New Location Temporarily

Hello Everyone,

After an amazing internship, I am back at the university for the next four months! For my ECMP 355 class (Technology in the Classroom) we are required to develop a WordPress blog. Until the end of my semester, I will be posting on here:

My Word Work Savior!

While browsing my Teachers Pay Teachers "10 Free Downloads" email -- totally worth signing up for -- I came across an amazing resource for practicing Word Work in the Daily Five.

Check out the Fabulous Firsties Blog and download this resource from Mrs. M's TpT Store!

      

Not only does this resource include a multitude of task cards with new and interesting ideas, it also comes with the accompanying recording sheets and graphic organizers for students to document their progress. Although it is designed for first grade, I have witnessed much success with my Grade 5's. I have never been so impressed with a FREEBIE!

Brain Break Kit

Here is a kit that I composed based on little activities or brain breaks that I have experienced. I made them up into cards for convenience. The general principle is that students' attention span is a minute/year of age. If that seems like too short a time, definitely change activities every 15 minutes or provide a brain break.

For the activity cards, click here.

For ease of access, I colour matted my cards according to approximate time needed. A purple card in my deck would take about 5 minutes of class time, whereas a pink card might take 5 seconds.

Exploding Art -- The Best Kind

As mentioned in an earlier post, my classroom’s reward system was called the “Caught Being Awesome” Jar. When I saw kids following the classroom rules, they would get a slip to add to the jar. Well, we filled that jar for the first time on July 10^th! To celebrate, we did exploding balloon art!

Materials

• PAINT SHIRTS and OLD bathing suits (Trust the bold words!)
• Tempera paint in a variety of colours
• Balloons
• Funnel
• Garbage Bags
• Large Paper Roll

Steps

1. Using a funnel, add some paint to a balloons
2. Blow it up
3. Add it to a jumbo garbage bag for easy transport and a contained mess in case of a POP
4. Roll out some large paper outside and dump the un popped balloons
5. Unleash the kids!

This activity was sooooo much fun and the kids loved it. To add to their artwork, some of the popped balloons even stuck to the paper which we used as a mural for the inside of our classroom

NOTE: Make sure you are ok with paint splatter. We decorated the shed and windows of our centre, however it washed off after a few good July storms!

Bubble Party!

Initially designed to be outside, we had to move our planned bubble party inside when the winds in Regina were gusting to about 80km/hour. Although it was messy (and took a bit of elbow grease), we had a blast!

Before our party, we had to make sure that we were wearing our professional bubble explorer outfits! The kids loved the goggles.

We filled a kiddie pool full of bubble solution in the middle of the room.

Bubble Art: Give each kid a cup filled with some watered down tempera paint and a few drops of dishsoap. Add a straw and let the bubbles overflow onto some paper.

In addition to these activities, we also had bubble wrap taped to the floor all over the room and a bubble machine! The kids were engaged for the whole afternoon.

Empty Counter Top?

Window Art

“In order to act as an educator for the child, the environment has to be flexible; it must undergo frequent modification by the children and the teachers in order to remain up-to-date and responsive to their needs to be protagonists in constructing their knowledge." (Gandini, 1998)

When looking for ways to improve the classroom environment, I sought out an art project that would also provide an opportunity for learning. Taking advantage of an open window space, I found the idea of using recycled milk jugs to make art. Not only did it turn out beautifully, but it also sends the important message of environmental responsibility and sustainability to children. Instead of using brand new art supplies, we made use of what we already had.

Teacher Prep
1. Save milk jugs. At the centre we use 14/week so it did not take long. Educators may also ask parents to contribute.
2. Wash them out thoroughly. Unwashed plastic exposed to sunlight in the window will not produce a smell to enhance your classroom environment!
3. Depending on the age of the children, you might want to cut off the handle and the spout of the jug.
4. To make the "paint", mix together about 1 cup of glue, a few drops of dish soap, and as much food colouring/water colour to get your desired colour. NOTE: This amount of paint will go a long way! 

Process
1. Have children cut out any shape that they want.
2. Using paint brushes or glue spreaders, have them decorate their pieces. Some may choose to spread it out, or make a drizzle pattern.
3. Hole punch either end of the piece and string them together using fish line.
* We used a fallen tree branch to add an earthy component to our window art.

