So we're back for week three, and trying a different approach. Kindergarten in Ontario is "play-based in a culture of inquiry", and I am going to do my best to support this. If you've been reading my blog you will know that I am an experienced secondary school teacher and administrator who has most recently … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 10
Monday was a Professional Activity Day, for C's teachers to complete report cards. So, after a 3-day weekend, Tuesday morning was little more rocky. He needed a great deal of coaxing to get dressed, and to get logged in. But he was happy to have me cut out more letters for his name card, and … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Days 6, 7, 8 & 9
C awoke eager to make robot cookies this morning, so before we even arrived at school we had mixed sugar cookie dough, and cut out cookies to bake. C is getting very good at levelling cups of flour, though not so careful with the stirring yet. He is also very ambitious with his cookie cutting, … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 5
C's morning went well: woke up well-rested, enjoyed a couple of episodes of Paw Patrol, ate frozen fruit for breakfast, dressed himself, and then chose to make a new name card for attendance. Today's card featured his drawing of his newest "Bumblebee" figure, and his name with all the letters in a row, in the … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 4
Day three began well, with C beginning a morning routine. He has made a new name card each day, and this serves as a good warm-up, and fills the time until the Google Meet link shows up in their Google Classroom. By getting into the class as soon as possible he gets acknowledgement from his … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 3
I am on a journey to understand how my actions as a teacher and administrator have contributed to Anti-Black Racism in our school system. And to understand why we have taken so long to acknowledge it, and to act to counter it. Our school structures are power structures. Director to Superintendent to Principal to Teacher … Continue reading School Systems are not ready to End Oppression
We're back in Google Meet with C's class. Today he created a new name card, with letters we printed with the Cricut Maker. He added a hand-cut (by grandma) heart "because I love my class". The first activity today is another workshop with the art gallery. Today the teachers enlisted the help of the teacher … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 2
Today is Day One for me as a "personal teaching assistant" to my four-year-old grandson, C. He's in Junior Kindergarten, and his class has been fully online for a week. However, C wasn't able to participate without the assistance of both his parents. And since they are working full time: Mom as a synchronous secondary … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day One
It was announced this week that elementary students in Ontario will remain at home until January 25. The original plan was for one week only, then a return to F2F learning in schools. In our family this meant only one partial day of learning for our grandson in Junior Kindergarten: he hung up on his … Continue reading Preparing to support Online Junior Kindergarten
It's mid-December, and I know that the Teacher Candidates who began our pre-service program imagined a very different reality than we know today. They were promised a program of teacher-preparation, with placements with Associate Teachers which would prepare them to enter classrooms upon graduation. Instead, they've had to pivot their university courses from face-to-face, to … Continue reading Preparing our New Teachers
