We have completed six Octomesters in our board, and we just embarked on Octomester seven. For some of our teachers this is their seventh class online, and for some it's their first. But since we are now ALL online throughout Ontario I thought I'd take a few minutes to share what has been working for … Continue reading Successful Secondary School Online Learning
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At-Home Learning – an initial reflection
Four weeks ago I embarked on a new journey in a new school board and in a new model of online learning. In a board with a large geographical area, much of which cannot reliably access the Internet, the model is very different from that which I experienced earlier this year. While many of the … Continue reading At-Home Learning – an initial reflection
Beginning a New Job
Today is the first day of my new job. As a teacher, this is only my second school board, so it's been a long time since I was truly walking into a brand-new organization. And it is very different from my first day back in 1983. You need a lot more "stuff" to begin work … Continue reading Beginning a New Job
Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Days 17, 18 and 19
Despite our best intentions, our plans to go "screen-free" lasted until late in the day on Wednesday. By then we had been busy all day, and we needed a break from each other. And we decided that Netflix as a reward was working, so our screen time on Thursday and Friday featured "Go Dog. Go", … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Days 17, 18 and 19
Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 16
Today was a "no screens" day. Except for a search for a bread recipe, a Cricut project, and "window shopping" for Lego for C's upcoming 5th birthday, we kept all computers, tablets, and phones out of sight. Generally it went very well. We observed a lot more singing, imaginative play, conversations with both of us, … Continue reading Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 16
Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 5
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
Junior Kindergarten Online – Journal – Day 3
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
Preparing our New Teachers
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
No Longer School Online
As our administrative oversight duties for our Online Secondary School have dwindled, I've begun to consider what might be our next challenge. It was exciting supporting teachers as they shifted to a fully-online model, but I am less excited about supporting them as they return to an adaptive or hybrid model in their home schools … Continue reading No Longer School Online
School Online – Journal – Days 35 to 41
In my last post I wrote about "gradual release of responsibility", and now it applies to me. Last week was mark reporting, and so we were busy supporting teachers to enter marks, and ensuring that report cards were distributed via email to our students. Among our teachers are some with years of experience, alongside those … Continue reading School Online – Journal – Days 35 to 41
