Ms.V's Teaching Blog

The name's Allison von Wallis, an aspiring teacher with audacious handwriting. I specialize in English, Geography and History with a passion for Drama and Fine Arts. “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”

[vonwallisportfolio]

Great visual thesaurus and dictionary!

[fuckyeahradicaled]

Why Boredom is an Important Part of Learning

[vonwallisportfolio]

I read a post today suggesting parents create a “bored jar,” filled with chips with both “fun” activities and chores for any child who dares to complain about boredom. “At our house, boredom is not...

[vonwallisportfolio]

Whenever my students say they have nothing to do I say, 'Invent Something'

Denise Stoklos 

[vonwallisportfolio]

I will not let the system fail you. Stay motivated, learn your preferences and how you express yourself best and I will help you to succeed. I am a teacher, my job is to teach you. But, I will not leave it at that. I will do everything I can for you.

Caught myself saying some oddly inspirational things to my student the other day

[webofgoodnews]

Brandon Stanton of the Humans of New York blog posted a photo of some 6th graders from a New York school in a high crime neighborhood yesterday. After visiting the principal, he started a fundraising campaign to get money for the kids to be able to visit Harvard so they can see what they are capable of doing if they want to do it. He was able to raise $185,000 in just a few hours. I just looked at the campaign this morning and it is now up $349,429! The money raised should be enough to cover field trips to Harvard for many years!

[techedblog]

Each of us has a struggle we’re fighting. Some of us have mental health illnesses from depression to anxiety (among others). Those who are part of this struggle may be some of our students. As Teachers, we must support all of our students, especially those with mental health illnesses. 

Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day in support of mental health awareness. Today, January 28th, 2015 Bell (www.bell.ca) will donate 5 cents to every text message sent, Mobile & long distance call made, tweet with #BellLetsTalk and share on Facebook. 

We’re fighting a battle and mental health can be it for some. Remember that there are resources and people out there who can help. Don’t be afraid to talk about it. Support can be in the form of a friend, colleague and even teacher. 

Today, let’s talk with #BellLetsTalk

Bell Lets Talk 

[vonwallisportfolio]

What are the benefits of a teaching blog/e-portfolio?

How can the E-Portfolio be a useful tool for student learning

An E-Portfolio is an incredibly useful tool for students. My E-Portfolio is a combination of a blog, portfolio and a tool that students can use to submit assignments or ask questions. This allows me to develop a closer connection with my students. By making myself more available and accessible outside of school the students can benefit. The webpage also has a link to my teaching Twitter account, so the students can also tweet at me if they have questions or comments about homework or assignments.

I’ve placed my lesson plans on the website for parents, students and potential employers so they can understand my philosophy and intentions. “What is the point of this?” is never heard because the students have access to my intentions in and outside of school.

The website is divided into 9 sections. About me, lesson plans, homework, calendar, secondary 1, secondary 2, ask a question and homework submissions. I place all of my Powerpoints, Prezi’s, homework assignments and hand outs on the website. The latter is especially useful because some of my students lose their homework sheets or leave them at home. This allows for them to re-print their assignments if they forget them at school over the weekend, which in turn helps their organizational skills. With access to my portfolio/blog and twitter the students will never be confused of what to do. Their parents will also have access and will therefore be more qualified to help them with their homework.

The e-portfolio is beneficial to all. It helps build and maintain relationships between teachers and students, administration and teachers, students and parents and parents and teachers. It will also help me with my future teaching career.

