tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19160691287438961502024-03-05T04:01:03.572-08:00Mrs. Plumb's BlogTeaching experiences with helpful tips.Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-11210113637092319592022-11-23T06:28:00.000-08:002022-11-23T06:28:34.088-08:00This is what I do<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Visual Arts is a wonderful subject to teach. The students love trying new things. The best thing I do when the students no longer focus on their artwork and when talking to friends becomes more superior to the task at hand I like to regroup. What does 'regroup' mean exactly?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sometimes to regroup means to rearrange the groups of students who are working together. They like this because it means that they have an opportunity to meet a new friend that they can do classwork with.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Create group work from the activity that has been assigned or that you are planning to teach.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Create a <a href="https://id.blooket.com/signup" target="_blank">Blooket</a> for fun and to keep the students on their toes. It's a fun way to engage the students with the subject matter while making connections with other classmates.</span></p>Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-52336969510705491532017-11-01T20:10:00.001-07:002017-11-01T20:10:51.388-07:00The Innovator’s Mindset<div class="MsoNormal">
After reading the book, “The Innovator’s Mindset,” by George Couros, I learned quite a few things.
I will outline a few of them here. First of all I learned that during teacher’s
college where I found out that to help kids learn we had to engage them but I
needed to keep learning because that was not enough. In this book George Couros
explained that it is important to help the students feel empowered not engaged.
This means that teachers need to give kids the knowledge and skills to pursue
passions, interests and the future. It isn’t enough for students to feel
engaged which means being involved in the learning process. They need to be
able to use their knowledge and teachers need to unleash the students’
potential to allow them to explore and make meaningful connections to the
content to deepen their learning. In other words teachers need to create
opportunities for students to explore their passions so that they may feel
empowered. We can do this by providing ample time for collaboration and
experimenting to foster new or better ideas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Secondly, I learned that technology needs to be used
appropriately. We need to use our devices in a transformative way. For example,
it is important to use a device in a way that was not done before to keep
oneself in the innovative mindset. Being innovative means to let creativity
come to life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other important ideas that I came away from “The Innovator’s
Mindset” with are the characteristics of an innovative mindset. Some of these
characteristics I am well aware of but to use them in tandem helps stay
innovative. The characteristics are empathetic, problem finders, risk takers,
networked, observant, creators, resilient, and reflective. To ask myself “what
is best for the students?” becomes the starting point from which I can create
innovative learning experiences. <o:p></o:p></div>
Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-59954397347904858952014-06-06T17:37:00.001-07:002014-06-06T17:37:44.133-07:00Newborn Series Art Exhibit at MarchFifteenI have set up my Art pieces today at MarchFifteen www.marchfifteen.com so that my Abstract Art will be on display. I selected approximately 20 pieces to exhibit and I'm thrilled to be a part of this. Denise was so helpful during the installation with some input form Maria. Thank you for all of your help. And a big thank you to Martine for having me show my work at this venue. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to be included in the community as an Artist. Please visit www.karenplumb.com to view my Abstract and Non-Objective Art, or feel free to visit MarchFifteen, 322 King St. W, downstairs, but please call ahead and make sure it is okay for you to view at the time you would like to. Please ask for Denise at 1-800-451-0315 ext 101. Their hours are 9 - 5pm Monday - Friday. Here is a sneak preview!<br />
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<br />Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-89919883072187774832014-03-03T17:47:00.000-08:002014-12-12T21:18:45.733-08:00Reflection of Additional Basic Qualification Teaching Course - Mathematics, York University<div class="MsoNormal">
I am so exhausted. At the end of the Experience Centre 4 I
can say that I have used my time most efficiently by spending approximately 3
to 4 hours on average for each Activity for 6 Activities per Experience Centre.
