Day 6: Pam Taylor, FDK Teacher (Countryside Village PS)

Pam Taylor is a FDK Teacher at Countryside Village Public School.

Reblogged from: http://mindfulauthenticity.blogspot.ca/2015/09/so.html

So…… after many months of humming and hawing, thinking of excuses and generally avoiding this, I have decided to start writing. I’m still working on the exact purpose of this blog. There are a few different reasons that I have been thinking about, in no particular order:

1) In order to stop all of these thoughts from rolling around in my head and interfering with my dreams and sleep habits, I can write them down and have them for others to ponder as well;

2) It will keep me accountable to myself and to my profession;

3) It will help me to engage in more professional dialogue with colleagues around the province and around the globe;

4) It scares the living bejeezers out of me and I am told repeatedly that I need to step out of my comfort zone.

5) My friend and colleague Tina (misszita.wordpress.com) issued a challenge entitled      “The #20hourproject” and it sounded to me like she was calling me out to try something new.

A word about the name/title of the blog – somewhere in my trolling/perusal of the Twitterverse, I came across the term “mindful authenticity”.  Those 2 words sparked something in me that had me thinking. So I looked up the definitions of both words:

Mindful – paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally

Authenticity – truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity and intentions.

I put the two definitions together and came up with this:

Mindful authenticity – Paying attention in the present moment to the truthfulness of origins, sincerity and intentions in a non-judgemental way.

This definition speaks to me and the way that I teach in my classroom. Each and every day, I want to pay attention, in the present moment, with each child, to his or her origins, sincerity and intentions in play, without judgement.  Easier said than done, I know, but not a bad goal to strive towards either. Posted in my classroom is the question,

“Why this learning, for this child, at this time, in this way?” 

I try to be cognizant of this question when I interact with my students and look at ways to help them become successful.

So, here it is. I am not guaranteeing any mind-blowing, earth shattering knowledge. I’m just writing what’s on my mind and sharing interesting things that I come across that relate to Inquiry based learning, Kindergarten, Reggio-inspired learning or things that I think are kind of neat.

Thanks for checking this out!

Mindfully yours,
Pam

Day 3: Phil Young, Teacher (Countryside Village PS)

My name is Phil Young and I am a Grade 7 teacher at Countryside Village Public School.

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What I Learned Today…

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There was excitement and nerves in the air as the year began this past Tuesday at Countryside Village.  Nerves because I was starting the year with a class unlike last year and excitement because the staff a were starting the year with the group of kids that would eventually follow us to the “Countryside” that would be built in their neighborhood.  These are the kids that would get the full experience of learning in an inquiry based school.

The inquiry based learning model is certainly not a new way of teaching however, at Countryside our vision is to see all students become involved in a process where they formulate questions, investigate to find answers, build new understandings, meanings and knowledge, and then communicate their learnings to others.

From Kindergarten to Grade 8, our students will explore various topics of interest to themselves and their classmates which are connected to curricular expectations.  I myself, am excited the led my group of 7s down the pathway of many inquiries this year as individuals, in small groups and collaboratively amongst other group within and outside our school.

 

Day 183 – Julie Harper, Teacher (Countryside Village PS)

What I Learned!

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The Launch

Wow.  What an experience this project has been from start to finish.  I guess technically we are not even at finish yet.  Last week was a whirlwind of activity as we prepared for, launched and tracked down our weather balloon.  The students also had a tour of the CARE facility in Ebert.  All in all we could not have asked for things to have gone better.  Or could we…..

Preparation

The students will be outlining our preparation in their blogs.  They did a great job making sure we had everything.  And I’m still sorry we scared them by loading in the car what we said would be on the bus.  They thought we had left everything behind!

Some hints for preparing/packing:

-have a list (down the most minute detail)

-pack in tubs or bins that are organized (e.g., have the things for the payload in one tub, tools in another)

-ask for others to look at the list – the students and I and Mr. Young all worked on the list… this made sure nothing was forgotten

-double and triple check – you can never be too careful!

Launch Day

We had been running predictors right up until the last moment which added to my nervousness as we were predicted to land much closer to urban Oshawa than before.  But no turning back now, the bus was coming!  On the launch morning Mr. Young and I did some final checks and loading.  This is where we accidentally loaded the car instead of the bus and scared the students.  Sorry guys!

