My FAVOURITE art/back to school idea of all time!

Back when I was a new teacher I was looking for great art ideas to start the school year.  I was really fortunate to teach at an awesome school (shout out to Denlow P.S. in North York) with some awesome teachers (shout out to Gail, Susan and Pat).  I can honestly say these teachers gave me more skills and knowledge in the four years I was with them than I have acquired in the past twenty since leaving that school!

Anyhow, one of these great teachers (sorry gals, I don't remember which of you it was) showed me an idea to do with my grade 4/5 class.  The teacher gave their students strips of cartridge paper (approx. 10 cm by 10 cm) and asked them to trace school supplies to cover the entire piece of paper.  After this students then added line designs to the school supplies and covered all the white space in the background with dots.  All these years later, I still have the sample I made my first year of teaching on my bulletin board at school.  The kids love to see that Ms.McKay also created her own art project.(It also freaks them out that the sample is over 20 years old!)

After I left that school and moved on, I ended up working in a school where the student desks were in really bad shape.  I wanted to come up with a way of covering the desks that would look good and involve the students artistic talents.  The idea I had "borrowed" in my first year came back to me, but this time I added my own twist. 

This is how I have the students create personalized "desk mats".  The kids love them once I laminate them, and the caretakers love that the desks are protected each year.  I love that the students permanently have their "name" on the top of their desks.

Step 1:  I give each student a large piece of white cartridge paper, and have them draw a 10 cm by 10 cm border around the outside.

Step 2:  Students then trace a variety of school supplies in pencil all around the border.

Step 3:  Students outline all the objects traced using a fine line marker.

Step 4:   Students add patterns and lines using a combination of BLACK fine line and Crayola thick markers.

Using a ruler or meter stick the students create a 10 cm by 10 cm border on white cartridge paper.

Students do the initial outlines in pencil and then go over the whole design with a combination of fine line and thick markers.

Love this design...it reminds me of a heart monitor.

Make sure the student also goes over the "border" lines with a ruler and black fine line marker.

Adding creative patterns to the outlines.

Try to emphasize a combination of thick and thin lines.  Also contrast of light and dark.

You can see the realistic details blend with the creative pattens.

This student is using a variety of "dots" in different sizes to add pattern to his mat.

Step 5:  Once the students have finished the black and white border they are allowed to do anything in the "middle" section of the desk mat.  The only thing they MUST include is their name.  I encourage them to use LOTS of colour and a variety of media.  Some students bring in pictures from home, some draw their favourite objects, some print images from the computer.  They often use a combination of pencil crayon and marker for this part of the project.

Step 6:  After students have finished the inside design and the outside patterns, they go back to the border section.  Here they use a fine line marker to fill all the "white" space in the background with dots.  This can be tedious for some students but the finished effect is worth it.  Some days it sounds like there are woodpeckers in the classroom as several students are making their dots at the same time.

Step 7:  I laminate all the desk mats.  I know this is not considered very environmentally friendly, BUT it prevents a lot of messy desks, which prevent the use of chemicals and cleaning products.  The desks remain pristine and therefore last longer.  The students are also very PROUD of their work, and most keep the mats for years and years to come.

I can honestly say this is my all time favourite activity for back to school and to start teaching art.  What is your favourite go to activity?  

Learning Skills and Work Habits

Well, school is back in swing and I am coming home exhausted everyday!  I don't think I have stayed awake past 8:00 p.m. one night this week.  So far, I have implemented my classroom procedures and management plan with few hitches.  My class seems very keen this year, they like to talk though!  Yesterday, I gave my class their first "Learning Skills and Work Habits Student Self-Assessment Checklist".



DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY HERE

 

I created this checklist last year when the Ontario MOE introduced "Growing for Success" the first elementary assessment and evaluation policy document to be published in decades!  With the changes in policy came a change in the emphasis and format of the elementary report cards.  The "Learning Skills and Work Habits" part of the report card was suddenly at the forefront and all the academic sections were made secondary. 

