Monsieur Autio

This June marks the end of my 11th full year of teaching! Honestly, I thought all year this was my 10 year but math has always been a challenge for me! 

Regardless, in honour of this milestone I’d like to share some of my coups de cœur (‘strikes of the heart’/favorite things) from my journey so far. You’ll start to see how my teaching has evolved and transformed towards what I have been writing about in other posts and moments that have stayed close to my heart. 

Below, you’ll find a year-by-year timeline of my journey with highlights, resources, and maybe even a few Easter eggs from past and future blog posts. I wonder what you may find interesting about my career?

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• Inspired by the legacy of my late practicum mentor, Darlene Ngo—“Do we sound like one?” “All is well. Now is the perfect moment.”

• “Body, mind, spirit, voice, it takes the whole person to sing and rejoice” (poster in Darlene’s collection)
• Observed many other teachers in the district – learned a lot about routines, class set ups, and so much more that continues to influence me today!
• Completed Kodály Level 2 (2014) and 3 (2015); built strong foundation in Kodály music pedagogy
• Sang with Island Voices Chamber Choir—found community and mentorship
• “What does a great class look/sound/feel like?” routine
• Music Showcase, choir sleepovers, senior home performances, music education advocacy at School Board

Book: Kodály Method by Lois Choksy

Music: One Wish (Dave and Jean Perry), Like an Eagle (Carl Strommen)

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• “That’s your gift”—mentorship with Deanna Gestrin
• Joined BC Choral Mentorship Project and worked with Dr. Geoffrey Boers
• Featured choir for Music Monday at Vancouver Art Gallery (2018)
• Participated in Primary Days of Music and Lougheed Mall performances
• Hosted Dr. Susan Brumfield
• Developed “Start with Why” curriculum
• Year end band and choir Strawberry Tea performance with band teacher Peter Wenzek (precursor to Café 15!)
• Learned Filipino dance Tinikling from an EA
• Music inquiry project: How do musicians learn?

Book: Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Music: Sesere Eeye (Traditional Torres Strait Islander), Child of Tomorrow (Mark Patterson), Our Gallant Ship (Susan Brumfield)

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• Taught Kindergarten for the first time—numeracy clicked via Jen Barker’s pro-d
• Bringing literacy to life with Story Workshop routine, making actual Stone Soup, learning about wordless books, and singing folk songs to learn to read!
• SEL Second Step program was gold!
• Hosted Mother’s Day Tea— Kindergarten students served and sang to their moms
• Conducted a choir that included half the school at district music festival
• Collaborated with Cathy Hillman (exchange teacher) and Diana Williams (mentor)
• Began using online portfolios and strong classroom routines

Books: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Choir: Favorite Things (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Circle of Friends (Roger Emerson), May There Always Be Sunshine (Traditional Russian), When I Sing (Leeann Starkey)

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• Grade 5/6 French Immersion – first opportunity to combine my two passions – French and music!
• My class and school choir performed for Pink Shirt Day – shared my gifts with my new school
• Chaperoned the last Quebec trip with the Grade 7 class
• Executive functioning professional developed effective new routines
• Pandemic made us pivot online and once back in person embraced outdoor learning and attempted to get 10k steps/day with students
• Recognized potential to incorporate First People’s Principles of Learning as year-long themes

Book: Vers une approche intégrée by Roy Lyster

Music: Have you ever seen? [Jamais on n’a vu] (Judith Herrington & Sara Glick), Mon coq est mort (French children’s song), Dans la jungle (French version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Solomon Linda, adapted by Henri Salvador)

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• Introduced recorders, sewing projects, cursive writing; refined binder system (based on executive functioning workshop)
• Used multiple intelligences and personality assessments as foundation for the theme
• Empowered student voice: “Who does your learning belong to? Myself!”
• Completed the BCTF unit Gladys We Never Knew: The life of a child in a BC Indian Residential School
• Refined inquiry into action: “After you learn, make art or take action.” Result: student-initiated Homma’s Rainbow Crosswalk project with further guidance from Jenny Oliver, resource teacher and Tanya Major, principal

Book: Ensouling Our Schools by Jennifer Katz & Kevin Lamoureux

Music: Les bourdons (Traditional French canon), Rain (Ben Platt, Michael Pollack, Nolan Sipe, and Sean Douglas)

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• Mentored first student teacher, Emily Froese—joyful math co-teaching
• Student-inspired Charity Fair – leveraging students’ natural play of selling things to one another towards giving to others
• Hosted plays in the courtyard (another precursor to Café 15)
• Math Sketchnote project “What is math?”

Books: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, L’univers expliqué à mes petits-enfants by Hubert Reeves

Music: Child of the Universe (Craig Cassils), La Violette (Traditional Acadian, Susan Brumfield), Vent frais/V’la Bon Vent (Traditional French)

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• Acted out Les six hommes by David McKee with buddy classes
• “Mesearch” identity projects after author visit from Jeff Chiba Stearns
• Carol of the Bells flashlight dance for Winter Concert
• Second time using Gladys adding Les bas du pensionnat by Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes
• Launched first Café 15: student-run arts and culture showcase

Books: The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten, On Being Yukiko by Jeff Chiba Stearns and Lillian Michiko Blakey

Music: Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel Un Canadien Errant (arr. Brian Finley)

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• Welcomed baby Marcus on his September and June visits—learning means growth over time
• Launched JEDI “Actualités” (current events) project and classroom moral discussions
• “Artivism” gallery added to Café 15
• Alumni invited to join Café 15
• Numeracy and literacy programs becoming more established

Book: The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga

Music: Lève les voiles (Béatrice Martin / Coeur de pirate), Think of Others (poem by Mahmoud Darwish)/Al Shlosha D’Varim (Allan E. Naplan),

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• Mentored second student-teacher Elizabeth Kibblewhite – valued additions to Café 15
• Enacting lessons from The Courage to Be Disliked – encouragement; separation of tasks
• SEL lessons on dignity and respect with school counselor
• Became a more fully Francophile classroom encouraging “Plus de français que d’anglais!” rather than all French expectation
• Launched The Learning Iceberg and “My Learning Journey” self-assessment booklets
• Made booklets for everything!
• Refined “Learning is…” inquiry cycle
• Math Sketchnote project turned explosion book “Mathsplosion” as review
• Began Teacher-Librarian journey and this blog!

Book: The Courage to Teach by Parker J. Palmer

Music: Ton thé (Susan Brumfield), If I Only Had a Brain (Harold Arlen/arr. Sally K. Albrecht), Parlez-vous français? (Traditional French children’s song)

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In all, each year spiraled into the next and my coups de coeurs grew and evolved into better and better versions and iterations of what came before. I can’t list everything that happened but I hope this list gives you a good idea of how I’ve grown as an educator over the past 11 years. Each year my students get a better version of myself and I look forward to continuing the journey!

Thanks for reading and for celebrating my 11th teaching anniversary with me!

Where do you see yourself in my story?

What are some of your coups de coeurs (favorite things) from your career so far?

What piques your curiosity about my list? Comment and I’ll explain more!

Autios! À la prochaine!