Imagine, if you will, this familiar scenario:
Teacher, holding up several Crayola markers without lids: "What happens when we don't put the lids on our markers?"
Class: "They dry out!"
Teacher, holding up the near empty cup where the Crayola markers go: "Where have all our class markers gone?"
Class: "They have dried out!"
Teacher: "Hmmmm...."

This is a daily conversation in the Kindergarten classroom - unless, of course, all of the markers have already dried out and it's only November and you are waiting for the New Year to try again, because you figure, "A new year; new markers; new goals." And, it's always a bit of an enigma because, clearly, the students demonstrate a knowledge that IF the lid is not put back on the marker, THEN it will dry out.

I was working with a boy who was colouring with markers and I noticed that many of the lids were at the bottom of the container and many were on but they had not been snapped shut. I watched him put the lids on, so I asked him if he knew about the "magic click". He shook his head so I demonstrated snapping the lid on all the way until we heard the 'click' sound. He definitely wanted to make those markers click, too, and he definitely tried to do it. He exerted all of his strength but there was no "magic click." He seemed disappointed so I suggested that he use the table top to help him, which worked. I remembered an article that I had recently happened upon (probably on Facebook) about youngsters coming to us in Kindergarten without fine motor strength, making them unready to hold pencils for proper letter formation, thus causing difficulty when they are writing and doing other fine motor activities, such as using scissors.

• The Guardian, Feb. 2018: www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/25/children-struggle-to-hold-pencils-due-to-too-much-tech-doctors-say

I realized that something similar was likely happening here... so, I studied the other children as they used Crayola markers, and sure enough, most of them were also putting the lids on (so they thought), but not achieving that "magic click." So, listen up Crayola! I get the purpose of the 'click', but children have changed, so this is now a design flaw. And, while you're at it, maybe make the markers triangular prism-shaped so they do not keep rolling off tables!

• Some hints from Today's Parent: https://www.todaysparent.com/kids/preschool/pencil-grip/
• And 3 TRICKS TO HELP KIDS LEARN TO HOLD THEIR PENCIL CORRECTLY from Mama OT: http://mamaot.com/3-tricks-to-help-kids-learn-to-hold-their-pencil-correctly/
• This video explains and gives some ideas to help your students develop these fine motor skills...

As a result of this observation and upon reflection, instead of shouting out, "I see markers without lids!" I will sit down at the creative table and do a mini-lesson to a small group, who can then act as the Marker Ambassadors to spread the word to the others.

All of the other kindergarten teachers whom I shared this epiphany with, said something to the effect of, "Oh, geez, I shout at them about that ALL the time!"  On behalf of all of us out there, I'd like to apologize to our dear students, who were indeed, to the best of their ability, putting those back on the Crayola markers... "We're sorry! And to make it up, we shall now play some games to strengthen those fine motor making muscles" (See above.)

This post focuses on pied colouring pages of seven Easter Eggs to paint.

One little girl (G1), immediately settled at the table, grabbed her paint brush and started filling up her eggs with colours.  Being the Arty soul that I am, I joined her at the table.  I started filling my eggs with patterns.  Two other girls came over  (G2 and G3) and they wanted in on this Egg-painting Extravaganza.  I gladly gave up my paint brush and used a pencil to fill in the rest of my eggs.

Now, working with water paints sounds simple, but it provides ample opportunity to problem solve: too much water results in a wishy washy colour; if you don’t rinse the brush well enough, the colours blend in the tray; you are limited by the colours in the tray,… or are you?!

G1 filled about six pages of eggs with solid colours before she was brave enough to try some patterns and colour-blending.  But she kept counting the eggs she had left to colour, thus working on her numeracy skills, naturally, without being instructed to do so.  This nicely illustrates how young children use their daily “play” activities as natural learning opportunities, and how a knowledgeable educator can use natural conversations to encourage the process.  This girl probably filled about 70 eggs, increasing her exploration and discovery as she proceeded.  

