Music Madness

©Pixabay. 2014. Music Notes. [online image]
Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/music-notes-staff-violin-key-song-306157/

When I was in middle school one of my favourite classes was music. It was something I looked forward to everyday and I continued to play the tenor saxophone well into high school. For this reason I was extremely excited to shadow the school music teacher in week 2 for my observation day. The vice principal said following a music teacher for a day shows you how to execute good classroom management as you have 20-30 students all trying to learn an instrument!

The best way I could describe the music teacher would be: Jack Black in School of Rock. I say that as a compliment as this teacher was passionate about music, excited to work with his students and had a quick witted self demeaning sense of humour. He immediately told me I was in for quite a day with 4 grade 8 music classes on the schedule. He sat in his office and attempted to hit the top two notes on the clarinet in the b flat concert scale. He said that many of his students struggled with those two notes and if he couldn't do it himself how could he expect it of his students? He told me that at least this way they could struggle through it together. I thought that approach was pretty neat because he was putting himself in the shoes of his students and was able to empathize with their struggles.

It was clear that the music teacher understood his students and this connected directly back to my textbook Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment and the section on knowing your students. He understood that there were some students who were new to the school and some new to the country who would be at various levels of music. He did a diagnostic assessment at the beginning of each semester to find out what prior knowledge students had about music and what level everyone was starting at. This was critical for his lesson planning and deciding how to proceed forward in the year. His ability to know his students allowed him to empathize with his students, plan accordingly and make the music room a positive learning environment.

During the day I simply observed. I watched as students entered the room, knew immediately that they were to setup their chair, get their instruments, rinse their mouth pieces and start practicing their scales until the class was ready to begin. It was evident the teacher had practiced these routines several times and that now they were easily executed.  I watched as he stood quietly at the front of the room waiting patiently for their attention. He told me that attempting to yell over a bunch of instruments was a losing battle and that waiting quietly was much more effective. 

The class didn't aways go smoothly and at time it was noisy and chaotic. It is easy for students to get distracted when they have instruments in their hands but patience was certainly the key and being prepared to adapt as the lesson progressed was important! Another great week under my belt and I'm excited to see what next week holds!

SERTainly In The Know

Ever heard of a SERT? I hadn't before I arrived at my placement school. SERT stands for special education resource teacher. These are teachers that will work with students with exceptionalities, students on individual education plans (IEPs) and with teachers who need assistance in creating differentiated lesson plans. I spent the day with the intermediate SERT who takes care of students in grades 6, 7 and 8. The woman I was with was absolutely incredible. She was welcoming and immediately made me apart of her day. She took time to answer any and all of my questions (and there were many!), gave me an overview of what SERTs do and took me through a day in the life of her job.

What blew me away was learning about the different resources and assistive technology that students have access to for all kinds of needs. In this school iPads are used for students in grade 5 and below for several reasons. If a student needed assisted reading or a scribe they can use applications on the iPad to assist their learning. In grades 6 and above students have access to chrome books in which students can work with online tools to assist their learning. Some students struggle in writing and putting their thoughts to paper. Sometimes, the ability to type and use corrective spelling tools can help them communicate what they know while removing the barrier of having to manually write it out. 

At one point in our day we did classroom drop ins where we checked on students that may need assistance. Specifically, I met two boys who have severe autism and who are currently in regular grade 8 classes. Often, parents will choose to put their children in a life skills programs but, in the case of these two boys, their parents opted to keep them in regular classes. My mentor SERT explained to me that all students have the right to participate in core education and it is our job to ensure they get what they need to develop through their learning. In the case of these two boys, they had modified curriculum expectations and evaluation methods. This inclusive approach stems from Growing Success which is a policy document we learned about in our assessment course. This document emphasizes that educational programs should be designed to accommodate needs and facilitate a child's growth and development. Using resources like the ones photographed above, a SERT helps to design these accommodations and support both parents and teachers in creating an equal and successful learning environment for all students.

Learning about SERTs and what an incredible resource they can be for teachers and students alike made me thankful for their service. These teachers are extremely busy and care deeply about their students. They do a special job removing barriers and making the classroom a place where all students can get equal opportunity to learn. They advocate on behalf of students and ensure that they get the tools and technology they need to be successful. I left with a deep appreciation for SERTs and I even got to thinking that I might be interested in doing that one day. My first day was enlightening and exciting and I can't wait to see what the next week brings!

Ready, Set ... Back To School!

