Almost 2008!!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Years Group 7!!!!

See you all soon....enjoy the time off while it lasts!!!

Sheila

January Social/Dinner

Hey everyone. There has been a change of date, due to the I/S strand having classes on Thursday evenings, so the new date for the social is being planned for January 15th, for 7:30pm at Stella's. This still includes pasta, salad and dessert.

I will have a list available for those who wish to purchase a ticket. Prices again are 20 dollars each or 35 dollars per couple. There will be no tickets, I will simply record your name, saying that you paid and that will grant you entry that evening. I will have the list with me on Thursday and again for the first week back in class.

Good luck with your last week before break and I will see you all Thursday!

Scott

By golly, you've done it! Congratulations to ALL!

I just wanted you ALL to know how proud we counsellors are with your progress this Fall and congratulations! You have completed the first half of your journey!

Just a reminder that we will probably be in a different room for our get-together on Thursday, December 20! Check the door to WH324 for directions !!

See ya then! We'll celebrate!
:-)
Candace

Portfolio

I just wanted to mention quickly that the portfolio seminar was of great benefit to me. I was already planning on creating one for the interview process and I feel that the guest speaker did a great job in terms of preparing us for what should be included. I would like to say thank you to the counsellors for getting the speakers that they have for us, because I know that not every group is as lucky to receive the same guests that we have.

I would like to encourage our counsellors to continue selecting speakers that will work to our benefit as we work towards the interview and application process because these issues are of great interest to me, and I am sure to others in the class as well.

Have a great week everyone and remember to check the social information posted earlier if it is of interest to you.

Scott

Federation Day

I have to agree with the portion of the class in saying that the morning presentation was less than beneficial for myself. I felt that I never took anything away from it and that the time could have been spent more wisely.

My ETFO presentation however, I felt was beneficial and we came away some some cool free stuff, and that is what these seminars should be all about! The presenters were very knowledgeable about the issue and even though I did not feel that I benefited greatly from the seminar, I enjoyed the free stuff as well as gaining some insight into the support system put in place for us as teachers in the Catholic Board.

Again, the afternoon seminars were very beneficial. My section was on what if you get an offer and I feel like I have really gained a deeper understanding of the hiring process and what is expected of me once hired, as well as the expectations we must hold in terms of what jobs are available. The section of the pay scale for teachers was also of great interest and I am glad to say that I understand the pay process and what I can expect once hired. In the end the day was beneficial because I did feel like I was able to come away with more knolwedge than I went into it with. The discipline portion was also a feature to be grateful for. The speakers of the day were fantastic and I am glad to have been there.

January Social

Hello everyone!
Sorry about the late notice, but I have just been informed that the January Social will occur January 10th at 7:30pm. Prices will be $20 per person or $35 per couple. This price includes

WELCOME BACK HOLIDAY DINNER.
tickets include salad pasta dessert and are priced at $20 per person and $35 for a couple.It will be Thursday January 10th at 7:30 at Stella's (James St. off of St. Paul, downtown St. Catharines. The dress code is business casual (no white athletic shoes or hats!!)

Tickets will be on sale next week tuesday and thursday from 7:35-7:55 in front of the IRC.

This is everything that I know for now, I will keep you all posted when new information becomes available.

Scott

Thursday Night!! (tomorrow)

Hey everyone! I'm sure everyone was successful in handing in all of the assignments, and hopefully by now everyone can breathe, relax, and get into holiday mode! I am assuming that by tomorrow night everyone will have their assignments handed in and would be ready for a well deserved break. So here's the thing...we need to go out! I realize it is last minute and some people may be headed home, but if you are around tomorrow night (Thursday, Dec. 13), then plan on going out with the best counselling group ever! There has been some suggestion of heading to London Arms. If anyone has any other suggestions then let us know. Not sure of the time yet, but everyone can come at their own leisure. We'll chat about it tomorrow in counselling group!
Smile :) We are almost done for the holidays!! 1 week left!

