September is behind us and here is my first 2 Stars & A Wish post of October. Teachers always say that the year goes by so quickly and I definitely understand that now! It honestly seems like yesterday was the first day of school and it is almost already Thanksgiving. Two things that went well this week are: 1 ) Reinforcing our Risk Free Environment Policy– I do not have a formal list of rules in my classroom, but I do have a Risk Free Environment Policy that reads as follows: “Our classroom does not discriminate on the basis of disability,… Read More
2 Stars & A Wish: Week 4
I can’t believe that September is already done!! School has already been 1/10 completed and there is only a few short weeks before my first experience writing my own report cards! Everything seems to be going by so quickly and I am so thankful for my blog and the reflection opportunity it provides me. With month 1 done, two things that I am proud of this week are: 1 ) Having My Grade 8s Plan Their 2nd Blog!– That’s right, with only a week under their belts, my Grade 8s asked if they could begin blogging for their math class… Read More
2 Stars & A Wish: Week 3
I am now in a solid routine with all six of my classes and am feeling a lot more comfortable than I was in the first week of school. I even took advantage of my first pay cheque and bought a brand new pair of black Dr. Scholl’s flats that are SO comfortable and perfect for any teacher! Two things that I am proud of this week are: 1 ) Having My Grade 8 Class Launch Their 1st Blog!– This week my Grade 8 Science class launched their first blog! As an avid blogger for almost 2 years,… Read More
Welcoming My Grade 8's to the Blogging World!
Today my Grade 8 Science class joined the blogging world with the official launch of Mrs. T’s Classroom! They will be using their blog to:– Share their learning with an authentic audience– Catch up on lessons that were missed due to absences– Review lessons to get a better understanding– Connect with other classrooms around the world– Integrate multimedia of all descriptions (text, images, videos, podcasts)– Practice responsible digital citizenship– Receive feedback on their thoughts To celebrate we had a full-out Launch Party complete with whole-school announcements, a count-down to our first post, a visit from our… Read More
2 Stars & A Wish: Week 2
My first full week as a teacher is under my belt and I am feeling really happy to be getting into a routine (both in the classroom and in my personal life). Things are progressing like I expected, more-or-less, and I’ve managed to work around some of the obstacles that can be thrown at teachers like:– New students joining the class late– Fire drills– Broken photocopiers– Tech break-downs, etc All-in-all things have been going really well and it is hard to express just how rewarding this job can be. I feel blessed to have such a… Read More
2 Stars & A Wish: Week 1
During my last student teaching placement I began completing a “2 Stars & A Wish” posts every week where I would reflect on the events of the week, mention two things that I was proud of, and identify one area to work on in the following week. As my my Professional Growth Plan, this is a practice that I want to maintain throughout the school year as well. If you aren’t a teacher, it could seem silly to be writing a reflection for the first “week” when we only actually had students for two days. Those… Read More
First Day of School
After all of the thought and planning that I put into my classroom, this is definitely how I felt when I woke up this morning! Our first bell rings at 8:50 a.m so I was at school at approximately 7:50 a.m. The reason for this is that I wanted to be in my room and relaxed when students first started arriving. It was a good thing too, because in the middle of the night the heater turned on in my room and it was SO hot when I got there. Furthermore, because of the heat, some of my… Read More
I Promise…
Students, tomorrow is not only your first day back to school but it is also my first day as a full-time teacher. I’ve spent hours over the summer accumulating resources, preparing lessons, differentiating plans, and attending PD… I’ve organized our classroom and tried to put my personal flare into the room while leaving space for you to make it your own… I’ve attending our back-to-school meetings and checked (and double-checked) to make sure I have everything ready for our first days together. As we enter this new, exciting, overwhelming, awesome experience, here is what I promise you: – I… Read More
Classroom Reveal & Freebies!!
With school right around the corner, my classroom is officially ready and awaiting students! I am so excited for my students to see my first classroom and start using all of the resources that I’ve put together. In case you don’t remember, here is what my classroom looked like before: Panoramic ViewThere wasn’t a whole lot of anything in the classroom when I got there, the furniture in the middle of the room wasn’t mine. Everything that was in the classroom was pretty much focused in this one cornerbecause it held all the storage for the room. … Read More
Professional Growth Plan
During our New Teacher Orientation we were asked to start thinking about our Professional Growth Plans as we will be meeting with our individual principal’s this week. As part of this, we were provided with forms to help us guide our goals (both personal and divisional). As a new teacher, most of the times when I think of the school year my hopes are to simply survive through it! Student teaching is just a taste of what full-time teaching is like and I hope to just make it through the year while trying to balance lessons, differentiating instruction,… Read More