Sun, 22 Mar 2026 11:13:11 -0700WeeblyFri, 07 Jan 2022 18:50:57 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/sor-module-2-structured-teaching-takeaways
I’m not going to lie, if Structured Teaching (ST) was introduced to me as a pre-service teacher I think it would have served me way better than the seven page documents I had to write in order to teach one class. 

ST distills down exactly what Master Teachers do (see my previous post about this topic) and what students need to be successful. What will we learn, what do we know, watch me do it, let’s try it, what did we learn, let’s do more. That’s it. That’s all. 

What will we learn - it is so important to set the target, otherwise we wander aimlessly in the wilderness.

What do we know - assessing prior knowledge - need I say more?

Watch me do it - I think this could be the most important step - model how the topic is done - and talk about your thinking as you complete the question. This is key - let the students know what the thinking process is in order to complete this. So many students can't articulate this - well I just did it in my head - yes, but what did you do? By talking about our thinking we will get our students thinking about their thinking - metacognition.

Let’s try it - we all work on examples in a zero stakes environment.

What did we learn - re-group and talk about the learning we just did - make any corrections at this stage.

Let’s do more - only now are students ready to work independently.

That’s it - students will be successful if we can follow this model for all of our lessons.
Simple. Concise. Managable. 

That’s My View from the 86th Pew,
Michelle

​]]>Thu, 06 Jan 2022 16:54:11 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/what-master-teachers-do-differentlyMaster Teacher. I hold this term in greatest reverence. I don’t use it lightly. The article I read about what exactly Master Teachers do is exactly what we should all be doing. 
Master teachers were defined as such by their ability to present new material, check for understanding and support students. The researchers broke down what Master Teachers do into 10 parts.

Master Teachers

1. Begin the lesson with a short review of the previous lesson. Researchers found that review helps with the fluency of recall and that practice was paramount in order for retention and recall of material to occur. It is noted that this review only needs to be 5-8 minutes. This will allow you to review the concepts and vocabulary that was introduced.

Master Teachers         
          Present new material in small steps with practice after each step. Research proves that we can only                handle a few bits of information at a time. We need to master step one and then move onto step two.               It is suggested for optimal learning that students be taught in mini-lessons with lots of examples. For               example, a 20 minute lecture with a demo, questions and working examples. Master Teachers provide  additional explanations, many examples and sufficient instruction for students to be successful independently. An area that Master Teachers are proficient at is “teacher model and think aloud.” They will tackle a problem for students to watch and talk about their thinking as they solve the problem.  

Master Teachers

1.  Ask a large number of questions and they check the responses of all their students. It is proven that questions help students practice new information and connect new material to their prior learning. Students need to practice new material. Master Teachers manage this by spending more than ½ the class lecturing, demonstrating and asking questions. There are two types of questions that Master Teacher employ:
   1.  Factual Questions: fact based answers, ex: What is the temperature outside?
   2. Process Questions: These are designed to test knowledge depth about a subject and the student’s ability to analyze it. 

    
    All students are  involved in answering questions. Some ways to encourage this: tell your answer to your neighbour, summarize the concept, “me too” hand wave. 

Master Teachers

1. Provide models. By providing students with models and worked examples Master Teachers recognize that they can help students learn and solve problems faster. Students require cognitive support to help them learn a new concept. Master Teachers do this by modelling and thinking aloud when solving a problem. These worked examples allow students to focus on the specific steps to solve problems and it reduces the cognitive load on their working memory. Master Teachers provide the prompt, they model the answer, they provide guided practice and then they supervise their student’s independent practice. One way they aid in this process is by providing partially completed problems in which students had to complete the missing steps.

Master Teachers

1. Guide student practice. Master Teachers spend more time guiding student practice of new material. Students need to spend additional time rephrasing, elaborating and summarizing new material in order to store it in their long term memory.  Rehearsal helps students access this information. Master Teachers facilitate rehearsal process by asking questions.  Good questions require students to process and rehearse the material. This rehearsal is enhanced when they are asked to summarize main points and when they are supervised as they practice the new steps. Master Teachers know that students are most successful when given small amounts of material at a time. Master Teachers know that students are more successful in guided practice and when more time is spent checking for understanding. When sufficient instruction is provided during guide practice students are better equipped to work independently. 

