Grade 3 Teacher: Amira

Amira is a young energetic teacher filled with a sense of youthful wonderment. Her teaching characteristics would be considered constructivist in nature, as she regularly joins her students in searching for new knowledge. She believes that students learn best when they are actively engaged in learning tasks, rather than being teacher directed. Many of her activities maximize student learning opportunities by facilitating collaborative learning arrangements among small groups of classmates. Amira's classroom often has a soft buzz of voices and motion as the students are involved in these activities.

This teacher's soft, gentle tone of voice, and ready smile suggest a confidence that she knows what she is doing and her students are glad to be in that class. She has a number of students on individualized behaviour management programs and what is noteworthy is that she has had success in bringing the troublesome disruptive school behaviour under control.

The group seating arrangement in the classroom and noise do not disturb Amira. She is trying to broaden the minds of her students and help them develop strategies to become more confident as learners and learn to work effectively with others. Her classroom frequently gives way to an excited, open group of learners using cooperative learning principles.