Blogging Code of Conduct - Final Draft

After much careful consideration, here are the Internet blogging rules the students have developed and pledge to respect. I think they have done an exceptional job. Good work, Grade 6!


Code of Conduct

1. I am responsible for my posts. My posts and comments will be interesting, respectful, appropriate, and truthful. I will do my best to make my work grammatical, to limit abbreviations, and to make sure my work doesn’t repeat.

2. I will disagree politely and will report inappropriate content.

3. I will keep my password, personal information, contact information, and location to myself. I will only use my own password.

4. I will be respectful of other people’s personal lives and their privacy.

5. I will ask permission before taking or posting photos of others. I will only use unaltered photos (no ‘photoshoped’ images).

6. I will use my own words, work, and photos, or give credit when necessary.

7. I will only write things to or about people that I would be willing to say to their face.

8.I will keep gossip and personal comments to myself.

9. I will listen to my teacher and respect the school rules at all times.

10. I will stay on task.

Parents, please keep in mind that you are welcome to join our kidblog community. Leave a comment here, or send a note to school, and I can send you a username and password.

Best,
Kathy Napier

Blogging in the Literacy Classroom

 Dear Families,

This year, after several year of reflection on my part, the grade six class will be using student blogs. Blogs are journal-like webpages in which students create and post text and media content. While I had begun learning about student blogging five years ago, my concerns about safety and the management of the blogs had kept me from using this in the classroom. Now, using the kidblogs platform, students will be able to create a blog with a private audience that I administer, and which will be closed at the end of the school year.

Blogging allows us to enhance the literacy program while addressing skills and needs of the 21^st century classroom. Blogs can be used:

• as platforms for expanding the writing program and providing authentic audiences for their writing
• to motivate writers, as a way of promoting discussion, and as a way of learning from their classmates
• to improve communication by helping them consider their audience and learn to express themselves formally and informally
• to harness the impact of technology to improve the quality of student writing, both at the technical and content level
• to learn how to interact positively, prosocially, in a digital forum
• to solicit feedback and promote interaction in a safe, closed community
• to allow parents and family members, near and far, to comment and interact with their child's work
• to learn to use technology safely, and to learn to protect their privacy
• to help students establish a positive digital footprint

With my guidance, the students will also establish a code of conduct for participating in the blogging project, and will examine ways in which on-line interaction (social media and other) has consequences in the 'real' world. We will discuss the changing nature of technology, and discussions of privacy, sharing, and cyberbullying will be part of the project.

I am very excited about this new project, and know that the students will be motivated by this new platform. We invite you to become part of our learning community, and hope that you will also be an active participant in this process.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, I am will be happy to discuss this further with you or provide you with additional information. Please contact me for a username and password to be able to view and comment on the blogs.

Warm regards,

Kathy Napier

October Photos

Hello Families,

Of the may official communications that come home, none really allows me to capture the rhythm and flavour of our days.

I wanted to share with you some of the images I took of the students last week. We had a wonderful time at the Soccer tournament, winning as many games as we lost, and shivering through the snow just seemed to make it more memorable. It is always so much fun to see the students participate and encourage each other, and despite the fact that some children play soccer all summer and some rarely play, everyone had such a marvelous attitude and such team spirit.

 Things are going absolutely swimmingly in grade six. The students work well together, and since they genuinely want to improve, everyone works hard on assignments and activities. The other day, I taught a lesson, set the activity, then sat back and watched. This is what I saw:

Everyone did what I asked. Everyone. At the same time. It made me teary.

 I can only cross my fingers that it continues, and that the entire year unfolds as well as the first few weeks have.

Tonight the Progress Report comes home, and on it you will have general information about your child's behaviour, participation, and progress. Everyone has something to improve, but everyone also has many things they are doing right.

Many intangible things don't make it onto official communications, but they may still be important to know. Please let you children know how proud I am of them, and how much I am enjoying spending the days with them. It's shaping up to be a wonderful year.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kathy Napier

What I Should Have Said: Classroom Information Evening

I struggled with whether I should write this post.

