Tag: Teaching

Family Literacy Day

Every year on January 27, Canada celebrates Family Literary Day. This annual awareness event was created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1992 with the mission of spreading word about the importance of reading and engaging in literacy-related activities as a family.

Literacy levels in Canada have become a serious issue. Here are some literacy awareness facts:

  • Increasing the literacy rate by 1 percent would generate $18 billion in economic growth annually
  • 42 percent of Canadian adults have a literacy level too low to keep up with the increasing information demands of modern life
  • In Ontario alone, only 61 percent of adults with the lowest literacy levels are employed
  • Meanwhile, 82 percent of those with the highest literacy levels are employed, but only make up 20 percent of the population
  • Seniors, native people, prisoners, people with disabilities, minorities and the long-term unemployed are more likely to have low literacy levels, and to be living in poverty

The fight to improve literacy throughout Canada starts in your own home. In honor of Family Literacy Day, take the pledge to engage your kids in “15 Minutes of Fun” every day and do an activity together that encourages reading, learning and creativity.

These activities can range from researching your favorite foods online to see if you can make them at home, to singing a conversation to the tune of your favorite song. See the full list of example activities here.

Sources: Canadian Library & Learning Network, The Excellence in Literacy Foundation, Literacy and Policing Project, Literacy Council

Identifying Different Types of Learners

There are many different ways that people learn, and in any classroom, you are bound to encounter several students from each learning category.  While one method of teaching may work very well for a certain type of learner, another type may not respond at all to what you try.  As a new teacher, it is very important to learn how to identify the different types of learners in your classroom, and then to make sure that each one of your lessons takes into account every style of learning that your students may need.  To become an effective teacher, you must anticipate the needs of your students and tailor your lesson plans to best benefit each type of learning your classroom.

 

 

Auditory Learners

In the past, most styles of education relied on the belief that all students were auditory learners.  This has, of course, since been proven incorrect, so you should never rely solely on auditory teaching methods to reach your class.

Auditory learners focus best on verbal, spoken language, but may struggle with the written word and with hands-on projects.  While listening to information over and over again can help an auditory learner remember much more easily, the same student may get nothing out of reading a chapter silently out of a book.  These students are easy to identify, even as a new teacher, because they tend to be the most outgoing students in the classroom.  They may be social butterflies who enjoy talking and hearing themselves talk, and they tend to be class clowns who always seem to be at the center of attention.

 

 

Visual Learners

Visual learning focuses on the interpretation and absorption of taught information by seeing and processing it.  Visual learners are slightly less common than auditory learners, but still may comprise the majority of your classroom.

A student who learns best visually does well at quiet reading time, and can learn material from watching movies as well.  The same student may struggle with directions that are given verbally, and may not do very well when trying to construct something by hand.  Visual learners can be identified by their strong attention to detail and need to be organized, even at a young age.  These students are good at one-on-one conversation, but may not be part of a larger group, and may be much quieter than their auditory counterparts.  Noise often distracts a visual learner, and these students may need you to physically perform a task before they can repeat it.

 

 

Kinesthetic Learners

Although kinesthetic learners are not quite as common as auditory and visual learners are, they are still common enough that you are sure to encounter a handful even in your first class.  They may be more challenging to teach, but if you are prepared you should not have any trouble.

Kinesthetic learners are best suited to learning by doing.  These students retain information when they are able to manipulate objects or understand information by interacting with parts of it.  They may not do well when given verbal direction or shown how to do something, but instead want to dive in and try it on their own.  You can identify a kinesthetic learner in your classroom by pinpointing the students who cannot seem to sit still while you are teaching them.  Gain their attention by providing lots of hands-on class experiences.

 

Identifying and teaching different learning types in your classroom does not have to be a difficult achievement.  Simply keep these tips and strategies in mind, and you will be well on your way to successful teaching in no time.

The Good Teacher’s Guide

A child’s education is nothing without a quality teacher to provide it.  But just what makes a good teacher?  What are the characteristics that all teachers should strive toward in order to have the biggest influence on their students?  Read on to learn all about the ways in which a teacher can go from being simply  a teacher to becoming a good, effective teacher.