I would also like to add a few comments about federation day. I agree with everything that the previous post mentioned and I would like to add that the first 30 minutes of the ETFO presentation repeated what the OTF presentation had said including very similar if not the same graphics being used in the presentation. A little more coordination between the morning seminars would have been useful to help make the best use of the short one hour that these groups were given to share a lot of information.
On a much more positive note the afternoon workshop and the discipline speaker were both incredible. I was able to go to the 21st century tech in the classroom seminar and the speaker demonstrated how to use several new technologies in the classroom that I had only heard about, but never had the chance to see. I particularly liked the digital overhead, ELMO, that has so many uses in the classroom.
The discipline speaker had a lot of wonderful ideas to share about classroom management and the difference between discipline and punishment. The most important idea that I took from this speaker is that your frame of mind will determine what type of classroom you will have and it is very important to maintain a calm and assertive demeanour in the classroom.

Mr. F

Federation Day

I would not say that the day turned out poorly but I do not feel that I really came away with too much from the morning workshops. In the morning, what the spokespersons for the OTF and ETFO said did not provide me with information that I have yet to hear over my years in concurrent education. The information that I did find to be new and informative was QECO. This is something that I definitely feel there should be more discussion about. Without today, I would not have known that this existed.

As for the afternoon workshop, I did find this beneficial. I was part of the Classroom Routine and Management seminar. The presenter was great and I feel that I benefited from what she had to say. It was especially beneficial for me due to previous experience in older grades and with my lack of experience in the junior division (which I will have next block).

Overall, the presentation styles were good. Due to the lack of information they may have been given regarding what we have been taught over the years though, it made parts of the presentation seem repetitive.

Patrick's Birthday!

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone's block is going well - the time has flew by, I can't believe we are half way done. I just wanted to send an invite to everyone to come out on Friday night to the chili pepper for Pat's birthday. It would be really nice to catch up with everyone and of course, celebrate Pat's 22nd! If there is word of a pre-drink, I will post the location. Hope to see everyone there and good luck this week!

Hey everyone,

I have just recently discovered a very interesting classroom management technique.
Concept: A Classroom behaviour rating system that is reset at the beginning of every day, or week depending on your classroom needs. This allows the students and the teacher to see at a glance how the class is behaving. Every student starts off with a GREEN "light", when the student misbehaves you remove the green card and place it at the back of the pile and a yellow one shows up. If the students continue to misbehave then you remove the yellow one and there is a red card. At this point you can decide what is appropriate for your classroom in terms of a consequence for individuals or for the whole class if many students have a RED "light." This is especially useful if you explain the system to a supply teacher so that they can implement the same system in your class and the next morning you can see how your class behaved at a glance.

Location: On a wall or any free space you have in the classroom for a large sheet of bristol board.
Setup: Each student has a pocket on the bristol board (think the old pockets in library books that you would write the return date on). In each pocket there is a Green Card that is always at the front at the beginning of the day. Behind the green card can be several yellow cards (or just one) and then a red card.

Another technique that I have discovered pertains to those students who find themselves in trouble more often than not. If the student continues to make poor behaviour decisions then instead of just calling home and talking to the parent yourself, have the student call his or her parent to explain what has happened. This is very effective when the student has decided to make inappropriate comments to other students in the class. Most children do not want to use vulgar language when talking with their parents and consequently the parents see that the child is capable of making this type of comment. It is not the teacher saying well your son/daughter did this, but instead its the child saying I did this. During this whole process the teacher is of course there to make sure that the student is saying what happened.

I hope everyones first week went wonderfully and continued good luck next week.
Mr. F

A Seinfeld Moment

Teaching the place values unit.
Grade 3.
Want the students to have fun - be engaged.
A fellow teacher tells me of a great game to play using dice.
Off to the Dollar store.
Buy 3 packs of 5 dice - Bright red.
I demonstrate the game.
I roll a five.
and another.
and another.
and another.
"Wow 4 fives in a row!" I say.
Someone speaks out:
"Mr Sargent, those are trick dice"
Skeptical, I view the package.
Staring me in the face are the words:
"Guaranteed to roll a seven every time!"
My face as red as the dice, I look to the teacher for assistance.
She borrows some dice from next door.
Game was a success - they loved it.
Sometimes crazy things are thrown at you.
Be Prepared.
The lesson?
Don't buy dice without reading the package.

Interesting Article

Hey Everyone,
I was reading the Toronto Star and came across this interesting article about split grades. If you have time, check it out.

http://www.thestar.com/article/273357

Hey Everyone,

I did say I would compile some of the pics from our counselling group events. Not all the pictures are included, just wanted to give those who weren't there an idea of what they missed, and for those who were there, a chance to look back. These will look familiar to people on facebook (no new ones).

