tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49552676336644753882024-03-12T18:49:23.067-06:00EduTalk for Today"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all" AristotleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-31733164400114864662017-06-20T07:54:00.001-06:002020-11-04T10:56:58.363-06:00High Relationships / High Academics: It takes Unity to Achieve this.<div style="text-align: justify;">
As I went to church this weekend, I listened to the visiting speaker talk about issues that divide many churches today. (Don’t tune me out just yet!) Usually what divides people in churches are a matter of preference and not because it’s absolutely essential. Some of the things that divide churches are the kind of music played, or the version of the Bible used from the pulpit, or whether you’re allowed to have a social drink or not. Yet all of these issues are matters of preference.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He illustrated this by using a diagram such as the one below.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gFviILWIXSw/X6Lc7-qVxgI/AAAAAAAA-Gs/i01P9z929j0HSPjzbnYhthOxLC_0f6nvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s288/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="156" data-original-width="288" height="204" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gFviILWIXSw/X6Lc7-qVxgI/AAAAAAAA-Gs/i01P9z929j0HSPjzbnYhthOxLC_0f6nvgCLcBGAsYHQ/w377-h204/Picture1.png" width="377" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;">When churches have Low Love Low Truth, they are going nowhere because there is little vision or direction.</div></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When churches have High Love and Low Truth, they become too permissive or passive, even though everyone is getting along, nobody really is taking a stand for anything.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When churches have Low Love and High Truth, they tend to become intolerant and judgmental of others, or very legalistic.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When churches have High Love and High Truth, they embody a balance that allows the church to overlook preferences or differences that matter little to the grand scheme of things because there is a Love for one another and a Love for Truth. These churches grow because there is a unity that thrives pulling everyone in the same direction.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So what does a Sunday morning message have to do with school? If you didn’t grow up in a strict legalistic Baptist church as I did, maybe the relevance is lost on you. But I think there are a lot of similarities in how schools operate. Let’s change a few of the terms first. Instead of Love, let’s call it Relationships, and instead of Truth, let’s call it Academics.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">When a school operates in the Low Relationships Low Academics quadrant, they are a struggling school. There is tension or division, and the purpose of learning is lost.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When a school operates in High Relationships Low Academics quadrant, they become too permissive and kids are running the school. There is chaos. Standards are absent to hold students and teachers accountable. Learning takes a backseat in these scenarios. When the relationship is everything often what starts with unity ends in a division because the purpose is unclear.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When a school operates in the Low Relationships High Academics quadrant, they tend to become intolerant and judgmental of others who differ with their opinion or ways of doing things. These schools resist change because they are very set in their ways. They are right so why change. These schools are also very punitive towards behaviours or grades because the relationship piece is of little value and academics are everything.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When a school operates in the High Relationships High Academics quadrant, they embody a balance that allows the school to embrace diversity. Differences of opinion are valued and recognized as preferences. Teachers are encouraged to be creative and express themselves however they feel as long as it is in the best interest of the students learning needs. These schools understand that relationship with one another as staff and students is the key ingredient where learning begins. They realize students learn from teachers who care about them as a person first and know how to help them learn. There’s a balance. As a result, these schools thrive, because they move forward together with a common goal in mind.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So what does that mean for us as a school? The desire is for unity not for uniformity. Uniformity demands that everyone believe the same, or agree on everything. That is not realistic. We strive for consensus with the understanding that some will not be in agreement, but they will still work and support the majority. We need to be in agreement on the Code of Conduct, the TQS, Alberta Education Initiatives, Grassland School Division vision and mission, the Division policies, pedagogical practices, assessment, and lots more. These are the essentials.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, when schools have developed a negative culture where it is acceptable to be critical of one another based on different preferences, these schools rarely move forward with success. Without unity, schools stall. Student learning takes second place because disunity distracts everyone from achieving what they are there to do. High Relationship, High Academic schools respect each other’s opinions without taking it personally, or it becomes a deal breaker for working together. They talk things out honestly and respectfully rather than meet in the hallways to solicit support for their positions because they have a need to be right.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’m certain that staff at Bassano School want to be a High Relationship High Academic school. But if we focus on our differences, our focus is on each other. If we focus with unity, our focus is on our students, our school, and our communities. It’s not realistic to think we will always agree on how things should be done, but if we agree to respect each other despite our different preferences, we will remain united and be a strong healthy school. When we disagree with one another, it’s important not complain to one another about something because this promotes disunity. A legitimate complaint followed by solutions directed to the appropriate individuals in a respectful manner promotes unity.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I say this not because I feel that we are divided. Every school has its challenges, and overall I think we are pulling together as a staff. I feel a positive energy shift within our school. I would like for us to keep moving forward with unity and harmony. As we have a few new staff joining us next year, we need to be open to new ideas and suggestions they may bring with them. We need to make them feel welcome and important. I know we will do that because we want to be united and we want to grow as a school.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-54407805792023645922017-02-01T12:18:00.003-06:002017-02-01T12:18:51.621-06:00My Philosophy of Education Starts With Children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*PKtrb1Xgld3jqd-CRX5udA.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*PKtrb1Xgld3jqd-CRX5udA.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3" id="cb11" name="cb11" style="--baseline-multiplier: 0.179; font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 10px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From the earliest moments of systematic knowledge acquisition or formal schools, Aristotle classified the pursuit of knowledge into three categories: the theoretical pursuit of truth for truth’s sake, the productive discipline of making things, and the practical discipline of making judgments. Not much has really changed over the years because each of these disciplines suggests that the learner was central to the process of learning as a life-long learner, which subsequently transferred this knowledge into something usable that lead to action and yet guided by principles of what is good for all. Learning from that point forward encouraged the individual to pursue knowledge through inquiry that centred around the constructivist principle attaching meaning to learning outcomes or concepts. But somewhere along the way, education was limited to the elite upper class heavily influenced by the Industrial Age, restricting many from accessing formal learning opportunities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That was the past. As learning theories have swung like a pendulum over the years, and many repeating themselves, we have moved into the 21st Century, and it is imperative that we base all educational philosophies upon proven theory of understanding and knowing the truth (knowledge) that places the burden of learning squarely on the individual learner.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While we are inundated with all kinds of initiatives and approaches to teaching learning these days, like RTI – Response to Intervention, CRM – Collaborative Response Model, Adaptive Schools, Math for Success, Brain Based Learning, Personalized Learning, Differentiated Instruction, and more, we must keep one thing central, the students. What sometimes gets lost with teachers under the pressure of learning a new approach is the learning itself. We need to stop and ask ourselves, “Is this just good practice around students and learning, or is it a new initiative that will fade into the past like so many have before?” Recently, a new research study released by Oxford University stated that in the next 25 years, 47% of the jobs will be gone due to computerization, machination and robotics. While this might scare us reading this, it is ever more increasingly important to teach students how to learn. It is imperative then to assist our students in the process of being a life-long learner, and when we have done so, we have helped them for life.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the 21st Century, placing the learner at the centre of all learning experiences needs to be aided by technology, makerspaces, experiential learning, and other ways to engage the learner.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Learners need to develop skills, knowledge, and competencies that will benefit them in school and life,</li>
<li>With outcomes and standards established, we need to support learners in attaining these outcomes with means other than textbooks and worksheets,</li>
<li>Learners are supported in the construction of knowledge that links past and present knowledge with outcomes in meaningful ways through connections to real life,</li>
<li>Greater emphasis needs to be placed on literacy and numeracy skills for lifelong learning,</li>
<li>Assisting learners in developing learning pathways based on intrinsic motivation that integrate personal values, interests, and goals,</li>
<li>Each learner is considered unique, allowing flexibility of where, when and how they are able to learn,</li>
<li>Engaging parents as an active and essential role in creating meaningful opportunities for the learner,</li>
<li>Supporting teachers in their role as facilitators of learning through professional development and with their Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s),</li>
<li>Engage learners through technology connecting them to a world of information,</li>
<li>Incorporating technology into the learning experience that embraces creativity as the highest order of thinking,</li>
<li>Understanding where students come from and what trauma they may have experience that is impeding their ability to learn.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the end, it simply comes back to putting kids needs first over those of ourselves as educators. It’s also about treating the students as we wish we were treated as students. When we show respect to students, we create the fertile soil where learning can and will happen. Each student will learn at different rates and by different methods, but in the end, they are still learners, and as a teacher, I have been granted the wonderful opportunity to change lives that ultimately changes their future.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-80804314276787610522016-09-06T19:30:00.000-06:002016-09-06T19:30:47.356-06:00Together: A Community of Learners Dedicated to Student Success<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/fdynZRLv7f3raI" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/Hilltopper/together-65759698" target="_blank" title="Together">Together</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/Hilltopper" target="_blank">EduTalk for Today</a></strong> </div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-53390186903979881392016-06-28T08:12:00.000-06:002016-06-30T10:22:27.165-06:00Is it FEAR you’re afraid of?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k_EXAPufXSA/V3PCLbsGskI/AAAAAAAAgOQ/AvbMWWAIdxsCIvAquJmzUsOvq9b9MztOgCLcB/s1600/CmGE2YpWIAAegxM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="afraid of fear" border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k_EXAPufXSA/V3PCLbsGskI/AAAAAAAAgOQ/AvbMWWAIdxsCIvAquJmzUsOvq9b9MztOgCLcB/s400/CmGE2YpWIAAegxM.jpg" title="Fear" width="400" /></a></div>
While mowing my lawn listening to <a href="http://switchfoot.com/" target="_blank">Switchfoot</a> on <a class="" href="https://www.spotify.com/ca-en/" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, I paused for a second as Jon Foreman sang the lyrics, “is it fear you’re afraid of?” Had to think about that line for a second. How many times are we afraid? Afraid of change. Afraid of living. Afraid of risks. Afraid of fear. Some people live in constant fear. Sad really, when fear takes hold of a heart, driving people to irrational anxiety or worry to the point of not living. I’ve been there myself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a child, my parents would send me downstairs to fetch something for them. Being the oldest child, it seemed that responsibility fell to me more often than my siblings. I hated going downstairs by myself. Some people love the isolation and quiet of the basement, but not me. It was one of my greatest fears. I was convinced there were people downstairs just under the stairs ready to grab my ankles through the open stairwell. To make matters worse, the light switch was at the top of the stairs. On more than one occasion, one less than sympathetic family member found it funny to turn the light off while I was downstairs. Fumbling my way through the dark I would <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="2ba7e20e-ba8e-4750-92a8-53b19d09e94a" id="0a78deaf-efed-44da-bfcf-7b7f078294cd"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="26ef2473-a61f-47ce-91f9-fabb9f70435c" id="5503cf13-8166-4750-b1dc-5d82d394469b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="2e8236ff-f8b3-4283-bb91-93ee69c8b0f2" id="017d8918-fb2c-457b-a6e3-47c53813dc54"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5688df39-6993-47ab-af2f-9e578a0e4f0c" id="1e706be9-319c-4de5-92e3-db5f7096eea8">clamour</gs></gs></gs></gs> up the stairs to find the door locked. I could the hear <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3ca6c22b-2947-4d7f-93b6-b50aae4f5c6b" id="2fdb1562-2b1d-45c3-8b5e-d0c0e43ca39f"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="235628c0-79a6-4395-bbbc-29f2476a69d3" id="d62856a1-e49e-4d80-9d88-820a3851fce1"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="119945af-4c6c-414f-9bdf-3e3a03d29cd1" id="ec8332e4-b50e-47a2-a84d-3db68a9b7071"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8d85b361-035f-46ec-bd14-8c531f255275" id="758d7162-8525-4003-91e6-63b35be10531">sniggling</gs></gs></gs></gs> siblings on the other side of the door getting all kinds of pleasure at my expense. Fear would rise inside of me intermingled with physical panic causing me to gasp for air. I hated those stairs, I hated that basement, I wanted to hate those siblings.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Years later, my fear turned to full blown anxiety when I found myself working in a group home trying to put myself through college. As much I told myself that I didn’t need to be afraid of those kids, my irrational fear could not control the thought patterns I had trained my mind to think. I felt so out of control and afraid. It took a lot of reading, self-reflection, journaling, and talking to finally change those patterns.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That was over 30 years ago. Over the years, I have used my weaknesses and failures as a means to empathize with my students in the classroom. As teachers, Parker Palmer reminds us that we <i>“try to teach to their fearful hearts”</i> so they can be freed up to learn and change their hearts. How many of our students struggle to come to school each and every day? Fear is fear, irrational or not. It still bottles people up limiting them from really living. Nothing drives me crazier than watching unsympathetic and uncaring individuals ignorantly go about their daily affairs, so wrapped up in their selfish lives, oblivious of people suffering from fear. And even worse, when it’s kids who are suffering!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It takes very little for us to smile and say hello. It takes very little to stop and engage in conversation. It takes very little to give of our time to make another feel of some importance or significance. It takes very little in comparison to a lifetime to stop and listen to the heartbeat of a child’s soul echoing its sad refrain. Yet if it takes so little, what stops so many of us from giving a little of ourselves to ease the child’s fearful suffering.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I think truth be told, many of us have yet to master the fear we have within ourselves. We are still afraid of fear. We are afraid to die, we afraid to live, we are afraid to fail, we are afraid to succeed, we are afraid to lose, we are afraid to win, we are afraid of change, we are afraid things staying the same. The list goes on. But we downplay the power fear has over us when we don’t acknowledge how much it controls us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“As soon as our own safety is threatened, we tend to grab the first stick or gun available, telling ourselves that our survival is what really counts even if thousands of others are not going to make it. Aren’t we so insecure that we will snatch at any form of power that gives us a little bit of control over who we are, what we do, and where we go?</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“I know my sticks and guns. Sometimes my stick is a friend with more influence than I; sometimes my gun is money or a degree; sometimes it is a little talent that others don’t have; and sometimes it is special knowledge, or a hidden memory, or even a cold <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="309bc746-7a3b-4b20-9f3c-f58f71b6ed83" id="89475075-d10b-4935-b426-cee64c5c2a04"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0424779d-53a7-429e-b9ba-08ed1de707a3" id="046dc14e-93c4-4285-afa7-1c13aaf64d69">stare</gs></gs>. I will grab it quickly and without much hesitation when I need it to stay in control. And before I realize it, I have pushed my friends away.” </i>Henri Nouwen.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I am not afraid to say that I still live in fear, but I have acknowledged it, talked it through with loved ones, embraced a growth mindset that doesn’t feel shame for being afraid. I may still be afraid of fear, but I don’t let it stop me from living. I use fear to keep me alert to the dangers in life, not to force me into hiding. I don’t keep it all bottled up inside anymore. I’m honest about what it did to me. I’m not ashamed of it because I’ve had to push passed it. I allow myself to feel things and not become so detached and calloused. I let myself be human. So, yes, it is FEAR that I’m afraid of. Truth be told, we’re all afraid. But can we <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="4f2861e5-0c28-4cb2-84c0-821865d3bceb" id="61f6fe0d-ebd8-4f8e-a8b9-2a9301b6aa2f"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ab608f06-4712-453c-9b37-f9572aec7a46" id="75707fb0-05b9-41cc-a8b4-d18b6968f490">all admit it</gs></gs>?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Karen <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1851d4ca-40ea-4eef-a30f-ddec1abcd817" id="b7de7bea-aaa7-42bc-9d9b-e15101810936"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="6c56fecf-44d0-48ac-a6a4-e5a084678f9b" id="d13964d5-76f0-49b4-88b5-e68390c9d264">Thompson Walker</gs></gs> adds some of her thoughts on what fear can teach us.</div>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/karen_thompson_walker_what_fear_can_teach_us.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-37588303056477043232016-06-21T18:58:00.001-06:002016-06-30T06:50:11.459-06:00I Dared to Gaze Off into the Sunset…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nAkH3B45YXg/V2ngdQ6hPJI/AAAAAAAAgGw/2gR7rj4rLaQPFI7uB6PkIQASbh_IcRHqQCLcB/s1600/IMG_2973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="sunset" border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nAkH3B45YXg/V2ngdQ6hPJI/AAAAAAAAgGw/2gR7rj4rLaQPFI7uB6PkIQASbh_IcRHqQCLcB/s400/IMG_2973.JPG" title="Sunset at Crawling Valley Campground" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How often do we fail to stop and appreciate what we have in life? We get so mired in the negative. So much is lost of time because we fail to adjust our attitudes. If you were to ask me how I was doing a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have replied with much positive, because all I could see, feel, breath was the noxious negativity that I found myself in. Every time I opened my <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ee502ab4-1c23-404a-8540-15f2ac684d74" id="a7f3a866-bdc2-498b-9fde-ae2071857f93">mouth I</gs> hated what I heard myself saying. I was frustrated and angry. I could choose to remain in this state of mind, or I could lose myself in the beauty of nature and space to regain perspective.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So for the past three weekends, we have gone camping. A time to get away and reflect. A time to read and escape into a world of fiction and fantasy. A time to rest and get away from the demands of life. A time to refresh and feed my soul. A time to heal from all the hurtful things hurled at me. A time to forgive and release the bitterness that encompassed my being.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And then on one of these camping excursions, a sunset rests gently into that <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="abae3f4c-4c47-47b9-9d02-06d2973e602b" id="7dcdb5f7-9511-4f30-9009-3f8cfc5f726c">goodnight</gs> that reminds you that everything will be okay. The winds still. The glassy mirroring water shimmers tranquillity for those willing to stop and dare to gaze off into the sunset to lose themselves for the next few minutes. Peace floods my soul. I am in awe and wonder of such beauty that the toxic tentacles evaporate into oblivion unable to maintain its hold on my heart. I want to feel love, not hate. I want to care despite the hurt and pain of rejection and failure. I am free to love because I choose to let the negative go.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
