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:)

... 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!

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:)

I am usually too over-whelmed on Twitter.  I mainly use it professionally, so my connections are either Educators or Local News & Events.  Still – I usually find it all too much all at once.  And by too much, I mean too much relevant information that has the potential to make me a better educator, and a better person, in general.  So, I mark some of it for for later, share some on Facebook,  or save inSpringpad… and then loose it… forever.

Not this time!  This time, I will share my Exploration into Twitter Chat Land.  I have pulled out some examples of Top Tweets (as determined by myself for myself, but also for others in a similar situation).  As well as some of the links to Blogs and other resources.  In a follow-up blog, I may include these to create The Compilation of Mega-Advice for Successful Job Interviews.  Of course, then…

I WILL LAND MY PERFECT FIT TEACHING JOB!I am a Twitter Newbie…. kind of.  I’ve been on it for over a year, but I am more of a passive user – for now –  I think I might try a chat one of these days, like the New Teacher Chat (#ntchat), moderated by Lisa Dabbs ‏@teachingwthsoul.  You can check out the Wiki here.

Also note that I did not notice this wonderful and extremely relevant chat until the end.  I scrolled through and was impressed by the succinct, yet helpful comments and links to informative blogs.

So, for all you other Twitter Chat Newbies out there, here’s what seems to happen…

The moderator will tweet the topic details, like this:
Lisa Dabbs Join me in 15min for New Teacher Chat ‪#ntchat‬ Today, Wed. 7/11 8et/5pt Topic:Tips for Performing Your Best at Your Next Interview‪#edchat‬.

Next, she introduces herself and the chat (just like if it were a f2f convo!):

Welcome, All!!  I’m the founder and moderator of ‪#ntchat‬ Join me for this time of learning and collaboration!!  To join the chat you may want to use Tweetdeck, tweetchat or other client that allows columns. Use the hashtag ‪#ntchat‬ to join the convo!  We are a small, but mighty chat…dedicated to being practitioner focused and supportive to new teachers! ‪ Before we get started…Let’s take a minute to introduce yourselves. Share who you are and where you’re from! Thanks… To be supportive we do a “structured chat” for first 20 min: Q1, Q2, Q3 with A1, A2, A3 to have everyone participate!

And, the chat begins:

QUESTION 1: WHAT’S THE FIRST THING (A NEW TEACHER) SHOULD DO TO PREPARE FOR AN INTERVIEW? LET’S SHARE IDEAS!Participants contribute to Q1:

A Teacher’s Life Have a clear educational philosophy that you can discuss in a few minutes & a prospective discipline plan for your classroom.

Jerry Blumengarten Prepare a portfolio preferably Digital http://tinyurl.com/4btmvrg Have an ed philosophy, Practice answering questions…Must show how you would differentiate learning but also they look for classroom management skills which are very important …

Karl LS Research the school they are interviewing with-the more specifics you can reference about the school the better.

Blanca E. Duarte Read about the community, visit and observe children at the library, the stores, the park. Know your community and it’s children.

Dave Burgess I think it is very important to be able to speak from a place of passion about why you want to be a teacher.  Also important to show you are a learner.Talk about what you have recently done to grow and a recent relevant book you have read.  One way I got my job (revealed to me later) is because they asked what I had read recently and I knocked it out of the park.

José Popoff The focus needs to be on what you can do for the school not other way around

QUESTION 2: HOW DO YOU PRACTICE FOR THE INTERVIEW TO BE SURE YOU SHARE WHAT’S IMPORTANT?‪Lisa Dabbs Schedule a day of introspection. Think about your career, your goals, and your past experiences. Organize your work samples!

RT @PrincipalDunlop: RT @cybraryman1: A2 Video your practice sessions and you will see/hear things you can work on.

RT @guster4lovers: ‪#ntchat‬ I’d say make yourself a website with as much work/info as possible. it’s how I got my last job

RT PrincipalDunlop: A1: ask a mentor about possible interview questions. Do a mock interview. Painful but so helpful!

Two Teacherz Make Top 5 List of key words that represent most important items; at end of ALL interviews you get floor. Use them!  Be able to express how you can reach, teach ALL learners (differentiated instruction).

QUESTION 3: HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IT IS TO MEMORIZE THE THINGS YOU WANT TO SAY, BUT STAY CONVERSATIONAL? COULD BE TRICKY?Sue Dunlop instead, organized experiences into themes: literacy, numeracy, assessment, classroom management, PLC’s etc Have a framework to organize your thouhgts, especially if you tend to ramble or if you get paralysed… had an art teacher bring in art pieces done by students. Fantastic!

Lisa Dabbs I think it’s important to have some strong talking points prepared. Then feel confident to go with the flow and SMILE!  Know what you want to emphasize but don’t memorize – you’ll have enough on you mind that day!  Stay focused on the interview question. Do not ramble. And it’s okay if you do not know the answer. Be honest!

