Bullet Journals - for those who still love the pen and paper

As "techie" as I am, I still love pen and paper.

I use it for my dayplanner and also journaling and note-taking.

I loved this site with some ideas for 'Bullet Journals"

Check it out: http://www.bulletjournal.com/

Questions Students Ask Teachers-On-Call

I read a great post over at Sub Hub about questions TTOCs get from students. The questions are the same as the ones I hear day to day but my answers are a little bit different....

No matter if I am subbing for an afternoon, a whole day, or an extended stay, not a day goes by that I don't hear these questions. I have gotten to where I have some fairly standard responses to them.

1. Where is Ms. So-and-So?
I usually say, "I am not sure, but they should be back tomorrow (or whenever I am scheduled until, if I don't know I say "soon") Sometimes it is fun to use a silly response. Here are some I read on another blog:

She's visiting Candyland today; she's spending the whole day doing nothing but eating cotton candy; she's auditioning for American Idol... anything crazily outlandish, and the sillier the better. Sometimes the students even get a kick out of trying to figure out if I am kidding or not.

2. What time is recess/lunch/specials?Usually I tell them how long, but I like this response:

It doesn't seem to matter whether it's kindergarten or fifth grade, someone always asks about times for standard parts of the schedule. In that case, I always have the same response. "It's the same time it's been all year." I know, it's sarcastic. But I always follow it up with a correct response.

3. Is this for a grade?I always tell them that their teacher asked me to collect it, so I would guess it is for marks. This is because if it isn't for marks, they tend to not put forth any effort.

4. Can we use markers? (or some toy, game, book)I ALWAYS say, "what is the usual rule?" Generally I try to stick to the regular classroom rules, if they aren't sure if they are usually allowed, I say no. Here is the subhub's response to this question:

Oh my, how those elementary kiddos love their markers! It makes them positively giddy if you say yes to that question. If it's something I know is a graded assignment, I ask what the normal rule is in the classroom. If it's something I know is enrichment or extra practice, I might say yes just to make them happy.

5. Can we work in partners/groups?
Depending on the class, I usually say yes, but that if it becomes too loud/off task/disruptive, the privilege is lost.
I also hear this a lot:

Ms. So-and-so does this....
I often look around and ask if I look like Ms. so-and-so... with younger children I usually start my day letting them know that while I love to learn how they do (this and that) in their classroom, that I go to a lot of different classrooms and I may do things a little bit different, just for today. Calendar time tends to be the thing most Primary classes need to be "exactly the same" every day, every teacher, no matter what.

I think it is important children learn to adapt to new faces and routines, but also to keep them feeling safe and comfortable. I try to have a helpful student run the show. Luckily, most primary classes have a "special friend" of the day who gets to run calendar and they usually know EXACTLY how it is done!

What questions do you hear often? How do you respond to those questions or any of these questions?

Elimination of Standard School Calendar means what for education?

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if educators ruled education. Or, even if the education Minister listened to educators, or visited classrooms for more than just a photo-opportunity.

The things that have been coming from this Liberal government surrounding the future of public education frightens me at times.

CBC reports:

The B.C. government has introduced amendments to the School Act that will eliminate the standard school calendar, the government has announced.
The move allows school boards to more freely schedule classes, opening the way for the possibility of year-round schooling.
The Ministry of Education will continue to set a minimum number of instructional hours, starting in the 2013-2014 school year, a release Thursday said.
The amendments also extend the ability to take a mix of online and traditional school courses to students in kindergarten through Grade 9. Currently, only students in grades 10 to 12 have this option, the announcement said.
“These amendments to the School Act will provide school districts with additional tools to support personalized learning,” said Education Minister George Abbott.

While I don't oppose year-round schooling, in fact I was just talking about this with someone the other day, and how the long summer breaks often leads to September refreshers and that year round schooling could address that issue, this amendment to the School Act does worry me.

Year - round schooling does not worry me, but the fact that local districts can now decide their own schedule means there could be massive changes from one district to the other and the ability to use online education from K-9 now could drastically change education, and not for the better!
What would online grade 3 class look like?

How would this impact class size and composition?

The fact is, it would be cheaper to have 50-100+ students in an online, distant ed course than to have then on site with a teacher and a room that forces safety rules of aprox 30 kids and oh ya, electricity and school supplies... distant ed course could save distrcits money and then why bother even having kids in face-to-face education anymore?

Is this the direction we are heading?

Why?

I can't imagine the social skills of students who do online courses exclusively, imagine starting in Kindergarten? What might this would look like?

I feel like some of my own friends lack social skills from over exposure to twitter, facebook, online chats, and so on.... how could this new plan change things?

So this news worries me.

Also, this bill suggests charging for the IB Program and allows ProD to be specified for a specific topic (or determined for teachers) among other things that basically sound like bad news for teachers and public education.

I do not oppose the possibility of change, but I question what this plan's intention is and where it may lead....

Read the bill here: http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th4th/1st_read/gov36-1.htm

Read Press Release here: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2012EDUC0044-000548.htm

Discuss?!