Hello Everyone,
I’m Amanda, I’m a grade 4/5 teacher from Langley, British Columbia on the traditional unceded territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie and Semiahmoo first peoples. I have been out of the classroom this past school year on maternity leave with my first child a little boy who just turned one. It’s been nice to be able to step back this year and reflect on what I want things to look like when I return to the classroom in September and how I am going to streamline my work to still embrace rich learning opportunities while making sure I have time to be present at home.
In my classroom I have always embraced a set of key words, connection, wonder, thinking, joy and play. As I begin the final course of my PME program 10 years after entering my teacher preparation program in the fall of 2014 I realize now that the words I chose as a young, idealistic student teacher still hold true. Ten years of being in education, eight years of full-time classroom experience what truly matters is the community of fantastic people that other parents are gracious enough to entrust me with day to day, sending their favorite people into my classroom hoping they will be cherished as much at school as they are at home. My guiding words allow me to center our days on what truly matters, we start every morning in community, connecting with each other in a morning meeting and come and go from our carpet area to gather throughout the day.
My main academic interest is math, specifically number sense, helping students understand what numbers really mean and how to interact with numbers in ways that are personally meaningful. In terms of a final project at the end of this course the idea of creating an assessment for number sense has intrigued me for years! I want to demystify number sense for teachers and students creating something that is accessible, practical and helps us identify areas of strength and where growth and development is needed.
I’m looking forward to learning with everyone this term,
Amanda