Just Keep Reading
One of the best ways for children to further their learning is through literature. In a time where we are so engulfed in technology and easy, quick access to information, we become less and less interested and patient with the time it takes to read a book. Children are fascinated with social media, short videos and technology because it offers instant gratification. Very, very instant. When we think about a book, it is the complete opposite of what we get from Tik Tok. We don’t have short videos of under 1 minute to capture our attention. Instead, we need to devote hours, sometimes days, to get to the climax of a story. What can we do to encourage children to read and why is it so important? Importance of Reading Reading encourages us to use our imagination. We learn to develop characters in our minds, their homes, their clothes; places and spaces. It allows us to use and develop our creativity. It helps us with focus and attention. Have you ever tried to talk to someone who is deeply involved in reading a really good book? It also stimulates curiosity. On a more academic note, reading improves literacy skills, especially in young children. You can read books that improve phonological awareness, skills, decoding and encoding. We read in our everyday lives and it is important to not only practice phonetic skills but also fluency. It also improves their vocabulary and comprehension. It is an excellent way to bond with children, whether you’re a teacher, parent or other family member. The modern day parent is busy. Both parents are typically working and after a long day of work and school, it can be hard to create a stimulating environment for your children. Sometimes, our go-to is an iPad or television. However, putting time aside to read with children will not only show them the importance of reading, but it will also allow for your child to bond with you on a deeper level. Reading is Cool Show your students and children that reading is cool and fun. There are a wide variety of books in the world for children to read. Whether it’s comic books or novels, encourage children to begin somewhere. “Reading is dreaming with eyes wide open”.
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Online learning can be difficult. You’re at home with so many distractions around you! It is so easy to open up another tab on the computer and start playing a game, or wander off into another room. However, there are some ways you can stay motivated and be productive when it comes to learning from home. 1. Create a schedule. When you’re at school, you follow a schedule every day. You know that on some days you have science, and other days you have french class. Create a schedule while you’re at home. Decide on specific times for: - Homework: set aside time for when you will work independently (or with support) on your work - Online live lessons: set a reminder for when you have those live lessons that you don’t want to miss. - Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks - Breaks: It is important to take breaks. Sometimes, you may feel really stressed to get everything done on time, but know that you still need time to relax and step away from the computer. 2. Ask for help. Your teachers are there to help you, and if you’re stuck on a math problem or a reading comprehension question, ask your teachers for help. Send a quick email or message over the platform you’re using. Here are some resources to help you out as well: KHAN ACADEMY < excellent for math! Concepts are explained really well. COMMON SENSE < the online editor when writing (may need some parent/teacher help). IXL MATH< get some extra math practice and explanations here. They also have stuff for ELA as well! FRENCH GAMES < play some french games here and find your level! 3. Find a quiet working space. Just like when you are in class, a very noisy classroom is really disruptive and can make it difficult to focus on your work. Find a spot wherever you are that is calm and quiet; a space where you know that you will work best. Make sure that it is neat and tidy as this makes for better focus! Check out the Youtube Video at the end for great calming music to study to. 4. Stay organized. If you’re using google classroom, you can easily see the assignments and material that you need and when to submit it. Keep a calendar or an agenda of what you need to do, with all of your deadlines. Try not to wait until the last minute to complete everything. It is always better to finish your work a few days early than a few minutes before it is due. 5. Try to spend your extra time outdoors. Now that we are in full force with online learning, you will be spending a lot of time in front of a computer or tablet screen. When you are done for the day or on your break time, I encourage you to spend some of that time outside, away from technology. Too much screen time can cause headaches and make you feel sluggish and tired. Boost up your energy with a nice walk, a swim, or even just reading a good book outside on a comfy chair. I encourage you to try these tips, and write in the comments below if they work for you, or if you are already doing them! Together, we can do this, and we will get through it. I'm guilty of not giving attention to my website like I should be - but, there are many, many good reasons for that, and I am so excited to share them all with you. I wrote a book. Over the past couple of years, I have been writing children's books, and trying to get them published. However, that market is exceptionally hard to get into, so I decided to try something else: Poetry. As a child, my grade 3 teacher offered a poetry program in the summer for 1 week. Naturally, I took this course for 3 summers in a row. Any summer program that involved reading and writing was where I was going to be. Fast forward 17 years later, and I found my poetic inspiration to write my own poetry book. What was a year in the making turned into a printed book called Love and Other Anxieties. Now, I have just finished my first book launch and am in the process of travelling to bookstores to continue launching it and signing. I started a literacy program for struggling readers and writers. It's called