Welcome.
Sowing the seeds of faith and education is a journey. The way may be rocky, hard or fertile, but when our labours are sincere, backed with sound pedagogy and guided by the Spirit, the harvest is great.
Philosophy of Catholic Education:
My Philosophy of Education has changed for each population I have served. This year was my first in a Catholic school district, and I have so enjoyed the freedom and encouragement to tie in Jesus' teachings to cross-curricular studies and everyday interactions. I have endeavoured to open the students' eyes to the presence of God in their daily lives, and how to recognize Him in those moments. Faith can be integrated into any subject, whether it is to celebrate the beauty and genius of God's creations on earth, or to take time to be thankful when something goes well, or to critically debate differing perspectives on a topic which is of concern to us as Catholics. I often tie in similarities between world religions, and how the basic thread of truth is manifested particularly to us as Catholics. I encourage students to have a moment of silent prayer before they begin a test, or to notice when God has taken special care of them, or to give thanks when they experience a success. I am so thankful to be teaching in an environment which encourages me to make those connections for and with my students. I also am very passionate about Differentiated Learning and Teaching, and much of my teaching practice is carried out with this mindset and approach. Recognizing that students learn differently, that they don't all need to be doing the exact same thing at the same time, and that their learning is continual, and does not end with a number on a summative assessment, but continues until they have achieved understanding of the topic. Flexibility and formative assessment are the foundation of my teaching approach. I respond to the students' needs of the day more than I prioritize adhering to a lesson or unit plan. I offer students choice and multiple opportunities to demonstrate success, understanding and competency in a variety of ways, because if students learn differently, and we provide them opportunities to learn differently, they should not all be then assessed the same. This often includes choice in final project, choice in when we have tests or move on to a new topic, and choice in how they will demonstrate "they got it". I am also a firm believer in the bar being held just out of reach, to encourage students to stretch towards it. No matter what learning challenges a student has, they have the capacity at any given point to improve and grow from where they were before, provided opportunities are made available to them. Technology & Learning:
I am a bit of a closet techie. I love all the new things that are coming out in apps, gadgets, software, hardware, you name it, though admittedly I need to upgrade my web 2.0 skills. In the classroom, I use the Smartboard and iPad to both enhance student engagement in lessons, but also as tools for learning, just as encyclopedias and paperback dictionaries were the tools I grew up with. I hope to add a document camera and QR cube to our classroom one day soon. I encourage students to have their personal devices on-hand and use them to look up words or concepts, check spelling, calculate, research and share. Students usually ask if it's ok to use their device before they get into it. I can tell when a student is off-task by the way they are interacting with the device, as well as whether it makes sense for them to be on it during a given activity or lesson. If I see someone with it under their desk, texting or playing a game, a simple, "Please put that away for now. You do not need your device at this time," has been sufficient and generates less conflict. The students have been great about it, and the vast majority are responsible tech users in class. Technology has also been a major piece in my communication with home. Parents may check my wikispace anytime to see what homework their child may have, or what work they should have done that day. I also post project info, due dates, and other relevant content. During parent-teacher interviews, I hand out small paper cards to parents with the wiki address and summary of the site's content. Students may check the wikispace to see what they missed when they are absent, or to double-check details of their homework or project assignment if they have forgotten. Many families tell me they check it every night. I try to update it as the day goes on, but set aside time to complete it right after the kids leave at 3:30, provided I do not have a pressing meeting. This routine ensures I rarely miss a day. I also have a Twitter account, @Mrs_A_Gilmore, which was part of a Twitter project I did with Grade 7 in the fall term. I also encourage parents to use it as a communication line with me, if they find it more convenient than email or phone. Finally, I also use a listening station for audio-book novel study, good old-fashioned pencils, paint, paper and ink, and even old-timey pull-down maps and printed visuals. "Old" technologies are sometimes novel and fresh to the younger generation, and it is good to incorporate a wide variety of tools to find what suits a student's particular need best. Planning: Certainly not always, but often, I include the class in my planning. I will give them an outcome, and ask how they think they would like to learn it. I give some examples, such as kinds of projects, online learning, note making, or even book work, and they choose what they want to try for this situation. Then I ask them if they feel this task is better as group or individual work, and if group, then how will we decide the groups? (Randomly, by "someone you've never worked with before", or by "people who are in a similar place in their learning", for example.) How many could be in a group and still have a job for everyone to do? It is important to give them choice and agency, and occasionally to let them try something you know will not work out, so they can learn from that setback. Then we get to have a dialogue about what went wrong, how to tackle improving our process, and ideas for a better approach. In the interest of time, I make sure to subtly guide them towards a more sure success in their second attempt.