The bus left with 15 happy and excited grade sixes and Mr. Young and I followed in our car.  All was going according to plan.  After an hour or so we arrived at the CARE centre.

The students all had assigned roles and they got to work right away.  As soon as Mr. Young and Liisa (CARE centre scientist) decided on our location, the students began unpacking our equipment and laying it out carefully.  It was a beautiful day, if a bit windy.

Organization was key here as we needed to be able to easily grab our equipment at the right time.

Things started to move quickly here with many students performing several important jobs at the same time.  We checked the weather, ran a prediction, filmed, and set off a party balloon test.  All while Mr. Young and Arthika worked hard to double check our payload equipment and seal up the box.

Soon it was time to begin filling the balloon.

One thing we learned while filling the balloon was that it requires several adults, or at least taller students, as it gets quite large and difficult to hold.  The wind made this job harder as well.  Our student balloon guiders did a great job, but when the balloon got to a certain size it was too big for them to hold easily.

Up, up and away!

Check out our twitter feed (@MissHarperclass) for the full periscope video of our launch.  The balloon took off without a hitch and we could see it for quite some time in the sky.  It was wonderful to see so many months of hard work come together.

Chasing Down the Balloon

I will leave it up to the student blogs to share with you about the tour as Mr. Young and myself let soon after to go hunt down our balloon.  The students and Mrs. Simons all said they enjoyed the tour and “it was interesting to learn so much about science”.

Thankfully the SPOT GPS seemed to be doing its job well and with me driving and Mr. Young navigating we had no trouble tracking down the payload just north of Brooklin.  The problem came when we realized where it was……….

This was going to pose a fairly significant problem.  We had spent lots of time thinking about what would happen if it landed in water, on a road or in someone’s backyard.  We did not spend enough time pondering tree removal.

After some hiking through the forest following Mr. Young’s trusty GPS tracker we found the package right where it should be…. only 40 feet up a tree.  Nothing we could think of would get it down.  The tree was too tall to climb, we couldn’t cut it down and shaking it did not work.

Alas, we had to leave our payload behind.  On the way back to Brampton, Mr. Young made many phone calls to tree services while I drove.  He eventually hooked up with Chuck, The Tree Guy who had climbing gear and agreed to help us.  Thanks Chuck!  Our payload was removed from the tree Saturday morning (two days after it landed) and amazingly Lacy was still attached!

Where we go from here……

Tomorrow morning we will open our payload and see if our cameras worked.  I am very excited to see our footage and all the data we accumulated…..

Day 149 – Phillip Young, Teacher (Countryside Village PS)

#Peel21st Blog Hop – When Tech and Numeracy Collide

It’s the 3rd #peel21st BlogHop I have had the opportunity to work with many classes this year in a variety of different capacities; support teacher, co-teacher, filling in on that day when there was no supply to cover the class or simply when I had the opportunity to drop in and see what was going on when I heard excitement.

Area/Perimeter and Minecraft with the Grade 3’s (@CSVGrade3) and (@PGsInquires)

The students in these two classes were so enthusiastic about Minecraft and being able to teach their teachers how to build a variety of different structures that in turn their teachers turned that energy into a teaching opportunity.  What I  happened upon was students constructing various structures within their Minecraft world to represent various Areas and Perimeters.  The level of engagement was significant and it was clear that the students had developed a good understanding of the concepts being explored.  The best of all, it was being done using one of the most popular games amongst students.

I did not have the opportunity to take any photos of the students working within Minecraft however, here is some of the non-tech exploration of Math and Minecraft that evolved from the tech.

https://twitter.com/CSVgrade3/status/580770523329753088/photo/1

https://twitter.com/CSVgrade3/status/581136498633912320/photo/1

Math meets Google Earth and The Pyramids

The Grade 8’s @CountrysidePDSB are your typical group of Grade 8 students whatever, that may actually be.  About two weeks prior to a visit in the computer lab they approach their teacher and asked is they could learn about the major empires of the world.  This idea evolved and resulted in the learning about the Egyptians.  Now they’ve likely done this before back in Grade 5 but she went with the idea and great things happened.  Eventually, Tech met Math when she presented them with the following challenge, “Pick 3 of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids. Research their measurements and calculate the volume and the surface area for each.”  I happened to venture into the lab on this day when the group was feverishly researching the dimensions of the ancient structures.  I at first questioned the likelihood of being able to find the data readily available somewhere on the internet or for that matter readily available in some sort of book on our library shelves.  Moments later, the idea came to me, why not explore the pyramids using Google Earth, it would show each in 3-dimensions.  The students continue to plod along with their plan of finding the measurements and using known formulas to solve the challenge at hand.   I pushed my crazy idea of using tech and Google Earth and the result was…