the Caterpillar Club. Each week is a different theme (for example, one week was all Robert Munsch books). We work on writing in regards to the theme, phonics, phonics game and of course, free play (it's summer, duh!). Here's an example: What excites me the most about this project is that I genuinely see an improvement with the kids, and they are starting to enjoy reading and writing! Podcasting again - Finally. After a year of attempting to podcast, but it losing every time to lesson planning, I'm finally getting back into it again. New EP up on my podcast page. I recorded with colleague and friend Vicki. We talk about our year, our goals, our struggles and about that teacher life. More to come! More blogging. I have been and still am writing for a blog that is affiliated with the tutoring centre iTutor. You can check it out here: https://www.itutorls.com/blog Getting ready to finally take a break. I leave Saturday for vacation, and I (strangely) look forward to turning off - no cell phone, no emails, no blogs or podcasts. If you'd like to collaborate on a podcast, leave a comment below ↓ ↓ ↓ You can purchase my book here: https://www.amazon.ca/Love-Other-Anxieties-Karaline-Vla/dp/1072391007/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=love+and+other+anxieties&qid=1563846197&s=gateway&sr=8-1 You can learn more about the Caterpillar Club here: https://cpclubb.wixsite.com/caterpillarclub
Follow my teacher Instagram for more pictures: @mskaraline Follow my author journey on Instagram: @karalinevlaauthor What a year it has been. The school year comes to an end, as does my time cleaning out my classroom filled with items that I vaguely remember buying (how does one accumulate that many things in one year?). Teaching is the career of constant learning, and considering how much I have learned in year one, I can only imagine what I will learn in year two, three, and fifteen.
Here are my top 10 teacher-life lessons I have learned in Year One. It’s okay if you’re lesson doesn’t go as planned. I started off planning things in way too much detail, and would feel exceptionally discouraged if it didn’t go as planned. Lessons that I thought would turn out amazing, flopped, and sometimes lessons that I decided to switch up last minute would work out the best. It’s okay to have days where nothing goes right - I can guarantee it will happen.By the next day, the students will have moved on, and you will always have a fresh start. 1) Know your limits. It’s okay to admit that you can’t do it alone, or that you need a mental health day. Teachers do a lot (seriously, a lot), and it can be tiring when you don’t allow yourself to take a small break, or seek out support within your school. Education is a field of cooperation and working together, so utilize that! 2) Don’t take everything personal. Whether it’s a parent email, or something a student says, you know that you’re doing exactly what needs to be done for the good of your students. Not everyone will agree with you, and unfortunately not everyone will like you - and that’s okay. You need to be confident in your abilities and your knowledge to know that you are doing what’s right and what’s best for the students. 3) Eat your lunch - and not in the classroom. This was a very important piece of advice given to me: take your breaks! I spent every morning giving it my all, that by lunch time, I would attempt to work through it and continue being ‘on’. It wasn’t until my mentor told me that lunch was also important for teachers - you need to take your breaks to recharge. Once I started doing that, I was able to walk into the second half of the day with a little more energy and focus. 4) Don’t be a teacher all the time. As someone who’s work becomes their life, I realized I wasn’t doing other hobbies that I enjoyed because I was too preoccupied with working all the time. I had to detach on the weekends, turn off my email, socialize and do things out of the teaching world that I normally enjoyed. 5) Have fun with your students. Yes, we need to get through a curriculum and yes, we never really have enough time to do everything we want, but take a break from work sometimes and just have fun. Dance, sing, talk with your students; run outside, go for a nature walk - something outside of the curriculum that allows you to build upon your relationship with them. 6) Have a secret teacher stash of snacks. Always. Candy, granola bars, mainly chocolate - maybe some more chocolate. Also more candy. All the candy. And coffee. Just bring the entire coffee machine to work (I did). 7) Find your go-to. Find that go-to teacher you can vent to about your bad days, and even your good ones. Find the teacher that will help you through problems that you deem unfixable when really, they are. You always need at least one shoulder to cry one. 8) Remember that you can’t save everyone. I wanted to do so much more than I already did this year. I wanted to save each student, give them each a years’ worth of individual attention, and fix their problems. That clearly isn’t possible, but you try and do it anyway. As long as you are doing your best to differentiate, to give the attention you can, know that your students will appreciate your efforts. 9) Be prepared for end of year sadness. Everyone warned me, but I wasn’t ready. At. All. Not only was the last day of school with the students tough, but moving out of my classroom was even worse. Leaving a space I spent my first year in, through all my ups and downs; it became my safe space, my second home, was really, really hard. Although I look forward to this summer break, I also look forward to having a second classroom. 10) Believe in yourself. Remind yourself every day that you can do this. You went to University for this, you studied for this - you worked hard for this. You will make mistakes along the way, and you will not always know what to do. However, you will figure it out because you can do it. Just remember to remind yourself of that as often as you can. I love my class. I really do. Every student is so different and unique. I especially love Monday mornings because they walk in after not having seen them for a few days with huge smiles across their faces.
