Why I Became An Educator? What Legacy?

 

 

Why did I become an educator??

I was actually going to be a Commercial Artist and worked briefly in the industry. At that time it was a field that few women were working in and an adventure in itself. However, I found that there was very little opportunity to create. I painted huge murals on buildings, trucks, windows, and even created and screened museum exhibits. After a awhile, every street I drove down had some of my work on display and every piece of clothing I owned had paint on it somewhere.  But..I was always producing someone else's creations.

 Next came Computer programming and I enrolled in Computer Science. I took an elective course in education and the rest fell into place.

Opportunities to create abounded. One of the best parts of teaching is being able to create a space where learning is an adventure. Every September is a new beginning. Every year has its own challenges and rewards.  Creating activities and opportunities to challenge and inspire my students and then watching them surpass my them is always rewarding. Every new project we take on inspires new ones.

I enjoy working with children, and each year they become mine, but for me it is the way a classroom takes on a life of its own.


What legacy do I want to leave behind? 

 That is harder. I have never thought of teaching in those terms. I  have always been passionate about integrating technology and have spent many years striving to do so. I want the world to see elementary school students as the powerhouses they are. Too may times we underestimate their abilities. I have heard:  the children are too young to learn how to save their work, or how to logon to their accounts, or that they don't need the computing capacity of older students because they only write short stories. I would like the world to see that these kids are fearless, quick to learn and capable of taking on many of the challenges we assume only much older students can do.

 I would like my teaching legacy to be that I have shown my students, and the world what amazing things they are capable of.  I want them to believe they can do it all. I want to open your eyes and make you understand that too.

Just The Facts

 Multiplication Time

 Every year it is a struggle to get my students to master their times tables. We listen to music, have timetable drills, play times table games and I assign them for homework. I've tried it all. Last year I tried something new. I had the class create their own times table raps and for the first time virtually all my students learned their tables.

This year we are working to make times tables ebooks with voice over fact "raps".  It is a time consuming project but if the students learn these facts  it will be time well spent, as very few of my class know them.
 

The assignment:

1. With a partner create a rap for the 6 times table.

Example:

6 and 4

are on the floor.
6 times 4

equal twenty-four.

I

2. t took a while to get the students rhyming the second line with the last. They automatically wanted to rhyme it with the first instead. They struggled with a few that were harder to rhyme but eventually they succeeded.

Use the storyboard sheet provided to re-write out the verses and then create pictures to go with them.

 3. Create the illustrations and then take pictures of them with the iPad camera and upload them to Dropbox

 4. Use Book Creator and the iPad to create a digital 6 times table rap by placing the illustration in, and adding a voice over. Some students may choose to add a text box too.

 Timeline:

4 to 5 days per times table fact:

Day 1: create the rap
Day 2: make the storyboard and start the illustrations
Day 3: finish Illustrations
Day 4: create book and voice overs.


We will do the 6, 7, 8, and 9 times table facts.  

Building Learning

Today we finished our fourth workshop in 2 weeks. We  spent the last two weeks involved in a series of First Nations workshops courtesy of our Aboriginal Program. We  learned about the importance of salmon; what potlatches and button blankets are; and their importance to the First Nations people. We  made button blankets, learned to draw oviods to make crests, and to weave on a loom.

What a great way to learn. What an opportunity to experience the culture and to share our learning. There is much more to come as we will be drumming and dancing; studying, writing and filming  creation legends; and hosting a celebration for Aboriginal Days this year.

One of the best parts of teaching grade 4 is the opportunity we have, here in Surrey, to experience such rich learning opportunities without ever opening a textbook. We listen to our First Nations, learn from their words, and experience their culture as we participate in all of these activities. We will be honoring their teaching as we chronicle the journey through blogs, photos, videos, and our creations. We are building a treasure to share in June when we celebrate Aboriginal Days.

Its an ambitious plan.
 We will be very busy.
    We will participate, create, collaborate, and share.

       ---And we will learn.