A 3D view of the Great Pyramid of Giza

 

Some approximate measurements using the ruler tool and the 2D image.

 

The length of one side

 

The height of that side

 

Look we figured out how to use the ruler tool itself to do the area calculation and the others below.

Using information that was readily available online at their fingertips along with a basic tool “The ruler” a few members of the group gathered the necessary information and applied previous knowledge of perimeter, area and volume to solve the challenge.  Of course as some of the images show, they figured out how to have the tech-tool solve the challenge for themselves.  All in all a great meeting of tech and math.

The Math of SGTS

SGTS, what’s that?  Sorry, top secret unless it has leaked or you caught one of my prior blog entries.  But in working with our Grade 6 class @CountrysidePDSB and their space inquiry we will be working with various mathematical concepts that will help the group predict where our package may end up, how fast it will get there, how long it will take to recover and.  Of course being able to work this out will be a key component to further mathematical exploration that will focus on data gathered during the testing.  More to come regarding this meet up.  Follow the Twitter feed @SGTS_CSVPS

Day 135 – Phil Young, Teacher (Countryside Village Public School)

Reblogged from https://sphillipyoung.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/the-village-video-newsletter/

The Village Video Newsletter

Earlier this year, myself and a colleague (@wedermireroberts) put together an application for a “SpeakUp” grant through the Ministry of Education.  The primary aim of these projects is to, “help students engage both academically and socially by leading projects that they design and implement with the support of their learning community.”  Our project idea was to evolve the traditional paper newsletter and create a newscast, written, edited and produced by the students at Countryside Village Public School.

Initially, there was great interest in all aspects of the project, the class brainstormed the various roles that would be required to produce their very own newscast.  The list of jobs was extensive and of course both their homeroom teacher and myself would have to take on a role just as each of them would need to.  Of course, discussion were had about having the opportunity to play to their strengths where by some who felt they were strong writers would work to write the stories that would be reported on while others who felt the had the necessary editing skills would work as a team to edit each newscast that would be produced.  We, their teachers would help guide the production of each newscast to ensure that deadlines were met and students were fulfilling curricular expectation that would be covered by working on this project.

We also needed some equipment and training to help us in the production of our newscast.  We are currently working out of  holding school (James Grieve Public School) and using resources previously purchased by another school who actually opened the building.  As a part of receiving the grant we would be able to purchase some equipment (see Reviews to Come (Studio Equipment) and receive some training

There was excitement in the air, and with that we would have to come up with a name for the newscast.  Some of the suggestions were: CSV News, CSV24, The Villager, CSVPS News, Everything News News and a few more… To be honest I think this may have been one of the more challenging task for the class, to choose a name that, represented what was being done and the school it was about.

Beyond some decision making, students were also asked to recall events, stories, learning and more that was occurring in the building during the previous four or so weeks.  This would make up the content of our first newscast.  The list was extensive, Black History Month, Intramurals, Mr. Raney’s Lambs were just a few of the stories that would be covered.  The first edition of our newscast was being produced in a somewhat different manner than what I had envisioned for the project in a sense that the students were reflecting on news events of the past and then reporting on them rather than hearing about an upcoming event/story to cover and then going out and covering it as it happened.  I’ve asked myself several times since this project has started why this is, and the answers I have come up with, “there is curriculum to cover, there is a schedule to follow and that working in this way is different than what the kids have grown to know”.

We are still in the production stages of our first newscast and the student have been working diligently with our encouragement to meet the deadlines which have been pushed slightly.  We are hoping that the 1st edition of the Countryside News will our  school Youtube channel by weeks end.

I’ve learned that the vision we have for projects/tasks may not always play out as we had expected but nonetheless provide great opportunity for growth and learning for both students and the teachers guiding them.