May you dare to gaze off into the sunset and find some peace too! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://medium.com/@vhill01/i-dared-to-gaze-off-into-the-sunset-24f85f5cb3b3#.mancmu84i" target="_blank">Medium.com</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-40711212703190104862016-06-12T18:05:00.000-06:002016-06-30T06:50:36.236-06:00Love and Learning Go Hand in Hand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltBurFy7XZ0/V133vaJw5aI/AAAAAAAAf8M/YGkv4Nx78zcKTm1xEZuqdjGGwudZ9Wj4gCKgB/s1600/1-VtD-x9RYMUU4aef2uIuhtQ.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="lonely" border="0" height="387" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltBurFy7XZ0/V133vaJw5aI/AAAAAAAAf8M/YGkv4Nx78zcKTm1xEZuqdjGGwudZ9Wj4gCKgB/s640/1-VtD-x9RYMUU4aef2uIuhtQ.jpeg" title="lonely students" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was reading this morning from 1 Corinthians 13 this morning. Not to get all spiritual on everyone, I was, however, drawn into thought about the centrality of love with regard to schools and learning. As a teacher, if all l <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="10438acb-e2e5-4cbd-91c7-6ef5fbe27fc9" id="406b66b0-f032-4fb9-bbfa-6245762a38ed">focus</gs> on is covering the curriculum outcomes without a love for the student, or a care for their situation in life, I may get results, but not near the results I would with love.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Let’s break this down. I’ve copied the passage that so many of us are familiar with from the numerous summer weddings we have attended. “Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not brag, it is not puffed up, it does not behave inappropriately, it does not seek its own way, it is not provoked, it keeps no account of wrong, it does not rejoice over injustice but rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 TLV</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The teacher that loves the students, from a place so deep that cares for their being and the whole child, gets results beyond the curricular outcomes. That teacher puts the <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c71844fb-cc46-486e-856e-7ee9448e9ccd" id="2a889a0c-657e-448e-a40d-e8bdf7048146">students</gs> needs before their own. That teacher is patient with all the frustrating and repeating negative <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e75a44e7-a83d-47f9-8959-39215301828f" id="70633aa7-76cf-46ba-b949-8e922aa571e8">behaviours</gs> of the student. That teacher shows kindness in return to rude comments and doesn’t keep a record of wrongdoings by the student. That teacher doesn’t think themselves better than any <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="7ee3b171-7add-4e33-88f0-e59bfe757ae0" id="3f4bff57-a53d-4a2d-9b54-a428ddd80fd4">students but</gs> is grateful for the opportunity to positively influence and change a life. That teacher doesn’t dig in their heels against change because they want their own way, they put students first. That teacher doesn’t label students lazy when the student <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1b443461-b0ec-48e5-8f67-a2faf462f2f2" id="22ada8f4-2e02-4b33-888f-2a3406dc124a">underperforms</gs>, instead, they look for ways to engage the student and build a healthy trusting relationship where learning can happen. That teacher embraces their own failures as well as the students so that they can both learn together. That teacher believes that students can learn and bears <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="825e4867-b56d-4262-8b99-fbd6e1019bc4" id="274c0f84-8e3a-4f42-9efe-d2875233fa1e">that responsibility to ensure</gs> every student is given that opportunity. That teacher possesses a hope that every student will grow up with a passion for learning and growing. No matter what happens in and out of the classroom, that teacher endures all things until retirement day still believing in students and wanting the best for them. Why? Because that teacher knows that love never fails.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was talking to a friend and colleague recently, and he shared a story about going into a Principals office and <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3c5d3945-11cd-464f-8532-a09ccad082f4" id="e823380a-74aa-49a5-8848-437ffa1b166f">being</gs> the question, “Whose the most important people in the school?” He replied, “The students.” The principal made the buzzing sound you hear when you give a wrong answer and said, “Wrong, the teachers are the most important.” I’m saddened by that principal’s perspective, because when we as teachers, administrators, and staff put students and their needs first, we all benefit in the end. In my school, students are the most important. Why? Because I love my students. I want them to learn. Love and learning go hand in hand.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You think about that.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-77398028972386915252016-06-09T07:04:00.001-06:002016-06-16T09:00:32.244-06:00What Makes a School Great? Whole School Approach to Learning<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<div style="line-height: 1.2;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LcIaK-lwagM/V1lofWghhTI/AAAAAAAAf2w/OeYiI3YL2Pkc-JgAwfKNYa3sS4A2itZ0ACKgB/s1600/IMG_2882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LcIaK-lwagM/V1lofWghhTI/AAAAAAAAf2w/OeYiI3YL2Pkc-JgAwfKNYa3sS4A2itZ0ACKgB/s400/IMG_2882.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to start by saying, Bassano School is a great school. It’s a great school for a number of reasons. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, Bassano School has a great history of educating children. Some of you may have been so fortunate to have attended Bassano School fifteen, twenty, or even fifty years ago. I love walking the hallways in the high school and looking at the photographs of past graduates. Whether you attended in the past or not, I think we can agree that Bassano School has established quite a legacy of giving students opportunities to advance themselves beyond Grade 12 if they so chose. But our school isn’t made great simply because of what it did in the past, we must continue to stir the minds of students for learning. If all we strive for is to educate students as our primary goal, we have missed our purpose. We want to teach students how to learn as a lifelong pursuit. If all we do <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c3b33a26-f980-4db1-ade1-21abb085a452" id="3ed22493-982e-41f1-a846-15a771312c9c">is equip students with</gs> the tools to learn how to think for themselves, learn new things as they grow, and know how to work, we have reached a great goal. So we are not in the business to <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="78b27049-ba03-4710-991f-1d8e86ed2015" id="0b67f813-4f48-4e81-a9e0-549735f7d12b">educate as in</gs> a task to be completed, but rather we are a school that teaches students how to be learners.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, Bassano School is a great school because we challenge students and teachers alike to love learning. We want each person in our School to become independent, critical thinkers. We’re even okay with students arguing their point of view, albeit respectfully. Our task as teachers is not to teach students to submit to strict compliance. Our oldest daughter was the compliant child. She did exactly what she was supposed to do most of the time. She may not have agreed with what was asked of her, but she dutifully complied. That’s not what I wanted for her because so often I found that she was living her life to please us as parents and not living out her passions, her own dreams. Not unlike our students, we want them to add their own <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="764c1c56-ac88-4c09-b9b7-ddb2c1782b6f" id="713b0789-9fc6-42ae-a641-207549f6e41d">flavour</gs> and style to their learning. Learning needs to be relevant to their own lives in order for it be meaningful. The learning isn’t limited to students. As teachers, we need to be <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="035b5205-d9fa-4e92-822c-1048675c893e" id="408b8028-7c79-423d-aaf7-acd9a121f9fd">reflective</gs> in our teaching and learning. It requires us to stretch ourselves and ask the important questions of why we teach the way we do or do our assessment more fairly. If we want students to love learning, we need to love learning <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="6f2ef79b-3c4f-4753-a5dd-390dc8637f7a" id="3093c66a-5ab4-4cc2-9ee8-0ad03267faec">too and</gs> model it for our students.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Third, Bassano School is a great school because we believe that students and teachers alike are important. We believe that we cannot teach a child unless we foster an environment for relationship building with students. We need to be transparent mentors that can admit to failures and mistakes. Students need to know they can fail and still make things right and move forward. That’s why we allow students to do rewrites, <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="95ee6b29-2442-4bd7-9055-9c22976fc712" id="75f853b3-4a03-44a6-b6c2-3cc79873d0eb">redos</gs>, and retakes for tests and assignments. We encourage students and teachers to work together and find ways to demonstrate learning. We believe that every learner can learn, it’s only a matter of when they will learn. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fourth, Bassano School is a great school because we celebrate the diversity of race, religion, and orientation. We promote respect for all types of learners. We make no distinction between those with money and resources and those with little or no accumulated wealth. Everyone is treated with equality and fairness. We will not condone a sense of entitlement to dictate the future of our school. We live in a transient society with people coming and going in and out of our community. Everyone’s opinion matters, whether they have a short-term relationship with the school or have been here for a lifetime. We may not agree with one another, but we will respect the opinions of others with open-mindedness and tolerance. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally and most importantly, Bassano School is a great school because we have a caring and kind group of students in our school. We may have our conflicts from time to time, but that’s life. We will listen to students first before jumping to conclusions. We will hear every side out and try to talk things out before making decisions. We don’t expect perfection from our students, but we expect effort. Try, fail, try again, fail again, try harder and succeed. Not every student is destined for college or university, but we will make sure everyone is assisted in finding out what they want to do after school. We will listen to make sure students don’t fall through the cracks. Everyone is important and has value to us as a school. </span></span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-66958183686944771082016-05-16T10:25:00.005-06:002020-11-04T11:02:04.124-06:00Why is it so Hard to Change our Assessment Practices?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3TXP2lmWHdY/X6Leg3BwEtI/AAAAAAAA-HA/0TU8xMImFvkISR44B4ZmmExK5cUxMReQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s474/assess.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="474" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3TXP2lmWHdY/X6Leg3BwEtI/AAAAAAAA-HA/0TU8xMImFvkISR44B4ZmmExK5cUxMReQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/assess.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />My forte is talking about character education, behavioural challenges, student issues when it comes to addressing personal struggles that are interfering with learning, and integrating technology into the classroom effectively and meaningfully. Often as a young teacher, when I heard we were going to talk about assessment I felt like the person on the left. I'm by no means an assessment expert, although I have read more than my fair share of assessment experts' books, blogs, watched tons of videos, and attended conferences with Rick Wormeli, Doug Reeves, and Dylan Wiliam, and I understand and now practice a Standards Based or Outcomes Based philosophical approach. Before coming to Alberta last year, I thought I was just an ordinary educator from Saskatchewan, who was using and implementing outcomes-based assessment in the classroom largely because I thought most teachers were doing the same everywhere across Western Canada. However, I've come to realise over the past year and a half, that is not the case at all. Most teachers are very good at teaching to the outcomes. They know their material, they teach the concepts, students are learning, and we are seeing success. So it isn't so much in the teaching that we have our challenges. But aligning assessment practices to teaching outcomes is not happening in a consistent fashion across schools, divisions, and the province. I had my struggles with implementing outcomes-based assessment at first, but I made the change because it was the right and fair thing to students. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Approximately eight years ago, I was put to the test about my assessment philosophy. I say philosophy because I was a district administrator at the time, and not directly in a K-12 classroom. But if I wanted to be an instructional leader, I needed to know what we expected from our teachers. I had just finished my Master's which had done little to redirect my pedagogical philosophy towards Outcomes-Based Assessment (OBA). The program was very traditional in its focus. It wasn't until I was quizzed, or rather challenged by a friend about my assessment views that I realised I needed to make the shift. He kept saying things like, "if we are teaching to outcomes, shouldn't we be only assessing the outcomes?" That was an important question because both of us were watching a lot of teachers assess the end product and thinking they were assessing the outcome. For example, if a cover page for an essay or project was not one of the outcomes, then why is it being graded and included in the overall mark. Or if participation is not a listed outcome, why are teachers marking participation. That was the first challenge to my thinking about assessment. In addition, I think we really need to challenge the practice of including homework for grades, especially if that is not one of the outcomes.<br />
<br />
The next challenge to my thinking was around how we penalise students for not knowing the outcomes at the time of instruction. If a student is assessed on one outcome in September and demonstrates only a basic understanding of it then, typically that was the grade they got at the time of testing. But in November, I was testing another outcome that clearly required students to demonstrate the prior outcome in order to show they understood the new outcome, shouldn't we be going back and changing the grade of the first outcome to reflect that the student has a better understanding of a previous outcome? I really struggled with this, because I was trained that whatever a student got for a grade was what they carried with them into the final calculating of their grade. I was looking at assessment as defined by time, but if I really embraced lifelong learning, then why would I penalise students because they hadn't mastered the outcome when I taught it, only to demonstrate that they learned it later.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It took months of coaching, but I changed. Hence writing this blog. Maybe my story can be of help to others struggling with making the shift. So I would like to outline some of the challenges I see many teachers getting stuck with and preventing them from making the changes.<br />
<br />
Take a few minutes to watch Doug Reeves video where he talks about changing our assessment practices to being more effective.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G4IAv7K02Uc?list=PLskfbA37O4dnqUZJqgotGfk8m2BRdOf_d" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
Although I didn't have the luxury to watch his video before I changed my assessment practices, he captures the essence of my journey. But let me highlight a few of the big changes I made.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>1. Don't combine multiple outcomes into one grading category</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The traditional breakdown in high school for course outlines usually includes a grading policy. I was trained to write out exactly how the students were to be graded so they knew exactly how I was coming up with their grade. That meant that I clumped all kinds of summative assessment together under one category. Usually, it looked something like this for an English course:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Written Assignments - 30%</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tests/Quizzes - 20%</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Major Essay - 20%</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Final Exam - 30%</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Looks about right, doesn't it? To prove my point, I Googled course outlines and found hundreds of similar examples that are still being used like this today.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Imkzd14ix1w/VnNiQ-xXJgI/AAAAAAAAQR8/6tPQUj0TmPs/s1600/grading_policy.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Imkzd14ix1w/VnNiQ-xXJgI/AAAAAAAAQR8/6tPQUj0TmPs/s640/grading_policy.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What I found was teachers working with categories of activities where they did exactly what I was doing years ago.<br />
<b><br /></b> <b>2. Don't test more than one general outcome per summative assessment.</b><br />
<br />
Why? There are a few problems with this approach. Let's first of all assume that there are eight general outcomes to be covered in this course. If we are teaching to outcomes, there needs to be one summative assessment per general outcome. Summative doesn't mean only tests or exams, but it can be an essay, a project, or a quiz. Essentially, it's anything that determines what a student can demonstrate with varying degrees of understanding at the end of the learning outcome. The curriculum may have three or five specific outcomes or concepts under each general outcome, but for reporting purposes, there needs to be only one summative assessment for the general outcome. I need to use a significant number of formative assessments for each of the specific outcomes or concepts that guide my instruction to ensure that students understand the general outcome before that summative assessment happens. When we add more than one outcome into the summative process, we lose the efficacy of the assessment process. It needs to be clear to the student to what degree they have achieved the outcome. If we add other outcomes to our assessment, it has a negative impact on validity. Validity is how accurately a conclusion, measurement or concept corresponds to what is being tested. How do we really know if a student has achieved mastery or not on an outcome if it's mixed with other outcomes? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Take Saskatchewan ELA 30A Outcomes for example; there are 10 total general outcomes, therefore, we should only have one summative assessment per outcome. Like I said, I may use lots of formative assessments with the different novels, poems, short stories, non-fiction literature that I use in the classroom. But I don't grade the students' understanding of the literature, but their understanding of the outcomes. The literature is only the medium I'm using to demonstrate the students can show they have met the outcome. So when I'm teaching the first outcome: </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>CR A 30.1 View, listen to, read, comprehend, and respond to a variety of grade-appropriate First Nations, Métis, Saskatchewan, and Canadian texts that address:</i></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="be78347c-23b0-4a90-81fd-0bcd49289910" id="aa9a1798-0f01-4eb2-8642-23ed4c88c0f1"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c307e192-bcc7-4c2c-a0b8-f615fe11b480" id="9bb8b383-3f1d-43e4-95e5-9c3eff8158e5"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="7cc8c663-9832-4266-983f-09307951ea3b" id="546d2925-f64c-4b44-8911-edc897b472e8"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b137cdcc-4fa5-4887-b3f9-174829334058" id="f791c673-5344-4a20-8004-5a4aa4dd6f02"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="00db3066-3e5d-4423-807b-43613e9ef1ea" id="92fb9ce0-d42d-4ac8-b98e-d6494fb3fc89"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="84f8984e-e3e2-4de6-8b18-72fe986f00f4" id="be01d6ab-6ab4-43c7-ad5e-1859ab5e8de6"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="9870e570-41f2-4a82-9abc-fcca6f5e6172" id="82e41b67-8cf5-49cb-81cb-167415710ce7">identity</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs> (e.g., Define the Individual, Negotiate the Community)</i></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="92e87b2e-edae-4dc1-942d-28ba5a155e4d" id="9e2837af-9407-4b10-8280-8f77d3ff5823"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="dc0606b6-60dc-4082-97c8-6fbda87fedfd" id="f771dc61-aa15-40d6-bb95-d74ecdc49037"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="71c0fa6b-fb5a-4bba-929e-41a5a403327e" id="9ea1e060-6b03-4f9e-aeec-5c078297a166"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0de96657-77cb-4fd9-93b6-8e254da58ba4" id="c6a94432-3b00-4921-a4d0-c1670d07a588"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5e715f21-980e-4402-b5ee-c8eb797fec08" id="f59007d5-c805-486d-9923-3c6d79ebada0"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="35f96aa7-011e-4536-966e-4cf6d8410f15" id="e361adcb-77d2-4120-a2f7-66f2394d0cab">social</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs> responsibility (e.g., Shift <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="92e87b2e-edae-4dc1-942d-28ba5a155e4d" id="5148e198-1ae1-4311-b71a-f310015eb047"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="dc0606b6-60dc-4082-97c8-6fbda87fedfd" id="f9aab919-dff7-4008-aa03-c1dac28a442f"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="71c0fa6b-fb5a-4bba-929e-41a5a403327e" id="ddf7375e-c237-4b2f-97c8-7cfc57763995"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0de96657-77cb-4fd9-93b6-8e254da58ba4" id="54a6184e-09df-44a1-9582-1c076090ac4b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5e715f21-980e-4402-b5ee-c8eb797fec08" id="0124d60b-120e-4a5e-92e0-63789c7bd21b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="35f96aa7-011e-4536-966e-4cf6d8410f15" id="366b6d3e-bcdf-458a-a603-b035e61be2e9">Centres</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs>, Blur Margins), and</i></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="43fe9f30-adf5-4d06-a17d-458fd4dd8371" id="451a2127-9447-4344-8d80-2056c56ad18d"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b07720ff-d8e9-41c0-876c-b33f8bf1a308" id="930d9e49-bdaf-48cd-a712-a3e3d1079990"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8b0352f1-36f4-4814-97c3-cec8d0ade55a" id="a71291da-5831-4762-84f8-48180c4c1541"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0796c3c9-a71c-47e5-89e8-ac21ef32c5c1" id="c6360e87-1c69-4212-8900-91e2951afc27"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="edbaf8db-ac26-49f4-b74a-d3b4c8c08890" id="ce3e4398-cb74-45bc-9ab9-d0694ca00af1"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0bd0902c-b0e2-4617-9dca-7253958e8ed2" id="5a082bbf-6a6c-44b1-8bbc-12d3e774a6cd">social</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs> action (agency) (e.g., Understand Beliefs, Initiate Action).</i></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I may use multiple forms of literature to help students understand identity, social responsibility, and social action as it relates to First Nations, Metis, and Saskatchewan. But my focus needs to be how well students understand identity, social responsibility and social action, and not the literature itself. I don't need to have a chapter test or quiz on everything either. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>3. Don't average grades to come up with a final grade.</b><br />