 

Use Understandable Objectives and Goals

Every teacher needs a lesson plan, but if that plan is complicated, confusing, or does not seem to have an endgame in mind, it is useless.  Teachers often fall into the trap of teaching scattered subjects from all over the place, when in reality, a good teacher is one who can focus his or her time and energy and cover every subject in a sequential order.  In the same way, a teacher must provide consistent feedback through grades and notes.  The grading policy should not change in the middle of the year.

 

Engage While Teaching

Many teachers feel that all they have to do is stand in front of a class, give a lecture, ask a few questions, and move on.  This is one way to dispense information, but it is not a viable method of teaching successfully.  Students get bored with this type of instruction very quickly, and they do not retain much of the information provided if they are not engaged.  Ask students to look at facts that have presented and come up with their own conclusions.  Keep questions open-ended whenever possible, and be sure to call on students equally without returning to one or two favorites.

 

Know What You Teach

A great teacher must be an expert in his or her field of education.  If you teach science but cannot explain the difference between a proton and a neutron without looking it up, your students are going to lose faith in you quickly, and you will not be able to reach them.  To be a good teacher, you must be able to answer basic questions about your subject at the drop of a hat, and you should be prepared for students who want to study the topic more in-depth.  If you are good at what you teach, and you teach what you know, you are bound to make a connection with a few students who want to go on to focus on your field as well.

 

Talk To Parents

It may be daunting to try to communicate with parents, but this is a very important part of any good teacher’s job.  Schools usually require parent-teacher conferences at least twice per semester, but it can be beneficial to you and your students as well if you send home letters explaining how the student is doing throughout the year, or even reach out with a phone call if your school allows it.  If you are worried about how a student is doing, talk to the parents.  They will be pleased, and you will be better equipped to help that student succeed.

 

 

It does not take much to be a good teacher, and anyone can do it, but you may need to re-evaluate your methods in order to reach that goal.  Do not be afraid to try new things, to talk to parents and engage students, and to be sure you are well equipped to teach your subject matter.  If you follow these few tips, you will be well on your way to being an excellent teacher in no time.

Traditional Education: Does ‘later’ always mean ‘greater’?

Traditional education is, at its core, the most commonly practised form of education throughout much of the world.  This term refers to a back-to-basics way of teaching, where a single instructor (or perhaps an instructor with an aide, for larger classes) speaks to a group of students who are seated at desks or tables.  This teacher-driven type of education has been called into question in recent years, with some groups hoping to reform the educational system and provide students with a task-oriented learning environment that is not so rigidly structured.  This means that teachers must rethink their strategies and try to determine where they and their methods fall in the world of new education reform.

 

“Old School” Educational Methods

For a long time, education has been centered around traditional “old school” methods of providing students with information.  To this day, several of these methods are still used in the classroom, but they are becoming much less commonplace.  For example, English and vocabulary lessons are no longer based on the study of root words and phonics, as they once were.  Students of the past learned new vocabulary words by identifying their roots and thinking about where they could have come from.  The word “questionable,” for example, has a root word of “question,” which can lead a student to make a good guess as to what the word means.

Math, too, was once taught much differently than it is today.  Students were required to memorize their times tables when they learned multiplication, and classrooms were filled with math pupils who recited, in unison, simple multiplication based on number families.  Some schools even went so far as to have students write their times tables by hand over and over again to ingrain the information into their minds.

Even handwriting has fallen to the wayside and is no longer explored in the classroom the way it used to be.  Students are no longer taught cursive writing at all, save for in certain private schools, and penmanship is not a subject that is graded by teachers any longer.  Students are allowed to write in whatever hand they develop, so long as it is somewhat legible by the teacher.

 

New Methods of Teaching

There are many ways in which teachers are moving from these traditional, teacher-centered ways of presenting students with information and into a more hands-on, student-driven educational environment.  Perhaps the largest of these new methods is student engagement.  This refers to a teacher giving students basic information and then engaging them in a conversation about the subject matter.  Students learn analytical skills by thinking about the facts they have been given and working toward understanding why things happen the way they do, and how the information pertains to them and their personal lives.

