Summer Time 2018

Summer came quickly as I was only at Shortreed for the third term. I am set to go back in September. I still own that classroom and I still love those kids. However, with the cost of living in this area my husband and I have started to consider moving to a more affordable part of the province. It is all still up in the air. It is really hard to consider because I feel like it took me so long to get my own classroom and not only that but at a school across the street! What more could I ask for really?  The decision is really tough. Stay tuned to see what happens in September!

For now I am teaching summer school! Grade 4-7 outdoor environmental science. It was my first day today and I had a great time! I can't wait to go back again tomorrow:)

ACSS Grad Walk

Okay this is possibly one of the best ideas ever. Aldergrove Community Secondary School does a Grad Walk through all of the elementary schools in the area. The graduates put on their cap and gown and walk through the halls of each elementary school.
The grads get to feel like celebrities (some were even crying) and the younger students get heroes to look up to. My students made signs and cheered loud. It was beautiful. A win win all around.

Mann Farms Field Trip

I took my grade 4s on a field trip to Mann Farms to see how strawberries and other berries are grown. That was the academic reason.....

The real reason is that I love Mann Farms and I knew they would too! There are animals and climbing structures and a zip line. It is so much fun. I had some Pac money to spend and since a ttoc had been in the class for most of the year, they were the only group that did not have a field trip yet that year. I scrambled last minute and threw this one together. I think they had a good time! I know I did.

Lego blocks across the room

Not much to say about this photo. We were doing measurement with blocks and a few students were done early so they started measuring the room across the tables. It was a pretty good collaborative effort!

Butterflies

I did a butterfly release after class one day. I had originally purchased the caterpillars so that I could make it a part of the class lessons. That didn't work out for various reasons. However, I did still keep the caterpillars turned chrysallis, turned butterflies in the classroom so that the students could look at them. One day after school I noticed that most of the butterflies were ready to go. I had a few students who were either part of the after school club or who just liked to hang out on the grounds so we went to the corner of the school property and released them. It was really lovely seeing the softer side to some of my students.

Friendship Wall

In our class we were working on being kinder to each other (Shortreed's slogan is "be kinder than necessary"). I was on facebook one day when a video popped up of high school students writing nice messages for their classmate while he or she was looking away. They then turned around and BAM giant smile from seeing all the kind words.
I thought I would try this out in my grade 4 class. I can confirm that the smiles are indeed quite wide at this age as well.

We called it a Friendship Wall and every student got a turn. I usually picked one person at the end of the day. It lead to good discussions about what a compliment actually looks like/sounds like. It also taught an important lesson that you do not need to be friends with somebody in order to be kind to them.

It Used to Be a Box

Our school does a cool fair called It Used to Be a Box and as you can imagine, students take a box and transform it into something creative. There were so many amazing ideas from kindergarteners all the way to grade 5. I had two students participate (this post will only let me add one photo). I love this idea and if I were to change schools I would probably have my next class do this as a project.

Recycle Dudes!

For Earth Day I did a very simple project. I gave the students stick on eyes and asked them to make a little character using only the recycled containers in the class.
I wanted the students to play with toys that weren't toys. I believe that kids need more chances to be kids and at home they may not realize all of the potential "toys" they have at their finger tips.

This was a really nice lesson for me because up to this point I hadn't had a day in the class where I wasn't playing whack mole with the behaviour issues and for this lesson most students gave me something and nothing major came up behaviour wise. It felt like I had made some progress and we had come together as a group for once.

STEM

Technically in BC we don't do STEM. We do ADST (applied design, skills, & technology) but, if you look online for STEM projects you will find a lot more ideas. I started off the term with this little group challenge: Build a tower using only popsicle sticks and tape. The tower must be able to hold a ball.

Some of my students were quite ingenious with their ideas and came up with structures that I wouldn't have never thought of. There were also some that did not fulfill the criteria, but we're clearly very creative. Most students put in a good effort and that is mainly what I am concerned with.

Shortreed Elementary

While I was on maternity leave I applied for a position at Shortreed Elementary. 1) because I had heard a lot of good things about their self regulation program and 2) because it is so close to my house that I can walk! Score!

So I am a grade 4 teacher! With my very own class! It is MY room! The staff is great, the students are great, the parents are great. It is all around a nice school to be at. BUT... and this is a big but....

I came back to work in term three and I had a VERY challenging class. If any of you students are reading this, you know I love you, but it was rough! Just a lot of conflicting personalities in the room. Individually each student was fabulous (Yes all of them), but once they got together hoooo boy. I cried once. In class! That hasn't happened since Zeballos!

I remember when I was a student in grade 7 and grade 8. Both years my class made the teachers cry. In grade 8 I am pretty sure the teacher went on stress leave because we ended up having a ttoc at the end of the year. Maybe this grade 4 class was my karma. Anyway....it was tough...it was still great...I will make a couple of posts of cool things we did.

Maternity Leaves

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in a while because I am very fortunate to have given birth to two children over the past few years and I am lucky enough to live in an amazing country that offers a year of maternity leave! So although I have been teaching a bit in these past few years, I have been very busy trying to keep up with life. Here is a quick re-cap of my teaching journey since I started in Langley:

I worked as a part time math recovery resource teacher at Noel Booth Elementary for the 2014-2015 school year. It was a very neat position. I got to start up a new program with the Do The Math curriculum and help out students who were really struggling with math. I loved it. I did a classroom economy where students could earn or lose money and then spend their money on prizes. They also needed to pay a month rent for chair and other things. It was fun!
May of 2015 I had my son and began my first maternity leave. I also got married that summer and became Mrs. Stainton!

I came back to Noel Booth in 2016 as a part time resource teacher (not for math). This was a huge learning curve for me because I had never done a position like this before and had zero training. I picked up some really beneficial skills in this job though. I learned how to write IEPs, how to hold school based team meetings, and just generally a lot of good information about how a school runs and which students get extra funding from the ministry. I did not really enjoy this job simply because I felt unqualified the entire time and because I missed having a class, but that being said I am really glad I got the experience. I feel like I know so much more now.
In 2017 I had my daughter and went on my second maternity leave.

Which leads us to here! Spring/summer 2018. I will tell you all about my recent role in the next post because I think this school deserves it's very own post!