Master Teachers

1. Check for student understanding. By checking for student understanding at each point teachers can help students learn material with fewer errors. Master Teachers frequently check to see if all students are learning. It is important to not ask, “Are there any questions?” Instead ask students to summarize, repeat procedures, instructions, ask them to think aloud as they solve a problem and/or defend their position - orally.

Master Teachers

1. Obtain a high success rate. They feel that it is important for students to achieve a high success rate during classroom instruction. Master Teachers are able to limit misconceptions by providing guided practice after teaching small amounts of new material and checking for student understanding.

Master Teachers

1. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks. The teacher provides students with temporary support and scaffolds to assist them when they learn difficult tasks. A scaffold is defined as a temporary support used to assist a learner. Master Teachers gradually withdraw scaffolds as learners become more competent. Students may continue to rely on scaffolds when they encounter particularly difficult problems. Providing scaffolds is a form of guided practice. Scaffolds include: modelling steps by the teacher, thinking aloud by the teacher, tools such as cue cards or checklists model of completed tasks so students can compare their own work and anticipate possible errors and warn students about that. Master Teachers provide an exemplar as much as possible.

Master Teachers

1. Require and monitor independent practice. Students need extensive, successful independent practice in order for skills and knowledge to become automatic. Independent practice is necessary because practice is required for students to become fluent and automatic in a skill. 

Master Teachers

1.  Engage in weekly and monthly review. Master Teachers recognize that students need to be involved in extensive practice in order to develop well connected and automatic knowledge. Students need extensive and broad reading with extensive practice to develop well connected networks of ideas. The more they rehearse and review information the stronger the interconnections between material become. Master Teachers will review previous week’s work every Monday. They will review the previous month’s work every fourth Monday. Research shows that classes with weekly quizzes score better during the term and that if material is not adequately practiced or reviewed it is easily forgotten. ​

That's My View from the 86th Pew,
​Michelle
]]>Wed, 05 Jan 2022 23:59:55 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/science-of-reading-module-1-take-aways
In this the first Module of The Science of Reading we learn about The Simple View of reading. Ironically enough it boils down to a mathematical equation: Reading = Decoding x Comprehension (R = D x C) 

Decoding is the ability to see a word in print and use that to retrieve the word from our mental dictionary. In order for that to happen we need to be able to orthographically map. Orthographic mapping is the process of sorting words into our learn-term memory, turning unknown printed words into automatically recognizable words. Each of these words have meaning. Once a word is mapped this word becomes a sight word.

Comprehension is broken into two areas; spoken and written (reading). Spoken comprehension is the ability to understand spoken phrases, sentences and narrative that are received orally.  Written or reading comprehension are the same skills but applied to print. 

Code related skills include concepts about print, phonological awareness, letter knowledge and reading fluency. These concepts read to word decoding and spelling this in turn leads to word recognition and spelling. 

Numbers that were quoted in the module are quite shocking. This reading states that over 50% of code related skills are typically taught in grade 1 curriculum. And that 30% of students entering grade 1 are at least a full year behind their same age peers and thus fail at their first attempt in reading. Because of these numbers we have to use a skill-based approach rather than a grade-based approach. Teachers should focus on assessing foundational reading skills that their students possess and actively teach the skills that enable them to become proficient readers. 

Reading disabilities can be distilled down to three categories; 1) inability to code, 2) inability to comprehend or 3) both. 

The simple view of reading asserts that both decoding and comprehension are essential 

My big takeaways from this module is that I need to focus on a skill-based approach to teach reading, As well, decoding and comprehension are both required for the process to be called “reading.”