Boston Pizza:

Birthday Cake:

Honest Lawyer & Big Bucks:

Enjoy,

Miss B

Happy Block Everyone!

Remember to send goals!

Please remember to send your goals to your Block I counsellor! We need a chance to read those and get comments back to you! Again, if you get a chance, talk to your associate about possible goals!
:-)
Candace

Block 1 Goals

I have two main goals for BLOCK ONE. The first is to maintain the same level of classroom management as my associates do. I have already been experiencing a lack of classroom management skills with my grade four students. As I am a person who hates to raise her voice, I am hoping to learn effective ways to hold order in the classroom without yelling. I have come up with a couple of suggestions that may help me achieve this: Keep students engaged so there is no reason for them to get off topic; Stay consistent with the management skills used in the class. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, or if you have any other suggestions!

My second goal is to earn effective accommodations and modifications for the two students in my class who are on IEP’s. It will be challenging to accommodate for these students as they are learning at a grade two level. Two possible suggestions to achieve this goal are: Allow students to conference with you about the topic at hand as their writing and language skills are poor; If distributing tests, give these students a test that does not require as much writing. I'd love to hear your input on these strategies as well.

Good luck in your first block everyone !!

Clarification on Block I Goals

Hello, all. . .

Are you a bit confused as to what your goals should be? Your goals will be more related to what you want to improve in your teaching/pedagogy skills--not so much what you want to teach. You might visit with your associate this week to see where your associate thinks you need to focus. Usually these goals are related to classroom management, lesson implementation, lesson design, or discipline--we had one student who needed to develop "teacher presence" one year, so her first goal was to improve her delivery of teacher-directed instruction focusing on clear directions, good "teacher" voice, and calm delivery. Others often choose things like "improve classroom management with a focus on _ _ _ _ _ __ " and then fill in the blank!

Hope this helps! I'll look forward to reading these!
:-)
Candace

So Far So Good!

Just a bit of up to date news on the Penny Drive:
As of this week our couselling group is in first place. Yes, you heard right, first place!!! We have a grand total of $24.55, with second place coming close with $19. Give yourselves a pat on the back!
We will be collecting for the next two weeks and the first week of December. Keep up the FABULOUS work :)

HONEST LAWYER!!

Hello Group,

Sorry, but I just heard from some other people that everyone is meeting tonight at Honest Lawyer instead of London Arms. I just heard about this so I hope that everyone else is aware of this change too. The people that told me said that they talked to everyone at school today.....so I hope you all have the message!!!!

See you tonight!

Social Tonight

Hello Everyone,

Just a reminder to come join us tonight at London Arms. At around 9:00 our counselling group is meeting for some drinks and fun!!! I hope to see everyone there tonight, it will be a great way to continue getting to know eachother!!

See you sometime after 9:00,

Sheila

Thank you, Antonia!

YAY! Antonia saved the day by bringing cookies this week! Who will step up to the plate and save the day next week? Thank you, Antonia! We all enjoyed the special treat!
:-)

Blog URLs--still missing about 11 of these!

Hey, all. . .

Take a few moments and get your URL for your blog to me! There are still eleven of you missing from our list on the right! If your user name is not there, please get it to me! You need at least ten posts on that blog before long and one of the blog posts should be your reflection on the speaker that came to our class (Colleen)! Thanks, SD, for posting a note here as well! GOOD! You need to be posting here as well!
:-)
Candace

Guest Speaker

Colleen was an excellent speaker today! I found her insights on classroom management very helpful and inspiring. The whole idea of modelling and teaching good behaviour before students have the chance to do it is so important! I never thought of using the phrase "In our class, we dont throw erasers" as much as before. I have always experienced teachers saying the "if you" statements which i now understand to be inappropriate as it tells children that they can do it but will be punished, which as she said, may not affect everyone in the same way. So, the solution....prevent the problem before it starts!!!

BP pictures

Hi everyone!!!

Hope all your weeks are going well!!! I was just wondering if everyone wanted to send me their pictures from Boston Pizza that way everyone will have a set and for those who weren't there can see what went on.

Thanks

Snacks for next week!