This amount of time does not include breaks, lunch – this is cumulative. I have managed to post all or almost all of
the Activities by the due date by exercising good time management skills all
the while dealing with the cumulative activity of developing three lesson
plans. This is a daunting task especially when I am continually learning how to
improve my lessons as the course goes on. Up until now I have been ‘on track’
to keep up with the ‘standards’ or expectations of this course. However, I will
be using the extension for the due date of the Lesson Plans because I have not
completed the third one and still need to polish all of them. Since I plan to
use the extra time to accomplish this I am afraid that it will diminish my
ability to complete Experience five in the allotted time. This causes concern
for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The challenges that I am experiencing include a physically
sore right wrist. To prevent it from getting worse I now have my keyboard at
lap level on a pull-out shelf under my desk top instead of on top of my desk. I
think this will help because the amount of stress on my wrists is less due to
the position of them when keying. I also place ice on my wrist for short
periods of time to relieve the possible swelling and pain.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another challenge is balancing my family time with this
course. I had to forgo time spent during March Break with my 6 year old
daughter to work on this course last week. I had to take on an additional
financial expense to pay for a camp for her to attend so that my work on this
course would not be interrupted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With the extra knowledge gained as the course proceeds I am
spending more and more time on the cumulating activity which cuts into my
family time, last weekend, for example, I forwent a ski day with my family
(also forgoing the exercise I would have benefited from).<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have additional commitments such as being a Director on
the Board of Directors of a non-profit organization which provides Art
instruction. I volunteer at a school in Peel to teach grade 1 students how to
read and improve their fluency. I was helping out twice a week and scaled back
when I decided to take on this course so I’ve been managing with one day each
week. I also scaled back my volunteer work at a field study teaching site from
once a week to once a month. I have been able to keep up with my tutoring 3 and
½ hours over the course of three days each week. These are my regular
responsibilities which don’t include things that are not expected such as
planning a visit and visiting a school mate in the hospital out of town,
getting materials from the library from my University which is out of town,
planning a Birthday Party for my daughter, going to meetings for the Board,
going to a visitation of an old friend’s Mom (which demands emotional energy),
going to physio appointments, dentist appointments for myself (in an emergency
situation when I accidentally chipped my tooth) and for my daughter’s regular cleaning,
and shovelling copious amounts of snow. This is all above the responsibilities
of keeping house and home, cooking, tidying, groceries, social media, exercise,
extra curricular activities that my daughter is involved in which, because I am
the primary caregiver, are my responsibilities (although I have leaned on my
husband for some help), etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I feel as though I have been managing to my fullest ability
which is great. However, I am realizing that this can’t continue on a regular
basis. I would like to apply my experience to a position where I can reap some rewards,
because I think I can manage this way of life (except for March Break – I
would’ve asked my employer to take that week off <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> ).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other suggestions to improve this course so that it is more
manageable for me include, since you added the Professional Learning Activity
this session, perhaps you could have substituted it with one of the other
activities instead of adding it to the work load. Or you could combine two of
the activities so that the same material is covered but maybe not as thoroughly
as you would prefer. I think all of the Activities were beneficial to my
learning and professional development in ways that have extended my learning
that I might not otherwise have been inclined to do without the encouragement
that this course provides.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another suggestion is that you consider giving an extension
to the final Experience Centre because of the amount of learning that is being
contributed at the back end of the Lesson Planning experience in addition to
the extra Activity that was added (Independent Professional Learning).<o:p></o:p></div>
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My response to Bradley Quinn’s harsh post a couple days ago
is that if this knowledge and experience is not being used in a practical way
in the classroom <u>it should</u> be, which is why we are taking this course.
We are taking this course to learn how to improve on current strategies, way of
thinking, understanding students better, implementing new additions to the
curriculum such as Financial Literacy, etc. On the other hand, how realistic is
it to spend 8 hours to develop a lesson plan that you will spend 40 minutes or
80 minutes on in class. If we were to do this for each lesson we taught it
would be impossible. This is the conundrum that teachers are struggling with, I
think. They are doing the best they can with the amount of time there is in a
day. My suggestion is to have at least two teachers in every classroom since
the amount of students is so high. Maybe this is a solution to having more time
to develop better lesson plans to support better student learning. The problem
is that it begs the question … will the government approve this enormous additional
expense to Education?<o:p></o:p></div>
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So back to my current challenge, to get through this course
successfully…I think I will take a day off which people are calling a ‘mental
health day’ so that I can regroup and revitalize myself because I feel like I
am ‘spent.’ I know that this will push my work back more but I need to be able
to function properly. I would have liked to have been able to post my
reflection after each of the Experience Centres, however after the first one I
felt crushed for time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-62353884278134167682014-02-27T13:09:00.001-08:002014-02-27T13:11:52.111-08:00Math Makes Sense with Marian Small<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a lovely seminar that Marian Small delivered last
night. She is, in my opinion a leading inspiration for Mathematics Teachers.