Engagement also refers to giving students hands-on experience in any given subject.  Field trips are much more common in an engagement-driven classroom, and students visit locations where they can watch real world applications of the subjects they learn in school.  Even a local business office can be a great field trip location for students who want to see how math, communication, or other subjects can affect their adult lives.

Some teachers are beginning to adopt a concept called spaced learning for information presentation in the classroom.  This works with the short attention spans of today’s students by combining a small amount of rote memorization with plenty of fun activities to keep the brain moving.  In a spaced learning classroom, a teacher sets aside about an hour to an hour and a half of class time to focus on a subject.  The information is taught to the students first for about fifteen minutes, in a condensed format.  Students then break for a physical activity that lasts ten minutes, before returning to hear the same information repeated in the same order for another fifteen minutes.  The ten-minute physical activity break is repeated, and finally, the fifteen minutes of information is repeated once more to solidify the learning experience.

Spaced learning may seem a little strange at first, but it is a great way to keep students interested in the topic at hand by providing them frequent mental breaks.  The repetition of the information helps keep the subject fresh in their minds, and the physical activity keeps them from getting bored and losing focus.

 

Why Should Teachers Be Current?

It is very important for teachers to remain up to date with current trends in educational practices.  Prepared teachers who are willing to try new methods of helping students learn are some of the greatest teachers out there, and the results from their classrooms will surely prove that.  Continuing education courses as well as lectures from successful teachers can provide plenty of opportunity for educators to learn about new methods for their own classrooms.  As society and children change throughout the years, the needs of students and their ability to focus and pay attention also changes.  It is vital for teachers to be ready to combat these changes with a dynamic strategy for their lessons.

60 Class Projects for Art Teachers

It is well known among teachers that children respond well to art. Whether they are simply looking at it, learning about it or creating it, using art in the classroom is a fantastic way to get kids engaged and offers many benefits for their development.

According to studies, children who regularly participate in art are more likely to achieve academically, and are more likely to score higher marks in standardized testing. Studies also show that children enjoy coming to school to participate in art lessons as they enjoy the hands on focus of art lessons and producing pieces which they can take home and show off.

Art offers a very tangible sense of achievement for children –they learn the skills required, study the techniques and then produce something which demonstrates what they can do, to their audience (usually parents or grandparents). It helps to build confidence and encourages students to think positively about their education and about what they are capable of doing. Art is also a fantastic way to foster creativity in children young and old and helps them to develop their critical thinking skills as they learn to observe, analyse and synthesize the world through an artistic lens.

Statistically, engagement in art is linked to higher test scores, lower drop-out rates at high school level and increased engagement with their community as an adult. Even if you are not an artistic person, or you are teaching a group of students who are not particularly artistic, you should still consider integrating some art into your classroom. Using art can liven things up and expose your students to character building experiences.

Depending on the level of your students, you may want to try offering a variety of lessons using different mediums.

Here is our list of 60 different art lessons for your classroom.  Try making:

• Nature collages
• Portrait sketches
• Cartoon strips
• Shoe-box puppet theaters
• Finger paintings
• Scrapbooks
• Painting of fruit or vegetables
• Mobiles
• Fairy gardens in an ice cream container
• String art
• Melted crayon art
• Dyed pasta jewelry
• Homemade snow globes
• Paper snowflakes
• Origami
• Paper Mache’
• Paper lanterns
• Paper chains
• Yarn Easter eggs
• Potato stamped paper or fabric
• Decorated newsprint for personalized gift-wrap
• Sock puppets
• Salt dough pinch pots
• Christmas wreaths
• Paper dolls with split pins
• Christmas cookie ornaments
• Homemade greeting cards
• Dyed Easter eggs
• Paper beads
• Clay masks
• Painted national flags
• Create or color in coloring pages
• Picture frames from card
• Fingerprint trees
• Weaved paper coasters
• Button art
• Yarn wrapped letters
• Paint chip bookmarks
• Tie Dyed shirts
• Cups decorated with a sharpie
• Leaf paintings
• Coin rubbings
• Rock paintings
• Geometric drawings
• Foil art
• Paper plate masks
• Puffy paintings
• Bird feeders
• Painted pinecones
• Surrealist glue art
• Mixed media boards
• Milk art
• Modern tin art
• Bottle cap murals
• Body tracings
• Grape and toothpick sculptures
• Leaf printing on fabric
• Air dry dough beads
• Shaving cream marbled paper
• Plaster of Paris sandcasts

Whichever lessons you choose to work on with your class, remember – exposing children to art is not just about teaching them how to recognize a Picasso. It is about exposing young minds to experiences that will change their view of art, and the world.