I left the school Thursday before last pleased that parents had come to see me, but disappointed in myself. I was uneasy about my presentation, and on the drive home I figured out why.

Welcome Back!

This note went home with your child today, in a newsletter than includes other information. Please find it in your child's agenda.

It is always exciting to welcome a new group of students for the new school year, and it is an extra treat to get to know the brothers, sisters, and cousins of students I have taught in the past. Welcome to you all.

It is a pleasure to be working with you and your child this year. I have every confidence that we will have an enjoyable and productive year and that by working together we can help your child continue to experience academic success.

In the month of September, please sign your child's agenda nightly. This will help them get into the habit of showing you the work they have to do and will acquaint you with your child's homework, workbooks, and assignments. Using the link on the class blog you can access a list of the current homework, which is helpful if students forget agendas or miss school.

A special note about homework assignments ~
If your child cannot complete his or her homework on time, please write me a note in the agenda to let me know you are aware there was homework and to let me know when it can be completed.

Over the next few weeks, as your child adjusts to a new teacher, a new class, and a different workload, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Warm regards,
Kathy Napier

This post is a work in progress

Student teachers are a lot like puppies.

Stay with me here for a minute, I think the analogy is a good one.


Student teachers are (mostly) young and have the enthusiasm of someone seeing things with fresh eyes. They are excited, eager. They have energy they don't always know what to do with. But unlike a puppy, you can't train student teachers with a rolled-up newspaper.

We all have to learn sometime, and someone has to teach us.

It doesn't really matter what we have to learn to do, drive a car or weld a joint, there is a look-learn phase and a try-do phase. Parents know these phases well, and understand that understand that there is a point at which you wince and would rather do it yourself. Let the child pour the milk, spill, clean it up, or  just pour the milk yourself. It's faster.


I didn't ask for a student teacher.

I really love to teach, and I missed my students when I was on sabbatical last year. Grade six is an important year, and didn't want to risk having a student teacher with my class for a good part of the winter term. But I let myself be convinced, and I am glad I did.

Ms Holliday has been wonderful, and watching her teach has given me a chance to revisit the foundations of teaching, refresh my philosophy, discuss the choices we make as teachers and why we make them. It's like when you bring a puppy into a house with an old(er) dog, and suddenly the old dog has a new found energy herself.

It takes time to make a teacher. It takes a great deal of hard work, long hours, and many discussions. What will you teach, why, how will you teach it, how will you know if they learned, what will you do next, how will you review, how do you make sure the learning is robust and lasts? What do you do when students misbehave, how do you handle homework, how do you reassure parents? We talk about what we plan to teach, what we just taught, how to do it better, what to do next. Think think think. Worry, wait, check, revise, review, reiterate. Repeat as necessary.

Like pouring milk for a little one, it is faster to do it ourselves.

But we learn by doing. We have to try it ourselves, sometimes spill, try again, move forward.

Boy, are we ever proud when they can do it on their own.

Ms Holliday is ready to do it on her own. She is ready for her own class, her own students. She has done some wonderful projects, practiced, reflected on what works for her, and for the students, and the students have become attached to her.

We all have become attached to her. her kind words, her quick smile, her thoughtful approach to what she does.

It is very difficult and it feels a little strange to hand over your class to a student teacher. It is probably harder to be the student teacher who has to deal with a hovering host teacher who is unable keep herself from interjecting fourteen times an hour. To teach is a wonderful gift, but to teach a teacher is to have the opportunity to help  beyond your own class, and have a part, however small, in someone else's success.

We all have to learn, then we all have to do. Ms Holliday is more than ready. As all teachers are, she is a work in progress, moving forward, changing, learning, becoming the teacher she wants to be.

We wish her calm students, well-funded classrooms, and a lifetime of loving the job.

School Nurse to Visit in April

Springtime brings back the birds, but also brings talk of the birds and the bees....