She outlined the most popular math tools being used today – Ten Frames, lego,
base ten blocks. Linking cubes, square tiles, Fraction cubes and pattern
blocks. She mentioned that there is more emphasis on Estimation in Math now a
days. She used a good example which is:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we add 2 numbers together to equal 43 and we know one of
the numbers is in the 20s…what must the other number be? The answer we would like the students to come up with is ‘20ish’ or a number in the
20s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More attention is being spent on other topics such as
Patterning, the ‘Equal sign’ and Algebra with more focus on Problem Solving. It
is important for the students to figure it out rather than being shown how
first. If you figure something out you tend to remember it better than if
someone shows you. This way we spend more attention on understanding ideas so
that they last. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parents can support their children in Math by talking and
using numbers in a fun way – use ‘Number play.’ Some examples include..</span></div>
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<u>Magic<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Choose a number</div>
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Double it</div>
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Add 4</div>
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Double that</div>
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Add 8</div>
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Divide by 4</div>
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You can guess the number that the person began with by
asking the final answer and then you minus 4 and you will get the number
that they started with guaranteed! Kids love this…They don’t know how you do it and it
gives them practice with mental math!</div>
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<u>Play ‘How Many’</u></div>
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For example. Say to your children “I’m wondering how many
spoons we have in the house? (good for estimation) “I’m wondering how many
steps there are from one floor to the next floor?” “I’m wondering how many
trees there are on the street.” “All oranges have the same number of sections.
I wonder if this is true? How many sections do you think are in an orange.” </div>
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The answer is 10. Guess what the question is.</div>
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I added some numbers and the answer was almost 200. What
could they have been?</div>
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2,000,000 cm (squared)….Is this really big or really small?</div>
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<u>Dice Game</u></div>
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Each person rolls 2 dice – The score is 2 times one value
plus the other value. Objective of the game is the first person to 100 points
wins.</div>
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<u>Dice game</u></div>
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Decide on an operation (+
- divide, x)</div>
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Predict the number you will get if you perform this
operation on the two numbers that roll on the dice.</div>
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Objective – to get as close to the number you predicted
because the closest to their number wins.</div>
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Additional Resources:</div>
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<a href="http://www.boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com/">www.BoxCarsandOneEyedJacks.com</a></div>
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Board Game ‘24’</div>
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Labrynth</div>
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Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-2150413875970387822014-01-13T06:48:00.000-08:002014-06-06T17:26:25.104-07:00Juried Art ShowI am excited to say that my Art was accepted into the Juried Art Show to be held at <a href="http://www.theartgalleryofmississauga.com/">www.TheArtGalleryofMississauga.com</a> beginning January 16 through to February 22, 2014. The piece which I entered was developed as part of my newborn series. The awards and opening reception will take place January 16th, 6-8pm. Please come and join in, meet the other artists - there are many artists with fantastic works. I look to teach the elements and principles of design and hope to include this as part of my routine in the classroom. You may view my art at <a href="http://www.karenplumb.fineartstudioonline.com/">www.karenplumb.com</a> Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-4556627912797607172013-11-27T19:09:00.000-08:002014-06-06T17:26:46.331-07:00Artisan MarketplaceAfter successfully completing the first Non-Objective Art course with Bianka Guna I am thriving in the second Non-Objective Art course by Bianka as well. I have been working very diligently and have made great efforts to create great works. I developed so many that I entered my work into the Juried Artisan Marketplace last weekend and had some good results. I enjoyed spending time with my fellow Artists and chatting with friends. Here are some of the pieces which I sold.<br />
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<br />Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-1588092416490395112013-11-04T09:18:00.002-08:002013-11-04T09:19:08.272-08:00Abstract Art Results<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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How wonderful a new idea grows with the proper amount of
inspiration!</div>
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I thoroughly enjoyed the Non-Objective Art Course which I
successfully participated in through Visual Arts Mississauga <a href="http://www.visualartsmississauga.com/">www.visualartsmississauga.com</a> .
The instructor <a href="http://www.biankaguna.com/">www.BiankaGuna.com</a></div>
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is
phenomenal. She used various teaching techniques to successfully get the point