©Bruce Trails. 2015. [online image]

I've been in my placement once a week for the last 3 weeks. We need to back up a little bit and talk about how it all started. After all the anticipation of where I'd get placed I found out I'd be at an elementary school in Milton. The school is relatively new and not too far from my house so all in all I was pretty excited to get started. 4 of my classmates are also placed at this school so on the first observation Wednesday we arrived early filled with nerves and anticipation. 

From the moment I arrived I knew I was lucky to be placed in this school. We were greeted by the vice principal who had food and drinks ready for us in the conference room. In a school of 1200 students Jane is one of 2 vice principals. She spent the entire morning getting to know each of us as people, asked what we hoped to gain from our experience and told us with pride about her amazing school.

The school is beautiful. The facilities are new and they have state of the art technology. It is evident that everyone in the building takes pride in their school. There are Apple computers in the library, new instruments in the music room and science tools in the labs. The school is extremely multi cultural with 80 percent of the students from the middle east, Asia and Europe. With that said, there is very little diversity on the staff but this is something the school is extremely conscious of. As an example, they understand that many students cannot see themselves in the teachers so during the lunch hour they bring in volunteers from the community to be classroom monitors. This allows the students to have adults who they can identify with. This is an excellent attempt to close a gap between students and instructors. 

While we toured the school my jaw continued to drop based on the sheer size of the school and the resources the students had access to. The school has two full time ESL (English Second Language) teachers, 4 SERTs (Special Education Resource teachers) and 2 LTOs (Learning Resource teachers). I wasn't even sure what all of these teachers did until I shadowed them on later observation days. What was clear was that students were put first and every attempt is made to give each student a chance to be successful.

I am beyond excited to do my placement at this school. The staff cares about the students and one another, there are amazing resources at their disposal and there is a culture of acceptance and passion for learning. I found out that my mentor teacher is a grade 7 language and arts teacher. I look forward to becoming apart of this school community and can't wait to document my experience!

Reading Reflection

ASSESS Bump It Up Wall from LearnTeachLead on Vimeo.

In week 5 I explored the website LearnTeachLead which is designed to provide resources for teachers and educators in different subjects and acts as a collaborative space for learning. Specifically, I watched a video and learned about a strategy called "Bump it up wall". In this strategy students complete a piece of writing, edit it, have it peer reviewed and then put it up on the wall. The teacher then reviews it and asks the students to create a good copy. The students put a good copy on the wall and the teacher provides feedback for students. The next time they do a writing piece they are to incorporate the feedback. This wall shows the students' progress and gives them a chance to improve their work. 

This particular video aims to improve students writing ability but in the process they are using their reading skills. First, they are editing their own work which means they are evaluating the writing for good vocabulary, punctuation, clear content and good use of information. Then their piece of writing is peer reviewed. This gives a student the chance to read someone else’s writing and again look for elements which need to be improved. In the curriculum students are expected to grasp ideas communicated in a text and apply them in new contexts. In this particular resource video, students must understand the ideas of their classmates and evaluate if what they are reading is well written. Students are also expected to read for a variety of purposes and so this activity has students reading in order to peer review which is something they will have to do as they progress through school.

As a teacher, if I used this strategy I would have the student edit in a different colour pen so I could clearly see their understanding of the different elements of writing (sentence structure, punctuation  spelling ect.). I like the idea of having a student submit their rough draft, peer edited draft and good copy. It would show them how much work can go into a single piece of writing and you could even turn that into a lesson on reading. I could find an article and have my students read it. After, we could talk about how many drafts we thought a particular piece might need and what things they would change or edit in the particular article. This would teach them to think critically about something they are reading and apply a skill they use in writing to evaluate an article while reading. 

The entire LearnTeachLead website was extremely useful. You could search a specific subject and find specific resources that relate to your search. The videos are a great way to get a good overview on what is being taught or suggested. The “Bump it up wall” showed me that I can get creative with how I introduce reading to my class. Of course, my students will have to read age appropriate books and do more traditional learning activities but I can also get creative with how I incorporate reading. Peer review is just one way to get students reading in another subject or unit.

The Great Games - Ratio Martian

©Arcademics. 2015. Ration Martian. [online image]
Retrieved from http://www.arcademics.com/games/ratio-martian/ratio-martian.html

©Arcademics. 2015. Ration Martian2. [online image]
Retrieved from http://www.arcademics.com/games/ratio-martian/ratio-martian.html

The game I chose to evaluate this week was Ratio Martian. This game is good for grade 6 and 7 students who are practicing recognizing ratios in different forms. Specifically, in grade 6 this game would be good in the probability unit when students have to represent the probability of an event using a ratio and in grade 7 when they look at proportional relationships. The game is based around a martian who is hungry and only eats ratios. Numbers come across the screen and students must click on ratios for the martian to eat and pass on numbers that do not represent ratios. Correct and incorrect answers are tracked and students can see their results at the end of the game. Students also have the ability to gain achievements by completing a rate of 10 ratios per minute at each stage of the game. 