[vonwallisportfolio]

Education is a collective effort

The Education world frequently does not feel like the real world. There are many different takes what should be changed, where the money should go and what should be taught. What I think of education is vastly different from my peers and professors. I am very emotional about teaching. A classroom should be a safe space led by a person with leadership qualities. There should be guidance that leads to students taking hold of their own education. There should be structured initial practices and slowly backing off intervention to see how the students guide themselves and others. Their reaction will prove if the goal towards a better education is collective. Education is a collective effort. Once the teacher has established a safe classroom that runs on mutual respect, a sense of safety, clear intentions and maximum effort the classroom becomes a place of efficient learning. The most difficult part is initially establishing this environment. It is time consuming and requires strict reassessment of both oneself and the students time and time again. But this is the initial effort, the most important effort that sets the tone for the rest of the year. When all of the students feel safe with the teacher and one another they will become more comfortable with themselves and therefore free to contribute. My approaches are rooted in questioning, peer teaching, motivation and student voice.

Many people want children to be learning quickly, to be pursuing passions of theirs as if they were unidirectional, with tunnel vision, to constantly be engaged. Relaxation, playing a game with pencils, “doing nothing,” are looked down upon. Or frowned upon if those things are taking up too much of their time, based on completely arbitrary ideas about the way they should be spending their time. Each of us learn so differently, and have such different needs. The variance of how much time we want with ourselves, how internal and invisible or external and visible our thought processes and learning styles are is broad. To expect every individual to fit into something that looks how one thinks learning should look, for as much time as one thinks they should be learning for, is not just unfair but harmful. It’s a good way to teach people that what they’re interested in isn’t good enough, and that they’re lazy for not looking like they’re learning enough of the time. When one actually looks at the individual and really pays attention to the unique ways they interact with and process the world around them, it will be clear that there is a lot more learning happening than ever imagined.

That is why the students need one another and a patient, accepting teacher at the front of the room that encourages learning by different methods. Not every teacher considers learning to look and sound the same way. Students need guidance and encouragement but they also need time to figure themselves out. It’s only when they discover their learning styles and preferences, their motivation and what their personal goals are that they can contribute to the collective classroom effort of education. We are a team in the classroom. Every member of this team needs to shine in their own ways.

[weareteachers]

Free Posters: Teaching the Three Types of Writing 

http://www.weareteachers.com/hot-topics/topics-in-education/teaching-the-three-types-of-writing-posters-and-infographic

Go get ‘em! 

[weareteachers]

I’ll never forget reading Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman in college. While studying the benefits of strategy-based comprehension instruction, I was astonished to learn activating prior knowledge or schema was something that needed to be taught. As a college...

[vonwallisportfolio]

To My Students...

Today is the day that I leave you. I've shed too many tears already, but I feel that I have not and perhaps cannot express my appreciation. I'm taking the time now to say, thank you for changing my life. 

I entered this classroom full of ideas and excitement and energy, you took this, absorbed it, and reflected your brilliancy right back at me. Change is difficult, we all entered this classroom in August a little worried about what this year would bring. LOCKERS? LOCKS THAT WON'T OPEN? LIT CIRCLES? NEW PEOPLE? TALL PEOPLE?!?!?

I can only imagine how intimidating it must be to move from a small elementary school to the big scary world of high school. My goal was to make this transition a little easier, to make you feel comfortable around these new people, and hand down my wisdom of how to open a lock. This was the first 'activity' I did with you. I remember the furrowed brows and the wide eyes I received when I tried to get you talking about yourselves to find commonalities, but that was some time ago.

Three months may not feel like too long but all of you have grown into almost unrecognizable, determined, responsible and empathetic human beings. I've watched you question yourselves. I've watched you question authority, and validity of subject matter to better your understanding. I've watched you assess yourselves and reassess yourselves when something didn't feel quite right with your work. I've challenged you time and time again and you've continued to impress me. I've seen your best get better. 

But as hard as I was on you, as annoying as I may have been you have to know that I did it for you. I spent hours trying to figure out how I could do better, where you were vs. where I thought you could reach, how I could really challenge you and where my expectations were. My goals were many, but all of you motivated me to do better. 

My goals were these: create an environment where you feel safe to express yourself, your emotions and your opinion. Determine ways in which you can improve and feel good about yourselves no matter what you produced (as long as you showed effort), teach you one new thing every day, and most importantly; teach you the importance of empathy.

