Our Inspirations (class blog)

Creating Our "Perfect Classrooms"!

9/16/2021

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For your blog post this week, we have a chance to practice writing paragraphs. A paragraph is a way to organize your thoughts and ideas in a way that makes it easy to read and understand. A good paragraph will start with a topic sentence! This means the first sentence will tell the reader what the paragraph will be about. For your blog this week, can you write a paragraph that describes what your perfect classroom would look, sound and feel like? What sort of things would you put in your classroom if it could contain anything! Be as creative as you like! I can’t wait to read what you have in it!

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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome: Three Promises

9/9/2021

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What an incredible first week it’s been! I have had so much fun starting to get to know each and every one of you! Part of your homework each week will be to write a response to a blog post that I will create (that’s my homework every week). I have had such a busy time trying to get ready for school to start this year and in this time, I’ve started to think about new beginnings and fresh starts. This is a new school for me and I feel like each day I’m learning so many new things. I am loving the vibe at CH Norton and I really look forward to continuing that learning. For your blog post this week, I want you to think about your start in the junior grades, your learning career in grade 4. What do you want to achieve? How will you get there? How will you become the person you want to be, what steps will you have to take?
What are three rules or promises that you can make that will help you become this person? What will you strive for this year?
This year I promise to:
1. Give 110% in my lesson planning and delivery. I will try to engage you through the activities I plan in class, making them meaningful, powerful, and helpful.
2. Listen to you. If you have questions, concerns, ideas, thoughts, or anything else and you would like to talk to me about them, I will be there to listen. This can be in class, after school, before school, or at break. Your voice matters, your ideas matter, you matter!
3. Expect amazing things. I promise that my expectations for you will be high, and that I will expect that you can achieve in all subjects. I know that you are an exceptional learner and that you will succeed in so many different ways!
What do you promise?

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Dear Younger ME!

3/25/2021

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This week I would like you to reflect on the experiences you have gone through in your lives, especially this past year as school has looked and felt different than any year before it. I know personally I never would have imagined how difficult yet rewarding this final year of teachers college would have been, but I would love to have the opportunity to share this information with my younger self. You will be doing the same.

For example:
Dear younger Me,
This next year, you are going to face a lot of challenges due to covid and all that it will throw your way and your students' way. Not only will you not be able to attend your classes at the Brock campus (my entire last year of school ever was virtual), but the burnout you will feel throughout the year will be like none other. You will have days where there is seemingly not much work to get done, but even that feels like a huge mountain to climb. However, despite all of this, you will have one of the best years of your life ever. You are about to meet some of the best kids you could ever imagine. I know that sounds cliche or corny but honestly, these kids will test your patience and make you question if you are in the right profession, but the connections and joy you will get from them will be enough to solidify to you that teaching is without a doubt the number 1 job in the world. This next year will be life changing in that you are about to start your journey into true adulthood and embrace your passion fully with some truly amazing humans.

Goodluck,

Present Me.

An Alternate Ending

3/19/2021

Over the past year, Covid-19 has really shown me how important entertainment is in our daily lives not only as a distraction, but as an influence in our own creative processes. So much of what we enjoy in movies is due to specific ideas for the setting and music, character development and the ability for us to get attached to an evolving plot and world.

For this week’s blog post, I would like to hear what your favourite movie of all time is and why? Tell me what it is exactly that you like about the characters, the setting and the plot throughout the movie. After you have identified some key components in the movie that make it great to you, I would like you to craft an alternate ending that still maintains the elements that you adore about the original.

Hey, Nice to Meet You!

3/11/2021

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In this week's blog post, I would like you to go back a few weeks and find a classmate's character that you would like your character to meet and interact with. Create a story and describe how your friendship or interaction would play out.
Remember to keep in mind the following aspects of both of your characters .
If you still haven't created your character, post your character to the other blog first.

Names (first, middle, last)
A few favourite things
3 personality traits
A flaw (potential conflict?)

What, hey, I'm a Celebrity!?

3/4/2021

Mr. Kerr in Grade 12

For this week’s blog post, I would like you to become a famous celebrity. What would be your claim to fame? How would your life change? What is something you could do to use your fame to help others? Who were some of your biggest influences in achieving such fame and glory? How can you positively impact future generations?