 

When talking to my students after the first "progress report checklist" went home in October, I realized they had no real concrete idea of what the skills and work habits they were being evaluated on really WERE.  Some had a vague idea what "responsibility" and "organization" meant, but things like "self-regulation" and "initiative" were foreign to them.  I knew that I could not have my students work towards improving these skills and work habits if they did not understand what they meant or what I was looking for. 

 

My first attempt to create a checklist for students looked more like a rubric for teacher use. I only used the standard language found on the Ontario report card.  This attempt still did not seem to help the students understand what I was looking for.  I converted the rubric format into a checklist, and as a class we refined the language to include "I" statements such as "I accept responsibility for and manage my own behaviour".  The final checklist at 2 1/2 pages does seem very long, particularly if you are teaching younger students.  It would be easy to adapt and emphasize only a few points under each heading. 

 

After students self-assess using the checklist (I have them do this first thing after lunch each Friday), they are asked to review the their assessments and choose three skills/work habits which they determine need improvement. Students fill out the bottom of page 3 of the checklist recording the three areas for improvement, setting out a brief plan for each area and stating what teacher/parent support they might require.  I then have the students show me their checklist and goals.  I check for completion and then ask the students to transfer their 3 goals onto the "Weekly Objectives" section of the following week's planner.  I remind them to frequently review their goals and plans for achieving them during the week.  In some cases the students even use highlighters to give the goals extra prominence. 

 

The following Friday, students fill out page 4 of the checklist.  This reflection page asks them:

SO WHAT? What 3 areas did I select to work on so that my learning skills and work habits improve?

NOW WHAT? Did my plans work so that I could improve in each of these areas? Why?

Reflecting upon my work habits and learning skills this week, something that I learned about myself is:

I will use this information to help me to:

After they have completed page 4 of the previous week, they take a new checklist and start the process all over again.  I remind the students that if they did NOT achieve their goals the previous week, they should reflect upon why they did not and perhaps choose those same goals again, BUT with a different plan for success.  I discuss with them that it takes approximately 21 days or 3 weeks for a new skill or habit to actually become a HABIT.  Some goals may last a week or two, some a few months and some the entire year.  The entire process is what I emphasize with the students.

 

Last year, my students quickly began to internalize what each of the skills and work habits entailed.  After using the checklists and accompanying goal setting sheets for several months, I saw a distinct change in the ownership of the learning in each of these areas.  Students were able to verbalize what they were being assessed and evaluated on, and they were able to set goals which they were able to attain. 

 

One student from last year visited me this week.  I overheard him telling some of my new students that my checklists and goal setting had made him "so aware and organized that I scare myself".  This student had really struggled the previous year, and I was glad to hear that he felt the use of the checklist and goal setting had helped him learn how to be more successful.  Really, that is what teaching is all about!

You might be gifted if...

Many myths and misconceptions about gifted students exist in the minds of parents and educators alike. I myself am the proud parent of a gifted child and I am privileged to teach gifted students.  In my many years as an educator I have observed a wide variety of behaviours and characteristics. I have also seen/read many published checklists of "gifted"  behaviours and characteristics. One thing I can say for certain, is that NOT all gifted students are alike and they are not all gifted in the same way.

I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year getting to know my students.  I ask them to complete interest inventories, bring in items that tell me what they value ("Me Bag" homework), I have them fill out multiple intelligence and learning style surveys and I administer some academic diagnostic tests (such as the Morrison-McCall spelling survey, and the Schonell Vocabulary test).  I start to develop a "profile" of each student as I work towards creating an IEP (Individualised Education Plan) for child.  I also ask for input from the parents. 

Here are some things I have observed over the years parenting my amazing child and working with gifted students.