G2 was quite meticulous in her methods.  She only used one page of seven eggs, but she immediately realized that she could mix her own colours by layering them directly on her paper.  She discovered this by simply observing what happened when she placed the different colours beside each other.  (The colours blend where they meet, making a new colour.)  I said, “I love making new colours! It’s super neat because you can make your very own colour and then it’s fun to give it a name.”  She agreed.  I gave her validity of her process and provided an opportunity for higher order thinking.  She also stated she was going to make a lighter colour.  I asked her, “How are you going to do this?”  She proceeded to choose a lighter colour to mix with a darker one. These special moments of wonder and awe come so often in young learners as they engage in art (and play).  It happens naturally.  An educator’s skill lies in providing the materials for the students.  The educator does this with intent.  Of course, the young learners explore things that were not even thought of by the educator!  - This is true, you know it is!  And, of course, recognizing these ample moments for rich conversation to push their thinking further.
Now, back to our learning situation… I used paper towel to wipe excess water off my brush and  G2 noticed this method that I had subtly modelled.  She began to do the same.  She independently took this line of thinking further; she decided that she could mix colours on the paper towel before applying the process to her paper.  The final discovery she made was that she could paint her finger and press it to her paper, making mini-eggs, with a finger-print pattern.  I told her that was a great idea and I immediately did the same to colour the rest of my eggs. (Recall, I gave up the third paintbrush to G3 because I am a sacrificing teacher… ha ha!)
Throughout the whole situation, G3, very quietly, observed me, and she went about using the pencil to try her own patterns to fill her eggs.  She also tried what G2 did with her careful blending and finger-painting techniques.  I provided gentle encouragement and reassurance, and she became increasing braver in proudly showing her work.

The Goal of Educators: to nurture the belief in our students that “I can do ANYthing!”
Here’s another nugget of fine advice from Bob Ross, 
“The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.”
Young children really do believe that  they can do anything - watch them play and listen to them tell a story!  They have this bold and fiery attitude until they are told differently; life will tell them differently; as a teacher, I aim to nurture and develop it.


Even the boys, whom had gravitated to the intentionally-chosen computer game, were learning turn-taking, which is very hard to do - nobody enjoys waiting, but 5 year olds really hate it!  But these are some topics for another day and another post:)

The fact of the matter is that as an occasional teacher, you will likely find yourself covering for the French teacher, whether it be in a French Immersion classroom or as the Rotary French Teacher in an English-speaking school.  And, it's a scary prospect, if you have a less than basic knowledge of the French language, like, you took it as far as they made you (Grade 9)...

Here are some tips, gathered from personal experience, as well as from conversations with other supply teachers:

... a prep payback cover teacher, what the heck is that? That's got to be made up! The truth is, that while the title is, in fact, made up by me, it is a 'thing'.  This is when you cover a different class each period throughout the day while teachers have meetings, or have missed prep time paid back, or even have anticipated missed prep time paid back (prep-forward, if you will). It's usually a pretty interesting day as you get to work with different grades across different subjects.  And, since the teacher is at school, the day is planned and you just sub in and take over with whatever the classroom teacher would have done.  All in all, a pretty sweet deal.  So... my day went like this: grade 2 gym, grade 4 art, grade 1/2 drama & dance, grade 7 French, and grade 2 health & nutrition... What's a gal to do but to enjoy her day and marvel about how she is actually getting paid for this!
Teacher Reflection: Not all days are like this.  These days make the not-so-nice days worth it.

Well now, you can't just let kids boogie down all willy nilly.  (Trust me, I've tried it, realized the mistakes in that method, reflected upon said mistakes, learned from them - I utilized a Growth Mindset, if you will.)  First, you gotta use...
Clever Teacher Move #3: Checking Out the Dynamics of Your Crew

For a bit of diagnostic assessment, I like to start with Freeze Dance.  I direct the students to find a square on the floor, not next to any one else’s square.  That is their square and in fact, I tell them they can even name their square, if they’d like.  So one foot should always be in (or returning to, if jumping) your square.  Then we are ready to begin.

The square on the floor defines each of the student’s personal space for this activity.  You could even have a discussion about this if a class required it.  I can quickly tell who has an understanding of spatial sense and the ability to move and return to their space.  It is always evident who those students are that just don’t have this skill, and in my experience, usually students who don’t stick to their area; they just can’t, rather than they are not paying attention, or they don't want to.  They usually do not have the inhibitory control/self-control and sense of personal space to be successful at this task.  So, don’t worry about it; because most of the class are in their places leaving it much safer for the couple movers/runners to do their thing with less bumping into their friends.  Sorted.  Differentiation.  Unique needs of a few students met whilst still meeting the needs of all students.  Priceless.