That's My View From the 86th Pew,
​Michelle
]]>Sat, 14 Nov 2020 18:29:40 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/ritchhart-church-the-power-of-making-thinking-visible-2nd-session The research tells us that teachers ask 80% of the questions in a classroom - now that I think about that - it is completely backward. I need my students asking the questions. I need them to buy in and invest in their learning. And I need to foster this in my classroom.
Ritchhart mentioned that Formative Assessment is generally being used incorrectly in the classroom. He says it is not a task but a practice that we engage in. While I am not focusing on “correctness” when formatively assessing I am finding out about my student’s learning. Their process of acquiring new knowledge. I am wanting to find out about here development as thinkers and learners. 
What I liked the best about what Ritchhart had to share in this session was that “knowledge needs to be connected to make it useful.” And the notion that knowledge is passive where understanding is active - no one can “give” us understanding, we need to synthesize that for ourselves.
The task that I liked the most from this session is “Making Meaning.” For me, this is a mind map on steroids. It takes mind mapping to that next level, the level that makes thinking visible. There are five different rounds to completing The Making Meaning routine. The first round involves just responding with a single word to the concept we are trying to build meaning around. Then, in the second round you add onto the initial words; a phrase or word that elaborates the thinking. Third, connections must be made, drawing arrows and writing on the arrows explaining the connections. Fourth, we then ask any questions that have arisen from the words on the page, these can be written anywhere in the white space. Round five has students writing their own definition. Ritchhart calls this a “walking around definition,” a definition that can’t be Googled, it is a personal and powerful definition that students can act upon. 
I really like The Making Meaning routine for concepts that are abstract - I find that eleven year olds have difficulty with concepts that I have to teach such as democracy, equity, fairness, equality. I think that by completing all five rounds of The Making Meaning Routine my students will have not only made their learning visible on the chart paper, but they will also gain the understanding of the concept. 

That's my view from the 86th Pew,
Michelle
]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2020 01:13:06 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/dr-jody-carringtons-kids-these-days-on-line-course-module-6-getting-harts-and-taking-namesParenting is hard. My first pregnancy was an ectopic pregnancy, we lost that baby. Because of this experience we were 110% positive that we wanted children. Now that they are 18 & 20 and living with us during Covid-19 conditions we question our reasoning on a daily basis (but that is another story). Raising these two babies that I own is not easy, I question whether I am serving them the best I can all of the time. But what I have come to realize is that as long as I am doing it with love, I am doing it right. That is the best I’ve got.

Dr. Jody talks about showing genuine interest in the things they enjoy. This is a major part of how I build community in my classroom. Everyday I start my class by having a check in. Everyone who wants to contribute can, but it is not a requirement. We talk about our evening and what we did. Quickly I learn who my dancers, soccer players, rodeo cowboys and hockey players are. I ask about their games, I find out when they are at home and I go. I love to watch the reaction (coaches might not be impressed) when I walk in. The kids notice me and then a ripple runs through the bench/ice…”Mrs. Watt is here, Mrs. Watt is here.” The braver ones will wave at me from the ice. I cheer very loudly for them. While I love sports, I do not love gaming. However, I learn about gaming, because my students like to do that. 

Eye contact, getting down on their level and voice modulation I believe are all important. I am very cognizant of maintaining dignity in my classroom. I treat my students the way I would like to be treated. I light up, I get down to their level. And if there is something I need to tell them that maybe the rest of the class doesn’t need to hear I am very careful how I handle it. I worked as an Educational Assistant before I became a teacher. One day I was asked by the grade 9 Math teacher to pull a student to work with him. As we walked across the room he slowly strutted behind me and said to the room, “I’m going to the dumb room.” I was sick. I felt awful. I had to come up with a better way of managing situations like this. From that point on, if I had to pull a student I would catch them in the hallway and quietly ask them to meet me in a specific room/place. This way they would not have to 
be pulled in front of all their classmates.  Aside: to Shelley Moore and followers, this was in the early 2000s so now I know better and I do better - well I am learning to do better with inclusion.