Backpack Safety

With the summer coming to a close, matters such as uniforms, stationery and bus routes are often at the top of any parents mind, as children everywhere start preparing for their return to school. However, one important piece of school equipment is commonly overlooked: the backpack.

While buying whichever backpack is in fashion, or the least expensive might be your first port of call, it is important to keep in mind what the best fit might be for a healthy backpack. Not all backpacks are created equal, and your child will wear whichever pack you choose every day, so it’s worth taking the time to ensure that you have chosen a backpack that will help your child to be comfortable and secure throughout the entire school day.

A backpack is an essential item that no school child can do without but according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, almost 28,000 injuries are treated in emergency rooms each year due to wearing backpacks. The following are our tips for ensuring that your child’s backpack is the best fit. A child wearing an inadequate backpack or wearing one incorrectly can lead to muscle strains, pain and fatigue.

Get your child started off on the right foot this school year by making sure they have the right backpack, and know how to wear it properly.

 

Buying

  • When buying a backpack, choose one with wide, padded straps and a padded back. The padding will provide additional support and stop the straps from digging into your child’s shoulders when the backpack is full
  • If the school allows it, consider purchasing a rolling backpack – this will give your child some respite from wearing it all the time if it contains a heavy load. Just make sure that the backpack fits into your child’s locker
  • Choose a backpack that is no wider or longer than your child’s torso. Have your child try the backpack on and check that it fits from around two inches below your child’s shoulder blades to their waist
  • Make sure your child can stand straight with the backpack on – if they lean forward when the backpack is on then it doesn’t fit them correctly
  • If you purchase a backpack online, make sure there is a return policy just in case it fits your child poorly and needs to be exchanged
  • Consider choosing a backpack with a hip belt – these help to relieve some of the weight, particularly taking it off the shoulders and neck
  • According to studies, almost 80 percent of school children think their bag is too heavy. Don’t purchase a larger bag, hoping it will last longer – buy a bag that is size appropriate for your child’s age
  • Take into account the weight of the bag before you buy it – canvas and cotton bags weigh less than leather
  • Make sure the backpack has a drink bottle holder on the outside to avoid spillage and consequent problems such as stains or mildew

 

Wearing

  • Don’t overload backpacks with unnecessary items. Make sure it has all the essentials but does not weight more than 10 to 20 percent of your child’s overall body weight.
  • If your child has a lot of heavy books to carry, encourage them to leave as much as they can in their locker or desk while at school, and leave any unnecessary items at home. If this is not possible, offset some of the weight by using a book bag which can be carried separately
  • Make good use of all the compartments in a backpack so that the weight is distributed as evenly as possible. Properly utilising compartments also makes it easier for kids to find the things they need quickly
  • If your child is carrying heavier items, make sure they are packed as close to the back as you can, in the center of the bag
  • Don’t allow your child to sling their backpack over one shoulder – both straps should be used to avoid straining muscles and causing poor posture

 

If you notice anything unusual about your child when they are wearing their backpack, check it. Changes in posture, pain, red markings, numbness or difficulty taking the bag off or on can all be signs that the backpack is too heavy or is inadequate.

 

 

 

Tips For First Teachers

So you’ve graduated, and you’ve just landed your first teaching job – congratulations!

Being a first year teacher is hard going. You have new names to learn and a classroom of children and their parents to get to know, all while you are finding your feet in your new career. This list of tips will offer practical advice on ways to manage your students, work with parents, keep yourself organised and survive your first weeks in the classroom.

Just remember: experience is going to be the best way to establish your teaching career, so make sure you jump in, boots and all. You will learn more in your first month than you learnt in the years you went to college, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared!