Moving and stopping is very hard for some of our young learners.  This skill requires listening skills, plus body control (inhibitory control, self control and spatial sense).  

• Inhibitory control is the capacity to control our impulses and think before we act, or in the words of neuroscientist Adele Diamond, “to resist a strong inclination to do one thing and instead do what is most appropriate.” - See more at: http://childrenwithchallengingbehavior.com/tag/inhibitory-control/_
• Self-control is about being able to regulate yourself. Can you resist distractions? Get a handle on your own emotions? Inhibit your impulses? Delay gratification and plan ahead? - See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/teaching-self-control.html#sthash.JNlLdNeY.dpuf

For the ol' Supply Teacher Bag O' Tricks, here are some games designed to give kids a self-regulation workout: (from: http://www.parentingscience.com/teaching-self-control.html)...

• The Freeze game. Kids dance when the music plays and freeze when it stops. Dance quickly for fast-tempo songs, slowly for slow-tempo songs. And then reverse the cues: Fast music = slow dancing. Slow music = fast dancing.
• Color-matching freeze. In this variant of the freeze game, kids don’t just stop dancing when the music stops. First, they find a colored mat and stand on it. Then, before they freeze, they perform a special dance step. There are several, differently-colored mats on the floor, and each color is linked with a different dance step.
• Conducting an orchestra. Kids play musical instruments (like maracas and bells) whenever an adult waves her baton, increasing their tempo when the baton moves quickly and reducing their tempo when the baton slows down. Then the opposite rules apply (e.g., kids play faster when the baton moves slowly).
• Drum beats. A teacher tells kids to respond to different drum cues with specific body movements. For example, kids might hop when they hear a fast drum beat and crawl when they hear a slow drum beat. After a time, kids are asked to reverse the cues.​

As it turned out, this particular class had no such problems.  
Teacher Reflection: Physical age doesn't so much matter here, as much as past experiences.  Some groups, on the whole will not have had many movement experiences, and may require extra work.  If this is the case, stick to the self-regulation control dancing games.

We were ready to Just Dance! And dance we did... we did some Free Dance to some different styles of music: from classical to hip hop and popular songs. 
​In between songs, I questioned the students about what they were doing, referring to grade-level dance expectations from the curriculum, for example:

• How do you know how to dance/move? ("I move like this to slow music and like this to faster music." Me: "Class, how is Girl dancing?"... "bumpy, smooth, fast, slow"... Boy: "I did this because it was Hip Hop." - He showed some fancy foot work.)
• Teacher Reflection: Some shy or anxious kids get nervous when we use the word dance because they think they can't dance. Not true.  If you can move than you can dance.  And, you can call it moving, if that helps.
• How did you move to the classical version of 'Let it Go'? ("I move intensely to intense music and like this - showed me a choppy hand movement - to music that sounds bumpy.")
• I prompted: "So, would you all say that the music tells you how to move?" Class:"Yes! So, let's dance more!"
• One boy proclaimed: “I was born to dance…. though I didn’t know it until right now!” - Wow, powerful statement! This brings me to a Gratitude Attitude Alert! - I am pleased when I am able to provide meaningful and effective education, unrelated to pen-to-paper.  Sometimes, the kids don't even realize that they are learning.  A little play-based learning can go a long way!
• Teacher Reflection: the students may not have all of the vocabulary, so you may have to fill in some of the words for them.

If I Were a Classroom Teacher...
I would use a 'Creative Movement' Word Wall to display words to help students talk about how they are moving, which likely would turn out to be an Arts word wall as the words are helpful across subjects.