The student may:
• Ask many questions and be very curious
• Easily get "off task" and "off topic"
• Possess a large amount of information
• Be impatient when not called on in class
• Have a good memory
• Learn new information quickly
• Become easily bored
• Retain information easily
• Become disruptive in class
• Master reading skills earlier
•  Avoid repetitive/rote activities (e.g. worksheets)
• Demonstrate strong abilities in math memorisation
• Display unusual academic achievement
• Complete work quickly ( but often sloppily )
• Be interested in a wide variety of things
• Resist investigation of activities apart from areas of personal interest
• Become involved in a variety of activities 
• Be motivated to try new things
• Leave projects unfinished
• Enjoy a challenge
• Takes on too much and becomes overwhelmed
• Think independently
• Challenge authority
• Express unique and original opinions
• Not handle criticism well (but really who does?)
• Be self-motivated
• Not work well in groups
• Use higher level thinking skills
• Tend to be absent-minded regarding practical details
• Forget homework assignments
• Make connections other students don't see
• Consider unusual approaches to problem-solving
• Posses a strong sense of justice
• Be very critical of self and others
• Like to debate current issues and real life problems
• Like to argue a point
• Be a perfectionist and expect others to be perfect as well
• Posses a sophisticated sense of humour
• Easily get carried away with a joke
• Understand subtle humour
• Have a tendency to become the "class clown"
• Enjoy plays on words and satire
• Demonstrate strong expressive skills
• Be sensitive to feelings of others
• Demonstrate skill in drama/art/music/language
• Be perceived as a "know-it-all" by peers
• Elaborate on ideas
• Be viewed as "bossy" by peers in group situations

Problem Solving Strategies Posters

Well it has been a day or so since I was inspired to create something or post something.   Even after I said I was done,I actually went to school again on Thursday. My hubby really helped me out by drilling a hole in my desk and creating a hole for all my computer cords to come up through rather than get twisted around my feet.  I also learned the value of zip ties from him.  I got a package at Dollar Tree and used them to tie all the cords together.  He put a "desk grommet" (found it at Lowe's) into the hole and now my desk is much neater!  I love it!  He also got up on the ladder for me and hung these really cute gold star cut outs I also found at Dollar Tree the other day.  He put up 9 of them and they really add some extra "je ne sais quoi" to the room.  Even he liked them, and he thinks my room is "overstimulating". 

Anyhow, how does this relate to Problem Solving Strategies?  Well he had to solve a couple of problems which cropped up during the "hole installation" and I thought to myself, where are my problem solving strategy posters?  I don't have ANY problem solving strategy posters!  I bought one a few years ago to go with the "Problem Solver" binder I had purchased (but didn't use).  I really didn't like it, so I gave it to the grade 4 teacher down the hall.

I wanted some really simple posters which would remind my students that there are a variety of different strategies they can use to solve problems.  I have found with gifted students that they tend to feel they cannot "use concrete materials" or "act it out".  When they are asked on standardized tests "How did you solve the problem?" Or "How do you know your answer is correct?", I often see the answer "I just know." 

Each year my students make a "Math Survival Guide" (I will write a post about this in the next few weeks while the kids are creating them and I take some pics).  I have the students record information (words, definitions, pictures, examples) from each of the 5 strands in the survival guide during the year.  Last year I asked them to also create a section for problem solving strategies. Most of the students copied down the list of strategies I gave them, and a few added some of their own.

If you look at the pictures of my classroom you will see I have a LOT of mathematics posters in my room.  I actually have several hundred (yes, I said hundred) more new ones I have made and laminated.  I need to find a place to put them up.  For now, I will use them as I introduce and teach a strand. 

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE COPY

I plan to print these posters I made today and put them up (somewhere) in my classroom for reference and to remind my students that there are a variety of strategies which they are encouraged to use.  Please feel free to download a FREE copy for your own use.  I hope that you find them useful!

Top 10 Myths About Gifted Learners

 As back to school approaches, I think it is a good time to review the myths and misconceptions about what a gifted student is. Here are some things to keep in mind if you are teaching gifted learners or if you are a parent of a gifted learner.



Myth #1: They are aloof, proud of their own abilities, and care little for others.

Reality: Just like their non-gifted peers, some gifted children display these characteristics and some do not. Delisle and Galbraith (2000, p. 24) quote Linda Silverman who writes, “contrary to public opinion, when the gifted are placed in classes together, they do not come to the conclusion that they are ‘better than everyone else.’ Rather, they are humbled by finding peers who know more than they do.”



