March 15, 2013 - Where does the year go?

It seems like just a few months ago we were ramping up for another school year.  Many staff were excited to put the labour strife of 2011/2012 behind us (I certainly was).  Many staff rushed to catch up on opportunities to learn and grow together as facilitated through district professional development activities.  We all blinked and it was winter break.  Much of January and February was difficult as the district went through incredibly tough discussions within our communities related to school closures/reconfigurations.  Now at 3pm on the Friday before spring break I sit to capture my thoughts and write a little blurb for the ‘corner’.  The break is a calm in the middle of the storm.  The Board and many district staff members have meetings scheduled on every second weeknight throughout April as we work to establish a budget for next year.  After the budget it is staffing, graduations and planning for year-end/next year start-up.  Welcome to the cycle of public schooling.  Where did the year go? 

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February 22, 2013 - Welcoming carving for JLC

Last Friday I had the honour to MC an event which was celebrating the installation of an aboriginal welcoming carving at J. Lloyd Crowe Secondary School in Trail.  This carving is the first of what we hope are many artifacts that we intend to put in each of our schools recognizing and celebrating local aboriginal culture and heritage. The carving was commissioned by the district and created by a local carver – Mr. Jake Gravelle.

In the piece Mr. Gravelle combined parts of two cultures, that of the Coast Salish people and that of Sinixt people of this territory.  The two Frogs Mountains represent the Sinixt’s survival story. In Mr. Gravelle’s culture, the frog means that First Nations people are adaptable and it also represents knowledge and power. The two different colors refer to the seasons. The four Hawk men were placed in the carving as recognition of the J.L Crowe “hawk mascot”, and culturally, they also represent the four directions – North, South, East and West.  The sun represents life’s abundance and, as such, it radiates healing and peace. The moon illuminates the dark night and is also associated with transformation. It is considered the protector and guardian spirit. The braided cedar around the sun and moon comes from Mr. Gravelle’s Haida Gwaii ancestry. This method of braiding cedar was taught to Mr. Gravelle by an elder in Haida Gwaii territory. It is a process that begins with how to respectfully strip the trees to how to weave the cedar. To many aboriginal peoples, including the Haida Gwaii, the Cedar Tree is known as “the tree of life”.

At the ceremony and subsequent feast we were honoured to Sinixt spokesperson Marilyn James share her knowledge.  It was great to have students from our First Nations 12 course attend the ceremony.

Thank you to everyone involved!

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February 15, 2013 - Tragedy & Hope

After a nice long weekend our district world came crashing down with the unexpected death of a teacher early Tuesday morning at Twin Rivers Elementary.  My phone range twice and it went from bad to worse.  From a teacher with a massive health concern right at the front entrance to a teacher passing away all within about 30 minutes.  After a few moments of complete shock it was time for us to pull together.  We activated our critical incident response plan, which I was incredibility thankful that we had, and trained staff dropped everything and headed to the school to support the staff and students.  I’ve said it many times this week but I continue to be completely impressed by our staff.  They were struggling with their own shock and grief but they did everything in their power to focus on the students and help them get through this tragedy.  I would never wish this type of situation on another school but I saw the best in a lot of people this week.

After this event and two more school closure/reconfiguration evening meetings I needed to visit some schools.  I visited Glenmerry Elementary, MacLean Elementary and Rossland Secondary.  At Glenmerry it was 100 day – the 100^th day of school.  Many classes were celebrating but my favourite was Ms. Drake’s and Ms. Nedelec’s grade 1 and 2 class.  The staff and most of the students dressed like they were 100 years old.  Powered hair, cotton ball beards, canes and ties were prevalent in the class.  The kids were totally into it as were Granny Drake and Nedelec (that is what they were calling themselves).

At MacLean and RSS it was Valentine’s day and it was a sea of red and pink.  At RSS kids were preparing for an afternoon assembly and a positive buzz was everywhere.  I had a chance to touch base with most of the staff 1:1 who have the uncertainty of wondering what is happening with their school for next year.  It was nice to be able to talk to most.  At MacLean I was fed cupcakes, too many candies and attacked by spiders in a grade 1 class (I never really understood why everyone had plastics spiders on Valentine’s day but sometimes you just have to go with it).  MacLean was where I did recess supervision most of last year so I was able to see a number of the primary students that I saw daily last year.  We had a great time catching up.  It really warms the soul when a grade 2 student catches your eye and then gets up and runs to you and gives you a big high five with a grin from ear to ear. 

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February 8, 2013 - FES visit

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Fruitvale Elementary School (FES).  I toured classrooms and chatted with staff and students.  The interactions with kids really helps keep me going and reminds me why I do the job I do.  At some point in most elementary school visits we end up playing the guessing game … “who is this strange man in my class”.  Inevitably some child will raise their hand and say “are you Mrs. X’s husband”.  When this happened at FES last week the teacher and I broke out into laughter and I say “no… good guess and does anyone else have an idea”.  Just once I’m really going to surprise the kids and the teacher and say “Well… yes I am”.  Stay tuned for that story someday! 

Often the younger primary kids will come over to me to give me a high five or they need to talk about my fashion sense by discussing the tie I’m wearing that day.  Last week I noticed a student in grade 2 or 3 wearing his own tie.  I came over and asked the young fellow if it was a special day and was that why he was wearing a tie.  He said no and we continued to chat but this other youngster was really, really interested in my tie.  He asked a few times if he could have my tie.  I said “no” originally but after he asked again I said “sure”.  Off came the tie and I gave it to him.  The teacher gave me a puzzled look but I hope I made that student's day and I’ve got plenty more ties at home.  I’m also interested in if that tie made it home with the students and what his family said that night!  I’ll search him out the next time I’m at FES and see how the tie is doing.

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January 25, 2013 - Tweets of the week!

Too many long evenings over the past couple of weeks related to school closures and reconfigurations.  For this week's post I'm going to highlight a few tweets that grabbed my attention over the past week or so.

Proposed framework for labour peace with teachers bit.ly/10DmUe8

— BCGovernment (@BC_Government) January 24, 2013

10 hard truths about leadership soc.li/uF5682N

— Alison Sidow (@alisidow) January 25, 2013

#pechatshould PE strip be mandatory?Should wearing strip be part of student assessment?

— Patrick Kinghorn (@pkinghorn) January 21, 2013

All over this. “@edutopia: New! Change the Subject: Making the Case for Project-Based Learning bit.ly/W8TiDj"

— Brian Stefani (@kootprincipal) January 21, 2013

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January 18, 2013 - SD20 leadership team learning together

On Wednesday our monthly district leadership team (aka principal/vice-principal meeting) was held after school.  We met for about 2 hours and spent the first hour or so learning together.  We read an article from Allington & Gabriel (2012) about “the six elements of effective reading instruction don’t require much time or money – just educators’ decision to put them in place”.  It highlighted that every child needs to have a choice in what they read; they need to have materials that they can read with 98% accuracy; they need to be able to understand or comprehend what they are reading; they need to write to improve their reading; they need to talk with peers about their reading and writing; and they need to listen to a fluent adult read aloud.  We then used an Adrienne Gear nonfiction reading power strategy to discuss our thoughts and transform our thinking.  It was a great example of our leadership team learning and growing together to enhance our ability to be instructional leaders.  Thanks to Bill Ford for taking us through the activity.

Reference

Allington, R.L., & Gabriel, R. E. (2012). Every child, every day. Educational Leadership, 69(6), 10-15.

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December 21, 2012 - Happy holidays message to SD20 team!

Hi everyone

Just before school wraps up for the winter break I want to take a moment and thank you for your contributions to our schools and community. Together we serve our communities and nearly 3,900 students. Enjoy the holiday season and I hope you are able to spend some time with loved ones. For those of you who are travelling, safe travels!

Greg

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December 14, 2012 - Guest piece - Change by Bill Ford, Director of Instruction

This week I'm going to share a recent email sent out to our teaching staff by SD20's Director of Instruction, Bill Ford.  Bill highlights some of the change underway in our district and throughout the province. 

I recently held two meetings (Primary Leadership and Intermediate Leadership).  One of the items on each agenda was ‘change’.  At each meeting, an update regarding our Ministry’s continuing work in support of transforming the education system was shared.  Key discussion points included:

• Significantly changed curriculum is being developed – reducing the number of outcomes to empower teachers to be able to explore deeper with more variety based on interests and passions
• Competencies are becoming as important as content
• Graduation requirements are being revisited to reflect changing needs
• Changes in assessment practices and reporting routines are being developed
• Changes to the school calendar legislation has occurred
• Expectations for change and innovation have become a key message 
• Expectations for a more personalized learning experience for students (think:  inquiry, project based learning, student choice/student voice,…) has become a key message

Some links that you might want to go to for supporting Ministry documents regarding the above (for your upcoming holiday reading pleasure) are:

• The transformation of B.C.’s education system has one main goal: improving student success. All our plans, from the BC's Education Plan to this Transformation and Technology Plan, align with that goal and together focus on making sure that we have what we need for the future, as learners, educators and supporters of B.C.’s education system. This Transformation and Technology Plan aligns with the BC Education Plan to support all five pillars of education transformation while focusing on the last pillar: Learning empowered by technology. http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pubs/tt-plan/welcome.htm 
• Transforming BC's Curriculum - The Ministry of Education and stakeholders throughout the province are implementing BC’s Education Plan to help transform education to better meet the needs of all learners. Changing a system as complex as the education system takes time. To do it well involves extensive ongoing consultation, thorough research and exploration of possibilities, thoughtful decision-making and detailed planning.  Links to 3 documents can be found here:  http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/transforming_curriculum.php
• Personalized Learning  http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/personalizedlearning/   If you haven’t seen the Ministry’s interactive flipbook on Personalized Learning, this link will take you there.

The conversations at both meetings were fruitful.  Parts were challenging.  As pressure continues to bare down on the system to change, and the very DNA of what the system has been built on is challenged, some educators embrace the opportunities that this time brings, and others, not so much. At the end of the day, though, as stated at the meetings, we, in SD 20, need to have these conversations and support each other as we make sense of our current reality in education, and of where things are heading.

 One of the things stated at each meeting is that we are not alone in this exciting, scary work.  All 60 districts in our province are in the same boat.  All provinces in our country are, too.  And many, many countries are currently engaged in work to reframe their systems; focusing on learning how to learn, competencies, and skills and attitudes needed in today’s world are central to all of this work.

 The following link is to a blog by a teacher in Saskatchewan.  Shelley Wright’s writing is always reflective and thought provoking.  I thought I’d share this particular blog to highlight her thinking and to demonstrate that we are, indeed, not alone in this challenging work.  (Thanks to Karen Lavender for forwarding this blog to me.)   http://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/i-used-to-think/

 Our District will continue with the work we’ve begun to support our teachers as we make sense of the changing landscape of education in BC.  Some of the opportunities provided to teachers so far this year include Teachers as Learners groups (this year, Karen Hume working with 30 teachers in 3 separate sessions on differentiated instruction; Adrienne Gear presenting to elementary teachers on Writing Power; K teachers working together with Sheri Brattson on play based learning and assessment; First Steps in Math with 24 teachers participating in the 8 session program, K-12; Reconceptualizing Spelling, where 12 teachers focused on Words Their Way); Tom Schimmer working with the staffs of KCLC and SHSS for a day focused on assessment practices; and the Primary Reading Task Force, focusing on reading assessment practices and routines. This list is not exclusive; many other things are occurring across the district in support of change.  This work will continue to be challenging, exciting, scary…  I believe, though, that we are up for the challenge. 

Bill Ford

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December 10, 2012 - Here, there and everywhere

Over the past two weeks it seems like I’ve been here, there and everywhere between my professional and personal life.  Sometimes I need to look back in my calendar as the days go by in a blur.  I’ve been in schools, meetings (community, district, regional and provincial), community events, sporting events and everywhere I go I see SD20 staff members giving of their time for our kids and communities.  I saw a teacher drive over an hour on a Saturday to watch for 2+ hours a student in their class compete in a jujitsu tournament.  I saw a childcare worker give up 4 hours of their evening to participate in a community building exercise.  I saw teachers and administrators support a colleague going through a very difficult time in their personal life.   I saw teachers and administrators coach and organize a major sporting event.  I saw teachers and support staff coaching in the community and in their school, organizing events for dance and practicing for the upcoming winter celebrations.  I met with kids who were bubbling with excitement to share their knowledge gained by a teacher who challenged them and provided opportunities outside her classroom.

When I see members of our SD20 team sharing and giving in the community and in our schools it makes me proud to be a part of the SD20 team!

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November 23, 2012 - Glenmerry Robotics team finished second in recent KAST robotics competition

A couple of Saturdays ago four Glenmerry Elementary students and teacher sponsor Jane Jewitt were part of a regional robotics competition sponsored by the Kootenay Associations for Science and Technology (KAST).  Raya, Thomas, Brian and Justin finished second in the competition with their Lego Mindstorm powered robot which navigated a maze.  The group also learned about programming in Arduino which is an open source programming language.  These four students are now teaching and mentoring other Glenmerry students about robotics.

Thanks to AMEC for sponsoring the Glenmerry team and volunteers from the Nelson Tech Club for supporting the team with training and technical assistance. 

Great job team!

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November 23, 2012 - Former teacher awarded Queen's Jubilee medal

On Tuesday November 20^th a recently retired teacher from SD20, Ray Furlotte, was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal.  Ray ended his teaching career with us at our alternative school in Trail and we were honoured to host his ceremony.  Ray is being recognized for his significant contribution to the community and his volunteering.  Students, staff, family members and community members were present as Ray received his medal from Katrine Conroy, our MLA for Kootenay West.

Congratulations Ray!

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November 23, 2012 - Elementary volleyball playdate

Yesterday young volleyball players from across our district played at Selkirk College as part of our district elementary volleyball event.  Special thank you to teachers, volunteers and organizers on behalf of the students, parents and district for giving your time to support our young student-athletes.  Your efforts are certainly appreciated.

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November 18, 2012 - Summary of Levin's presentation at BC leadership conference

This week I was in Vancouver from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday afternoon for the BC 2012 Educational Leadership conference.  The conference brought 1,200 district staff, teachers, trustees, principals, and parents together from all across BC.  My favourite presenter (other than Nicola Kuhn from RSS who presented about the RSS blending learning experience) was Ben Levin.  Dr. Levin is now at U of Toronto’s OISE but formerly worked as Deputy Minister of Education in Manitoba and Ontario.  He presented on ‘Building Great Schools’. 