<br />
Then there is the issue of combining the grades over two or three outcomes and then averaging them. <a href="https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/21/Its-Time-to-Stop-Averaging-Grades.aspx" target="_blank">Rick Wormeli </a>says,"Just because something is mathematically easy to calculate doesn’t mean it’s pedagogically sound." Averaging is bad pedagogy.<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "sanchez" , serif; line-height: 22px;"> </span>So take the above grading policy illustration, class work is 25% of the final grade. But every outcome has been combined into one category and averaged out for 25% of the grade. In truth, a percentage also tells us very little about what a student knows or doesn't know. <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3c3cc5e9-4268-4031-a74a-193a6f9e6372" id="7b239868-ee60-4cfc-9ffc-6987d7c9bead"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="32152db2-9113-494e-99b8-002a9c20bd21" id="649541e3-7472-4486-b19c-6b040f9e96dc"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ac24436d-a2b3-40d6-9c9c-1544058f0e43" id="b0558cc4-a346-4773-9c23-cf1382d8bef6"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d0d96741-405b-48fa-93d8-e75956229f4b" id="f0a1fcc4-c964-4669-8636-fb284b96326c">Wormeli</gs></gs></gs></gs> adds, "we claim to be standards- (outcomes-) based. This means that assessments and grading are evidentiary, criterion-referenced." When we average the scores, it is no longer criterion-referenced.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "sanchez" , serif; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "sanchez" , serif; line-height: 22px;">I</span> like what Todd Rose said about <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1518bc77-97f1-43b6-934c-bb2bcb905faa" id="e52489db-137f-4603-8e92-d06b06f5e939"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="56dbb53b-7871-4c3b-a28c-0c1dd0d52c32" id="8d3f27f8-7209-4a62-86c8-16d3da30b4e5"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="845a8034-d244-41f5-b06a-437d1d4f67ee" id="970bc953-3848-4077-8a02-3cd33c96192c"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1f298321-8289-4953-92e2-944a6831ff5a" id="493a0c80-3c55-4477-bbe5-a43f70eb596f"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="bee16c16-e9e0-4e89-bb97-9390067c8122" id="f3c0c090-3c0f-429e-9a1f-47cb996a968a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5776bdb7-bc39-492d-a2ae-04809190788a" id="a9d54550-986a-4f3b-b634-a539da6d1526">averaging</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs>, "<i><a href="http://www.pathwaysinstitute.net/?p=1849" target="_blank">The Myth of <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1518bc77-97f1-43b6-934c-bb2bcb905faa" id="35e8972f-b74f-46a4-9e98-0e3cfc9fc627"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="56dbb53b-7871-4c3b-a28c-0c1dd0d52c32" id="a75f024e-40c5-4dce-a68d-ccafe299cf14"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="845a8034-d244-41f5-b06a-437d1d4f67ee" id="85d5a671-0c0b-4598-a630-d398b1ffc16a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1f298321-8289-4953-92e2-944a6831ff5a" id="80b9f841-d1c8-4fd5-b158-9bdb153c6a78"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="bee16c16-e9e0-4e89-bb97-9390067c8122" id="ddccbb31-c492-4a6c-9725-f3089b5e1b58"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5776bdb7-bc39-492d-a2ae-04809190788a" id="9a665293-bf04-41c0-ad5b-0da70cbd294a">Average</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs></gs> </a>is a belief that’s been prominent in most sciences and in education. It’s the belief that we can use statistical averages to understand individuals. Scientists have come to realise that it’s a myth, and over the last 10 years have been moving from averages to individuals, so for example, we’re hearing a lot of things like ‘personalized medicine.’ Unfortunately, education has not quite realised the myth yet." </i>Transfer that principle from the individual person to the individual outcome, once you average the outcomes, we lose sight of <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="459cdc31-efe5-4ca9-be41-6c95c8afeeb8" id="9d253cbd-494c-470b-b98e-c03616c41e5e"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="459cdc31-efe5-4ca9-be41-6c95c8afeeb8" id="dd106cf1-56ed-4698-b9b2-2e0dbdbe1bac"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="459cdc31-efe5-4ca9-be41-6c95c8afeeb8" id="26e21d87-e664-45ba-aad2-fad7bbc10922">what the student</gs></gs></gs> knows about an outcome. It is simply wrong to average the outcomes to determine the score for the student. If we are teaching to the outcome, then we need to assess the outcome.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BOiBAo7mqM4/Vznz2tfiiYI/AAAAAAAADRU/fN7CQJarJXMu_v8QiKK-xmBrMuBxAOQaACLcB/s1600/5815906232_7fce17e095_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BOiBAo7mqM4/Vznz2tfiiYI/AAAAAAAADRU/fN7CQJarJXMu_v8QiKK-xmBrMuBxAOQaACLcB/s200/5815906232_7fce17e095_o.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
I'm a visual person and I need visuals to help illustrate for me. Look at this picture of a person on the right. It is multiple exposures over each other. What you are seeing is an average of all the pictures taken together. How clear is the picture? When we average our student's grades and combine everything into one picture or snapshot to give the students or pictures, this is exactly what we are giving them. It's not acceptable.<br />
<br />
My preference is to use a 4 point system (Marzano) scale, where I list the outcomes using a bar graph color coded such as illustrated below. The summative results are used to determine the mark. If there is not enough summative information to determine levels of understanding, then formative results are taken into consideration.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HpjkJjLLfU/VnOCYL2r4sI/AAAAAAAAQSY/lT5pDubnstk/s1600/2015-12-17_2049.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HpjkJjLLfU/VnOCYL2r4sI/AAAAAAAAQSY/lT5pDubnstk/s640/2015-12-17_2049.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xyf1-KFZONo/VnN-8nunWCI/AAAAAAAAQSM/QO-ba9mh52Q/s1600/IMG_3536.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xyf1-KFZONo/VnN-8nunWCI/AAAAAAAAQSM/QO-ba9mh52Q/s640/IMG_3536.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carey Lehner example http://iamateacher-thisismyjourney.blogspot.ca/2012_07_01_archive.html</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The general outcomes are listed on the left and the bar graph illustrates where the individual student is at for each outcome. We had a policy in Saskatchewan that "if it wasn't a 2, it was a redo." Teachers emphasised to students on getting 2 or higher. In order to move forward into the next grade students needed to get a minimum of 2 in 75% of the outcomes. If they didn't, that's when credit recovery kicked in requiring the students to only have to redo the outcomes they had lower than a 2. Credit recovery recognises all prior student learning and assessments and does not penalise students for where they were, but acknowledges where they were now. During the course, we encouraged our teachers to go back and reassess student understanding when they demonstrated their understanding of an outcome had grown from a previous assessment.<br />
<br />
If it is necessary by the Ministry of Education or for scholarship purposes to have a percentage, Saskatchewan Rivers School Division developed this modified Marzano conversion scale.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kkbDwJ19g8o/VnSCVZlY54I/AAAAAAAADJA/R4fH5sB4dNU/s1600/Conversion.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kkbDwJ19g8o/VnSCVZlY54I/AAAAAAAADJA/R4fH5sB4dNU/s640/Conversion.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Personally, I don't think it's necessary to convert from the 4 point to the percentage, but some folks need that <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3f553872-228e-4fdb-a1c0-33117bba6336" id="a60fe96d-2cc5-43bb-87b0-1edbc073c6ac">still</gs>. My question is, "How accurate is the percentage system anyways?" It's all fairly subjective in the end. I lean more towards the <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="566c6820-dde4-4130-a63d-0a5da11de96b" id="778f512a-aa10-4ef1-90bc-be775ad988dd">simple</gs> system that gives me a better picture of the learning, rather trying to tell a student they have an 85% understanding. How do I really know they have an 85% <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c8019d95-e28a-4d34-8276-6c33363520ec" id="51a7052f-f869-4431-bca5-08330125aa22">really</gs>?<br />
<br />
If you think for a second that the change has been easy, you’re wrong. I went to school and was graded one way. I went to college and university and was trained to grade the same way. It was when I really looked more deeply into this issue and realised the error of my ways. I made the switch, I had to make the switch. I didn’t switch for me, I did it for the students, because it was the right thing to do. I hope you see it too.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-19155346199017472502016-05-10T19:46:00.002-06:002016-05-11T19:27:10.341-06:00Our Student's Mental Health is More Important than Their Grades.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pz_evT7SjN0/VxJKDcr5ReI/AAAAAAAAeVk/J9h4eTq-MUosVQcHIJ8_3X__Y_QqAw2TACKgB/s1600/IMG_0038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pz_evT7SjN0/VxJKDcr5ReI/AAAAAAAAeVk/J9h4eTq-MUosVQcHIJ8_3X__Y_QqAw2TACKgB/s200/IMG_0038.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
I came across this picture recently that prompted me to think about writing about this for my next blog. Then I decided to do my first podcast about the topic and embed it into the blog as well using Soundcloud. I hope it works well.<br />
<br />
If you like what I had to say, please share. Thank you!<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/263504701&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-17243512355589699412016-04-12T20:59:00.001-06:002016-04-12T21:05:11.924-06:00Do we treat academic mistakes differently from behavioural failures?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8XUwlC648RXhJIvn72D_EdFJXNNvpGgw8PtHtMgA4BnBt0JtoAELTMtc31diAzCBPDm707blShi_lfHPn31z3R1VjLrkaCuBn2V8orzfdiZV5KOmUENk06zsjp-ecFoY4Z03N_1bh6d1ExTlwb7F2hFaaZ8FMqB2n7BZPiqhmP6hpiuneyl_MTWjkqbZ-hVYcEW33udQKiyxcJM0z_XIJQJhx9FYe55aZFaSBrj3Jjf89_Kyb6aG2i_6Bn1iV5K_YgRJ3qdFiBpq-g2husuouemte5IYmTdI4MX-VlbWiu53KeX1zmde8SULzOk1YPNZBEqrFrei8I0X62cfrZql6yU719aA19CHletxU-E7cNq27MFq2xvzl6T3w-AElWJnX6zz8GmNpZ0eQGm81mHAKn5kMnzR8wULcgXjnvvMrkqAAZZZpRBuGfUtJmPaHwSP503nId3uE30-utF_Y48GnZi_SJRkIk2pzAbCZMVTjN4OC0_Dlb3xmzAu5Vc0B19tkNkIsl56K5NRYt8TqamJ4qvkLd3yxvQKwKxmAW7_ff6IwKi4nFZvHrP3gnJWzfB4_WEg0w=w1024-h576-no" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8XUwlC648RXhJIvn72D_EdFJXNNvpGgw8PtHtMgA4BnBt0JtoAELTMtc31diAzCBPDm707blShi_lfHPn31z3R1VjLrkaCuBn2V8orzfdiZV5KOmUENk06zsjp-ecFoY4Z03N_1bh6d1ExTlwb7F2hFaaZ8FMqB2n7BZPiqhmP6hpiuneyl_MTWjkqbZ-hVYcEW33udQKiyxcJM0z_XIJQJhx9FYe55aZFaSBrj3Jjf89_Kyb6aG2i_6Bn1iV5K_YgRJ3qdFiBpq-g2husuouemte5IYmTdI4MX-VlbWiu53KeX1zmde8SULzOk1YPNZBEqrFrei8I0X62cfrZql6yU719aA19CHletxU-E7cNq27MFq2xvzl6T3w-AElWJnX6zz8GmNpZ0eQGm81mHAKn5kMnzR8wULcgXjnvvMrkqAAZZZpRBuGfUtJmPaHwSP503nId3uE30-utF_Y48GnZi_SJRkIk2pzAbCZMVTjN4OC0_Dlb3xmzAu5Vc0B19tkNkIsl56K5NRYt8TqamJ4qvkLd3yxvQKwKxmAW7_ff6IwKi4nFZvHrP3gnJWzfB4_WEg0w=w1024-h576-no" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8XUwlC648RXhJIvn72D_EdFJXNNvpGgw8PtHtMgA4BnBt0JtoAELTMtc31diAzCBPDm707blShi_lfHPn31z3R1VjLrkaCuBn2V8orzfdiZV5KOmUENk06zsjp-ecFoY4Z03N_1bh6d1ExTlwb7F2hFaaZ8FMqB2n7BZPiqhmP6hpiuneyl_MTWjkqbZ-hVYcEW33udQKiyxcJM0z_XIJQJhx9FYe55aZFaSBrj3Jjf89_Kyb6aG2i_6Bn1iV5K_YgRJ3qdFiBpq-g2husuouemte5IYmTdI4MX-VlbWiu53KeX1zmde8SULzOk1YPNZBEqrFrei8I0X62cfrZql6yU719aA19CHletxU-E7cNq27MFq2xvzl6T3w-AElWJnX6zz8GmNpZ0eQGm81mHAKn5kMnzR8wULcgXjnvvMrkqAAZZZpRBuGfUtJmPaHwSP503nId3uE30-utF_Y48GnZi_SJRkIk2pzAbCZMVTjN4OC0_Dlb3xmzAu5Vc0B19tkNkIsl56K5NRYt8TqamJ4qvkLd3yxvQKwKxmAW7_ff6IwKi4nFZvHrP3gnJWzfB4_WEg0w=w1024-h576-no" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Recently I <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f9becc71-29a0-4673-ad6c-778f558bf1f1" id="d1a5225f-4741-4a88-90b9-1121424c2ba9"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f7595e66-6677-4b2b-b4e4-daadb33f73f8" id="84fa5e85-8889-4221-8c68-b5f9e35b426b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8d124e60-8996-4204-8c51-0b4fe2a6537f" id="60305a2e-47a3-44fa-8cea-614c9c2549ff"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3cb69091-a67a-4650-8b55-67bfdb1d6ca6" id="a135685c-e86a-40fc-806b-937ca3c26093">came</gs></gs></gs></gs> across a Tweet that caught my attention, stating that we treat academic mistakes differently from <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f9becc71-29a0-4673-ad6c-778f558bf1f1" id="97641de7-546e-425d-87c0-999c5fc6c6c7"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f7595e66-6677-4b2b-b4e4-daadb33f73f8" id="c0f3c2a8-00d1-4612-9068-08f2aafa7e2b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8d124e60-8996-4204-8c51-0b4fe2a6537f" id="bc57956d-def6-4111-8572-c7ee702368d9"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3cb69091-a67a-4650-8b55-67bfdb1d6ca6" id="2f625d89-9260-4194-bafe-bb4243d6f25b">behavioural</gs></gs></gs></gs> issues? My initial reaction was to question the premise and refute its credibility outrightly. None of us educators want to think that we aren't being equitable in the classroom and not treating every student the same. But the reality is often disconnected from what we preach. We call ourselves student-<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="80d354db-cc26-4b98-8cf4-95a0c35b02bf" id="c3290e6a-b92c-43cd-875e-51649ababf7b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="838c25d8-210c-4f5d-b9bd-4933326d1cd2" id="bae42ba4-f93e-4eb3-b466-1f1fceeed480"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d15bc6bf-362e-41fd-b699-d771e34c44ef" id="caf5fe93-8427-415f-ab4f-74d20af1d60c">centred</gs></gs></gs> in our pedagogy, but are we <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="80d354db-cc26-4b98-8cf4-95a0c35b02bf" id="3c7ce3aa-410b-4bcc-994f-0a331f417b07"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="838c25d8-210c-4f5d-b9bd-4933326d1cd2" id="b95017cb-4a4f-4aae-b05f-1f9218a0f351"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d15bc6bf-362e-41fd-b699-d771e34c44ef" id="cfd884b7-182c-41a3-a9bf-5dd37db8b2fc">sudent</gs></gs></gs>-<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="80d354db-cc26-4b98-8cf4-95a0c35b02bf" id="95d48b64-824b-4a7a-b418-cf65996bbc27"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="838c25d8-210c-4f5d-b9bd-4933326d1cd2" id="d4d058f6-6064-4cbd-be03-e9ebc849c56a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d15bc6bf-362e-41fd-b699-d771e34c44ef" id="9794c297-ff80-4e36-9262-573c993d7dd7">centred</gs></gs></gs> when it comes to discipline? The next Tweet I read outlined examples of inequity in how we treat mistakes in the classroom. I was hit with the reality that exists in many classrooms and schools across the country. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<img height="360" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ftBXUFABb6jZcZpOjACPz2KS4ezeGjMOhqQc46NR7Yu2edBY8mDQZSgIAnbruAw-Y5RYHNx8zl344yzSVBEHkwI1X00WwCo1QQRcivnu2GhYF2DckO3xAIfk54FAgdZNfRsF_8PeHBO8blpByBjppkQM-xzmlSwfgVtDDJDYdagSooUbldF1QEoQIu4OSodyYvpMQvZgVNWZQHAJESJrZReZNgFB4Z7scOipYahpMd303koA37ib5XhOAMG4NBD1wTuBTvTOGYn354Of3rXI_l-FykJeVVDyUXOR_QMbo2dYfrvoYx5vM3CKmQQ-4rVe5S95q8Psaj5F2HwVfJ-OEfZGD1X0wnJRQ9WyHTpICWm-Y8-84j-Yzj_62fp0nqwCjMy3bgMqNPi2cTgw3jJ8NisBjc6kOnxDPZlFDXjuVnR1C4coT-pZrjcK2GfFaFZql0bCfHu4Vt-pBFVSZy9lKD6L2T5ILmBtpmAzcOUr3Jmn4LjIEPisc7r4zecB7NeIOIIMVN_T_70K-RpizHkMUa05RQI1h4X8dUIkvTVSOmFMEgQuicmPVqjADvFBgMsjOp8rqw=w1024-h576-no" width="640" /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I don't know about you, but has this been your experience? We go to great lengths to ensure students have second chances to relearn learning outcomes, fix mistakes, and retake tests or exams. All which are the right thing to do for students. We will reteach a concept until the students get it, but how different the story is when it comes to negative <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="cd0369a1-e414-4e65-8795-cda06bdc1e35" id="87fddda0-4119-4407-b346-8d1ff14a3b83">behaviour</gs> from students. We often assume that when a student misbehaves, they are willful and deliberate in their lack of respect for us. Students are then removed from the learning environment with little hope of being given an opportunity to relearn the expected <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="9566a31e-8a1b-40e7-80bc-725745fcfa49" id="d06ed616-945d-4932-9cbc-615fa941d006">behaviour</gs>; even though studies show how long it takes for students to unlearn and relearn attitudes. I love the quote by John Maxwell, who said "once our minds are 'tattooed' with negative thinking, our chances for long-term success diminish. </div>
<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;">
<img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GWgYMYOybE8luTsLup858NeEOQgRkhtO6I_lTyl_AAfJmjuHZKIaXuhDZRe4U8tu9vbB-c0e_uDnWW4w24ateswkrIG_MZqASdeIPybKBGxrofHij7mX5-8ZDAWvTEGFBibOv6GucbJtCJg3xyGqTMEv7mtfjNoViu3-1tZl_kmpZRnr7xuroTe-g5McHy9Vvwwn0_fCcsS4As9dTR_1cMKmYWaqolb759zTP7IrNACkaEpT6hhv5rrTsxumzJpFOA4qUy07zjpN81RK83NvqOEW4LC8TmaXZPPqLzkHxbYcfRM4D4jojr0YGcZoGLdtRDPSHvNhlbhXoIQGTU8q4Yztf95xm2NXCu4HJ_rXzUXQ1Ewi1RiRrN43x924tAChFNp5V2erVC66mOCKTrTzmLGpTal1H_MTLxPyfJRk7dZ22H7rjnUVDasSAiFAZjHBzk2G0_h9CDmJCt4VvBF_iEv33-B_oKXDEibRZ7loCgl_xv0Sx3de9bfO78Ch1jNoW_N8cs5BrqMVbGeTdXqM5ijIH2ff0r3A9CMVNvxKDl-Hev1A9cs4q0b3LRTuq1_ZTw8Fjg=s640-no" width="320" /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">It's so easy to forget about where many of these kids are coming from. Sadly, so many of the students with </span><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="6321295e-1e6d-4145-b483-f512d65b9ffe" id="9f11f606-145b-47bd-af6a-97d0177e244e" style="text-align: left;">behavioural</gs><span style="text-align: left;"> challenges come from broken homes, neglected home lives, uncommunicative parents, stressed out and even depressed personal battles. And all we can do is look past their hurts and fears to see the anger, defiance, and bad attitudes. It's so easy to pass judgment on these students when we have no idea what they are going through. I realize not everyone is like this, but it happens enough times to tell me we have a problem that we need to address and fix. I see students sent out of the classrooms to sit in the school hallways too many times to think that these are isolated incidents. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was speaking to an elementary administrator recently, who recounted arguing with a teacher who wanted a student suspended because they were being defiant and refused to get their homework done and turned in on time. The principal was arguing that the teacher needed to take into consideration what the student was going through. He had recently been removed from his home because his parents were going through some marital issues, and he was living with a non-relative without any idea when he would be able to return home. And somehow his homework was the most important thing that mattered.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We have a dual mission as educators: 1) to teach these students the curricular outcomes, and 2) to guide and inform them in the virtues of life that form their character as the future citizens. That means we cannot be so detached in our role as teacher to only be concerned with teaching the curriculum. Yes, it's important, but how do you teach a child whose life is a mess when the last thing they want to do or can do is think about learning.<br />
<br />