Next, we tried a Jam Fest activity, from a DPA Dance and Movement Workshop, called Cardio Hip Hop with Marissa Murphy, presented for Professional Development by HWOTL a few years back:

• Have students stand around in a circle.
• Play music.
• One by one, students will go into the middle of the circle and do a movement while people around the circle imitate that movement.
• When the leader feels that are ready to move on, they will point to another student to come into the circle.
• Teacher Reflection: Provide an option to pass, with the added option to decide they are ready at a later time, indicated by raising a hand, or whatever, thereby maintaining a safe and positive classroom learning environment where every one feels comfortable.
• The new leader makes the next movement for the group to imitate.  

​
Clever Teacher Move #4: State some safety rules.
Together, create a couple of rules to keep everyone safe. Some kids are super dancers but not everyone is safe to imitate their moves. For example, upright dance moves, no gymnastics, feel free to adapt the move to something you can do, etc.,...

There are countless benefits to dancing, so many, in fact, that I will focus on the ones that can be observed in a one-off, spontaneous dance party that I can conduct as a supply teacher:

• Most students were actively and exuberantly engaged and participating and the few that weren't were hovering near me, so I gathered them around me and we danced together.
• I've already talked about the self-regulation/self-control skills that dance helps to develop and then helps to consolidate these skills.
• DPA - The kids, and I, were sweaty! A super fun way to get in our 20+ minutes of daily physical activity, as dance is highly physical. (Government says we gotta move it!)
• Added bonus of channeling some of their seemingly boundless energy.
• Cross-curricular connections: The same concepts are found in music: Beat & Rhythm, for example.

This is acknowledged not only in our Ontario Curriculum Document and by science, but those who dance, just know these things to be true!

Curriculum Connections:
Our CURRICULUM says...
Dance Elements are: body, space, time, energy, and relationship

In the primary grades, students should be moving creatively every day. Students begin to use personal experience, imagination, and familiar movements to develop a movement vocabulary, to respond to prompts and express ideas, and to communicate their thoughts and feelings in various situations. Through a balance of free exploration and guided exploration, students develop awareness of their bodies and of the many different ways they can move. Through modelling and guided movement explorations, they expand their movement vocabulary to include some of the elements of dance. In particular, students begin to travel through pathways, use gesture to communicate feelings, and explore a range of levels, shapes, and locomotor and non-locomotor movements. Students also develop their ability to move and control their bodies in space and time and begin to create short dance pieces using the elements of dance.
From: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/arts18b09curr.pdf

PHE CANADA gives Five Reasons to Teach Dance, for anyone still unconvinced:

As a teacher it is important to remember that everyone CAN dance! By using an approach that provides an opportunity for guided movement expression, all students can bring their unique abilities to create movement.

• Reason #1: It is part of the curriculum!
• Reason #2: Dance educates students.
• Reason #3: Dance educates the entire Self and provides an ideal vehicle for students to learn physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
• Reason #4: Dance provides  opportunities for cross-curricular and integrated learning.
• Reason #5: Dance education creates balance within the educational program.

And, of course, SCIENCE agrees that dancing is good for us: 

• ​https://www.inverse.com/article/7861-science-explains-why-dancing-is-the-fast-way-to-make-yourself-happier
• http://www.livestrong.com/article/214791-the-benefits-of-dance-for-kids/
• ​http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/documents/publications/phpN0GNFD.pdf

Bonus Clever Supply Teacher Move: Choose a VGB
Last class at the end of the day... tired 6 and 7 year olds... meant to be learning about health and nutrition, but they weren't exactly into it.  It's not that they were against it, but they were just really wiggly and tired and grumpy, and I just couldn't see peace lasting until home time.
​
Oh, Look What I Just Happen to have in my Supply Teacher Bag O' Tricks!... This VGB (very good book), which is a very versatile read-aloud that is good across MANY grades; has enjoyment factor + matches a plethora of curriculum expectations....

The Candy Conspiracy: A Tale of Sweet Victory, by Carrie Snyder (2015)
In Candyville, the Juicy Jelly Worm rules over a land where lollipop trees grow beside rivers of root beer and powdered sugar falls like snow. Every day, he devours his candy throne, jujube crown and cupcake castle. Day in and day out, the children of Candyville must make new ones -- never getting so much as a nibble of nougat for themselves. Finally, one child comes up with an idea to outsmart the self-centered tyrant. The children plant a secret garden, hoping the fruits of their labor, which include sugar snap peas, candy cane beets, sweet potatoes, and watermelon radishes, might appeal to the Juicy Jelly Worm just enough to spark the sweetest trade ever.