First, he recognized that we have a very well performing system in Canada.  Our challenge is keeping improvement going overall given variability in socio-economic status (SES), geography and demographics.   Given this variability we still see some schools doing significantly better with similar grouping of students than others.   We cannot simply say achievement is a result of SES.  He challenged us to have an unrelenting drive to improve.

How do we improve?  Levin stays the first thing is to stop doing things that do not work.  Sounds simply but often we are creatures of habit and history.  Next create a warm, supportive and inclusive place where every student has one or two adults they connect to.  Lastly, create intellectually stimulating and engaging environments.

Our focus needs to be on teaching.  Draw on best evidence (both research and professional knowledge).  Allow teachers to individualize their teaching but within the collectively developed best practices.  Use formative assessment, increase student engagement, create opportunities for more high-level tasks, have a broad and rich program, track students less but prevent failure more and provide second chances.  We also need to involve parents and families in a meaningful way.  Bring in our community and work together in the best interest of our students and community. 

Levin told us much of what we already know.  Nothing earth shattering here but just good reminders.  He encouraged systems to have no more than 3 goals that can be described in 7 words or less.  Build our overall capacity through partnerships; appreciate what we do well and use data and research to shape our teaching. 

He asked a question that he encouraged us to consider when we go back to our districts – what are the few things that are critical to success, and that only you can do?  These are the things we should be spending our time on.  Everything else is less important.

It was a very engaging 90 minutes discussion!

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November 13, 2012 - The magic of Board meetings

Over the past two weeks we’ve had back to back Monday night open Board of Education meetings.  Board meeting are 2-3 hour public meetings where the Board does the majority of their formal work.  In addition to the open meetings most of them are preceded by closed meetings where the Board discusses: personnel matters; legal matters; specific student matters; property matters and other matters the Board believes are in the public interest to discuss in a closed session. 

At a Board meeting observers may see a fair bit of people debating issues that relate to the Board’s governance role and then a lot of voting.   Our nine trustees will be called upon to vote on ten to twenty motions per meeting.  The agenda is set typically the week before by the agenda setting committee (Board chairperson, vice chair, Superintendent and Secretary-Treasurer).  The agenda goes in a prescribed order each time.  Items are placed on the agenda by way of notion of motion at previous meetings or come up from trustees through the chair or from staff.  Speaking of staff, it is important to recognize that staff members are NOT members of the Board of Education.  At Board meetings staff are there in a supporting role.  Staff do not get to vote on motions.  We are there to provide information, make recommendations, answer questions, and report out to the Board and public.

What people do not see is the work that goes on behind the scenes before and after a Board meeting.  Before the agenda is set, staff collects correspondence and prior notice of motions and places them on the draft agenda.  At the agenda setting meeting items are discussed for inclusion.  We have a master schedule of issues that are required to be dealt with by the Board (e.g. calendar by this date; budget by that date; report on achieve in this month, etc. ) so staff makes sure they make it on to the required agendas.  The committee looks to see if any groups have requested to make a delegation (aka presentation) to the Board that meeting and decides if the request can be accommodated.  Trustees may have forwarded to the chair or vice chair other topics they would like further information on.  Staff prepares reports on issues for the board’s attention or financial statements.  Normally by the Thursday morning before the upcoming Monday night board meeting the agenda is prepared and posted to the website with all documents attached.  That gives Trustees and the public a number of days to review the agenda package in advance of the meeting.

During the Board meeting you may see me ‘driving’ the computer and capturing movers and seconders, voting results, capturing motions from the floor and bringing up the various reports being discussed.  The Secretary-Treasurer (S-T) is capturing similar information.  Once the meeting is complete Natalie (our S-T) and myself email the notes to Donna (Exec Asst) and Donna starts building the minutes Tuesday morning.  The minutes do not get circulated until approved at the following meeting so Donna also builds the Board Brief which is an unofficial summary of the events which helps the public know what happened at the meeting.  Natalie and I each proofread the minutes and the brief and within a few days the brief is released to the public and the draft minutes are released to the Trustees.

In weeks where we have back-to-back Board meetings it is very challenging for staff as we seem like all we get accomplished is preparing for the first meeting, getting the brief and minutes out while preparing for the second meeting.  Luckily, we do not have back to back official board meetings very often!

For more information on how Board meetings operate check out our Board Bylaw that describes the processes:  http://www.sd20.bc.ca/district-bylaws/articles/procedural-operations.html

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October 29, 2012 - 3 day workshop on bullying prevention and violence and threat risk assessment

Last week I spent three full days with a number of other SD20 staff members participating in level 1 and 2 training as part of the government’s ERASE (Expect Respect and A Safe Education) bullying prevention and intervention strategy.  The three days were led by Theresa Campbell who is doing the training around the province and is an expert in the field of threat risk assessment.

Day one saw elementary teams from all our schools plus participation from SD10 (Nakusp), SD8 (Nelson/Creston), SD51 (Grand Forks).  The day was centred around building school connectedness and the positive impact that has on creating a positive school culture and climate.  We learned about troubling trends in domestic violence, bullying, assaults, girl violence and social assassination (cyber bullying).  Included in the training was talk around differentiating between conflict and bullying.  It was a lot to absorb in one day but we all left with a resource guide full of tips, survey instruments and background information.

Day two and three were attended by secondary schools again from across our region along with members from RCMP, MCFD, Freedom Quest and other community agencies.  The focus was on violence and threat risk assessment and we looked at aspects like: primary hypotheses; evolutionary nature of violence; impact of gaming and social media on the field; assessing threats; FBI model; interventions and management; fair notice and involving outside agencies and parents.  These two days were quite scary yet very important.  Luckily this is not an area that we recently have had to deal with in our district but nevertheless we need to be prepared and organized should a situation arise.

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October 29, 2012 - Congrats to Jesse

Jesse Bartsoff, Grade 11 student from J.L.Crowe Secondary School, recently placed 14th out of 56 students at the Senior Canadian National Debate Seminar held in Toronto on October 11-14.   The district, JL Crowe and the Kootenay Region are proud of this outstanding placement.  

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October 19, 2012 - District pro-D day

Some of the more interesting days of the year are district professional development days.  People come together from all across the district to learn and share.  There is power in the collective and on Friday we had a number of collectives working and learning from each other.  The majority of staff was engaged with Gary Anaka looking at brain based learning and engaging the student brain.  Gary had us doing brain gym, challenging our diet (he even convinced me into going 3 days without pop sweetened with Aspartame), reminding us if the “bum is numb” then there is no learning going on, and the importance of movement in learning.  A combination of brain science and good teaching made for a very enjoyable day!  The highlight for me was at the end of the day when Gary had groups of 10-12 people doing skits/songs highlighting what they learned from the day. 

At another site we had Carmen and Tobi leading a workshop about non violent crisis intervention training.  At that same site a group of bus drivers were learning how to use an EPI pen just in case of an emergency on their bus.  At yet another site we had kindergarten and grade 1 teachers and support staff learning about the Fun Friends program which is an evidence-based and school-based anxiety prevention and resiliency program designed to help children develop greater skills in understanding and managing stress and worries.  Other staff left the district and attended provincial specialist association conferences throughout the province.

Thanks everyone who helped make the sessions such a high success!

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October 12, 2012 -What should/could graduation requirements look like in BC?

Over the last three weeks I’ve been involved in three consultations to give guidance to the Ministry of Education regarding potential changes to the graduation program.  The first consultation involved trustees from Big White to the Alberta border south of highway number 1.  The second was a public forum held in Castlegar with over 20 people involved –students, staff, parents, Trustees and community members were involved.  The third was with district staffers, like me, again from SD51, SD10, SD8, SD5, SD6 and SD20.  We discussed the following five questions:

1.  What do you think are the core or essential things all students should know, understand, and are able to do by the time they leave secondary school?

2.  Beyond the core, how could pathways for choice or exploration be provided?

3.  Research is underway with a focus on the following five cross-curricular competencies*:

a)     Communication

b)    Critical Thinking

c)     Creative Thinking and Innovation

d)    Personal Responsibility and Well-Being

e)     Social Responsibility

How do you think students could demonstrate these competencies?

*in development

4.  How could student learning be communicated to:

a)     Students?

b)    Parents/Guardians?

c)     Post-Secondary Institutions/Employers?

5.  How would you design an awards program to recognize student success in a personalized learning environment?

Are you interested in sharing your thoughts on these questions?  If you want email me your thoughts by the middle of November then I can forward them onto our regional person.  Take the opportunity to shape our system!

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October 12, 2012 - Learning Improvement Fund summary

This year we received targeted funding in the form of the Learning Improvement Fund.  This Ministry of Education funded program is to provide additional supports for complex classes that present challenging learning conditions.  Districts across the province were required to consult with teachers and their union on how to spend the money.  Some of the funds were targeted towards support staff but most was up to the Superintendent ultimately to allocate.  We received $455,880 of which $350k is going towards extra teacher staffing with each school receiving anywhere from an extra teacher about 1 day a week to almost an entire extra teacher.  65k is going to support staff and one school asked for about 13k in additional professional development.  We have about 29k left to deal with emergent items throughout the year.  I’m proud to say that we came to consensus with the KCTU on this plan. 

The detailed spending plan and background on the Learning Improvement Fund can be found on pages 103-105 of the October 15 Open Board meeting agenda

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October 12, 2012 - Enrolment update

On Monday the Board will get an updated enrolment report form the all-important September 30^th count we sent to the Ministry of Education.  Once finalized, these numbers determine the bulk of our funding.  We still see less kindergarten students entering our system than students leaving our system which means we are still declining in enrolment.  The good news is that the decline has seriously slowed and when we look at birth data from IHA we see that we should stop the decline within a few years.

Our Sept 30^th enrolment across the district from 2011 was 3,969.125 FTE (full time equivalent) students.

In the spring we projected to have 3,916.293 FTE for Sept 2012.

Our draft Sept 30^th, 2012 number was 3,923.813 FTE students.  Pretty good projection again (says the guy who does the projections)!

We are down about 50 students from last year, which is way better than the 150-175 per year we were losing just 3-4 years ago.

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September 28, 2012 - Like old times

Today (Friday) I went to J.L. Webster Elementary School after school to help out with bus supervision.  Last year I spent about 150 days of the year at Webster doing bus duty after school during the teacher job action.  It was great to see so many familiar faces and get caught up with countless children.  It did not hurt that it was sunny and 25 degrees too!  Thanks to the kids that ride the last bus of the day from Webster for the pick me up!

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September 28, 2012 - My day with the Ministry talking about violence and threat risk assessment and school connectedness

This week I spent Monday in Vancouver for a Ministry of Education meeting related to the ERASE (Expect Respect and A Safe Education) Bullying and Violence and Threat Risk Assessment training.  Safe school coordinators from across BC were in a room to hear about the government initiative and how school districts will be engaged in a 4-5 year process.  In late October all our elementary schools will take part in a regional training session related to bullying prevention and school connectedness.  Principals, Vice Principals and another staff member (childcare worker or teacher) will take part in a day long workshop.  For secondary schools this year the focus is on level one violence and threat risk assessment training.  Our high schools will participate in a two day session in late October on the topic with administration and counselors involved.  We also hope to have some partner agencies included as well (RCMP, MCFD, CYMH) as their voice and experience is critical.  I’ve never had that violence and threat risk assessment training and on Monday we were given a teaser of the courses by Kevin Cameron who is an expert in the area and has worked with FBI and US Secret Service refining his model.  I am very much looking forward to the session and will keep you posted.

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September 28, 2012 - Learning Improvement Fund update

Learning Improvement Fund is targeted money provided to districts with an emphasis on learning improvement.  We received $455,880 as a district.  Throughout the spring we came to agreement with CUPE around the portion of the LIF that was targeted specifically at CUPE (just over $58,000).  The funds are being used to support additional hours for those direct student support staff who work less than 35 hours a week.  These additional hours are being used for collaborative planning, staff meetings, etc.  Additionally LIF funds will be used to provide support to fellow direct student support staff and students related to assistive technology. 

All but one school now have received an allocation of LIF funds and they have hired additional staff with an emphasis on co-teaching in specific classrooms identified by the school.  One school is just finalizing their proposal and should have their proposal into me within the week.  At an October Board meeting I will report to the Board the spending plan as per the regulations.  A small amount of funds will be retained for us to support immerging situations throughout the year.

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September 28, 2012 - School connections grant opportunity

A final round of School Community Connection grants is available to districts through the UBCM to a maximum of $12,500 with the potential for an additional $5,000.  This information was shared with school principals in September and interested schools/groups need to submit a proposal with letters of support from their community to me by October 9^th. 

Projects can include, but are not limited to:

• Co-location of community organizations, offices, services or other activities.

• Space for early learning, child care or after-school care programs and family resource centres.

• Community kitchens or gardens.

• Space for intergenerational programs or services for seniors.

• Installation and/or renovation of doors, locks and entry systems that allow greater community access to school facilities.

• Upgrades or renovations to school athletic fields, recreational facilities and/or playgrounds to increase use by sports organizations and the community at large.

We’ve seen two previous rounds of this grant in the district and money has been used in our district for:

• Webster – Creatively active village project (preschool/daycare)

• Rossland Neighbourhood Learning Centre Planning project

• Glenmerry Community Playground

• Fruitvale Tennis Court upgrades

On the October 15^th Board meeting the Board will see the submitted projects that meet the criteria and select which project(s) to forward onto UBCM.

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September 23, 2012 - Highlight of Kootenay Boundary BC School Trustees Association AGM and Pro-D

This past weekend I joined trustees from SD51, 20, 10, 8, 6 and 5 that gathered in Trail for their annual general meeting of their BC School Trustees Association chapter.  In addition to the formal AGM we organized a series of other opportunities for Trustees to share and learn together.  Friday night we were led by Andy Leathwood (from SD8 on behalf of the Ministry of Education advisory group) in a conversation looking graduation requirements.  What should students be able to demonstrate when they exit our system?  Also, how can these proposed skills and competencies be demonstrated?  We also discussed potential changes in letter grades/percentages and awards.