Food! I love this. It always reminds me of the scene in Monsters Inc. when Mike is throwing cheerios at Boo, so funny! One of the children I own can be hypoglycemic. As a child I was always offering her food when she cried. I was secretly hoping I was not creating an eating disorder, we are good she is 18 now and no eating disorder. I did not know that we cannot flip our lids while eating/drinking. I will definitely be offering children drinks for sure. One statement Dr. Jody made I did not know, she said if you cannot produce language you cannot process language. If the child has flipped their lid and they are to the stage of just making guttural sounds telling them to, “just use your words” is not going to help - offer the water or get the juice (don't’ die on the juice hill) and wait for the sigh - when you hear the sigh you have them back.

Staying present can be hard. When my own children were little I would tell them when I wasn't in a good mood or feeling well. While I am the adult and I know I should be able to stay regulated, we all have an off day and that is ok. But I feel that the children we are in charge of deserve to know if we are not on our game. Late this winter I was getting sick during the school day, I felt it come on just before first recess and I went downhill from there. I told my students after lunch that I wasn’t feeling good, but I would do my best for them. Later, after being home for three sick days, I read a note that a student had left me. He said, “Mrs. Watt, thank you for being kind to us even when you didn’t feel good.” #ImNotCryingYouAreCrying

That's my view from the 86th Pew,
​Michelle




]]>Mon, 29 Jun 2020 22:18:33 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/dr-jody-carringtons-kids-these-days-on-line-module-5-grief-mourning-and-our-responseDeath is “the great equalizer,” Jody is right. “Nobody gets out of here alive.” No matter your race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, we all experience the loss of someone. If you are capable of love, you are capable of grief. I love when Jody says that we don’t need someone to fix it, we just need to be heard.” It took many years for my husband to understand this. Now that he just listens when I need to spew my day out there is much less stress in an already stressful situation. He does not make suggestions, he just hums and haws in all the right places. That is all I need, I just need to vent.

What does it mean to be “trauma informed?” I really don’t know, I think it is a very good question. I do not have any formal training in trauma, nor how to help someone through a traumatic experience. I, myself, have not been adversely affected by trauma. I have lost loved ones, I have been in a couple of car accidents, but I feel mentally I am none the worse for wear. However, I am fully aware it is “not if, but when.” For my students as well. I feel that I have a solid spiritual understanding that I can muddle through what I need to. However, my littles may not - how can I help them? Jody makes a good point - you have to name it to tame it. I, of course, would follow my little’s lead, but I think pretending nothing has happened, or that that person never existed, does not honour the feelings that are so raw to begin with.

I love the Mitch Albom quote, “Death does not end a relationship.” I love this on so many levels. I believe that on some level that person will always be available to you when and if you need them. I think this is important information for a little to understand. I found it shocking and sad when Jody said that 25% of all children will lose at least one parent by the time they are 18. There is the probability that one in four children in my class have lost a parent. I need to allow the child whatever it is they need at that moment. I hope I can recognize what that is and honour it in the moment. 

When I die all I want is for everyone to gather at my house, surround my babies in love, eat open faced egg salad sandwiches (the universal sign of death), bring a lasagne for my babies to put in the freezer and pull out when they don’t feel like cooking and talk, drink and share stories. Fellowship and connection, that is my wish.

That is my view from the 86th Pew,
​Michelle



]]>Mon, 15 Jun 2020 21:23:26 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/thoughts-from-module-4-as-if-it-wasnt-complicated-enough-enter-traumaTrauma. I am very fortunate, while I have had some harrowing experiences for sure, my experience with truly traumatic events is very limited. I do not suffer from any form of PTSD, for that I am grateful. However, this puts me in a difficult situation with my students who have suffered trauma. I can never truly empathize with them. I can sympathize and I can be concerned, but I cannot truly empathize. And because of this, trauma is an area that I need to research more in order to become trauma-informed. I think (and I am sure my FSL will agree) I can recognize trauma and I recognize that I am not the person to help with that, but I can certainly find someone who can help. That is important as well. I am not a licensed therapist, I am a classroom teacher. While I completely understand that I am a front line worker and children might feel comfortable in speaking to me and sharing “scary” stuff with me, I also acknowledge that I am not trained in this manner and I will always defer, while honouring the student’s trust, to people more qualified than me.  