“Ms. Karaline! I couldn’t wait to tell you what I did this weekend!” “Ms. Karaline! I missed you this weekend”. It makes the Monday blues a little less blue. However, as much as I love each and every one of them, it creates a different problem that I didn’t know existed: wanting to ‘save’ every child. Each child has a set of strengths; building, numbers, art, letters- whatever it may be. Along with strengths comes a set of weaknesses, as we all have. My problem with finding these weaknesses is that I want to offer all of my time to each kid to work on them. In a classroom setting, this just isn’t feasible, whether we like it or not. In order to find a healthy balance, my aid and me started ‘One on One Fridays’. Each Friday, we work with a set of students on one on on different subjects. Last week and this weeks theme are letters of the alphabet. It allows me to get that one on one time that I need to give, and the student needs to receive. It allows me to have a better understanding of what they are struggling with and in which areas. I can then better prepare them as a whole and individually for grade 1. I worried about each child’s Kindergarten experience. To me, it was the determining factor of their feelings towards education. I wanted their first year in school to be memorable, and for them to look back on it and think to themselves that they had a teacher who truly tried her best to give them a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, we cannot ‘save’ every student we come across. I’ve had students in the past who I still think about and wonder if they’re okay. All we can really do is try our best- and remember that that is enough. I Need a Break.One of the hardest things to admit, is that you need a break - especially as a teacher. We want to feel like we can do it all; whether we are sick or not. A cold? I got this. A fever? That’s okay. Body aches? It’s fine - really, it’s fine.
Except it’s not. Being someone who cannot handle free time, one can imagine the hard time I had accepting that I need to take a week off from work because of being sick. Not being in charge of my class? Not overseeing what’s going on? Having to… stay home? In my mind, that was like accepting defeat. My ego might not have wanted it, but my body and my mind really, truly did. Why is it so hard for us to let go and take a minute to get better? The culture in which we live in revolves around how much, and how hard we can work. The more we work, the stronger we are, when in fact, that is a very backwards way of seeing it. Although there is nothing wrong with having a good work ethic (it’s actually an excellent trait), there comes a time when we need to sometimes admit to ourselves that we need to take a step back, and perhaps, take a break. I hadn’t always thought this way, and at times, I still forget to think this way. It wasn’t until a parent told me something that really turned on the lightbulb in my head. “Please try to give yourself permission to fully recover. I’ve always found it to be the hardest thing to do in our culture.” I re-read this sentence over and over because of how true this statement is. We do not give ourselves, whether you’re a teacher or not, permission to recover. We may take a day or two, but then we run back to work. Sometimes, we need a lot more than a day or two; whether that’s due to physical illness or mental health. It can be exceptionally hard to admit you need a break due to mental health, and the truth is, you may not even realize it. Your work environment and those you work with may also not understand what a mental health break really means. As hard as it may be, I encourage you to look within and decide for yourself if it’s time for you to take a step back, and take a break. If you do, please give yourself permission to fully recover before getting back to the grind. You deserve it. Let's Be Friends When students enter school from the ages of 5 and up (sometimes even 4), their world is surrounded by academics; numbers, letters, and words - oh my! However, Kindergarten is a lot more than just learning numbers from 1 to 100; it’s about socialization - and learning how to ‘be’ in school is essential at that age. We live in a word where Bachelor’s are no longer ‘impressive’ - if you really want that job, you better get your Ph.D. When did we stop living, and start diving head first into academics?