Saturday we had a number of workshops relevant to Trustees.  We started with a session focused on the importance of the relationship between Board and their Superintendent.  We moved into an update related to labour relations from BCPSEA.  The morning concluded with a session by the MakeAFuture team related to understanding supply and demand issues related to human resources and how MakeAFuture is working with school districts to support their challenges.    

Saturday afternoon Principal Dave DeRosa toured trustees from across BC around our JL Crowe Secondary School.  These trustees from throughout our region were envious of the facility and many of the learning experiences Dave proudly described.  We ended the afternoon with a highly energetic session led by Patrick Kinghorn (Vice Principal at Stanley Humphries Secondary School) about the impact technology can have to support learners and personalize their experience. 

Today (Sunday morning) the Trustees from across our region held their annual general meeting.  I am in Vancouver for a Ministry session Monday related to their ERASE (Expect Respect And a Safe Education) Bullying strategy.  More to follow on that topic.

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September 14, 2012 - School visits

This week I spent three full days visiting all of our schools.  I was able to pop into every classroom in our schools (alternative sites I plan to visit them in a week or so) and chat with students and staff.  The first few weeks of school are about getting everyone settled, establishing routines and relationships and setting a solid foundation for the year.  By Friday afternoon students (and many staff) were pretty tired and ready for the weekend.

Images that pop out at me as I reflect on the week include: grade 4 students using iPads to learn about lightning; playing dress up with kindergarten students during centre time; watching a teacher spending some quiet time with her grade 6 students reading while the grade 5’s were off helping in the kindergarten class; watching a teacher doing a quick reading assessment with a grade 6 student while the principal took the rest of her class out onto the playing field; group of students working online one 5 different courses all in one room; kids hypothesizing on why the candle the water level rose in the test tube when the candle was lit. 

The most heart-warming event of the week for me was when I entered a grade one classroom at Webster Elementary.  I got to know most of the kindergarten students last year quite well as I helped them get on the bus, kept an eye on some during after school supervision and visited their classrooms.  As I snuck into the room they were just getting ready to head up to the library.  One little guy saw me and ran and gave me a big hug.  Others followed with high fives and hugs.  It was pretty special.

After being in each school and able to touch base with almost every teacher and most support staff that are school based I can tell you our schools are great places for kids.  I am incredibly proud to see our staff working in service of our community and connecting with students.

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September 7, 2012 - Curriculum Transformation

Over the past year plus the Ministry of Education has been talking about revisiting every curriculum in the province in light of the BC Education Plan.  They began a consultation process including regional meetings across the province (including one in Castlegar).  After the labour situation was resolved in late June, the Ministry held numerous consultations with teachers over this past summer.  Through these conversations the message the Ministry has heard is that B.C.’s curriculum has too many prescribed learning outcomes and that reducing those outcomes will give teachers more time and flexibility to allow students to explore their interests and passions.  Also that the curriculum tends to focus on teaching children factual content rather than concepts and processes – emphasizing what they learn over how they learn, which is exactly the opposite of what modern education should strive to do.  The sample one page curriculum per subject level really excites many of us. 

The direction of new curriculum points toward a more flexible curriculum that prescribes less and enables more, for both teachers and students and a system focused on the core competencies, skills and knowledge that students need to succeed in the 21st century. It may seek to reduce the volume and prescriptiveness of the current curricula while still ensuring a consistent focus on the essential elements of learning. It will allow teachers and students the flexibility to personalize their learning experience to better meet each student’s individual strengths and needs. It will focus less on imparting facts and the information-based details of what needs to be learned and more on the “big ideas” or concepts that students need to master to succeed in their education and their lives.

There will continue to be an emphasis in primary grades on the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy. And subjects such as math, science, language arts and social studies will remain at the heart of every student’s education. But with the improved curriculum students will be able to develop a deeper understanding of those subjects and their fundamental concepts.

If you are interested in reading more about this curriculum transformation then follow this link and find out some more information including a prototype of what curriculum could look like.

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August 31, 2012 - My welcome back message to staff

Welcome back staff.  I hope your summer exceeded all of your expectations.  I hope there was enough excitement, relaxation, time to reconnect, time for family, time for recharging, time for retail therapy as you needed.  There rarely seems to be enough time to get everything on your “to do” list completed but the break was well deserved and needed.  Last year was incredibly difficult given the labour situation and I hope we never have to go through that again! 

Some of our SD20 team were busy working over the summer in preparation for the school year.  I’ve popped into the schools over the last week and want to thank and acknowledge all of the work our custodians, maintenance and information technology teams have accomplished over the summer.

I would not be truly Canadian if I did not mention the weather.  Many of us (my basement included) struggled with the massive rainfall in June and July but finally the weather broke for the better.  Some of our SD20 team suffered significant property damage as a result of the weather but I hope those pieces are coming together.

As for the upcoming school year, I encourage all SD20 team members to be active in our district.  There are countless challenges but together we can make a difference for our students and communities.  Your dedication, significant effort and commitment are valued.  I encourage you to: join a district committee; participate in wellness initiatives; get involved with your work site’s social committee (or create one); join a learning group; coach a group of kids or sponsor a club; create a book club; offer a workshop for your peers or parents; provide feedback on the BC Education Plan website; and/or be a champion for education and our district.  Together we do make a positive difference.  Together we are SD20.  

Our district achievement focus remains on reading informational text, number sense and targeting improved graduation rates.  On top of those goals each department and school is working on localized, specific initiatives/goals.  We have a long list of professional development opportunities throughout the year planned.  Some are small group and others will involve our entire staff.  Some are led by our own team members and others lead by internationally renowned speakers.  We have new district initiatives including new teacher mentoring, participating in a provincial early reading framework, erasing bullying and others.  Growth and leadership opportunities exist throughout our district and throughout the year.

Lastly, we must remember why we all are here: to serve our communities by supporting the learning journey of our students.  Every child needs to have a voice in their learning and a choice in the activities and ways to achieve learning outcomes and demonstrate their learning.  Whether we call this personalization or just good teaching we need to ensure this is happening for every child.

Let’s make this school year a great year for our students, our teammates and our communities.  We are SD20!

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August 31, 2012 - Inquiry in action - Our team learning together

This past week teachers and many support staff returned for two days of professional development.  In the past we did one day at the schools and one day all together typically with a keynote presenter.  This year we changed it up a bit and had both days in schools but one of the days everyone was working on the same inquiry project.   Teachers, direct student support staff and principals/vice principals undertook a synchronous inquiry project.  Some schools worked on their own while other schools joined forces for the day.  Small teams were formed and looked at four key areas that impact learners.  The day was intense as each group researched purposeful effective practices, debated their merits, found supporting research, determined key barriers and described how they can be overcome.

The four themes for this inquiry were:

• Assessment
• Inclusion
• Learning environment
• Technology

The guiding questions that each group addressed during their inquiry were:

1. What does it look like when we look through the window into a class and we see strong, effective, purposeful practice related to that theme “in action”?
2. What does it NOT look like?
3. What are key research pieces that support the actions you described
4. What are key questions/issues/barriers that people raise related to the topic and how might we respond to those questions?

Each group presented their inquiry results in whatever format they felt was appropriate.  Videos, images, Prezi’s, SpicyNode maps, slide shows, role plays, performance art, comics, etc. were used to document the group’s inquiry.  The emphasis was not the product / presentation but rather the journey in answering the key questions for the inquiry. 

The week before teachers and direct student support staff did their inquiry we had all of the district leadership team together for two days where we did the exact same inquiry.  It was very productive and we all appreciated sharing our thoughts, learning together, having deep discussions on these topics, being encouraged to dig further into areas of interest, having a choice on how we would approach the topics and a voice on where we took our learning.  We mixed in a number of challenges throughout our learning to re-energize ourselves.

I am encouraging teachers to engage in inquiry with their students empowering learners to have a voice and choice in their learning.  It was time to value that approach by asking all teachers to partake in such an activity on our professional development day.  While we focused on four key topics, it was the inquiry approach that was just as important. 

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August 31, 2012 - On the move

During the two professional development days it was my pleasure to run in-between every school to visit staffs.  Just a quick “hi” and chat with as many people as the time allowed.  Much like the energy at homes this long weekend, the energy and excitement for another school year was substantial in the schools.  Thanks to those staff who were able to say “hi” to me and update me on your summer.  For those who I was not able to connect 1:1 with, I’ll be out in all classrooms over the first two weeks of school.

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August 31, 2012 - Thoughts from the Kelowna Summer Learning Academy

A few weeks ago I was in Kelowna to attend the annual BC Superintendent’s Association Summer Learning Academy.  Day one was focused on updates from the Ministry of Education.  The Ministry shared where they are at on each of the 5 strands of the BC Education plan.  (Click here to view the slide deck used by the Ministry).  Nothing earth shattering in that update.  On the Thursday afternoon we were updated on the curriculum renewal project.  It was quite similar to the regional session we hosted on behalf of the Ministry last spring.  The promise of one page curriculums with 4-8 learning standards still remain very exciting for me but we are anxious to see them be released.  The Ministry is actively trying to engage teachers on the development of these “new” curriculums. 

The Friday sessions were very encouraging.  Districts from across the province highlighted some of their initiatives were personalized learning was highlighted.  I attended sessions about West Vancouver’s self-regulation work, new programming being offered in Port Alberni targeting youth and experiential learning, a session by Delta where they described how they engaged their community in visioning what their schools & district will be like and a session about Saturna Island Ecological Education Centre where SD64 is operating a school entirely focused on using their surroundings as a means to achieving curricular outcomes.  Imagine spending 3 or 4 nights a week in a bunkhouse with 12 other students for an entire semester while earning graduation credits.  Learning together with peers, mentors form the island and a teacher high school students use the local environment and areas of interest to learn and demonstrate their learning.  It was very impressive.  To see a bit more follow clock on this link.

The last two sessions were again examples of schools/districts providing learning opportunities for their students.  Fort Nelson talked about their 170 grade 10 students who spend their year in the new community multiplex rather than a traditional school.  The learning environment includes 2 hockey rinks, Olympic size indoor speed skating oval, running track, curling rink, community space and 6 classrooms.  They embraced a challenge to create an opportunity to revisit grade 10 and take a holistic approach to education including having their youth engaged with their community.  Maple Ridge talked about their grade k-8 school without a building!  80 kids, 4 teachers, lots of community partners and NO SCHOOL BUILDING.  Learning occurs in the forest, on a path, in the stream, in a research lab with 5 to 14 years olds grouped together in “families”.  Project based, place based learning in action. It sounded and looked amazing!

I left Kelowna excited and interested in what we should present next year!  I described these examples to our principals and vice principals and told them we have moved from encouraging innovation to expecting it.  We’ll see where our journey takes us.

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August 24, 2012 - Welcome back parents and students!

Hard to believe but we are nearing the end of the school summer break.  The Labour Day weekend in September marks the end of summer for students and staff.  September is an exciting time for schools as we get back to working with all our students to help them on their learning journey.  We encourage all of our community to be actively involved with your schools.  Talk to your child’s teacher and principal and find a way to stay involved and connected.  Parental involvement really can make a difference in student achievement.

All schools will be open at 8:00 a.m. September 4^th for the registration of students new to the district and for any local Kindergarten and Grade One pupils not previously registered.

Students will report for instruction on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 at times noted below. September 4^th will be a shortened day for students. Shortening the day will allow students an opportunity to become acquainted with their school, while at the same time enabling teachers to finalize their preparations for Wednesday, September 5^th, the first full day of instruction.  Kindergarten students will have gradual entry over the first week and a half so please contact your school for those times.

To our existing students and families welcome back!  To our new students and families, whether you are just starting kindergarten or moved here over the summer, a special warm welcome to your new school and district.

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August 24, 2012 - SD20 one of three districted selected to be part of New Teacher Mentoring Network

In July it was great to find out that our district was one of three districts from around the province to be selected to participate in the New Teacher Mentoring Network (NTMN).  The NTMN is a joint project between the government, BCTF, BCSSA and UBC and is focused on:

• Contributing to strengthening a professional culture of collegiality, collaboration, and learning together in the participating School Districts.
• Establishing a means of developing and sustaining reciprocal mentoring relationships as part of a continuum of teacher learning.
• Enabling teachers with the skills and processes which allow them to help one another  construct, support and extend the learning of others, particularly those teachers new to the profession
• Supporting beginning teachers as they learn the pragmatics of classroom life, and develop professional  habits of mind that lead to a sense of efficacy, agency, and love of their work
• Supporting teacher leadership as a fundamental component for improving practice and educational change
• Promoting the stance of inquiry and critical reflection as a process of continuous professional learning and growth, and a means of developing deepened understanding of self and practice.

We are meeting with the provincial coordinator next week and then will have more information including how the program will roll out for our new teachers.

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August 24, 2012 - New teachers in SD20

Early in July we interviewed approximately 30 potential new teachers teaching on call for our district.  These 30 candidates were selected from over 150 applications.  After the application, interview and reference checking process we have offered about 25 teachers a spot on our on call list.  Next week they will receive orientation from me and Marcy VanKoughnett (Director of HR).  In addition we have a number of other teachers joining the district who posted into temporary and continuing positions within the district throughout June and July.  Welcome new teachers to our SD20 team!

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August 24, 2012 - Early Reading Initiative

Our district will join almost every other district in the province as part of a new early reading initiative called Changing Results for Young Readers.  We are using some new funding from the Ministry to have two district reading advocates (Barb and Kim) learn from the assembled provincial and regional teams and then lead local teachers in each of our elementary schools.  Release time for local teachers and Kim and Barb (reading advocates) will be funded through these Ministry funds.  Participating districts will be guided by a shared early reading framework and will focus on one or more of the following strategies to develop and support young readers:

• increase student engagement;
• engage and support families;
• help young students develop self-regulation;
• implement research-based practices;
• strengthen cultural and community connections; and
• integrate available technologies in early reading.

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June 28, 2012 - Thanks to our SD20 team

Just before the school year officially ends I want to take a few minutes to say thanks for all that you do for our communities, families and kids.  I know it was an extremely stressful and frustrating year given the collective agreement situation across the province.  I am proud that we were able to maintain our positive relationships.  While we may not agree on everything, we are able to work together and recognize what we can control and what we cannot.  We are SD20 and no matter your title or role it is your contribution that makes our communities a better place to live.

