Teacher Feature

I have decided to run a series of posts beginning today titled, “Teacher Feature”. In my travels to various schools throughout the AMDSB I have had the opportunity to learn and experience so many amazing “best practices” happening right here in our board. I remember back in my NTIP days I was able to choose how I wanted to use my release time, and I chose to visit teachers in AMDSB who were using technology in new and innovative ways. I have always found that some of the best PD is the opportunity to experience teaching and learning in someone else’s classroom. I have never forgotten my visits to Trevor Hammer’s class where I first learned about SMARTBoards and how technology has the potential to transform teaching and learning. What PD inspires you?

So to kick things off I thought I would write my first Teacher Feature about Kerry-Lynn Case-Schepers, a teacher at Blue Water Coast.

Posted around her room are a variety of anchor charts and success criteria to support student learning. I am featuring some posters specific to blogging here today:

On one of the bulletin boards, which in our world can be a set of tastefully decorated cupboard doors, her students have posted images from different novel studies along with QR codes that take users on a journey to find more information about the author, text, and resources to support learning. Are you using QR codes in your classroom? If so, how?

Her students also taught me a trick to help re-organize and align text in Pic Collage efficiently. If you hold the iPad vertically (portrait view) and shake it side-to-side, Pic Collage automatically realigns your text horizontally. This feature is especially helpful for students who find fine motor tasks challenging – and also helps students (and teachers) spend more time focusing on the content of the piece.

I am very excited to continue this series next year. I hope that by sharing some of the best practices that I see in schools throughout the AMDSB, there will be something for each of you to take away at some point throughout the year. Please take some time to leave your comments below. Did you learn something new? How will you use this new knowledge to amplify your own teaching practices?

Leigh Cassell