Learning from Teachers who Excelled

From http://bcteacherinfo.blogspot.ca/2014/12/jeff-dickson-recognized-by-sd-35-board.html

As a final post for my Assessment class, I wanted to finish off by posting valuable insight from Teachers who have received the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence.   By reviewing the details of many outstanding teachers, I have realized that there are several trends incorporating many of the same types of assessment and teaching strategies I've learned about as a Faculty of Education student at the University of Windsor.  Consequently, this has given me precious information as to how to become an effective teacher, which I want to share with you.  I hope that this inspires you to improve your instruction and assessment methods, as it has for me.

Inquiry and Critical Thinking

Stan Hunter, Stoney Creek, Ontario:  Mr. Hunter links the real world to the classroom. Through his "infamous question of the week", he encourages his students to brainstorm, to be engaged and to develop their cognitive skills at school.

Gabriel Roman Ayyavoo, Toronto, Ontario:  Mr. Ayyavoo brought the Science Investigation Project (SIP) to his school. Students formulate their own research question, develop their own investigation, analyze the results and present their findings at a fair that is judged by parents.  He has also founded an online science magazine for his students called Dame Detectives: Journal of Scientific Investigations (damedetectives.wordpress.com). A committee of students manages the magazine, which is a collection of articles about student research, experiments and learning in their high school experience.

Harriet Simand, Toronto, Ontario:  Simand uses inquiry-based projects to get her students energized and asking relevant questions.  She lead her class in an initiative to ban plastic bags in Toronto, which they accomplished using a variety of media and lessons from all their classes. They issued media releases that were picked up by major papers, liaised with local politicians, created a wiki and directed, filmed and edited their own documentary (http://banthebagbrigade.wikispaces.com) of their bag campaign for their peers.

David Moffatt, Hamilton, Ontario:  Mr. Moffatt's teaching philosophy includes:  Expect high-level thinking and then foster confidence in students so they exceed what they think they can do. Engage students by treating all of biology as solutions to problems, rather than mere facts. Foster authentic discovery by requiring all Grade 11 students to complete a theme study that involves collective work, original research, following a protocol, scientific analysis and professional-level communication of results. Use technology to support learning rather than just for the sake of introducing technology.

Learning Goals and Success Criteria

Aviva Dunsiger, Ancaster, Ontario:  Dunsiger maintains a strong relationship not just with her students, but with their parents as well. Every Sunday, she calls every parent and emails daily with links to videos and work they've completed that day. Dunsiger's students know exactly what to expect because she engages them to take ownership of their learning by having them clearly outline their learning goals and criteria for success.

Independent Learning

Joanna Sanders Bobiash, Regina, Saskatchewan:  Ms. Sanders Bobiash lets her students put the latest technology to the test and finds resourceful ways to incorporate blogging, skypeing, webquesting and googling into her lessons. Students themselves become resourceful, critical thinkers, confident presenters and creative artists … not just ready for high school, but ready for the world.

Marie Chomyn, Vancouver, British Columbia:  Chomyn encourages students to use online learning to extend their classroom education as she fosters leadership and student social responsibility. She makes use of available resources in the community as her students are challenged with multi-disciplinary activities and become autonomous learners and thinkers who monitor and report on their own learning.

Todd Ablett, Vancouver, British Columbia:  In a school on Vancouver's East Side, a jurisdiction not favoured by circumstance, Mr. Ablett has worked tirelessly to ensure that his students have all the advantages that technology can provide. His class and workshop are open to all. But when a student comes to ask Mr. Ablett for help, they don't often get an answer directly from him. By putting students of all levels together, Mr. Ablett creates an informal mentoring program where junior students don't always have to rely on the teacher, and where seniors can take pride in becoming the experts.

William Eaton, Keremeos, British Columbia:  Teaching students to be leaders and to teach each other is the very simple philosophy that guides Mr. Eaton's practice. Mr. Eaton's student driven class website is exemplary. Not just a hub for teachers, students and parents, it serves as an information portal maintained by the students that teaches them responsibility and leadership. An empowering tool, it is updated daily by students who also weekly train and trade off their responsibilities to the next student.

Patti Sebestyen, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan:  Mrs. Sebestyen's teaching approach includes:  Employs reality therapy/control theory to help students learn to think critically, act logically, listen, understand and communicate effectively. Uses role-playing techniques extensively to help students think beyond their own perspective and learn alternative methods of interaction. Fosters self-expression and self-awareness through discussion at morning circle time, the UN (United Nations) game (during which she asks each student open-ended discussion questions) and teachable moments throughout the day in a non-competitive, everybody wins, safe environment.

Peter Gardiner, Victoria, British Columbia:  Mr. Gardiner's teaching approach includes:  Maintain the highest professional standards and the deepest personal commitment. Students must accept responsibility for their own learning and realize that the teacher is one of many available resources. Students are capable of learning, thinking and analyzing at a much higher level than they initially believe, demonstrate or give themselves credit for.