It is important to recognize why we are all here – that is for the kids.  Throughout my school visits I consistently see teachers, direct student support staff, aboriginal education team members, principals and vice-principals working in service of students.  Some examples of how this plays out includes: smiling; helping; caring for; encouraging; supporting; teaching; coaching; mentoring; driving; advocating for; championing; acknowledging; and going the extra mile.  This service also is happening outside the classroom by tradespeople, meals crew, information systems techs, payroll staff, custodians, office staff, trustees, library staff, drivers, grounds crew, district office staff and others.  We also have wonderful external agencies that we collaborate with in service of our students.  Lastly, we work closely with our parents who are often in our classrooms helping out, giving voice to our parent community and working with our staff trying to help the students achieve their very best.

Our major achievement goals will remain the same for next school year.  These were reaffirmed by the Board of Education in our Achievement Contract in mid-June.  They are:

1. To improve reading comprehension of informational text for all students, K-12.
2. To improve number sense for all students, K-9.
3. To improve graduation rates for students with identified learning disabilities.
4. To improve graduation rates for students of Aboriginal ancestry.

On top of these goals we continue to invest and support the professional growth of all our SD20 team.  As the world and our children evolve we must transform right along with them.  As the saying goes … “the only thing constant is change”.  We need to embrace change and meet the expanding needs of our learners.  Just like our students, we need to continually learn.  We need to be committed to meeting their needs no matter what challenges they face.  This is our work.

Have a great summer.  Recharge those batteries.  Thanks for all that you do!

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June 25, 2012 - Student achievement remains our focus

On Monday June 18^th the Board of Education adopted a number of key documents that help drive our district.  Let me start with – it was a year like no other.  Much of the work described in school success plans, district achievement contract and aboriginal education enhancement agreement have been “on hold” due to the job action.  Even with that environment a few teacher learner inquiry groups still proceeded (numeracy, kindergarten and aboriginal) and a few pilot groups worked on projects of local interest.  The plan for 12/13 is to renew momentum around supporting change in classroom practice; return to a full complement of teacher learning groups; return to routine student achievement data collections; support inquiry and specific initiatives; participate in early reading initiatives and facilitate ways for teachers to collaborate, share and learn.

In our achievement contract, like every district in BC, we highlight a few items that we specifically report out to our community on.  These focus areas for 12/13 will remain:

1. To improve reading comprehension of informational text for all students, K-12.
2. To improve number sense for all students, K-9.
3. To improve graduation rates for students:
   a)  with identified learning disabilities; and,
   b)  of Aboriginal ancestry.

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June 23, 2012 - Rain, rain go away

On Saturday June 23^rd the Board was engaged in a self-review as part of their professional development and commitment to quality leadership.  It had poured most of the morning and around noon my phone range.  Denise Flick, a teacher, went by Trail Middle School and saw that water had entered the building.  A quick call or two and our maintenance and custodial team sprang into action.  When I got to the school around 4pm Dave Cherrington, Melanie Morissette, Joe Iorio, Garth King and Steve Morissette were already there starting the cleanup.  Water could be found throughout most of the basement level (library, gym, classrooms, meeting rooms, shop, kitchen) had between 1 and 3 cm of water on it.  The crew spent about 10 hours cleaning up on Saturday. 

On behalf of the district I want to thank and recognize the crew for giving up their Saturday to deal with the flood.

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June 22, 2012 - TR grade 6 Russian Bilingual Celebration

On Friday June 22^nd I attended the grade 6 Russian Bilingual program celebration at Twin Rivers Elementary School.  The Parents for Russian and the grade 5’s treated the grade 6’s to borscht and bread for lunch and then the grade 6’s read stories and poems in Russian.  The kids did great with their readings. 

Thanks to the parents, grade 5 and 6’s, Mr. Gorkoff, Mr. Evdokimoff and Mr. Hickey for a wonderful event.

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June 21, 2012 - District retirement celebration

On Thursday June 21^st the district held their annual retirement celebration in Castlegar.  The event was attended by 58 people (Board members, retirees, district staff and guests) and celebrated the contribution of our 28 retirees.  Throughout the evening we laughed together and shed a few tears.  Stories were told and it highlighted some of the specific, individual contributions by our retiring staff.  I want to thank them for their considerable and significant contribution to our community and kids.  We will miss them and hope all the very best for them.

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June 21, 2012 - Castlegar Community Prevention Education Continuum (CPEC)

Also on Thursday I attended the Castlegar Community Prevention Education Continuum (CPEC) group along with 3-4 other SD20 staff.  The day was spent with about 20 other community groups and we discussed programs and opportunities being provided to our Castlegar youth to support them related to crime prevention.  The morning was focused on understanding youth and the connection between attachment, self-regulation, social development and gender.  It shaped the later conversations where we could look at the child’s development and then consider targeting some programming based on identified gaps and development needs.  The day was organized and lead by Corporal Marty Kooiman from the RCMP and really was focused on supporting our kids.    

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June 17, 2012 - Personalized learning in action – what does it look like?

On Friday I had the pleasure of sitting in for three Science 8 water inquiry projects led by Ms. Trussler and Ms. Kuhn at RSS.  These six students took the topic of water from the curriculum and development a deep understanding by the use of inquiry projects.  Each group had a key question that they wanted to understand and then they drove their learning with the aid of the community, teachers and other resources.  It was a joy to see students fully engaged in learning about water in a context that they choose.  One group (Maggie, Kaija and Dakota) looked at bottled water and the impact it has; one individual (Rachel) did her inquiry about the politics of water and the third group (Kenyon and James) did their about invasive species at Christina Lake.

The inquiry approach allows for deeper understanding and knowledge than can be achieved through direct teaching; it builds on students’ natural problem solving abilities and learners can be challenged in supported inquires (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000).  Edelson, Gordin & Pea (1999) stated that “inquiry activities provide a valuable context for learners to acquire, clarify, and apply an understanding” (p. 392).  Keefe (2007) described that effective personalization requires learning opportunities that are collaborative, child centred, that builds on a child’s natural curiosity and creativity. 

The inquiry based learning approach has “students learn about inquiry and learn through inquiry, and develop their higher-order thinking skills and self-directed learning skills” (Lim, 2005, p. 628).  This self-direction is a critical component of personalization.  The student is at the centre of the inquiry.  Student voice and choice is prevalent. Bell, Urhahne, Schanze, & Ploetzner (2010) wrote about how inquiry enables “students in groups engage in self-regulated learning activities supported by the teacher” (p. 349).  This self-regulated environment fits well in the personalized learning paradigm.  “Children spontaneously inquire, asking questions and exploring, to understand the world; it is an important key to their lifelong development that should be cultivated and nurtured” (Wang, Kinzie, McGuire, & Pan. 2010, p. 381).  Further they went on to say that “inquiry helps learners to develop their personal and social understandings of the world by utilizing multiple perspectives and various forms of knowledge” (p. 381).  This personal understanding matches well with the goal of personalization.

Inquiry based learning can be well supported by technology but it is the approach that drives the technology usage.  Wang et al. (2010) stated that “children naturally explore and learn about their environments through inquiry, and computer technologies offer an accessible vehicle for extending the domain and range of this inquiry” (p. 381).  In that same study they found that “instructional technologies should be used in early childhood inquiry education to (a) enrich and provide structure for problem contexts, (b) facilitate resource utilization, and (c) support cognitive and metacognitive processes” (p. 382).

Mayer (2010) contrasted technology centred learning environments and learner centred environments.  In the learner centred model technology is used to aid human learning rather than access instruction.  Rather than using technology for teaching, technology is adapted to promote learning.  While subtle the difference is fundamental.  It is about what is driving the technology use – learning or technology.

Seeing these 3 groups of students was amazing.  It was exactly what the Ministry of Education is describing in the BC Education Plan.  Way to go staff for empowering the kids and way to go kids!

Bell, T., Urhahne, D., Schanze, S., & Ploetzner, R. (2010). Collaborative inquiry learning: Models, tools and challenges. International Journal of Science Education, 32(3), 349-377.

Bransford, J., Brown, A. & Cocking, R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9853&page=1

Edelson, D. C., Gordin, D. N., & Pea, R. D. (1999). Addressing the challenges of inquiry-based learning through technology and curriculum design. Journal of Learning Sciences, 8(3-4), 391-450.

Keefe, J. W. (2007). What is personalization? Phi Delta Kappan, 89(3), 217-223.

Lim, B-R. (2005). Challenges and issues in designing inquiry on the web. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35(5), 627-643.

Mayer, R.E. (2010). Learning with technology. In H. Dumont, D. Instance & F. Benavides (Eds.), The nature of learning: using research to inspire practice (179-198). OECD Publishing.

Wang, F., Kinzie, M. B., McGuire, P., & Pan, E. (2010). Applying technology to inquiry-based learning in early childhood education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(5), 381-389.

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June 15, 2012 - Here, there and everywhere

This past week I was able to visit Robson Community School, Stanley Humphries Secondary, Rossland Secondary, J.L. Crowe Secondary and On-Line Learning Centre.  Whether they are just a quick 15 minute “pop by” or extended visits where I can chat with lots of staff and students they help “keep it real” for me.  People often think schools are winding down in the middle of June but that is not the case.  Things were hoping in each site.  School staff are busy with year-end activities, preparing for next year and getting things set for the next two weeks.

We had two Board evening meetings this past week which makes the week go quickly.  I was able to attend and present at On-Line Learning’s graduation Thursday afternoon as well at J.L. Crowe’s grad Friday night.  The ceremonies are quite different (about 16 grads vs. 140 grads) but still special in their own unique ways.  Smiling faces, proud families, proud staff members, amazing donors, hardworking staff behind the scenes are common in all five of this year’s grads that I attended.  Thanks to everyone involved!

Another great part of my week was leading an Applying & Interviewing workshop for new teachers in the UBC / West Kootenay Teacher Education Program (WKTEP).  It was a behind the scenes tour about how the hiring process works, tips for effective applications and how to excel in the interview stage. 

Two more weeks of classes and then I’ll be in the office for about two more weeks then that will bring a wrap to year #1 as Superintendent for me. 

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June 14, 2012 - Congrats to Mrs. Korn and Mr. Kniess for their award winning FES Harmonica Club

Fruitvale Elementary School teacher Debbie Korn recently was acknowledged by the BC Retired Teachers Association with a Golden Star Award for the FES Harmonica Program along with Mr. Bert Kniess!  Congratulations!

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June 8, 2012 - Graduation season – time for celebration

On Friday May 25^th it was my pleasure to attend the Stanley Humphries Secondary School graduation, say a few words and shake the hands of the approximately 135 graduates and move their tassel from the left side to the right side of their cap.    The gym at Selkirk College was packed with family and friends and the ceremony moved along nicely with a number of laughs. 

On Thursday June 7^th I was at the Kootenay-Columbia Learning Centre (Co-Op Ed program) graduation.  This graduation ceremony is smaller with between 25 and 30 graduates and was quite moving.  These graduates took a non-traditional but no less significant path to their graduation.  The Ceremony was warm, folksy and moving. 

Tonight I’ll be at the Rossland Secondary School graduation.  Next week it is the On –Line Learning grad on Thursday June 14^th and then J.L. Crowe Secondary School grad on Friday June 15^th.

At some of the ceremonies I get to say a few words.  People ask – do you write a different speech for each one.  Well, not to burst any bubbles but the basic is the same but it gets modified or adjusted for each crowd.

Just in case you missed it … here are the key themes in my speeches this year:

Congratulations grads of 2012.  Get ready for the question that you will be asked repeatedly over the next while.   So ... now what?

What is next is “Real Life 101” – for some that means getting a “real” job, others means returning to school this fall and yet others will try and figure that out next week ... or the week after … and then again maybe after the summer at the lake.

Not to burst your bubble but most of us are making it up as we go along.  Something comedian Stephen Colbert said in a speech last year might be helpful to you. 

“Thankfully, dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it, you haven’t failed". 

The key is to set yourself up so you have choices and options.  I encourage you to discover your dreams, passions, interests, skills and then move forward.  If you don’t have a plan, you’ll be fine, just keep trying, learning and challenging yourself.   Find someone doing something you love and see if you can help out. 

Now Real Life 101 is not easy, prepare to work hard, pay your dues, make mistakes, say you’re sorry, apologize and learn from those mistakes.  Persist through the grind … most of what is valuable does not come easily or right away.  Sometimes knowing what you DON’T want to do for the rest of your life is just as important as knowing what you do want to do.

Stay connected, build real relationships. The number of Facebook “friends” doesn’t really count for much.  These real connections will come in handy as you are out there in the real world.

Follow your passions – not the money – that will make you happy.

Good luck!  Now get out there, embrace the challenges and create some opportunities.

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June 7, 2012 - A bad day at the track is better than the best day in the office!

This week the elementary track and field meet was held.  It was originally to go the week before but due to weather it was postponed until Tuesday June 5^th.   Now Tuesday’s weather was not any better but as the saying goes “the show must go on”.  We had over 240 young students participate in the event at Haley Track in Warfield.  We had student volunteers, parent volunteers along with retired teachers, existing administrators and even some district office staff (like me) coaching and running the events.  Special thanks to Brian Baldwin and Brian Stefani from Fruitvale Elementary for organizing the meet.

What you probably don’t know about me is that many years (and pounds) ago I was seriously into track.  Throughout high school and university I was a sprinter and competed nationally.  While teaching in Saskatoon I coached at the high school level and the university level.  I was involved coaching and organizing summer track camps for elementary and high school aged kids.  So … hanging out in the long jump pit in the rain last Tuesday was great.  Interacting with kids, parents, grandparents, volunteers and coaches was an absolute pleasure.

As I said in an email thanking organizers “a bad day at the track is better than the best day in the office”.

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May 25, 2012 - Celebrating our Aboriginal heritage

This week our Aboriginal Education department hosted schools from across the district in celebration of our Aboriginal peoples.  On Thursday I visited the Mir Centre for Peace at Selkirk College and joined classes from Stanley Humphries and Glenmerry who happened to be there when I popped by.  Over 1000 students learned about the significance of the bear, learned about the medicine wheel and got to make their own, learned and played some aboriginal games, made their own finder drum and a few other activities.  

On Tuesday the Stanley Humphries dance group performed.  This is the first time we have had a school dance troop perform.  Unfortunately I missed it but I heard fantastic things about it.  I would have loved to be there to see them perform in their self-made regalia. 