We just had a fairly quick read aloud (due to time) and these same wiggly kids managed to sit mostly still in their chairs for the entire story! VGB = Priceless. (Especially if you use your public library! I love my library; Hamilton Public Libraries Rock!)

If I were a classroom teacher...
I would do so much more with this story.  For example, we could do some word work to expand the students' vocabulary and the story lends itself well to using the Prediction Literacy Strategy.

I hope you enjoyed my post and can use some of my ideas in your own teaching. I just love my job!

​Clever Teacher Move #1: Sneaky Transitions...
Me: “As we walk back to the classroom, I want you to think about 2 words: PIG and PARADE.  When we get back, I want you to look inside your brain at the picture those words made and SKETCH it on the paper on your desk, and, go!”
(We discussed the word SKETCH so that they would not be surprised and upset if they are not done after 5 minutes.)

Clever Teacher Move #2: Schema-collecting, sharing & oral communication...
We sat around the perimeter of the carpet with our pictures.  I chose students to tell one thing that they put in their sketches and anyone else who also put that item in their picture raised their own up to share.  (The option was there if students did not wish to share.) We could easily see the things that were the same or similar and the things that were different.  New ideas were also generated and the students were eager to go back to their sketches and add more.  I told them to hang on to those ideas because they were going to use them in a little while.

A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes is one of my favourite books and is a go-to item in my Supply Teacher Bag O’ Tricks!  It takes a silly idea and proceeds to build an argument based on the author’s opinion that a pig parade is a terrible idea. I’ve used this story for pure enjoyment, of course, but most often it leads off to work around opinion/persuasive writing, depending on the grade level.  And, yes, I do use this story for middle school kids, too, because it really does follow a pretty obvious formula that can be easily replicated by the students in their own work.

For this group, due to time limits, during reading we simply counted all of the authors reasons as to why he thought a pig parade is a terrible idea.  We also briefly discussed his explanations for those reasons.

Clever Teacher Move #4: Offer choice...
After reading:
A __________ parade is a _______________ idea because…..
I told the class that they were to complete the words in the sentence and then either use words, pictures, or both to finish the sentence.  In passing, I also suggested that they use interesting words, other than 'good' or 'bad' which provided an enrichment component for some (differentiation on the fly).  Knowing this particular bunch of students, I fully expected many pictures, but I also got many more words than I had expected to get.  I think it is because it was each student’s personal choice.  As the students handed in their masterpieces, I got further elaboration if required, but the pictures did a mighty fine job of depicting what they were meant to - quite the group of artists, I tell you!

​Gratitude Attitude Alert!  
One of the best things about my 10th year of occasional teaching is revisiting lessons.  With reflection, they adapt and change and become even better than before.  And knowing my students allows me to tailor the lessons for each class and/or grade level.

​That’s exactly what happened with this art lesson… On the phone, Dear Classroom Teacher said to me, “Do you remember that flower art lesson from a couple years ago? Do you want to do that with them?” Well, great, I thought.  I love teaching art and making art with children, but the lesson could be bettered.  In the original lesson, I showed them a sample (top right), demonstrated making the flower (as pictured on the left side of the top right photo below), and then the students went off to spend 3 minutes copying my picture and they were done and most of the pictures were the same.

Of course, the luxury of knowing my position days before allows advance preparation, so I went to my library for the DVD, and an Art idea book that had a sunflower picture that we could use as one source of inspiration. I found a handy Crayola resource chart (see above) depicting a couple of other styles of painting flowers.
The students were well into the animated version of Van Gogh's life, and unfortunately, due to time restraints, I had to cut it short so that we had time to explore the paints, as well as make our art.  We discussed Van Gogh's use of colour in regards to how the pictures made us feel and thought about how he felt while he was painting them.  I told them that since Dear Classroom Teacher's instructions were painting flowers that was the only rule (aside from filling the page).  Some of the kids came up to me and asked if they could do a video game flower... sure!... a monster flower? Sure! Field of flowers, potted flowers, single flowers, whatever! 