For more ideas on recycled art, check out the Recycled Arts and Craft Guide

This is what tables are for, right?

Materials

• Tempera Paint in a variety of colours
• Masking Tape
• PAINT SHIRTS
• Drying Space (each of our kids made 5 or 6 pictures)
• Prep Solution (Water and a few drops of dishsoap)

Steps

1. Divide the table with masking tape into painting stations
2. Create 4-5 palettes of paint to go in the middle of the table
3. Before painting, spray down the table with a water and dish soap (just a drop) solution.
4. Unleash the children! When they are done painting, imprint their design onto a piece of white paper.

Have fun! This is extremely messy, but the imprints that we pulled off of the table designs were              AMAZING! This is another great way to teach about colour mixing and imprinting techniques through inquiry and experimentation.

Agriculture in the Classroom: Seed Kit

Living in a province with a large agricultural industry, it is important that Saskatchewan teachers accept the responsibility of educating our students in this area. By providing meaningful information and experiences, we can empower them to make informed choices when it comes to interacting in the world of farming.

One great way that I learned to involve students more in their Saskatchewan roots was through the organization Agriculture in the Classroom. Sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the agriculture industry, they have a multitude of amazing hands on resources for students. The best part ... these resources are free for educators!

One of my favourite picks would be the seed kit. This kit comes with 14 different seed samples, a few lesson plans and a sorting graphic. It is great to use for all ages, I have adapted the activity for students aged 4 to 10.

I have used the kit as both an inquiry centre (set up with all necessary tools and information cards) and a structured guessing game competition. The kids seem to be amazed at all of the consumer products that the grain industry supports! Here are some pictures of my kids interacting with the centre. I will attach the link to my information cards and the AITC website at the bottom. Enjoy!

A real canola plant!

These seem to look the same...

Materials for set up:

• A tray for the students to dump the seed samples (trust the kids to do this! -- we had a few spills but they all accepted responsibility and cleaned up their mess)
• A magnifying glass
• I had a mirror to place all of the bottles on for a beautiful visual display
• I also got some real wheat plants from the field for the kids to see the actual plant.
• The information cards

Check out this great website for over 250 lesson plans, activities, teacher guides, etc!

1950's Office Centre

"A high quality early learning environment supports children's learning through play. Adults contribute to the play by ... providing props and resources to enrich the play" (Jones & Reynolds, 1992) 

I was searching through my parent's basement when I found an old typewriter and rotary phone that I thought my children would enjoy as many were asking about the lives of their parents and grandparents. I placed both models together somewhere around 1950. I simply set up the centre without explanation to the children, and watched as they began to explore. This centre generated many questions, especially about Elvis Presley and what they thought was a "projector" (typewriter)!

We had many office scenarios take place as well as conversations with Lucy. Many of the kids just loved the sound of the typewriter and spent hours clicking away. We also supplemented this centre with dress up clothes and music (including Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley) as interest grew. Through play and inquiry, the children had fun learning about history and the lifestyles of previous generations.

Click here for the background pictures.

International Mud Day -- June 29, 2012

As a daycare staff who highly value the purpose of “messy” activities in developing language, social skills, motor skills and a positive attitude towards learning, we knew that International Mud Day had to be a big celebration!  This morning, our daycare director ordered a tractor bucket full of dirt which was dumped on the cement pad outside our front doors. All you need to add to complete the recipe for fun is kids and a garden hose!

We enjoyed the rest of our afternoon making some mud pies! The kids had so much fun. These activities were great to build gross and fine motor skills, discover the names of our mud pie plants in their natural environment and build some exciting vocabulary such as squishy, gritty, brown, cold, slimy and goopy!

Helping Hands

With fourteen kids in the room aged 5 to 10, keeping the room running smoothly could be a challenge on some days. For this reason, I introduced the Helping Hands in our room. For the older kids, it gave them a sense of leadership and responsibility. For the five year olds, they learned the value of taking care of their room. Some kids needed a job while some kids didn't. For this reason, I did not force the kids to do their job, but rewarded them with a "Caught Being Awesome" slip if they did.