We need to think about whether we treat academic mistakes differently from <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e52919b6-e373-4c81-80c7-4f08e9ee4727" id="7cc9e33e-fc56-4a3a-9ab8-94c261e0860b">behavioural</gs> failures? I think we do, but what do you think? Maybe the better question is, "Would I want to be a student in my own classroom?"<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VXCl2fMsdTU" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-23683144822610154812016-04-10T19:45:00.000-06:002016-04-10T21:27:47.574-06:00I Have my Opinions, But I'm Still Very Open-Minded!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfpkYeWUEAAyTOv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfpkYeWUEAAyTOv.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've never been one to shy away from controversy. <i> </i>Some might say that I can be quite opinionated. I would have to agree. I do hold some strong opinions about things. Lately, though, I find that I am less willing to share my opinions because I'm so tired of the intolerance. I may be opinionated but I am very tolerant of others opinions as well. In fact, I want to hear others express their ideas and opinions, because I believe that helps me learn as well. Many of the opinions I have held have been tweaked and modified because someone else made a good point that I hadn't taken into consideration.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While I'm opinionated, I have also noticed people being intimidated by another person with an opinion. That's the last thing I want people to feel around me. I want to hear what they have to say. Then there are those people who use their strongly worded opinions as a form of intimidation to keep people quiet and not oppose them. They use words like "That's stupid or crazy," because it shuts people up. This tactic is simply a means to shut down any further dialogue and indicate they are not interested in hearing another perspective. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maybe it's because of my college days studying philosophy cross-legged on the floor in a circle in the professor's office that I learned the value of debating ideas, asking the right questions, and utilizing the Socratic method.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfpIyEHUEAAsRQy.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfpIyEHUEAAsRQy.jpg:large" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We were taught that the Socratic method was one of the oldest teaching tactics for fostering critical thinking. Using the Socratic method we focus on giving students questions, not answers. We inquire and probe a subject with questions. As a result, we explore elements of reasoning in a disciplined and self-assessing way that heightens learning. Yet, recently, I saw this quote sourced from John Hattie on Twitter that said "Some teachers ask between 200-300 questions a day. Most students ask 2 questions a day." I don't know about you, but there's something critically wrong with this picture. If students are engaged in the learning process, they will ask the questions. Our role as teachers is to engage in such a way that students are drawn into dialogue and discourse that causes them to dig deeper for their own understanding. So why doesn't that happen.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In a recent <a href="http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/174275/education-economy-america-next-big-thing.aspx" target="_blank">Gallup Poll</a>, a couple of things were highlighted regarding engagement levels in schools:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Student engagement in school drops precipitously from fifth grade through 12th grade. About three quarters of elementary school kids (76%) are engaged in school, while only 44% of high school kids are engaged. The longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become. If we were doing this right, the trend would be going in the opposite direction.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>About seven in 10 K-12 teachers are not engaged in their work (69%). And teachers are dead last among all professions Gallup studied in saying their opinions count at work and their supervisors create an open and trusting environment. We also found that teacher engagement is the most important driver of student engagement. We'll never improve student engagement until we boost teachers' workplace engagement first.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfrdA5cWQAEVMO4.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfrdA5cWQAEVMO4.jpg:large" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This falls completely in line with the quote from Ken Robinson, who said, " There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers. Teachers are the lifeblood of the success of the schools." While as a teacher and administrator, I wholeheartedly agree. However, there is some onus on teachers to first and foremost possess a positive outlook about students. Sadly, that's not always the case. I have worked in some extremely challenging school environments where teacher opinion or ideas was never listened to or considered. Yet, despite the difficult and hostile work environment, it was my love for students and their learning that kept me coming back day after day because I wanted to instill hope in the kids' lives. I didn't get into teaching for the <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8570f885-aa23-4b00-83de-2c685b933d11" id="7ed4c052-36ac-404a-9c95-9580b5dab74c">paycheque</gs> or for a job. No. I became a teacher because it was my mission in life to give to students what I never received going to school. I had some horrible experiences as a student in school. I could hardly wait to get out of school. What awaited me in college clearly demonstrated how unprepared I was by high school. </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today, I love learning, and I am learning something new everyday I go to school to teach. I look around me and see families suffering from the loss of employment in this present economy, and I am grateful to be employed. I don't take it for granted. I don't worry too much about work conditions and how alone I feel in my role sometimes. It's not easy to lead, but I hope that I am modelling a hope and a care that I have for students, their learning, and their future. As teachers, sometimes we have to be extremely selfless and humble We make mistakes and fail miserably at times, but that's how we learn. So, yes, teachers are the lifeblood of a school, but they need to possess the ability to breathe that life into their students. Sometimes that means we need to change the way we are doing things, or have done for 20 years. Inherent in the word, "change" is the idea to transform, adjust, adapt, amend, modify, revise, or refine. We don't change for the sake of change or just to be different, but to improve something. That means we need to be open-minded despite our opinions and beliefs and consider the possibilities of improvement. So I've come full circle to where I started. Teachers have lots of opinions, and I love to hear what they have to say, but what I take exception to is; "That won't work," or "That's a stupid or crazy idea," or "I hate change." All which I have heard in the recent years. When educators discount any other thought or opinion in other adults immediately without any discourse, I have to ask, "is that how students feel in the classroom?" Discounted and dismissed? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How many times do students feel that way with me? I hope they don't, but I know I have messed up lots of times over the years. I still make mistakes. But I'm all about the growth mindset for myself and my students. And most importantly, I hope that students are engaged and learning in my classroom. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sxyKNMrhEvY" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-9660408337601230972015-12-06T11:33:00.000-06:002015-12-06T11:33:02.848-06:00Inspiring Kindness in Youth (Infographic)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mc9pZDPJnGA/VmRxDU5AHNI/AAAAAAAAQD4/1aaj-o6aE_s/s1600/infographic-inspire-kindness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mc9pZDPJnGA/VmRxDU5AHNI/AAAAAAAAQD4/1aaj-o6aE_s/s1600/infographic-inspire-kindness.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-11794049458908122762015-11-26T11:34:00.001-06:002020-11-04T10:58:53.638-06:00Lavish, Magnanimous, Munificent, Ungrudging Giving of Time and Money called Generosity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgV4XaPPWbE/X6Ldn9OZ3CI/AAAAAAAA-G0/wjFOaURy8cUY_UyPdiVL2yJeN6Oq2hJOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s670/gen.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="670" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgV4XaPPWbE/X6Ldn9OZ3CI/AAAAAAAA-G0/wjFOaURy8cUY_UyPdiVL2yJeN6Oq2hJOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/gen.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;">Generosity is something we all need in our lives. It's a natural progression of kindness and caring for one other. Our acts of kindness activity at the school this past month really took off. The students received a footprint that they put up on the wall, leaving a trail of kindness. </span></div></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To build on this enthusiasm, we are extending the acts of kindness for another month and adding acts of generosity. It's important to note that generosity isn't only about giving money or making a donation of some form, but it also includes acts of service and giving of our time. So we are encouraging the students to practice their generosity and collect a hand print, which they will put their name on and the generous action they performed. Each classroom will have different colored hands and as they collect the hand prints, they will place them on a wall in the gymnasium in the shape of a Christmas Tree. When the parents arrive for the Christmas concert later in December they will see the visual of the Christmas tree made from all the generous acts of the students. This is just one activity that we will do to promote the virtue of generosity within the school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here a few practicing generosity ideas for home or the classroom</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Give Away the Extras</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At our home, we have had a longstanding practice that every time you bought a new piece of clothing, you gave something away from your closet. Otherwise, we found that we just began to accumulate too much stuff. So here's a game you can play with your kids, “What do we have extra that we could share?” Go through your stuff at home and if you haven't worn it or used it in a year or even in 6 months, give it away to a local charity.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some examples include:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Food – take some food to the Food Bank,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Clothing – pack up clothes that have been outgrown or not being worn, and give them to a charity or needy family,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Blankets and other household items – many inner-city ministries make home starter kits for those in need,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Toys – many organizations collect toys for underprivileged children.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Acts of Service</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's important to note that generosity isn't only about giving gifts, or money, it is also about giving your time. So it's important to think of different ways in which we can help someone out with our acts of service. Make a gift for someone – a card, cookies or a care package – and pay them a visit.</div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Have the kids make something for someone else. Ask yourself, "is there someone who needs to be encouraged by a gift or a visit from us?” Maybe it will be creating a card for a relative, baking cookies for the homeless, making a care package for someone in need, or spending time with a widow who struggles with loneliness. </div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Fun with Generosity</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I think one of the things children and even adults struggle understanding is what it means to be generous. Generous is defined as showing a readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected. The word comes from the Latin, <i><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="74c35342-8b8e-4ecc-9379-c5fe277e0c88" id="c9a3cc6c-1209-4747-834f-6be00df484fb">Generosus</gs></i>, which means to be magnanimous or lavish kindness on others. So to illustrate this, have the kids make ice cream sundaes or decorate monster cookies for other members of the family, being generous with the toppings.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Each family member makes a sundae for someone else in the family. Put out ice cream and a variety of toppings, and allow your children to be generous in making sundaes for other family members. You can also do this with “monster cookies,” which are oatmeal cookies filled with numerous additions like nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc. Family members can make monster cookies for designated family members, decorating each other's <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5bee0e6a-6b6a-43f9-a82d-bf898a87faa1" id="a760c03d-a805-4b7e-9c1e-de89272519a0">cookies</gs> generously. </div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When it's all said and done, talk about it with the kids and ask them to explain how being generous with the toppings can translate into being generous in everyday living.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Habits of Sharing</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During meals and while you are visiting with others, model how to share treats and be specific about encouraging your children to share.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some fun ideas include:</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sharing your dessert with your spouse or children and say something like, “This ________ is so much sweeter because I shared it with you.”</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A family tradition you could start is that when treats, desserts, etc. <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1653ff88-21be-479f-8bb6-60ab37cf1a40" id="87910082-e20b-44eb-9390-181bb081938e">are</gs> given out, whoever divides the <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1653ff88-21be-479f-8bb6-60ab37cf1a40" id="3cbeca2f-f9b3-4417-a3eb-762d98b149de">treat</gs> allows the other to choose which part of the <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1653ff88-21be-479f-8bb6-60ab37cf1a40" id="c816e8d2-0ae0-4328-8589-007bda57a490">treat</gs> they would like. For example, one child breaks the chocolate bar in half, then lets the other choose which half they would like.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Demonstrate sharing without being asked. Provide extra treats for your children to take when going on outings with friends so they can practice sharing and being generous.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While driving, use these questions for conversation starters:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">How do you feel when someone else has a treat and you don’t?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">How do you feel when someone is playing with a neat toy and does not share it?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">How does it make you feel when someone shares a special treat with you?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">How about when someone gives you first choice of which toy to play with?</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These are just a few ideas about teaching generosity to our children.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pWBRKP3K_cA?list=PLvzOwE5lWqhTvIvHYvTvDKsqBqZ8fMoI4" width="640"></iframe><br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/generosity-and-elementary-schoolers/">http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/generosity-and-elementary-schoolers/</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-generosity-lesson-ideas">http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-generosity-lesson-ideas</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-42642104528055799452015-11-07T19:43:00.001-06:002015-11-07T19:46:32.052-06:00Time to Practice...No...Live Out Our Kindness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AXgveGW_R5s/Vj6nE_kwtsI/AAAAAAAAPlQ/I7wINiNl1Yw/s1600/world_kindness_day_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AXgveGW_R5s/Vj6nE_kwtsI/AAAAAAAAPlQ/I7wINiNl1Yw/s640/world_kindness_day_2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Calibri; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: Calibri; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: Calibri; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-thai-font-family: Calibri;">It doesn't matter where you go, there’s always a bully, that’s not to excuse it, but state the facts. The idea of bullying is not a new concept. We've all had our own experiences with bullying. I’m sure if we sat down and had a chat about our childhoods, we would have stories to share about being picked on in school. School was a difficult experience for me because I was by nature a very gentle and kind individual. It didn’t help that I was a red-haired, freckled face boy growing up. I’m not sure why people naturally gravitate towards targeting the gingers. But they do! Then add to that my teeth were a mess. I broke my jaw when I was 4 yrs. <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="77b94510-4140-4aa4-b679-ad725b50152a" id="c7bde314-4e08-4f2f-a95c-71047310124a">old</gs>, and my teeth came <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="77b94510-4140-4aa4-b679-ad725b50152a" id="37fa6a94-8c60-4945-8849-35a00f91d8c4">in</gs> all over the place. So I had braces for five years during school. Many a school picture had me barely smiling, because I didn’t want anyone to see my teeth or later on my braces. However, I survived with a few bumps and bruises along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Calibri; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: Calibri; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: Calibri; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-thai-font-family: Calibri;">My mother always said that if I saw somebody hurting or have a need I was the first one to offer to give them the shirt off my back if that would help. Maybe I'm too trusting or always trying to see the good in people, but I have found over the years that it is easy for people to take advantage of me because of my kind nature. I dislike seeing people hurting. I think that's why I like being a teacher so much because when I see students coming from difficult situations I want to help. I can't always fix things or make things <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8d530262-18bb-4f57-8da9-93def71b433e" id="76f89779-4906-41c3-8900-5287b18c0d16">right but</gs> I can at least show some kindness and care for the students. My hope is that with a little bit of care and compassion I can make a student’s life a little bit better. So when I hear about bullying in school it is certainly something that we want to address at the school level. But rather than focus on bullying or anti-bullying, we try to focus on the virtue of kindness. We do so because when we only point out the negative or what behavior we don't want to see it doesn’t call our students to the practice of the virtue that we want to see from them. Rather than saying to a child, “Stop bullying,” we ask the students to be kind to one another. What does a child learn when we only point out mistakes or failures or what isn't working rather asking what it is we want from them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Calibri; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: Calibri; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: Calibri; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-thai-font-family: Calibri;">The <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4348f2a-a51b-48b9-b2ee-a8da23145d0d" id="e5a20b43-56e1-41e1-a0ce-e39c8031cfe4">flipside</gs> of this also is that if we want to see more kindness we need to model it for them as well. It's so important that we speak to our children and students in a way that builds them up and encourages them to do the right <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d411a568-e085-4108-9b9f-e853ab10542c" id="9d4f900c-729d-455f-89a1-a3f3d24effdd">things rather</gs> than pointing out all the things that they don't do right. This doesn't necessarily come easy or naturally <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ad4379cb-26cf-4712-be80-5f30579b28f3" id="3e23e5e8-608a-43cf-af3e-d159d670b05d">for</gs> us as human beings because we’re inundated with such negative messages around us, so we find it easy to criticize and put others down. So if we want our children or students to practice kindness, we as adults need to do our part as well. So Nov 13th is <a href="https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/world-kindness-day" target="_blank">World Kindness Day</a>. Let’s be kind to one another.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Calibri; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: Calibri; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: Calibri; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-thai-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Calibri; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: Calibri; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: Calibri; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-thai-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sUcxoNFiomY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sUcxoNFiomY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0pt; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Calibri; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: Calibri; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: Calibri; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; mso-ligatures: none; mso-thai-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-42271206707467791492015-10-07T15:09:00.000-06:002015-10-07T19:17:20.374-06:00Connections are Essential for Student Learning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you have time, watch the TedxTalk by Johann Hari, Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong. Johann has been researching and writing about the War on Drugs for a number of years. But during his research about drug addiction, he realized that all kinds of addiction, such as gaming, gambling, sex & pornography, internet, cell phones, and other kinds of issues had one common factor in the lives of those who were <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="da6095df-afc0-444e-b6f9-b778f9bae4fd" id="cd4b1fe1-6ec0-45ad-9f6d-9211784c89e1">living</gs> the addiction. Each person struggling with addiction had or were experiencing a loss of connection. Many of those caught up with addiction replaced relationship for alcohol, or drugs, or gambling, etc. Johann states very clearly that what individuals struggling with addictions need most is connection to people who love them and surround them with hope. He says, “the opposite of addiction is not sobriety; the opposite of addiction is <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f25495b5-8c04-4847-a22a-fce784c47b3e" id="36a02880-dd47-489a-8996-56b54f2308ac"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8457f8a8-694d-4725-9871-52e851a1c889" id="29d09c20-27be-40cb-9e24-e4a6012ae615">connection</gs></gs>.” </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It has been my experience that relationship building is hard work. We are flawed, imperfect individuals trying to make something beautiful in our lives. No matter what we do with building relationships someone will mess up, make mistakes, say something they will regret along the way. But when we replace connection for something other than something living and breathing we get into trouble. Where’s the relationship in playing video games for six or seven hours a night? Or what about the youth who can’t live without their phone for five minutes? I’m worried about our next generation that would rather resort to texting or Snapchatting, than sitting down and actually talking face to face where you can engage all five senses. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I say all this knowing full well that relationship building is a lot of work. It’s no different for us at the school. We have families, spouses, children, and friends in our lives, in which, we strive to maintain healthy relationships. So it is only natural that we extend that relationship building <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="6142cbbd-fc1e-4a0e-b643-941eaddb0985" id="82d6a067-9f87-4a38-a1a6-cf7c5965b31c">to</gs> our students. It’s been said that very little learning goes on where relationships have not been first established. All of us need to work on those relationships, first <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d7962f99-0ccc-4854-894a-c3b137c90129" id="ee5c4211-81fc-4f9f-b3dd-92a32b5e0ec4">between</gs> staff members and then with our students. Sometimes we have to be reminded of that from time to time because we get so busy and our priorities get misaligned. We have a saying in our home, “family first.” That means we put relationship first over everything. We want our school to be the same way. We need to operate like one big family working through challenges and coming up with ways to work together in order for learning to happen. But it doesn't stop there, we need to have the relationship with parents at home too. We know we have some work to do to build stronger relationships with parents. Our hope is that this year will be a turning point that engages the home more and increasing student success.</div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PY9DcIMGxMs" width="640"></iframe></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-32803405862391468322015-06-05T15:35:00.003-06:002015-06-15T14:11:38.549-06:00Project-Based Learning Samples via Video ProductionOver this past semester, the students have done a lot of different projects. I want to highlight just a few to show the depth of understanding that these students demonstrated in shooting and editing video.<br />
