Lifelong Learners

When I was in university, we were often reminded that as teachers, we are lifelong learners. This means two things to me: First, that I am learning everyday in my classroom, different things about different students, strategies for teaching them to grow as little people in new ways, and countless other little tidbits. Second, that as teachers our profession is in a constant state of evolution, and there are always new books to read, new methods to try and endless ways to grow as a teacher. To learn. Today was a day for learning.
Annually, the teachers of the Interlake School Division come together at the beginning of the school year for a professional development day. This was my first official experience as a teacher in the division (not a student teacher, not a substitute teacher) so it was exciting for me. I even got a pin!

Christine Penner (superintendent) and Wayne Davies (asst. superintendent)
handing out pins to the new teachers in the division
Photo Cred: Lindsey Jack :-)

Cindy Levesque-Brown

The topic of our training today was Restitution.
It was a very full day with some heavy topics, so I could write pages on it (but I won't!), and today was only day one of two of the workshop (the second day is in November). Our presenter was Cindy Levesque-Brown, a teacher from Pembina Trails School Division, who is an expert on Restitution.
"What exactly is Restitution?" you might be asking yourself, and how could there be two full days of material on it for a teacher workshop? These were some questions I had this morning, and they were certainly answered as the day went on. In a nutshell (from my point of view), Restitution is a practice in self awareness and self evaluation. It can be used in a way to teach people (in our case students) to take responsibility for their actions, particularly when they make a mistake, and to solve (or help solve) their own problems. It is an alternative to punitive behaviour management, and directs us away from consequence driven actions. Instead of being punished for their mistakes, students are guided in a way that helps them get to the root of the problem, and fix it. As teachers, we can provide students with the tools they need to do this, whether it be Kindergarten or Grade 12.

I took a lot away from the presentation today, and would be happy to talk in more detail about it with anyone who is interested. I will leave you with some little tidbits that stood out to me today, and really got me thinking of my role as a teacher, and my influence on not only my students, but their parents, my peers, and the community that I live and work in.

• Discipline comes from the Latin word "disciplina", which means "to learn"
• You cannot teach the mind until you have the heart
• Attitude is contagious. Is yours worth catching?

And of course, what's a teacher workshop without some Big Bird? Here is a video that I plan to share with my class entitled "Everyone Makes Mistakes." It's a great way to introduce restitution to younger students, and talk about how it is okay to make mistakes, and learn to fix mistakes when they happen, Take a gander.