Creating a Community within the Classroom

Jonathan Rempel, Surrey, British Columbia:  Rempel developed the Learning Adventure Co-op to inspire a sense of community in his students through a series of hikes, overnight camping experiences and ropes courses. They even did an overnight hike to see a glacier! It is a huge success and the community it created within the class allowed students who would normally have never spoken to each other, to interact on the trails. The sense of community transferred back into the classroom and students now go to each other for help.

Mary-Ellen Perley Waugh, Edmonton, Alberta:  Mrs. Waugh's teaching philosophy includes:  Emphasizes a positive, warm working relationship between students and teacher, and high-energy enthusiasm that reflects a positive attitude and commitment. Communication and Information Technology is used to facilitate group learning. Students are encouraged to PowerPoint presentations and photo essays to present class projects, assignments and tests. Seeks out experts from the local community and invites them to become partners and mentors of the students in her class. Classroom is designed under the assumption that students who are invited into an active and stimulating learning environment will be more creative, innovative and think critically and act logically. Participates in numerous professional development sessions and provides in-service support to fellow staff members.

Transferring the Understanding

Christine Marin, Richmond, British Columbia:  Ms. Marin helps her students make sense of their world. She finds ways for her students to make real life connections to what they learn in class and encourages them to "Always know why you're doing what you're doing ". Students learn to use the latest software and technology and are even passing the knowledge on to their parents.

Shirley Turner, Vancouver, British Columbia:  Ms. Turner's strong belief that students need to be prepared for the world in which they will live leads to her use of a wide range of activities both in and out of the classroom. Examples include peer instruction, cooperative learning and knowledge sharing in laboratory and on-line projects. In her work with gifted students, she helps them to expand their skills beyond academics to broaden their experience of their immediate community and environment, with the goal of becoming well-rounded individuals. She encourages all students to use technology to present what they have learned.

Michael Ernest Sweet, Montreal, Quebec:  Mr. Sweet strives to make students' learning experiences real experiences. Rather than simply establishing connections with the community and corporate relationships, he shows students how to make and maintain these relationships themselves. Rather than teaching them about writing, he encourages them to be writers. As part of this approach, he promotes activism—students learning to think beyond what simply is, to what could be, by engaging their imagination and writing about a better world—and involves them in frank and critical discussions of important issues.  Mr. Sweet founded Learning for a Cause, a program that encourages students to think of themselves as real writers and produce works on real issues and then publish them in real books. To date, Mr. Sweet and his students have published three anthologies, including one with students responding to racism, poverty, war and domestic violence. A second anthology, Down to Earth, features responses to environmental destruction and global warning.

Cheryl Carr, Agincourt (Scarborough), Ontario:  Mrs. Carr's teaching philosophy includes:  Make experiential learning the centre of all teaching. Make available a variety of resources for students, including magazine articles, slides from trips, online materials and documentaries, encourage role plays, and connect students with people, such as guest speakers and students from other countries. Back up real-world teaching strategies with real-world assessments: incorporate slides, maps, websites and other media resources into tests and examinations.

Bradley Talbot and Douglas Grunert, Kelowna, British Columbia:  Mr. Talbot and Mr. Grunert's teaching approach include:  To create opportunities for students to gain real-life experiences they may not normally receive. To create activities out of the classroom and even out of the country that require students to participate with community leaders and environmental agencies. To help reduce student stress during exams and scholarship testing with special tutorials along with a significant dose of humour. I always tell my students they are going to forget 80 percent of what I teach them. That's why I teach them 180 percent more than they will be tested on.

Self- and Peer-Assessments

Wayne Phillips, Red Deer, Alberta:  Inspired by the school motto, "Good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best!" Mr. Phillips employs self– and peer assessment in his classroom. Self-assessment, he says, encourages self-motivation, so students complete questionnaires to help them identify their best work and areas in which they could improve. During peer assessment of a project, students group work into "good", "better" and "best" categories. After receiving this peer evaluation, students are then allowed to take their work home and improve it.

Student Failure

Jean Murphy, Cow Head, Newfoundland:  Mr. Murphy's teaching philosophy includes:  A mistake is not a mistake if you fix it. An incorrect answer is an opportunity to demonstrate problem-solving skills. Provide a flexible teaching and learning environment with lots of group work and critical discussion. Involve parents and provide support for both students and parents outside regular school hours.

Social Responsibility

John Cordukes, Cobourg, Ontario:  Mr. Cordukes' teaching philosophy includes:  Heightening students' awareness of global environmental issues and instiling in them a sense of social conscience and civic responsibility towards the environment. Helping students understand that they are important and that what they are learning is valuable.  Brings science to life with field trips, interesting biology projects and contests.

Ian Naisbitt, Windsor, Ontario:  Mr. Naisbitt's teaching approach includes:  Teach students the values and skills that will make them valuable citizens in the future. Make them passionate about issues such as the environment, show them they can make a difference and give them the communications and planning skills so they can influence the public agenda. Teach students the importance of community service and giving back to the community. Always keep hands-on work at the centre of learning.

For the complete list of Prime Minister's Awards for Teacher Excellence, click here.