March 14th – 18th

What does your cover sound like?
What does your cover sound like?

Another lovely weekend filled with warm weather and fun puddles to splash and play in! This time of year is always that little tease when we think we’ve turned the corner on winter, but Mother Nature always has a few tricks up her sleeve in the form of her own March madness! But, like my father used to say, enjoy each day for what it is and live one day at a time.

Great Music: I had an opportunity to see a great band Friday night in Saskatoon, they are a group that gets the crowd to the dance floor through a blend of their own original songs and covers of other great tunes. They have been able to develop their own unique sound, and they describe themselves as groove meisters who like to play their signature stubble funk and northern soul. Their reworked songs like Valerie, Sir Dukeand my favorite Seven Nations Army got me thinking about the way we make teaching strategies work for us.

What to Cover: 21st Century learning does not just apply to kids, in fact, I think the real beneficiaries are teachers because of the access we have to tremendous examples of great teaching online (Google is our friend!).  Just like great music, the art of great teaching is taking a terrific lesson that you either saw in person or online, or a strategy you read about or learned about at a PD, and remix it in a way that honors your style and meets the needs of your audience. We have a lot of resources at our finger tips, both in the form of printed material in our building and online, and we would be foolish not to at least have a “listen” to it. If it resonates with you, “cover it” in your own way that works for your students.

Jam Sessions and Concerts:  The best bands make it look effortless, and they are always the ones having fun on stage (did you ever see Eddie Van Halen with out a smile?). As we know, great music and great performances are a result of lots and lots of practice. Great teaching is no different. When you do find a strategy that you want to make your own, you need to give yourself permission to practice, practice, practice with your students. I sure hope that once you are comfortable with your “cover” of the strategy you took on you would invite people in to watch and learn. Who knows, maybe they will want to cover your strategy!

This week, learning link 1 takes a look at how to create a writers’ workshop in a high school classroom. How can you cover this song to make it work in your writing class, even if it is not a high school class?

Learning link 2 takes a look at how to “workshop” a math lesson as seen in a grade 5 classroom. This teacher has taken a strategy developed by someone else and made it work for her group. How can you make this work for yours?

And finally, learning link 3 is a video discussing Genius Hour, an approach to teaching that provides a path towards intrinsic learning. Two teachers are using Genius Hour right now in our school, and both have similarities and differences. Would you like to try this? What would your Genius Hour song sound like?


What’s Up This Week:

Monday:

  • Lori is popping in for a school connect
  • Badminton practice after school

Tuesday:

  • Ides of March
  • Ron & Bruce gone all day to ALT meeting
  • Badminton after school
  • Div II Basketball heading off to Osler

Wednesday:

  • Gr. 7/8 Badminton team hosts Blaine Lake after school

Thursday:

  • Green Day!
  • Subway lunch day

Friday:

  • Div II basketball playoffs, girls to Martensville, boys to Rosthern

As always, create a great week!

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About the Author: Bruce Mellesmoen