Cursive Writing
During the break, I spent some time talking to people about teaching. Yes, even though I was on a break! Two separate discussions involved someone asking me "why don't children learn how to write in cursive anymore?" I have also recently read an article in the Hamilton Spectator about this and if interested you can read it here: Hamilton Spectator article on cursive writing
After reading a number of articles and thinking about what my students need currently (who knows what the future holds), I decided it was important that my Grade Two students be able to recognize their names in cursive and be able to write their names as well. So, off came the old printed desk tags and I wrote each childs' name in cursive for their desks. I will encourage them to try to practise writing their name in cursive on their work. I think this is a life skill and something that is easy to teach especially while the students are eager to do it. Yes...they are very eager to try!
Growth Mindset activities
Another topic that interests me is cognitive learning and memory. Essentially, I am always interested in teaching students not just 'what' to learn but also 'how' they learn. For example, it took me years to learn that I am a visual learner. I remember being very frustrated trying to memorize things that didn't mean anything to me and then wondering why some of the strategies weren't working for me. How many of you remember cramming for a test or exam and then not being able to retain the information almost immediately after the test? Eventually I learned some tricks on how to study and what strategies were successful for myself as a learner. I hope to teach my students how to do this as well. This week, we have been doing some activities about how our brain learns best. If you are interested, here is a short video that helps students understand how their brain functions and how to move through stress or frustration to achieve success. Brain function and learning movie
We also co-created a chart to help students understand what happens when they use 'fixed' mindset phrases like "I give up" or
"I'm not good at math". The students re-phrased these to become more positive. We found that adding the word yet (e.g., I'm not good at math yet) could make all the difference!
We have also been busy making 'Bitstrip' comics to visually show how a situation can be changed and learning can happen with a positive attitude!
Mosaic Art
Did you know that Florence Meares Public School is busy planning a Mosaic art experience with the whole school? Teachers are busy staying after school and working hard to learn the art techniques necessary to teach the students. We are being led by artist 'Heather Vollans' on the technique. It should be exciting! Here is a sample of a sculpture that Heather did with some students as part of a community project. It will give you an idea of her talent! Can't wait to teach the students all that we have learned!
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