I hope that I achieved all of these for you, but you must know how much you've helped me. 

As I said, I was a little nervous coming into a new classroom, in a new school with not very much teaching experience under my belt. But you cannot begin to understand how much you've helped me become a person that I am proud to be. Every time you raised a hand for clarity, to add to something or to make a comment, you contributed to my understanding of who you are. Every time you asked me a question you told me that perhaps I wasn't explaining the way I should be. Every time you entered the classroom or exited the classroom and said "Good Morning Ms. von Wallis" "Have a good night Ms. von Wallis" you showed me that I was doing something right. Every time you submitted an assignment that showed effort it told me that I was sparking your interest. Every time you stood up for each other it showed me that I was creating an atmosphere of empathy. Every time you were creative it showed me that you were not scared to express yourself, or your ideas. Every time you wrote something in your agenda, it showed me that I had an influence on your organization skills.

I have grown, you have grown, we've all grown into more intelligent, creative, happy people. And I can't thank you enough for this experience.

I hope most of you read this and understand that teaching, to me, is something that is very emotional and dear to me. I take it seriously, because I take you seriously. I want nothing less than happiness for each and every one of you, I hope you know that all of you have so much potential to succeed. I hope you know that all of you deserve to do what you love, and enjoy your life, whatever that may consist of. 

Hopefully our paths will cross again. Maybe next year, maybe in 10. But I will never ever forget you, and everything you've done for me.

Best,

Ms. von Wallis

[weareteachers]

Every year, more than 1 million students drop out of high school in the United States. That’s more than 7,000 every single school day. It’s an overwhelming statistic—but behind that number are the individual students, each with his or her own story, who need to find a way to a better life. We hope this collection of resources—an infographic on the Dropout Crisis 2014, tips for talking with teens before they drop out and downloadable motivational posters—helps you reach even one student to put him or her on the path to achieving a high school diploma.

Rise to the Challenge: Resources for Dropout Prevention http://owl.li/D6ENm (via weareteachers)

[vonwallisportfolio]

Excerpt from "Age of Opportunity" by LAURENCE STEINBERG

"We need to start thinking about adolescence differently. Fortunately, over the past two decades, there has been tremendous growth in the scientific study of adolescence. The good news is that the accumulated knowledge, which comes from behavioral science, social science, and neuroscience, provides a sensible foundation that can help parents, teachers, employers, health care providers, and others who work with young people be better at what they do. Parent more intelligently. Teach more effectively. Supervise and work with young people in ways that are more likely to succeed. Understand why "good kids" often do such obviously ill-advised things. 

The bad news, though, is that a lot of this knowledge has yet to influence the ways in which we raise, educate, and treat young people."

LAURENCE STEINBERG

[fuckyeahradicaled]

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

[anthrocentric]

Tab For A Cause

If any of you guys are like me have a browser that opens up tabs (cough everyone cough), then you should consider downloading the Tab for A Cause Extension. And if you’re especially like me and tend to have 10 windows open with 20 tabs on each of them because they all contain important information and you don’t want to commit to closing the tab just yet, then you should definitely at least consider committing to Tab with A Cause since it takes literally zero extra effort beyond the initial click. Every tab you open donates money to causes you choose (i.e., education, human rights, environment, health, or water) or to charities affiliated with Tab for a Cause (i.e., Human Rights Watch, The Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck, Water.org, Room to Read, Educate!, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and Conservation International).

[vonwallisportfolio]

The Many, Many Secret Lives Of Teachers

What do teachers do outside the classroom? We've gotten hundreds of responses to that question. To list a few: They officiate at weddings, run nonprofits and Jazzercise.

Oops, did I break the fantasy of 'the teacher living at school' for you?

[vonwallisportfolio]

Grammar Bytes! Grammar Instruction with Attitude. Includes detailed terms, interactive exercises, handouts, PowerPoint presentations, and more!

Trust me, this will help you with grammar and it's actually pretty fun!