<br />
The first one was by Davy Jerry and Treston Bear. They chose to do a freestyle format for shooting the video. I love the humor they incorporated into it. They use the Jurassic Park music in the background.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDrYElT7yto" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
The second one was called Zombie Sequence by Ty Iron Shirt. I really loved this video, as gross as it was, but he worked tirelessly on Garageband editing the audio until he had it perfect. When he had it, he exported the audio out and imported it into Premiere Pro. Excellent!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jf6dxYQiJJU" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
The hockey playoffs are in full swing, and Wyatt Baxter and Gary Doherty are big fans. They scoured hours of video in a couple of days and made up a compilation video highlighting the two teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's a smooth flowing video that really comes together well. These guys also worked on the Brooks Bandits live <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="cd785718-1c9a-4a69-a355-7325f7fb9e64" id="35605ccd-b257-4750-8dd7-cf95846ef21a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8936862a-3565-4be2-a68a-c8fbd85fe139" id="8a52731d-46e3-4bac-bc9c-d3f36318318c"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f73e20b9-e9a0-462b-8395-b303cecff590" id="b36597bb-3179-47e6-8b9c-c2ff90f1292a">broadcasting</gs></gs></gs> this winter as well and did the promo video as well.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bDDC0kDhqT0" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Or the Kyrie Irving Video Remake by Wacey Many Bears, who used the audio and demonstrated his own basketball skills on the court. Well done, and lots of fun.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIYJf8fUk58" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
Finally, the School was asked to video readers at the Family Literacy Night at Brooks, and the students then took the video and used the book to illustrate the video for students to view later. Despite some audio issues, it was a great effort.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SLISWLbv7WY" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="9d839d5f-5df4-4472-adb0-36231820b75f" id="ca9b27a2-e73f-4dbb-ac90-6f0614fca56b">Wacey</gs> Many Bears and Braden Good Eagle worked on a video project for Alberta Health and Alberta Education <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="9d839d5f-5df4-4472-adb0-36231820b75f" id="1beb23aa-5e23-40e8-9ba7-5d8a6ff8941a">highlighting</gs> the effect of the flood of June 2013. They did an amazing job <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c885bbf9-0800-4a5b-89c7-e3eafa831e15" id="0abbcc0c-d5a4-4a79-96bc-f755db863136">of</gs> this video.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QUp44NNNMWg" width="640"></iframe>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-44716913239126886822015-06-05T09:15:00.001-06:002015-10-07T15:48:39.655-06:00What Learning Style are You?<div style="text-align: justify;">
I can hardly believe how fast the year has gone, and summer is fast approaching. It has been an incredibly busy year. It seems only like a few weeks ago when I was sitting down in my office and thinking about the upcoming year and imagining what it would be like. First impressions? It's been a good year. However, either I'm getting old because I'm tired a lot of the time, or we have packed so much into the school year that we've worn ourselves out. Summer is going to be a time of rest and rejuvenation. Many of students need that rest too. So I hope they slow down a bit during the break and get some much needed rest. But I digress.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a teacher, it's important to reflect over the year and think about what we <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f967a022-32e1-4a70-b5ae-9a0fc1dc8cb6" id="be6b3568-6aba-4dff-a284-e5161f56cf8e"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="290187f0-17ee-46b7-8777-b2a7d8223931" id="a2143e00-0d14-4439-b2e7-9e2342ba4bcd"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="38e86c7c-51ae-4b25-886d-5787f919cab4" id="b1362737-b81f-4cb4-a081-35ef9d04c8ad"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="2138a539-7a73-4120-bf88-0114a0e4e8f7" id="1cd014f5-d7d7-4954-9c1d-47b7418d733f">taught</gs></gs></gs></gs>, how we taught it, and how we assessed learning. If I just motor through the year and do the same thing year after year, and don't review my lesson plans, or examine the curriculum outcomes, or think of new ways to present the material, or do new activities for the upcoming school year, I'm not doing my job as a teacher. I wouldn't go to a dentist who did the same thing the same way for 50 years. There have been some significant changes in practice and technology over the years that I would hope the dentist would adopt. I would hope that they are continuously bettering themselves as a professional so that it makes my visit less stressful and painful. As a teacher, I need to do the same thing. I need to constantly be learning. Reflecting on my past school year is part of that process in learning. Already I'm thinking about how I will do some things differently. Some of my lessons and activities missed the mark with the students, so I need to differentiate (a big word for saying use a variety of methods to teach a concept) the instruction. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You see, not every student learns the same way. That's why Howard Gardners 7 Styles of Learning are so important to education. Not everyone learns the same way. So when I'm teaching a class, I need to be aware that in a class of 20 students, there may be up to 7 different ways each student learns a concept. As a teacher, I must vary or differentiate the instruction so that different learning needs are addressed, and students get the greatest possible advantage available to learning that concept. Take for example, I'm a visual learner. I need the visual, hands-on instruction. If I am trying to figure out how to fix something at home, I go to Google and watch a video showing me how to do step by step. But once I<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="09df39f4-2db3-4966-8750-8942f1ef6748" id="0f53c0ea-bea4-4c8f-afca-d771129ee9e8"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f68cca9f-1eb9-40db-88f3-5cafcb5b5ff3" id="6e6c645a-5bac-4802-802c-eade63b87ed9"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8c9e30f1-5bf0-44de-9719-a89d7cebf1cb" id="e92007c4-5fcb-4e82-893d-5479996471ca"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="33ac383d-7061-4da7-9d43-75f45708154c" id="b715d59a-aaa6-4dd9-8f2c-bb94dc25ee03">'ve done</gs></gs></gs></gs> it once, I've got it. So I've added a visual, because some people need the visual to understand what I'm talking about.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TSMTlEpjoNA/VW8NdiHnx_I/AAAAAAAAB1M/hy2oZ0BbNng/s1600/7-styles-of-learning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TSMTlEpjoNA/VW8NdiHnx_I/AAAAAAAAB1M/hy2oZ0BbNng/s640/7-styles-of-learning.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
As I am reflecting on my teaching this year, I realize there are things I need to improve or change for next year, but I'm also concerned by what I see from some of our students. Despite all the efforts to make the curriculum more engaging and mix it up in how we teach the material, I'm sensing an apathy among some students about school or learning. Being a small school, we try very hard to compete with the city schools and offer as many extras as we possibly can so that students feel they are getting as close to equal as anywhere else. Staff cheerfully immerses themselves into coaching, travel club, field trips, music festivals, video projects, and more, because we want those extras for students. But when it comes to learning in the classroom, we seem to be losing ground on engaging every student on the importance of learning starting at about grade 8 and up. I recognize we live in a very social society, and that trickles into school as well. But schools have become more about a social get-together than an opportunity to learn for the future. Don't get me wrong, I want students to have a social life, and they need that social interaction, but there needs to be a balance. Have you ever gone on a trip with your kids and they spend most of their time on their phones, while you are taking in the sites and wonders? That seems to the norm for our teenagers. They spend a lot of time on their phones with Instagram and Snapchat. The result is that they are so visually stimulated by all the visual images and video clips it isn't really a surprise that sitting in a classroom and taking notes and listening really doesn't meet their expectations on the excitement meter. Homework is constantly interrupted by the ding of <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e4ea466b-189f-4455-b8a5-cc581ce1fa7d" id="343569bc-0870-4446-a8e4-ecbad1e2fd4e"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="99a5f7d4-663d-4c1a-8a26-839f4da58da7" id="85d5bbb4-c677-4015-8cf5-231032944eb0"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c948f67a-1c3f-4946-abe6-109d1ca467c7" id="8c3ed613-3fe1-429c-a6f2-a77e5fadcc98"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="bcf4fbbf-0978-412e-b62e-d9adeeac668e" id="8c2444a1-c97a-4210-9fc9-781983da5472">iMessage</gs></gs></gs>. How can they possibly focus on the task at hand if they are checking their phones every minute?</gs><br />
<br />
So when it comes to school and learning, it's not enough for teachers to provide a lot of busy work to students, we need to engage students so they are learning. There's no <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a9b5d3e4-af5c-4ab8-bebd-a8951238f424" id="c48a1c79-6dba-43dc-84ec-c645ccdecb89"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a9b5d3e4-af5c-4ab8-bebd-a8951238f424" id="833f37a7-c19e-4942-a201-e0600fd5bfca"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b2191f74-1d7b-4765-92d6-8ab064175157" id="dc870f13-045c-442c-bbff-8994bafc42a9"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="51dea5e8-007a-4a24-82ba-cce507e7a9e5" id="ec4627cd-4f7c-44d1-b18b-1783743e629a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="939c7907-89a6-4b8d-8be2-4fd65709fcc5" id="1d3efbbb-6e27-400a-8404-606f91c3a4d9">easy</gs></gs></gs></gs></gs> fix for this other than we need to do a better job of differentiating the instruction so that we can cover the 7 learning styles. They are:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Visual Learning</b> - when the student prefers using pictures, images, and spatial understanding,</li>
<li><b>Solitary (Intrapersonal) Learning</b> - when the student prefers to work alone and self-study,</li>
<li><b>Social (Interpersonal) Learning</b> - when the student prefers to work in groups or other people,</li>
<li><b>Logical (Mathematical) Learning</b> - when the student prefers using logic, reasoning, and systems,</li>
<li><b>Physical (Kinethestic) Learning</b> - when the student prefers using body, hands, and sense of touch,</li>
<li><b>Verbal (Linguistic) Learning</b> - when the student prefers using words, both in speech and writing,</li>
<li><b>Aural (Auditory-Musical) Learning</b> - when the student prefers using sound and music.</li>
</ul>
<div>
So what learning style are you? </div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GalPsX9-KBg" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-62522933113062719262015-04-02T07:49:00.002-06:002015-04-02T09:19:33.323-06:00Outcomes-Based Education Means Outcomes-Based Assessment too!<div style="text-align: justify;">
With report cards, making their way home, it seems appropriate to talk about some changes we are gradually making to how we report to parents and students about their progress. As I explain the process of assessment, I hope to simplify the explanation so everyone can have a basic, foundational understanding. Yet it is not a simple matter to understand; it took me a few years to make the changes to my assessment practices because I was rooted in how I was graded as a child and then how I graded as an early teacher. But the more I read up on assessment, the more I argued with a friend of mine, it finally broke through that I needed to change how I assessed student learning. Sadly, for years, I marked the old percentage method which doesn't accurately tell us what students really know and understand of the outcomes that we teach in the classroom.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<h3>
<b>The Challenges!</b></h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Have you ever sat down and thought about how teachers derive the marks they do for students? We really do try our very best to make sure that we are being fair and equitable, but it's hard to keep subjectivity out of the process. Robert Marzano points out that "the score a student receives on a test is more dependent on who scores the test and how they score it than it is on what the student knows and understands." That's kind of scary when you think of it. But subjectivity in the grading process isn't always bad, because as teachers, we know our students, understand the range of students' work, and usually have a clear sense of the progress made over a period of time. At Bassano School, our teachers teach the outcomes for each AB Education course or subject, we call that outcomes-based education. So it would make sense then that when we measure students' understanding or proficiency of learning, that we are measuring how well students know the outcome and can demonstrate it other than just recite facts. We use multiple forms of assessment to determine students' knowledge of outcomes. We use lots of formative assessment, (informal or formal assessment like portfolios, projects, checklists, and more) to provide ongoing feedback to students, which becomes part of the learning, that's what we call Assessment for Learning. We aren't just assessing how well students get it, but we use the assessment as a method for adapting the instruction to ensure students are learning. When we mark or grade a student's work, we are looking for evidence of learning against a standard determined by Alberta Education required at each grade level as mastery. As teachers, though, it's important to look for evidence or proofs of learning. It's not about looking for what is not there or missing from the answer, but what is present as proof of learning. When we look for what's missing, it's easy to turn assessment into a punitive exercise.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Zeros </b>- Unfortunately, over the past forty years, schools have been great at pointing out student shortcomings even to the point of being a form of punishment. What do I mean by this? How many times have students received a zero for something, when that couldn't be further from the truth of what the students knows about a subject? Giving a student a zero is like saying a student doesn't know anything; they have zero knowledge or understanding about the outcome that was being taught simply because they didn't turn in the assignment. They may have had the work half completed, but they are being told they get a zero because they didn't turn it in. Is the grade supposed to tell us what the student knows, or punish them for not turning it in?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Averaging </b>- Another area that poses some challenges for schools is the 100 point/percent averaging system. Thomas Guskey says that the averaging of grades "falls far short of providing an accurate description of what students have learned...If the purpose of grading and reporting is to provide an accurate description of what students have learned then averaging must be considered inadequate and inappropriate." Doug Reeves goes further to say teachers "must abandon the average, or arithmetic mean, as the predominant measurement of student achievement." Why? Typically what has happened in the past is a student might get the following marks for five different assignments 93, 70, 87, 55, 90 in an outcome or unit. What does a student get on their report for the first term then? Well, if we average the marks, they have a total of 365 points, which we divide by 5 and they get an 79% on their report card. But does this really give us an accurate measure of what they know? No. They have clearly demonstrated mastery understanding in 3 of the 5 assignments when you measure it against the proficiency standards. In reality the student should have received an 87% average because that's the median. But Alberta doesn't do that for our students doing the diploma exams. They take your school mark and your diploma mark and add them together and divide by two, and that's your grade. Take a student that gets a 90 in Math 30 from their teacher, and gets 60 on the diploma. They get a 75% for a final grade. How unfair was that? When you look at the test anxiety our students have experienced on exam day, because a comprehension exam that was taking a 3 hour snapshot of what they learned over the entire semester. So because they were stressed, they were punished for doing poorly during that testing period. I realize that AB Education is changing the spread from 50-50 to 70-30. But it's still an averaging of the two grades.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Time Factors</b> – In other Alberta school, students are penalized for late work, or not allowed to resubmit work or rewrite tests after a period of time. But in reality, life doesn't put limits on us to demonstrate learning. If I fail my driver's test, I can retest as many times as I want. Time shouldn't be a barrier to learning; however, it has been in many schools, but not at Bassano School. We do not deduct for late work, and we allow for rewrites, and redo’s. If a pattern develops of chronic lateness, then measures need to be put into place to make provision for getting the work done after school or during lunch hours. It's more important that the students learn the value of doing work well and in a timely manner with a hope to improve things.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<h3>
<b>Some Changes!</b></h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We have been making some assessment changes over the past few months in the junior high, and some philosophical changes in the high school to reflect fair and equitable assessment practices. Kindergarten – Gr. 6 uses the 4 point scale, much like in the figure below. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rHX2Z8ozfO0/VRxX6D48OjI/AAAAAAAABYU/BNjEy4wlqqM/s1600/4%2BPT%2Ba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rHX2Z8ozfO0/VRxX6D48OjI/AAAAAAAABYU/BNjEy4wlqqM/s1600/4%2BPT%2Ba.jpg" height="452" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are starting to implement the 4 point scale into the Junior High for grades 7 - 9. Already we have seen significant changes in student performance. As Rick Wormeli says, it is important to provide students hope for them to feel more engaged and take ownership of learning. So one of the ways we do that is by encouraging students to strive for proficiency and mastery as a minimum of learning. We use the slogan, "If it's not a 2, it's a redo." We will not accept anything less than adequate learning which is a level 2. So students redo assignments, rewrite tests, and fix or correct their mistakes. We don't make them redo the whole assignment or rewrite the complete test. They only have to redo or fix the problem areas and make the necessary corrections to demonstrate proficiency. The buy-in from the students has been huge. We've had to get them to change their thinking about assessment from thinking about grade point averages or a total average of grades, to do I know this outcome, and how well do I know it. The grade doesn't motivate like a sense of accomplishment that comes from knowing you know what is being taught.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some might say it's best to make these changes after the summer holidays, or when everyone is ready to be on board. The quick response to that is that's not really how life works. If we expect students to learn and grow during the school year, as teachers, we need to learn and grow with change as well. We needed to make this change for our students benefit, because we value them so much. The benefits we've seen a few short months are huge. Already students are working harder to learn the outcomes. Levels of engagement are up. Students are giving more effort to learn, where they once sat in their seats giving up. So that's why we didn't wait. We believe it was worth it for the students.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<h3>
