Formative Assessment: Hot Topic!

Using formative assessment in the classroom can be time consuming, frustrating, informing and rewarding for both teacher and student.  But then 'assessment' is part of the teaching and learning cycle.  Check out the resources in the Formative Assessment tab

Science Lesson Hook

Science Teachers! Looking for a hook?  check out this awesome Science Teacher's videos.  

Spring Break – 2 Days Left – Differentiation & Planning

What is Differentiated Instruction?

Differentiation means the tailoring of instruction to meet individual needs.  Whether teachers differentiate content, process products, or the learning environment the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.

Carol Ann Tomlinson

Education Jargon
at their own pace Student-centred learning individual differences individualized instruction individual learning styles multi-aged classroom multiple intelligences one size fits all student-centered education	·         teach the child, not the subject ·         constructivism cooperative learning discovery learning hands-on learning holistic learning learning by doing whole-class instruction whole-language instruction

Check out the Education jargon definitions page for more jargon teachers deal with on a daily basis

I am a Teacher! Its Spring Break!

Don't get me wrong  I love my job, I love working with students,  and the ah ha moments and expressions on the young people's faces when they ‘get it’.  

However our contract is up for renegotiation and the possibility of teachers getting a raise there are those who believe Teachers have it easy . . .  only work 9 - 3 each day, ten months of the year with two months holiday in the summer.  Let’s also not forget the two weeks at Christmas and the week at Easter.

True the school year is 10 months or 40 weeks long which translates to 200 days.  190 of which are spent in front of students.  The remaining 10 day are used for parent-teacher interviews, professional learning, and organisational days - Teachers DO NOT get the day off.  Now some people would say that the 10 days at Christmas and 5 days for spring break should be deducted from the total.  I would agree in principal however in my 10+ years of teaching there has not been a holiday or break where I have not marked and entered grades or planned lesson etc.  This includes the summer break too.

Recently found a log I kept of time spent in a variety of teaching-related activities.  It was mind boggling when I added up the time spent fulfilling my teaching responsibilities over the course of a month.  This was not even a 4 week period in which I had to write report card comments Wow!

Week 1            62 hours

Week 2            58 hours

Week 3            49 hours

Week 4            53 hours

Total of 222 hours averages to 55.5 hours  a week  or 2220 hours in the 10 month school year

Lunch Break?  What is that?  I am either fulfilling required supervision duties the whole lunch or in the classroom helping students or supervising students who have missing assignments.

Washroom breaks?  Only if I can get someone to cover my class while I run to the washroom.

So what does a teacher do all day?

Classroom Preparation - This is a time-consuming aspect that covers everything from writing lesson plans,  finding, creating and photocopying handouts, brainstorming fun ideas to 'hook' Jonny & Sally, developing critical thinking questions.  

Teaching - Teaching a class for 50 minutes involves engaging students in the lesson, managing classroom behaviour, taking attendance, dealing with homework assignments, and more

Assessing Student Work and Providing Feedback - Grading student work entails evaluating the quality of students' papers, tests, and homework assignments providing feedback that informs how they are doing and what are the next steps to improve.  Entering student achievement into an online grade program.

Administrative Duties - Administration includes attending meetings with other teachers and school administrators, as well as writing required reports documenting student performance and progress. Curriculum/Subject Team Meetings, Student Learning Team Meetings, Parent Meetings, Planning Meetings with colleagues, Meetings for Clubs, Athletics, or other extra-curricular duties.

Tutoring/Extra Help - Before school, Lunch or afterschool providing one on one help to struggling students.

Clubs/Coaching/Extracurricular Activities - All those fun activities students are involved in don't run themselves.  Outside of the actual event or coaching sessions there are the organizational or administrative components that teachers take on.

Parent Interaction - One of the least favorite aspects of a teachers day.  Think of it this way.  6 classes of with an average of 30 in each class= 180 students.  Even if the teacher needed to speak to the parents of one student from each class that’s over hour of time after the students have gone home.

By the time I have managed to access the contact information from a very slow records program, call the parent, discuss the issue, listen to their input and document the parent support or lack of in the same slow records program usually 10 - 15 minutes will have elapsed.  Multiply that by 6 students.  

Parent contact is made after the students who came for extra help have gone or meetings were over.  

 Would you like to wear my shoes for a day, a week or a month? 