Side Note: If you would like to send the University of Lethbridge a quick email stating that you think all pre-service teachers should have access to a counselling course or two, I would be grateful. I have tried, I need more voices requesting this. As teachers, we are front line workers and we need to be ready with the right words to say when a child comes to us sharing traumatic events. They trust us as their teacher to say and do the right thing. We should be trained properly for that inevitability. 

Something I had not thought of was an analogy that Jody used in the video. If the experience is coded in terror there will be residual effects that may be detrimental to that child. But the experience might not be coded in terror. This was very interesting to me - an experience at a refugee camp doesn’t have to be traumatic. That. Didn’t. Even. Occur. To. Me. I find this amazing and it only makes sense. If the event is coded in terror it is traumatic. For example, I love thunderstorms! I pull up a seat in front of our living room picture window and I watch, fascinated. My daughter and her dog, the complete opposite. Thunderstorms are traumatizing for both of them, so much that I can no longer enjoy the thunderstorm because I am worried about how they are feeling.

Suspensions...frowny face. I wish they didn’t happen. The comment was made that in the olden days you would have to go home and on the days you were suspended you were picking rocks at first light and still picking an hour after sundown and you would have been lucky to get a lunch break - believe me, you didn’t get suspended twice. Now, mom can’t take the day off of work so you get to sit at home eating Captain Crunch and playing Fortnite dreaming up ways to get suspended again for another great holiday. I love Jody’s line that “suspensions are the pipeline to prison,” well not that I love that - but just re-read that quote and think about it. When our children do something so bad that the administration believes they should be suspended, do we not hear that cry for help? One of my students this year was suspended. He did something very bad - bad enough that the police were called in. He spent three days at home, was he “cured” of his deplorable behaviour when he came back? Absolutely not. Was there someone waiting to love all over this kid when he walked into the room. I tried. I did my best to lite up for him, but honestly, it was hard. He needed someone else to invest in him, someone that could take him into a new, clean context and create something positive with him.  In my school, my principal will sometimes put up a list of students who have been identified as needing a mentor. A special someone who actively searches them out and is genuinely concerned about them on a regular basis. That is what we did for this boy. An EA who didn’t normally work with him or our class sought him out and asked him to shoot hoops - his all-time favourite activity and also just shoot the breeze. That is what he needed. Connection. It was lacking at home, we needed to provide it at school.

I believe we have taken the first tentative steps down the road to recognizing mental health issues, their causes and how they can be managed. But we have a long way to go. The more people who speak about their struggles, the more people will realize that they are not alone. I will never forget when I was a brand new mom I was feeling guilty for not wanting to be around my child. I didn’t have postpartum depression, I was just a new mom and sometimes it is very overwhelming. I remember going to a Mom’s Morning Out, a coffee time in our local church basement for stay at home moms. There was a mom there who was about five years ahead of me in the parenting department. I heard her say, “Oh ya, I’ve pictured them [her children] flying through the living room window more than once.” Please understand this is one of the most loving, caring mothers I have ever met and I often seek out her advice on parenting. I was so relieved when she said that, I felt like I wasn’t alone, that what I was feeling was somehow “normal.”  I think that is why we need to keep having conversations around mental health - people need to know they are not alone, and that there are people and programs that can help them.

