Nicola Schneider, OCT - a spot of reflection
  • Home
  • My Vision
  • Resume
  • Career Highlights
  • Life-Long Learning
  • Endorsements
  • Contact Info
  • Blog - Come Learn With Me...

A Work In Progress

7/9/2014

0 Comments

 
I'm making myself an E-Folio! That means I am transferring old content from a Semi-professional Blog I was using, as well as uploading current content.  Please bar with me:)
Picture
0 Comments

Oh, Whatta Winter!

2/21/2014

0 Comments

 
A Journey Back in Time to First Snow of the season on Nov. 27, 2013…. I imagine this video shall become a series:) – created at http://animoto.com
0 Comments

Slow & Steady Progress...

7/16/2012

0 Comments

 
 Like the Energizer Bunny…
Picture
… the paper piles keep going and going and going!
I’d really love to just toss the whole mess (in the blue bin, of course!), but there are random pages of GOLD among the mess… like really great (online) portfolio pieces or those really awesome lesson ideas, so  I will trek away at it:)
Picture
Before
Picture
After
0 Comments

'Twas Just a Morning before Noon...

7/12/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

Colour a Rainbow

9/26/2011

0 Comments

 
Colour a rainbow
Sparkle a star
Colour a rainbow
Wherever you are.

Life is a colouring book
given to you,
Use the bright crayons
all the way through.

Use the light accents
of laughter and song,
you’ll have a picture
that’s right and not wrong.

Colour a rainbow
Sparkle a star
Colour a rainbow
Wherever you are.
Picture
Picture
Picture

Poem by: Dorothy Cameron SmithPhotography by Myself, Nicola Schneider
0 Comments

A Personal Inventory, Then.

9/20/2011

0 Comments

 
This was an old assignment I have found among my paper piles… It was written when I was only 14 years old, um, that would be 20 years ago, when I couldn’t even fathom ever being 34 years old!
Picture14 years old
I am Nikki, but really Nicola.
I am exactly 14 years old (plus one day). 
I am a student in my ninth year, 
at Sir Allan MacNab High School. 

At my tallest, I am five foot seven.
My eyes are greyish-blue
And my hair is blond but almost brown. 
I am older than Mali, Tara and Darryl,
Younger than Lisa, Shauna, Cindy and Lori.
My birthday is in March,
Almost April.

I love shopping but 
hate that I don’t have any money. 
I don’t like big buildings 
with lots of rooms and textbooks, and
Desks, because I’d rather be somewhere else. 

I love jewellery.
I like gold better than silver.
Real gold and aquamarine.
One day I will have a ring, 
for my left ring finger,
I hope. 
But not yet. 
Some day I want a boy or a girl,
Or both,
Or none- I really don’t know yet. 
Picture
(Starting at left-top and moving clockwise around: Mali, Nikki, Tara, Cindy)
Picture"Somewhere Else"
I love warm weather 
and fluffy, white snow
And Christmas and summer.
When I was little, 
I watched Sesame Street and cartoons.
I still watch cartoons, 
but not Sesame Street- very often. 

Picture
My room is a mess
Because I like it that way.
Books and clothes are all over the floor,
But what else are floors for?
It’s organized chaos. 

I wish I were rich,
And if I were 
I’d have a bigger house,
More clothes,
And an expensive sports car.
I’d travel all over the world 
in my very own private jet.
But I’m not rich.
Dreams are free.

PictureCoffee, my cat
I love my psycho mother,
My brother, who is my friend,
And Coffee, my cat.

My name is Nikki.

Picture
My bro, Me, and 'psycho mother' - Sorry, Mom!, says older me:)
Picture
Friends
(Written, April 1st, 1991)
This is One for the Files.... What an easy & fun assignment to have students do!
0 Comments

Spring at Last - Again!

5/10/2011

0 Comments

 
Enjoy all the beauty that surrounds you!
0 Comments

A Day Full Of Warm Fuzzies

4/20/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
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!

Picture
0 Comments

I never would have thought....

3/7/2011

0 Comments

 
… that I would ever be taking photos and videos on a digital camera, importing the files onto my computer, then uploading them to Animoto.com, mixing them with a sound file, creating a video, transferring it to YouTube.com, adding a link to it on my WordPress Blog, sharing it on Facebook.com, watching it later on my iTouch… and, guess what? It was almost easier to do than typing out all these steps!!! Our students are doing this every day, without all of this thought… AMAZING!

