|
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. 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 19th 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! The Zello App (https://www.zello.com) will serve as our “go to” tool to facilitate parent/teacher communication. As such, enable notifications on the app. I will also provide you access to your child’s Remote Learning Google Drive. I will upload notable work within this drive alongside additional resources, exemplars, passwords, etc. for your perusal! Be aware that my website (www.drooker.ca Password: 4321) has webpages for every subject and unit! Each page contains invaluable links, photos, anchor charts, tutorial videos, work samples, downloadable organizers, games, and extra practice opportunities which bridge our learning between classroom and home. My website even has a Learning Blog (https://www.drooker.ca/learning-blog.html) that is updated throughout the day. Thank you in advance for your continued time, effort, energy and support. I am looking forward to a tremendous year! Sincerely, Jonathan Drooker jonathan.drooker@yrdsb.ca 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 |