Special thanks to Angie, Bev, Bonnie, Christine, Kim, Laura, Laurine, Maggie, Murhi, Vicki, Leah, Jessica, Toni and Taress.

First picture - some of the stations

Second picture - Some Glenmerry grade 6/7's at the bear station

Third - Some SHSS students participating in games

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May 11, 2012 - Kindergarten classroom visit

On Wednesday I visited a kindergarten class at J.L. Webster Elementary.  I got to know many of these students this past fall/winter as I helped out at Webster with bus duty.  Walking into a classroom and having 5 and 6 year olds notice you and then run over and give you a hug and hold your hand is pretty special.  All fall as the K’s came out to the bus area where I’d be waiting the typical first topic of conversation would be about what tie Mr. L was wearing that day.  Two months post-daily supervision and after the hugs and high fives it was time to talk about my tie.

Students showed me their wonderful pictures that they were working on as they prepared for today’s tea for Mother’s Day.    We then sat at the carpet and talked about what I do, who I am, about my family.  To most I am the “bus guy” or “supervisor” and I’m okay with that!  We talked about what is their favourite part of school.  For some it was gym; others art; reading; some mentioned friends; some said the teacher and even a few said homework.

Selfishly, I could have stayed all day but it was time for recess.  Thanks Ms. Philipzyk for the invite and to the kids.

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April 30, 2012 - BCSTA AGM

This past weekend I attended my first BC School Trustees Association (BCSTA) annual general meeting with five of our Board members.  Thursday night and Friday were focused on professional development related to Aboriginal Education.  Honourable Minister George Abbott spoke as did leader of the opposition Adrian Dix.  Other greetings were brought from BC Superintendent’s Association, BCPSEA and even BCTF President Susan Lambert.  Saturday was fascinating as approximately 300 trustees from across our province debated 33 resolutions varying from a call to enhance internet access in BC schools to eliminating the controversial Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA).  Other “hot” topics included a number of motions requesting additional funding from the Ministry of Education to support the new Education Plan; funds for Aboriginal Education; establish a task force to look at bargaining; and more curriculum focused on the history of British Columbians of Chinese descent and indigenous peoples.

The picture to the right is Trustee Kinakin speaking to one of the resolutions.

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April 20, 2012 - More than meets the eye

Monday evening we had our regularly scheduled Board meeting for the month of April.  For some people they might think… not a bad gig for trustees, one meeting a month.  What I need to let you know is that the work of a Trustee certainly involves many more meetings than one per month.  In April alone trustees have 8 scheduled evening meetings.  In addition, trustees may have attended a committee they serve on, school PAC meetings, district PAC meeting, visited some schools, not to mention one on one or other group meetings.  In addition, some Trustees will be spending days in Vancouver at the BC School Trustees Association annual general meeting.    Being a trustee is important work not to mention can be time consuming.  Please don’t be fooled by a schedule that looks like one meeting a month!

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April 20, 2012 - Recharging the batteries

We are in the middle of the most intense period of the year – budget season.  After a 4.5 hour meeting Wednesday night with the budget committee of the whole I took some time on Thursday to recharge my batteries.  Not a day off but rather I went to MacLean for recess and to Webster afterschool (my former daily supervision stomping grounds during the teacher job action).  It was great to see the kids again; get an update or two; give some high fives; get fashion advice and comment on the latest haircuts. 

In addition I visited Glenmerry and had another great chance to pop into some classrooms, talk with teachers and kids.  In one class we played – who is this visitor in my class (took 15 questions to guess my role), in another they guessed my age, in one of the kindergarten classes I watched a kindergartener perform the song Party Rock.  It was a great visit!

Sometimes I need to remind myself what the budget is for and how it impacts our kids.

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April 13, 2012 - Out and about!

Wednesday and Thursday night we had two more Board committee of the whole meetings working on the development of the 2012/2013 operating budget.  By Wednesday April 25^th I will be ready to share with the public a draft proposal of a balanced budget.  That session is at TMS at 6pm in the gym and is open to the public.  The following week the Board will consider my proposal and are scheduled on May 4^th to set their 12/13 operating budget.

On Friday I was at Twin Rivers to watch Science World present to students about the joy and wonder of science.  It was a great event and the kids had tons of fun.  As usual, I learned lots too!  See below for a picture of the action.

I walked over to Stanley Humphries and happened into the library where the teacher-librarian was in the middle of a passionate recount of the Titanic.  It was an excellent demonstration of building on the interests of teachers and students to bring learning to life.  I had to peel myself away after 15 minutes but wish I could have stayed.  Very nice!  Here is a picture of Ms. Tamelin in the middle of describing some of the people on the ship that fateful evening. 

Also, I was able to visit the VISAC gallery where a number of our Kootenay Columbia Learning Centre (TMS) students had woodworking and pottery on display.  It was great to see our students’ work being recognized and celebrated.  Thanks students and staff for making this happen!

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April 13, 2012 - Ministry visit to our region to gather some feedback and ideas

This week we played host to a team from the Ministry of Education who were in the West Kootenays to consult with trustees, district staff, and administrators from SD20, SD8, SD51 and SD10 regarding new curriculum and assessment frameworks.  It is important to note that these frameworks or ideas are still very flexible.  The Ministry is out in districts gathering feedback to a variety of ideas related to what and how we teach and then revising their thinking based on what people are saying. 

It was very exciting to hear the Ministry talk about 1 and 2 page curriculums with less learning standards (formerly called prescribed learning outcomes).  The philosophical approach the Ministry is moving towards is having fewer outcomes and allowing teachers to go deeper into them.  This reduction of outcomes allows time for teachers to build on their passions, the interests of the communities and students. 

They talk about making SPACE in the curriculum to allow for creativity and passion.  The NATURE of the curriculum will focus on competencies, concepts and big ideas rather than micro-outcomes.  The curriculum needs to be ORGANIZED in a common format that we can pull apart and reorganized.  Lastly, students should EXPERIENCE the curriculum in a variety of ways.  I loved the phrase they shared about how pieces of curriculum could be put together “as courses if necessary, but not necessarily courses”. 

The Ministry has been working on the structure of how curriculums might be organized (competencies, curriculum organizers, big ideas, learning standards) and a philosophy but they have not touched WHAT will be into the curriculum.  We need teachers to be part of that conversation and the Ministry gets that.  Given the job action this year it has slowed the ability to get beyond structure and into fine detail.  They hope teachers will engage in working groups to revisit every curriculum in the province to create SPACE, ORGANIZE within a different NATURE which will allow students to EXPERIENCE the opportunities in a flexible manner.

Another interesting component in the curriculum will be cross-curricular competencies that will be woven throughout our learning experiences.  The five initial competencies currently being discussed are: communication; critical thinking; creative thinking and innovation; personal responsibility and well-being; and social responsibility.  Teachers will develop continuums and place students at various points based on the student’s behaviour; demonstration of ability and understanding.

In the area of reporting, the emphasis looks to be moving away from reporting as an event and more to a model of ongoing communication of the student’s learning.  Yes, there will be some formal reporting but it might not have letter grades right through grade 9 and the graduation program might do away with percentages.  Performance scales would be more of the approach (like K-3 currently) right through middle years.

The last topic was around graduation requirements.  They asked us to what is important to keep in grad requirements and how might things change if things move from an emphasis of courses to achievement of modules or demonstrations of understanding? 

It was an exciting afternoon conversation.  Lots of possibilities but no hard and fast answers still.  We saw that from a meeting just the week before in Kelowna that structure has changed.  The Ministry was keen to hear our suggestions, ideas and concerns to try and enable a system that can meet the ever changing needs of our BC students and society.

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April 5, 2012 - Highlights from my Ministry of Education meeting this week

Last week Board chairs, superintendents, a principal and another district office staff member were invited to Vancouver by the Ministry of Education to review Bill 22, discuss the implementation of Bill 22 (review the regulations) and engage in a conversation about ways to support our struggling students.

The Monday was quite routine with a fair bit of discussion around how the regulations connected to Bill 22 will be implemented by the 60 districts.  The morning was led by Rick Davis, Superintendent of Achievement from the Ministry of Education and the afternoon was led by the Honourable Minister George Abbott.  Good news included the over $450,000 we will receive next school year to provide supports in some of our most complex classes.  These “Learning Improvement Fund” dollars will be used to hire additional teachers, provide more education assistant support or provide targeted professional development.

Tuesday morning was quite different than Monday.  Minister Abbott and Dr. Stuart Shanker (http://www.mehri.ca/People.html) had a 3 hour interactive discussion about student needs.  Dr. Shanker has been influencing education around the world and much of his work is based on the concept of self-regulation.  Stuart told fascinating stories based on the research work they have been involved with and the positive impact it has had.  The challenge he described is moving what they have learned in the lab and scaling it across the system.

Self-regulation needs to occur before learning can occur.  He showed a fascinating video (http://youtu.be/6EjJsPylEOY) which hit home to most people in the audience.  70% of the subjects cannot/choose not to wait the 15 minutes in order to get another marshmallow.  Those 30% who wait have higher graduation results, higher SAT scores, lower depression in life, earn more money, are more likely to be in stable relationships, have lower obesity rates, etc. He talked about the physiological impacts, psychological impacts but said that no matter what the challenge: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD); attention deficit – hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Oppositional defiance disorder (ODD); etc… first we must focus on the child being able to self-regulate themselves.  First we self-regulate then we can learn. 

He briefly described some strategies that schools can use to help self-regulation: low stimulus rooms/areas, stress reduction techniques and moderate exercise.  As our society is changing these are having negative impacts on self-regulation.  Children are getting less sleep, are involved in less organized sports and consume more screen time.  All three have a negative impact on their self-regulation abilities.

It was a very positive discussion.  Our challenge was to move from knowing to doing!  If this is what research tells us can work then what are we doing to put this into action. 

More discussion to follow!

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March 9, 2012 - Well …. that was an interesting week! Bring on spring break.

The past week was quite the week given a three day full withdrawal of services by teachers.  I am proud to say that things remained very respectful and appropriate during the three days.  A “thanks” to parents and guardians who made special arrangements for their children for the three days.  We did not have any students arrive at school over the three days.  Teachers and students returned on Thursday for a quick two days and now we are on our 2 week spring break.

Monday night we held an orientation session for the Board led by Steve Morissette, Director of Operations and Heather Simm, Assistant Director of Operations.  The session focused on the district’s operations / capital projects / buildings and grounds / maintenance / transportation / custodial / health and safety.  In two hours Steve and Heather highlighted: the services we provide; existing budgets; the people that make it happen; the opportunities and the challenges we face in those functions.  Thanks to Steve and Heather for taking the time to help trustees understand the wide ranging supports provided by our Operations team.

Wednesday night the Board’s Committee of the Whole received presentations from the district parent advisory council (DPAC), CUPE Local 1285 (Support staff union) and Kootenay-Columbia Teachers’ Union (KCTU) around realistic and sustainable ideas to consider as the Board develops the 2012-2013 operating budget.

Thursday night the Board met and officially agreed to try and sell the former Sunningdale Elementary School.  That school has been closed for years and years.  The Board recently received approval from the Ministry of Education to dispose of the property and it will be put up for sale on the open market shortly. 

Lastly, the Board ratified the memorandum of agreement with CUPE Local 1285 bringing to a close this round of bargaining with our support staff.  The deal goes for the period of July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012 and sees a number of small changes to our collective agreement. 

I hope everyone has a great spring break! 

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March 2, 2012 - SD20 - It's a happening place

Last week (sorry I never made the time to write about last week) I was in every school in the district and I am proud to say – we’ve got it going on!  Drivers greeting kids on the bus, custodians chatting with kids, office staff helping students in countless ways, teachers doing their best to meet the needs of their students, administrators working hard to lead learning while keeping the school running smoothly, education assistants and other direct student support staff working 1:1 with students that require additional support, behind the scenes staff working to support the schools in support of our students, trustees meeting to help govern the system.  It is pleasure to be in our schools and watch us in action.  We have so much to be proud of! 

This week over 200 area elementary students were involved in our elementary basketball celebration held at the Fieldhouse in Trail, Kinnaird Elementary and Twin Rivers Elementary in Castlegar.  I was only able to watch the boys for a few minutes but you could see that the kids were having fun.  Thanks to the coaches (teachers, administrators and volunteers) as well as the referees and event organizers.  Thanks for providing this opportunity for our kids. 

Also this week students across the district (including my household) were getting ready for the upcoming district Science Fair.  Thanks to teachers, organizers and sponsors for keeping this exciting way for students to demonstrate their knowledge about science, technology and math. 

This week I was able to chat with many excited students about their school organized skiing.  They were pumped to get to spend the day skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing at Red Mountain.  We are so lucky in our region to have a great ski hill PLUS so many dedicated staff who organize the day, support the learning skiers and provide this opportunity to our kids.  As a kid who grew up on the prairies and never really learned to ski, I truly appreciate the opportunities that our staff provides for students to experience this lifelong activity.  Thanks for all that you do for our kids!

Lastly, even with all of the uncertainty next week brings, over the last two days I was able share some laughs with teachers and support staff. 

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February 19, 2012 - Innovation and scale - opportunities and challenges in the BC Education plan

This past weekend I was in Vancouver for the BC School Superintendents Association (BCSSA) winter conference.  The conference ran Friday night and Saturday and involved around 425 participants (superintendents, district staff, principals and vice principals) from all across BC and a few others.  The conference was kicked off by Charles Leadbeater, a well-known UK thought leader on innovation and creativity.  He challenged districts to be able to find innovative practices from teachers/schools that can be scaled across the district and across the province.  He described the need to help implement the BC Education Plan by taking small niche activities to helping them become wide spread activities.  We need to take low cost ideas and activities to address challenges and use networks to spread the ideas across the system.  He stated that it is a myth to believe that this innovation and scale can come from the government.  It needs to come from teachers and schools!  He encouraged us to look at other industries to see how they have solved problems in novel ways.  He described the need for change to be a movement in BC with many sub-movements embedded. 

