First of all, I feel terrible about my delay in posting this. No excuse, other than being busy, and we all are!! 

I was really humbled to be nominated by 3 people:

Michelle Cordy (@cordym)
Jeffrey Humphries (@itechteach)
Amy Bowker (@classcollect).

Michelle and I met online through Canadian Ed Chat (#cdnedchat). Together, we worked our way through our Google Apps for Education certification! She is a resourceful, intelligent, and caring 1:1 iPad Grade 3/4 teacher who blogs at: http://hacktheclassroom.ca/. 

Jeffrey is one of the awesome people in my PLN, who also happens to be from Ottawa... where I am!! He regularly participates in  #cdnedchat, which I moderate, and I have learned so much from his contributions... especially because he is way more tech savvy than I am! :)  Check him out here: http://www.technology4all.ca/blog.html

Amy and I met at #EdCampOttawa... she was one of the organizers. My favourite part was how we saw each other and both recognized each other from Twitter.... "Hey, you're @MsValois! Yes! You're @classcollect." Had some great conversations with her that day about DI and love what she is doing with education in her class. Her blog is just awesome: http://classroomcollective.tumblr.com/  Tons of resources and ideas! 

Here is how it works:

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger. 
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself. 
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

11 Facts about Me:

1. I have a cat and a dog (German Shepherd): Fynn and Jack. I was terrified of big dogs until we got ours! 
2. My favourite city to visit (of all time) is Washington, DC. I am obsessed. I went twice in 4 months! 
3. I didn't get my first SmartPhone until last May! 
4. This past summer, I read 1 book every 3 or so days! (Yes, I don't have children... haha!) 
5. I run on coffee as fuel! My daily order from Tim Hortons is an extra large with 2 cream, half sugar and a creamy caramel flavour shot! 
6. I don't like shopping; crowds bother me.
7. This year for Thanksgiving, I cooked my first ever turkey!
8. I rarely watch TV; I only really follow 3 shows: Homeland, Criminal Minds and Law and Order SVU
9. Except for two school field trips (last year and year before), I can't even remember the last time I went to a movie theatre!  I am pretty sure the last movie I saw was the 3D Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey in 2009 with my Mom! 
10. I am proud of my husband; he is in the Canadian Armed Forces and has twice deployed in service to the CAF. 
11. If I had to choose between sweet or savoury, I'd always choose sweet. 


11 Questions for me:

1. What Disney Character would you be?
Mary Poppins! Not a traditional Disney character but it is a Disney film! :)  If I have to choose animated, Belle. I think she's the least "damsel in distress" of the Disney princess group; at least she shows some bravery and conviction. 

2. What is the coolest app you have read about or use?
Right now, it's just Chrome Extensions in general. 

3. Have you ever skyped in your classroom?
No, I prefer Google Hangout. :) 

4. What twitter chats do you follow?
Too many to list but I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out to the chat I help moderate: Canadian Ed Chat. #cdnedchat - every Monday at 8pm EST. 

5: What is the best thing about teaching?
Changing lives. 

6. What is your favourite stationary item?
Do Post It Notes count? Love those! 

7. Cake or Ice Cream?
Cake, but only with butter cream icing... or else I scrape off the icing. 

8. House Pet: Snake or Ferret?
I'd rather stick a pencil in my eye than have either. I guess snake. 

9. Favourite Movie?
I can't choose one! Fried Green Tomatoes (I watched it more than 25 times when I was a kid... around 9/10 years old) and the Life of David Gale. 

10: Best gift you ever got?


Hmmm. Probably the scrapbook my Mom made me for my 16th- symbolic. My parents also bought me a car (99 Sunfire!) when I graduated University with honours. That was pretty awesome!!!

11. Why did you want to become a teacher?
See answer 5. ;) 


My "sunshine nominees"

Because I love DI, so much, I am differentiating this assignment for my blogging needs! ;)  I am listing 11 people to follow on Twitter. If they have a blog, you can check out their blog too and they can answer the questions, if they choose. But there are some great people on Twitter who may not have blogs.... or active blogs.. and maybe this will be a reason for them to start blogging or continue! :) 


I know that both Jennie and Jason have already been mentioned but I really had to include them both on my list.  


