Reflecting on our Living Musuem

Yesterday, before being dismissed, each student made a comment about the Living Museum. Here's what we thought:

-I really liked it but it’s kind of a bit loud, so I couldn’t really hear people that were talking -Aaron

-I didn’t get to see much of it because I was doing other things, but I’m guessing that it was a really good time -Camden

-I really liked it, I agree with AAron that it was a bit too loud and I think that next time, we should have a bit more time making groups and having more time for research -Clara

-It was fun. On a bun. Sharing.-Ellis

-I agree with Aaron, it was really fun, but when we Skyped with Miss Robin’s class it was a bit loud -Erika

-I really liked doing the Living Museum this year and I didn’t find it was insanely loud for four classes. I think it was a really great experience for our audience as well. -Fiona

-Gabby

-I think it was really fun and a bit too loud, but it’s funny because you always think you hate the Living Museum until the day of - Hannah

-Next year, there is a bit of room for improvement - maybe two classes like last year, because it was way loud and too overcrowded. -Hunty

-I thought it was fun, but I thought we had too many classes, that’s why it was so loud, we should go back to two classes-Jack

-I like sharing my information with other people even thought it was very tiring and stressful -Johnny

-I thought it was fun, but maybe next time we should share with the teachers that if you press a button you should stay -Kaleigh

-I think next year, I’d really like to see things and I only got to see one station in my short break - I learned something from the audience and it was really fun but I really lost focus - Laryssa

-I think it was really fun, it was a little overcrowded, but I didn’t think it was that bad. More time to research and rehearse -Madi

-having the grade 6s made it too crowded -Mel

-I thought it was fun on a bun and it was pretty loud-Miguel

-I honestly was really impressed with everybody’s presentations - just looking around, i could see that everyone was engaged in their work. Four classes was a bit much-Milie

-All I can say is that I thought it turned out really well and we should have less classes  -Molly

-I think that we should have once you’re in grade 5/6, you do the Living Museum, not grade 4s -Nat

-I agree with Nat. I think it was a little too loud, it was super super super fun presenting it -Nils

-I think there should only be a few classes -OC

-When I’m 20 and I look back on this, this’ll be one the things that I remember. I wish I could do it again,but I’m in grade 6. Next time, a bit more time for research. The dancing of another group distracted people at my station, maybe separate those groups -Pat

-It was a very good learning experience, and next time I’d have more classes in at a time, because I was not doing my presentation -Skye

-I thought it was really fun and I think that the audience enjoyed it. Next time, we should do it a bit later in the year, it would be a fun way to end the year. I think we should stick with two classes. -Vickie

-I think it was fun and it was cool that we got to share the thing that we wanted to share with other people-Yaro

-I thought it was really fun and I enjoyed it and I liked taking breaks to see other groups. MAybe make more attractive buttons and cool noises or the title -Thomas

-It was very loud. Molly was stressed out last night but she shouldn’t be, because she was over prepared -Barrie

-I also think it was very loud and it was hard to hear people at times even if they were projecting. I was impressed with the difference even from yesterday and I think everyone worked really hard. -Laura

What did you think? Please feel free to let us know in the comments below!

Organizing our forms

We are getting a bag from dollarrama to put all are forms in so we don't lose them. So all are forms are going to be more organized.

-Thomas

Anna's Substance Use and Abuse Lesson #1

Today, we Skyped with Anna about tobacoo and alcohol. We learned a lot of new things, and we had a LOT to tell her. We also had a TON of great questions. Some that even stumped Anna, Kayren AND Shauna! As always, the Digital Degus were wonderful participators!

Sophia had an awesome idea to take these ideas and run with them! Try to think of what you'd like to research further!

Please leave a comment on the blog if you didn't get a chance to say what you wanted to say!

Skype Mystery Call - Jobs

Job	Location	Description
Greeters	Near Isaac at beginning	Say hello to the class and some cool facts about our class - without giving away the location.
Inquirers	Near Isaac throughout	ask questions and are the voice of the classroom
Answerers	Near Isaac throughout	question answerers - should know the facts pretty well
Think tank	At a table near Isaac with Clue Keepers	sit in a group and figure out the clues based on the information they knew, whiteboards came in handy for this.
Clue Keepers	At a table near Isaac with Think Tank	work closely with Think Tank, answerers and inquirers to help guide them in their questioning
Question Keepers	At class computer lab table with Google Mappers	type all of the questions and answers for us to review later
Google Mappers	At class computer lab table with Question Keepers	on Google maps and CIA World Factbook studying the terrain and piecing together clues
Atlas Mappers	At a table near Isaac with Clue Markers	use atlases and our wall map to also piece together clues
Clue Markers	At table with Atlas Mappers	work with paper maps and cross out any countries/provinces/states that don’t fit into the clues given
Messengers	Around the classroom, looking for raised signals	move from group to group relaying information.
Photographer	Moving around classroom	takes pictures during the call
Problem Solver	Moving around classroom	helps students with any issues they may encounter during the call, getting supplies and resources
Closers	Near Isaac at end	end the call in a nice manner after guesses have been given

 

We got some great help from this website, and a LONG class discussion (we were all exhausted by the end of it!), but I think we're sorted for our first Mystery Skype!

