Reimagining the Final 30%
Jamie Reimagines Exams A few years ago I got frustrated with traditional exams. They were not exciting. They were not a celebration of student learning. It wasn’t a showcase of a semester of hard work….
Cycling Back to the Beginning
It’s the last week before the holiday break. When I teach grade nine math my goal is to always wrap up the teaching of curriculum before the break. I do this for two reasons. First,…
What Does Success Look Like?
Matt and I are fast approaching our one year anniversary in this role. When we started, last February, with the roughest of plans. We were going to demonstrate how the Halton District School Board is…
What We Don’t Know
I’d like to introduce you to Alex. She was a student of mine who graduated last June. I met her for the first time when she was in my Grade 9 Academic Math class. My…
Small Victories
I have been teaching now for over a decade, and I am slowly approaching my 10,000 hours. I have easily already surpassed 10,000 hours, if you count all the prepping, planning and marking. So I…
Can Creativity and Innovation Be Taught?
Shifting back to the Barn On Wednesday night, 175 educators got to play together with a revisit to the Barn in Milton. The theme of the evening was “Can creativity and innovation be taught?”. We’ve…
Making Us Believers
Words matter to Amanda Williams, which is why she calls herself a Glitterarian who works in a Learning Commons, rather than a Librarian who works in a Library. She isn’t happy with compliant students who…
Ignite the Spark
Last year, Halton was able to send 25 teachers to the 2017 OAME Conference. There was lots of good learning and discussions during the three day conference. What many realized was that there wasn’t much…
Why the heck did I do that?
“Why the heck did I DO that?” Have you ever found yourself asking that question after teaching a lesson? I did, a week or so ago. I delivered a classic “powerpoint”, with teenager eyes…
No, I’m Not Listening
Students say the best things when they think I’m not listening. It’s pretty funny actually, if not more than a little frustrating. Students can be having excellent conversations about mathematics but as soon as I…