Melissa Edwards Practice speaking slowly and distinctly without saying “ummm”. Know a few things you want to emphasize but don’t sound rehearsed.

Cheryl Morris Try to give a general principle followed by specific example: “I believe in x. In my classroom it looks like y.”  Bring water so u can pause to think/drink.  ALWAYS ask on the phone beforehand. then bring what they tell you to. if they say nothing, then listen to that.

QUESTION 4: WHAT KINDS OF PRESENTATION ITEMS DO YOU THINK ARE IMPORTANT TO BRING TO THE INTERVIEW?(WE MAY HAVE SHARED THIS, BUT…)‪RT @Miss_Doig: An iPad if you can so that you can refer to examples quickly. Make sure your digital portfolio is well organised.  (I KNEW I was right in proclaiming, “I need one!“

Lisa Dabbs I loved it when new teachers brought in actual artifacts of lessons worked on. Really impressive.  I also had a prospective interviewee, bring in a video she had done of herself teaching a class! It was great to see.

Billy Spicer My experiences on interview committees is that you have to embed your portfolio INTO your responses. I’ve interviewed candidates that created websites, infographic resumes (cool!), & @prezi to use in interviews. You MUST stand out.

Jimmy Casas If I were interviewing for job today I would ask permission 2 teach a class so they could see my skill set in the classroom w/kids.

QUESTION 5: HOW DO YOU DRESS FOR THE INTERVIEW?William Gabriel Suit and Tie. I try to wear a tie that matches the color of the school. Subliminal message. It was what my g-father taught in.

RT @dalehancock: Be confident with humility. Most of all, be yourself. That is who you’ll be your first day on the job.

Lastly, the moderator will close the chat with suggestions on “where to go from here” for follow-up:

Wow! Where did the time go!! A HUGH heart felt Thank You to all of you for stopping by tonight! Be sure to follow some of the new friends you met here, tonight at New Teacher Chat ‪#ntchat‬ to continue the convo!  Archives of New Teacher Chat will be on the wiki soon http://goo.gl/yLYf See you next week for our chat w/@KleinErin on Pinterest.   OK friends…remember we are here for you. If you need a mentor…you need to check out our group! (http://tinyurl.com/8ylavvm)  Be sure to check out & LIKE our New Teacher Chat Facebook page!http://goo.gl/kZCPv  Share it with your FB buddies!  I also have a list of interview questions that I will post to the wiki as soon as @evernote comes back on line!!

There it is, in a nutshell… Do check out the archives because there were many more super contributors.  Always remember:

Faige Meller Be true to yourself. Don’t try to impress. Share who you are and why you want to teach.

The clincher testimonial to convince one of Twitter’s potential…

Mary Bertram Hi! Cant stay for the chat today but just wanted to drop by & say all the weekly ‪#ntchat‬ convos helped me get my first job!

SUPER BONUS LINKS THAT I WILL BE DELVING DEEPER INTO:…and this is why teachers should have blogs - George Couros

10 Tips to Help You Break to the Front of the Interview Pack! - Randee Kallison

#MentoringMonday An Article a Day…Might Just Save Your Teaching Life – Lisa Dabbs

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/07/how-to-ace-your-interview-for-teaching.html

http://www.edulang.com/blog/7-things-you-should-let-go-of-to-become-a-happier-teacher/

10 Mistakes to Avoid In Your “Hire Me” E-mail – Carrie Jackson

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/Task4.html – This is an Educational Philosophy Task that is good for Newbie & Not-So-Newbie teachers alike!)

http://cybraryman.com/teacherinterviews.html

http://cybraryman.com/portfolios.html

http://cybraryman.com/chats.html

 

Technology has great potential to “level the playing field”.  It also has great potential to divide it even more.

Unfortunately, it may be the latter statement that is true in many cases.  I am speaking from the point of view of an occasional teacher who goes into different schools across a large city.  I am not a consultant or an expert, and thus, this blog is simply my humble opinion.

There are a lot of great teachers doing great things with technology in their classrooms.  That is Truth.  I’ve seen it; they share it; the students love it and they are engaged.  These are all facts.  And, this is all very Awesome.

But, what about all of those teachers who would love to get in on all of this only to find that the school they teach at does not have the technological resources available to do so?  What about the students who do not get to build an application for an iPad because their school does not have even one iPad?  What about the schools with no Smart Boards, or classrooms without one computer, never mind a pod?  What about the school without digital cameras or the means to create a Podcast, or to Skype professionals around the world? What about those schools where the main concern is the Food Programs because the students are not coming to school with enough food?

Sure, you don’t NEED technology to teach.  We’ve been doing it without forever, but wouldn’t these students benefit from the experience gained and the engagement that technology can provide?