For a personal touch I had each kid add their own hand print. I would have the kids move them around once a week. In a classroom setting, I have seen hand prints already made under each job heading. The students then move their names around to save space.

Job List

• Attendance Assistant
• High and Low Leader
• Awesome Catchers
• Room Rangers
• Snack Server
• Tidy Team
• Pet Patrol

The Black Book of Colours

It can be difficult to imagine what visual impairment might be like, but this book makes the challenge more attainable. Through a full Braille and written text, this book is accessible for a broad array of readers. It describes colours through the use of the other senses of touch, sound, taste and smell. The illustrations are also raised allowing every reader to explore the entire book through their fingers.

This book is an amazing piece of literature. Its accessible nature is not only great to include all readers, but also to teach students an alternative perspective and allow the world to be explored in a new way. It is truly a quality piece of literature.

Hearing Impairment Perspective Activity

In my Students with Special Needs course, we are learning about a variety of exceptionalities and inclusion strategies that may be used in the creation of a classroom community.

One activity that I particularly liked was a perspective activity that helped us to place ourselves in the shoes of a student who may have a hearing impairment.

1. Put music on and start quietly giving instructions for an activity.

• Give a high five to ten students
• Touch the four corners of the classroom
• Tap your foot eight times
• Complete four exercises
• Write down two thoughts about this activity
• Initial the board

2. Provide some students with written instructions, provide others hints, and for some students, reprimand
them for not listening.

3. Focus the discussion on the strategies that the students used to complete the activity. Make sure to hear the perspectives of the students with and without help. For example, "Was it easier to do the activity when you had written instructions?" or "How did you feel when you didn't know what to do?"

Perspective activities are a great way to help students understand and respect the struggles of their peers as well as the extra resources that they may need to be included in the classroom. If you ever have a scenario where students get jealous of the assistance received by a person with an exceptionality, this can reinforce the principle that "FAIR DOES NOT MEAN EQUAL." 

*Remember to consult the student with the exceptionality before engaging in these activities.*

Caught Being Awesome!

This summer my job was to work with the school aged students during their summer vacation. Knowing that I would be interacting with students from aged 5 to 10, all from different backgrounds and schooling expectations, I knew I had to develop a foolproof classroom management plan. Inspired by Chapter 6 of Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools, Climate, Community and Classroom Management (really one of the only useful readings of my entire university experience), I developed a set of classroom rules with the students and a positive reinforcement system.

As outlined in the chapter, I sat down with the students and took their ideas for the classroom rules -- both for the students and the teacher. Of course, we had about 30 different ideas which we were able to simplify to six. These were posted in a common area and also around the entire classroom.

To supplement these rules, I used a positive reinforcement tool called "Caught Being Awesome." This is a reward system that I learned about in pre-internship with my amazing co-op! The students would be given a slip when I caught them following the rules. When they filled up the bucket with the slips, the class would get a reward.

Caught Being Awesome Slips

This system took about two weeks to really take hold, but once it did, I had a very harmonious summer :)

Holocaust Awareness Week

"We must continue to teach our children the lessons of history's darkest chapters. That will help them do a better job than their elders in building a world of peaceful coexistence." ~United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon


We were fortunate enough this week to hear from Carson Phillips, educator from the Holocaust Education Centre as well as Vera Schiff, Holocaust survivor, about the purpose and value of Holocaust Education in schools. Here are a few resources you can use to teach your students about the Holocaust. Included on these sites are videos, lesson plans, activities and further resources.


Azrieli Foundation
Centropa: Teacher's Area
Conversations About the Holocaust
Institute of Education: Holocaust Education Development Programme
Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research

Last Day

After a fun day with the "Physical Activity Scavenger Hunt," and Pre-Intern Farewell Party, my time at this school is over. I want to take this opportunity to thank the school, my students and especially my cooperating teacher for teaching me so much. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and everyone has taught me so much. I wanted to close with another reminder of how thoughtful and selfless the upcoming generation is with a quote from a student that reaffirms the value of this wonderful group:

"My low for the day is that Ms. Schebel is leaving, but my high for the day is that other students will be able to enjoy her."  ~ Deleah

In response to this love, I have found a quote that I feel summarizes the way I feel about this experience:


"If you want to live more, you must master the art of appreciating the little everyday blessings of life. This is not altogether a golden world, but there are countless gleams of gold to be discovered in it." -- Henry Alfred Porter


My students and cooperating teacher are these gleams of gold in my life. I am so blessed to have been a part of this school and been allowed to be a part of their life journey. In two words -- thank you.