There was no brown.  Tragedy? Not at all.... they had to make their own by collaborating with the students in their groups, so they did, and we had many different shades of brown.  If we had more time, I would have given only primary colours, plus white and black, so that the students would have been forced (ha ha HA!) into more problem-solving than they did... and many of the students created their own colours in separate plastic cups.  While circulating, I asked them to name their colour creations as an impromptu enrichment activity, or asked them to explain how they came up with their colour.  Of course, a few students will always be finished sooner than I'd like, but most were engaged right up until clean up time!  Done one picture; make another! All good:) And, while I was not yet in the habit of documenting student work, I do have an updated flower picture for my files!


Clever Teacher Move #5: Preparation for Cleaning Up...
The fun of conducting painting art lessons with no sink in the room is Awesome, but luckily, with preparation, the kids were actually able to be fairly neat.  I used Word Work trays to put paint in egg cartons on, plus empty mixing containers, brushes, and even some brush alternatives (anything can be used as a paintbrush!)... We covered the desks with the big paper used earlier in a math lesson and I filled water containers to rinse the brushes out and provided paper towel to wipe excess paint off brushes before dipping in next colour.  And, I had to be a meanie and tell them "no painting on hands or finger painting because we have no sink access" and we simply had a short discussion on why I needed to make that rule... they knew; kids are smart when we give them time to think:)  Finding drying space was also quite a challenge... I so wish I took that picture.... there were paintings drying on every flat surface in the classroom.  It was Art-ly Awesome!

I hope you enjoyed:

• Clever Teacher Moves,
• If I Were a Classroom Teacher... Next Steps and Questioning, and
• Gratitude Attitude Alert!
• the concept of VGB - a Very Good Book (a very versatile read-aloud that is good across ALL grades; has enjoyment factor + matches curriculum expectations),  
• references to a Supply Teacher Bag O' Tricks,  
• the importance of Reflection To Guide Change, and
• a Bonus Clever Supply Teacher Move...

                                              ... And, it's all in a day's work!

"I'm a million different faces from one day to the next..."
​*Richard Ashcroft (The Verve) lyrics

Grade 6's... No! Not THAT assignment, again!
It's a really great assignment, actually, and as I know music theory (enough for grade 6), I'm able to help out.  Last year, I got left the same assignment, and the 6s had a lot of trouble, so, having recognized that the students would require assistance, I guided them through the instructions of the assignment, whole-class.  And, it was hard.  
​
Fast forward a year later, and I find the same assignment on the teacher's desk.  Yikes!  But this year, I knew that I should go over the instructions, plus review key concepts with the student before they started the assignment.  Alrighty, two minutes in, going strong, the kids are with me, someone has their hand up to inform me that they have already done this assignment.  Okay, yeah right.  I  wasn't born yesterday.  But she goes on with more detail... "the last supply teacher gave us the assignment, in fact, here it is!"  Okay, but still, I figured, it must be different, so I look and it is the same and the EA pipes in that, yes, that is true, indeed.  So, I am secretly so very pleased, and also a little put out for having no actual lesson, until I realize that we can do drama....

• 'Yes, Let's', a miming game:  Their core teacher popped into the class, on his prep, I might add, to get a message to a particular student, and unbeknownst to him, he fit right into our game as he mimed his message.  Of course, I drew attention to this, "Mr Dean is playing the game right!" 
• 'Energy Balls', in which students pretend to be holding on to changing and moving balls of energy.  It is an exercise in imagination, but I was loosing them, so I proclaimed it mental health music class, and gave the students a choice: read, do other work, draw, or they could work on a very hard halloween word search and maze worksheet that I had ready for extra-time fillers.  Note: I warned them that the maze may not even have a solution so do not get frustrated because, well, just don't.  One kid pipes up, all trying to be 'bad ass'... "what's this have to do with music?" to which I replied, honestly, "absolutely nothing.  So, by all means, feel free to repeat the other assignment, if you'd like!"  That was acceptable.  Another student, who is accompanied by a super EA but she was out of the room for a moment, choose to do the maze, even though he was left the iPad to use (because he deals well with structure and, in this case, all pretence of structure was thrown out the window long ago), well, after several warnings that this was very hard and I wasn't even sure there was a solution, he took on the challenge and the EA came back in the room and was very pleased that her student was engaged and happy. It also pleased her that the rest of the students were enjoying a mental health break because she said that they had been working very hard for a long while and they could use a little down time. 