For example, the class wanted to try doing a presentation on decimals. I let them research how to perform operations with decimals, create a powerpoint and deliver a presentation. Then, I gave them a written quiz where they had to perform those operations they just explained. The whole class had great difficulty, so we discussed in what ways this presentation was not the best approach for learning decimals. The class identified that they did not spend time practicing the concepts. Then, we did a traditional study involving a little review and some practice questions, and the following week the class did much better on their assessment. They did not feel down about their first failure, because we approached the whole thing as a learning experiment. In experimentation, when it does not work out, you try again. You are not done until you succeed. They still talk and laugh about this experience. Group Work: In the beginning of the year, we had a lot of tensions and old emotional baggage from previous years. Many students "could not work with" each other and grouping had to take these things into consideration. We spent a lot of time talking about how, in the real world, you do not get to pick who you work with in most job and higher education situations. We talked about the importance of learning the life-skill of working with people you do not like, and putting the work ahead of our dislikes and preferences. We talked about ways to get along, things that trigger conflict, and how conflict and unprofessionalism can cost your job. We experimented with different kinds of grouping, and eventually the class said they were ready to work with people they normally wouldn't. Now, in April, they avidly enjoy SmartBoard random grouping, and they are working well together no matter who they are with. I am so proud of them! Lesson Plans: I use my Legacy Lesson Plan book, which we were provided with at the beginning of the school year, for my daily plans, however, I prepared a more detailed example of my daily thinking for the purpose of this website, which I have included below. I believe I will continue using this kind of format in future lesson plans, because it more closely resembles my thinking. I have not included a DI bubble because DI is a mindset with which I approach everything, not a singular event point in a lesson plan. Contextual Variables of the Class:
I am currently blessed with a multicultural classroom, as well as some personal experience of other cultures first-hand. My students are of German, Ukranian, Phillipino, Metis, Russian and Estonian descent. I try to make as many cross-cultural connections as I can when I am explaining a concept. It is important to model how to speak respectfully of others' practices and beliefs, even if you do not agree. I have worked very hard to help the students spot stereotyping, cultural bias and ways to demonstrate respect while discussing critically. The students have become very good at considering other points of view and using them to evaluate their own perspectives. We are in a small town, and a small K-12 school, and they need to know that what is "normal" or "common" here is not always so for everyone everywhere. At the same time, I am able to be sensitive to and frame conversations and methods of delivery to suit this audience, keeping their perspective and general experience in mind. Finally, it is wonderful having all these different backgrounds to draw from in class discussions. Crowd-sourcing prior knowledge from such a varied group has sprouted rich conversation in class. In the past, I have had classes of either all-Cree, all-South Korean, or all-Anglo/European descent. This current mix is refreshing! Environment: Safe, Caring & Conducive to Learning:
I have worked hard from Day 1 to make it clear that not only in my classroom, but in life, hate-language, bullying, putting yourself or others down, and other negative speech and behaviour are not tolerated. (Jesus preached Love your neighbour, not to judge, criticize or police him/her.) I do not stop there, but talk to the students at length about the reasons why it is not ok, why it is detrimental to their lives, careers, souls and relationships, and why it is important to practice good skills and habits now, while you can do so in a supportive environment. Still there are times when students do not get along, and in cooperation with my VP and Principal, I have worked with students individually, in small groups and as a class to address these situations. Often, we have used a small, private Sharing Circle to bring resolution and healing when students have a verbal altercation or bullying. This has been quite successful for four of my students in particular. They had an opportunity to voice their thoughts and feelings about what happened from the heart, in a judgement-free space that was quiet, respectful and not only open to, but focused on, listening to their point of view. Many found it cathartic and left the circle feeling lighter and able to move on. Recognizing that Jr. High students are at an age fraught with awkwardness, uncertainty and mercurial priorities, I am sensitive to the potential fragility of their self-concept when I talk to them about areas of concern, be they academic or behavioural. I celebrate their successes and show them ways to improve which respect them as people. I am always open to help if someone does not understand the lesson, and have offered to meet with students at lunch or after school for extra help as well. Life Long Learning:
My long-range lifelong learning aspirations aim towards earning my Masters and gaining some Montessori training. Currently, I am upgrading my very dusty website-building skills using CodeAcademy.org, as well as reading texts related to Catholic education and Differentiation. I am also resurrecting my French skills with the app DuoLingo. I have so enjoyed being the DI Lead at my school, and hope to continue learning more and sharing it with my colleagues next year. I am continuing my Haidong Gumdo training long-distance via videos from the Grand Master of Canada, and will be receiving my Masters in that martial art very soon. I find observing my colleagues informally to be beneficial to my learning as I gain from their experience. I am grateful they are so willing to discuss their practices with the new teachers. |