Class Meeting Notes - Things Shauna is Sick of Saying

Today we had an excellent class meeting about some issues that have been cropping up in Room 209. Read below for details.

Things Shauna is sick of saying

1. Get off the chairs, we are sitting on the carpet
2. Please move, move far
3. Take care of the classroom materials
4. In room 209, respect your classroom organization and supplies
5. Which one of these class expectations are we not following?
6. You know that you’re not supposed to be sitting with that person
7. Clean up after yourselves
8. Respect this place, respect others, respect yourself
9. Turn the voice level down
10. You didn’t “brang” it, you “brought” it
11. It’s not your turn right now
12. Work quietly, everyone needs to focus
13. Please speak louder so everyone can hear your ideas
14. If you want to be trusted, be honest
15. Class order, 6 S line
16. Please be quiet so you can hear me
17. Don’t whine or groan or moan

How can we get Shauna to BE QUIET?

-Listen the first time to instructions (Vickie)

-Get in class order (Vickie)

-Maybe we could not only listen the first time, but maybe do it by knowledge. (James)

            -use your prior knowledge

            -use your problem solving skills

            -figure things out

-Think before you say/do (Pat)

            -use the tools around the classroom

-Don’t work with people you know you’re not going to work well with or sit with your friends on the carpet (Miguel)

-You can lose Degu Pen time if you can’t follow class expectations (Ethan)

            -you will get warnings from Shauna

-If you’re not listening to the instructions or you forget them and you have to go back and ask again, set up so that you’re sitting in the front so it’s more clear for you (Thomas)

-Don’t argue when you’re asked to move apart, just do it – STAND UP and MOVE, it’ll make things much better. You might feel like you’ll be angry either way, but Shauna will be happier if you just move. (Fin)

-Don’t chit-chat all the time so the teacher and the people who are listening don’t get fed up (Millie)

            -and when we have to miss a game in French (Madi)

            -the volunteers get fed up (Erika)

            -we get fed up (Fiona)

            -it’s not fair when you have to put your heads down and 

            you’re not doing anything wrong (Molly)

            -the degus (Shauna)

            -substitute teachers too, Shellie (Fin)

-Ask 3 before the teacher (Fiona)

-When you get moved a lot, make a goal/a resolution (a New Year’s Resolution, maybe) to not sit with that person as much (Pat)

  -I think by the end of December, we should be able to not be told

   once to be moved (Ethan)

-If these are your goals, follow them (Kaleigh)

   -follow ALL your goals (Shauna)

-By the beginning of January, we shouldn’t need these talks – CLASS GOAL (Madi)

-monthly whiteboard goals (Fin)

     -when we’ve all finished writing our goals, we will post them in here

      and you will post them at home! (Shauna)

The Land of Stories: Characters, Setting and Plot

As we continue our read-aloud of The Land of Stories, we are practicing reading comprehension strategies, such as:

-making connections

-asking questions

-visualizing

-inferring

and

-predicting

We are also learning about Plot, Setting and Characters. We had a great class discussion where students recalled three details that they thought were important and added them to our anchor chart. They could share details about the characters in the story, the setting (both the where and the when) or the plot (which we started mapping on two separate plot lines - a real life and a fairy tale one)

A "Blind Listen" to The Royal Condition

Before I revealed who they were, I had the students of Room 209 listen to a couple of tracks by The Royal Condition. They reacted very genuinely to the music and made some interesting observations about the music after listening.

After they listened to the music, I asked the students, "What did you notice? What did you wonder? What did you feel? What did you think?"