across. It was definitely an experiential learning exercise where Bianka used
demonstrations and technology in the studio and she gave every student the
opportunity to participate and practice. Her critiques were kind and
informative and educational to all of the participants. She is a ‘go to’
person.</div>
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Here are some examples of my work.</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UJsFctq0FHJuH-n84HAujmSe-yeaYrT4tmNKRtgozi8YR5JDo3Z5dfI7WNYaw-Pl1IumWvDZoxaaZOZLG8g96r6id546UdsFYO8xZYOPUjAIFTI31kCsT9iY1kjEd3oTxbpRGTSTr5rZ/s1600/Abstract+Check.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UJsFctq0FHJuH-n84HAujmSe-yeaYrT4tmNKRtgozi8YR5JDo3Z5dfI7WNYaw-Pl1IumWvDZoxaaZOZLG8g96r6id546UdsFYO8xZYOPUjAIFTI31kCsT9iY1kjEd3oTxbpRGTSTr5rZ/s320/Abstract+Check.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqf_I3EYtqUjr1oiVlFH12h9mLM9gu_gfMvD6GcDCuWAFxYtSLuhljyi9zGZ4sUXvDxgTggd-e2E7bP1XeuT80iqa5sRppPjoU4l9Yd3UKjDcxlXPSea7XCXqBHEFNO5AjrQyvs8l7BPL/s1600/Abstract+Frame+in+Frame+blue+red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqf_I3EYtqUjr1oiVlFH12h9mLM9gu_gfMvD6GcDCuWAFxYtSLuhljyi9zGZ4sUXvDxgTggd-e2E7bP1XeuT80iqa5sRppPjoU4l9Yd3UKjDcxlXPSea7XCXqBHEFNO5AjrQyvs8l7BPL/s320/Abstract+Frame+in+Frame+blue+red.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTf7Deg4KXjDIYWughCPh75BZcs7CGT3BQGmxu3PRJ_BV7lfQ65Mca2dV7fyXaNh_vW9Y-h46qTEQJ7MURchXx49IiCXFFdZMYSiN4XSqkVJZvl6gPBrTKcF2IEkKPFXdIR8ISx91Lj8G/s1600/Abstract+Horizontal+vertical+blue+green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTf7Deg4KXjDIYWughCPh75BZcs7CGT3BQGmxu3PRJ_BV7lfQ65Mca2dV7fyXaNh_vW9Y-h46qTEQJ7MURchXx49IiCXFFdZMYSiN4XSqkVJZvl6gPBrTKcF2IEkKPFXdIR8ISx91Lj8G/s320/Abstract+Horizontal+vertical+blue+green.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jVJMLKl6A9UjMJ8g5uYyNWeq0FfjKTwaq3cHBKgbDTU5OxCUuavbeA9Mni5Umbg4b6Ayc8U2yWj8U4hgIyLKielyBMYvVmAcDxBMkaUqr30iazIW8JGy79O91gh5HbtTc3Hi8D1DfYuQ/s1600/Abstract+Radial+Blue+brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jVJMLKl6A9UjMJ8g5uYyNWeq0FfjKTwaq3cHBKgbDTU5OxCUuavbeA9Mni5Umbg4b6Ayc8U2yWj8U4hgIyLKielyBMYvVmAcDxBMkaUqr30iazIW8JGy79O91gh5HbtTc3Hi8D1DfYuQ/s320/Abstract+Radial+Blue+brown.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-58396153035770241022013-09-29T21:22:00.001-07:002013-09-29T21:33:07.813-07:00Abstract Art<br />
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I am taking a course on Non – Objective Art by Bianka Guna at Visual Arts Mississauga and I'm finding it to be very enlightening in that it has opened my eyes to understand what "Abstract Art" is or how to understand Abstract Art and more importantly how to create "Abstract Art." There is a 'science' to it and once you discover it you can use all of your knowledge and ideas to create beautiful pieces. I am embarking on a new voyage with my Art and so far I like it! It can be serene, powerful, complex, multi-layered and more.</div>
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The following is a brief review of Abstract Artists' work based on the given websites. </div>
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<span lang="DE" style="mso-ansi-language: DE;">Helen
Frankenthaler <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_F3Hh2NUFM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_F3Hh2NUFM</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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She believes that the piece should not allude to any brush
work or any clue to how it was made. The piece of art should be created in one
fell swoop so that it all looks apart of each other and together …all made at
the same time.</div>
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Rothko, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ8AIIAgYpg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ8AIIAgYpg</a></div>
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- Painted for Seagram’s</div>
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He committed suicide after having dealt with some bad
emotional problems.</div>
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He used big all encompassing colours that were very powerful
usually using very little spaces of white.</div>
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Jackson
Pollock <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cgBvpjwOGo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cgBvpjwOGo</a></div>
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He liked to pour the paint onto the enormous surfaces. He
tried working on glass and used ‘foreign objects’ such as nails, string, broken
glass… He wanted to become a part of the painting so he painted on the floor so
that he could walk all around the painting to view it from all angles.</div>
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Siqueiros <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53kc8QoCohU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53kc8QoCohU</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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He first used acrylic paint and discovered that different
colours of paint had different densities so that certain colours would rise up
to the surface and others would recede, making a beautiful flow of colours that
any imagination could dream of.</div>
Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-21327351769088573282013-09-03T11:06:00.001-07:002013-09-03T11:06:36.202-07:00Back to SchoolHello and welcome back to my blog at this time of the year again. I
will be involved with a Reading Intervention Program at a school as well
as continuing to tutor. I look forward to helping students increase
their reading ability and fluency through strategic techniques.<br />
<br />
Reading
is so important that everybody should learn to read especially at a
young age. Beginning in Kindergarten students are introduced to reading
in various ways through modelled reading, shared reading, guided
reading, and independent reading. Using the <a href="http://www.spellingcity.com/dolch-words.html">Dolch Sight Words</a>
can help the students read whereby they learn to memorize the words 'by
sight.' Once they remember most of these words their reading excels and
if their curiosity is piqued they are off to the races. The students'
