Ms. Toor's Blog

Always Learning!

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Project, Inquiry Reflections, Practicum Reflections

I have been able to learn so much about myself over the past month. I have learnt so many new things, techniques, and skills that I know will be helpful for me down the road. I have also been able to recognize my strengths and weaknesses and have been able to find ways to better myself throughout the process. Being in an environment where I get to use my learnt knowledge and skills first hand has been one of the greatest learning experiences for myself. Coming into this professional development…read more

May.20

Buzz Word!

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Project, Inquiry Reflections, Practicum Reflections

Be Flexible. Over the past 4 weeks, I have had the opportunity to learn and absorb an immense amount of information. I have learnt new techniques on how to effectively manage a classroom environment, how to keep myself organized and remain flexible! All throughout this professional development program we were told that being flexible is a necessity when it comes to teaching young children. However, I undermined how flexible I would need to be when working in a classroom. Flexibility is vital and I observe it daily. Being flexible means…read more

Apr.28

My Inquiry Synthesis

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Project, Inquiry Reflections

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to work in various classroom environments, which educate students through the traditional methods of learning. Throughout my observations, I have been able to recognize and question various types of routines and classroom structures. My inquiry arises from my curiosity and hopefulness of modifying parts of the classroom environment to better fit the needs of my students. It also arises from my personal schooling experiences where I never felt that my environment was thought of as being a key factor in…read more

Mar.14

A Learning Experience

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Project, Inquiry Reflections, inquiry resource, Practicum Reflections

As a teacher candidate, my biggest fear is not being able to manage a classroom environment and behavior; therefore, I’m always trying to find new ways to become more comfortable with this. My fear of classroom management and disruptive student behavior led me to various resources that could help me overcome this. I found an article “Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers” by Carolyn Evertson that offers techniques to prevent poor classroom management by planning and addressing decisions that a teacher makes on a daily basis. This article also mentioned that…read more

Mar.01

The Physical Classroom

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Project, inquiry resource

My inquiry has mainly focused on the effects of the physical environment on the behaviors of young children. The article “The Impact of Physical Classroom Environment on Student Satisfaction and Student Evaluation of Teaching in the University Environment” by Mary Hill and Kathryn Epps provides a different perspective on my inquiry by focusing on post-secondary students. This article would be very beneficial in my inquiry project because it brings various studies into conversation. It also looks at more specific factors that may affect student learning behavior such as tiered…read more

Feb.29

Inquiry Resource: Teaching and learning comfort levels

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Reflections

My inquiry arose from my observations in an elementary level classroom. I had the opportunity to observe the immense impacts that the physical environment has on students and their learning. In the article “The Classroom Physical Environment and Its Relation to Teaching and Learning Comfort Level” by Marzita Puteh, she focuses on an ideal environment for students to learn. “A conducive learning environment creates a comfortable teaching and learning environment while keeping the students focused and interested in the classroom” (Puteh, 237). Puteh looks at a study involving 916 students…read more

Jan.29

Inquiry in the classroom

Posted by jasleen toor in Inquiry Reflections, Practicum Reflections

It’s interesting to see how my inquiry plays out on a day-to-day basis in the classroom setting. My inquiry question looks at how the physical environment of the classroom impacts improved behavior and work ethic for the students. It specifically looks at seating arrangements, classroom structure, and organization for better class management. During my visit yesterday, I got to observe how students react when their environment has changed. In most classes, the students typically have a pre-set idea of where they are expected to sit before the instruction starts. However,…read more

Jan.22

Mini Inquiry: Nature

Posted by jasleen toor in course work, mini inquiry

When I first saw this branch I was quite surprised, not because it was a broken tree branch but because I found it in a parkade. It was interesting to see a tree branch in such an area because there are no trees around the building. Due to the lack of trees in the area, I realized that this tree branch might have travelled here through different weather conditions such as wind and rain. I wonder where this branch came from, where is the tree that it fell off of…read more

Oct.06