ms.vtaylor (she/her)

DSBN educator, MT from @OISE, book lover, student advocate, trauma-informed teaching.

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

We had such an amazing day @DSBN Living Campus! These Mustangs got to explore art in nature while getting muddy, finding salamanders, and simply playing. It felt so nice to be reminded of what a great classroom the outdoors can be! @JamesMordenDSBN @DSBNOutdoorED

[The Robertson Program @robertsonprog]

Inspire math exploration with captivating quilt stories! From identifying patterns and symmetry, to exploring shapes, colours, and angles, quilts offer many opportunities for math discovery. Our latest blog + book recommendations by @Rabia_Khokhar1
https://t.co/eecLP8HzZY

[MindShift @MindShiftKQED]

“She was patient. She was creative. She did not ask anything of me, except that I work hard and believe in myself,” said Juleus Ghunta of the teacher who changed his life.

Growing Up, He Struggled to Read. Then a Young Teacher Saw His Potential
https://t.co/Xtqos22yOX

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

How can we use our math tools to solve story problems? These grade 3’s were working hard to play board games that tested their mental math skills. We are investigating different strategies we can use to solve addition and subtraction questions!

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

These Mustangs are so happy that the weather is starting to warm up! We spent some time outside today with the chalk writing positive messages all around the schoolyard @JamesMordenDSBN.

[District School Board of Niagara @dsbn]

From Umoja to Imani, may all the blessings of Kwanzaa be yours. Heri za Kwanzaa! 🕯️🖤❤️💚

[Dr. John Spencer @spencerideas]

I saw a few videos on TikTok where a few teachers mocked certain "bad Christmas presents" like dollar store trinkets, cheap mugs, or hard candy.

And I watched with a mix of sadness and anger as they carelessly unboxed their stashes of gifts.

When a child thinks of you enough to bring you a gift -- no matter how inexpensive or common it may seem -- the gesture itself is a gift. That child is saying, "You matter in my life and I want to give you something."

When a teacher mocks this gesture, they're not mocking a gift. They're mocking the gesture and the heart of their students. Fortunately, most teachers aren't like this. Most of them cherish all gifts they receive.

When I left the middle school classroom after 12 years and moved into higher education, I finally got rid of my massive collection of dollar store trinkets and cheap mugs. I knew my students. I knew that these items weren't cheap given their parents salaries. I knew how big of a gesture it was that a supposedly jaded 8th grader would hand me a mug of generic hard candy and a thank you note.

And although I eventually cleared out my classroom and threw away a few dollar store mugs, I kept all of those notes in a box as a reminder that I had made a difference even when I couldn't see it.

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Mathematicians busy at work building 3D shapes using only toothpicks and marshmallows! Their goal was to get their partner to guess their shape by giving them clues (number of vertices, faces, edges, bases). @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

So proud of my grade 3’s for researching and presenting about different Indigenous communities in Canada! We learned about what makes an interesting presentation and how to summarize information. We had the best audience! @JamesMordenDSBN

[James Morden Public School @JamesMordenDSBN]

Thank you to the JAM community for participating in our Interview Night! We enjoyed sharing our HOPES with you and especially enjoyed the HOPES you shared with us!!! #doyourbestanddowhatsright #mustangstrong #whatisyourHOPE

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Last week our class continued our talks about racism and specifically white privilege by reading ‘Race Cars’. Gr. 3’s came up with some examples of who our “race committee” members are in real life. Such a great book that can has an entry point for every grade. @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Using non-standard units to learn more about capacity! Today we tested our estimates on how much water different containers can hold. We compared the container sizes and ranked them smallest to largest after we measured how much water they could hold. @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

We did an exciting activity to learn more about distances and converting units in measurement this week! Gr. 3’s chose places in their community and used Google Maps to figure out how far they were from each other in km and m. @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Mustangs taking full advantage of #TakeMeOutsideDay! Our mathematicians headed outside to estimate different measurements around our beautiful yard. We are learning about where we can find different units of measurement in our world! @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Gr. 3’s exploring the beautiful garden we have here @JamesMordenDSBN! We are getting our bodies moving while learning more about the life cycle of plants and the different parts of plants. We feel so grateful to have such an amazing outdoor classroom!

[James Morden Public School @JamesMordenDSBN]

Our school has been ‘adopted’ by “Indigo’s Love of Reading Foundation” ! The foundation will help us fill our school library with new books.

How can you help? 
1Visit Chapters on Geneva St.
2Click the link to make a donation
3Share this post!

https://t.co/p5a5fbQSXu

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

How many different ways can we represent 10? @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Gr.3’s were excited to kick off our “how many” week in math today! We are learning how we can organize loose parts to make it easier to figure out how many there are. Look at our mathematicians go! @JamesMordenDSBN

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Some of our Mustangs that represented @JamesMordenDSBN at the DSBN cross country meet today! We are so proud of all your hard work and dedication!

[ms.vtaylor (she/her) @msvtaylorr]

Our gr. 3’s are hard at work learning more about long a and long i sounds! #phonicscompanion @JamesMordenDSBN