– Originally posted August 28th, 2007 – If you come to a fork in the road, take it. – Yogi Berra Transitions I’ve taken a job at a high school and I am looking forward to the new challenge! After seven years of teaching Grade 8’s and two years of teaching Grade 9’s, I will […]
Category: reflection
Reflections: Stirring in the crock pot
Spring brings new beginnings just as a school year comes to an end. As a teacher it is difficult not to be reflective in June. Special moments remembered, peppered lightly with what could have been, and never transpired. The nostalgia seems to loom more so this year as I contemplate a move after my nine-year […]
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The Capacity to Lead
Students of all ages have the capacity to lead. For a few years now I have taken a group of Grade 7 and 8 students to our feeder schools to teach the incoming Grade 5’s the “Seven Secrets of Leadership”, but really it is about so much more than that! This is from the e-mail […]
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Blogging with students requires biting your [digital] tongue
In my last post about my Science Alive wiki, I mentioned that our Renaissance Fair Project was starting, (here is the assignment). I also mentioned that with our lousy computer lab, I wouldn’t be blogging again as I did last year. Well, I decided to go ahead anyway! I can’t use our useless communal teacher […]
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Wikis in the classroom: a reflection.
Well here it is, my completed Science Alive Wiki. After an incident delayed getting feedback from my students until last Monday, things got extremely busy with preparation for the Renaissance Fair and my Grade 5 Transition Retreats [the subject of a future post]. All this included 3 afternoons out of my classroom at other functions… […]
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“Who Have You Helped Today?” – Developing Empathy
Prelude Two Brothers, Craig and Marc Kielburger, are my modern day heroes. Tonight Marc is having dinner with Oprah Winfrey. The brothers’ US office is hosted by Oprah. They have had an audience with Mother Teresa. They have been featured on Oprah, CNN, CBC, BBC, and 60 Minutes. They are sought after speakers that have […]
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Start Your Own Blog
Here is the write-up for the 2 hour Professional Development seminar that I ran today for 9 dedicated teachers who showed up on a sunny Saturday, after a full day of Pro-D on Friday. Start Your Own Blog A practical session that will introduce you to blogging. You will see how others use their blogs […]
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“Some Assembly Required”
I thought I was going to spend the long weekend reading my book for our book club, but I had a Whole New challenge instead: Putting together a million piece puzzle for my kids to play on in our back yard…. swings, monkey bars, slide, fort, climbing wall, and picnic bench all neatly packed in […]
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“I’m a mop not a sponge”: Metaphors all the way down
A well-known scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got […]
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WOW: Bringing Science Alive! (wiki)
What happens when you: Allow students to determine what they need to learn, and then enable students to manage their own learning activities? I recently started a wiki space for my Grade 8 Science classes called Science Alive! The concept is to let students choose their own topic to explore, and then demonstrate learning on […]