interest in reading must be fueled by encouragement and positive support
so that the student will develop a natural enthusiasm to read on their
own.Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-50327804082230286362013-06-28T21:20:00.003-07:002013-06-28T21:20:35.385-07:00Tutoring!<span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="color: purple;">Life as an Educator brings many opportunities outside of the school. For example, tutoring has been my staple this year with 5 students whom I've been tutoring in English and Mathematics. Over the course of this year and since last<span></span> year I helped one of my students increase his writing mark by almost 10% to a 79 on his last report card. I'm hoping that this time he will have made it over the hump and achieved an A (80s). I have designed programs specific to the students' needs and learning abilities/styles. Other students are being tutored on class material only and extensions to this. I find it very rewarding and the results are excellent. I have received good feedback. For example, one of the comments from o<span></span>ne of my students wrote "Thank you for teaching me all these wonderful things, your enthusiasm is very positive."</span></span>Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-86346802076224212982013-05-31T17:01:00.001-07:002013-06-04T12:57:43.615-07:00Teaching Grade 2!<br />
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The year is almost complete with one more month to go. I
have been fortunate enough to have been involved in the learning process of
many topics with a grade two class. I designed, developed, delivered and
assessed while collaborating with the Grade 2 Teacher, lessons and mini units in
Language (Verbs, Antonyms, Synonyms, Writing Friendly Letters,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How to Write a Fairy Tale, and 2 Stars and a
Wish about fellow classmates’ Fairy Tales), Math (Estimating and Counting
Money,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solving Money Problems using
Addition and Subraction), Health (Making Healthy Food choices, making a healthy
meal using the 4 food groups, Food at Celebrations, and Safety at Home and at
School) and Science (Creating a toy using simple machines). I used techniques
which involved multimedia, skits, think-pair-share, brainstorming, group discussions
and encouraged inquiry based learning. I also supervised and organized
students on a field trip to Heartlake for a 'Water and its Recyclability’
learning experience. </div>
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Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-28108830845686769842013-05-31T15:37:00.000-07:002013-05-31T15:40:10.952-07:00Reading Bees!!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Reading Bees Program has been a success. I’ve been
working with 4 to 5 students in grade 2 on a regular basis with their reading
comprehension and fluency. I have found the most helpful strategies to be
chunking, recognizing blends and endings. Also, blocking really helps too! 2 out of the
5 students have increased their level of reading ability by 3 or more levels
since November. Even though some of the other students haven’t increased in
levelled reading they have more confidence in their reading ability. All in all
I can say that it has been and continues to be a success!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A good example of the ambition of some of the students is when Raj (changed the name for privacy) makes immediate connections with the cover of a book and tells me an entire story about he and his family's adventure when they encountered a similar situation as what he saw in the picture of the cover. I would get lots of details and good inferences about things that could happen if certain things were true. I mean it, Raj has a vast imagination. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's been quite a challenge and a pleasure to teach these particular students how to improve their reading.</span></div>
Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-14056500358440413042013-02-21T18:16:00.000-08:002013-02-21T18:16:03.421-08:00Investigations and Expressions!A learning experience blossomed when I spent the day at <a href="http://bss.on.ca/" target="_blank">Bishop Strachan School</a> (BSS) as a teacher on a Professional Development day which brought back many memories as I had once attended BSS in high school. I gained valuable insight to the Reggio Inspired Approach to teaching in the Junior School. Some of the things I picked up on were the idea of the Knowledge Building Circle, the Investigations which develop from the students, the open space concept, very organized space saving and utilizing ideas, the Big Ideas which are used as a thread throughout the curriculum, Earspelling, Integrating Inquiry Based Learning into the Curriculum, Evolving students' ideas, and Performance Based Assessment. The facilitators were excellent as they led the session through an Emergent Project, Tour of the Junior School, Question and Answer session, Panel discussion with current teachers, Review of a Study in a Grade 2 class followed by a reflection period for all of the participants. It was well managed and highly regarded as the new and emerging method of teaching and way of helping the students learn best.Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-78513364934187229852013-01-20T15:27:00.002-08:002013-02-21T20:03:25.289-08:00Grade 2 Health and Social Studies- Celebrations!Where the evermore prevalent theme in today's urban schools is "inclusiveness," I delivered an enlightening lesson about a variety of Celebrations and the Food at which is served and eaten at them to a grade 2 class this week. This was a good opportunity for everyone in the class to learn about other's traditions which are passed from generation to generation as well as to share their own traditions. I used a collaborative Think-Pair-Share strategy to encourage the students to share their celebrations and to talk about the food at which it is served. Then we disscussed the many Celebrations as a group while I recorded their ideas on Anchor Charts. With some help from previous lessons in Social Studies they knew about almost all of the Celebrations I would have liked to have covered except <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/spot/kwanzaa1.html" target="_blank">Kwanzaa</a>. It was a successful lesson where I received positive feedback from the Principal.<br />