A quick walk to the bridge turns into a near epic adventure! – created at http://animoto.com.
0 Comments

Who doesn't love a good collage?!

3/7/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Microsoft AutoCollage2008 is available to Educators, for FREE, to help make your classroom a Web20 one.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/autocollage/

Or, here, listed with other FREE tools…

http://www.microsoft.com/education/teachers/guides/freetools.aspx

Definitely makes great photo album covers!  And, imagine… you go on a class trip… what better way to organize all the photos into one spot to display in your classroom and/or in your class blog or school newsletter, or…..

Remember, the key here, is Auto Collage, meaning you don’t pick where each picture goes, but the results are quick, easy and impressive.  (Hey, you don’t have to tell everyone what program you used, and they’ll think you are a genius!)

For example, here is a Collage of a Kindergarten trip to a local farm, Dyment’s, from last October.  (To respect privacy, I have selected photos with either no children, or that you cannot recognize specific children.)…

Imagine the themes you can gather together…
Picture
Hamilton Mum Show, Oct. 2010

Picture
All Sorts of Food

Picture
A Snowy Adventure

Picture
An Autumn Adventure

And, you can alter the size and orientation…
Picture
What do your walls say?

Picture
My Nephew

I hope this helps you to:

Bump It Up – Do Better to Be Better!

0 Comments

    Author

    Nicola Schneider, Occasional Teacher, 13 years

    Archives

    February 2020
    October 2018
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    February 2014
    April 2013
    July 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    21st Century Skills
    Achievement
    Achievement Matters
    Adaptation
    Advice
    Advocate For The Arts
    Animoto
    Art History
    Artistic Problem Solving
    Assessment
    Atari
    Back To School
    Bob Ross
    Bonus Clever Supply Teacher Move
    Book
    Challenge
    Change
    Clever Teacher Moves
    Clutter
    Collaborating
    Commodore 64
    Cooking
    Crayola
    Creativity
    Cross-curricular Connections
    Curriculum Connections
    Curriculum Expectations
    Daily Physical Activity
    Dance
    Dancing
    Diagnostic Assessment
    Differentiation
    Digital Footprint
    DPA
    Drama Games
    Dundas
    E-folio
    Engaged
    Engagement
    Engagement Matters
    Enjoyment Of Reading
    Enrichment
    Equity
    Exercise
    FDK
    Flexibility
    Focused Listening
    For The Files
    French Resources
    French Teacher
    Fun
    Gamification
    Glogster
    Go Animate
    Gratitude
    Gratitude Attitude Alert
    Growth Mindset
    Growth Mind Set
    Guest Teacher
    Gym Teacher
    Health
    Henri Matisse
    Humour
    HWDSB
    If-i-were-a-classroom-teacher
    If-i-were-a-classroom-teacher-next-steps-and-questioning
    I Love My Job
    Information-overload
    Inhibitory-control
    Interview Preparation
    Kindergarten Rocks
    Kindness
    Kitty Cat
    Laughter
    Learning
    Lesson Idea
    Life Long Learning
    Life-long Learning
    Link To Video
    Literacy
    Local Library
    March Break
    Mathematics
    Music And Movement
    Music Teacher
    Musing
    Next-steps
    No-power
    Numeracy
    Observing
    Occasional Teacher
    Oral Communication
    Our Valley Town
    Pay It Forward
    Personal Choice
    Personal Space
    Photography
    Phys. Ed
    Poetry
    Portfolio
    Positive Learning Environment
    Prediction
    Problem Solving
    Professional-development
    Professional Growth
    Provocation
    Questioning
    Raffi
    Read Aloud
    Reflecting
    Reflection
    Reflection To Guide Change
    Relationships
    Remember When?
    Resources
    Resume
    Rick Mercer
    Rules
    Safety
    Schema
    Self-control
    Self-regulation
    Smart Goals
    Snow Day
    Spam
    Springtime
    Student-writing
    Substitute Teaching
    Summertime
    Supply Teacher
    Supply Teacher Bag O' Tricks
    Teacher Reflection
    Teaching
    Teaching Dance
    Teaching-Learning Critical Pathways
    Technology
    The Arts
    The Arts Matter
    T-LCP
    TLCPs
    Transitions
    Twitter
    Van Gogh
    Versatile Read Aloud
    Very Good Book
    VGB
    Video
    Voting
    Welcoming
    Wellbeing
    Wintertime
    Wordle
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.