the expectations and format of our provincial report cards is available for review in the Manitoba Provincial Report Card Policy and Guidelines document. When it comes to learner assessment, the formal documentation that takes place as part of required “Teacher Comments” is a time-heavy task. See the policy exert… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Digital Tools for Student Portfolios
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. In Manitoba, March is a whirlwind month for educators. We start off strong with a mix of weather systems, jump right into a time-change, and hit the ground running to complete report cards and book parent-teacher interviews before spring break! One of my favourite methods to assist with this is the implementation of student portfolios. Student portfolios can be a fantastic practice in the classroom as they: develop student metacognition selecting exemplars reflecting on their… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Digital Tools for Student Portfolios
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. In Manitoba, November is a whirlwind month for educators. We start off strong with the Halloween candy-hangover, jump right into a time-change, and hit the ground running to complete report cards and book parent-teacher interviews! One of my favourite methods to assist with this is the implementation of student portfolios. Student portfolios can be a fantastic practice in the classroom as they: develop student metacognition selecting exemplars reflecting on their learning journey encourage transparent conversations… Read More
Manitoba Provincial Report Card Pressure
“…teachers indicated that, on occasion, they had to phone in sick in order to complete their report cards on time and they acknowledged that others did so as well.”[i] In 2010 the Manitoba government announced the development of a provincial report card that would standardize assessment reporting across the province using both a parent-friendly format and plain language.[ii] While provisions were put in place to gain meaningful feedback from teachers, parents, and administrators before the mandatory implementation in the fall of 2013, an unstandardized execution has left many Manitoba teachers feeling the pressure. In a 2014 survey conducted by the… Read More
Parent-Teacher Interviews Round Two
On Monday of this week our second round of report cards went home and officially kicked-off spring Parent-Teacher Interview week. Being that we are a K-12 school, our K-7 teachers scheduled and organized their own meetings which ran throughout the week. In the 8-12 end, our school secretary scheduled our meetings for us which were primarily held on Thursday after school and Friday during school-hours (there were no classes on Friday). Compared to the 30+ interviews I had first semester, this round was a breeze with only 20. I think last semester I had a lot of interviews because… Read More
My 1st Parent-Teacher Experience
On Monday of this week our first round of report cards went home and officially kicked-off Parent-Teacher Interview week. Being that we are a K-12 school, our K-7 teachers scheduled and organized their own meetings which ran throughout the week. In the 8-12 end, our school secretary scheduled our meetings for us which were primarily held on Thursday after school and Friday during school-hours (there were no classes on Friday). Thursday marked a full day of teaching from 8:50-3:30 and then straight into interviews beginning at 4. By the time I had straightened up my room and ran… Read More
An Open Letter To Parents
Dear Parents/Guardians, As I sit here, reflecting on my first parent-teacher experience, I want to share the following thoughts that have been infiltrating my mind more and more. First, I would like to thank you for sharing your children with us:– for allowing teachers to have the opportunity to be a part of their lives… – for allowing us to witness their personality and appreciate their quirks…– for allowing us to be there on the good, bad, and out-right crazy days…– for allowing us to be a part of their development (academically, emotionally, etc)…– for allowing us to be… Read More
Report Cards For Teachers?
When I was student teaching, I had my students complete assessments of me as a teacher. This was not something I was required to do but it was a big learning opportunity for me so I continued doing it throughout my last year of my Education Degree. I actually got the idea from Larry Ferlazzo’s blog (here is his most-recent example). When student teaching, my evaluation questions were centered around the statements/categories that were included in my evaluation checklists from my university. Now that I am out of school and have my own classroom I am not sure… Read More
Report Card Reflections
Today our Semester 1 Report Cards went home with students and I could breathe a sigh of relief. The past two weeks have been emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting as I’ve attempted to survive my first report card experience as a first year teacher. To be honest, I don’t feel like there was any one aspect that was genuinely hard (although they were time consuming). The most difficult part, for me, was making sure I actually did everything that was required of me. I felt like there was a lot of aspects that I simply wasn’t aware of, so… Read More
Making Time…
This past month has been a weird one for me as it has been the first month in almost two years where I haven’t been blogging regularly. They say that if something is important to you, you will find a way to make time for it…. My viewpoint towards my blog has not changed. In fact, my time away from my blog made me realize how much it truly meant to me. So much has been happening in my teaching-life over the past few weeks and there has been several times where I have wanted to share it with… Read More