<br />
Please contact me if you would like a copy of the activity which I tried to upload but due to the pics it wasn't possible. The following foods were highlighted:<br />
<br />
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<u>Diwali: </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mithai<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><u>Halloween:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pumpkin Pie</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barfi<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Candy</div>
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<u>Kwanzaa</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sweet Potato Pie<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><u>Chinese
New Year</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dumplings</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Benne Cake<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fish</div>
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<u>Eid</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Savayya<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><u>Birthdays</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cake</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chicken
Tikka<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ice Cream</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Chanukah</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Latke<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><u>Weddings</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feast</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beef
Brisket<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personal Tastes</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Christmas</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turkey</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eggnog</div>
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Definitions:
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Diwali – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>mithai</u></b>
(sweatmeals) laddoo (flour & sugar & coconut sweet in ball shape), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">barfi </b>(condensed milk & sugar with
fruit flavour like mango or coconut)</div>
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<br /></div>
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Kwanzaa – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sweet
Potato Pie</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Benne Cake</b> (Sesame
cookies), Southern Fried Okra</div>
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<br /></div>
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Eid – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Savayya</b>
(breakfast of toasted fine vermicelli noodles), Dates, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chicken Tikka</b>, baked masala fish</div>
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<br /></div>
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Chanukah - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Latke</b> ( potato pancakes), Sufganiyot
(jelly doughnuts), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beef Brisket</b>
(roast), Vegetable Kugel (vegetable caserol)</div>
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<br /></div>
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Christmas – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Turkey</b>,
stuffing, cranberry sauce, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">eggnog</b>,
shortbread</div>
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<br /></div>
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Halloween – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pumpkin
Pie</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Candy </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chinese New Year – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dumplings</b>,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fish, </b>Prawns</div>
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<br /></div>
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Birthdays – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cake, ice
cream, pizza</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Weddings - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Feast, Personal Tastes (</b>depending on person’s
culture)</div>
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<br /></div>
Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-7815505846294094192012-12-26T19:11:00.000-08:002012-12-26T19:19:42.528-08:00Merry ChirstmasWhat a wonderful time of the year with all of the magic that the spirit of Christmas brings around young children!<br />
<br />
In light of the tragic incident which occured at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting" target="_blank">Sandy Hook Elementary School</a> Newtown, Connecticut where 26 people were killed by a gunman; mostly children, teachers, and the principal, we keep our students in mind and we wish that will never happen again.<br />
<br />
To all my followers, I wish you the joy and peace that the season brings to you now and throughout the year!<br />
<br />
Happy Holidays!<br />
<br />
KarenMrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-58682403679856238752012-11-29T08:06:00.002-08:002013-01-14T09:55:50.083-08:00Grade 2 Health EducationAfter delivering a lesson on Healthy Eating to a grade 2 class yesterday I am reflecting on how things went. I led a great discussion based on a great website for <a href="http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/" target="_blank">Health Lessons</a> and more specifically <a href="http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/Sheet.aspx?siteId=14&sectionId=61&contentId=44" target="_blank">Healty Eating for grade 2</a>. I collaborated with the Grade 2 Teacher, Mr. Volk to create a booklet using the worksheets found on this link and followed the general outline of this lesson to have a great discussion. I encouraged the students to brainstorm ideas of types of food, times for meals/snacks, how they feel when they are feeling hungry and how this feeling changes after they have eaten, then concluded with 'why' we need to eat. I created anchor charts with the students and used the Powerpoint as visuals. Follow up lessons will lead into making healthy eating choices. Things went fairly smooth and the students were quite excited to participate.<br />