 

Organise

It is crucial that you be as organised as possible before you start, and that you maintain that organisation throughout the school year. Ensure that you have established an organisational system that works for you before your first day. A few minutes spent shuffling through papers can lead to chaos among your students so make sure you know where everything is, and you know exactly what is in store each day. When you arrive, put the day’s plans up on the board before class begins. That way, everyone is clear about where you are heading as the day progresses.

It is also crucial that your students are organised, and this is going to require some assistance from you. Don’t assume that they will know how to organise themselves – be clear and concise about how their books and folders should be organised, and what you want their work to look like.

Lastly, expect the unexpected, and plan for it. No day as a teacher will ever be the same, so make sure your organisation allows for unforeseen circumstances, which will arise every now and then. That way…it won’t throw your entire system off when the unexpected happens.

 

Plan

As well as being organised, you are going to need to become a planner. When it comes to teaching a full classroom, over planning is going to be the name of the game. For every hour of teaching time, make sure you have enough for two hours. The day and the lessons will go faster than you expect, and there’s nothing worse than those dreaded moments where you are not sure what to do next.

While you will not always need to spend so much time planning, you will need to take extra time to do this in your first year. Think of your first year in the teaching world as a sacrificial year – you will spend much more time planning and preparing this year than you will any other, because you haven’t written any lesson plans yet. Just make sure you hold onto anything you create in your planning – you will want to add to this and use it again in years to come.

 

Take Charge

Teaching is the one place where it’s not only acceptable, but necessary, to be a little bossy. Make sure that you are clear about what behaviour is appropriate in the classroom, and what is not acceptable. You also need to be clear about what the rewards and consequences are for students, and then you need to use as much follow through as you can possibly muster – empty threats will be the death of you. It is far easier to start out strict and loosen the rules later, than it is to try and rein in out-of-control behaviour later. Learn your school’s policies and procedures so that you know what the usual process is to follow, and then draw up a disciplinary plan. Never, ever allow students to ‘get away with it’. Your students need a teacher, not another friend.

In addition, be sure to inform parents of what is expected, and of the rewards and consequences. Send home a copy of the discipline plan, and ask parents to read through it with their children, clarifying anything they do not understand. This way you know that both parents and students know what is expected.

Above all, model the attitude and behaviours that you desire from your students. Monkey see….Monkey do.

 

Involve Parents

In addition to involving parents in matters of classroom discipline, be sure to involve them as much as you can, in every area of your teaching. The learning process needs to involved everyone – parental communication can make a significant difference in the education of a child. Make sure you keep parents up to date with their child’s progress, and how they can help to develop your child’s abilities and education at home.

Make sure you also keep in mind parental support when you are trying to organise projects. If you need items for a celebration, send a note home asking for donations. Most parents love to contribute, and if you don’t ask for the things you need, then they don’t have the opportunity to.

 

 

Make Friends 

Get to know the other teachers and become good friends with them – they will be priceless! This is going to be invaluable for your first year’s journey and its success. Taking advice and bouncing ideas around with your colleagues who are more experienced in teaching, and in the mechanics of the school, is going to help you find your way that little bit faster. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – most teachers are more than happy to share their experiences and tips for managing the classroom.

Just make sure that you do not try to be another teacher. Be unique –you will soon learn what works for you, and can adapt their advice to suit your teaching style.

 

Keep a Stash

Find a drawer, a shelf or a box and keep some essentials in it. You should include:

  • An over-the-counter painkiller for headaches
  • An extra set of clothing (you never know with children: paint, glue or vomit are all distinct possibilities)
  • A couple of power bars for days where you just didn’t get time to eat

 

 

No matter how organised you are, some days the score board will read Students: 20, Teacher: 0. You will inevitably make mistakes (and learn from them) and there will always be ‘those days’. Just remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day and a new chance to get better at this. Do your best, keep your chin up and try to have fun.

And remember to play the ‘rookie card’. You will only be a new teacher for the first year, so cut yourself some slack and forgive yourself for making mistakes. And if all else fails…fake it till you make it!