Inspiring+Stories


 * Inspiring Stories **

 **Dedicated Teacher - Amy K**.  My teacher himself was pretty inspiring to new teachers. He is the definition of dedication to students. He stayed after school and on weekends to get the spooky house ready for the students on Thursday and Friday. He runs clubs that he feels are important and are not usually offered such as SciTech club and AV club. He gave me a lot of great ideas and tips. He told me that you can't change every student's life but it is important to make sure you change a few that you decide you're going to help and dedicate time to that student. This year there was one student who had issues with anxiety who he took a particular interest in. I think at the end of this year, he will be a lot more self sufficient.

One inspiring story that occurred during my placement occurred in one of my math lessons. I had four students with IEPs and 4 students who were in ESL/ELD, these students were all quite slow at understanding math in general. Using all the technology, and when I say all I mean just the projector and my wonderful laptop, I taught a lesson on circumference. This lesson was a very interactive lesson with short multiple quizzes, word games, and content. This lesson made these students that usually don’t participate because they didn’t understand raise their hands and participate. At the end of the lesson my AT had a little note for me, which said “Great math class, Ms. G!” This was truly an amazing lesson which worked really well for these students.
 * Great Math Class - Girthiga**

I rarely had problems with behaviour management. I like to think it's because the students liked me so much. I really got to know them. The reason for this is because I always ate lunch with them. While teachers went and hid in the staff room to wait until the students went out for recess, I sat in the classroom and ate with the kids. I got to see what the cliques were, how they acted outside of the classroom, and I got to understand a little bit about where they came from and what they're all about. I listened to them when they spoke and I gave my 2 cents whenever I could. When it came time to teach, it's almost like they returned the favour.
 * Sacrificing 20 minutes of lunch and its pay off (Steve H)**

The students in my classes varied greatly in their abilities; from learning strategies students to gifted students. It was a great opportunity to be able to work with all students. The most inspiring students were those who were integrated from the learning strategies class. There was one student in particular from this class who really touched me. She had severe dyslexia and was at the lowest level, academically, out of all of the students. And yet, even with all of the challenges she faced with her education, she was one of the most motivated and hard working students I met throughout the placement. When she completed an assignment, there was a sense of pride and accomplishment which was visible all across her face with a huge smile. That smile, to me, was one of the best memories from my placement and to me was truly inspiring.
 * Hard working Student - Michelle K**

My inspiring story has more to do with my AT than with the students. The AT that I was placed with was heavily involved in a number of groups to do with the teacher’s union, the joint health and safety committee, and that he was in the working world before he decided to become a teacher like me. It was inspiring to see that, like me, someone could go back to school, get their degree, get into teaching, and become so heavily involved in the teaching community. It made me realize that it is possible to go from having no post secondary education to being in an integral role of a major profession if you have the right motivation and strive for success.
 * Drive & Motivation - Chris Nelan**

I learned one very important lesson from a supply teacher. She is very strict and would ask students to redo everything that they didn’t do appropriately once she noticed anything from the beginning. So when she stepped into the class on the day my AT was absent, the whole class became quiet and nobody misbehaved at all. This changed my impression on supply teachers: a supply teacher can also be very productive and respected.
 * Supply Teacher - Yana**

On my last day, the class gave me a gift and a beautiful card to say thank you for teaching them the last few weeks. This was exciting enough, but then one girl came up to me afterwards and had something else that was just from her! I opened it up, and it was homemade cookies that she made and a card that she made herself. The card had some equations and random words on the outside, and I realized they were all the vocab and equations that I had taught the class! Inside, she wrote "thank you for coming into my life and changing it". This was very touching, and really made it all worth it!!
 * Student Appreciation - Jess**

**Higher Order Thinking - Rubina:** We had a peer awareness day on Monday of the last week. I instructed a barn yard activity which involved students from all different grades. It was inspiring to see the higher order thinking amongst students from younger grades. Grade 1's were reflecting on 'diversity' and how it is important to be kind to everyone since we are all the same …. We are all humans, no matter what we wear, eat, look like, talk like. In the afternoon, the senior students were able to attend an assembly where a young man talked about his experience with aspergers.

I just wrote a depressing story for my surprises so now I better do something more light to make me happy again J. I completed a science lesson on things that affect rates of dissolving. We used Jello in hot and cold water, etc. During the consolidation I was asking students what they had learned. I had the expected answers of the solute will dissolve more quickly in hot water, etc. I had one student put up his hand and tell me that he learned that he could make Jello. Until this point in his life he had not had that experience of making Jello from powder and thought you could only buy it premade. Next day he told me that he made Jello with his mom last night – learning opportunities around every corner!
 * Jello - Brad**

On my last day of placement my AT had a closing circle as a good buy for me. All the students went around the circle and said one thing that they liked best about having Miss. Long in the classroom. It was such a nice idea and some of the things the students said where so sweet. Some of the things the students said were - I liked when Miss. Long taught us math, because she walked around the classroom and gave me extra help when I was confused. - I liked when Miss. Long was our teacher since she always said hi to us in the hallway or outside at recess, it made me feel like she was more than just a teacher. - I liked when Miss. Long was our gym teacher since she made us get into different teams in a fun way like lining up in order of birthday without speaking. - I liked when Miss. Long was our teacher because she would jump around at recess trying to stay warm. Made me laugh and I like it when I can laugh at teachers.
 * Last day of placement - Nadine**

The kids all then gave me a card they made and a flower. It was really cute, and made me realize that even though I was only there for 3 weeks I really made an impact on my students.

