What Stuck with you this Week?

I love post-it notes and use them a lot for various lessons, workshops, activities... I love this board... what a great idea!

50 ways to take a break - Happy Friday!

Beachy Flip-Flop Art

Almost summer... so many awesome sunny art projects on pinterest right now!



You could easily tie this in to a writing assignment also... ah... summer days soon....

But, I hate math....

I hear it all the time... students who don't like math.. the correlation between what they like and what they do well in doesn't require extensive research, it is clear... so what impacts students' attitudes towards Math? I found a great article on that...

Factors Influencing Students' Attitudes Towards Math.... This is some great research and an excellent read. My daughter struggles with math in part because she doesn't enjoy it. I am seeking ways to help change that, but this research really helps put the attitudes of "math haters" in perspective.

You need not look far to sense that our current education system is in a state of upheaval. Proponents of Common Core Standards, Alberta’s Curriculum Redesign and the new BC Ed Plan have all placed mathematics in the limelight of educational reform. Addressing the development of negatives attitudes and confidence in mathematics is likely one of the biggest concerns in education today and there is certainly good reason for such concern. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed a decrease in the percentage of students who indicated they like math from 1992 to 2000. Likewise, a survey by Olson (1998) revealed that one-third of students reported that they did not enjoy mathematics. With a rising resentment towards the subject, economists fear the work force will be impacted after research revealed that negative attitudes can decrease the tendency of individuals to consider careers in mathematics-related fields (Haladyna, Shaughnessy, & Shaughnessy, 1983; Maple & Stage, 1991; Trusty, 2002). In fact, further studies have shown that students’ attitudes toward mathematics were the strongest predictor of their participation in advanced mathematics courses (Ercikan, Mccreith, & Lapointe, 2005). In the field of mathematics education, this is nothing new. Educators as early as the 1960’s have held the belief that attitude plays a fundamental role in learning and achievement in mathematics (Neal, 1969) and while recent programs in BC and Alberta have identified the steps needed to generate a shift in attitude there is limited literature that summarizes the research about the causes of negative attitudes.

Read more at original source

Letter: Here’s one teacher who earned every dime

There has been a lot of recent talk about our teachers, government and job action. I'd like to take a moment and talk about Jane Powell. 

She was my drama teacher from eighth grade until I graduated (with a brief respite while I was in 11th grade) and she passed away on Oct. 1. 

Like most people, I had a difficult time in school. With hormones controlling my every move, bullies in the hallways, less than stellar home life and an intense need to be lippy, poor Ms. Powell had to deal with the results of that equation.

All I wanted to do was play around and when I found out how easy it was to make people laugh, I felt that I had found my calling, but Ms. Powell had different ideas.

Very early in my drama studies she was quick to tamp down my eagerness to be a jackass.

I have never been a person to blindly accept authority and Ms. Powell, like all of my other teachers, had to deal with it on a daily basis. She, like the others, never gave up on me. 

I don't know what she or any other of my teachers were paid to deal with the rag-tag group that we were in school, but given the crass behaviour she was exposed to daily, it probably wasn't enough.

This was before teachers had to deal with students text messaging in class etc. (our text messages were hand- written notes passed around the room!).

When the B.C. Liberals gave themselves a pay raise a few years back, there was talk that “we need to attract the best and brightest.”

The best and brightest people in the world are not grown in petri dishes. They are challenged and taught by a specific group of professionals who dedicate their lives to their work.

Teachers.

"They get weekends, stats and summers off” is a common argument I've heard.

According to the Parliament of Canada website, last year our MLAs had 46 sitting days in parliament? (I am not going to give them credit for work they do outside of Victoria until we give credit to the work teachers do outside of the school.)

“It shouldn't be about money, if they really love their jobs,” is another common argument I've heard.

The same could be said about people choosing to run for public office.

JOEY JACK

Kamloops

SOURCE

Blog Staffroom Confidential: BC Teachers: Liability & the Lockout

Here is part of a blog post, I encourage you to go read in its entirety. Regarding WCB coverage, I find the debate interesting as there are several cases pre-job action or lock-out, in which teachers were NOT covered by WCB for extra curricular activities.

Here is the start of Staffroom Confidential's blog post:

The war of words between the BCTF and the BC Government, heated up this week as the government denied that their lockout prevented teachers from organizing and participating in extra-curricular events and blamed the BCTF for warning its members of potential liability.

The Victoria Times Colonist reported this morning:

Education Minister Peter Fassbender said he was against any disruption of extracurricular and volunteer opportunities.

“I think that’s a shame,” he said. “As I said at the beginning, I am concerned because this is now affecting students and their parents and the communities. Teachers have a choice to participate in extracurricular activities as they have previously.”

While the union said teachers should wait until there is confirmation from WorkSafe B.C. that they are on solid ground with extracurricular activity during the partial lockout, Fassbender said WorkSafe B.C. coverage for teachers will not be compromised.

“Any teacher that is at any activity that is sanctioned by a school district is absolutely covered by WorkSafe. There is no question of that."

( - See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/union-tells-teachers-to-stop-volunteering-cites-liability-concerns-1.1076148#sthash.BWAx6nAh.dpuf)

What are the facts we know?

The first claim, that teachers are covered by WCB (WorksafeBC), is almost certainly false. WCB has been issuing orders denying WCB coverage to teachers involved in extra-curricular activities for some time now. See, for example, this WCAT (the appeal body of the WCB) decision.

In it, the adjudicator determines that coverage is not provided because the activity was not "work" ....

Read More here

Outdoor Bounce - Parts of Story

As weather improves, this may be a fun way to get fresh air (or escape an over heated classroom?) and do something different....




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