<br />
Thank you to Mr. Volk for sharing the website with me. I highly recommend the website which I used because it is comprehensive and has great ideas for all levels of students with respect to Health Education!Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-7655193277353676742012-09-20T15:32:00.001-07:002012-09-20T15:32:02.971-07:00Girls Launch Their Own High-Interest STEM Project -- into Space | Edutopia<a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/stem-high-interest-projects-girls-suzie-boss">Girls Launch Their Own High-Interest STEM Project -- into Space | Edutopia</a><br />
<br />
This is a fantasitc example of the fact that "Girls Can Do Anything!" Quote from BSS Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-59331379534858671692012-09-18T08:58:00.004-07:002012-10-17T16:21:30.328-07:00Techniques that affect student learning the most!Frist of all I would like to thank <a href="http://annedavies.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Anne Davies</a> for sending this interview discussion link to me! <br />
<br />
Dr. John Hattie, Professor and Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at theUniversity of Melbourne, Australia speaks to introduce a panel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl60iS-IwCg&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">discussion</a> entitled Visible Learning after his book. What I found most helpful was the list of techniques that have the most effect on student learning. When you watch the video these techniques are on the slide show beside Dr. Hattie. The top of the list is Stud<img alt="ih" height="97" src="http://conted.oise.utoronto.ca/UserFiles/Image/Tracy/VISIBLE_LEARNING_POSTER_08.pdf_-_Adobe_Acrobat_Professional.jpg" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;" width="134" />ent Expectations! Teachers must set standards higher than what students think of for themselves to keep challenging them. Most students don't know how well they can achieve until they unleash their potential. This is what the teacher needs to tap into and he/she can do this by setting good expectations for the students. This will help the student learn to self teach. I also noted that in the top ten was Micro Teaching of which I first heard at Teacher's College at <a href="http://www.brocku.ca/" target="_blank">Brock University</a>. Cathy Miyata taught Micro Teaching in our Language Teaching class as well it was taught in our Cohort - this was our first Teaching project when we were working in our practicum. You know you've received good up to date education when you see recent studies indicating a reflection of the things that you've learned. Other techniques among the top ten are: Response to intervention, providing formative evaluation, classroom discussion - <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_Grand_Conversations.pdf" target="_blank">Grand Discussions</a> and feedback! Part of my Professional development is continually learning and when I see a review of what I've already learned I take the time to reflect on how I've demonstrated my learning and I seek to continue to put it into practice.<br />
<br />
<br />Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-41391815653757531312012-09-14T15:52:00.001-07:002012-09-14T15:52:55.917-07:00My Professional Learning Day at a glance!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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As you probably know that when we have a Professional Development (Learning) day the students have the day off as well. So today was my day to entertain as well as to use it as a Professional Learning day since I was home. These are some of the things I was able to accomplish: </div>
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I introduced a diorama to a student, my daughter. She
created a home for Nemo in a diorama using construction paper, scissors,
pencil, markers and glue. She used an extension of a Mermaid sticker fold out
sheet to extend Nemo’s home along each of the sides of the box.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I set up a webpage for a student, my daughter in SK, for
fundraising for the Terry Fox run on September 27<sup>th</sup>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I discovered a new blog “We are Teachers” <a href="http://bit.ly/QfYRAo">http://bit.ly/QfYRAo</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with interesting posts and guest bloggers.</div>
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I found out about a new ebook<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Why
School?: How Education
Must Change when Learning and Information is everywhere” by Will
Richardson<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://amzn.to/O3QTMf">http://amzn.to/O3QTMf</a> from @colinjagoe for
which I’m trying to search on kobo but to no avail.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I reviewed “The Daily Five” by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser
and reflected about applying it in my previous classrooms. I also remembered
learning most of the content in Teacher’s College.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the afternoon, I lead a craft with a student, my daughter
in SK, to make a Panda Bear Puppet. We used brown paper bags, construction
paper, scissors and glue. My daughter had so much fun.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Then we played a game; hide and seek with a giraffe puppet.
Whoever has the giraffe puppet was hiding and the other person must find the
puppet (or the person with the puppet).</div>
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This went on for a while until we took a break then we
played another activity – we played doctor. One of the patients was so sick her
temperature went up to 5 million percent (corrected to degrees) and she had to
get a house call from the regular Doctor, then the Dentist, followed by Dr.