For dance I had to put the students into groups for their presentations. Of course the students wanted to pick their own groups but I told them this was not an option (I did however, let them pick one student). Several students complained about their groups saying they didn't get along with someone in the group or wanted to be with their friends. I stopped the class and took time to talk about solidarity (their grade 8 theme, Catholic school) and that everyone has to work together. Later, in other classes when we did group work, again students would complain and instead of me reiterating the school theme other students from the class would say, "That's not solidarity, just work with them."
 * Students Speaking Up (Kathryn)**

[|Video that goes with this story] The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, be honest. What do you make?" She had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...) "Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Order of Canada. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental. You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table) I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to write and then I make them write.. Keyboarding isn't everything. I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator. I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe. Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
 * Hooray for Teachers** (received by Doina from Marnie Phoenix, Faculty Advisor)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped, he went silent.

**Redoing work (Greg Leverton)** Near the end of my placement, the students had a line graph to do that my AT wanted me to collect and mark. There were a lot of mistakes made on a lot of the graphs, so I handed them back and with the blessing of my AT told them they could redo the graph and hand it into me the next day. My AT told me not to expect very many because she had frequently given this class opportunities to redo work, and it was very rare for anyone to take the opportunity. However, I was very pleased to find that a lot of the students DID take the chance to redo the graph, even if they had gotten an 8. My AT was surprised, as was I, I’m not sure what caused so many of them to redo the graph, but I like to assume it was something about my style that made them want to succeed.

I had a fever when I was at placement. As oppose to taking a few days off I decided to power through it, popping Tylenol like candy. I told my class that I wasn’t feeling well, and for the rest of the day, my students were good, and quiet and willing to participate. A few of them even told me to get better soon. It was surprising because even the kids that are usually fidgety and more challenging were mellowed right down.
 * If you show genuine care and interest in your students, they will show the same to you (Vicki) **

I was teaching a science lesson about natural changes in the environment and I was talking about how some trees require forest fires before they are able to drop their seeds. A couple of kids exclaimed "That's so cool!". I was thrilled that they thought science could be cool.
 * Cool Science (Michelle B)**

My inspiring story was about a student whose Mother passed away in the middle of my practicum. Her Mother was sick for awhile, but the student was back in class two days later. She asked for my assistance with her work and was not shy to talk about her feelings. These students are so resilient and concerned about their life and how to continue. It was inspiring to see how they are growing both physically and emotionally.
 * Resilient (Brian) **

Students really enjoyed the enthusiasm I brought to every lesson I taught. I tried to mimic the attitude of my all-time favourite university teacher from UOIT - Rupinder Brar. He always taught with great enthusiasm and, at the end of my physics course, I actually learned physics - a topic I had always dreaded - and I passed with an A. In fact, the students mentioned it several times to me during class and after class - even the associate teacher, faculty advisor, and educational assistants commented on it saying it was excellent. This technique (I don't like to call it a technique because it comes from the heart) caught their attention and I barely every saw a student looking bored - most were engaged and excited even though some of the content was a repeat. So the saying is true, if the teacher is excited about a topic, so will the students. I also recieved a card at the end telling me how much they enjoyed my lessons.
 * Excited Teacher = Excited Students (Christe M.)**

The students had to write a short "Rap" in their music class. The Rap was supposed to present a social message such as anti-smoking or anti-violence, etc. The students then got to present their Raps in Language class as a component of their assessment. Normally, I wouldn't have any interest in Rap, and would not have ever considered this as part of my own lessons. However, I actually found all of the students to be really enthusiastic about the exercise, and some of the Raps were very well written. Noteworthy was the Rap written by the girl who had previously been suspended for threatening to beat up a teacher. Her Rap was especially powerful - a well written piece about anti-gun violence.
 * Okay, so I have to keep an open mind (Steve R) **


 * Loving Teaching with Challenges - Amy LaRue**

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I was inspired by how many of the teachers at such a challenging and rough school still enjoyed coming to class every day. Multiple staff members said they’d rather work at Queen E than anywhere else for a variety of reasons (some selfish, some not). When I ended up moving half way through placement to work with a different AT, I was floored by how much time and effort he put into the sports programs at the school. He recognized that most of the students at my placement school had no opportunity to play organized sports in their lives. Knowing this, he took the time out of his day to coach at least 4 or 5 teams per year, and held more practices than I would have expected to help teach them the rules and give them the opportunity to have fun with other students in a supervised and planned experience.=====

At my placement there was only one IEP in the class. He was excused from having to take French, and was therefore supposed to have programming developed both by the teacher and support personnel to occupy his time during these periods. My AT "could not be bothered to spend prep time" working with the student. One of the accommodations afforded to him was the use of a laptop to take notes. Unfortunately, it was blatantly obvious that the board had literally delivered the laptop to his class one day and gave him no instruction on how to use it. He was unable to complete taking down a single note due to a lack of typing skills. I took it upon myself to find some interesting typing software online, and installed it on one of the class computers. Every day when the French teacher came in, we would go to the back of the room, and I would set him up with the program. It became something that he obviously looked forward to, as he was always eager to begin and show me his progress. There was a level of trust and respect established - none of the other staff even paid attention to the student, or showed interest in his well-being. It became very evident what kind of progress I was making when the student began raising his hand during class discussions and contributing voluntarily, something that he never did with his regular teacher.
 * The one student who was always left behind... - Alex Willison**