This week’s 15th edition of 3 Teacher Tips Thursday comes from TCDSB teacher secondary teacher Michael Kelly.
Below are 3 simple yet effective resources broken up into 3 categories:
– Great Ideas
– Online Tools
– Teacher PD
Enjoy 3 Teacher Tips Thursday. Hope you find it resourceful.
HISTORICA CANADA – THE MEMORY PROJECT
During Quads 1 and 2 this school year, I had the opportunity to teach the Grade 10 Canadian History course. I came across a very valuable online resource from Historica Canada called The Memory Project. With the assistance of the Memory Project staff team, I was able to set up a live Google Meet interactive call and guest presentation with a Canadian War Veteran who served in the Second World War.
The program staff from Historica Canada were extremely supportive, helpful and responsive throughout the entire process. My students truly enjoyed this form of authentic, experiential and immersive learning.
The students prepared questions in advance of the virtual guest presentation and studied Canada’s role in the Second World War prior to the visit. The students had an opportunity to listen to the inspiring stories of service and sacrifice.
My students were also able to engage in an interactive Q & A session with the WWII Veteran which really enriched our curriculum content. I would highly recommend exploring Historica Canada’s Memory Project website for additional information. This resource could be useful for History, Civics, and Social Studies teachers and would benefit your whole department and entire school community. Here’s some useful links:
Speakers Bios
Educator Resources / Videos
USING JAMBOARD
Google Jamboard is a great tool for teaching both elementary school classes and secondary school courses. I have found this online tool to be extremely effective and useful. Google Jamboard is a fantastic tool for a variety of reasons. It can be used within different grade levels and subject areas, as well, it can be used to teach skills in digital citizenship.
It provides an interactive, creative and visual way of engaging your students in remote learning. It also encourages your students to contribute to classroom discussions using text, images, links, sticky notes, colours, graphics, and more.
Students are able to see the contributions of their classmates and it can also be used to engage students in group and cooperative learning activities in real time.
It can be easily shared with your students through Google Classroom, Google Meets and on Zoom. Jamboard is often a good way to check for understanding at the conclusion of a lesson as a form of an exit ticket activity.
THE POWER OF VULNERABILITY – TED TALK BY BRENE BROWN
Brene Brown’s Ted Talk entitled “The Power of Vulnerability” is a fantastic exploration of the concepts of empathy, belonging, love and human connection. Brene Brown is an American author and research professor at the University of Houston who studies courage, vulnerability, empathy and shame.
In this engaging, informative, and insightful talk, Brown shares the key learnings of her research and personal experiences. The lessons learned can easily be applied to the challenges that educators in our schools are currently facing on a daily basis. I highly recommend this Ted Talk for teachers as a source of inspiration and motivation as we work through these difficult winter months.
I also encourage you to read one of Brene Brown’s latest book entitled “Dare to Lead” along with listening to the “Dare to Lead Podcast” for any teachers interested in topics like leadership development, building cultures of inclusion, resilience and empathy in our workplaces, and caring environments in our families and communities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Kelly currently teaches at Michael Power St. Joseph at the TCDSB. Michael is a highly motivated, passionate, inclusive Catholic educator, coach, world traveller, hockey fan and student leadership advisor interested in expanding his professional network and collaborating with like-minded teachers.
Twitter: @729Kelley
This edition of 3 Teacher Tips Thursday is brought to you by:
@teachmetoolbox. Educators sharing best practices with fellow educators.
Instagram: @teachmetoolbox
I hope you enjoyed our 15th weekly edition of 3 Teacher Tips Thursday. Got an idea, online tool, or PD opportunity you want to share? Email stefanie.lenzo@tcdsb.org.
Catholic Student Leadership 
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