<b>Our Commitment!</b></h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are committed to:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">support and encourage students to meet the high standards set before them,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">being fair, and equitable in our assessment practices for students,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">using multiple forms of assessment to help students build on their knowledge base and expand on their opportunities,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">building meaningful relationships and rapport with parents, students, and community through regular and positive communication,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">creating a flexible learning environment that leads to students being responsible and accountable for their learning,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">eliminating barriers, such as time, through continuous learning opportunities for mastery learning.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you want to watch some videos that speak to good assessment practices, watch Rick Wormeli: </div>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h-QF9Q4gxVM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="534" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/h-QF9Q4gxVM?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-11069753583958132512015-02-23T20:45:00.000-06:002015-02-23T20:45:41.471-06:00It was the Best of Times...It was the Worst of Times.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64xBvYT8yf4/VOkCvI94pgI/AAAAAAAABLA/Ghs79NFGFII/s1600/best-of-times-worst-of-times-pic-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64xBvYT8yf4/VOkCvI94pgI/AAAAAAAABLA/Ghs79NFGFII/s1600/best-of-times-worst-of-times-pic-11.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The last thing I want to do is create panic or fear, but I think we need to be thinking about current economic trends and the impact it may have on Bassano. I don't know how many of you have ever been unemployed for a short or extended period, but it's no fun. I used to pride myself that I was only on unemployment for four months when I was 22 years <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="49b68651-b9f4-4c08-a42f-c9e3736fd4dd" id="db49d1af-cd25-47b9-841d-19dfde2d2d5e"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="395018cc-0dbc-459b-903f-0bb58cd9b0cd" id="9f640908-6a31-42d1-8361-4144b19a8d93">old</gs></gs>. So for thirty years, I was fortunate enough to be employed even through college and university. My dad taught all of kids the value of work, he has been a great example for me over my life. At 76, he still makes his way back into the bush behind my parents house and cuts brush, <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="2755a3c2-750f-4765-98dc-1fb15eab56e6" id="c2d7d4ad-e1d0-4270-9e7f-263dfa784fd0"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="9d50ae8b-2efc-4433-ac88-d87b68aafef0" id="f673adf4-877b-41e4-b14e-ba16c5999382">limb</gs></gs> trees, plows, hauls, and whatever he can find to keep himself busy. So I have learned a lot from him, and I have tried to model myself after him in terms of working hard. But sometimes life hits you, and hits you hard.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many people from the area probably don't know that in May 2014, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) cut our funding for our school that we created in 2005. Credenda Virtual High School laid off all its employees on May 16th, 2014, and yet most staff volunteered their services until the end of June with no pay just so students could get their credits. The fact that AANDC did what they did is still a sore point for me, especially since we had an agreement until the end of August. But that's for another time. What I want to highlight is the tremendous stress being unemployed puts on families. Going from a decent salary to waiting for unemployment to kick in and then trying to live on less than 50 percent of what you were used to was extremely challenging. Then add into the equation, both of us lost our jobs because we both worked for the same organization. It was a difficult time, and we have spent months trying to get caught up. I don't share this for people to feel sorry for us, but for the purpose for people to know we didn't come to Bassano under the easiest of circumstances, and we understand tough times. We are very thankful that this opportunity opened up for us, and we have adapted well to our new surroundings. We have no complaints about the weather. We gladly left the cold north!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That brings me to what is happening in Alberta at large and specifically here in Bassano. A few weeks ago, I caught wind that CPR was closing our local maintenance shop. Quite shocking since CPR is reporting record profits of $1.76B for last year. When I spoke to Tom Rose, Mayor of Bassano, he had this to say, "There are a myriad of reasons as to why I'm concerned with the potential closure of our CPR maintenance shop. First and foremost, I'm concerned about public safety. Fewer workers servicing more track will most certainly lead to more derailments. There is a tremendous amount of dangerous goods passing through Bassano on an hourly basis, so I find it reprehensible that CPR is considering cut backs of this nature and putting not just our community, but others as well, at risk." </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76Lw2xzxEUg/VOvbJGEHEUI/AAAAAAAABLk/Xb_rDUtqQ_g/s1600/CP_Rail_9011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76Lw2xzxEUg/VOvbJGEHEUI/AAAAAAAABLk/Xb_rDUtqQ_g/s1600/CP_Rail_9011.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Tom and I reached out to Jason Hale, MLA to see what he could do to help. Jason had a couple of conversations with the VP of Gov Relations for the CPR regarding the closure. "I asked him to look into keeping the Bassano shop open, but it was a decision made above him. Although he explained it as a corporate restructuring with no effect on safety, I agree with Tom, the fewer people looking <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e27b027b-11ff-4ad9-917e-ceb6f8e753bc" id="35348645-43b9-4b5d-a2f7-7fb9117662e6">after</gs> the track, there are more chances of derailments and increased safety issues." CPR has already been quietly making cuts though. Unknowingly to the general public, we only have three CPR workers stationed in Bassano, instead of the designated six, because CPR didn't fill the other three positions when they became vacant. So we have three fewer workers sharing the workload of six people and covering more track. In addition, it makes more sense to maintain Bassano's shop that is heated and only one mile off of being half way between Calgary and Medicine Hat. Take these three employees from Bassano and the impact to the community could be even more significant economically. If we lose these three families, that's seven students from the school (which amounts to about half a teacher's salary), fewer local shoppers at the local grocery store, restaurants, and other businesses.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now add to that reports of other layoffs from the oil and gas sector, which could affect more families. The drop in oil prices is going to hit Alberta hard. The government needs to find ways to make up for lost revenue if it's going to keep programming at the same level. Hiring freezes are in place at various government levels. In addition, the government is <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="fa05b4f2-6e71-4987-bfb3-28cdfe9d87d3" id="f4fd36c8-97af-44d4-8a18-25a0e0738518"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="cf6047db-fc91-4636-b7d4-8e7ffbee2a53" id="75e9d927-8eba-44b4-859f-86e5697f72ff">proposing</gs></gs> health care premiums. And let's hope that the BSE cow in Spruce Grove doesn't add to matters and affect that industry as well.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Once again, I don't say this to scare folks, but because we need to rally around and support our affected families. In order for our small communities to survive difficult economic times we need to be resourceful and very creative around economic development. Alberta cannot build its entire economy around oil and gas. Saskatchewan learned this lesson through twenty plus years of economic drought. They invested heavily in multiple industries and diversified their resources so that when one resource dropped in the market, it didn't collapse the entire economy. That's why Saskatchewan is growing. So if Bassano wants to continue to grow, we need to attract businesses that do not depend strictly on oil and gas. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This gets personal for people like Jason Hale, who added, "I was born and raised in this town and this is where we have raised our children who are the 4th generation of Hales to live in Bassano. The current financial situation in the province will have a negative impact on many businesses and families. But we must all work together to come up with solutions to keep our communities <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d8bf6b35-a223-481d-99e4-1beed2820c33" id="ca28910e-0b67-447a-974b-1a5cdac2e2ea">and businesses sustainable</gs>. I care deeply what happens here and will help however I can." So when we have our Bassano Vision meeting on March 3, 2015, maybe you need to come join us and give your input. This is a time for action and not just sitting back and talking about it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We've already one family move away up north to secure employment this year with two students. It's hard on kids to relocate, make new friends, or become accustom to new surroundings, such as schools and teachers. Sometimes we have to move, out of necessity. However, lives are affected. So what do those who find themselves in these situations need from us. Most importantly, empathy, not sympathy. Empathy is that coming alongside someone in need, listening, and understanding what they are feeling. We don't empathize from a distance, being overly detached and unfeeling, or even self-centered caring about only our own needs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What can we do from the school side? First of all, we can't assume we know what is happening in people's lives at home. So please contact us if you need to talk. Maybe there are things we can do by way of recommending retraining programs. We are currently in talks with Medicine Hat College about bringing the University Transfer Program to Bassano School. Maybe it's time to start working on the university degree before transferring to the University of Calgary, or Lethbridge. But why not do it here in Bassano without having to move. These would be evening and weekend classes. We only need 15 people to register with Medicine Hat College, and sign up for the Fall to make it run. We are also looking at the Healthcare Aide program as well, since we have the simulator that was donated by <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="54cf10c4-6bc8-4128-9105-0095243ef043" id="5304417c-620f-45d9-955b-74caf8c0de4a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1c092405-c0be-4cb0-ba39-7abc2874f6b8" id="f0842abc-cbab-4854-91ac-741ae9130789"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="535473e3-ee03-432d-b289-204bc1f872f5" id="3c8a3313-692d-48ed-bb79-365cff6ce623">Cenovus</gs>, Dick Haskayne, and</gs></gs><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="54cf10c4-6bc8-4128-9105-0095243ef043" id="5304417c-620f-45d9-955b-74caf8c0de4a"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1c092405-c0be-4cb0-ba39-7abc2874f6b8" id="f0842abc-cbab-4854-91ac-741ae9130789"> others</gs></gs>. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are a few things we can do help those in need in the community, but we need to all pull together with one concerted effort. Reach out to those in need, or call us if there is any way we can help with pointing you in the direction of training, upgrading, or just listening. </div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-16919031776487073782015-02-03T18:23:00.000-06:002015-02-03T18:23:11.510-06:005 Reasons for Every Teacher to Have a Digital Presence: A Principal's PerspectiveMore and more we need to control the message that goes out from the school. We don't have to look far to find reports of schools doing poorly, or a news story about another violent act in a school, or some bad news that affects schools, or whatever. In the midst of all this, we need to control the message and ensure that we are getting our message out to the general public, or parents about the good things that are happening in our schools. When I look around, I see so much good happening in our school, and we have been very purposeful in engaging in Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook for our students and parents. The result? I think many students and parents are very happy about what they are seeing online.<br />
<br />
I realize there is a skepticism among some about using social media in education, but the truth is that there are more pros than cons for engaging in social media from an educational perspective. I will not let the misuse of these mediums limit my use of them for the good of our school and community. I've heard the stories of cyber bullying on Facebook; I've heard of students hacking into Instagram accounts and putting up rude and hurtful comments about another person; I have seen some of the disgusting tweets put out there for people to read. But in the end, I want to use these mediums for good, because they really are powerful tools that can spread a message of hope and bring about positive outcomes. We just need to know how to use them. That being said, I have 5 reasons why every teacher should have a digital presence.<br />
<br />
<b>1) Control the message about your classroom success</b><br />
<br />
<b>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/49216518" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </b><br />
<br />
One of the most important tasks a teacher needs to do is let parents know what is happening in the classroom. It really is about relationship building. It's not any different than the relationship building that needs to happen in the classroom, as well. With the access we have to technology, whether it is email, texting, using Remind 101, connecting with home shouldn't be the challenge it was 20 years ago anymore. So with a tool like Facebook, I encourage teachers to create a Facebook page and invite all the parents to <b>LIKE</b> it so only they have access to see the student work that is being posted, the pictures of students working on activities, or just to send out announcements or homework.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vclT-NJbETQ/VNEQefOBABI/AAAAAAAABKY/8d3pIzqvgLo/s1600/cropped-try-851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vclT-NJbETQ/VNEQefOBABI/AAAAAAAABKY/8d3pIzqvgLo/s1600/cropped-try-851.jpg" height="107" width="400" /></a>I think one of the best examples I have seen of a teacher controlling the message is Kathy Cassidy, Gr One Teacher from Moose Jaw, SK. Here's a couple of her links for her blog, <a href="http://kathycassidy.com/" target="_blank">Primary Preoccupation</a> that she posts weekly with video, pictures of students and her <a href="https://twitter.com/kathycassidy" target="_blank">Twitter account</a>, where she promotes her blog, and her classroom activities. She's an excellent example of getting the message out there for parents to connect to the school. I would want my children in her classroom by what I have seen her doing with students. Check it out.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-weight: bold;">2) Network with peers for ideas and support</b><br />
<br />
Matt Davis wrote a blog, <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-media-resources-educators-matt-davis" target="_blank">Social Media for Teachers</a>, a few years ago that is worthwhile linking here that highlights how teachers can use Social Media effectively. Over the years, I have tried a number of different tools. I've had an About.me page, which I eventually deleted because I didn't see the value of it for networking purposes. I've used <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=67382605&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile" target="_blank">Linkedin</a> to expand my network, but I'm not sure I felt more support or gained more ideas because I used it. I've created my boards on <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/vhill01/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>, and pinned lots educational ideas that I shared with others, and I've gained a lot of good ideas too, but I don't feel connected to the people that follow my boards or vice versa. So before I open up a bunch of accounts and getting caught up in the novelty of a new fad app or tool, I've started asking myself the question, why am I opening another account, and what do I hope to achieve with it.<br />
<br />
The more I work with social media, the more I find the need to network with peers about ideas. For that, I use Twitter. I'm getting more selective about who I accept to follow back, as well, because I want it to have value for my learning. I can pose questions for discussion and get the feedback from other teachers and administrators. I receive immense value from tweeting. Those that I follow and who follow me back provide valuable insights to issues and ideas that either give me validation or correction.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H3YxtNOjLpo/VNFax3_sW3I/AAAAAAAABKo/JM8XJJmGuqQ/s1600/twitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H3YxtNOjLpo/VNFax3_sW3I/AAAAAAAABKo/JM8XJJmGuqQ/s1600/twitter.png" height="228" width="400" /></a><b style="font-weight: bold;"></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: bold;"><b style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></b></b>
<b style="font-weight: bold;">3) Manage your professional development</b><br />
<br />
In addition to the networking, one of the greatest values I receive is the professional development. I engage regularly in <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23satchat&src=typd" target="_blank">#satchat</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23sunchat&src=typd" target="_blank">#sunchat</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23sblchat&src=tyah" target="_blank">#sblchat</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23tN2T&src=typd" target="_blank">#TN2T</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23SKEDChat&src=typd" target="_blank">#skedchat</a>, and more. They have become my greatest source of professional development. I am in contact with people all over the world who share their enthusiasm for learning as I do. The ideas I learn are invaluable. It forces me to keep up my reading, which I access through <a href="https://about.flipboard.com/" target="_blank">Flipboard</a>, <a href="http://zite.com/" target="_blank">Zite</a>, or <a href="https://feedly.com/i/welcome" target="_blank">Feedly</a>. I have subscribed to feeds, blogs, and news articles that register with my interests. By linking them to Google+, Linkedin, Twitter, and <a href="http://www.scoop.it/u/vince-hill" target="_blank">Scoopit</a>, I can share the articles I read with others and give my feedback as well. As a principal, I feel it my duty to take the lead for my learning and set the example for my teachers. As more teachers from my school connect to Twitter, I make sure that I include <a href="https://twitter.com/BassanoSchool" target="_blank">@BassanoSchool</a> to Tweets for my teachers to be able to see, where I retweet for our parents and students, who follow our school Twitter as well. It's all part of the bigger plan to spread the word so we are all learning together.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-weight: bold;">4) Promote yourself and your accomplishments</b><br />
<br />
One of the things that many of us educators struggle with is promoting what we do. Maybe part of this challenge is that we are trained to be too modest. Whatever the case, teachers need to promote their achievements and accomplishments where they are experiencing success with students. Why should others have to experience more challenges in their classroom, because we don't want to share what's working and what's not. Blogging has become that tool for me. I find myself, with more practice, sharing what I've learned, what I am learning, and some of my greatest successes. I encourage teachers to blog. It's surprising the reach my blog has had. It's been read around the world with over 33,000 pageviews by complete strangers. Many of the comments I have received are that my insights have been helpful.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-weight: bold;">5) Be a Changemaker</b><br />
<b style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></b>
Finally, if we are going to change the world of education, we need to engage in the mediums our students are using and use them for good. Recently, I took some pictures of some of our boys enrolled in a mentorship program at the school. They were mentoring younger students by taking them to the hockey arena and teaching them how to skate and play hockey. This experience was a game changer for the kids, but I put the pictures up on <a href="http://instagram.com/bassanoschool" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and shared them out to Twitter. Three different online newspapers retweeted the images, which was later retweeted by a national morning show TV host. The boys were thrilled, and they felt great about the volunteering they were doing. Parents and teachers were excited about the work these boys did, but more importantly, it produced change in a few boys lives that needed to hear something positive about themselves. Teachers have the power to be changemakers, not only for themselves, but for their students. Having digital presence makes that more than possible. It's time to get connected, and make a difference in people's lives.
