Jennifer Bancej

Exciting news!!! Whether a teacher or a coach, BTC has you covered in our new set of Summer Institutes! Come experience one of two separate but overlapping institutes for teachers and coaches. July 20, 2025. Sacramento, California! [1/3]

🏆 The excellence of our teaching is not visible in the student who came in with proficiency. It's evident in those who needed support. #LeadInclusion #EdLeaders #Teachers #UDL #SBLchat #TG2Chat #ATAssessment #TeacherTwitter

Check out my new channel Cultivating Innovation on YouTube for stories that unlock #learning, #Wellbeing , and #innovation. Let’s #transform #learning #leadership @creativity together! @cultivatinginnovation6097?si=2ASzS20pzsWC6L2s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@cultivatingin… @NCreativityN @CNICnow @IPiEducation @YongZhaoEd @pasi_sahlberg

💡 Until we give #students multiple means of showing what they understand/can do, we are not implementing mastery-based grading (SBG). It's still performance on a task, albeit reported on standards. Multiple means of expression is how we take it to the next level. #LeadInclusion

I really enjoyed being a participant in the Wisconsin Creativity Summit yesterday! I am feeling inspired by innovation & looking forward to the fall! Thanks for inviting me, @PeterGamwell! Looking forward to future events! @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @ocdsb @161616SL @Buffone_Pino

I'll be giving a presentation on my journey so far with Building Thinking Classrooms in biology and science over the last three years. Come join me! @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @ocdsb @PeterGamwell @pgliljedahl fb.me/e/4Q5kIFDuj

In defense of "Building Thinking Classrooms" ... Many students are idle in school and do benefit from the "break" in monotony that is afforded via BTC. Standing, speaking, writing, collaborating and wrestling with ideas are all good practices (and should be encouraged), I think the issues with BTC (and any "stand alone" pedagogy) is working with tasks that are not mathematically relevant, interesting...or tasks that do not move kids into a place where they can engage in meaningful ways with rigorous, quality content. And, working with BTC exclusively seems a bit extreme (not everything needs to happen on a whiteboard). But, there is no doubt that BTC has helped many teachers authentically examine their own practices that may have kept students silent and seated and disengaged in math class. We all have a lot to learn. None of us know all the math or all the methods, but we should all be willing to reflect. Yes, we do need to know our content deeply and continue to grow in our understanding of mathematics, but understanding kids, pedagogy and different ways to bring students into the conversation is important and BTC (and others) offer insight that is needed in math education. #iteachmath

Delighted to share my episode of the (@DreamEd_WRDSB) Podcast now available! @jeewanc and I discuss how we can help classrooms, schools and organizations to bring their learning cultures to life.youtube.com/watch?v=5tKr74… @CreativeBrainWk @uLeadconference @IPiEducation

Hands-on population studies in grade 12 bio. Students went through different ways to estimate population size. Quadrat. Transect. Mark-Recapture. They made estimates, calculated actual population size & examined population distribution in quadrats. @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB

@OTHSMrT @DerekGee7 @othsathletics @ScottMcEwen7 @jennyfshr @mrseabbott @CranstonMae Amazing!!!

Way to go @DerekGee7 @othsathletics @ScottMcEwen7 @jennyfshr @MrsBancej @mrseabbott @CranstonMae

@Dean_of_math @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB I absolutely will!!! Want to chat virtually? I have a few others interested. 😀

@MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB Tell me more about this. This needs to be how I end my Biology course.

Concept mapping for summative exit interviews is underway. Students choose a central theme that they saw throughout the course and connect it to major concepts. Amazing!!! @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB

It has been a year of murals for the student portfolio in biology. Looking forward to seeing the jungle one in progress right now evolve! @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB @PeterGamwell

Amazing surgical skills from one of my grade 11 students. The first time in 25 years that I have seen the peritoneum left intact. A surgeon in the making. 😀 @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB

💡🤓It was a treat to visit the ‘thinking classroom’ of @MrsBancej this aft @othscans …where students spoke genuinely of differentiated assessment and instruction, experiential learning and living… an exemplary model of teaching environments @OCDSB!😁🌟@161616SL @PeterGamwell

More model making in grade 11 college bio. This time the respiratory system. Making connections through a visible representation of the system. Finish our models today! @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB

For our pathogens and disease unit, one of my students made a model of a hospital room for the unit portfolio. She described to me all of the measures taken in hospitals used to reduce the spread of infection! #SNC4M @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB @PeterGamwell

As part of our biology portfolio, students have the option of creating something. It can be any format they choose. Completed Arctic mural is an example from last semester. Evolution of jellyfish is currently being created! @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB

We used cloths with different absorbency and submerged them in water. We then squeezed out the water into beakers seeing which one absorbed more. Then we discussed the importance of water reabsorption in the large intestine. @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB

content driven learning. I have been trying to think of a way for students to physically connect with these concepts & finally planned something I am proud of. Each station has a simple explanation of one organ ..... 2/3 @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB @PeterGamwell @161616SL

On Friday I tried something new with my SBI3C class. I have found that many students in this course have a tough time connecting with the vocabulary & concepts of human body systems & their processes. It's ...... 1/3 @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @ocdsb @PeterGamwell @161616SL

Making heart models in grade 11 college bio. The yarn shows the flow of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood through the heart. @MrsBancej @OTHSPANTHERS @OCDSB @PeterGamwell