1. Dana Ariss (@danaariss). Blog: www.daariss.wordpress.com
2. Theresa Wells-Taylor (@thecandydish)
3. James Petersen (@jpetersen02):  Blog: www.mrjpetersen.weebly.com
4. Paul McGuire (@mcguirp)  Blog: http://paulmcguire1.wordpress.com/
5. Nicholas Ferroni (@nicholasferroni): He writes for the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-ferroni/
6. Jason Markey (@JasonMMarkey): Blog: http://jmarkeyap.blogspot.ca/
7. Stephane Crete (@stephanecrete) 
8. Rola Tibshirani (@rolat): Blog: http://learninginprogess.blogspot.ca/   and  http://ensemble-together.blogspot.ca/
9. Shannon Smith (@shannoninottawa):  Blog: http://shannoninottawa.com/
10. Moss Pike (@mosspike): Blog:  http://cinisetfavilla.blogspot.ca/
11. Jennie Magiera (@msmagiera) http://www.teachinglikeits2999.com/

Questions for my nominees:  (Some of these "borrowed" from other posts!)

1. What’s your favorite thing about blogging or tweeting? 
2. Favorite hobby?
3. Favorite movie of all time? 
4. Favorite place you have traveled?
5. Favorite Twitter chat? 
6. Favorite educational website - person or product? 
7. If you had a superpower, what would it be? 
8. Favorite book you’ve read in 2013? 
9. Why teaching?
10. Proudest moment? 
11. Funniest thing you ever said in front of a group of students/educators? 

Yesterday was the second part of my teacher performance appraisal (TPA) - some of you probably call these teacher evaluations. Ours is a multi step process: an initial meeting to discuss objectives/criteria and sharing session, in-class observation and follow up session. 

For my TPA, I asked my vice-principal to come and observe two of my classes - my Grade 10 Applied History class and my Grade 9 Academic English class, as these classes have very different dynamics. My Grade 10 History class is a very energetic group. Sometimes we struggle with focus, attention and staying on task. This is all a part of the reality of teaching and so I didn't shy away from having this class as one of my 'observation' classes. 

It got me thinking of something that Jennie Magiera said at the GAFE conference this week (Trust me... she said it better - she's way more witty than I am... but you'll get the idea). She said that she used to be so excited and proud when the principal would walk by her class and all the students were completing silent, working away in their rows with their books. Score one for the teacher being in total control! Woo hoo! And yet, she said that same thought now makes her shudder! The idea of someone walking by her class and seeing rows of children in complete silence is the exact opposite of what she wants to represent her as a teacher! And I feel the same way! 

Why is it that we still have this outdated, archaic idea that a quiet classroom is always a better classroom? Sure, we don't want kids swinging from the ceilings, throwing things across the room and yelling obscenities! But, what about "productive" noise? Is it better to have rows of silent students pretending to do worksheets or is it better to have lots of noise coming from students who are learning? 

Here's a little clip of my students engaging in "productive noise". Instead of doing "comprehension questions", we do "learning stations".

What does this have to do with my performance appraisal, you ask? I told my students that the vice-principal was going to be dropping in to observe the class; I didn't elaborate because I didn't want the students to act differently (better or worse!) based on his reason for being with us. I just wanted them to not be surprised when he showed up. I explained to them that I welcome admin to come visit us anytime to see the cool things that we are learning!

Before class started, a student approached me and said: "My brother made a bet with me that you are going to act differently today because the VP is here". What?! - I thought! I asked her to explain that to me. She said that they thought that I would be "more traditional" because admin was coming to my class! I assured them I would be doing nothing differently than I normally did! 

At the end of the day, I asked him... so, did I act differently? 

Well, PHEW! I would hate to think that because admin comes into my room, I go from energetic, bouncy, joking, smiling, modern connection making, team work loving teacher to some kind of robot... some "non tolerant" teacher! Strict? I don't need to be "strict" by the definition they go by... my students know my expectations! They know that my classroom runs on respect and relationships! I don't need to yell or tell them all to be SILENT; they know when to listen (usually! They are STILL kids - they have their moments!) and when to get learning! I have MY style that works for me and my students! It's not about what other people do or don't do... it's not a competition or a comparison! I know what is going on inside my four walls and I adapt my teaching and learning according to my class dynamic! I wouldn't change just for the sake of perception! We are who are! (Sorry, didn't mean to make a Ke$ha reference.... #edufail). 

But I have to wonder... why did they think that I would change? Is my way of doing things so 'uncommon' and 'untraditional' that they think what I am doing is something I need to cover up or hide from the higher powers? Where do our students get the messaging about what teaching and learning looks like? Do they think there is only one style that is okay? Do they think that people perceive noise and movement as bad? And on that last question... are they right? 

This was a very interesting experience for me; not only from an evaluation standpoint but because of what it taught me about my students' perceptions and certainly, it re-affirmed for me, that many of them enjoy the way I do things. 

After all....