I am not at all suggesting that any teachers stop what they are doing with technology in their classrooms, but something needs to be done.  It seems that education is all about, “No Child Left Behind” and “Every Child Matters” and similar such Sentiments.  It is being said by Boards and Provinces, but is it really being reflected?  Not all the time.  It comes down to money.  It always comes down to money.  Technology seems to be furthering the divide between the “Haves” and the “Have-Nots”, perpetuating the cycle.  Some of our young people will be fluent in Digital Literacies and others will not be.  I wonder who will have a better chance at getting into higher education, and then better-paid careers?  Who will be more likely to remain engaged in their learning and stay in school?

(*Just something I’ve been pondering this week.)

BUMP IT UP – Do Better to Be Better!

Enjoy all the beauty that surrounds you!

INFOWHELM…. too much info!!!  There is a lot, like virtually an infinite amount, of information available to us at any given moment....

So, what can we do?  We simply educate ourselves and our families and friends — everybody, really! There are countless articles and videos available on the Web.  I've pointed out just a few to get you started.

NOTE! — It is important to realize that (once you know how) the actual mechanics of checking the credibility of information only takes a few seconds of clicking, copying & pasting, searching, and judging for yourself.  THE PART THAT TAKES THE MOST WORK IS LEARNING TO DO YOUR OWN JUDGING!!!!! - And it is vital that we teach our students about safe-gaurding themselves. 

While “surfin’ the Net”, whether it be for fun & folly, or for work or school,  ensure you have your ‘Crap-Detectors’ out – “Every man should have a built-in automatic crap detector operating inside him.”
—Ernest Hemingway, 1954

A good question to ask yourself, particularly if asked to download anything, is: “Might someone be trying to put one over on me?” — This could be anything from actual cash, to the more common phishing spam, going after your personal info.

For example, there is one going around Facebook about a horrific roller coaster accident… Never click on a link from a friend if you think it is not something they would normally send, post, or say.  Also, if you see numerous posts with the exact same comment, it is probably suspect. 
Here is a wonderful article explaining how these types of spam work, as well as what to do if you’ve clicked one of these:
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/04/10/theme-park-accident-video-used-as-bait-by-facebook-viral-scammers/

Howard Rheingold has written some excellent guidelines about basic information literacy that everybody should become familiar with, plus some lesson plan ideas to use in the classroom (if you are a teacher):
http://newstrust.net/guides/crap-detection-101
(He also provide many informative links.)
This website, too, has some great information for lessons… http://globaldigitalcitizen.org

Here are 2 videos about spam!

Happy Judging, Questioning & Critical Thinking, everyone!!


And, don’t forget to BUMP IT UP — DO BETTER TO BE BETTER:)

Enjoy 2.5 min of Spring (even though it may be raining out there)!…

Everybody likes to know that they’ve done good work and what they do is appreciated. I’m not saying we need banners and sky-writers after every wonderful thing we do, but an acknowledgement is appreciated.  Today was one of those days for me, and I only worked for the morning!

“You know what, Mrs Schneider?  You’re my favourite supply teacher!” (boy, 4th grade)

“It’s Mrs Schneider, What a great day!” (Grade 8 boy, and I’m just going to pretend it wasn’t because he perceived it to mean he could slack off!)

“Mrs Schneider is awesome!”  (overheard 2 grade 6 girls in conversation in the hallway)

“You know, the kids really enjoy having you in the classroom!”  (A teacher whose room I was recently in for the day)

Knowing the staff and students is definitely a benefit to working in a school on a regular basis.  Sometimes as an occasional teacher, we do not have the opportunity to build such a rapport.  While it is great to work in many schools to gain experience in many different settings, there are some definite advantages to having a “main” school.  These benefits are evident to everyone:

Students get to know me and I get to know them.  I am able to greet most of them by name as they exit the bus, or enter the classroom, or as I pass them in the hallways.  I tend to know more of them by name than some of the staff, as I teach in across all the grades and subjects.

Teachers and other staff also come to know me, and I them.  This means I learn about the teaching styles of many teachers and become familiar with their classroom routines and expectations.  Teachers also do not mind leaving less-detailed lesson plans.  Sometimes we can connect, previous to an assignment, to go over the day in person.  Or, if they were not expecting to be away and know I will be in, they are comforted by the fact that I know the routines and where supplies are and the students’ names, personalities and quirks.

I become familiar with the school’s procedures, rules, routines and expectations.  This makes everybody’s lives easier.

Even parents come to know me.  Knowing their child’s anxiety is less than when they have to meet a stranger is helpful, in some cases more than others.  Who are we kidding, in some cases, it may ease parents’ anxiety more than their childrens’.

When I go to those familiar schools, I believe it is often a more productive and comfortable day for a lot of the people involved in the school.

And, when everyone is happy, we can get on with happily learning.

We can BUMP IT UP – DO BETTER TO BE BETTER!