* Source  of the above resources are - somewhere on the internet at some time, (i.e., not made by me but I don't know who made them).

One of the luxuries, I realize, of being (more than) "just" a supply teacher is being able to give them this 'relaxation' time... The demands of classroom teaching nowadays requires so much of one teacher - curriculum expectations, ministry/board demands, increased student needs, increased classroom sizes - it's often just too much for one human to handle, and it kills us, a little inside, each and every day that we don't get to spend enough time with each of our students; and the ones that justifiably need us more, get our attention more and the others suffer through, unchallenged... anyway...

I put on some Piano Guys and the 2 Cellos and they worked together to do the word search, maze or draw... and a couple kids chose to read their novels.  Plus, I received a request-turned-recommendation for another Piano Guys song, Titanium, and I promised that next time, I'd have it. (Note-to-self: obtain music file.) Specific curriculum expectations met = not so much; learning skill = many; mental health benefits = priceless (*insert mental health strategy link)

Two periods down... time for grade 8s.... music math... again, yikes; we did this last year, so.... I know where troubles may be lurking.  Again, review key concepts, and go... math & music connections come to life... another brilliant assignment, but head-hurting all the same:) They stuck with it and I interacted with them, offering help, but not lying to them... I admitted that I hadn't checked the second side yet and I had required many goings-over before I was certain I had the correct answers.  I joined the students in their learning journey, role-modelling perseverance. With grade eights, I call this class a success.  Plus, this batch of grade 8s are quite awesome:)

And then, Kindergarten!... (26 JK/SKs + 3 adults)
​Kindee's Songs: 

• Make a Circle
• Shake My Sillies Out

Then we danced and danced (music and movement) and listened to some more animal sounds and danced some more:

• Wild Things - The Learning Station
• ​Head to Toe Dance - The Learning Station
• Tappy Tappy  - The Learning Station - A focused listening and vocal play story song.
• The Giving Song, Thanksgiving Feast (the Learning Station), See you later and See You Later, Alligator! (Super Simple Learning) - Follow the leader around the room and into line and out the door and back to the classroom (for a super duper transition back to class)... 

What a super fun class!  Sometimes, I just can't believe that I am lucky enough to call this is my job!!

The second class of Kindergartens made it crystal clear that I would have to adapt the class; there were 14 JKs (3 & 4 year-olds) and no other adult... I quickly assessed that these little guys would need a more movement-oriented class... so... Kindee Boogee Fun Time! Concerned about the students running into each other, due to their lack of inhibitory skills, I needed a plan that would allow them to safely develop these lagging skills in a fun and engaging manner through movement and music.

In a spur-of-the-moment-get-the-class-under-control-act-of-desparation, I said, "Find a tile... it might be a blue one, or a brown one, or even one of the white ones... the only rule is that it cannot be next to another friend's tile.... name your square (mine is called, "Bob") and that is your square for the class."

Now, this is not a magical method by any means.  The three running boys still ran, but because the others were each in their place, it avoided collisions, and gave the kids a 'base' spot to gravitate back towards.  The naming provided ownership of their personal space.

Their behaviour was in no way surprising as they are only 3 and 4 years old, so what else would they, realistically, be doing? - New to kindergarten, some scared and anxious, nearing the end of the day and tired... poor little guys.  Which reminds me of one poor friend whose picture of his family, that he had been clutching so hard, had crinkled and wrinkled right in half.  He came to me crying and I quickly found some tape to fix his picture because that is what he needed right at that moment. ​

And, then these little kiddos surprised me, but good! I was so proud and impressed by them.  We got all lined up and I challenged them... "What if we were super quiet and we snuck right into the classroom and snuck right onto the carpet and sat down, without making a peep? Your teacher would be so surprised to see us all sitting there!"... well, they were well into this plan.  They were so super quiet that I was unsure that they were even behind me! And it would have worked, too, if their teacher wasn't looking right at us when we entered the room:)

My instructions: Review, on the board, rounding numbers (to tens, hundreds, thousands)...

