I also took some Classics and Archaeology classes because I thought about pursuing a career in those specialties as well. I took a language course and variety of history courses in case I wanted to pursue an honors degrees. After I became settled again I began to volunteer with the Greystone Scholars and tutored high school students. Here I rekindled my love for math and working with others. I realized I wanted to teach, which ironically was the furthest thing from my mind when I was in high school. I thought teachers were insane to work with us kids. It's funny how things work out. From this point I began working on a math minor which meant I stopped working on completing an Honours degree but it made more sense to have a more marketable teaching area. I finished my 4 Year B.A. in History Spring of 2013 and graduated with Great Distinction. I was accepted in the College of Education that year and graduated with my Education Degree with Distinction in spring of 2015. (These are in frames so I apologize for the sub-par quality) Below are transcripts from both degrees
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Below are documents written by my current principal and superintendent assessing my teaching practice. My observations have gone well and the feedback I've gained has helped me grow as a teacher.
This year I created two year long projects in Social Studies 7 and 9. These projects address all outcomes of the course and although they are very structure they do allow for some voice and choice on part of the student. Please see the files below
Last year I was chosen as one of the teacher advisors to accompany a group of Sun West students to the Canadian Student Leadership Conference in Toronto and Waterloo. Myself and fellow advisor, Erin, were in charge of 7 wonderful students from across the division. We had never met and we did not know any of the students. Most people would find this a little nerve wracking but we soon became our own little Team Sun West family. We started meeting at the airport in the very early hours of Saturday. We organized the kids, met parents and gave any last minute updates to the students. Luckily, Erin and I complemented each others' skill sets and we became fast friends. She was a great listener of any announcements and I became the "visual surroundings expert." The first three days were busy with touring Toronto during Pre-Conference. Erin and I got to know the students quickly and we were amazed by their maturity and enthusiasm. It was an extremely rewarding experience to lead them through the conference. We arrived in Waterloo and attended the opening ceremonies. Each province created their own cheer and marched around the the football field. That night we saw our students off with their billets and got some much needed rest! Stu Sander opened the conference and pumped up the crowd. The next day George Couros talked to advisors about the importance of technology and digital citizenship. We also had a session on mindfulness and gratitude. This reminded me take in every moment and be thankful for all the small things in life especially when we are going through something difficult. One of our evenings ended with a German Cultural night. There was good food and awesome dancing. It was very cool to see the strong connection to culture in the Waterloo area. The next day Stu Sander opened the conference and pumped up the crowd. The next day George Couros talked to advisors about the importance of technology and digital citizenship. We also had a session on mindfulness and gratitude. This reminded me take in every moment and be thankful for all the small things in life especially when we are going through something difficult. One of our evenings ended with a German Cultural night. There was good food and awesome dancing. It was very cool to see the strong connection to culture in the Waterloo area. Another highlight was the Live TedTalk event in Kitchener. Many of the talks were related to education. One quote stood out to me, "You Matter". It made me thing of my students and question how do I make each and every one of them feel like they matter. The last Keynote speaker impacted me the most. Ryan Sheckler said that a good leader celebrates others. Leaders need to take and inspire action rather than just talking about that action. I felt this was a philosophy that I could really bring back to my school and my profession. He talked about how small acts can lead to larger movements. The simple act of handing out socks to the homeless inspire him to create Skate For Change. And now groups of skaters get together and hand out socks, toques, mitts and food to the homeless. The world needs people who take action not just those that think about taking action. The last day ended with the banquet. Everyone dressed their best. Farewells were said to new friends and the conference ended in a dance for the students. What amazed me the most about the conference was the constant energy from the leaders and kids. It was such an uplifting motivational atmosphere. Attending CSLC is and will be one of my favourite teaching memories for quite some time. This year I had the pleasure of working with my colleague Janis Flynn with the personalized middle year's math program.
This has been a learning experience for both of us and we have had some time to reflect on the experience. Although working at your own pace and choosing instructional style works very well for some students it is not working effectively for all. Some successes included:
Some challenges include: I like to allow students as much choice as possible. Please follow the links below to see examples: The Physics of Everyday StuffThe Good, Bad and Ugly of Canadian HistoryIndustrial Revolution Project
I began a personalized Math program with my grade 10 students this year. It has not been easy. I've had to make several adjustments along the way. It worked well for the first semester in Foundations 10. However, I quickly learned that self-regulation skills are key to any personalized program and some of my students just weren't there. This is a goal and skill we will need to continue to develop next year. Below I've attached some samples of the personalized pages I created with the help of a co-worker. Please click the following links to be taken to the Foundations 10 and Foundations 20 pages to see the appropriate videos and resources.
A selection of sample year plans: Foundations 30 Typically Math classes all follow this standard formula for a year plan
Outline of Social 9 Units and Themes
Health Science 20
I use this website as a digital format for my Unit plans. Each class has its own section with assignments and videos. It is as much a tool for me as it is for my students. If anyone misses a day or needs to review they can come here to rewatch videos, reprint assignments, or receive a to do list of tasks. Below are some "teacher copies" of unit plans but the website gives more detail for day to day resources that are used. Click on the unit title to be taken to the appropriate section of the website
My Goal: Increase student engagement and achievement by using student learning profiles with every student to design lessons and assessments that address the different learners within my History/Social Studies and Science classes by providing choice of summative assessment at the end of each unit. 1. Was I successful in meeting my SMART goal? What were my outcomes? AND 2. What success did I experience? I would say that I was partially successful. I did not use these types of assessments as much as I thought I would but I offered choice as much as I could. I was most successful in Environmental Science 20. I ended each unit with a choice of project or test. No one ever chose to write a test. This class also had the most success with this type of assignment. I had a wide range of products handed in ranging from models, plays, posters, and even a song. The students in this class really enjoyed the options. Initially some were overwhelmed with the amount of choice but soon became engaged in the process when they realized they could show their learning in a way that made sense to them and was more enjoyable. 3. What were my struggles? I found it difficult to separate the need to cover certain content while still allowing complete choice. In History I made some compromises. For example, students needed to study a Revolution in history 10 but they had a choice as to which one they studied and presented. In History 20 students followed a specific country through the history of the war. They were allowed to choose from a list of countries but no two students could have the same one. In other assignments students had to research a certain event but were allowed to choose how they presented it or what type of product they created. Final projects for both History 10 and 20 will be very open but will need to focus on certain themes to cover course outcomes. I also struggle with motivating the students to try something different and to be motivated and self-driven. Again this was more successful in ES 20 perhaps due to the organization of the course or the students themselves. It is difficult for them to look beyond the PowerPoint and try something they haven’t done before. For ES 20 I did have a rule that students couldn’t produce the same type of product more than once. Perhaps I should instate this type of rule in other classes to get students creating a variety of products. 4. What goal will I set for next year? How can allow more choices in content heavy courses such as math and science? Perhaps even introducing a weekly problem-solving task in math for students to work collaboratively to solve a so-called “impossible” problem. Samples of Student Work |
About the AuthorVanessa L. Warnock Archives
May 2018
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