Here are some of their comments, questions and observations:
Is it a mandolin? - Fin
It's weird. - Reilly
The two songs sounded the same. They had the same rhythm and beat. - Fiona
I think they're old songs, because new songs have a rhythm (which means beatboxing). - Ethan
I wanted to sing along, or play an instrument. - Fin
I think it's Pink Floyd. - Kaleigh
It reminds me of Terry Fox and baby twins because of the line "came out and not the same". - Pat
It was sort of catchy, I didn't even realize I was tapping my foot to the music. - Molly
It sounded ancient and like a banjo. - Hunter
It sounded like country music. - Ethan
It was soothing. - Liam
It was relaxing, I think it was the same artist and the lyrics were probably written in 2007. - Pat
It made me think about ukelele class and think about Shauna going to Indonesia because the words sounded Indonesian. - James
I want to look it up. - Hunter
Two people fell asleep. - Sophia
For some reason, I thought it was Matt. - Molly

Shauna's Learning - iPads in the Classroom and Sir John Jones

On Wednesday night, I was lucky enough to go to a Lead the Way event run by the Parent Engagment Committee and the Leadership Committee in the OCDSB. I met all kinds of wonderful students and learned about the projects that are going on in their schools.

My friend, Jodi, is a teacher at Adrienne Clarkson and did a project last year with 20 iPads in her grade 1 classroom. She brought three wonderful representatives from that class (they are now grade 2s) to demonstrate the success of the project. These two students were enthusiastic and knowledgeable and were happy to show me some of the great tasks they knew how to do on their iPads. They even had business cards with QR codes (we need to try this in our room!)

Adrienne Clarkson students showing me their iPad skills!

I also got to talk to a student from Leslie Park P.S. about her school's Kindness Club. Their school is tiny, it only has 128 students! 22 of them are in the Kindness Club and they meet at lunchtimes each week. They promote kindness within the school and community. They have a Pay it Forward Day where all students receive 2 kindness pins that they can give away to someone who treats them kindly. They also raise money through Freezie sales, bake sales, fruit and goodie sales, clothing sales and a garage sale to support the Ottawa Mission, Ottawa Humane Society, CHEO, Salvation Army and Christie Lake Kids.

I was inspired by the amazing, innovative projects kids and teachers are working on in our wonderful school board.

This is what a real knight looks like!

 The inspiration of the evening continued as I got to see a real live knight - Sir John Jones - speak! He talked about creativity and individualization in education. I laughed and I even cried during his presentation!

I was pretty excited when he used the word "daft"! Sir John is British and it's a pretty British word, but I think he'd fit in well in our classroom!

Who do you think will get the best marks on this test?

 I hope you can see this cartoon. I really think it says some interesting things about education!

Sir John Jones talked about the future and told the audience of students, parents, community members and school staff that 80% of the jobs that you students in Room 209 will have don't even exist yet!

He reminded us teachers that it is so important for students' voices to be heard in the classroom. He said that classrooms often look like "30 children showing up to watch an adult work"! Many classes have the teacher talking 80% of the time. He suggested we try to switch that around and have the teacher talking for only 20% of the time and the students talking for 80% of the time.

 I want to talk about this in class. What do you think are the things we do most in class? What are the things you would like to do most in class?

Sir John said that the job of teachers is not just to teach students the subject, but more importantly, to teach students to love the subject and to feel passion for learning. He calls teachers "Magic Weavers".

A lot of the things Sir John said reminded me of the work we're doing in Room 209. He showed us a list of the skills students develop in Finland. They are called "Citizen Skills" and reminded me of our Class Expectations.
Citizen Skills in Finland
-Thinking
-Teamwork
-Creativity
-Initiative and self awareness
-Personal responsibility

He also showed us the list of big ideas in education in Singapore.
Education in Singapore
-Teach less, learn more
-Problem solving
-Curiousity
-Collaboration
-Organization

He spoke about his ideas that matched our "Outside the Hoop" thinking. He talked about being creative, breaking the rules, and taking risks.

I also loved what he said about great mathematicians. He used the word "resilience" to describe the perseverance that mathematicians show by never giving up. I think we should add resilience to our list of assessment criteria for Mathtastic 521!

The best piece of advice he gave, I think, and I hope you've read all the way to the end of this, is: "Find something you are passionate about, and find someone to pay you to do it. You'll never work a day in your life." I'm lucky that I am passionate about teaching, and I hope to help you all get on the track to finding your own passions this year!

Hard at Work on Our Class Code of Conduct

 In order to create our Class Code of Conduct, we have been collaborating and sharing our ideas for several days.

 We started with a Graffiti activity, where all students got a chance to wander around the room and answer questions about rights and responsibilities, roles and expectations in the classroom.

 Then, we split into smaller groups to collate those ideas.

 The groups presented to the whole class, who contributed with questions, comments and suggestions.

 Finally, in new groups, students came up with the Big Ideas that we've now picked through to use as our Class Code of Conduct.

 After a lot of hard work and "Outside the Hoop" thinking, we've come up with some WONDERFUL ideas and some innovative ways of sharing those ideas.

 It's been terrific to see students start to work together in different configurations and share their ideas respectfully with one another.

Some of the Graffiti during a quiet moment!