Our School...
Topsail Elementary is a K-4 public school in the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District,with approximately 460 students.
Our Grade 3 students and teachers participated in this inquiry.
There were two English classes (38 students) and
two French Immersion classes (38 students).
Each class consists of students with a range of abilities
and learning styles.
Our Teachers...
Brenda Power has been teaching for twenty five years. She has a B.A. B.Ed., (1992) and M.Ed (1997) from MUN. She's been at Topsail Elementary for the past four years. She has been teaching grades two and three for the past ten years. This year Mrs. Power has 19 students who are very enthusiastic learners and especially love Science. Mrs. Power believes that students learn best through discovery and hands-on opportunities. This STEM project which focuses on the Engineering Design Process makes students independent learners who get the chance to ask, imagine, plan, create and improve. It also gives her the opportunity to enhance her teaching practices. She joined TIA because it provides tremendous financial and professional support to improve her teaching practices. Domenica Daley graduated from Memorial with Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Music Education in 2005 and 2009 respectively. Early in her career, with music positions being few, she ended up in the French immersion classroom and loved it so much she decided to stay. Given her background as a music specialist, she felt she needed to learn more about classroom teaching methods. She decided to pursue a Masters in Literacy Education, graduating in 2014. Madame Daley has been teaching grade three French for five years. Though a lover of both math and science, she has always felt like providing meaningful and engaging science instruction is a challenge. There are 19 student in Madame Daley's class this year. They are a diverse group, with a variety of academic, behavioural, and social strengths and needs. One thing they all have in common is a love of science and being hands on and elbow deep! Melanie White has been teaching eleven years at Topsail Elementary and is currently a Grade Three French Immersion teacher. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French, Bachelor of Education in Primary/Elementary and Master of Education in Leadership Studies. This is her first year participating in the TIA project.This year she has 19 students in her class. They are a diverse group of motivated, enthusiastic and energetic learners who enjoy sharing their ideas and doing hands-on activities particularly in science. She believes that all children can learn successfully and learn in different ways and it is her job to find the best way to motivate them. She feels children learn better by doing and are more engaged when they are provided choices in how they learn and showing what they learned. She joined the TIA project to become more comfortable with inquiry-based learning in science, to move beyond her current teaching practices in this area and to be more of a facilitator in her students' learning. Giving her students more ownership over their learning as allowed her to use this approach and build their confidence as well as her own. Tena Fowler has been teaching for 25 years with B.Ed ('91), B. SpEd ('97), M. Ed (2010). This is her first year teaching Grade 3. She has a diverse group of 19 learners who each bring to the classroom, varying degrees of enthusiasm and learning styles. As a teacher, she believes her job is to motivate and engage all students to achieve regardless of ability. This is especially important this year, due to the nature of her students. She believes children gain independence and knowledge through hands on experiences, especially when it comes to Science. The TIA has allowed her to move away from traditional teacher lead instruction, through reading from textbook into a more engaging and explorational learning environment. Amy Pennell has been teaching for sixteen years. She has a B.Ed., (2001) and M.Ed (2007) from Mount Saint Vincent. She's been at Topsail Elementary for thirteen years. She started at Topsail Elementary teaching Grade 4 and moved into Learning Resources and Technology in 2010. She feels children learn better by doing and are more engaged when they are provided choices in how they learn and showing what they learned. She joined the TIA project to help support teachers in becoming more comfortable with inquiry-based learning in science and to encourage the use of technology as a tool to support teaching and learning. |