I know that there will be some of you out there that have been wondering where my Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday posts have gone. Is it because I have been busy with my student teaching practicum? Partially. The main reason, however, is because I have been spending a lot of time reflecting on who I am as a educator and what my personal teaching philosophy is. In my first semester of my education degree I was asked to create a document that described my personal teaching philosophy. What did I believe the purpose of education was? What… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday: Class Dojo Tutorial
Have you been seeing posts around blog-land about the classroom management website, Class Dojo? While I didn’t see an immediate need to check it out, the website’s cute little characters drew me in and I knew I had to see what all the fuss was about. As I started exploring around some of the features I immediately began thinking of how this could be customized to create a super cute, interactive, WBT Scoreboard!! If you’re naturally drawn to tech stuff this might be perfect for your classroom or, as Coach B often mentions, this could be the perfect… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! Student Teaching Thoughts
Student teaching is just a short 11 days away and I busily attempting to get everything together for the six units that I will be teaching to my Grade 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12 classes! Here is a reminder of what my schedule will look like: I mentioned before that I am going to, hopefully, be filming a video to submit for my WBT Certification while I am student teaching and I already have so many things to consider. – What class should I be filming? – Since I will also be using the video for… 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! Road Block
So I have to admit that I have been conflicted over the past few weeks regarding what to post for my Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday posts. With the Whole Brain Teaching Certification program beginning this summer there was a huge jump in forum activity about a variety of topics as well as new activities and strategies being introduced by the WBT team but yet I still couldn’t figure out what to write about. If you have checked out my Whole Brain Teaching Certification tab at the top of the screen you’ll notice that I have previously written almost 20… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! Certification Videos & 5 Step Lesson Plans
So today was my second day student teaching. Our day consisted of staff meetings, individual meetings with the principal and prep periods alternating throughout the day. I am going to provide an update tomorrow, as my student teaching schedule has changed DRASTICALLY (in a good way). In the mean time, I have exciting news!! Our principal, “Mrs. R” has told me that I should be able to film my class when I come back to student teach in October! 🙂 Our school has a letter that goes home to all students at the beginning of the year for… Read More
Level 4! WBT Advanced Intermediate
I was debating about whether to wait until tomorrow to post this for my Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday post but I couldn’t wait! I’ve written my online tests and am officially at Level 4 in my Whole Brain Teaching Certification process!! Image Credit: WBT Certification Information at www.wholebrainteaching.com The text in the image is a bit small so in case you can’t make it out, to reach Level 4 you must:– earn at least 500 Certification Points– score 90% (or higher) on the online Certification TestsI’m happy to announce that I was able to score a 96% on… Read More
Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! Using "Mirror" In ASL
For the past four summers I have been employed as a Child Development Worker with the Manitoba Government’s Children’s disABILITY Services department. (If you would like to read more about it you can check out a post I wrote at the beginning of the summer). One of my little guys has been with me on and off for 3 summers now and our main goal over the years has been communication. Larry* is currently still waiting for a full assessment of his specific disability but the doctors that he has seen have mentioned both Cerebral Palsy and Autism… Read More
WBT Certification Update!
A little under a month ago I added a brand new tab to my blog titled Whole Brain Teaching Certification where I’ve been posting links to the blog and forum posts I’ve been submitting for certification. Well since then I have still been actively working towards certification and trying to write posts about some of the theories behind WBT as well as specific strategies. I am happy to announce that I am almost at a THOUSAND certification points, yay!! Unfortunately I am unable to complete the video requirement until I begin student teaching in October so it will… 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