Three Lessons My First Year in Teaching Taught Me

GravatarA young woman walks into a school, dressed in a tailored suit, just loose enough to mask her anxious composure. In one hand she holds a resume, in the other a leather portfolio.


“You can do this. You can do this,” she chants to herself, while quickening her steps, fighting an impulse to run back to her car. She heads straight to the office, looking for the principal. Minutes later, a tall bearded man steps out of the adjacent office and extends his arm.

“Hi, I’m Craig,” he begins and the young woman’s shoulders relax as she looks into his warm eyes. Phew, she can breathe again. “Yes, I received your resume this morning,” he explains. “We’ve actually just finished interviewing for all the positions we have available.” The young woman’s spirit sinks; but is reignited as he continues. “I have to say, though, I love your assertiveness and determination. How would you like to stay for an interview?” A smile breaks on the young woman’s face as the principal proceeds to call in other staff members to join in on the interview.

So began my journey as a primary grade school teacher. Continue reading

Father’s Day

GravatarHappy Saturday everyone.

The third Sunday of every June marks a very special day in Canada and the United States – Father’s Day. It is a day for people to show their appreciation for fathers and/or other father figures in their life.  For most teachers, this means we will be busy thinking of a special craft to make with our students.

I would like to share a poeCoverm I wrote, along with a craft I created and will be using with my Kindergarten students this
week – My Hero (poem-in-shirt). You will notice that the word Father was omitted from the poem.  This is to allow students a chance to personally address the craft to someone in their life, who may or may not, be their father.  I think it’s important to note that we need to be extra sensitive when talking about families around this event, as not all children may have a father present in their life.  In my class, I emphasize that Father’s Day is not just about celebrating dads, but also about recognizing father-figures in their life.  Sometimes this can mean a brother, an uncle, grandfather, stepfather, etc.  I also make sure to include literature in my classroom that reflects that diversity.

This package includes: the poem My HeroIMG_20140607_102741a dress-shirt template, 3 tie templates (one with stripes that students can colour in a pattern, one with polka dots, and another for students to draw their own design). The shirt template is best photocopied on light construction paper, and the tie on white paper. Once the tie is cut out, have students glue the top of the tie onto the neckline of the shirt.  When the tie is lifted, it will reveal the poem, My Hero, beneath.

The top of the dress-shirt should be cut off IMG_20140607_103008(to create shoulders), and the rest of the shirt can be decorated in any way the students choose (polka-dots, stripes, finger-paint splotches, etc.).

Happy crafting!

Lora


Click Here to download the Father’s Day craft package.

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Creative Commons License My Hero by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alphabet Bingo

Alphabet BingoALPHABET BINGO is a fun game to play with young children as they learn the letters of the alphabet! Created with Primary students in mind, this unique game is designed to help kids recognize both uppercase and lowercase letters, while reinforcing basic shapes and colours.

Played like most bingo games, children use a cover-up bingo chip to cover letters as they are named by a “caller” (teacher, parent, student). Alphabet Bingo can also be played with a focus on sounds. For example, instead of calling out lower case b, emphasize a sound (i.e., This is a letter that makes the sound bbb, as in ball).  In this variation, both uppercase and lowercase b will be covered up.

The download includes 48 bingo cards, a set of 52 Upper case and Lower case Letters to call out and an instruction sheet.

Click HERE to get all you need.
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Happy Playing!

Lora


Alphabet Bingo by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

When I Get Older …

GravatarHappy Monday everyone.  Last week my wonderful OISE student, Ms. P., began a unit in my Kindergarten class about Community Helpers.  I was inspired by all the books and dialogue so I wrote a poem about it – When I Get Older.  This week students will have a chance to reflect on the various roles and write about what they’d like to do when they are older.  Feel free to download a copy of the poem (link or image below). The follow-up writing piece is included. Have a wonderful week.

~ Lora

When I get older
When I Get Older

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Creative Commons License
When I Get Older by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.