How will I get ready for the fall?
This is a question that as teachers we often think about – a lot. I wonder though what we actually do to answer this all-important question besides prepare awesome lessons. Is it enough to prepare courses of study: course outlines, thorough unit plans and detailed lesson plans? In this email blast I share with you some of the sites that I will review over the summer and specifically while I am preparing for the fall. I hope that you find some of them useful.
1. How will I structure my classroom to best support all students’ learning? How will I create a safe, supportive environment? Am I planning with differentiation in mind? I recommend reviewing the following resources:
a. Edugains:
i.http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/EducatorsPackages/DIEducatorsPackage2010/2010EducatorsGuide.pdf
ii.http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/Brochures/DIBrochureOct08.pdf
b. Carol Anne Tomlinson -http://differentiationcentral.com/
c. ETFO – http://www.etfo.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment/ETFOsBookClubs/Facilitator_Guides/differentiated_CR.pdf
d. Ministry of Education, Ontario – https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/speced/panel/speced.pdf
2. How will I encourage my students (and myself) to takes risks and learn from mistakes? Am I planning for success? I recommend reviewing the following resources:
a. TedTalk – on Growth Mindset -http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Social-Media-Changing-Learning
b. Carole Dweck -https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en
c.http://simarchive.abel.yorku.ca/?page_id=2751
d.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brpkjT9m2Oo
3. In my planning have I considered how I will get to know my students, their strengths and areas of need? Have I taken into consideration the possible needs of English Language Learners who may be in my classes? I recommend reviewing the following resources:
a. Have I considered having my students develop a learning profile card for me to use when designing assignments or grouping students?
Check out the following Edutopia site:http://www.edutopia.org/blog/learning-profiles-john-mccarthy
Each link within the site leads you to the information on how to build and use learner profile cards.http://openingpaths.org/blog/2014/01/learning-profile-cards/
b. The Ontario Skills Passport website has tools that help students determine the skills they have and the ones they need to develop in order to pursue their career dreams.http://skillstest.edu.gov.on.ca/OSPWeb/jsp/en/EO_checkUpTools.jsp
c. To support the English Language Learners I recommend checking out the following resources:
Edugains:
i.http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesELL/Assessment/STEP/STEPUserGuide_January2012.pdf
ii.http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesELL/Resources/ThinkLitESL7-12.pdf
Edutopia
iii.http://www.edutopia.org/blog/esl-ell-tips-ferlazzo-sypnieski
iv.http://saisd.net/admin/curric/bilingual/pdffiles/instructstratell.pdf
Teachthought
v.http://www.teachthought.com/learning/50-incredibly-useful-links-for-ell-educators/
Great planning everyone! Linda McCulloch, Past President