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  Today was a division-wide PD day for TRSD and each school was responsible for holding their own unique PD opportunity for their staff based on their school goals. At "S-School" we attended a session on Understanding by Design , sometimes referred to as "backwards planning", "Universal Design for Learning" or "Planning with the end in mind". Design. (2011). Uploaded to Tach @ Riverdale by Meg Krause. Available online at: http://blogs.riverdale.edu/techintegration/2011/11/26/understanding-by-design-the-backward-design-model/       The session was divided into two half-day sessions, with the morning organized in a lecture-style format regarding the ins and outs of the planning strategy, while the afternoon allowed for a work-period to apply our learning while the presenters were still present to answer questions.      Our presenters were actually from the Manitoba Rural Learning Consortium (mRLC) and are leading the Understanding by Design front ...

     This past week marked a milestone for my Grade 8 class: the completion of their third round of blogging. Each science class, my students take turns being the " Class Scribe " or " Blog Author " using these guidelines: - Our first class scribe of the year volunteered - Only the current scribe has the power to appoint the next scribe - Everyone must have a turn before someone can post again *This is a system I modified from a friend,  Darren Kuropatwa , who has a lot of experience blogging in the classroom. Now there are some exceptions to these guidelines: - If a student wants to post an extra post (on a non-science day or in   addition to the daily post), they may      - I've had a few students blog about projects that they are working        on or to ask questions      - If you visit their blog , you'll notice that some students on the author         list have posted up to six times alr...

In January I celebrated my 2-Year Blogiversary with another Mystery Prize Package giveaway, specifically tailored to the winner's likes and interests! I've wanted to share the prize package for a while now and here it is! After emailing back and forth with this year's winner, Lori , I went shopping! The first time I put together this prize , I incorporated a lot of smaller items for the winner's classroom but this year a larger item caught my eye and I knew I HAD to put in this year's package :) This year's package included: - A 48-piece decorative wall sticker set     - Lori's classroom has a polka-dot & owl theme so when I saw        this I knew it would be the perfect fit for her! - A blue decorative sandal tape dispenser      - Lori's favourite colour is blue and there is nothing like a        summer-time reminder (especially with all this snow lately) - A $25 gift card to Starbucks      - Self-exp...

     Term Two is beginning to settle into a routine and my Grade 9s are hard at work on their unit on Reproduction. The first things we discuss are both Mitosis & Meiosis. With mitosis being the process in which cells divide into equal clones of themselves to produce body cells and meiosis being the process in which cells divide into haploid cells to produce sex cells (sperm and eggs).        In addition to textual notes on both of these topics, I really wanted to incorporate activities for my students who may learn best through music and hands-on activities. Absent the resources to build in labs activities with microscopes, I decided to create hands-on activities that allowed my students to familiarize themselves with the stages of Mitosis & Meiosis in regards to name, appearance, and function.     Here are some of the activities we did!     Stages of Mitosis out of modeling clay. We plan to paint main featur...

     Shortly after I began this blog in 2012 I decided to join Twitter as well. Prior to this, my only social media tool was Facebook, which I only utilized with my close friends and family. I can't remember what exactly prompted me to try Twitter but, two years later, I am still very happy that I made the plunge!      Compared to what I had been used to with Facebook, Twitter seemed chaotic and unorganized; I felt completely lost. After some exploring and trial-and-error, however, I quickly got used to the format and became a big fan of Twitter lists. If you are interested in how Twitter lists can help keep your Twitter feed organized and specific, check out my post, Twitter... 1 Year Later from February 2013.       I am now following 833 accounts that vary from other education students, educators, educational resources, education companies, and anything related to material I am using in the classroom. While I ...

     One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is the use of devices in the classroom and how polarized educators seem to be when it comes to managing how students use their personal devices during class time. In fact, on Friday during a lunch out with colleagues I overheard someone say they should be banned all together in the classroom! Another teacher mentioned how they planned on implementing a bargaining system where students could earn a "tech-break" depending on their behavior during certain activities. Regardless of the specific details, a majority of teachers agreed that devices were distracting to students. A quick image search for, "Cellphones in the classroom", brings up images like:  Is It Legal For Schools To Fine Students For Using A Cell Phone? (2010). Uploaded to "Education & Tech" by Milton Ramirez. Available online at: http://www.educationandtech.com/2010/08/is-it-legal-for-schools-to-fine.html The Simpsons and Phones...

     Thursday marked the last day of semester one in our division and it is pretty crazy to think that I have already completed HALF of my first year of teaching. When I look back at it I feel like I did A LOT but I also feel like it went by really, REALLY quickly.     Friday was an administration day that we utilized to work on marking exams and completing report cards. Lucky for me, I marked ALL of my exams on the day they were written (Wednesday) so I was able to work on report card comments and giving my room a bit of a facelift for Monday morning.      Since I am teaching both Junior High and High School I really only have one class that will be brand new to me as I am finished Grade 10 Essential Math and gaining Grade 9 Science. The rest of my classes will continue through to the end of year, but my schedule completely changes. Here is a look at what my day will look like starting Monday:      My first seme...

   Not only are we starting a new semester, but it also a new month!  If you haven't encountered a " Currently " post before, it is just a fun post at the beginning of each month that serves as a way to share what is  Currently  going on in your life! You can link up and share your own " Currently " post by visiting the wonderful  Farley  over at  Oh' Boy 4th Grade .   Guess which one is the fib?!