teaching at the core.

have you filled a bucket today?

Have you filled a bucket today? by Carol McCloud, is a wonderful book for students and teachers. I was first introduced to the book in our Fundamentals of Teaching class which inspired me to go out an acquire a copy of my own. The book has a simple, yet powerful message which encourages positive behaviour and is written in a way that makes it easy for children to understand how rewarding it is to express kindness and appreciate to one another. The book helps young children and adolescence to see the value of treating others with respect and kindness, and models how to be a caring, kind, and responsible person. The author has also created an accompanying website, that offers resources and and tools to help create bucket-filling classrooms. A classroom which promotes bucket-filling allows for a learning environment where all students feel safe, respected, and motivated to learn and grow.

 Bucket Fillers101

When learning to teach.

When learning to teach:

This past September I embarked on a new journey in teacher education.  I started my first week, as a student in the Master of Teaching program at OISE, in the classroom sharing a part of the first day jitters with the elementary school kids. Admittedly nervous, I greeted fresh-faced grade sixers, eager and ready to start a new year. I shared this same sense of discovery when I started classes the following week. It was discussed in our fundamentals of teaching class this same sense of discovery when learning to teach. Each one of us experience a cycle of learning as we begin to grow from our teaching experiences.  Teachers both new and experienced go through a process of unconsciously unskilled, to consciously unskilled, to unconsciously skilled, and finally consciously skilled. The process then starts from the beginning once again. This past year has been exactly that. As I come to the end of my first year, I have gained a deeper understanding of my own personal philosophy of education and my vision of teaching.  The process of learning to teach is the process of learning who you want to be as a teacher. I have weaved together all the experiences and knowledge from this year to a create a foundation for the teacher that I would like to be.  This year has provided me with the understanding, and the experience in the classroom of what a good teacher sounds like and looks like. I am eager to continue my journey of discovery,as  I embark on the cycle of learning once again.  

In the meanwhile, my hope for this blog is that it will serve to document this year’s past journey, so that I may share my learning and insights with fellow pre-service teachers and colleagues in the profession. It will highlight the importance of critical thinking and inquiry, student engagement, and cooperative learning. Most importantly, this blog will highlight ways to inspire young students to learn, grow, and be the most that they can be. I hope through this blog to gain a true sense of discovery and strengthen my own personal philosophy of education and gain a clearer understanding of the teacher I hope one day to be.