The bulletin board group has morphed into the snack group! YAY! Snack group, get us rolling October 18th by each bringing a bag of cookies! Come up with a plan to get others involved so you don't have to be responsible each week! Your counsellors would like to suggest a special "event" that you organize every month or every other week--whatever you think works best! OR get groups to sign up for each week--you just have to remind them, but please get us organized!
:-)
Candace

Liaison Group Social/Bonfire!

The liaison social committee has planned a social event that will be taking place on Thursday, October 11th at Alphies Trough on campus. This area is located at the end of the Thistle corridor and through the doors right on the escarpment. The event will start at 8pm and there is absolutely NO ALCOHOL permitted! I know this is a drag, but we will be responsible for everyone there and there is a no booze policy. We would also like to ask that if you are pre-drinking at all to not come to the fire if already intoxicated. Let's just try to make it a fun evening.

There will be food available, hot dogs and marshmallows for sure. There is no charge for coming out to the fire, but food will include a charge, however it will be cheap. You may also bring your own food to cook, or marshmallows to roast if you wish. Please ask me if you need any more information regarding the event or the location of it. This event does start early enough for you to enjoy a nice fire and then go out to the bars if you are concerned at all, that was planned while considering the party animals in the group ;) Hope to see you there.

Mr. V

Food Drive

Hello everyone.

I just want to remind you all that tomorrow is the last day of the food drive that is taking place in the IRC. The boxes are still available and waiting to be filled! Thank you to those who have already contributed and I hope to see everyone tonight at Boston Pizza for 7pm.

Calendar is updated on Google Groups

Hello, everyone!

Looking forward to tonight, but wanted you to know that the calendar on the Discussion Board (Google Groups) is updated now.

See ya tonight!
:-)
DrF

Come enjoy the fun on Wednesday!

Our social committee has set us up for a little fun! Please don't forget about meeting Wednesday, October 3rd at 7 PM at the Boston Pizza near the Pen Centre! Let's have fun and socialize!! Take a break!
:-)

Meet in J202 tomorrow! Just a reminder!

Hello, everyone! Tomorrow remember to meet in J202--a nice big lab! We will be working with the portal and looking at your blog assignment once more!

Apparently I just enrolled everyone using your brock email address--or at least I tried! You also have a gmail account because you created your own blog--feel free to ask to be invited using that account as well! If something isn't working, we'll address it in the lab tomorow!
:-)

Working with the class portal!

I thought you might like to start exploring the class portal. Remember that the URL is http://www.group-g.ca/! Please bookmark this page (Use Favorites>Add to Favorites from the menubar across the top of your browser if you are in Internet Explorer and Bookmarks>Bookmark This Page if you are using Firefox).

This page is just a great way to keep you up to date with the newest--you'll notice that new posts will display in the area called Group 7 Blog.

Please check out the link called Group 7 Discussions. When you click on this link, you will be taken to a page telling you that you are not a member of this group. Click on the link "contact owner" and request to be invited! I will enroll you in the group so you can see the discussion boards there for your use!

Happy Blogging!
:-)
Candace

Thank you for your hard work!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all of your hard work for two looonnnng days! As your counsellors, we are really looking forward to working with you--we think we have the best group of teacher candidates!!

Have a good first week of methods classes! You'll be in the schools Friday, September 14th!
:-)
Your counsellors

Welcome to Group 7!

Group 7 is unique in many respects! Today you will find out about the technology component--including the opportunity to share with others your reflective growth process! For a sample of what your EDUC 8L09 blog might look like, check out http://www.yokotter.blogspot.com/! Enjoy!

:-)

Group 7 Professional Online Learning Community

Teacher candidates are required to participate in the counselling group's online professional learning community. This online component is integral to the counselling group sessions and your practicum experience. As part of this community you will be expected to make a minimum of ten posts and ten comments/responses. One of your posts will contribute to the Group 7 blog regarding your case study presentation. As well, you will submit a comment to the Group 7 blog regarding each of the following mandatory events:

• Social Issues day, TBA
• Block I debrief session, January 10th
• Ministry of Education Day, February 1st
• February PD day

In addition to your contributions to the Group 7 blog, you will be required to maintain an individual blog with at least nine posts. These posts should reflect on your pre-service experience and connect your learning to the standards of practice, in-faculty coursework and teaching practicum. You must also make at least six comments to the blogs of other group 7 teacher candidates.