Saturday morning we started with a quick activity to get us thinking outside the proverbial box.  Tables had to build the tallest tower they could out of spaghetti and tape.    Groups initially took the challenge literally but as he reminded us that we needed to look for novel solutions.  Suddenly people were using technology to put virtual spaghetti on top of the worlds’ tallest tower in Dubai.  Others drew pictures of spaghetti in space, others used the spaghetti to spell out the words “tallest tower” and others used materials beyond JUST spaghetti and tape.  The activity encouraged us to stretch our minds and look for solutions beyond the obvious. 

When we ask open-ended questions we can create opened-ended solutions.  We cannot wait for all the needed resources as there will never be enough.  Try, create, and innovate!  Empower students to be part of the creative innovation.  Lastly he left us with his C’s of innovation: crisis, curiosity, combination, connection, conversation, challenge, commitment and co-creation.  After describing each C’s role he stated that “innovation comes from a creative community with a cause”.  I hope you can help us innovate as we implement BC’s Education Plan.  Education in our communities can be what we make of it!

For more about Charles’ ideas check out his website -> http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/ which includes links to various TED talks he has hosted and other materials.

(I’ll try and write about some of the other sessions as the weeks go by.)

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February 12, 2012 - Thoughts from this week's BCSTA New Trustee Academy

At the end of this week I was in Vancouver at the BC School Trustees Association Academy for New Trustees.  As a new Superintendent I thought it was a great opportunity to learn a few things too.  Davis Campbell, Senior Research Fellow from the Center for Applied Policy in Education at the University of California, Davis was the keynote speaker.  Mr. Campbell has worked internationally on the topic of board effectiveness.  His topic was Trusteeship for New Trustees and his emphasis was on ways individual trustees can be effective as well as how they need to work together to be an effective board.  He described that a board needs to live at the governance level.  Their role is a strategic role and he likened it to being in a helicopter above the district and community ensuring that needs, wishes and desires of the community make it into policy that direct the communities’ schools.  The following quote connected with me as he had a simile that trustees were like sports team owners ... “The owners don’t go on the ice to play or behind the bench to coach.”  They put together the conditions for the team to do well.  He went on to say that the board establishes the “what to do” and the staff sets out the “how to do it”.  Another metaphor for the governance role was that a board is a lighthouse – they point out direction, keep people safe and help keep things off the rocks.

Mr. Davis went on to talk about characteristics of effective boards.  He described 4 key components:

1. Governance team has a unity of purpose
2. People understand and agree on the roles and responsibilities
3. A positive governance culture exists
4. Protocols lay out formal structures and processes to help guide the board

It was a great session and I certainly learned lots!

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February 3, 2012 - FES visit

On Friday I was at Fruitvale Elementary School doing some supervision so I took the opportunity to walk through the school and visit some classrooms. I loved the art gallery where student projects were being showcased.  Right now the gallery was highlighting some projects around Egypt.  For a quick sample of the amazing work see the pictures below.  In a grade 3 class they were working on a word math problem so I “helped” a few students work their way through the problem.  In a kindergarten classroom I got to talk about their weekend.  In the gym were 3 classes of youngsters doing their daily physical activity (dpa).  They were running, smiling and laughing while playing a couple of different varieties of tag.  It was a great way to start my day!  Thanks students and staff for another great visit!

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January 27, 2011 - Amazing Math Race @ RSS

This week grade 6 & 7 teachers at Rossland Secondary School held their own Amazing Math Race for their students.  Students had to complete a series of math and technology challenges after discovering location clues.  Based on the pictures and the teacher’s description it looks like a good time was had.  Sorry I missed it!  Special thanks to KAST (Kootenay Association for Science and Technology) for supplying prizes.  Thanks to the teachers for organizing the event!

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January 27, 2011 - e-exams - Wow!

This week I spent 3 days at high schools in computer labs supervising provincial exams.  Last August the Ministry eliminated optional provincial exams for most subjects but a few mandatory exams remain (English 10, English 12, Communications 12, Socials 11, Math 10, Science 10, and a few others).  As a former high school teacher supervising exams is not new but this was the first time in my career I supervised e-exams.  These e-exams are optional right now but are done fully online.  Students login to a secure site and do short answer, multiple choice and essays online.  The site can ensure that students are not opening other applications or accessing the internet.  There are a number of cool, online tools that students are provided with to support them demonstrating their achievement of the learning outcomes.  In Math they have access to online graph paper, virtual ruler and protractor – it was amazing to watch the kids navigate through the exam with ease.  In Socials the exams had pictures of cartoons and had the students select which issue the cartoon was describing.  In Science they had an online periodic table, formula sheets and maps that they could call upon during the exam.  It was very enlightening to watch!  Now that the exams are finished the essays will be marked (by humans).

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January 27, 2011 - Update from first Budget Committee of the Whole

On Wednesday evening we had our first Committee of the Whole meeting related to the 2012/2013 budget development.  Committee of the Whole is a meeting of Trustees and district leadership staff.  They are less formal than Board meetings and people are not held to only speaking twice on an issue.  They are more relaxed and allow for better discussion in some cases.  It is important to note that at a Committee of the Whole the Board cannot take action.  It is background information only and discussion.  No formal votes can occur while we are in a Committee of the Whole.  At best the Committee of the Whole can make a recommendation but that recommendation must come to an Open Board meeting later. 

As described at the January 16^th Open Board meeting this first session was to orient the Board about how a budget gets developed.  Natalie Verigin, our Secretary-Treasurer, led the session and provided background information to Trustees to support them as they develop the upcoming budget.

We have created a section on the district website dedicated to the budget process so you can follow along.  Included on that page is the timeline we are using for the budget development and a copy of the handout from the Committee of the Whole.  Check it out ->    http://www.sd20.bc.ca/budget-2012-2013.html 

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January 22, 2011 - Classroom visits keep me energized

When I visit classrooms I tend to be at the school due to a meeting and then I just check in with the office and then visit some classrooms.  I come unannounced and try not to be too much of a disruption.  If the teacher has the entire class in the middle of something then I tend just to wave “hi” and move along.  If the students are working on something I pop in and touch base with the teacher, any EAs and a few kids.  Sometimes the teacher stops everything and I get an opportunity to have a chat with the class.

This past week I had an opportunity to have a chat with a grade 1 class at Castlegar Primary.  The students were just wrapping up carpet time to start their day and I heard a youngster count from 1 to 100.  The teacher introduced me to the 6 year olds and we spent the next 10 minutes chatting.  I knew some of the kids had a hockey tournament that past weekend so we chatted about that.  One child read me a story that another student wrote on the weekend with the assistance of his sister.  It was a great story.  Somehow we got on the topic of birthdays so we played the game of guess the Superintendent’s age.  I was not sure what to think when the first guess was 90 (then again it was Monday morning and I was looking a little tired).  The next guess was 2 so after a joke about diapers we had a good laugh and narrowed it further.  We used some strategies to narrow the choices and eventually they figured it out.  I was having fun but realized I better not over extend my welcome so with a wave and some high 5’s I was out of there.

The next day I ended up at Glenmerry Elementary and again visited classes.  I wish you could have seen the grade 6/7 class I visited.  As you may know my background is information technology and I’ve been a major advocate for years about how we can use technology to engage students and help personalize learning.  This completely random visit was very heartening for me.  The students were working on a wide variety of projects and practice activities.  Some students were using the school laptops, others school iPads, others their own personal iPod Touches.   It was not 25 kids all doing the exact same thing at the same time.  Kids were working with peers on research projects of their own choice using technology to gather background information and help demonstrate their learning.  The teacher was bouncing between groups to check in and provide support as required.  It was amazing to watch!

Another interesting observation I made was related to the use of manipulatives to help develop and practice math concepts.  In 4 I saw kids using blocks, beads, interconnecting shapes and sticks to help reinforce math concepts.  When I asked a few grade 3’s they said they help make the math “real”.  Another student said they find it easier to describe patterns using beads.  I saw one student build a pattern using these interconnecting rings and then having another student describe the pattern.  The hands on learning opportunity brought math to life.  Very nice!

p.s.  For those of you guessing the answer is 44.

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January 15, 2011 - What one group of grade 5's want

On Tuesday morning I visited a couple of schools and spent a bit of time in a grade 5 classroom at Kinnaird Elementary in Castlegar.  After the typical – “what does a Superintendent do?” discussion, the teacher asked the students two great questions.  The first was “List things that you like about your school.”  The kids commented about the recent upgrades to the garden space around the school, physical education, time to play and be with each other.  The next question was “List things you would like to see different”.  This was a longer conversation with students suggesting the following improvements: fixing a ceiling tile in the room; having lockers and not cubbies in their classroom; later school start time; buses arriving to school earlier; bigger TVs; more gym time; more recess time; longer time to play at lunch.    

I want to thank the grade 5’s and the teacher for taking to time to share with me and help “keep it real” for me.

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January 6, 2011 - First week back

The first week of January brought back the sounds of schools in session.  Secondary schools are ramping up for semester end.  Students are preparing to demonstrate how they have achieved the learning outcomes in a variety of methods.  At Stanley Humphries Secondary this week I saw kids graphing equations involving absolute values, students working on the pajama bottoms project, kids working on posters related to small businesses they created, students finishing their woodworking project, students reviewing math problems, researching online for their English class.  It was only the third day back after a lengthy break and kids were engaged and learning.  The other thing I noticed is that the halls were quiet, the cafeteria was empty and the tone was business. 

My time on the elementary playgrounds this week was full of kids reconnecting with each other after the break.  Sharing with me their favourite gift or details about their trip over the break or telling me about their latest move they can now do on skis. 

The Board gathered in a Committee of the Whole to do some committee work this week.  This session was a follow-up from the December Board meeting where the Board passed a motion to review all standing and ad hoc committees of the Board.  At the January 16th Open Board Meeting the Board will make decisions regarding the committees they want to use to support their work as they set the direction and policies for the district.  We also established 7 evening orientation sessions for the Board over the next 3 months.  The purpose of these orientations is to discuss the role of Trustees, review key documents and legislation and help the Board understand how the district operates.  These sessions are important for both new and veteran Board members as they begin this new three year term.

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January 6, 2011 - District office changes

As the saying goes … “the only thing constant is change”.  December 1^st Natalie Verigin moved from Director of Finance to Secretary-Treasurer.  The district was also fortunate to hire Mrs. Marcy VanKoughnett as our new Director of Human Resources.  Marcy starts on February 20^th.  Just before the winter break we hired Ms. Susan Brenna-Smith as our new Director of Finance.  For a little background on each of these changes see below for my “Info Releases” related to each of the hirings.

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School District #20 (Kootenay-Columbia) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Natalie Verigin to the position of Secretary-Treasurer starting December 1, 2011.

Mrs. Verigin has spent the past 4.5 years as Director of Finance with our district. In addition to her SD20 duties, she has supported SD10 as their financial controller through a financial services contract we have with SD10. Before joining our district Natalie worked in a variety of finance and purchasing roles with Selkirk College for about 20 years.

Natalie earned her Certified General Accountant (CGA) certification in 2010 along with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Natalie also possesses certification in Supply Chain Management and has a diploma in Business Administration.

Please join me in congratulating Natalie!

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School District #20 (Kootenay-Columbia) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Marcy VanKoughnett to the position of Director of Human Resources starting in February, 2012.

Mrs. VanKoughnett has spent the past 14 years working in School District No. 52 (Prince Rupert) as a teacher, school based administrator and later as Director of Instruction/Human Resources.  Marcy taught at the elementary level and then spent 8 years as an elementary Principal in two different schools.  In August of 2009, Mrs. VanKoughnett joined the district staff as a Director overseeing teaching staff part time while remaining Principal at her elementary school.  For the past year and a half Marcy has been fulltime at the district level overseeing Human Resources for teaching staff and curriculum and instruction at the elementary level. 

Marcy earned her Bachelor of Education from the University of Victoria with an emphasis in elementary remedial methodology.  She completed her Masters of Arts: Education (Educational Leadership) from San Diego State University in 2002.

Please join me in welcoming Marcy to School District No. 20 (Kootenay-Columbia).  Marcy, husband Rob and two school age children are excited to be joining our community.  In the next few weeks we will finalize her starting date but in the meantime I will reassume the lead role in human resources until Marcy arrives and is settled.

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School District #20 (Kootenay-Columbia) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Susan Brenna-Smith to the position of Director of Finance starting January 9, 2012.

Ms. Brenna-Smith most recently was Assistant Controller at Zellstoff Celgar in Castlegar.  Prior to that, Susan was Manager of Statutory Reporting & Controls with Brookfield Energy Marketing Inc. in the Ottawa region.  Susan has been an instructor at Carleton University and Selkirk College related to Business Administration and Accounting.  She also worked in a number of roles, including Controller, for West Kootenay Power Ltd. 

Susan earned her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Athabasca University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan.  Ms. Brenna-Smith also holds a Chartered Accountant (CA) designation. 

Please join me in welcoming Susan to our district!

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December 16, 2011 - Board Presentation on BC Education Plan

See my presentation for the Board of Education highlighting the BC Education Plan.

http://portal.sliderocket.com/BGNVN/BC_s-Education-Plan-Overview-Dec-2011

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December 16, 2011 - Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season.  Take care of each other and enjoy the break.  I am staying in the area with my family as we recharge our batteries and enjoy the downtime.

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December 11, 2011 - BCSTA December Academy and Ministry of Education update

This past week I was in Vancouver for two events.  On Thursday morning I attended a meeting hosted by the Ministry of Education.  The morning was spent discussing updates around the new BC Education Plan and districts shared where they are at.  The Minister of Education, George Abbott, joined us for a discussion around the plan as well as other updates from his Ministry. 

Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon was the BC School Trustees’ Association (BCSTA) annual December Academy.  This learning opportunity for senior staff and trustees focused on the role of trustees, effective trusteeship, services the BCSTA has to support Boards plus an update from Minister Abbott.  In this discussion the Minister discussed the BC Education Plan as well as he announced some funding changes.  While the final funding announcement will not come out until March, we heard of sustaining CommunityLINK funding, revisiting the transportation funding, increased supplements for smaller/remote schools (40km away from the next school), changes to declining enrolment supplement for districts below 2,500 students and a change to the funding protection baseline.  Details were light but a reduction in the funding protection amount could negatively impact us.  Too early to tell but if we received no additional funds from the rebalancing of Community LINK, transportation, declining enrolment supplement and small school supplement then the change in funding protection could cost us an additional $500,000!  The Minster said that the reduction of funds to some districts will be used to sustain CommunityLINK funding, rebalance some of the allocations and fund those few districts that are increasing in enrolment given a net zero budget for the Ministry of Education.