As the students were finishing up their silent, okay, silent-ish, reading, I approached each table and asked them if they had a favourite number.  Then I told each to put it up on the board, anywhere, in whatever colour.  A stir began to be created as the students noticed something happening... ooooh, I created a bit of a buzz, I did:)
Then I asked a series of questions to gather knowledge of what the students already knew and what some of them may need to review further:

• What's the smallest number?
• What's the biggest number?
• What's the longest number?

Next, I gave the instruction to group the numbers together...

• 1-digit, 2-digit, 3-digit, etc
• one with a decimal
• numbers ending in 0
• numbers already rounded
• numbers needing rounding

Then, I just randomly asked them to round certain numbers:

• What is _________ rounded to the nearest (ten/hundred/thousand)?
• How do you know?

We came up with the rules pictured in the top left of the picture:

• 5 or higer, round up
• 4 or lower, round down
• If rounding to the nearest ten, look at one's place
• If rounding to the nearest hundred, look at ten's place
• If rounding to the nearest thousand, look at hundred's place

I was able to ascertain that the students had a pretty firm understanding of the concept of rounding, which was further substantiated when I circulated around the room whilst the students were working on their task:

The Rounding Game (left by the classroom teacher):

• Roll 2 dice & round to the nearest 10; roll 3 dice & round to the nearest 100; roll 4 dice & round to the nearest 1000. 
• They were to do each 2 times, but I'm seeing how you could easily vary this, as some of the students told me they did (after having played in the last class).

Here's a brilliant website: ​http://studentvote.ca with lots of useful teacher resources!  We had a bit of a discussion about Canadian Political Parties... just let me say, that's interesting with a bunch of 4th graders!  Too bad we ran out of time before they had helped me who to decide who to vote for:(

WHAT IS STUDENT VOTE?
Student Vote is a parallel election for students under the voting age, coinciding with federal, provincial, territorial and municipal elections.

The purpose is to provide young Canadians with an opportunity to experience the voting process firsthand and build the habits of informed and engaged citizenship.

Since 2003, 26 Student Vote programs have been conducted across Canada. In the last federal election, 563,000 students cast ballots from 3,750 schools.
​

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Voter turnout in Canada has been declining for decades at all levels elections, particularly among young people.

Studies have also shown that habits of voting and non-voting persist over time, so if young people don’t vote now, there is good reason to believe that they won’t become voters later in life.

By practicing the habits of informed and engaged citizenship at an early age, students will be more inclined and prepared to participate in our democracy when they graduate high school.

​All the artists at the time were painting in the Impressionist style.  But not, Henri Matisse.  He used brilliant colours and made art like nobody else.  In fact, everybody made fun of Matisse and called him weird, and he said, "Thank you."  He did not want to be just like everyone else! What a brilliant way to draw a connection between a time in history to the students in today's classroom.

Seriously, (despite the purposeful blur) these kids were super into their artwork.  Each one of them did something different; and even the ones who were less sure of themselves, the ones who started copying one of the modelled ideas, ended up with something truly their own... creativity abound!

When the students bring me their finished, or in-progress piece, I ask:
What do you call your piece? - the answer tells so much (hitting communication and literacy curriculum expectations).  Students who love to tell stories have a chance to shine:)

Wearing a TuTu is Empowering.  I was instantly transformed into the most beautiful ballerina ever... and I just couldn't stop twirling!...

I'm preparing for the HWDSB LTO list interview and so I am sorting through all of the handy resources I have collected throughout the 13 years since I have graduated from Teacher's College.... this whole process has caused a whole lot of reflection, so much so, that it has found its way into a poem:


A Reflection Poem

Note-to-self: remember when the world was new.

It's a wonderful thing when you can see the change in those keen eyes staring at you from the hard green plastic chairs... 

The surprise of the voices - the messages - slamming into brains.

Power & passion

My recurring Epiphany - which occurs 
Every couple of months;
I re-realize that 
The kids ARE learning and excited
And excited ABOUT learning
And learning is EXCITING
because it is easy enough to forget
That we didn't always know