I love looking at other teachers' classrooms

My favourite teacher blog posts are the ones where I get to see into other people's classrooms.  So, I am going to post a few pictures of mine today.  I have a few shots of my classroom after a day of classes.  I have a couple of Grade 12 classes and one Grade 10 class.  I need to do a good cleaning and reorganizing but this it, mess and all.

This is the front of the room.  We still have old blackboards so I put up a white board at the front with velcro.  We also still use TV/VCR sometimes.  Don't laugh.  There is also a projector next to my podium so I am not a dinosaur. I teach from the front and have my desk at the back.

This is the side view of the room.  I am luck to have a bank of cabinets.

This is the back corner.  The shelves come from our now defunct library (that is another story).  The old Mac was generously donated by my sister.  Thanks, Melanie!

This is a view of the back of my room, including my Smart board and my teacher desk.







I also have some close ups of two of my movable white boards at the front.

Here is my Objectives Board (for Learning Goals and Success Criteria)

It is a small dry erase Board I got from Home Depot.  I used some American Crafts stickers I had lying around for the titles.  My latest project connects Reading Strategies to the Objectives Board.  I will be trying it out tomorrow.














Here is my other white board, "Ticket to Freedom".  It is my exit card board. I use it primarily with my ENG 2P1 class.

TLLP 2013-2014

My friend Daniella and I have decided to try for another TLLP grant.  We are interested in using graphic texts like graphic novels and comic books in the High School classroom.

The idea of using more graphic texts has been floating around in my mind for a couple of years.  I love graphic novels and comics.  Daniella's son loves them as well.  What really made me see the potential of using graphic novels was an incident that happened in my grade 10 Applied class a few weeks ago.  We read every day at the beginning of class and I have a student who was a pretty reluctant reader.  Then, I gave him Amulet, a graphic novel by Kazu Kibuishi.  He cannot put it down.  He is on Book 4 now.  I think this might be the way to get more students engaged in class.

I have read a bit about teaching using comic but we need time and money to get the project going.  Enter the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program through the Ministry of Education.  I am excited about it.  We have asked for both digital and print texts and some iPad Minis to deliver the digital portion.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Kindling a love of reading: I'm on fire

I have been reading like mad lately. It was sparked by the Kindle I got for Christmas. I think I had read 9 books before the Christmas break was over. I love that little electronic reader. It fits in my purse. It is light. It stores hundreds of books.

I also think that working with students who are weak or reluctant readers has fueled the fire. I can't believe there are so many people who don't read for pleasure. I guess I never asked the people around me if they liked to read until I started the Literacy Support position this year. So many colleagues say that they stopped enjoying reading in grade school and don't really read for pleasure. So many students struggle with reading and will do anything to avoid it.

Suddenly, reading feels like a gift.

It has always been my escape. If I am happy, I read. If I have free time, I read. If I want to reward myself, I buy a new book and read. If I am lonely or sad, I read.

My inner landscape is populated by the characters from books. When I am at a loss for words, their words come to me. Some books feel like friends.

If I have taken anything away from this past year, it is that I have to try harder to pass the gift of reading along and that as an English teacher, reading for enjoyment is the greatest gift I can give to my students.

So, I am reading every young adult book on the "Best Of" lists. I am reading "Books with Buzz". I am reading fantasy, non-fiction, literary fiction, historical pastoral, pastoral comical... oh, there is the voice of Polonius - see - they are all in there, talking away (see my last post about sanity - is this a bad sign?).

My Dad's words are in there too: "Could you leave me alone for a minute? I only have 20 pages left in my book".