Lesson Ten: Your Ideas of "What Learning Looks Like" Will Differ from Those of your Students

Thursday Afternoon
Noise Level: High
Task: Finish up rich performance task related to physical activity and nutrition (write song, write story, make healthy living advertisement or research physical activity opportunities in the community)


I am running around the classroom answering questions, keeping students on task and assessing at the same time. I notice over time a student constantly cruising around the classroom. Thinking that this student was not working, I walked over and asked to see their work. Surprisingly, he handed me an almost complete project. I realized that although this student appeared to be off task, he was really just self-regulating so that he could do his work with more efficiency. Over these past few weeks I have noticed more and more that my conceptions of "learning" and what it should look like do not align with the embodied experiences of my students. When I was in school, learning meant that you were sitting quietly in your desk, complying with the teacher's expectations. In the school I am in, beautifully enhanced with diversity in culture, learning styles, life experiences, etc. I have learned that in many cases, sitting quietly in a desk is not learning. The question is, do we want our children to be experts at following directions and complying with demands, or do we want them to be critical thinkers, questioning norms and having the skills to self-direct and make a difference? I would imagine that educators today would choose the latter. It is still important to have expectations, but we need to analyse our foundational ideas about school. Do I get caught up in the fact that my student is not sitting quietly in his desk, "working" (the way I imagine working to be) or do I celebrate the students ability to self-direct and demonstrate self-regulation, self-control and responsibility for learning? Well today I celebrated and it is my goal to do so in other environments as well. Whether a student is doodling, walking around, chewing on their pencil, or sitting, students self-regulate and enhance their learning in so many ways. The challenge is for us educators to recognize that and include it in our conceptions of learning. 

"The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others" -- Tyron Edwards

~ Let's change this.

Lesson Nine: Be Careful of what you are Assessing

I was lucky today to be a part of another student-led conference. I am always really excited to sit in on these because the idea of the student led parent teacher conferences is a new idea to me although it has been around for a long time. I like that the student is able to showcase the work that they are proud of as well as taking responsibility for their learning goals. However, as I was sharing with a student’s parents about his success with the nutrition content matter, his father shared with me that the student had already taken this content as a part of his scouts program. This immediately raised the question in my head, am I truly assessing what the student has learned, or the experiences their families are able to provide for them. I am not sure yet what this means for me as a teacher or how I can change my assessment designs, but it is definitely an important component to consider when designing assessments for your students.

Happy Moment

Today was a great day of student sharing and reflection of the past two weeks of our experiences with Nutrition and Physical Activity. At the end of the day, we gathered in a talking circle and shared what we had learned. I shared with the students about how much they had taught me over the past few weeks. I am so grateful that I was placed in this school as it has influenced my identity as a teacher and who I am fundamentally. All of the stories of my students inspire me and solidify my desire to teach. Although they all shared amazing understandings that they have come to, here are a few of my favourites:

I learned that you don’t need money or to go to the gym to exercise ~ Sandy

I learned that there are lots of things and people that can influence us so we need to be careful~ Aleah

I liked all of the funny jokes you brought every day. They made health funner. ~Reanne

I learned that our food gives our brains energy and I liked watching the food digest in the stomachs we made.... it was so.... gross. We need to balance what we eat with exercise, or the other way around, to make sure that the nutrients can get us healthy. ~ Melinda

Although everyone learned something different, I was impressed that their learnings seemed to either help them develop a deep understanding of a big idea or a positive attitude towards school. Hearing their stories was important to me because as teachers, we are supposed to teach our students the prescribed curriculum. In reality, they are all going to take away something different depending on their pre-disposition to the subject matter and their background knowledge. No matter what we teach it, they will align it with their personal experiences and I am glad that they were able to share these differences with me.