Learn Create Inspire
Sharing successes and challenges through teaching while becoming a (hopefully) published author.
Informal PJ Day…We needed it!
I blinked and the term was almost done. I feel like I am behind on everything and bone weary. So are my kids…I bet you are as well. So today, my class paused curriculum and focussed on joy, as well as the Core Competencies. We had a PJ Day and you might need one as well. We are all so tired and this year is so hard, I hope this post inspired you to find some joy-even for just a day.
Navigating a Protest—Feeling Unsafe
I got stuck in the protest today driving from Chilliwack to Vancouver and back. I didn’t feel safe. This post explores the importance of our Fundamental Freedoms and how we can start to heal our deeply divided country.
Exploring Storytelling: Accidentally Creating Comics (Part 1?)
We are exploring different ways of telling stories in my classroom. This blog post outlines how making creatures with playdough ended up becoming a comic using Book Creator….and being woven into our storytelling unit. It was a powerful way to combine tactile learning, storytelling, and technology. This activity was filled with student voice and voice, as well as having an authentic audience. The engagement was high and I had fun!
Job Share Hide-and-Seek
It is time to hunt of a job share for next year. This post talks about how I feel about trying to find a job share—hint—not great, as well as my frustration of knowing what I need for a work-life balance and not being able to get it easily. It was suggested by a friend who thought other people might be feeling similar to me and not realizing that other people are feeling the same way.
Making Learning Visible: Reading Comprehension through Class Novels
Readers Request (sort of). This post generally outlines the final activities my class did with the novel Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. I also focus on shifting reading comprehension activities and assessment when sharing a class novel. One visual map assignment is broken down to explore how visuals can demonstrated deeper comprehension.
Functional Closure Part 3: More Digital Resouces
Functional Closure Part 3: More Digital Resources. This post explores a few digital resources that I use (Esti-mysteries, Jam Board, and Book Creator) as well as a few specific apps in Office365 (Sway, Forms, and Word). It will be the last in my digital technology series unless I get specific questions that I feel I can answer. As alway, I hope this is helpful. I know we can make it through this challenging time.
Functional Closure Part 2: Recording and Sharing Digital Resources
Planning for a Functional Closure Part 2! After the HUGE response to my blog post about digital resources and how I am prepping for a functional closure in my class, I thought I would share more. In this blog post, you will learn HOW to create screen recordings on both computers and tablets. You will also learn how to upload videos to YouTube safely to help share ideas with students and parents.
Planning for a Functional Closure? Want to know what it is? Let me help!
Are you planning for a functional closure…or wondering what a functional closure is? This blog post will explain what I know so far and provide some support to educators. I share some of my favourite digital resources and what I am sending home next week so that my students are prepared. We can do this if we support each other!
Return to Work?
Tomorrow many of us go back to work as educators to utter uncertainty. This pandemic has been two hard years and the Omicron variant is pushing the numbers higher. This is my reflection on our current situation and what I am trying to do to find some joy. This is supposed to be hopeful-ish, but mostly it is to let you know that you are not alone. All educators are feeling so many things and we are stronger together.
We Miss You Naomi—Closure and Sadness
I worked with Naomi Onotera for four years and this is how I am feeling…
A Message to the Teachers and Students in Quebec: Loose Parts and Poetry to Unpack Ideas
Bill 21 is a racist law in Quebec. Today my class read The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad and used loose parts to craft messages of support for the teacher removed from her classroom in Quebec for wearing a hijab as well as her students. We used these messages to build a poem of support that we hope will get to this educator as well as all of the other educators in Quebec fighting overt institutionalized racism.
Using loose parts is a powerful way to explore challenging topics and it worked well for this lesson. I have included the poem, photos, and lesson information in this post.
Accessibility + Mrs. Salter’s Arcade = A Lesson in Retrofitting vs. Universal Design
Mrs. Salter’s Arcade is ready…and accessible. The last 24 hours has been a lesson in retrofitting versus universal design. My students have made sure ALL kids at our school can actively participate and enjoy our arcade—and I could not be more proud.
Mrs. Salter’s Arcade: Hands-On Cross Curricular Fun
Readers Request: Mrs. Salter’s Arcade. A brief overview of the 2.5 weeks that I use to turn my classroom into a cardboard arcade and the learning that occurs. I have provided BC curriculum links as well as a sample package to use and possible assessment. Be inspired. Get messy. Have fun! This is a great project to start the new year with. You could tell kids about it before they go on break and they will come back with so many ideas!
Cardboard Connections: A Case for Playing with Materials
A cardboard connection lessons to help my students learn how to build with recycled materials. A case for seeing play as learning and letting kids play with materials and manipulative before you construct expectations together. Simple Machines, scissors, glue, Make Do kits, laughter, and a fashion show.
The Class Novel: Designing engaging activities linked to class books (Part 1..maybe?)
Reading a class novel can be a powerful way to model language and to design mini lessons. This post explores how I choose books, start to design lessons, and it also provides a sample lesson for the book Out of My Mind. This might be the start of a series—if people are interested.
Finding Joy in Covid Teaching
Teaching double duty this week with six kids in class and twenty something online. It has been a month of dealing with covid in my class. I am working hard to find joy this week through reducing my workload and focusing on my favourites: writing stories and doing art!
Deep In Revision
My blog posts are few and far between because (1) teaching and (2) revision. I am having fun reading books about writing non-fiction and starting to share parts of my book with friends for feedback.
Transgender Awareness Week Resources
It is Transgender Awareness Week. This blog post will provide you with literature that you can use from primary through high school. I have also outlined a lesson I ran today using the book Red A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall.
Draft 1 Done: 40 000+ Words
40 000+ words in ONE month! The first draft of my education book Less is More is complete. The rewrites have already begun, but having a complete draft feels good. This post also includes an excerpt from the introduction chapter and invites you to help me plan workshops for the STA and the MyPITA conference in the fall.
Picture Book Study: Exploring the Alternate Experiences of War
As we approach Remembrance Day and Veterans Day, explore the alternate experiences of war through five powerful pictures books. Help teach reading comprehension skills, compassion, and history in a powerful way that every child can participate in. This activity has built in structures to support all students.