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Dear Parents and Guardians, I am so very pleased to be teaching your child this year! Research has shown that the greater the parental involvement, the greater the student success. I fully endorse that belief! It is my desire to extend classroom learning and sync it seamlessly with the learning at home. Education is not a unilateral process. I will be in touch with you regularly throughout the year, updating you on your child's progress and communicating ways in which we can work together to ensure your child's success. As such, please add me as a contact. I will send texts, voice notes, images and videos of your child’s work and from there, we can speak on the phone or meet up as necessary! I want to let you know that I am a dedicated and passionate educator who is committed to every student. My pedagogical philosophy is straightforward: I "work with" students (honing their skill sets and polishing their talents) rather than simply "teaching to" them. I am a Queen’s University Concurrent Education graduate who has taught on all levels. This is my 20th year teaching, having previously taught at Yorkhill Elementary School, Richmond Rose Public School and Nokiidaa Public School. Having the opportunity to teach at Whitchurch Highlands Public School has been a dream come true. I cannot wait to see what this year brings! My webpage https://www.drooker.ca (Password 4321) contains digital learning common subpages for every subject and strand. Each webpage includes learning goals, success criteria, strong work samples, anchor charts, photos, video tutorials, downloadable organizers, screencast videos, best practice links, play opportunities, etc. There are also webpages dedicated towards unpacking all of our classroom routines, additional educational links, pedagogical approach strategies, and a variety of digital toolkits, which students can refer to throughout the work process. There is even a “Work” page on my site https://www.drooker.ca/work.html that contains student workbooks, graphic organizers, answer pages, etc. for the entire year! Our learning blog https://www.drooker.ca/learning-blog.html is updated daily with a summary emailed to you at day's end to promote ongoing discussion as part of the following nightly homework routine that I would like for you to establish alongside your child https://www.drooker.ca/uploads/1/1/0/9/110962203/nightly_homework_checklist.pdf I have also created a Remote Learning Google Drive for your child. Notable work will be uploaded within this drive throughout the year for your perusal alongside additional resources, learning skill report cards, exemplars, passwords, etc. Thank you in advance for your continued time, effort, energy and support. I am looking forward to a tremendous year! Sincerely, Jonathan Drooker [email protected] CORE PEDAGOGICAL BELIEFS “Working with” rather than “Teaching to” students! “Interesting learning” is the number one classroom management tool! Research has shown that the greater the parental involvement, the greater the student success. I wholeheartedly endorse that belief! A balanced literacy program with the gradual release of responsibility serves as the fundamental backbone to my instruction! Not only is it board policy, it is my personal policy! A successful numeracy program is best accomplished through a comprehensive math program (Mini lessons, Puzzles, Meaningful Problems (delivered through a 3 part lesson structure)) A cross curricular approach is ideal as it models for students the interplay between one subject and another! Equity vs. Equality: Treating everyone exactly the same actually is not fair. What equal treatment does do is erase our differences and promote privilege. Differentiated instruction is the way to go! everydayfeminism.com/2014/09/equality-is-not-enough/  MEET THE TEACHER |