In addition, the trait of sensitivity is one of the five primary social/emotional characteristics of gifted students described by Lovecky (1992). These students tend to display highly altruistic behaviours, doing things for other people simply because they care. This heightened degree of sensitivity, coupled with early moral concern for global and societal issues, often galvanizes these gifted students to initiate altruistic and other-centered projects such as community charitable and volunteer programs to benefit others (Lovecky, 1993). These students are the future Florence Nightengales and Nelson Mandelas.



Myth #2: They are good at everything and should be reminded of that when they fail to perform at high levels.

Reality: Gifted students vary in their abilities to perform just like any other group of students. While it is true that some students may be good a wide variety of things and some are truly exceptional in some areas, all students have different learning styles, performance abilities, production rates and quality of work (Delisle & Galbraith, 2002).



The implicit internalized belief that a gifted student should “be good at everything” and is guaranteed success can create enormous feelings of personal failure, self-doubt and distress when the student encounters his or her first experience with struggle and failure (Cross, 2002). Cross (2002) uses the illustration of Thomas Edison as an example of how “being good” even at one thing, such as the light bulb, took years of experiments, trial and error and perseverance.



Myth #3: They do not need special programs as they will be able to perform at high levels regardless.

Reality: “Gifted learners must be given stimulating educational experiences appropriate to their level of ability if they are to realize their potential” (Delisle & Galbraith, 2002, p. 91). “Would you send a star athlete to train for the Olympics without a coach?” (NAGC, 2006). Because gifted students are gifted, and hence different in their intellectual, affective and educational needs, they require programs which meet those needs in order to capitalize on their abilities and support them in their continuance of high levels of performance.



Lack of appropriate challenge and rigor in either traditional educational classrooms or in specialized gifted programming results in students feeling frustrated, bored, and isolated. Many choose to underachieve, negating the belief that left to their own devices in traditional educational settings they will undoubtedly succeed. Delisle and Galbraith (2002, p. 91) write that each person, including each gifted child, has the right to learn and be challenged in that learning at the level most appropriate to their growth and which proceeds most effectively from their level of development. Michael Jordan required hours of practice and coaching to hone his jump-shots; Virginia Woolf needed years to cultivate her written work and neither experienced being perfect at basketball or writing from birth, both needed an environment which educated, challenged and supported them in order to refine their talent.

Myth #4: They have even profiles in respect to intellectual ability, academic aptitude, and social emotional development.

Reality: Gifted students develop at different rates from their non-gifted peers and at different rates in developmental areas. One of the most fascinating traits of gifted individuals is “asynchronous development.” The Columbus Group (1991) described asynchronous development as gifted individual’s “advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm” (Silverman, 2002, p. 32). Hence, gifted students’ cognitive development is typically more advanced than their same-age, non-gifted peers. (Silverman, 2002). Asychronous development is used to describe the mind of 16-year-old adolescent in the body of a 10-year-old child, along with the stress, struggle and excitement which comes from that disparity.



Myth #5: They benefit from being the second teacher in the room, tutoring others in greater need than themselves.

&

Myth #6: They work well in randomly assigned groups to ensure that the work gets done correctly.

Reality: Gifted students benefit from working with others of their ability level. Requiring gifted students to act as a second teacher to those students who do not understand a concept of an assignment is inappropriate for several reasons. First, non-gifted students do not consider gifted students as role models, and many resent having someone who appears to always be successful trying to teach them (Delisle & Galbraith, 2003). Winebrenner and Devlin (2001), citing Shunk in 1998, state that in order to be a positive role model the discrepancy in ability levels cannot be too high between the role model and the audience the role model is intended to motivate.



Second, gifted students are not always challenged by or have the desire to teach others below their ability level. Fiedler, Lange and Winebrenner (2002, p. 110) state that the students who learn the least in any given class are actually the gifted students. By attempting to utilize gifted students as teachers and helpers, they can inadvertently rob the gifted students of “consistent opportunities to learn through real struggle” and learn the necessary study skills and adaptation to challenging work (Fiedler, et.al. 2002).



