Michelle Watt - Educator
  • Welcome
  • About Me
    • Education >
      • PSIII
      • PSII
      • PSI
      • ED2500
      • TA Diploma
      • Diploma: Fashion and Merchandising
      • Scholarships
    • Training and Certificates
    • Classroom Introduction
  • Teaching
    • Philosophy of Teaching
    • Classroom Management Style
    • Wellness >
      • Clean Eating
      • Physical Activity
      • Visi
    • Professional Development >
      • Moral Intelligence
      • Effective use of Educational Assistant
      • Critical Thinking
    • Planning
    • Recommended Reading
    • Recommended Websites
  • The Born Again Teacher Blog
  • Technology Portfolio
    • ED 4760
    • Digital Citizenship
  • English Language Arts
    • ELA Strands >
      • Reading >
        • Reading Comprhension
      • Writing
      • Listening
      • Speaking
      • Viewing
      • Representing
    • Balanced Literacy
    • Short Story >
      • Intention
      • Display
      • Evaluation
      • Activities
      • Study of Language Arts
      • ELA8Lakie Lessons
    • Shakespeare >
      • Romeo and Juiet

Free Time...can it work?

11/26/2017

0 Comments

 
What did my students teach me this week?  Free Time is all about perception.
My students had to complete a survey put forth by our school division.  This data drives what we as teachers and administration sense as weak areas according to our students.  This survey was administered by our principal and assistant principal, so I got some much coveted “free time.”  And by “free time” I mean a chance to do some extra prep.  I managed to get an assessment built in a Google Form.
When I was called back to my classroom forty minutes later, most of my students had completed the survey and were working on unfinished assignments.  Some were writing a story, others were practicing their basic math facts online.  I came in and my students continued to work.  My class received positive reviews on their behaviour from our admin.  I always celebrate with my students when others note their ability to follow classroom procedures and stay focused on a task.
I did not interrupt the work that my students were doing as I monitored who had completed the survey and who was still working on it.  This class this day was pretty much a right off from the perspective of curriculum covered.  We didn’t cover any new curriculum that day.  However students did get some much needed working time on projects that they had already started. At one point I mentioned that they were just going to have “free time” until the end of the period as there wasn’t enough time to start something new.  When I mentioned “free time” I had several students shout, “What? Free Time!” I quickly had to rephrase my statement and told them to continue working on what they were working on.
My perception was that because I had not given instruction and introduced or reviewed a concept with them that morning that the work they were doing was indeed just “free time” work.  However my students looked at “free time” very differently.  “Free time” to them means just that - the freedom to choose what they wanted to do.
So now the question is does “free time” have any place in my classroom?  I had been giving my students “free time” in gym.  It was very cool to watch my students playing and having fun without my guidance and instruction.  They played very well together something that does not happen much in our society today.  I understood (I didn’t ask and I should have) that this was the culture of the school.  My students seemed to be well acquainted with “free time” in gym.  However I had quite the discussion with a Physical Education major as to what curriculum outcome was I addressing.  She had a good point - I would never consider giving “free time” in my classroom, why would I allow it in the gym?  
So...now no more “free time” in my PE class, but they will be given more choice and responsibility.  Two students each week will be responsible for planning our Thursday Gameday games.  They will have to choose, plan and instruct on those days.  
Now I have to allow that type of “freedom” in my classroom.  What does that look like, what am I comfortable with my students taking over and what am I comfortable giving up.  I need to work on the process of student choice, student driven learning and teacher directed.
That’s my view from the 86th pew.  Michelle.

0 Comments

Set the bar...

11/10/2017

0 Comments

 
What I learned this week...set the bar high and your students will meet your expectations.  I was raised by a hard working pipeline welder.  My dad taught me old school work ethics.  He taught me if you are 10 minutes early you are on time.  His favourite saying when I was his helper was; “Big boy all night, big boy all day.”  He meant if you went out and partied all night, you got up went to work and worked hard all day.  He taught me to ask, “What else can I do,” when I had worked myself out of work.  I work hard for my students and I expect them to work hard for me.  We talk about the fact that their “job” is to be a student.  We discuss the expectations of being a student.  They are on time for class, prepared to learn, and they do their best - and that everyone’s best looks different.  My school is excellent at having school wide expectations.  So when my students reach me they have been practicing the expectations for five or six years.  Respect of paramount importance.  We practice respect of property, of self and of others.

