ESL Tools - Newsela

If you haven't heard of or used Newsela in your classroom it's time you tried it out. This website has been a wonderful resource for my English Language Learners and beyond! I not only use this website in my ESL classrooms but also in my Academic Grade 9 Geography class.

What is it? It's a site that you can find articles on all different subjects and can adjust the difficulty level to meet the needs of your students. You can reduce the word count and have different levels for different students. This allows your students to be studying the same content but at a level that is right for them. For me, it gives each of my students an access point to our learning.

You can create a classroom or have your students register and access articles your publish. Often times, I provide a link on my Google Classroom and students can go and adjust the article to a level that suits them best. This is an easy to use tool and has helped me in all my classes but especially with my ELLs. If you haven't tried it - it's time you did. Click here and enjoy!

I'm Back!

So it's been a while. It's been about a year since my last post so it might just be time for an update. Life has been busy that's for sure. I graduated teacher's college in April 2017! The prospect of finally being able to apply to school boards was extremely exciting. I worked hard over the summer completing 3 AQ courses! I started with Special Education Part I and Senior Social Science. After that I immediately took my Primary ABQ. I had my sights set on the Halton District School board and in October 2017 I was hired as an occasional teacher on both the Elementary and Secondary lists. I was over the moon excited to have taken one step further towards my goal of becoming a permanent teacher. The interview process was intimidating but also an excellent learning process. It taught me so much about how to communicate my message clearly and to ensure I'm constantly being myself and giving the interviewers a chance to know who I really am and my goals for teaching. 

I was fortunate that I was able to get consistent supply work almost right away. I didn't do it without help! I reached out to all my former teachers and colleagues that I had worked with during my placements and they were all so helpful in giving me supply days, resources and support. This showed me two important things. 1. Relationships matter. You need to make them and maintain them because they can act as such an important support system. I was truly blown away by the immediate support by teachers that I had in high school. They were so encouraging, so happy for me and so willing to help in any way that they could. 2. Reach out and ask. You'll never know until you ask and this couldn't be more true for me. At first, I was almost embarrassed to send emails and let people know that I was available to supply. I didn't want to impose on people but just by reaching out and asking I received a positive response that has no doubt helped me on my teaching journey. 

I had applied for several LTO positions and at the end of January I got the call for an interview! It was for a 1 section LTO at Burlington Central High School. I felt the interview had went well but it was also my first LTO interview so my hopes were not overly high. While supplying at my old high school I got a voicemail offering me the position. Though I was so excited I was also hesitant. If I took the 1 section it would mean only being able to supply half days. Thank goodness I had been around excellent council because all of my form teachers and mentors told me to do it and get my foot in the door. They were absolutely correct. I accepted my first job and joined the team at BCH. 

I was fortunate that when I started there was another teacher also teaching a grade 9 geography section. She was so kind and so willing to collaborate. She also related to me and understood that started out could be tough. She shared all of her resources and made sure I was up and running in the first week. She was a huge blessing in that first semester. She really showed me what it meant to be a collaborator and it is my hope I can pass this kindness forward. I'll write in more detail about the first class in another post as I think it deserves that time and detail. 

Fast forward through the semester. Over the summer I took another two AQ courses once again trying to better myself as an educator. I took Teaching ELLs Part I and Int/Senior Health and Physical Education. I loved taking both of these courses and felt like I grew as a teacher by the end of summer. Once again, it was time to apply for LTO sections for the upcoming September. This time I had several interviews but ultimately, I was offered a full first semester back at Burlington Central and of course I had to accept. I was thrilled to be back in the halls that gave me my start and had a comfort level that I had not had the semester prior. I was also excited to get involved in more extra curricular activities as I would be at Central all day everyday. 

It has been a wild ride and one that requires a few more posts and a few more stories but the bottom line is this - I am happily moving along my path to permanent teaching. There have been some challenges along the way but each one making me a better teacher upon reflection. I love going to work everyday, I love working with my students and I love knowing that I picked a job I could be happy and have the impact I so desired. Life is good!