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style="background: #FFF; border-radius: 3px; border: 0; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: -webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width: 99.375%; width: calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding: 8px;">
<div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 50% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;">
<div style="background: url(data:image/png; display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;">
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;">
<a href="https://instagram.com/p/yF1aPerqOU/" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_top">Kyle, Gary, & Wyatt, working with the Elementary students as part of the Mentorship CTS class. (Video)</a></div>
<div style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">
A video posted by @bassanoschool on <time datetime="2015-01-20T21:39:38+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 20, 2015 at 1:39pm PST</time></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async="" defer="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-14342648996717692292015-02-03T10:00:00.003-06:002015-02-03T10:10:47.074-06:00What's the Virtue of Love look like? Feel like?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SvSqrHQwQeo/VNDtjY_MQGI/AAAAAAAABKI/I0ERcs_tPwU/s1600/virute%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bmonth%2Blove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SvSqrHQwQeo/VNDtjY_MQGI/AAAAAAAABKI/I0ERcs_tPwU/s1600/virute%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bmonth%2Blove.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><b>What is Love?</b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<br />
Love is a special feeling that fills your heart. You show love in a smile, a pleasant way of
speaking, a thoughtful act or a hug. Love is treating people and things with special care and
kindness because they mean so much to you. Love is treating other people just as you would like
them to treat you—with care and respect.<br />
<br />
<b>Why Practice It?</b><br />
<br />
Without love, people feel alone. When they don’t feel they matter to anyone, they become
unhappy. Sometimes they act angry and don’t let others get close. Everyone wants to be liked.
Everyone likes to be loved. When you are being loving, you help others to feel important. They
become gentler and kinder. Love is contagious. It keeps spreading.<br />
<br />
<b>You are Practicing LOVE when you… </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Treat others as you want them to treat you </li>
<li>Say kind and loving things </li>
<li>Share your things and yourself </li>
<li>Love people just as they are </li>
<li>Take good care of the things you love </li>
<li>Do what you love and love what you do </li>
</ul>
<b>Affirmation </b><br />
<br />
I am a loving person. I show my love with thoughtful acts, kind words and affection. I treat
others the way I want to be treated.<br />
<br />
<b>Some activities to use in your classroom with students:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><b>Love, List & Listen Game - </b>Using a timer have each child tell the group as many things as they can that they love in 15-20 seconds. After everyone has had a turn to share their loves go around and ask how many things the group can remember about what each one said. Don't tell the children ahead of time that you'll be going back to ask them what they remember from their friends lists. This is a great way for the kids to learn more about each other.</li>
<li><b>A world made of love posters - </b>Cut out a large pile of various colored little hearts. Have the kids use all the little hearts to make collage pictures.</li>
<li><b>Growing Hearts - </b>Have the kids paint or draw pictures of hearts growing like flowers in a garden.</li>
<li><b>Valentine's Cards - </b>If you're doing this lesson around Valentine's Day have the children make make home-made Valentine cards and decorations.</li>
<li><b>The Golden Rule</b> - Following the Golden Rule is one way your child shows love to others. Adapt the rule by having your child consider how a sibling, classmate or stranger wants to be treated. Also consider ways not to annoy others as an extension of the Golden Rule. Present scenarios, such as a homeless man on the street, a child without toys or friends in a room full of toys and a sibling who doesn’t feel well. Help your child brainstorm ways to respond or role-play what he might do.</li>
<li><b>Loving Stories</b> - Read books with your child that emphasize love through friendship. For example, for kids ages 4 and older, the book "You: A Story of Love and Friendship," by Stephen Michael King, uses simple prose to inspire children to show love toward each other. If you want to instill the message of loving each other from a biblical point of view, check out, "Loving One Another: Beginner's Stories About Being a Good Friend," by Neta Jackson, also for ages 4 and older. </li>
<li><b>Crafting with Love - </b>Encourage your child to show love to a friend by making a craft for her. One idea is to make a beaded friendship bracelet. Have your child use beads that are in her friend's favorite colors. She can also make a matching bracelet for her friend. Another idea is to make a friendship blossom flower to representing a new, blossoming friendship. Help your child to cut out flower petal shapes out of colored card stock. Poke a hole in the center and stick a small lollipop into the center. Your child can write a note on the petals for her friend as well.</li>
<li><b>Love Games - </b>Engage your child and her friend in interactive games that also reinforce the importance of friendship and love. For one game, have the kids sit in a circle and give each child a pencil and a piece of paper. They must write down 10 kind things about the person to their right as fast as they can. The person who finishes first gets to go first, but they all get to read their list and give their paper to that person. For another game, take the kids outside in a large space. Two kids are the "friendship stealers," and the others are on one side of a field and must run to the other side to safety without getting tagged by the friendship stealers. If any child gets tagged, they must remain frozen until a teammate tags them. The kids cannot get on safety without everyone, reminding them to never leave a friend or someone you love behind.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-86342579200107070662015-01-13T13:39:00.000-06:002015-01-13T13:41:34.017-06:00The Breakfast of Champions: Bassano School Parent Council<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've been struggling to sit down and write something, because in truth, I have so many things I wanted to write about that I couldn't decide on one thing, so in the end, I didn't write about anything. So today, I forced myself to sit down and write.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Growing up as a young boy in the 60's, times were different. We lived a simple life, and not always an easy life. We didn't come from affluence. We had the basic necessities of life. My mother made lots of our clothes; she was resourceful. My father hunted as much as possible. We had the only farm on the Reserve. We always had milk cows, goats (because my sister had allergies to cow milk), horses, and chickens. So we had milk for our daily porridge, and eggs for baking needs or for selling. But we had some lean times, even though I was usually oblivious to the stresses my parents were going through financially. I do remember one time we ate porridge for three weeks breakfast, dinner, and supper. My mother was very creative with the meals, and we didn't complain. But from the outside, most people wouldn't have guessed we had any needs, because my parents did there best to provide us with those three basic meals and dressed us properly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Although times are different from the 60's, I don't think this part has changed. Most parents do their best to provide for their children and make the necessary sacrifices often before their own needs. Unfortunately, we do still have people in need in our communities, but most don't talk about it and want anyone to know. And I can respect their need for privacy. The last thing we want to do is make people feel bad about their situations.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wTavaBTKD0M/VLVyftE5P0I/AAAAAAAAA_o/qK7AW-dFoqw/s1600/IMG_0292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wTavaBTKD0M/VLVyftE5P0I/AAAAAAAAA_o/qK7AW-dFoqw/s1600/IMG_0292.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LtoR: Leslie DeMott, Nickole Buck, <br />
Darcy DeMott, & Sandra Mitchell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So that is why I am thrilled to share with you that on January 12, 2015, Bassano School started a Breakfast Program. Thanks to the donation of a local charity, money was provided to start a breakfast program for our students, in cooperation from our Parent Council volunteers. 19 parent volunteers have offered their time to come to the school and prepare a simple healthy breakfast snack of cereal, yogurt, and fruit to our elementary and junior high students that may have a need for breakfast.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are thrilled to see the community come forward to assist in this. It will not interfere with student learning times, as teachers and teacher assistants are not required to help out. The parent volunteers show up at 8 AM to prep the food and get the cart ready, and are delivering the food to the classrooms by 8:30AM. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A student breakfast program is an excellent way to help ensure children and youth in our community attend school well-nourished and ready to learn. National statistics state that 1 in 7 children have not eaten breakfast each morning. Our school is no different, especially with students getting on buses as early as 7:15AM. By the time they get to school, it’s been 2 hours since some of them ate before coming to school or some not at all.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Research shows that breakfast nutrition programs help to:</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Provide students with healthy meals and snacks that provide the energy they need to stay alert and engaged throughout the school day;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">foster a happy and healthy school environment;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">decrease student absenteeism, in-class disruptions and conflict between students;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">increase students self-esteem, problem-solving skills and creative abilities;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">develop life-long healthy eating habits; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">provide children and youth with the best chance at success possible!</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Breakfast Program is available to all students in elementary and junior high, however, they are not required to participate. We follow all health and safety guidelines for this program, as well as comply to the nutritional food guide. If you have any questions, please call the office and ask to speak to me. I would love to field your questions.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-45216879207705607052014-12-03T17:10:00.001-06:002014-12-03T17:10:10.825-06:00Bassano School Education Plan and Annual Education Results Report (AERR) <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've mentioned before about the Accountability Pillars Results of Annual Education Results Report (AERR) that get published every year letting school and communities know how students are doing overall. Over the past three to five years the scores are improving at Bassano School. Most people will never read them, but they do state some good things that are worthy of sharing. Let me show you with the diagram.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FWueNn9KgA/VEpYOD__NcI/AAAAAAAAAnc/zXkIWJZfT24/s1600/AERR.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FWueNn9KgA/VEpYOD__NcI/AAAAAAAAAnc/zXkIWJZfT24/s1600/AERR.png" height="376" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What we want to see is a lot of blue in the final column. Blue is excellent, Green is high, Yellow is average, and Orange is low. Based on the how the students and staff feel about Bassano School being a safe and caring school we are doing excellent. With regard to program offerings, education quality, low drop out rate, and high school completion rates we are doing excellent. Preparation for lifelong learning, world of work and citizenship, parental involvement, and continuous school improvement, we doing excellent. All this being said, despite how well we doing on this front, I think there is always room for growth and improvement, and we certainly will not slack off. If anything we will push a little harder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The areas that we struggle mostly with is PAT and Diploma results, and I'm convinced these results are not so much a reflection of our students but rather on Alberta Education, who continues to use testing mechanisms that do not accurately or fairly measure what our students know. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our goal at Bassano School is to produce the best result possible for our students. So here is an overview of the strategies and goals we are implementing for this current year.</span><br />
<br />
<h4 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333399;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Goal One: An
excellent start to learning<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: Children are reaching emotional,
social, intellectual and physical development milestones and are ready for
school.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a preschool in Bassano</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a number of School/Community connections opportunities that support early learning, such as the summer library programs and the Parent and Tot Group</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a number of parenting courses/workshops offered by the FCSS and the Innovations team in Brooks and Bassano</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grasslands’ Behavioural Consultant writes home newsletters that go to homes of Division I students each month. These are also emailed to homes through the newsletter link on the website. The behavioural consultant also has open times each month for parents to meet with her to discuss behavioural concerns</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Partnering with external agencies for Early Screening to monitor milestones pertaining to motor development, speech and language development, social skill development, personal hygiene/health, etc</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grasslands and Bassano School have committed to an engaging focus on literacy development. Family literacy evenings are a part of the focus for this work.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School has committed to a ‘Math for Success’ methodology for numeracy development.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Classrooms in Division I are focused on hands-on/play-based learning – especially in the ECS and Grade 1 classrooms</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Teachers use differentiated learning strategies and formative assessments to target specific areas in need of attention for each student</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Character education is taught in weekly assemblies in division one. Students are trained in the use of Kelso’s choices and Virtue of the Week. Virtues Project International and Michelle Borba’s work on Character Education Traits are used within the assemblies through role plays, discussions and practice.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cross-grade activities within the elementary, and also within the entire school (k-12) allow for good modelling and good community building</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Access to specialist services is improving for Bassano School. A full-time counsellor has been hired for the school, one-fifth of her time being supported through a grant from Bassano’s FCSS. The counsellor will be the liaison between the FCSS and the school – which will allow for more preventative family programming</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Through student agendas, monthly newsletters, school and classroom web pages, we continue to work on positive home/school communication and support</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alberta Health Services, Grasslands Behavioural Specialist, and Alberta Mental Health provide monthly resources for families and parents that are distributed through school newsletters and classroom handouts</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Contracted support services for Bassano School’s PUF, ECS through grade 12 include: speech pathologist, OT, Ed Psych, Behavioural, mental health therapy</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The “Who Do You Tell’ program is a part of the Division I programming</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
</span><h4 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333399;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Goal Two: Success
for Every Student<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: Students achieve student learning
outcomes. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guided transition planning meetings between teachers at the beginning and end of each school year take place and teachers work through cum files and Pych.Ed documents. By starting our school terms knowing how our students learn best, teachers have a distinct advantage in developing effective lessons and long range plans that will benefit the students they teach.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jr/Sr teachers meet monthly to discuss specific academic and attendance concerns for students</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A priority for this year will be to develop an Academic Pyramid of Interventions and to increase the classroom interventions to support struggling students</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School continues to employ a High School Completion Facilitator. Her role is to work closely with those students from grade 10-12 and 7-9 who need additional supports to complete assignments. Teachers are providing consistent positive feedback about this strategy. This strategy has been highly effective in reducing the number of late or missing assignments, and is proving influential in keeping our most at-risk students organized and successful with their course work.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jr/Sr Teachers are investing considerable time and energy through PLCs in learning about research-proven teaching strategies that will help them become more effective with more of their students more of the time. For example, the Jr/Sr staff has been working with the cross-curricular competencies and will be integrating these into their unit plans and long range plans. As a continuation from Dylan William’s recommendations for effective Assessment For Learning practices, our staff continues to work on integrating teaching strategies that are more globally effective for student learning.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Continue to work collaboratively with parents to ensure that their children are aspiring to achieve success based on individual variables. For some, this may mean entering the workforce following high school with a set of functional life skills. For others, this may mean the development of independent study skills that will promote their success at the post-secondary level.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: Students demonstrate proficiency in
literacy and numeracy.</i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Division wide emphasis on literacy and continued assistance from the Grasslands Literacy Consultant has helped to focus the strategies and resources for increasing student literacy rates</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All elementary classrooms are using Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Systems, the Daily 5, and the CAFE (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding vocabulary) methodologies for English Language Arts and are using Math for Success methodologies for numeracy programming</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This year, the elementary has implemented the Leveled Literacy Intervention programming for grades 1-6, and we are excited about early data.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Accelerated Reading levelled literacy programs are used for grades 1-9</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Within math and science classes, teachers are incorporating learning activities that emphasize hands-on learning opportunities</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In math programs, personal response and metacognition play a key role (students are asked to show their thinking processes, explain their learning, and explore the development of personal problem-solving methods)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Teachers implement daily/weekly numeracy and or literacy challenges</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A focus on early levelled literacy intervention in the ECS, Grade 1 and 2 areas will help bring struggling readers up to grade level by the end of the school year</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two Family Literacy Nights have been planned for the 2014-2015 school year</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: Students demonstrate citizenship and
entrepreneurship.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">K-3 students are engaged in weekly role playing exercises at our Virtues and Character Education assemblies.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kelso’s choices are utilized every day in k-3 classrooms and playground to develop social skills, advocacy skills, and to differentiate between small problems, medium problems, and big problems</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Teachers utilize similar/consistent/familiar language with K-12 students regarding Character Development and frequently refer to our school motto “Respectful, Responsible, Involved”</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many elementary and junior/senior student council activities focus on social activism. Activities include Operation Christmas Child, Unicef fundraising, Me to We activities, Food Bank drives, and Community Christmas programs, Singing at the Hospital, etc</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School now has a student-led Healthy Choices group, comprised of students from grade 4 to grade 12. These students attended the Alberta Healthy Choices Symposium in Medicine Hat to start their club work. This group meets bi-weekly and does presentations at assemblies, and is working on healthy living goals for our school</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At lunch time and after school, all students can participate in a Homework Hot Spot program to catch up on late or missing assignments with teacher support </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jr/Sr Teachers use a Pyramid of Interventions to encourage punctuality and good attendance</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School enjoys community partnerships to offer Registered Apprenticeship Programs, Petroleum Field Operator programs, work experience, and health internships</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">High school students, along with the school’s Career Counselor, participate annually in field trips to post-secondary institutions as well as in-school presentations from post-secondary institutions.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: The achievement gap between First
Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students and all other students is eliminated.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Data for our FNMI students varies from year to year based on the enrollment of students from the Siksika Nation. It is difficult to forecast specific targets without the continuity of enrollment from year to year. That being said, Bassano School strives to achieve the highest level of success for all our FNMI students. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We renegotiated the 3-year Educational Services Agreement with Siksika Nation in August, 2014. This agreement allows us to have continuity for our programming for the students and is supportive of the importance of communication between parents, teachers, students and the community. As a part of the Agreement, Bassano School has a Siksika Liaison Counselor who is hired by the Grasslands School Board. In the fall of 2014, a new liaison began work in Bassano School. Healing circles and Elder Visits have already been organized for all of our Grade 1-12 Siksika students. Roles and responsibilities toward this position are being refined throughout the school year.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Graduation success for FNMI students in Bassano is due to the programming available to the students and to strong relationships with staff. There are excellent art, music, media, photography, and video opportunities as course choices. Welding and construction programs are also available to all students. Many of these options are hands-on and practical, and we know these experiential opportunities provide successful learning experiences for our FNMI students. For the second year in a row, a team of two high school FNMI students won the silver medal at the Regional Skills competition in the TV/Video Production field in March, 2014. They attended the Skills Provincials in Edmonton in April, 2014. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although we are still on the path towards greater student engagement, our continued focus on building relationships with students and parents has been beneficial and we are seeing gains as a result of this. Each student is being counselled about his or her education plans, and the school counsellor assists the students in the selection of courses to ensure success. Staff members continue to take an interest in students, not only in the classrooms, but also through coaching, in the community, and with activities the students and their families are involved in. Teachers and administrators of Bassano School enjoy participating in special events such as PowWows and award ceremonies that are held on the Siksika Reserve. The graduation rate of FNMI students in Bassano School is increasing and more Bassano School students are winning awards at the Academic, Cultural and Sports Awards Ceremonies in September.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Bassano school teacher also continues to work with the FNMI Literacy in Social Studies cohort in Southern Alberta. In late fall of 2013, two teachers and our Siksika liaison worker attended the Treaty 7 Conference in Calgary. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School’s career counselor is networking with post-secondary institutions such as the University of Lethbridge, Medicine Hat College, SAIT, the University of Calgary and Chief Old Sun College for entrance opportunities for First Nations students. FNMI students are encouraged to participate in field trip opportunities to post-secondary institutions. Alumni students and other Siksika adults who are attending or have completed post-secondary courses have presented information and discussed post-secondary opportunities with grades 7-12 students. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Additional programming supports in the areas of reading and math for some grade one to ten FNMI students have been provided. These include Leveled Literacy Interventions, Precision Reading, Accelerated Reading, Joanne Moore Reading and Writing, Math for Success, Kurzweil software, and internet-based text-to-speech software. Teachers use differentiated instruction based on formative assessments in order to meet student needs. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a part of the ‘Increasing Literacy’ initiative in Bassano School, FNMI boys have been the recipients of a focussed change in resources. Turtle Island books and many more Aboriginal fiction and non-fiction books have been added to classroom libraries and also to the main library. As well, the Daily Five program and Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System is being used to assist teachers in developing targeted intervention strategies for struggling readers. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Efforts continue to be made to increase our knowledge and understanding of local FNMI culture. Our Siksika Liaison will be offering two Red Cross cultural sensitivity courses for the Bassano School staff and community. The Alberta Education resource – Our Words, Our Ways, and the newest differentiation resource, Making a Difference, is being used by teachers in the classrooms. IPPs are developed for some of the FNMI students.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on the Siksika Nation in the spring of 2015. A video for the community efforts for the flood relief and the effects of the relief will be completed by Bassano School students in 2014-2015.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Local school initiatives for attendance, effort and success will be continued. As well, local sponsorship for scholarships that specifically identify and celebrate achievements of our Siksika students will be accessed and FNMI students will be encouraged and supported in applying for scholarships. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<h4 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333399;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Goal Three: Quality
