When Father Steve visits...

Father Steve Savel visits Holy Trinity once a week! Here is what the kids think!

I think that it’s fun to do the little plays with him and he shows us the stories of Jesus everyday when he comes in - Justice (grade 3)

He’s amazing and is changing the world - Connor (Grade 7)

I really enjoy Father Steve coming into the classroom.  I’ve known him for a few years because he is my priest at St. Joe’s which is my family's parish.  He puts a positive experience on me. - Drew (grade 4).

Friendly father steve is Friendly

Awesome he is awesome

Truthful he is truthful

Heart he is a good heart

Easy he is easy

Rockstar he is a rock star

Star he is a star

Truth he tells the truth

Excellent he is Excellent

Very he is very good

Extraordinary - Breanna (Grade 4)

He comes in and gives us a skit to do.  It brings life to the parables and a modern way of learning which makes it engaging, exciting and more interesting.  We all want to interact with him and the skit because it is fun in many ways. - Josh and Lilli (Grade 8)

We actually learn what he is teaching us because he makes us act it out rather than write it. - Vince (Grade 8)

He’s friends with my dad so I have a relationship outside of the church with him.  He is very engaging in the classroom and other priests haven’t been like that before.  He’s open and makes it a safe place for us to ask questions about our curiosities in our faith. His skits help us understand more about the bible and Jesus’ teachings. - Fayth (Grade 8)

He is nice to other students and other classes.and very generously to people and does nice things to all the students and have a kind heart. and are very nice when come every week and you do,not have to do that but you do that's how you are sweet and do plays. - Janelle (Grade 4)

Father Steve comes in very week to tell us about Jesus.  Father Steve is a nice person. Father Steve always has a great smile and attitude.  Father Steve helps us to make great choices every day. We love you Father Steve!  You do lots for us we should do that to you to! - Kaitlyn & Katie (grade 4)

I love Father Steve because he comes every week. Father Steve teaches us about God.  Father Steve  loves us all.  Father Steve is nice to all of us.  Every time we get hurt he helps us.  We love Father Steve - Talia and Isabella (Grade 4)

Father Steve loves god and Jesus he also helps us learn about God and Jesus. Father Steve tells stories about Jesus. He goes in our class once a week. Father Steve makes me think of Jesus. - Daniel (Grade 4)

Friendly

Awesome

Truthful

Helpful

Excellent

Rockstar

Super

Truth

Easy

Very

Extraordinary - Martin (grade 4)

Father Steve comes in our classroom to do skit with us. He gave us a rosary he also comes in to pray for Jesus. You’re the best priest ever. - luke and oliver (grade 4)

I like it when we do fun stuff like skits. I also like it when you say “chow” when you have to go. I like it when you share your adventures. You are also very kind. - Nolan (grade 4)

Oh Father Steve you are the best oh you do play with us you gave me a bag so we love you very much thank god   - Tait (grade 4)

Hi my name is Father Steve Savel. I am a priest at St. Benedict's.  I visit Holy Trinity Catholic School in Sarnia every week.  I try to visit every classroom on a weekly basis to share the good news.  We always try to pray together at the beginning and we try to have a little skit or play to illustrate something from the bible or a teaching of our faith. I usually have a question period at the end of the lesson where students can ask questions about their curiosities in their faith.  The kids are very enthusiastic and welcoming and appreciate hearing a different voice.

Having Father Steve in my classroom has changed the way the students approach their faith.  They are excited to see him and are energetic about participating in his skits.  When Father Steve first starting coming into my grade 1/2 classroom the students did not know the act of contrition prayer, but after starting with this prayer every week the students have grown to be able to recite the prayer by heart.  They also know how to respond “and with your spirit” with confidence and I have noticed a difference in the unity of our school wide responses during church. Father Steve makes an effort to get to know everyone personally and is an active participator in our school community.  He volunteered himself for our annual “pie in the face” fundraiser to raise money for the terry fox foundation. He has also taken classes on tours of the church which has given the students a sense of pride and belonging and a deeper connection to their faith. Having Father Steve in our school has had a very positive impact on our teachers, parents, and students

Thank you to guest blogger, Jillian Fantuz, elementary school teacher in Sarnia, ON. She can be found on twitter @msfantuz 

Does "=" equal understanding?

Do your students understand what the equal sign means?

Take a moment to reflect on that question.

Nearly every classroom teacher, when asked this question by the Student Work Study Teacher (SWST), answered “Yes!” or, “I sure hope so!” It’s probably reasonable to assume that student understanding of this concept is something that’s taken for granted by many educators. From an early age, students are shown “=” embedded in mathematics questions: from simple addition subtraction in the primary grades to more complex algebra and numeration in the junior and intermediate grades. In many ways, success in mathematics operations hinges on the idea of equality in a sentence -- simply put, knowing that 2 + 2 equals 4. If students are doing well in math, it reasons that they’ve got a firm understanding of this concept.

To check this understanding in junior and intermediate classrooms, the class is always give the same question. Students are asked to write down the problem on their paper or white board and to solve it.

4 + 8 = __ + 5 or 4 + 8 = __ + 7

Below is a representative sampling of some the answers students gave to this question.

In each classroom this task was given, anywhere from 70-100% of the class wrote an incorrect answer in the blank space. This usually comes as a surprise and/or shock to the classroom teachers:

"After some discussion with the SWST about how students would answer this question (4 + 8 = ? + 5), I was convinced that the majority of my students would ‘get’ this without any difficulty.  I certainly did not believe that many of them would write “12”.