In the new year the Board will set our budget process for 12/13 and we will await more details from the government on our potential funding.

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December 2, 2011 - AKBLG Presentation about Boards of Education

On Wednesday November 30^th I had the opportunity to present at the Association of Kootenay and Boundary Local Government’s seminar for newly elected officials.  My topic was about Boards of Education and their purpose; structure; roles and responsibilities of Trustees; and funding and budgets.  After my quick presentation we had time for some questions and answers.  The majority of the content of the presentation came from the BC School Trustees Association which is a nonprofit association that acts as boards’ strong, unified voice in advocating to government, other education partners and the public on matters affecting public education.  See below for a copy of my presentation.

http://portal.sliderocket.com/BGNVN/SD_elected-official-training

Thanks AKBLG for giving me the opportunity to highlight the important work Boards and School Districts do for our communities.

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November 25, 2011 - Russian Community and District recognized

The Russian Community, the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ, was recently awarded a BCPVPA Partnership Award.

The BCPVPA Partnership Awards are given to individuals or groups who have, over an extended period of time, demonstrated strong support for public education and created a direct benefit for students. The Award recognizes the valuable support provided to principals, vice-principals, teachers and students by a variety of people who share their time, energy and expertise to support schools.

The Russian Community was nominated by the Kootenay Columbia Principals’ & Vice-Principals’ Association for its efforts to support Russian language and culture. The Russian Community enabled the district to implement an innovative English/Russian bilingual program in Castlegar in 1983. The district now has 250 students taking advantage of Russian studies at three district schools, Stanley Humphries Secondary, Twin Rivers Elementary and Castlegar Primary.

The Russian Community helped to fund curriculum development, the hiring of staff to support the program, and provides grants to subsidize transportation costs. In addition, the Community has provided facilities for language training, promoted studies abroad for students and staff, and organized curricula-basedprofessional development. The Community also works to enhance the Russian culture through woodworking, bread making, story telling and musical activities.

John Verigin accepted the BCPVPA Partnership Award on behalf of the Russian Community.

In the picture from last spring (from left to right): Jameel Aziz, BCPVPA President; Jean Borsa, former Superintendent of Schools; John Verigin, Executive Director USCC; Peter Evdokimoff, Principal Castlegar Primary School; David DeRosa, KCPVPA President)

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November 18, 2011 - Footwear!

Given the recent snow I finally had to succumb to the reality that winter is here. See today's recess supervision footwear. Denial can only take you so far... eventually you must face reality. 

Yes those are my Saskatchewan snow boots!  Dress shoes just were not cutting it on the playground.

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November 17, 2011 - District Elementary Volleyball Tournament

Selkirk College gym played host to over 200 grade 5, 6 and 7's from around our district in the annual SD20 elementary volleyball  tournament.  I want to recognize and thank all of the coaches and sponsors who volunteered their time so that young children got to play.  SD20 coaches and sponsors included: Greg Archibald, Ian Baxandall, Shauna Barisoff, Lyn Boisvert, Christine DeRosa, Ken deWit, Peter Evdokimoff, Alan Hamilton, Heather Johnston, Ray McDicken, Leslie Mozak, Nancy Nutini, Mike Page, Ashley Reid, Leah Riemer, Linda Schamer, Brian Stefani, Dara Waterstreet, Joost Winkers.  We also had volunteer coaches who gave of their own time to help out.  Thanks!!!

Also, I want to thank Brian Baldwin and the West Kootenay Teacher Education Program (future teachers) for the officiating and getting involved.  

Lastly, thanks to Brian Stefani for taking the lead on organizing the day! 

See below of a couple of pictures from the day.

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November 9, 2011 - Trustee Elections Nov 19, 2011

On November 19^th members of our communities will have the opportunity to select their Trustees for the next 3 years.  Being a Trustee is a challenging but rewarding role.  Trustees commit countless hours in service of their communities.  While individually Trustees have no specific powers but collectively as a Board of Education they ensure “that schools operate in accordance with both local interest and with provincial laws and regulations.” “The board of education combines its understanding of public perception with the professional knowledge of the district educators, primarily the superintendent, to make decisions on the direction of school operations. These decisions take the form of district plans, policies and budgets—all of which need to be aligned in order to achieve the vision for public education.” (BCSTA Key Work document, 2009).

I want to thank two Trustees who have chosen not to run again.  Mac Gregory, a former teacher in our district, has completed his 9^th year representing the Castlegar residents as a Trustee.  Elaine VanDerMeer completed her 3 year term in office representing the Village of Montrose, Village of Fruitvale, together with Electoral Area A of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.  Thanks to Elaine and Mac for their service to our communities and the children of our region.

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November 8, 2011 - Wellness in action

This past week, as part of the district’s wellness initiatives, about 6 of our SD20 staff (along with 3 Teck Metals staff) attended a workshop lead by Jenny Baillie.  Jenny is a very accomplished artist and her phenomenal work can be seen throughout the region.  Jenny also happens to be a custodian in the district.  See below for some amazing water colour paintings created during the workshop.  Thanks Jenny for sharing your expertise and amazing job.  To the participants your work was fantastic.  Well done.

This course is just one of a number of opportunities the district is doing in conjunction with Teck that aim to support wellness in our staffs.  Special thanks also need to go out to Heather Simm, Assistant Director of Operations for leading the way.

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November 8, 2011 - SHSS Stduents in service of their community

Stanley Humphries Secondary School students collected food items from donors in their Halloween for Hunger food drive.  Spearheaded by the Leadership class, over 3,200 food items were collected and subsequently donated to the Castlegar Community Harvest Food Bank.  Thank you students of SHSS and congrats to Ms. Cale’s and Ms. Hughes’ classes for leading the charge when it came to number of items collected.  

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November 4, 2011 - Joy!

This week some of our district had their first significant dusting of snow of the season. When kids at MacLean Elementary rushed out of the school for recess on Thursday the look on their faces could only be described as JOY! Google's built in dictionary describes joy as "a feeling of great pleasure and happiness" and that was evident on the faces of kids. Given the challenges we all face from time to time it was incredibly refreshing to see our youngsters enjoying something as simple as snow. No worries about wet hands, soggy boots, how many pieces of Halloween candy they have left, and no worries about the upcoming spelling test. Just pure, simple JOY.

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October 28, 2011 - Ministry of Education and Government of BC released Education Plan

On Friday October 28^th the BC Government released their much talked about Education Plan.  If you have been reading my articles since August there should not be too many surprises in the document. 

The plan consists of five key elements:

• Personalized learning for every student.
• Quality teaching and learning.
• Flexibility and choice.
• High standards.
• Learning empowered by technology.

A Ministry news release from Friday said “BC's Education Plan outlines both the need for transformation and the steps required to move the current education system from good to great. B.C.'s education system will be enhanced by:

• Continuing to place emphasis on basic core skills, while redesigning curriculum to include key competencies like critical thinking, insight and teamwork - the kinds of skills and knowledge that students will need to succeed in the 21st century.
• Supporting families with greater opportunities for parents to engage in their child's learning, and adding more flexibility and choice with respect to what, how, when and where their child learns.
• A new Teachers Act with a regulation system that puts the public interest first, with the goal of increasing public confidence in the profession's disciplinary processes and raising the stature of the teaching profession.
• Establishing regular teacher performance evaluation sessions.
• Implementing effective intervention strategies and supports to more quickly identify struggling students and address their specific needs.
• Policies that allow students to bring their own high-tech devices - smart phones, tablets and other multi-media tools - to school, if these devices will enhance learning.” 

To have a look at the plan follow this link http://www.bcedplan.ca

In SD20 we’ll review the plan and develop an action plan moving forward to help support this vision.  We’ve been talking about this for a while now in some circles but we need to expand the conversation and move from talk to action.  Exciting times!

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October 28, 2011 - Future leaders in action

Just a quick “thank you” to the Leadership 10 class from Stanley Humphries Secondary School who went over to Castlegar Primary School last week to teach the grade 2’s how to play hopscotch and four square.  It is great to see students learning from each other.  Also, thanks to Mr. Bud Gregory for his work with the class.

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October 21, 2011 - Pro-D day

On Friday October 21^st administrators spent the day with Tom Schimmer (www.tomschimmer.com) in the Stanley Humphries Secondary School Library.  Tom is a former administrator is BC and now an author and consultant.  Tom had originally been booked to do a follow-up session to his spring 2010 workshop on assessment with our entire teaching staff.  Given the job action we had to change plans and we took the opportunity to spend a day with Tom talking about his new book (Ten Things That Matter From Assessment to Grading).  Tom’s book is a practical guide to current assessment strategies.  It is sprinkled with research and stories from Tom’s former schools and colleagues. 

Tom challenged us to support the change …

• from activities to learning
• from tasks to outcomes
• from teaching to learning
• from quantity to quality
• from ends to means
• from anxiety to confidence
• from coverage to depth
• from if to when

My favourite example of checking for understanding or assessment for learning is in regards to coaching.  Coaches don’t stand on the sidelines during a game and tell you the score.  They provide feedback to the players to positively impact performance.  Coaches leverage practice, which does not count for anything, in order to get better.  Coaches do not just scrimmage over and over.  They take apart components of the game and work on specific skills and practice the skills discretely and eventually put it all together in scrimmage. 

What are the 10 things that matter most regarding assessment and grading?  Tom says:

1. Leaders being the change they want to see
2. Building, supporting and enhancing confidence in students
3. Accuracy in grading
4. Descriptive feedback and how it can improve performance
5. Differentiated instruction
6. Growing student ownership
7. Accurate grades and impact of punitive practices on grades (zeros, late policies, etc.)
8. Importance of practice that does NOT count towards a student’s grade
9. Improvement
10. Professional learning

I want to thank Tom for joining us for the day and we really appreciate leading our discussion.

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October 14, 2011 - School visit

Each day we endeavor to provide the very best learning opportunities for our students.  This is a combined effort of parents, family, community, supporters, staff and others.  There is nothing like the “buzz” of a school.  The energy pulsates from the children.  Today I spent an hour at Glenmerry Elementary School popping into classes.  I fielded questions from a grade 2/3 class and we talked about birthdays.  A grade 7 class was learning how to take notes using charts and mind mapping strategies.  Another grade 7 class was solving logic problems.   One of their three Kindergarten classes was practicing dribbling in gym.  A grade 2 class was using computers to do some research.  Kids were in the library finding engaging reading materials.  The most challenging activity I participated in was singing with one of the grade 1 classes.  Thanks to Ms. Jenner for not laughing and thank goodness vocal ability is not a key criterion for new superintendents.

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October 14, 2011 - Initial draft Ministry enrolment

Our internal September 30th enrolment has been sent off to the Ministry of Education.  We were projecting 3957.7 full time equivalent students and we submitted 3973.875 (16.165 above projection).  Our final numbers will be settled in about two weeks when the Ministry ensures there are no duplicates between school districts.

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October 14, 2011 - SHSS students recognized

This week I received two "heads up" regarding students at Stanley Humphries Secondary School.  I thought I would share the good news. 

Congratulations to Kelsey Matson who recently won Castlegar's mystery hunt for Sculpturewalk.

Also, the school received a letter from the Castlegar and District Recreation Department thanking four grade 12 students - Katelyn Duckworth (on the left), Madison Benton, Dani Wah and Reiss Zibin for their leadership with Castlegar's Terry Fox run. 

Way to go students!

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October 9, 2011 - follow me on Twitter - @gregluterbach

This superintendent's corner is meant to be a vehicle to celebrate our district and share some of my thoughts and experiences. Some of you are regulars coming back to this site routinely but I thought rather than you having to manually check so see if I posted a new article maybe we could use Twitter to help us all out. From now on, each time I post something to the corner I'll send out a tweet to my followers. That way you'll know each time I update the site.

To follow me on Twitter search for gregluterbach and you can follow me.

Also, please help me get the word out about the superintendent's corner. Tell your peeps and have them follow me too!

Follow @gregluterbach

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October 7, 2011 - Elementary Cross Country run

This year's elementary cross country run was set for Thursday October 6th but Mother Nature had other plans. Fruitvale Elementary staff has hosted the run for the district for the past number of years. After surveying the course and checking the weather the race was moved to Friday. Friday worked out well for the almost 500 elementary aged students participating in the races. Children have been training since beginning of school for this event. Races are held for grades 1 through 7 for each gender.

A special thank you to the coaches, sponsors, volunteers and especially the organizers. Your efforts are appreciated and are just another way our staff and community supports our schools and students.  Thanks!

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October 6, 2011 - Enrolment projections - right on target

As mentioned in an earlier post, September 30th is an important day for BC's school districts.  Ministry funding for school age children is based on our enrolments as of September 30th.  Over the next 3 weeks we'll get the final numbers but our initial numbers have us within 10 students of our nearly 3,950 FTE projection.

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September 30, 2011 - Kindergarten … a special place

This week is the first week our young Kindergarten students attended school for all 5 days.  Not just 5 days but 5 FULL days.  I chat with Kindergarten kids daily, either at the schools I’m supervising at or with my own Kindergarten child at home.  They are excited to be in school.  They normally are not standing still long enough to answer many of my questions.  They are constantly buzzing around. They are a force to be reckoned with on the playground.  Some days when I do bus supervision at the end of the day the K’s waiting for the bus are sprawled out “resting”.  If you ever need a pick me up I recommend doing bus duty with Kindergarten kids.  They rush up to me with a big smile, grab my tie and compliment me on my attire for the day.  It feels pretty darn nice!

Kindergarten classrooms are special places not only because of the kids but also because of the staff.  I’ve attached a picture from a bright, well decorated K classroom I visited today.  Our teachers do an absolutely amazing job making the learning environment warm and welcoming.  They do an outstanding job as ambassadors for public schooling.  It is more than just their classroom.  Last Friday K teachers from around the district spent the Pro-D day together talking about how it is going with the new full day opportunity.  Just a few days later a different Kindergarten teacher hosted an afterschool opportunity for K teachers to get together and talk about how they are scheduling their days.  I am very proud of this learning community in action!

Remember that bumper sticker - “All I ever need to know I learned in Kindergarten”. While I may not agree it is “all” I certainly can state our Kindergarten teachers are positioning students for lifelong success.