That's My View, From the 86th Pew,
​Michelle


]]>Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:41:20 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/thoughts-from-module-3-how-i-see-them-jody-carrington-kids-these-daysFor me, this chapter had the biggest impact. I read this the summer before I knew I was going to have to teach a Calliou. I was dreading this - whining for me is such an energy drain, it just plain exhausts me. I was planning on ignoring this child. I rationalized that if I just don’t give the attention that they are seeking (see what I did there) then they will just stop. And then I read Kids These Days, Jody convinced me I could do better.
When I saw Calliou on that first day of school that fall - I lit up, I brought all I had and I asked all the questions. We had a great year because I knew better and I was able to do better. We made connections. I will be forever grateful to Jody even if it is just that one student who benefited I am happy - but so many more will benefit from my Calliou wisdom. 
Another statement that Jody brought to my attention in this chapter - “Don’t you know that mad is just sad’s bodyguard.” Whoa! Back the bus up! That is so important - read it again. This was mind-blowing for me. Maybe something I knew but didn’t really recognize. I think by keeping this in mind my approach to my angry kids is so, so much different. So many have not been shown how to regulate - it is my job to model this and walk them home. I have always been honest with my students. I am a terrible speller and I ask for their help. If I write something on the board and it is spelled wrong - they need to point that out to me. I make mistakes, I am the teacher but I don’t know everything about everything, I learn every day with them. When I make a mistake - I own it. I apologize and I hope to do better the next time. When my kids (the ones I own) were little and I was “chippy” I let them know. I’d say, “Mommy isn’t in a great mood - so please work with me.” I now let my students know if I am off. I strive to be “on” for them at all times but I am human. This spring I got sick - very sick and I had a hard time finding a sub. I told my class that I was doing my best but I was sick. My toughest/hardest mad/sad kid sent me a note that said: “Mrs. Watt, thank you for being kind to us even when you are not feeling well.” I don’t know if he experienced that in his world. I am happy to have modeled that for him.

That's My View from the 86th Pew,
​Michelle


]]>Fri, 22 May 2020 23:45:51 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/thoughts-from-module-2-emotional-regulation-dr-jody-carringtons-kids-these-daysWhen I had my kids and they were just little, I was on the phone talking to my Dad and as all children do as soon as a parent is on the phone they started to get into something. This is what my Dad said upon hearing the commotion in the background, “Just whack them! We whacked you and it worked didn’t it?”...ummm ok Dad, you did - but I hope we have evolved since then.

​I never let my kids cry - I just couldn’t do it. I once went against my intuition, I went to get my infant son who was fussing in his bassinet and my Dad again (honest he was a good Dad), said just leave him, he will be ok, when I finally relented and picked my son up he had peed all up the side of his sleepers - I was new to boys and didn’t realize that when that thing pointed up the pee could leak out the top of the diaper. 
I never let my kids cry without finding the source of the cry and I always consoled them, or now I understand I was teaching them to regulate. And, not to brag (ok maybe a little because it is safe to now that the children I own are 17 and 20) but my children did not have temper tantrums. I wondered how I got off easy - even the terrible twos weren’t bad, although when my daughter was three she said that she was “free,” my come back was, “yes she is free, but you will bring her back.” 
Teaching came naturally to me.  When I graduated at the young age of 40, my brother-in-law said, “Michelle, we’ve always known you were a teacher.” I have known him since were were in high school. And I have to admit he is right, I naturally default to teaching in almost every situation - my 20 year old now stops me, and I have to catch myself, he doesn’t want my teaching - and I’m ok with that. I trust I have taught him what he needs to know. 

My son taught me one of the best lessons and I use it daily in my teaching. He was in kindergarten and a very social kid - he loved to go to school. On picture day he was adamant, he wasn’t going to school. I was puzzled, he wasn’t sick, he didn’t have a bad experience, he just wasn’t going. As I quizzed him, I realized he was fearful of picture day, it was his first, it was going to disrupt the “regular” day and he was fearful of the unknown. So I walked/talked him through the day. I said, “you will line up in your class, you will walk down to the gym, you will wait in line, then you will sit on a box, the photographer will turn you this way and that way, and then you will walk back to your class.” I literally finished this explanation and he said, “Ok, I’ll go.”  I had taken away the “unknown,” painted a picture for him, made it known and he was ok with it. Think about situations you have been in. The fear of the unknown is very scary and hard to overcome. That is why so many people are stuck in a rut - they can’t step out of the known. They didn’t have someone to walk them home and let them know they will be ok. 