Overall, I think the game is effective as a starting off point for students to ensure they can recognize ratios. I don’t believe this game is good for learning beyond that. With that said, the game provides feedback on which answers students got right and wrong so they can evaluate their work and learn from their mistakes. 

The game is clearly not something students would enjoy for a long period of time since it is very simple and there is little depth to it. However,  as a short introduction activity it could be a good way of engaging students into the subject. I also thought it would be useful as a quick evaluation of prior knowledge in grade 6 or 7. Are all your students at the same level or do you have some students who cannot recognize ratios consistently? If that is the case, it would give teachers that information and would allow them to adjust their lesson accordingly. Anything beyond introductory and I think this game would lose its value. For that reason, I think the game is a good tool for gaging where a student is at in their understanding of ratios.

Week 6 Math Reflection: A Lesson In Lesson Planning

©Othmar's Trombone. 2015. [online image].
Retrieved from https://othmarstrombone.wordpress.com

I am halfway through my first semester of teacher's college as week 6 comes to an end. As we push forward in our development as teachers a common theme continues to arise... lesson planning! This is an essential tool for teachers everywhere who are preparing activities for their students. Why create lesson plans? Why not just have the big picture in your head and show up to class with that in mind? The simple answer is preparation sets up for success. When you are facilitating between 20 and 30 students over the course of a semester or entire year of schooling, planning and preparing is key to their continued development. 

Big picture ideas are great but the trick is in the details. If plan A doesn't work you need to be at the ready with plan B. You have to know what areas of the curriculum you are covering, if you're building on the lessons previous, where a particular lesson is intending to take your students, what materials you require and strategies for propelling your students forward. It sounds like a lot and it is! As someone who has yet to put into practice her lesson planning skills, I was nervous. 

Finally, my big worries were addressed this past week in my math class when we went through a lesson plan together as a group and thank goodness since I have 3 lesson planning assignments coming up in several classes! There were 3 key things I took away about what I should do as the teacher:

1) Always do the math! (Be sure you are ready and able to complete the problems you're handing out)

2) Ask open ended questions. (You want to prompt your students to find the answers themselves)

3) Check for understanding. (The job is never done. Create an exit ticket or reflection activity to see if what you've taught has been absorbed)

It sounds easy but these are some simple rules that could get overlooked if you weren't completing a lesson plan. Another important thing I learned was that lesson plans are for you, the teacher! Sure, having a good plan in place will benefit your students but it is a tool used to help you stay on track and be the most effective teacher you can be in any given lesson. A lesson plan is also critical in deciding how you will evaluate. You may not use the same evaluation tools each and every lesson. In fact, it is good to evaluate in a variety of ways and so planning your evaluation is just as important as planning the lesson. 

Ultimately, as we discussed in class, the goal of any lesson should be for students to make connections and extend their knowledge beyond the classroom. They need time for independent practice and using examples that they can relate to can really help them get engaged in a subject. If my students are able to take the concepts and skills they are learning in my class and extend them beyond into their everyday life I'll know I've done my job. The best way to do my job is to make sure I'm prepared with a great lesson plan!

TechKNOW Teacher

It's official, I completed my first course in teacher's college. It was only a 6 week course but in that time I learned so much valuable and applicable information. My digital learning course was jam packed with new online tools, tips for improving your online identity and information on how to use technology effectively in your classroom. With the format of class being gamified there was no getting around using and improving my online skills. 

After spending some time in my placement school I know that many of the skills I learned in class will be useful. My school has tons of technology and students have access to all the devices and media they could ever need. There is something for every type of learner and students are encouraged to use online tools to further their in class learning. If I am going to do my teaching block at this awesome and forward thinking school then I am going to have to be prepared to introduce and use new tools. These students already know what it's like to have teachers who bring media into their classrooms and so the bar has been set ... very high.

Luckily, I feel ready. I'm confident that I can use more entertaining and engaging presentation tools then I would have previously thought. I'm ready to create PowToon presentations and gage what my students know by using real time quizzing applications like Kahoot! Even the creation of this blog can be credited to my digital learning course. I'm grateful that a course like this was created so I, as a 21st century teacher, would be prepared to face tech savvy students. I'm thankful for my professor DJ Dave who came to class with passion and excitement about the subject while remaining patient as many of us struggled through learning something new.

With one class under my belt I feel like my journey to becoming a teacher is truly underway and I'm moving forward as a #techknowteacher!