“I asked students to think about the problem I wrote on the whiteboard, without talking to a neighbour or working out any math; just to think about it.  After a minute or so, I asked them to write what they thought would go in the box on their own whiteboards.  I was floored as I walked around the room and saw the overwhelming majority of responses being ‘12’!  I couldn’t understand it!”

After some discussion, some students offered that the answer must be 12 because 4 + 8 = 12.  They completely ignored the + 5 part of the equation."

Clearly, there is a trend: this misconception exists in several grades across multiple schools in this system. As a next step, we asked the students what the equal sign means to them:

“The equation before it needs to be equal to the one after it.”

“The first part before = has to equal second part.”

“The sum (or total) of 4 + 8.”

“Just a way of adding them up.”

“Equal to or the same as.”

“Equivalent equations that have to have the same answer.”

“The total of numbers you’re trying to find the answer to.”

“Equal up to ___.”

“The answer.

“The total.”

“The equal sign means they are equal to each other.”

“This sign means the sum of the question/equation.”

In his article A Balancing Act, Henry Borenson identifies two inherent meanings students can acquire for the equal sign - relational and “calculator”:

The use of the equal sign to indicate the unique numerical result of the sequence of computations that precede it (the “calculator use” of the equal sign) is a valid and necessary use of this sign...However, understanding the relational meaning of the equal sign also is essential for success in mathematics, and particularly in algebra. Whereas such equations as 3x + 5 = 26 can be understood knowing only the operational meaning of the equal sign (because 26 can be considered the result of the operations that appear to the left of the equal sign), examples such as 4 + 3 = __ + 2 and 4x + 2 = 2x + 6 cannot (Kieran 1992). In these examples, the equal sign indicates equivalence between two sets of expressions, each one of which includes one or more operations within it.

Thinking back to our initial question -- Do your students understand what the equal sign means? -- there is sufficient evidence to conclude that across the system students have a range of misconceptions about what the equal sign means in the relational context of the question 4 + 8 = __ + 7. The next question then naturally becomes: What can we do as teachers as a next step to immediately respond to this misconception?

How do you think your students will answer if you gave them the question above as a cold task? We would love to know what happens in your class - let us know in the comments below.

Thank you to guest blogger, Christopher St. Amand, SCCDSB Student Work Study Teacher. He can be found on Twitter at @MrStAmand 

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Literature Circles: Asking Deeper Questions about Fahrenheit 451

Grade 10 students at UCC are developing their inquiry learning with the novel Fahrenheit 451. Throughout the novel students have begun to develop deeper learning by asking questions about the text, author and society. 

They record their questions in a journal where they can keep notes and add observations. Once a week they meet in a discussion group where they collaborate in an attempt to answer and build upon these questions together. 

After the novel is complete students begin their personal analyses of the text. During this phase students record their final responses, consider what they have learned from their peers as well as continue to examine unanswered questions. 

This activity allows the students to experience deeper understanding of the text independently and amongst their peers without the teacher directly pointing to the answers. As a result the students build a closer connection to the text.

I was impressed with how quickly they began to think deeper after only a few days of myself modeling  the approach.   Here are some examples of the great questions they asked!

On page 104, Montag says that his feet can’t move. How is this an accurate comparison to Montag’s mental struggles?

On page 128, it says Montag kept moving his books from hand to hand, “as if they were a poker hand he could not figure”. Why does Bradbury use this metaphor?

Faber explains the world they are living in, “ Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on  flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality” (Bradbury 83). Analyze how this quote explains the society in the novel Fahrenheit 451 and how  our society is headed in the same direction?

Thank you to guest blogger, Megan Brewer, English teacher at UCC in Chatham. @MBrew5

If you want to know more about literature circles, check out Comprehension and Collaboration, Inquiry Circles for Curiosity, Engagement and Understanding 

Next Year is Too Late to Start - One Teacher's Reflection

It really is about learning! 

Recently I have moved from experimenting with Docappender and Goobrics to using them.  These are tools that I use in Google Apps for Education to quickly record observations into separate student files and assess and give feedback to my students on their work.

Like everything, there are stages that I have to go through before I can put something into practice.

Stage One-The Commercial

Stage Two-Reading the Instruction Manual

Stage Three-Unpacking the box

Stage Four-Attempting assembly

Stage Five-Playing with the toys while the children are asleep

Stage Six-Telling a Friend

Stage Seven-Helping a Friend

Stage Eight-Finding every use possible for this new toy!

The first four stages are really all one. Not all occurring in the sequence listed all the time. Sometimes I unpack the box of tools long before reading any instructions. This is often a big mistake for me, because the instructions will often help me find uses for the product (stage 8).

Stages five/six are also more one phase – the fun phase where it is not really productive yet, but becoming more familiar. Stage Six is the consolidation phase. Good pedagogy tells us that if someone can explain it, then the likely have a deeper understanding of it. Although a little out of order, if I explain it to someone who I consider “a safe person” then I am more likely to share the excitement.

I am using Docappender to keep anecdotal comments about student inquiries in science and collaboration and use of class time in my math classes. I think this will help give me a much more accurate set of Learning Skills for the final report card.

My next goal is to 

1. Share the file with my students once I have a habit of using it, 

2. Have them respond digitally by making comments to my entries and 

3. Conference with them face to face.

Next year is too late to start, but not too late to hit the ground running.

More to follow …

Thank you to guest blogger Deacon Raymond Girard, teacher at UCC.  He can be found on twitter @MrGatUCC