Day 98: Tina Godsoe, Vice-Principal (Countryside Village and Carberry PS)

My name is Tina Godsoe, I’m a Vice Principal at Countryside Village & Carberry Public Schools. I love learning new things and talking to students about what they are learning. My favourite part of the day is when students from kindergarten to grade eight tell me about all the amazing things they know or can do.  There is never a dull moment listening to a child share their thoughts and ideas about any given subject or topic. Most often I am pleasantly surprised and intrigued by what children have to say and what they are actually willing to share.

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What I Learned today

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I learned that children know much more than they think. Once the right questions are asked, thoughts and ideas start to flow.  Today I was talking with two students about how their actions impacted each other. They couldn’t figure out why they kept having the same reoccurring problem over and over again. After going through the restorative practice questions, it became clear to me why the problem persisted, they both wanted to be heard but neither wanted to listen.  Once it was brought to their attention and they started to hear and understand the other person’s perspective, the thoughts and ideas on how to solve to their problems started to flow. They both left with strategies they could use and promised to come back to let me know how it went. I look forward to meeting with them again when I get back to the school in a couple of days. It’s difficult being in two schools because this type of work and relationship building often can’t wait. For now, these two students have a couple of days to try their strategies, adjust their actions and see how things work out. After all we can’t change anyone’s actions but our own.

Day 59: Susan Simons, Teacher-Librarian (Countryside Village Public School)

My name is Susan and I am currently in my fifteenth year of teaching and am dedicated to pursuing inquiry based teaching and learning techniques.

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 So, what have I learned today?

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I have learned that relationships are at the heart of everything that we do. The relationships between a school staff and their administrators set the whole tone of the building. Sharing a vision and pedagogical stance among a staff creates an amazing unity in which colleagues support each other on their individual learning journeys. The relationships that we build with the parents and our communities also support us in our teaching journeys. We learn from and with each other. Inquiry based learning is really helping me to make more connections with our community and seek experts beyond the walls of our school.

The parents of our students are vital to our success as they share their most precious resources with us every day. I am working on understanding ways that I can honour the stories that they carry with them while also sharing my vision of education in the twenty-first century. The children that are entrusted to us each day build unique relationships with each other, as well as with each teacher, administrator and adult in the school building. Creating strong relationships with the students is a key to student success. Modeling how to manage healthy relationships, providing a safe space for each child to express him/herself, and nurturing students as they build new relationships are tasks that we undertake every day.

As the teacher-librarian at a brand new school I have had an opportunity this year to work on building relationships with the entire school population.   Not only are we bringing together a whole new group of students, but also a new staff and a new vision. I have found that my most effective relationship-building tool has been George…a Cabbage Patch Kid. George is truly a part of our learning community. Every student and staff member has come to know George and his silly ways. The students in our building have quickly become united through knowing him and his quirky personality. Everyone knows his favourite colour, favourite food, and favourite shape! George is a non-threatening character that our students truly love. He offers interesting ideas to conversations as well as smiles when times are tough.

My role in all of this is to be the adult in the building who will take on the “crazy” label and play with the students through George. The results are worth it! The neediest students are the ones who seek him out most often.   He can curl up with a student and listen to a story, offer a hug or a kiss, or struggle alongside students as they learn. He can make mistakes and have a student help him to understand. He can also have good days and bad days and learn to work through his feelings just like the rest of us.

If I were to offer any piece of advice on building relationships within a classroom or a school, I would say, “Find your George” and have some fun!

Follow George on Twitter @cpkgeorge

Day 51: Pam Taylor, FDK Teacher (Countryside Village Public School)

Greetings and Salutations! My name is Pam Taylor, and I am an FDK teacher at Countryside Village Public School.

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What have I learned today?

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Too many things to mention! I learned that some students will do what others tell them to do even know they know it’s wrong. I learned that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I learned that even the nicest students have an edge to them. I’ve learned to love THAT kid and to find patience, understanding and curiosity in everything.

Patience has been something that has been pushed to its limits this school year. Our FDK team is in a unique situation by having 3 smaller classes in 1 pod which means that one class is divided in two with a DECE on one side, and the teacher on the other side. Patience has come into play when trying to work with each student and get to know each one on a personal level. Patience has been needed when working with students that need more parenting and less teaching. And patience is needed when building a new community of learners – both professionally and within the classroom walls.