Sample:
Ever since I can remember, Saturday nights were the best! No schoolwork, no rules, no worries, just me, my family, and Hockey Night in Canada. Now that I’m actually a big-time hockey superstar, I like to remember how it felt as a kid to watch my idols such as Jerome Iginla, Sidney Crosby, and Alexander Ovechkin playing on the big stage. It’s athletes like them who really pushed me and motivated me to work hard in practice and help get me to the place I’m at today...the NHL. Since my draft day, my life was changed forever. No more going out on the town without a sea of fans screaming for my autograph or asking for a picture. However, my life also changed for the better. As soon as I was drafted, I signed a big rookie contract, which allowed me to finally thank my mom for all her hard work as a single mother...by buying her a brand new house. Additionally, it broadened the audience of people I have who look up to me, which gave me the opportunity to affect change positively throughout the community. Clearly being a famous hockey player is an immense privilege and is something I will never take for granted. As someone who was inspired by so many athletes who came before, I can only hope to have that same influence on the next generations who are watching me on Saturday nights.

-Mr. Kerr

A Day in the Life of Mr. Kerr

2/25/2021

For this week’s blog post I would like you to put yourself in my shoes and become the teacher for a day. Think about the daily routine of a good teacher and write a “day in the life” describing in detail what happens and what you would do from the moment that you wake up until you go to sleep. How would you change things or create an environment that would make learning and school amazing for you? What would you do as a teacher to engage the type of learner you are. Share your day as a teacher, what did you do to make the day amazing for your grade six students?

For example:
Welcome to a day in the life of Mr.Kerr! First things first, I get up and start brewing my morning coffee because I love the caffeine but the taste and warmth are a nice bonus for sure. Next, I’ll open up my laptop and get my brain going by reviewing that day’s lesson plan and slide show, while half paying attention to the morning highlights on SportsCenter. Once my coffee is finished, I set out for the day and drive to school while listening to one of the many podcasts that I regularly listen to. Once at school, Mr. Steltman and I review the day and make any last-minute tweaks to the plan before all the students arrive. I’ll skip the next part because you are all here to experience that aspect of my day but I’m curious to hear how you all would actually teach and interact with your hypothetical students. Once the school day is done, I drive home and call my girlfriend, where we talk to each other about our days. I then get home, workout, eat dinner and finish out my night relaxing and adding to the next day’s lesson plans.

Creating Characters!

2/18/2021

We have been doing a lot of writing this year and our abilities are definitely increasing. One vital element to storytelling is developing characters; how do you create a character who people are interested in, who people want to know? That’s going to be our challenge this week, building and developing characters!
Create your own character that you will use in a story one day. For this character, they must have:

a name (first, middle, last)
a few favourite things
3 personality traits (e.g. funny, humble, disturbed, etc. )
a flaw (something that can create conflict)

After you've jotted down the different things that make them who they are, I want you to write a paragraph that showcases how they would react in a difficult situation. What would your character do if they got called on in class and they weren’t ready, or what if they faced peer pressure to steal? Pick any tough situation and write out how that would go for your character. Let’s meet your people!

Dear 100 Year Old Me ..

2/11/2021

It’s around this time of year that we hit our 100 days in for our school year … 100 days! This year has flown by, and as I get older, the years are going faster and faster! I think back and remember my grade 6 class, the teacher I had (Ms. Olejans) and it feels so recent. As we think time and how it flies, imagine what your future is going to be like. I want you to think about what the world will look like when you’re 100, so 90ish years from now. But don’t just think about the world, think about you: what will you have accomplished, what do you want to remember, what would you say to your 100 year old self.
For your blog this week,write a letter to your 100 year old self. In this letter, I’d like you to set goals for yourself, explain what you would like to accomplish, what you want to achieve, what you hope you experience. Tell your 100 year old self exactly what you feel now and what are the big ideas or important parts of your life now that you don’t want to forget. If we write it down, we can always check back and see how we’ve done. This is your letter to the future, I’m looking forward to reading them!

Dear 100 year old Mr. Steltman,
…

Merry Happy Everything!

12/10/2020

Happy Holidays from the Steltman Family!

Becoming a parent and watching my girls grow up has changed how I see the holiday season. As I had gotten older, I had forgotten about the magic, mystery and excitement of this season. Watching my girls wake up each morning and want to find their elf on the shelf, seeing houses decorated with lights, it’s all been so nice this year and has un-grinched (I made that word up) my old heart. This year, I want you to think about what you like doing best with your family over the holiday season. What traditions do you follow, what do you find exciting, how does your family choose to enjoy the many holidays that are celebrated over this time?
For your blog post this week, I want you to write out, in the style of a descriptive story, the traditions that your family celebrates that you want to remember when you’re older and pass onto your families, should you choose to have them. Please write your story in the first person (I, me, etc.) and walk us through the experience so that it feels like we’re living it with you!
As an example topic sentence: “As my eyes flutter open, my brain wakes up and reminds me, “IT’S the last day of school!” I race to get my clothes on to celebrate this exciting day.

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