As a teacher, I can’t deny how important academics are. As a literacy advocate, I definitely can’t say that. What I can say, is that somewhere at some point, we all got a little tied up in the world of marks. As a teacher candidate at the University of Ottawa, myself and all of my classmates can genuinely say that a big part of getting into the field was socializing and making connections. Yes, there were papers to be written and projects to be glued together, but professors could not push enough the important of getting to know your peers, your veteran teachers and professionals.What’s interesting about this, however, is that socializing wasn’t important in my school life up until that moment. All I had ever known was study, study study and get good grades. The real world comes after- but does it really? As someone who is confident enough to speak to make those connections, what about the people who aren’t? Fast forward to my Kindergarten class and the kinder curriculum. Nowhere does it say that kinders are expected to know the alphabet front and backwards inside out- nor does it place an emphasis on math. Although we do learn about those things in my class to better prepare them for grade 1, a huge portion of their learning is done through interactive play and socializing. We learn about topics like how to say please and thank you; how to make friends, how to be kind, how to be in school. If they don’t learn this now, when will they? Starting from grade 1, they need to learn letters and letter sounds, numbers and basic addition. My job is to get them to grade 1 being kind and considerate; being helpful, empathetic, confident students who will make this world a better place. If you thought teaching kids how to write was hard, try teaching empathy and respect. “I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization” - Robert Ebert. Or as Ernie puts it, “The key to lasting friendship is always respecting each other, listening to each other, and caring about what the other person thinks and feels”. - Sesame Street. Differentiation 2.0 At some point I had written a blog post about differentiation, and the importance of it in our classrooms. It was written around the time where I was a student teacher and was seeing the effect of it in one of my placements. However, nothing is as it seems until you get your own classroom.
I currently teach Kindergarten, and my classroom has students with a variety of learning styles, needs and accommodations. I’ve been in classrooms before where a student or two has an IEP and needs certain accommodations, but what happens when it’s a lot more than one or two? You don’t know differentiation until you have to accommodate more than 5 students. I’ve come up with a list of hopefully helpful strategies for new teachers, and how I deal with them.
2. Visuals are Key I know this is something that is common and repeated often, but seeing how important it really is makes a huge difference.
3. Get to Know Your Students You won’t know what your students need unless you get to know them. Just like students need visuals, so do you. Keep a chart of each student and a list of things that help them stay focused throughout the day. Talk to previous teachers and their parents for ideas; remember that you can’t do it on your own! I have made connections with my colleagues, staff members and parents in order to better understand my student and to learn strategies to use in the classroom. Differentiation is a lot of work. It means modifying and accommodating what could be half of your class. However, it’s absolutely needed not only for your students, but for the teacher as well. You’ll be able to more effectively teach your student and watch them learn and grow! I want to lastly stress the importance teachers having a brain break too. A lot goes on in your day; from staff meetings to emails to lesson plans and differentiation- you also need to take a step back, and take a dance break. The Kindergarten ChroniclesIt’s been a while. A long while. However, I come with excuses- and good ones. After graduating in May, I thought I was doomed to being a substitute teacher for years to come, as the tale has been told. However, I luckily got a contract for my very own Kindergarten class! With planning, teaching, (coffee runs) and decorating my classroom, I lost track of all things blog and podcast related. However, I also stopped reflecting, which is problematic. That’s why this cold, fall Sunday morning, I finally stopped to write this blog post.
