Today we should be going back to school. We should be hearing the exciting stories about March Break vacations, playdates, and adventures. Everyone in kindergarten always has something to share. Many kids will be eager to see their friends again, continue with projects from before the Break, and get back into a [...]
Thursday morning. The kids were just entering, unpacking, and getting ready to head out with us to the back field. That's when a teacher arrived at the classroom door. "Can I speak to you for a minute, Miss Dunsiger?" Oh no! The minute that she told me that there was a "possible bus [...]
Last week, I had my own mini-adult temper tantrum. It was the end of the day on Thursday, and as part of our current phase of Work-To-Rule, we all need to be out of the building in 15 minutes. Like others, my teaching partner, Paula, and I are working through [...]
By: Brigid Berry Recognizing stressors can be tricky. We are not mind-readers nor can we memorize a list of possible stressors and access them immediately. Time constraints, distractions and expectations can hamper our ability to readily identify and name the stressors behind students' challenging behaviours. So how do we apply our [...]
By: Arlene Robinson Rules, rules rules... we expect all to comply to the rules of school. This is for the best of everyone right? Sometimes the rules support, but not all of the time - particularly when the rules are not accessible in the moment. Sometimes they do not even [...]
As many people know, I'm a strong advocate for play-based learning. Real, authentic, student-driven and led play. Free play. I've called this play many things over the years, including "free exploration time" and "work time" -- for play is a child's work -- but this year, my teaching partner, Paula, and I switched to [...]
This is my 19th year of teaching. I've taught at 8 schools in our Board, and worked with hundreds of students. But sometimes, no matter what previous experiences you may have had, a child's comment stops you. It makes you think differently. This is one of those times. Yesterday, our school [...]
In this vlog, Susan Hopkins applies the Energy-Centred Teaching (ECT) model that she first developed with Dr. Stuart Shanker in 2017 to offer a fresh way of thinking about priorities for the start of the school year. Susan outlines the four frames of ECT--protECT, connECT, collECT, and detECT-- and shows [...]
Recently, I shared my Self-Reg journey on The MEHRIT Centre Website. As I mentioned in my profile here, I now find myself seeing everything through a Self-Reg lens. I was reminded of this recently, as I worked with the other Summer Curriculum and Site Support teacher to get things ready [...]
I recently read John Hoffman's wonderful blog post about Thoughts On Parenting While Angry. I was really taken by this post, as I realized that it's not just parents that have these moments. Educators can also have them. I remember one of these moments for me last year. I walked [...]