There are many ways I hope to incorporate my philosophy of honesty into the classroom including (but not limited to):
1.Starting as many classes as I would like with a social studies pun.
i. Showing that I am comfortable with my groan-worthy sense of humour that others may find annoying, terrible or unfavourable.
2. Allowing myself to be wrong and make mistakes.
i. Admitting when I don’t know an answer.
ii. Admitting when I forget to hand out a criteria sheet, assignment, marks etc.
iii. Laugh at myself.
3. Being accountable for my actions and the feelings they give others.
i. Apologizing for my mistakes, not making excuses.
ii. Apologizing for being unfair, or hurtful (whether I intended to be or not)
4. Being honest and open
i. Giving warning on those days when I am upset, out of sorts and/or lacking sense of humour.
ii. Providing thorough feedback, positive and negative.
iii. Pointing out mistakes, and breaches in the classroom contract/community statement.
5. Hearing all sides of a story before giving advice.
6. Giving students the benefit of the doubt.
i. If a student lashes out at me in class, I will not assume malice, but instead ask what is bothering them.
7. Ask for help, advice and opinions on class rules, assignments and marking schemes.
i. Give choice and allow autonomy.
ii. Allow counter-proposal to assignments.
iii. Be transparent in my rationale and justification for my choices
8. Show gratitude for the contributions and opinions given by my students.
Hopefully, with enough consistent modeling, the students will begin exhibiting these behaviours as well.
Ms. Cassandra listens to music to relax. Her favourite food is soup. She loves too cook and she can read and write upside down.
An example of the name tag activity I used to get to know my students. Collecting then that the end of class and giving them out for the next couple of classes can help you learn names.
Top Left: What you do to relax.
Top Right: Your favourite food.
Bottom Left: A hobby of yours.
Bottom Right: An interesting fact about you
In an attempt to get involved in the school community at my practicum school I helped out with the Queer-Straight-Alliance, the Garden and Sustainability club and was a sponsor for the grade 10 Personal Projects, the final project associated with the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program.
ANTI-BULLYING DAY – The Tree of Positivity presented by the QSA