Life Outside the Classroom - Does It Exist? Ever since I started teaching, day and night, I think about my classroom. I think about the students, and ways to improve their learning. I think about my lessons; what’s working well and what I need to change. I think about every detail, down to the artwork positioning on the wall. I think about it, and I worry about it. I wake up in the middle of the night panicking about the song choice of the morning- is it the right one? Will they like it? Is this healthy? Probably not. But I want the best for my students, and it’s been hard to balance my classroom, and my own life. My entire life has been lesson planning and worrying about the next day, which I know is normal for a first year teacher. However, despite the normalcy of the anxiety, I turned to twitter to ask for support. I posed the question to my PLN; “how do you balance school life with … well… everything else?”, and the responses were amazing. I realized that at any year of teaching, all teachers struggle with the same thing. The responses included that we need to force ourselves to have that me-time, and to step away from classroom duties once in a while. Life outside the classroom does exist, we just need to make time for it. Stop Comparing Yourself. One thing I have to consciously do is not compare myself to teachers who have been in the game for 5 years, 10 years, even 3 years. They have done it, trial and error, and are at a point where they have somewhat of a steady flow. Coming in as a first year teacher, I haven’t done that. I’m in the process of doing my trial and errors; seeing what works and what does not. I haven’t even had time to accumulate enough decorations for my class- I’m in the process of doing that. And for all I know, I could end up with a Grade 6 class next year. Something tells me they won’t need posters around the class on how to line up properly. The beginning years are tough, because you don’t have a consistent grade, and you don’t have all the material created. You’re taking it week by week. Luckily, I have not only an amazing staff support system, but a great circle of parents who are accommodating, understanding, empathetic and supportive. This makes it all the more easier. Final Reflective Note There have been good days, bad days, and worse days. However, as time goes on, I’ve been settling into my own routine and it’s been better day by day. As all the kindergarten teachers say, ‘Wait until October. It will all fall into place’. I have finally reached October, and I have to admit, it has gotten better. Not only have I gotten into a routine, but so have the students. They’re getting used to being in Kindergarten, and understanding the rules of the classroom and the routines of the day. I have to consciously tell myself that it’s my first at doing this, and it will only get easier as time goes on. Everyone has had a first. I also have to consciously find time to do things that are not classroom related, for my own sanity and to clear my head from time to time. I can’t solely focus on my classroom; I need at least one day where I do other things I enjoy. Instead of spending 7 days a week focusing on my job, I can spend 6 days of that, and have 1 day (at least) for me. It’s a start. Keeping Up With KindergartenI have exciting news. Yours truly, is a Kinder teacher! I found myself wondering if I was going to have any sub work this month, to decorating a classroom; from feeling uncertain about teaching, to buying about 8 packs of sticky tac because let’s face it, we can never have enough sticky tac. The first two days were feelings of, “can I do this?” “Am I able to do this?” “Am I capable of being a teacher?” These thoughts especially run wild when surrounded by amazing teachers/colleagues that are PROS at being kinder teachers. However, I thought back to one of my professors from the University of Ottawa, and something she said that truly made sense. “You can’t compare your chapter one, to someone’s chapter 15”. I’m starting at Chapter 1- and that’s not a bad thing. I’ve been spending my time preparing for the themes, coming up with different activities that integrate learning through play, and creating a positive classroom environment. I’ve also been spending my time learning through the other kinder teachers not only at my school, but through my PLN. It’s important that Chapter 1 teachers understand that although we cannot compare ourselves to Chapter 15 teachers, we can learn from them. Take the time to connect in order to better prepare for your Chapter 1 year. It’s normal to feel inadequate. I often caught myself saying, “Why didn’t I think of that”. But these are thoughts that, although normal, need to be pushed aside. Maybe I didn’t think of the same idea as my kinder colleague, but I come with my own ideas that I can hopefully share with others. I come with my own sense of creativity and teaching style. Chapter 1 teachers are not incapable, or inadequate; we come with our own ideas and styles. Chapter 1 should be something to look forward to. We are finally walking down our teaching path, and doing the thing we couldn't wait to do. We can’t jump 20 steps forward, because each of those individual 20 steps are learning steps, and make us into the teacher we want to be. Maybe we aren’t at chapter 15 yet, or even chapter 3- but we’re going to make sure that we have a great Chapter 1. Chapter 1’s are the introduction to the story; they tell us all about the characters, the thoughts they have, their likes and dislikes, and a preview to the adventure they will embark on. On our Chapter 1; we are telling the readers who we are; our current teaching style, our likes and dislikes. We are introducing what we’ve learned up to date, and being privy to what our adventure is going to look like. Let’s not rush to Chapter 15. Instead, let’s enjoy our Chapter 1, and be excited for what awaits us. |