Third, randomly assigned groups or groups in which the gifted student is the teacher or leader may lead to the other students “opting out” of the required work or passing the bulk of the assignment to the gifted student (Winebrenner & Devlin, 2001) simply because they know the gifted student can do it and may even feel pressured to do a good job for the teacher or to please the group. Gifted students have the right to an appropriate education which challenges them and provides them an environment in which they can achieve and succeed.



Myth #7: They all enjoy independent work and are motivated to complete projects.

Reality: Just like their non-gifted peers, gifted students are not always motivated or enjoy doing independent work. Gifted students can become unmotivated to do any academic work, especially that which they have already mastered or which seems irrelevant. Independent learning projects should be comprehensive, reflective, and fulfill the district’s and state’s requirements for student learning along with providing for the student’s ability and need for advanced levels of analysis and synthesis. The teacher should be involved at all times in independent work, helping them make meaning of the material, analyzing the cognitive strategies used to master it, applying of the material to other areas and facilitating continued discovery of their talent with relation to the project.



Even the most productive and learning-oriented gifted student given the most challenging of independent projects needs help sustaining motivation. Teachers may need to encourage, discuss with and model successful motivational strategies if these are not already in the gifted student’s repertoire. Would an Olympic tri-athlete be given a road map, a bike, and swim gear and sent on their way? No, they, like gifted students, require careful coaching, motivation, training and challenge to complete their difficult and exciting journey.



Myth #8: They all have pushy parents who expect the school to do more than is possible or reasonable for their children.

Reality: Gifted students, like all students, come from a wide variety of familial, cultural, racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds; however, the majority of the parents and guardians of these students are concerned with their gifted student’s achievement and academic success. Often, families of gifted students come to their child’s school frustrated, worried, fearful and angry which can come across to educators as “pushy” or even aggressive.



“Pushy-ness” can be diminished by active support, reassurance, information, and plenty of active listening on behalf of educators. Simply listening to determine where the conflict in values or expectations lie between the school and the parent can help both parties better serve the gifted student.



Myth #9: They are good students, rarely causing behavioural problems of any kind in class.

Reality: Gifted students, like all students, are diverse in their behaviours and attitudes. Many people conceptualize “gifted” as a well-behaved, high-achieving white female, sitting up straight in her seat, ready to learn and succeed. Consider the following children: the child who seems to come up with the right answer to a math question without ever documenting the steps, the student who seems to know more about the Civil War than the teacher, the first-grader who can never seem to stop asking questions, or the adolescent who refuses to turn in his science homework unless every formula is absolutely perfect, the high-schooler who would rather paint than talk on the phone or go to the mall with other teens, or the sarcastic joker who sits in the back of the class with a nearly-perfect SAT scores but who chooses never to turn in assignments. Would these students be considered well-behaved or even normal? Perhaps not, but they are gifted.



Gifted students who are introverts require time alone to think and process what they have learned and experienced, which can appear to other, more extraverted, adults as displaying antisocial behaviour (Silverman, 1993). The class clown may be gifted but bored and unchallenged, hence her homework scores average zero but she can take social studies tests and make the highest grade in the class. The sixth-grade joker may be able to understand and participate in advanced levels of wit, satire and sarcasm yet can’t see the point of dissembling for other people’s benefit (Silverman, 1993). Non-conformity, questioning of rules, and a keen sense of justice, all of which are gifted traits, may appear to be a student who, while obviously intelligent, is rebellious, anti-social, and maddening.



Often, what educators see as behavioural problems or pathologies, may simply be the manifestations of giftedness. Likewise, not all gifted students are perfectly behaved or desire to learn in the traditional classroom setting. It must be emphasized that no two gifted children “look” the same. Many are completely invested in their academic success and are well-behaved and some are not. Albert Einstein was non-traditional in the way he dressed and behaved and refused to do any school work that didn’t interested him, yet most consider to be one of the most eminent men of the last century, if not all time.



