Each student wrote on a heart, forming a petal. Beautiful messages for a much loved helper.
Category Archives: Classroom
Volunteers Are So Very Valuable
ADHD – Is North America handing out a pharmacological band aid?
Most parents I meet do not want to medicate their children. Most teachers do not want medicated students. However, there are still some obvious behaviours to deal with.
I thought this was an interesting article shared on Facebook about the North American diagnosis of ADHD vs the French diagnosis of ADHD.
In France doctors look at the underlying social and contextual causes. Nutritional causes are examined and parenting styles are also said to produce better behaved children. I think they are onto something – ‘très bien’!
Open Doors
When I was a very young teacher I remember a day when I had a substitute teacher teaching my class because I had a doctor’s appointment. Upon my return I noticed two things: first, that the classroom door was open and, secondly, the substitute was speaking to my students in a tone that I judged to be harsh and impatient. I remember thinking, “What if a parent walked through this hallway right now?”
Since that day, this memory has challenged me to leave my classroom door open as often as a I can. An open door serves as a physical reminder that we need to be accountable.
Sometimes I get too loud in my storytelling or the classroom next door is too loud and we close the door, but I believe that a parent should be able to walk down a hallway at any time and smile.
Sitting. Still??
I was waiting in a waiting room when I picked up a Macleans magazine and read the article Why Sitting is a Dangerous Health Threat.
Interesting!
The article talks about changing our workplace culture to include and even expect walking and standing breaks. We ALL need these breaks!
What a great challenge – not only to get our kids and students moving more but also to get up off our seats and really get involved!
From the Mouths of Kids in the Resource Room
I asked some of my students what they would like me to tell teachers about what frustrates them. I got some very insightful replies:
It’s really hard to take a ton of notes. I try to keep up but my notes are all over the place.
When I have to read in a group I wish other kids didn’t jump in so fast to give me the words. They don’t even give me a chance to try and figure it out.
When I work in a group, kids don’t let me do anything. They think I can’t.
It’s frustrating when the teacher explains a question and I’m not there yet. When I get to the question I ask for help and the teacher says, “Weren’t you listening?”
It’s frustrating when the teacher does not explain things because she thinks we already know.
Some positive things were mentioned. Trusted, nonjudgmental peers and teachers that take some extra time, definitely do not go unnoticed.
Daily Five
Another new incentive after the Christmas break has been The Daily Five (although we don’t get to all five in a day). The Daily Five is made up of five stations: working with words, working with writing, reading to someone, reading to self, and listening to reading. The Daily Five was designed by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. You can read about it here: Daily Five
I want to adapt the daily five to the resource room for three reasons: I want my students to read independently each day, write each day, and have regular conferences with me.
There are some big challenges to adapting this format to the resource room. One challenge is finding reading passages that are at an independent reading level for my students but at the same time are age appropriate (and appealing). Over the break I took different black line masters from teachers in other grades, cut off any grade level labelling, cut off any babyish pictures, laminated and levelled. This has become our “Read to Someone” station. This is working well so far since the levels are good and the length of the passages is very manageable. I feel like students have been pleasantly surprised at their success and enjoyment of daily reading (keep in mind that these are self professed book haters).
I am excited to think through each of The Daily Five.
Parent Teacher Conferences
I never get to say as much as I would like to at parent teacher conferences. Sometimes I feel like I talk so fast I must overwhelm parents. Other times I wish I had explained things better.
One solution to this problem is a brochure. I created a brochure about my classroom to explain my goals, what is important to me, and the type of services that the resource room offers. I used the brochure to explain some of the terms and paperwork used in the resource department.
I also made my own business card so that when I tell parents to contact me or make an appointment, I have a quick visual and concrete way of inviting them to actually email or give me a call.
Meeting New Friends
Our theme this month is “Community Building”. This was a visual for some time spent with the grade five class. It was meant to give the kids specific tools for making others feel protected and valuable, especially those kids that are new to the community.
My Classroom
I want my classroom to feel like a home away from home. I want the kids who don’t like school to have a different vibe here. I want it to feel safe.
The Resourceful Resource Teacher 