With patience comes understanding. The understanding that not all days will be sunshine and roses. The understanding that a full moon can change the mood of a classroom or a change in routine can make all the difference. The understanding that everyone is at different places on their learning journey.

I’ve learned that patience and understanding are closely joined to inquiry based learning. Relatively speaking, kids are inherently curious. I don’t think I’ve ever met a kid that wasn’t curious about something! But more often than not, they haven’t figured out how to formulate big questions and how to decide what they want to know. Many times, a student will come and say, “I want to learn about _______________ (fill in random animal or inanimate object here). And that’s where patience comes in. We need to be patient that the questions and the ability to formulate questions will come. That the curiosity is there. And that we, as educators, can draw it out of them. It may not come until January. It may not come until they are 8 years old. But students have questions and we are the ones with patience and understanding to help them find out what they are curious about and how to make it relevant to them.

And that, my dear blogger friends, is what I have learned…. maybe not all in one day, but over a lifetime of being a curious learner.

Day 16: Deb Pratt, Principal (Countryside Village Public School)

What I learned today…

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I’m writing this as Countryside Village PS has just excessed nine teachers and two early childhood educators. This has to be an extreme case of reorganization! Although the planning department does their best to predict the number of students who will register for school, sometimes those students just don’t come or don’t come according to our staffing schedules. Having to excess that many people has a profound effect on a school and the people within. This is especially so because these educators chose to be part of a new school knowing the hard work involved but nevertheless came with energy and enthusiasm to create great things for students.

 

At Countryside Village emotions ran high as the least senior educators came to terms with the fact that they would not be part of the new school this year. This was a difficult message to deliver to these eager, relatively new educators. When I told them that they were excess to the school, they accepted the news very professionally but I could see tears welling up in their eyes. Those of us staying were not feeling very happy either.

 

Despite their disappointment, these educators shared wonderful messages with those of us who were staying about the things they had learned from us and the good memories they will take with them to their new schools. This is amazing given that nearly all of them were strangers three weeks ago. It demonstrated to me that I had brought together a fine group of people.

 

So what did I learn from this staffing upheaval at Countryside Village. I learned that a committed group of people can face change with a positive mindset, can ‘take lemons and make lemonade’ and can see the ‘glass half full’. Although they were excited about their role in a new school, these educators graciously accepted the fact that they needed to go elsewhere for now. They knew that, in the short time they were members of the Countryside Village staff, they had made a difference to the students of the school and they also had a profound impact on those of us staying.

 

We will miss these awesome educators but are better for having met and worked with them. We wish them well at their new schools.

Day 8: Julia Evenchick, Grade 3 Teacher (Countryside Village Public School)

What I Learned Today

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One of the things I learned not just today, but in the past week and half of the new school year is the importance of learning from others. Like Phil, I too work at Countryside Village except I’m teaching Grade 3. I was declared excess at my old school last year and I got the position and spent the summer planning for Grade 3. So I was completely shocked on the first day of school to find out that there were only 13 Grade 3’s for three teachers. So what happens? Well, they all go into one class and the three of us co-teach.

Now I could be angry about the situation especially since I will most likely be declared excess in a few days, and I am a bit. That being said, since I’m new to Grade 3 I decided to take an opportunity to learn from some expert Grade 3 teachers. So I’ve been learning all about how to do an actual inquiry and rather than just sitting in a workshop, I got to see it first-hand. I also got to see how the Daily 5 was actually introduced, which was something that I wanted to start in my class anyways. I’ve had the opportunity to learn how to communicate to eight year olds, which is important since my background is mostly junior and intermediate.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just sitting there watching other people. I conduct the morning meeting every day to help foster community. I’ve also started our first chapter book read-aloud and helped out with some math assessments. These have all been great opportunities, but how often do we get to observe actual teaching in a classroom, not often enough.

By this time in two weeks, I’ll most likely be at another school, which again isn’t the greatest news in the world. However, I’ll be able to take these tools that I got to witness first hand with me.

Julia is currently a Grade 3 teacher at Countryside Village Public School being held at James Grieve Public School in Caledon.