Squirrel and then Dr. Whale was able to cure the illness. Horray!</div>
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Combining Professional development with my daughter’s
activity is very interesting, and demanding, I might add, but all in good fun! </div>
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Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-84596750374913436742012-09-04T15:18:00.003-07:002012-09-06T13:56:45.725-07:00Supply Teaching is on the Palette for this year!I am thrilled to be Supply Teaching at another private school this year. I have new resources that I can reference such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Differentiated-Literacy-Centers-Activities-With-Pages/dp/0439899095" target="_blank">Differentiated Literacy Centers by Margo Southall</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Daily-5-Gail-Boushey/dp/1571104291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346794912&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Daily 5</a> by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. In addition I am volunteering at my daughter's school so I look forward to all the wonderful work and learning experiences that this may hold. In addition I have "The Occasional Teacher's" course under my belt which I enrolled in and successfully completed during my time at Teacher's College. It was a supplementary course to the regular teaching courses that I was required to take so it seemed like a heavy work load at the time. However, I'm glad that I participated in it because I feel that it has already helped me in my last year of supply teaching. So I plan to be well prepared to manage almost any grade and subject that may come my way this year. Wish me luck!<br />
<br />
My daughter's day of orientation to Senior Kindergarten was today and I had the opportunity to meet her teacher. Let me first comment on the classroom and how impressed I was. The classroom was huge! I learned that it was a double room which was to be shared with another class. This was even better because the two classes are planning to share all of the centres which are set up (reading, writing, water table, play doh table, building and drawing centre etc.) This is fantastic. The room was neat and tidy, well organized and the walls had only the important information on them. I think the teacher did a good job of planning her room and decorations/wall information to optimize the classroom space to the fullest and I shared my thoughts with her.Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-56415307628031431172012-08-24T20:25:00.001-07:002012-08-24T20:44:18.364-07:00Beginning of Year for New TeachersTips on starting out the new year for new teachers who are getting <a href="http://712educators.about.com/cs/backtoschool/a/teacherstrats.htm" target="_blank">Back to School</a> can be applied to the Primary and Junior grades as well. For example, the tip on standing at the door and greeting each student as they enter the classroom can be applied to any grade. You will find more <a href="http://cybraryman.com/firstday.html" target="_blank">Tips for the First Day</a> from "Cybrary Man."<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://ca.ixl.com/math/standards/ontario/kindergarten" target="_blank">Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum for Math</a> is very comprehensive and divided by strand so it is easy to access if you don't have the printed copy. In fact the Full Day and the Extended Day Program for Kindergarten are listed with the <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindergarten.html" target="_blank">Ministry of Education</a> as a draft now.<br />
<br />
Good luck to my fellow new teachers!Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-24470557451345473652012-08-15T18:56:00.001-07:002012-08-15T19:52:58.345-07:00First Day of School is fast Approaching!I know teachers are wondering about their first day of school this year and are trying to come up with some new ideas to break the ice with their new classroom of students. I just read about a terrific idea from <a href="http://teachingtechie.typepad.com/learning/2012/08/first-week-of-school-anything-but-boring.html" target="_blank">Mrs. Ratzel</a> about how to get to know you and math by the numbers. Or there's a 'get to know me' by the numbers. For example, you would pick a number and give 4 possible answers that best describe that number with relation to your interests. Then the students must guess which answer is correct. <a href="http://ambercaldwell.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/first-day-mrs-c-by-the-numbers/" target="_blank">Amber Caldwell</a> explains this in greater detail.<br />
<br />
Another great idea would be to create an Acrostic poem using the students' letters of their name. The object of this would be for the students to use descriptive words to best describe their likes/personality/hobbies. For example Mrs. Plumb > P is for Purple because that is my favourite colour...and so on- or more currently P is for Prince Harry who is one of my most liked royals; or P is for Phelps as in Michael Phelps the Olympian who won the most medals in the 2012 Summer Olympics.<br />
<br />
A group activity would be a great starting activity. For example the students could work in groups to create a mural drawing. Another group idea in creating a mural is for each student to write using any font or shape/colour like graffitti writing to describe their favourite summer activities. Then each group would present it. Anyone else have any more ideas?<br />
<br />
<br />Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-15390613101946445562012-07-11T07:05:00.000-07:002012-07-28T09:45:52.339-07:00"Questions are the Intellectual Source of Renewable Energy"We need to teach our students to ask the right questions. Sometimes when they are learning a new concept they don't even know where to begin except to say "I don't get it." Well we have to help them help themselves by getting them to ask the right questions. This is an important point within the first 3 min. of this video where <a href="http://bit.ly/O5yyHu">Dan Rothstein Speaks</a> at the TEDx conference.Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916069128743896150.post-78751278125055775082012-06-29T10:31:00.000-07:002012-07-23T21:35:35.272-07:00What a Fantastic Year!<br />
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I had an amazing time practicing my teaching skills and
abilities over the course of the year and it proved to be rewarding. I thank
all of you who helped me in kind, encouragement, inspiration, spirit, and in
deed. I had ups and downs and it wasn’t easy but I made it through my first
year of teaching, albeit supply teaching and I am thankful for the help along
the way!</div>
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I thank the organizations that provided the many ideas for
activities that I used in my Before/After School Classroom (Kaboose, Activity Village, DLTK, Crafts for Kids and the
myriad of fellow bloggers and twitterers).</div>
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I thank the students with whom I worked, my co-teachers – some
of you supported me in ways you do not know through your great teaching skills
which I observed and tried to emulate, the Administrator and the Principal for all that they have done
for me, and the teachers for whom I supplied who left great lesson plans to follow.
I realize even more that I love teaching and I plan to keep pursuing it. I will build upon my experience and someday be in the ranks
of some of the great teachers/educators I know! </div>Mrs. Plumbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18385238207488513563noreply@blogger.com0