One focus at our school is Project Based Learning. Each grade gets the opportunity to do three rounds of PBL. Each project is about three weeks long and the students are given a driving question and they need to create a project around that. So far the Grade 6 has completed two rounds. The first was centered around Evidence and Investigation where they needed to develop a crime scene and develop evidence that suits their crime. The second was around establishing a healthy lifestyle. The second one was left pretty open for the students to decide what direction to take. We had many that chose to do healthy eating, some tackled mental health and wellness, while others looked at physical activity. Students were able to work with other classes and collaborate in new groups. We had many groups create Google presentations or videos to show their understanding, and some groups developed their own cookbook. It is amazing to see how creative and purposeful so many presentations were. For the second round of PBL students were assessed on their ability to work collaboratively, as well if they understood and explained why it is important to live a healthy lifestyle. This project really brought the school culture together as we were intermixing all grade 6 classes. It was extraordinary to watch them develop and create together.
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In my class there is a variety of learning needs and student abilities. Here is an example of a differentiated assignment to meet student needs.
Last month we were working on developing a classroom mission. My co-teacher and I wanted to make sure it was a collaborative mission that we made with our class. We gave each student three post its that they could describe what a class room should look like, feel like, and sound like. While we were brainstorming some ideas of what an ideal classroom should be like the students started to write down their thoughts. When they were done they went up and stuck them on the board. We went through each one and tried to find common language. From there is were able to come up with a mission that represented what our students wanted our classroom to be like. Here are some photos they first is in the midst of planning and the last is our complete mission statement. We had three students paint it onto a canvas that we can display in our classroom.
So I have kind of abandoned my blog as of late but nonetheless here we are.
I have recently got an interim teaching position at a brand new school! It has been very busy as I has hired on after the school year had already begun. So I have been playing a bit of catch up over these past few weeks. I am very excited to be apart of this new school and joining the grade 6 team. Last week we took all the grade 6 class to Camp Evergreen. The students were able to try many different activities over the course of the day. We went horseback riding, canoeing, zip lining and many more. It was a really fun day for the students and the teachers! Here are a few photos from the day. I have recently moved to Central Alberta. So I am in a town, new district, and looking for a new job. I have become apart of the Wolf Creek School District Substitute list and got to work my first day in a grade 5 class a few weeks ago. It was a pretty great day I got to be apart of their Terry Fox day which was pretty exciting for me as it is such a historic day in schools across the country. It is one day I remember throughout my childhood.
Today I also had my first interview for a grade 4 position. I was really nervous prior to the interview and was anxious to find out what they would ask. I spent the night before trying to learn more about the school and prepare myself for some potential questions that they may ask. After the interview began I started to feel more comfortable and I think that overall the interview was successful. On Tuesday I was asked to be a judge at our schools Science and Heritage Fair. There was 100 projects that were entered into the fair. Students from all grades participated and the topics ranged from Louis Riel, volcanos, hydroponics, to The Holocaust. It was a great experience to get to see other students in the school present their work, and see how proud so many were. For the Fair we were working in partners for the division II projects. They were given marks in 6 different areas and given a mark out of 60. Before lunch the awards were presented for first second and third place among the division II students.
Although AISI is no longer a program in schools, at Agnes Davidson they still have so funds that have carried over into this current year. The staff is still able to have grade level planning meetings to further their professional learning. Last week I was able to be apart of one of these meetings. The grade 5 teachers all got together to develop a SmartBoard lesson for the fraction unit in Math. We spent the morning going over what the pertinent information was and what needed to be taught to the students based on the Program of Studies. The lessons were designed to help keep the students engaged, use of technology, and reference to their workbooks.
During this practicum was more or less the first time I needed to complete full unit plans based on the program of studies. In my PSII I taught PE so my unit plans were based around sports linking to SLOs where in this practicum I had to make units for specific topics in the Program of Studies. I taught Classroom Chemistry and Weather Watch for my Science classes. In Social I taught Stories and Ways of Life in Canada. This unit was covered over the entire length of my practicum. For my unit plan I decided to break it into weeks because there was so much material that needed to be covered, and because the unit was so long. I wanted to have a general idea of the topics and SLOs I needed to meet by the end of each week to ensure I was staying on track. I have attached my planning to show that I was covering all the outcomes for this unit. The last two weeks were set aside for the students to research and create a project to show in the last week of my practicum.
During my PSIII the school had two professional development days. The schools main focus was looking at Leader in Me. As of next year the school is going to be implementing the program so they have been working hard to develop a timeline to get all staff on board and trained in the program. This year I also attended SWATCA where I attended 5 different sessions which are all listed in my professional development tab of my website.
For my PSIII I also have done precision reading as my project and have consistently been learning about it throughout my 15 weeks. I spend 4 days a week working with grades 2-4 on precision reading. I have been learning a lot and we have altered the program in my time here to make it more effective and to better meet the needs of the students. During all of our practicums for education we are evaluated by our teacher mentor, university consultant and the school principal. Through these evaluations we are held to Alberta's standard for teaching certification. For my PSIII I have been given a lot of verbal feedback from both my teacher mentor and school principal. It has helped shape my teaching and provides me with ideas to better my lessons as well as classroom management techniques. My university consultant provided me with both written and verbal feedback upon watching me teach. At the end of this practicum I will be given a formal evaluation report saying that I have upheld the Alberta structure and standard for teachers.
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Miss. HamptonLinking learning and instruction to KSA's Archives
May 2017
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