teaching and school leadership<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: Teacher preparation and professional
growth focus on the competencies needed to help students learn. Effective
learning and teaching is achieved through collaborative leadership. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School places considerable emphasis on Goal 3, as it is central to our performance in every measurable area of school functioning.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Bassano School teachers and administrators appreciate that effective teaching is the most important variable in determining the success of its students. The staff maximizes its potential to create a student-centered culture by aligning administrator-led Professional Learning </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Communities, Teacher Professional Growth Plans, Data-Informed Decision-Making, and extensive Professional Development opportunities that all focus on improving teacher effectiveness.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Our elementary teachers will use PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) to deepen their knowledge and implementation of Levelled</span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"> Literacy programming, with a particular emphasis on balanced literacy, oral language development, Daily 5 strategies for reading and writing, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">guided reading, the CAFE methodology for reading (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary), and Fountas & Pinnell </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">benchmark assessments. All division one teachers, support service teacher and vice-principal attended the Literacy Summit in Calgary during </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">October, 2014. Elementary teachers are establishing a theme-based levelled library. Two Family Literacy Nights will be </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">scheduled once again this year. All teachers will meet with their district-wide PLC teams in November and February to further explore literacy </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">topics. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Bassano School’s Jr/Sr teachers will utilize 28 hours of PLC time this year to go through each of the ten cross-curricular competencies as outlined </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">by the ministerial order from 2014. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bassano School administrators have established a robust school-based budget for the professional development of teachers and administrators.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">For the 2014-2015 school year, Bassano School will offer more teacher-led CTS courses than ever. Audio Engineering, Promotion and Print Advertising, Sports and Society, and Connections (Leadership and Stewardship).Photo 10/20/30, TV/Video 10/20/30, HRH 10/20 (2 sections), Art 10/20/30, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Choral 10/20/30, Leadership 10/20/30 and Physical Education 10/20/30 and Animation are offered in Terms One and Two. Bassano School will </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">also host the district CTS trailer for Term One. Students will be able to take a variety of courses relating to machining and welding this fall. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Our Food Studies 10/20/30 program is offered in Terms One and Two. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our new patient simulator facility offers considerable opportunities for expansion of programming, both school-based and community-based.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Our new Health, Recreation, and Human Services pathway program offers a wide variety of health-related high school courses to choose from,</span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">helping ensure that Bassano School’s programming can shift when needed to best match any trends occurring at the post-secondary and </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">employment levels. Our new simulated ICU facility has the flexibility to accommodate even more branches of high school courses that we </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">do not currently offer. Over the next two years, Bassano School will consider adding Sports and Recreation Leadership as a teacher-led </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">high school option. Bassano School is currently engaged in discussions with Medicine Hat College and Newell Further Education for the delivery of health-care aide certificate program and diploma for dual credits. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">A pilot Teen Mentoring project, approved by Alberta Education, will be introduced in second semester. This project will include five new CTS </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Modules within the Human Health and Human Services area. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Bassano School is currently developing collaborative educational partnerships between the school and the community. By developing a partnership</span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">with the Bassano Health Centre, Medicine Hat College, and Newell Further Education Council, we intend to host 1st Aid/CPR training </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">opportunities to adult learners throughout the County of Newell. We are also partnering with a local welding company to provide authentic </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">work experience opportunities for our high school students. Our Food Studies program is connecting with local event organizers to provide </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">food at special events held at the Community Hall. By promoting Bassano School as a hub of learning throughout the County, and by developing </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">collaborative partnerships throughout our community, we feel that we can further improve our ability to increase the percentage of stakeholders </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">who are satisfied with the opportunity to receive a broad spectrum of educational opportunities as Bassano School.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<h4 style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333399;">Goal Four: Engaged and
effective governance</span><i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: The education system demonstrates
collaboration and engagement.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Staff PLC’s have discussed the topic of parental involvement in considerable detail, as it continues to be a concern for the entire staff. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">The staff recognizes the importance of working collaboratively with parents, and values the importance of communicating effectively with </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">parents throughout the school year. Last year, the staff developed Pyramids of Intervention to help clarify the communication </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">protocols for contacting parents throughout the year. Teachers report, and direct observations support, that, in addition to our continued </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">efforts to include pictures and articles for the local newspapers, teachers have increased their efforts to contact parents via personal </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">telephone calls, autophone messages, email, in-school meetings, autotext technologies such as Remind101, and letters sent home with </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">students.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Teachers and administrators will continue to encourage parents to work collaboratively with the school to provide the best education </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">possible for all students. Bassano School values parental input toward the direction of their child’s education, their educational experiences, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">and the development of individual goals and strategies.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Bassano School is currently considering the implementation of Student Led Conferences, where students facilitate a review of what they have </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">been learning, how they have been learning it, what is working well for them, and what they will be working on to further develop their </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">learning. By providing students with a more active voice, we hope to attract more parents to the school to actively engage in the </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">education of their child.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">School administrators have included key planning topics as part of the parent council meetings. Parents are asked for input and feedback </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">toward the budgeting process. The AERR is shared with Parent Council through a presentation and discussion format. As well, parents are </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">included in discussions of strategies to use for meeting the goals of the three-year plan.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Bassano School is also considering off-campus interviews as a means of improving the access of our Siksika Parent Community to our </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">teaching staff. We hope to initiate an on-reserve parent/teacher interview night during Term Two of this school year.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">This year, teachers and administrators have dedicated their professional development and PLC efforts to implementing research-proven </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">teaching strategies that improve student learning. Our elementary teachers have emphasized Literacy Development (Jan Moore, Blended</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Structure and Style, Daily 5, Cafe, etc) and our Jr/Sr teachers are emphasizing effective assessment practices (Feedback, Criteria, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">Questioning, Social Learning, Metacognition, etc) and student engagement practices (Authenticity, Novelty/Variety, Sense of Audience, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; text-indent: -1in;">etc) as central to the core of improving student learning in their respective classrooms.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Outcome: Students and communities have access
to safe and healthy learning environments.</i></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on">
<ul>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">School administrators are promoting a shift in the culture of Bassano School from a traditional, program-centered approach, to one that is more student-centered. There are a number of strategies, activities, and initiatives being applied across the school that are contributing to our success in this area:</span></div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">We are becoming increasingly effective at providing for the basic needs of our students. Our canteen program provides a </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">variety of home cooked menu items for breakfast, snacks, and lunch. Our k-3 teachers place considerable emphasis on the</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;"> importance of healthy snacks with students and parents. A washer and dryer has been installed to further accommodate</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;"> personal hygiene needs. We provide a clean facility complete with hand sanitizer stations at key areas throughout the school </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">and we explicitly educate our students regarding personal hygiene and cleanliness. One of the defining features of Bassano </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">School is the quality of relationships between staff and students. Students feel welcome at Bassano School and they know</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;"> that the staff is a team of people dedicated to helping them become successful in reaching their academic goals.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">We continue to restructure and refine our Student Support Services to improving effectiveness and student accessibility. </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">This year is the first time that Bassano School has employed a full-time in-school counselor. We are benefitting from the </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">work of our new Siksika Liaison Counselor. We have secured provincial funding for a full-time in-school Mental</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;"> Health Therapist. Based on the successes of last year’s trial with a part-time high school completion facilitator, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">we have increased that position to full-time this year.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">First Nations Education programming will focus on traditional storytelling, elder visits, art work, and the integration of </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">historical perspectives into classroom learning activities. By further developing this aspect of our educational program, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Bassano School is confident that we can improve the quality of education for all of our students.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Bassano School continues to implement anti-bullying programs and seeks to educate students on the ethical usage of </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">21st Century technologies. Teachers from K to 12 are providing explicit instructions and suggestions to students to promote </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">safe and ethical usage of the internet and interactive applications. We work closely with external agencies such as Bassano </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) to provide as much current and relevant information to students and </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">parents as possible. This will remain as an area of focus for our staff in the coming years.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Character Development programming further contributes to progress in this area. By explicitly teaching virtues such as </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility, and involvement, and utilizing resources such as social stories with our </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">students, Bassano School is actively engaged in helping students develop skills toward advocacy, awareness, resilience,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">and problem solving.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Bassano School has effectively maintained the high number of staff members on active supervision during</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<ul style="display: inline !important;">
<li style="display: inline !important;"><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">non-instructional time throughout the school day. Our K-3 playground and 4-6 playground areas have five dedicated </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">adult supervisors during recesses and lunch hours. Our flex space, hallways, and gymnasium are supervised by staff members during these times as well. This initiative has made a considerable impact on the climate of our school. Guests frequently provide positive feedback regarding the politeness of our students and the orderliness of our building during non-instructional hours.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Bassano School is considering the development and implementation of morning-based educational programs that focus on </span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">healthy food choices, community engagement, and improving the students’ overall sense of safety and security. By promoting </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">parental involvement in these daily programs, our goal is to enhance partnerships with our parent community and model for </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">students the importance of working together to solve problems. Our high school students will also play an important </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">role in the development and implementation of these programs - existing mixed age student mentorships are already contributing</span></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<ul style="display: inline !important;">
<li style="display: inline !important;"><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">to our successes in this area and we intend to create more student mentorship opportunities.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">We have a high level of staff involvement in many areas of extra-curricular activities and sports. Bassano School hosted the</span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;"> 2014 Senior Boys Provincial Volleyball tournament and all of our staff members were involved in this amazing event. </span></div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Our flex area now has all of the flags from our students’ home countries displayed. This has given a real sense of belonging and inclusion</span><div dir="ltr" style="display: inline !important;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">for all of our student members. </span></div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
</span><div style="text-indent: -96px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0in;">
</div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-57267440611179141492014-11-17T17:21:00.002-06:002015-10-07T15:39:22.609-06:00Celebrating the Generosity of the Small Town<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Few people get to experience what I saw last night. Let me back up first. We've only lived in Bassano for two and half months, and we are fitting into the community quickly. My wife has been invited to two different book clubs that are exclusively for women. Sorry men, I guess we don't read. But that's beside the point. Our girls are waitresses at the Roadside Grill, so they meet lots of people passing through on the TransCanada, or the locals for the daily coffee. It feels like we are out at least two nights a week doing something in the community, whether it's a meeting, making pies at the Presbyterian Church, or helping out with the Fall Turkey Supper. That's a far cry from our experience in Prince Albert, where we spent most nights at home, and rarely participated in community events. Not sure why, other than there's over 40 thousand people living in the city and no way to meet or know everyone like we're starting to do in a small town like Bassano.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So when Daryl and Carrie Lassiter invited Janice and I to a fundraising event at the community hall Saturday evening, we were expecting the regular Bassano evening of lots of food and visiting. When Carrie asked, we were like "Sure, sounds like fun." We had no idea what we were in for because it was the Bassano Arena Fundraiser. And if you have never been to one of these events in Bassano, you really are missing out.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Around the perimeter of the community hall were items that were going to be a part of the live auction, other items were displayed <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b49b3728-f244-4d9b-b9f2-41fde1df4eb5" id="fcdcbad0-75f6-42cd-a55f-7d8d68cfd69c">for</span> the silent auction, and another group of items for bucket draws. The quality of the items were impressive and not cheap either. Janice and I spied out an outdoor fire pit donated by Graham Douglass, and she really wanted it. I was told to break out the cheque book, because we were going home with it. We'd been to silent auctions in PA before, so if it was anything like what we've been to before it was going to be a fun evening. We never expected the night to turn into a wild, fun filled extravaganza it became. Wow. The evening of prizes and auctioning began with Jason Goudie winning the $600 dollar 50/50 prize and donating it back to the arena fundraiser.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The auctioneer opened the bidding on a load of gravel valued at $250, and it went for $550. And things heated from there. A homemade quilt went for $16,500. The fire pit, we were eyeing up, went for $3500, well out of our price range. So no fire pit for us. A snowmobile jacket went through three or four rounds of auctions, because the people that bought it for $1500, donated it back and had people bid on it again. When it was all done, I'm sure it went for over $5000. With the evening over, this event that would have been happy to raise at least $75,000, raised $129,000 for the arena.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
People can say whatever they want about small towns. Yes, I've lived in small town Saskatchewan before and it could be <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1b759883-4349-4c08-9dba-a1be78bddb5f" id="ca76df0b-927d-4627-81ec-faeb4721a750">cliquey</span>. You either were from the community by rite of passage because your grandparents were pioneers or you were an import from away. The only time people got together was when there was a funeral, and everyone showed up, especially for the food. I'm not saying Bassano is like this, because I haven't been here <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d9d2b2bb-42f0-42ee-81ad-f24872aabcae" id="e1468786-a7ac-479a-ad62-c4d5de25cec6">long</span> enough to see it, but what I saw last night was a community that uniquely cares for more than the arena, they care about the youth of Bassano. They didn't just raise $129,000 for a building, this was for the kids.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm told this what Bassano folks do. Last year the community held a benefit concert last year for the Siksika Flood victims and raised $30,000 for families displaced from their homes. The community also raised money for the swimming pool and the Zamboni, as well. What this says to me is that Bassano is a community of generosity. It has a rich history of giving when it counts. This speaks loudly to the quality of a community when they can come together for an evening and give so generously. My wife and I feel particularly blessed to have the opportunity to come to Bassano and hopefully become a part of this rich heritage for a long time to come. Coming from a city where crime, drugs, violence is on the rise, we have never felt safer than we do in Bassano. And people look out for one another. Last weekend, we had to run back up to Prince Albert and two different <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="3ecad04e-47fe-4c33-8bd9-1ca98bacbc72" id="b203a107-7832-49c0-b75c-997088bcbcef">neighbours</span> removed the snow from our driveway while we were away.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So with that experience on Saturday evening, we want to extend that opportunity to practice the virtue of generosity in the school with our students. This year we will be collecting winter coats, mitts, toques, and boots that we will be donating the Innovations Project in Brooks. If you have spare used items that are taking up space in your closet and you would like to help out folks in need, please go through those closets and send the items to the school. We would appreciate you helping us with this. There's no need for kids to be cold because they don't have the proper attire. Besides this seems like the right community to ask such a thing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are also adopting some families that we can help out for Christmas. This is another Innovation project. In the past, we have helped out 4 families each year, and if we have enough interest, we could help more families have the kind of Christmas that many of us are fortunate to experience. You can adopt a family and either buy gifts for them or donate money. All this is done anonymously. If you want to participate, please call the school and get more information about how you can participate or call Kathy Irwin, Innovations Project directly at (403) 363-1790, or email, <a href="mailto:kathy.irwin@grasslands.ab.ca" style="font-size: 11pt;">kathy.irwin@grasslands.ab.ca</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you missed out participating in the arena fundraiser, these are just some ways you can help out at the school and extend our virtue of generosity throughout the community and beyond. Let's make generosity a part of our growth strategy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/29560451" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe>
<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955267633664475388.post-2629358908473142682014-11-13T23:53:00.000-06:002015-10-07T15:45:32.678-06:00What Great Principals Do Differently<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aYgAQVgR7fQ/VhWSarXuIPI/AAAAAAAACpQ/mQ8KcC7wS80/s1600/WGPDD.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aYgAQVgR7fQ/VhWSarXuIPI/AAAAAAAACpQ/mQ8KcC7wS80/s1600/WGPDD.png" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0