Teacher Extraordinaire - Portfolio of a Teacher and Lifelong Learner

"Friendship is" was the first of two lessons discussing the meaning of friendship. It is a lesson that was designed for the the unit Don't Need Friends, as it fits into the book's overall theme. During the lesson, children had the opportunity to think about what friendship meant to them, after a friendship themed read aloud. It was apparent during the think-pair-share that students were not thinking exactly along the same vein as me, and that it was okay. Despite the fact that some of their answers did not appear to answer the question I had posed, they had obviously understood the themes and were interpreting the book in their own way. This lesson shows Commitment to Students and Student Learning since it students were eager to learn. It also reinforced the meaning of certain peer relationships, and connected student experiences to their day to day life.

There was an issue with the bullying of ELLs (English Language Learners) in my grade 5 practicum classroom. While most of my students spoke languages other than English, twenty five of the twenty seven were second generation. If they had ever been English Language Learners, by grade 5 all of the second generation students were fluent. As a result of the bullying issue, a community circle was held while the ELL were in ESL class one morning, so they would not feel put on the spot. Later that week, this read aloud was completed. Many questions from this read aloud were originally written by a peer, who designed this lesson for a grade two or three class. While reading picture books may seem 'childish', I have found that many fifth graders enjoy them, if they age appropriate and used with a purpose in mind. Read Aloud – I Hate English Social Justice/Equity This book tackles the issue of alienation as a result of being unable to speak English. This book was chosen fo...