This week we worked very hard on our understanding of Remembrance Day.  This is personally a very important topic for me to teach to my students.  We are another generation removed from the last World War and the significance of the lives sacrificed in the name of freedom cannot be understated or forgotten.  My nine and ten year olds do not have any first hand experience with war.  I can only tell them stories that I know, show them videos and talk about the importance of the sacrifices made.

We had our school Remembrance Day service today.  The high school next door, 12 Legion member  and many members of the community filled our gym to capacity.  The service was 45 minutes long.  That is a long time when you are ten years old.  Just before we went down to the gym I told my students that this was the most important assembly of the year and that it was extremely important  that they be respectful.  I told them they are representing not only themselves, but their school and their family.

My students didn’t let me down!  I was so amazed at the level of respect these young people exhibited.  They stood at attention (a skill we have been working on) for the national anthem and God Save the Queen, and they refrained from talking to their seatmates.  I had one teacher compliment one of my students who tends to be immature.  She overheard him say to a boy in another class, “you can’t talk, this is the most important assembly of the year.”  

When we got back to our classroom I made sure to thank my class and tell them how proud I was of their behaviour.  I am sure they think I am crazy - but I wasn’t able to get through thanking them without choking up, and just a few tears.  To be able to sit respectfully for 45 minutes is hard for anyone,  let alone if you are 10 years old. I set the bar high, gave them the skills required to follow through and they stepped up.  If you expect good behaviour you will get good behaviour.  I will teach this generation and infuse just enough old school work ethic into my students that they will be successful, not only in my class but they will have skills to be successful in life.  

That's my view from the 86th pew.


​
0 Comments

The Ever-Learning Teacher

11/3/2017

0 Comments

 
What I learned this week….I have decided to change the theme of my blog.  I truly am a lifelong learner and I pray each day to learn and grow.  So what I want to concentrate on for the next while is what my students teach me.  This week was a great lesson.
Currently in Social Studies we are working on a slide presentation about Atlantic Canada.  I chose four outcomes, posed them as questions and turned my students loose to research the answers and present them in a Google Slide presentation.  My students had been working independently for two periods when Sally (names have been changed to protect the innocent) came to me and honestly admitted that she was struggling with the assignment.  She asked if she could get some help from me.  This happened to be on a Science day (we alternate days for Social and Science) so I had some time to think about how I might be able to help her.  I often need to “percolate” ideas.  They need to sit in my brain and bubble up and down for a while before I can come up with a solution.  So...this question percolated with me for a day.
The next Social Class I extended the invitation to any student who was struggling with the assignment.  I had thought that Sally couldn’t be the only student who was having trouble finding the information on the world wide web and then distilling it down.  I ended up with at least half a dozen students stay behind for step-by-step instructions on how to find information and then put it into our own words.  
I am really happy that Sally had requested the extra help and that I was able to help not just Sally but the other students who were struggling.  In the era of differentiated learning and the “guide on the side,” I struggle with the balance of direct instruction and independent learning.  Teaching too long for those who got it after the first example and not explaining in enough ways for those who are struggling with the concept.
What Sally taught me this week was that I need to offer small group instruction on all of my assignments that I think could be completed independently.  A group of my students will always need the extra help of direct instruction from start to finish on a project.  Will this group always be the same students? No.  Will this group wax and wane in size throughout the school year? Yes.  
I provided Sally with some feedback on her project this week, as we are working on the assignment.  When she read her feedback she came up to me and hugged me, thanking me for my comments.  Mike Drop! Exit Stage Right...until she needs me again.
That’s my view from the 86th Pew.



0 Comments

    The Born Again Teacher

    I am a teacher who came to education late in life, and like those who are born again I love to preach and teach about my vocation. I am a teacher who is always a student.  Here you will find my thoughts on how to improve my practice as an Educator.  I sign off with "That's my view from the 86th Pew," the reason is that I own an old church pew that sits in my front entrance and the plate on it says 86.  I love that it is a play on words in that the view is what I see as well as what I think. 

    Archives

    May 2020
    July 2018
    November 2017
    November 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    November 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Barriers To Technology Integration
    Blogging In Education
    Classroom Safety
    Digita Storytelling
    KSA8: Respecting Human Dignity
    Moral Intelligence
    Virtual Reality

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.