Myth #10: They are rarely at risk for educational achievement or attainment beyond high school.

Reality: Gifted students are at risk for educational achievement beyond high school if their intellectual and affective needs are not met and/or if their community, home or school environments are not supportive. One of concern which may prevent gifted students from achieving include experiences with classrooms and educational environments which are anti-intellectual, consider gifted programming to be elitist, have a rigid adherence to lock-step learning which cultivates boredom, foster cultural/racial prejudice or power struggles and which allow learning disabilities to go unidentified (Rimm, 2003).



Another area of concern is that of the societal or communal context of the gifted students. Sternberg (2003), in his explication of giftedness, sites the importance of environments in the development of intelligence. Environments which are not resource-rich or which do not provide for opportunities can impact a gifted individual’s current and future success (Sternberg, 2003).

A last area which impacts current and future achievement is intrapersonal factors such as temperament, commitment to a task or project, will-power, motivation, intrinsic rewards for learning, self-management, and capitalization on strengths and compensation or correction for individual areas of weakness (Gagné, 2003; Sternberg, 2003). These individual factors are vital in the pursuit of higher education and success in those environments.

 Content has been modified from an excerpt from - http://cfge.wm.edu/conference%20documents/Myths%20about%20Gifted%20Students.pdf

Classroom Setup

Well, I did it! I got the room set up, the photocopying and laminating done and the first day planned and ready to go. I wasn't planning on spending another day in the school but in the end my "to do" list was too long to ignore. I thought I would share some pictures of how the room looks now.

Outside the door to my room.  See my little "Tiffany" blue black boards?  Made those for $1~  Got the table from the garbage and a lace tablecloth for $1 too.  Laminated some old calendar pages and put up a new poster in a frame.  My daughter added the flowers in the vase.  I think it's a homey touch!  I posted my thought for the week on the black board after I took these photos.

This is the view of my classroom from the blackboard.  I have 28 students in my class this year.  And yes, what you see is what you get...there is no other space.



View of my cupboards, shelves and book display.  You can see the "back to school survival kits" and letters from last years students on each desk.  I also included a little "Daily Math" bell work so "we start as we intend to go on..."

Opposite side of the classroom.  I love this HUGE board!

I finally changed this board from the back of my classroom.  It has been lime green corrugated fadeless for the past 2 years.  My daughter convinced me to spice it up.  I put up colour blocking using turquoise and black.  I added some great borders I found for 99 cents and some posters I found on line.  I am introducing Thinking Skills and Blooms Taxonomy to my class of gifted grade sixes right at the beginning of the year.

This is my teacher area.  It actually looks MUCH bigger than it really is.  I had to try to downsize...lol...so that I could add an extra 6 student desks this year.  I am finding it hard to move around when I am behind the desk...so I guess I will have to avoid sitting down!

I added some extra touches this year~

I got some cute files in my fave colour, added some chalkboard labels I made with my Xyron label maker (LOVE IT) and then laminated the folders and put them in a 9 slot filing rack on the side of my desk.  In addition to Monday-Friday files I also included "To Mark" "To File" and "To Copy".  I have used them already!  It is so nice to be organized!

I saw this idea somewhere on Pinterest so I decided to make my own. I hope that the kids will actually read the sign and make sure they have put their names on their work.  In case they don't...see below

Here is one of my projects!  I love the "Tiffany" blue and the cute ribbons.  I got the board and the clips at Dollarama.  I only included two clips because honestly, they are big enough to hold several sheets...and they better NOT be used very often!  More of a visual reminder I am hoping!

Here is my teacher organizer that I wrote about in an earlier post. If you want to know how to do this, or how to download the labels for free check that post out!

I made little apples with numbers on them and laminated them.  I also got these cute frames for 99cents at Ikea.  I printed out signs on borders and put them in several key locations around the room.  You can also see my Gumball/Eraser dispenser that I made for $2.25.  I think it is SO cute!



I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my classroom.  I mailed my back to school letters to my students and their families on Monday so they should be getting them this week.  I hope all the students are as excited as I am to be going back!