Belcher Diagnostic

Spring Break  - Plan Change . . . .Belcher, Belcher, Belcher!  LT3 needs some attention. . .

I had planned to do some more marking and planning for classes on Tuesday however after reading Belcher's Week 10 diagnostic advice there was more editing work to be done.

My research partner and I are in the final days of our MEd Interdisciplinary Studies completing the final edits of our paper.  It is such relief to know that as of April 13th,  2016 at 11:30 pm everything will be submitted, finished, complete, finito.  Need I say more.

Convocation June 7th Yahoo!

It has been a long haul but a worthwhile one.

You might wonder about the Belcher, Belcher, Belcher . . . or to be specific Wendy Laura Belcher, author of

Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success

A wonderful, incredibly helpful book that I recommend to anyone involved with academic writing.  It is user-friendly, easy to read (unlike many publications) leading you step by step from the title to the conclusion.  The only thing it does not do is write your paper.

I highly recommend this book for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in any area of study. I wish that I had the book from the beginning of my masters.  Especially the wonderful Week 10 Diagnostic.  Wow has this made a difference to our writing and editing process.

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Spring Break | Should I Relax or Do some work

March 22, 2016

Decided to pace myself.  To quote my mother who loves to say things like "never put off to tomorrow what can be done today".  So rather than leave all the marking, planning, organization, and preparation to the last weekend I will do a bit a day, maybe an hour or two a day.  Then I won't go back to the classroom feeling like I have not had a break.

Started by thinking about  "Planning with Differentiation in Mind for the Mixed Ability Classroom"  Considering my grade 7, 8 and 9 classes are comprised very complex learners with very mixed abilities -- Ability grade range is Grade one to greater than grade 9.

Thoughts about a list of Teacher Hints from an Australian University website for a student-centred classroom

1. Keep your classroom design clutter free only having the currently needed resources out. Difficult to meet this recommendation when one teaches six classes a day, three different curriculums using different manipulatives not to mention any supplies such as pencils, rulers, calculators, lined paper.
2. Make sure that every child and see and hear from every part of the room.  30+ desks and chairs, 30+ students of varying heights and sizes, backpacks, supplies, textbooks, hmm  this is a challenge.
3. Make sure that there is plenty of space to move around and help students. Difficult when one has 30+ students in each class.  When desks are in rows for tests I have to turn sideways to fit between the desks when answering a question.

When I went to  elementary, junior high and senior education it was a teacher-centred learning environment where the teacher held the power deciding on the content and curriculum.  Students sat in rows facing the teacher who delivered the lesson creating a competitive learning environment where students learn by drill and rote.

As a teacher today teaching students whose abilities range from grade 1 to 10 in grade 7, 8 or 9 classses I differentiate learning providing lessons and tasks with a variety of levels to meet the needs of the students.  Many of these students do not know their basic facts.  In teaching algebra it is frustrating to ask what is the opposite operation and many are unable to answer or do not know their basic times table facts.

I learned by drill and rote.  We had mad minutes, something frowned upon today with the basic facts drilled into us.  I learned my times tables and to this day know them.

Spring Break Plans or lack of

6 weekdays of no classes, no students, no teaching instead laundry, sleep, spring cleaning, sleep, relax, sleep.   But there is also the marking and updating of the online grades to do.  Oh yeah I there is a bit more of the masters degree left.  Oh boy am I looking forward to April 13th!Not to forget that I should do some planning and preparation for the last units of study.  Its incredible that there are only three months left of this school year.

When I think about the number of hours I put in during the week and on the weekend it is frustrating to read what a large number of vocal individuals in the online community say about teacher's 'easy work life' that they only work a few months of the year and have all these days off and holidays.  It is just not true.

Actually thinking of creating a daily log for a year.  That is if I can be diligent about doing it every day of the week.  

I think I might also track what I spend to support the students in my class who come without supplies or food.

Teaching is not just using Technology

Technology used to be the focus of my teaching and leadership position.  I still teach utilizing technology, using differentiation strategies, incorporate formative assessment strategies, communicate parents on a regular basis and much much more all on a regular basis to improve student learning.  I have been told that there is more to life than being a teacher.  Everything I do seems to revolve around education, lessons, assessments, improving student learning, assessment and reporting.  The list keeps growing depending on the current school authority focus or mandates.