Because of my experience with Ethan on that picture day way back in 2006, I post a Daily Agenda on my class webpage. Our daily agenda serves two purposes. The first, I sit down with the class first thing in the morning and explain what the whole day looks like. Think about it, you probably like to know what is going on with your day, their day shouldn't be kept a secret from them. I have explicit directions in the agenda so they can be as independent as possible in our class. Secondly, I post a daily agenda that is on my class website, that all parents and relatives can have access to. Let me tell you the love, sweat and tears I have poured into my class website have paid dividends during this pandemic. My son again taught me that parents need conversation starters. He would come home after being away from me for about 8 hours and his day was “good” and they did “nothing” in school. That was it. No explanation. Good. Nothing. Good Grief! By posting our detailed, daily agenda on line, parents can access and then have conversation starters. “I see you are reading The Breadwinner, what is that book about?” “In Science Mrs. Watt posted you were starting a new unit, tell me about that.”

​It is simple. But I would not have thought of it if I didn't have to regulate Ethan. It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have to walk him home. For that, I am grateful.

That's My View from the 86th Pew,
Michelle

]]>Fri, 22 May 2020 21:34:37 GMThttp://www.michellewatt-educator.com/the-born-again-teacher-blog/my-why-module-one-kids-these-daysWhy am I in the classroom, why did I choose this profession?  I didn’t.  It chose me.  I remember the day that I decided to be a teacher.  This may sound hokey for some of you so hang on to your hats and reserve judgment, please.  I remember the day I decided to be a teacher.  I was in Heather Scott’s 10-2 ELA class, not as a student, but as an Educational Assistant, that day the heavens opened up, I could almost hear angels singing, but most importantly what I heard, what I knew deep down, was that this was where I was supposed to be; in the classroom helping children.  
    When I arrived in Ms Scott’s class I had been an EA for six years.  I was in many classes from grade 5 - 11.  I had seen many teachers. Some really great, like Mike Brown at the time I met him he was a grade 6 teacher at West Meadow Elementary School.  He taught me one of my most essential tenets - “it doesn’t matter what was said, what matters is what was heard.”  This means, “perception is everything.”  I LOVE that. I had also seen some not so great teachers - I like to think I am a consummate professional so I will not mention any names - but they taught me a lot about what not to do in the classroom.  For instance, if you have a student with ADHD in your class and he is new to the school do NOT bring a study carol in and stick him in it to keep him away from the other students - good grief! I can see Shelley Moore rolling her eyes and nodding her head right now.  I knew I could do better than ostracising students and I hoped to be as good as Mr. Brown.  
    I quit my job as an EA and enrolled in post-secondary (again) this time in hot pursuit of my passion - Education. When I was thinking of resigning to become a student I asked the veteran members of the school I worked at what their teaching philosophy was - no one could tell me.  I found that very strange.  I do have a philosophy, I developed it while at university and I still live it.  I aim to be respectful of every interaction I have with students.  My goal as an educator is to reach every student in my care.  That may have nothing to do with the instruction of the curriculum.  I have no idea what each child goes through just to walk through my door each day.  I aspire to reach my students in whatever manner they need on a daily basis.  That could look like an extension for no reason given other than a student asked and the look in their eyes tells me all I need to know.  That could mean that I take my lunch to help a student with a paragraph because they can't string three sentences together, let alone write an essay.  That may mean I give my sandwich to a student who does not have a lunch.  It could be as simple as a heartfelt hello. Recently, Shelly Moore summed up what I am talking about in a hashtag #connectionbeforecurriculum.  This has become my mantra.  
    I love connecting with my students.  I want to know what books they like to read - if they like to read. What sports they take part in or clubs they belong to. I get to know my students as people. I have attended hockey games, soccer games and dance recitals to watch my students do what they love. And I try to be as real for them as I can.  Dr. Jody Carrington says we can’t tell we have to show. I show them I am real, that I make mistakes.  When I do I apologize.  I let them teach me if I know what we are talking about is an area of interest for them. I am sincere. I really want to know what is going on with them.  The good, the bad, the ugly and I want to help and if I can’t help, I will find someone who can.
    This is my purpose - again judgers reserve judgement - I get a rush helping children.  I am elated if I can be the first person to introduce a concept to my kids (I call my students my kids), I am genuinely excited when a student can teach me something, and if I make a mistake I own it and humbly learn from it. I can’t imagine any other job in the world I would rather do. It is not what I do, it is who I am. I am a teacher.

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