As you may know, the CSSS school nurse visits sixth grade classes to discuss puberty with the students. She presents the material during two 120 minute sessions, during which she uses a slide show prepared by Health Canada and several short videos to generate discussion. Much of this material is also covered in the science text, and Ms Beauregard has told me the students seem very anxious to begin this unit.

It is my experience that many parents prefer to begin discussing the subject of puberty and sex with their children before the nurse visits. She will be sending a letter to you closer to the date of her presentation, but I wanted to let you know in advance just in case your were presented with a good moment to speak with your child over the coming Easter break.

You can view some of the materials she will use at this site:
http://sexualityandu.ca/parents/your_role_as_a_parent
and the slide shows she shows are on-line here
http://sexualityandu.ca/teachers/classroom-presentations/puberty

Not all the material on the site is shared with the students. While I believe that much of the material there is more than they need to know right now, it is often better, as a parent, to have too much information than too little, and knowing what they might hear from peers can be very eye-opening.

The nurse's talk will focus more on biology than reproduction or sexuality, which leaves the hard part of the discussion still in your hands. While I make myself available to students to answer any lingering questions, you may want to open the discussion as well.

If you have any questions or want any additional information, please feel free to contact me.

Have a wonderful week,
Kathy Napier

World Maths Day

Each year I register my students for World Maths Day. Over the space of a few weeks students can practice math calculations by taking timed quizzes in which they compete against students from around the world. Students create avatars, see where in the world the other participants come from, and see the flags of those countries. On March 7th, students from around the world participate on the same day. Organizers estimate that 5.5 million students from 200 countries will participate this year. Unfortunately, World Maths Day falls during our Spring Break, but students can participate from home if you have access to an Internet connection, or on a mobile device (the app can be found here).

Your child has a login and password to be able to participate in the practice days leading up to the event. As their teacher, I can see the number and percentage of questions they answer correctly. There are five levels, and students can work to improve their scores in each level.

Yesterday, the first day we worked with the site, the class collectively answered 1081 questions correctly in about 20 minutes. As you can imagine, it would be impossible for me to give and correct that volume of work were I to have students do it with pencil and paper.

The event is highly motivating and excellent practice. If possible, it would be well worth having your child practice at home to improve their calculation skills.

And in case I forget, Happy World Maths Day!

The Flipped Classroom

Technology where it is needed, when it is needed.

I remember my high school computer lab. One room of large desk top PCs, set up in  traditional classroom style so that we could face the blackboard as the teacher taught us basic programming. DOS style. Yes, I am that old. It was all very cutting edge. At that time we learned typing as well, on typewriters, and the typing teacher was in awe that the computer printers could produce so many different fonts. Where, he asked me, were all the wheels inside?

For the students in my class, working with technology is a normal part of the day. So normal that they don't get nearly as excited as I do by the new document camera or the SMART board lessons that let us show things differently than I would have thought possible when I was last a student. I am blessed to have exciting new technology in my classroom,  and while some of it sometimes doesn't work as we want it to, it allows us to explore learning situations in completely new ways.

Under Pressure

When my son was in his first year of hockey,  he had a lucky scoring streak. Nothing that made him a prodigy, but a little streak of a goal every game for about three games. Maybe streak is a strong word for that, but when they score goals before they can write their name parents get a little excited.

Coming off the ice one afternoon, a childhood friend of my husband well-meaningly remarked, "Looks like you inherited your father's hands."

And the streak ended as fast as it had begun. My son didn't score for the rest of the season.

I think this kind of happened to me and the class blog this year. It got a little bit of attention, and I got a few compliments, and my posts promptly dried up. Performance anxiety.

Writing Assignment: Character Traits

Students,

Use the link below to identify traits you might use to describe the character in your text.

Character Traits List

French-English Dictionary

Reverso: language translation on-line

Then, for the second part of the exercise, use this site:

Thesaurus

 to find antonyms for the adjectives you chose.

Happy Writing,
Ms Napier