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September 23, 2011 - Old School Café & Castlegar Junior Alternative program … meeting multiple needs

This week I visited one of our more unique programs in the district.  Last fall the district opened a new alternative program in Castlegar to meet the unique needs of about 15 grade 8 and 9 students.   We needed to develop a program to help these students stay attached to school and find success.   Part of the program we wanted for these students involved an authentic work experience component.  When looking for a space the decision was made to lease “store front” space not within one of our schools.  After working closely with the City of Castlegar and local vendors, we selected a commercial space in downtown Castlegar that used to be a café.  Part of the decision to select that space was a distinct opportunity it presented.  Could a café help students achieve both curricular outcomes and key life experiences?  After consideration and discussion the decision was yes!

We also needed some expertise around running a restaurant.  It did not take us long to find that expertise within our district.  Our school meals program staff had valuable experience and expertise.  In discussions with meals staff they were excited about the opportunity to work closely with students in preparing bagged lunches for students throughout the district AND operating a soup and sandwich style café. 

Fast forward a year and on Monday Sept 19^th I visited the café.  Students were in the main academic area reconnecting after the summer.  District meals staff had just finished getting the 200 or so bagged lunches ready for kids throughout the district.  They were getting ready for members of the public to start trickling in for a coffee or light lunch.  They also let me know that some of café’s regulars were excited that September was here and their favourite café was back open for business.   

Sure it does not “look” like the school maybe you and I attended as kids.  What I am proud of is that we are meeting the needs of those students.

So… if you are in Castlegar around lunch time and hungry for some lunch or a coffee and muffin drop by the Old School Café at 1102 3rd Street.

p.s.  The café does not have a wall of “famous” people it has fed (or at least not one that I saw) but last spring when Education Minister George Abbott was in the area he had lunch at the café.

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September 22, 2011 - School district trustee elections just around the corner

On November 19^th members of the public across the province will be voting in local elections.  At the same time, school district trustees will be elected to form Boards of Education.  Local trustee elections allow the community an important opportunity to lead and oversee our valuable investment in public education. Trustees are hardworking community leaders who come together in the context of a board in support of student success. The work is demanding but important and rewarding.

The BC School Trustees Association has produced a nice 9 page guide for people considering running for election as a trustee.  It describes the duties of trustees, important steps for filing your nomination, suggestions on campaigning and legal requirements around campaign financing.   If you are interested or considering running for Trustee please visit this site ->  http://www.bcsta.org/content/elections

If you have specific questions about running for Trustee in School District No. 20 you can call Mr. Ivan Bell, Chief Election Officer at 250-362-7651 or Kim Morris, Deputy Election Officer at 250-368-2225.

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September 16, 2011 - Week 2 … Back in the swing of things

This week I was able to visit a number of schools in the district.  These informal “pop ins” gives me an opportunity to visit a few classrooms and see the art/skill of teaching and learning in action.  I marvel as teachers build connection with students.  At Twin Rivers Elementary a new teacher was working with students using their cell phones and some of the teacher’s extra devices to be able to instantaneously provide feedback on concepts utilizing technology.  A teacher a Fruitvale Elementary was using math blocks (aka manipulatives) on the floor with grade2 children as they worked on patterning in Math.  Also at Fruitvale Elementary, a grade 7 class played 21 questions to figure out who I was (it only took them about 6 questions to figure it out).  At Kinnaird Elementary I helped a teacher teach their students how to log onto the school computers using their new logins.  At Robson Community School excited Kindergarten students showed me their apple drawings and the large box of pears that were going to be made into cobbler that day.  At the former Trail Middle School I was able to visit with staff that are completing the intake process for students and preparing for their sites to be busy with students next week.  Visiting schools is the best part of my job!

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September 15, 2011 - Enrolment – Initial look ... Elementary is up and Secondary and Alternate – too early to tell

School districts are here to serve students.  One of the drivers of our budget is the number of students we have.  For each full time equivalent student (all students in K-9 and alternate schools plus 0.125 multiplied by the number of courses a grade 10-12 student takes) the district receives $6,784 in base funding. 

Enrolments and projections are monitored closely for planning purposes.  Since joining the district 6 years ago, we are down nearly 1,000 students.  Prior to my arrival we had already endured years of declining enrolment.  This reality is happening in almost every district throughout the province.  There simply are less school age children in the province now then there were 15 years ago.  The good news is that based on birth rates our decline is about to end.  Over the next 5 years our projections show stability in numbers.  Unfortunately, no significant growth but at least the major drops are behind us. 

As of September 14^th we have about 30 more students at the elementary level (K-7) than we projected.  That is great news!  As a result of these additional elementary students, we have created 1 new division (homeroom or class) at J.L. Webster and one new division at MacLean.  I appreciate that reorganizing is disruptive for students, teachers and parents but it is a better problem to have as opposed to having to cut divisions.

At the secondary level and alternate schools it is too early to get accurate numbers still.  Course changes are still occurring.  J.L. Crowe for example has extra students so we have created some additional classes of PE 9 and French 9.   

On September 30^th each school sends a snapshot of all the students and courses to the Ministry of Education.  The bulk of our funding is determined based on those numbers.  My projections last spring were 3,957 FTE and we’ll see where we land in early October!

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September 9, 2011 - Week 1 …. School is back and open for learning

Tuesday September 6^th saw the return of thousands of students back into their schools to start another year.  Notwithstanding the job action challenges, week one was successful based on many conversations I had with students on the playground, students at the bus pickup area, teachers in their classroom and parents waiting to pick up their children. 

One of the best parts of my role is that I get to visit schools and pop into classrooms in action.  Proud grade 1 students from Castlegar Primary sang me a new song they had just learned the previous day.  I was able to practice my counting in French while visiting a grade 8 classroom at Stanley Humphries Secondary.  The excitement in the air was noticeable as I visited many classrooms from Kindergarten right through to grade 12 classes.

A special “hi” to the hundreds of students at MacLean and J.L. Webster that I see daily as I am doing recess and after school supervision as part of keeping our schools safe during the job action.  If you have been at the schools this past week you probably have seen some new faces at your school.  District non-union staff has been deployed all around the district, along with our Principals and Vice Principals, to do before school, recess and after school supervision.  The smiling faces of kids remind us why we work in this field and reinforce our belief in public education.

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September 7, 2011 - Reflections on a day spent with global leaders around system change and personalized learning

On Wednesday September 7^th I spent the day in Vancouver at a Ministry of Education meeting of Superintendents. While the timing was not great, I had the pleasure to learn together with global thought leaders in the area of system change and personalized learning.  Tony McKay, Valerie Hannon and Michael Fullan challenged Superintendents, from across our province, to move from boutique projects involving personalized learning into wide spread, ubiquitous “systemness”.  A learning environment where students direct their own learning journey is the norm rather than the exception.

Ministry of Education staff described their approach regarding a shift towards personalized learning as having a “compass” and not a “roadmap”.  They described a general agreement with the principles and the direction we are heading but want teachers and districts to work on the “how”.  That effort builds on our combined knowledge, passions and commitment.  Ministry staff described some of their activities as “brush clearing” so that teachers and schools will have fewer obstacles in their way.  One of the “brush clearing” I hope to see is a revisiting of curriculum and reducing the number of outcomes piled onto our students and teachers.  Allowing students to get into “deep” learning on areas of interest from a selected menu will enhance our system.

Michael Fullan reminded us that, as we already a great performing system, to move to an exceptional system we will need to call upon teachers to help lead the way.  They are key players who will lead the re-formation of what it looks like in our classrooms.  System innovation will be led by peers.  Our formal leadership team members (Principals, Vice Principals, district staff) needs to sit and learn side-by-side with teachers.  Learning together as peers will lead the shift.  Fullan reinforced that “learning is the work”.  We don’t change cultures by talking about it or doing surveys.  We change the system by working together, respectfully, on real world work.

So what?  Now what?  2 key questions that I ask myself after any learning event I attend.  While the current environment of “job action” does limit some options, we need to continue to develop our own roadmaps through discussions amongst staff.  We need to help develop a common understanding with our staff and community of what the personalized learning looks like, why it matters and how it can help our students for an ever evolving world.

More to come on this journey!

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August 31, 2011 - District Pro-D day - Superintendent's address to all staff

Welcome back everyone.

I hope your summer gave you an opportunity to: spend time with family and friends; read some books; catch some fish; travel or whatever you do to recharge your batteries.  While my office and business cards changed this summer I have not changed.  I am here to do whatever I can to support student achievement and help you contribute within our district team. 

One of my guilty pleasures is reality TV.  I’m a fan of Survivor; Amazing Race; Expedition Impossible and now added to my favourites are cooking reality shows (Masterchef, Food Network Star and those crazy cake building contests).  Yup, I’ve turned into a foodie suddenly.  As I watch these shows I reflect on our environment.  Many of you are the chefs.  We have some Guy Fieri’s amongst us, a few Racheal Ray’s, some Bobby Flay’s and dare I say it maybe even a Gordon Ramsay amongst us.  Some of you are the maitre’d, some of us are the behind the scenes crew helping everything happen.  We work together to pull off the dining experience.  We work hard each and every day to provide our very best for our customers.  We all have different skills and specialties but together we ensure our restaurants are top notch.

Now things are changing in the business.  In some cases we are on only restaurant in town but that is changing.  Choice is coming to our world.  An example is distributed learning opportunities for kids or private schools.  I equate DL to those sites where people order meals online and they show up at your home ready just to be warmed and served. 

People want choice on their menu.  Secondary schools need to look like food courts.  Lots of choice of restaurants and then when you pick the restaurant you still get more choice when it comes to what items you want.  Elementary schools approach it more like a Prix Fix menu … you can have a couple of choices with a defined menu.  Items on the menu need to be high quality because they will not come back if after all the choice they had they get something that does not meet their needs.  Learning outcomes start to look like items on the Canada Food Guide.  How a customer achieves those outcomes is joint responsibility of the student, parent and school.

People want fresh, 100 mile diets.  Do our restaurant experiences reflect what the customer wants?  Do we have the menu set for the next 10 months and it is organized like all beef for the next 9 weeks then all chicken for the next 10?  Does our menu change based on our clients?  Do we adjust our planning based on the palettes and experiences of our clients once we get to know them?  Does the menu reflect the passions and interests of the chef and restaurant?  Is our menu current or are we still serving the McRib? No, not the McRib that was being featured this month but the McRib never left the menu from 1978 and you just got lucky that the rest of the franchise brought it back for a month.

People want a voice in their meal.  Have you ever gone to one of those restaurants where all the food is being cooked at various stations and you wander around and take some of here and some from there?  How does your plate look like when you go to a buffet?  You have complete say on what you are going to eat, item by item.  People get to decide how many items are on their plate.  Some go straight for the meat and then go back later for the veggies.  Others only pick veggies but pick 5 different kinds.  Some go straight for dessert and then eventually pick up some pasta.  All those methods are okay.  People take what they need, when they need it. 

So …. think of your school as a restaurant.  We all have a role to play in making it successful.  Some of us are up front and others of us help support it without ever seeing the students.  Become a Masterchef.  Be an excellent sous chef.  Use your specialist skills to enhance the chain.  Help your school and district earn some Michelin stars.   Be the next food network star. 

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August 31, 2011 - District "Welcome Back" Breakfast

Before the district professional development day staff on August 31^st, district staff were invited to a welcome back breakfast.  Trustees, district staff, some Principals and Vice Principals and a support staff member arrived at 6am to prepare then serve breakfast for everyone as a welcome back to the school year.  Special thanks to Trustees Toni Driutti, Mac Gregory, Mickey Kinakin, Bev Maloff, Vince Morelli and Elaine van der Meer.  Unfortunately, our other Trustees were unable to make it on that date due to other work and personal commitments.  They’ll get their opportunity to flip pancakes next time.  I want to thank staff members: Carolyn Catalano, Bill Ford, Kere MacGregor, Barb Madge, Aaron McKenzie, Steve Morissette, Kim Morris, Heather Simm, Natalie Verigin and Kim Williams who also were busy cooking eggs, pancakes, sausages, preparing fruit and serving staff.  All left over food was given to our alternate programs, school meals program and some schools that have breakfast programs for their students.  It was a blast and hopefully a new tradition in SD20.

See below for some pictures of the kitchen in action.

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August 30, 2011 - School Pro-D day activities - SD20 learning community in action

On Tuesday August 30^th our SD20 staff returned to their schools to engage in a day of professional development. Each school arranged for their own activities based on their needs. I had the opportunity to give an update about Personalized Learning and Ministry of Education directions to the staff of Rossland Secondary School.

After the presentation I was able to visit Glenmerry Elementary School.  Glenmerry is in a unique situation with almost one half of their teaching staff being new to the school.  This massive changeover is a result of a number of retirements.  The staff was in a lively discussion about ensuring student safety when I popped by.

Below is a picture of the applied technology department of JL Crowe Secondary meeting to collaboratively plan activities for their students.  I had an opportunity to touch base with a number of staff and departments who were getting prepared for the new year.

After my quick stop at Crowe, I headed to Webster Elementary to see the staff from Webster and MacLean Elementary.  They were just wrapping up a writing workshop with Brenda Bell.  The staff was excited about the morning and how they could implement the strategies with their class.

It was refreshing to see our SD20 learning community in action!

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August 29, 2011 - Superintendent's note in newspaper ad about school opening

Welcome to all students and parents. A special “welcome” to our first group of full day kindergarten students! The late arriving summer weather has us still thinking about swimming, golfing and camping but the calendar reminds us that school start up is just around the corner. September is an exciting time for schools as we get back to working with all our students to help them reach their full potential. We encourage all of our community to be actively involved with your schools. Talk to your child’s teacher and principal and find a way to stay involved and connected. Parental involvement really can make a difference in  student achievement.

All schools will be open at 8:00 a.m. September 6th for the registration of students new to the district and for any local Kindergarten and Grade One pupils not previously registered.

Students will report for instruction on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at times noted below. September 6th will be a shortened day for students. Shortening the day will allow students an opportunity to become acquainted with their school, while at the same time enabling teachers to finalize their preparations for Wednesday, September 7th, the first full day of instruction. Kindergarten students will have gradual entry over the first week and a half so please contact your school for those times.

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August 28, 2011 - 2 Special welcomes

When I think about this September one group that comes to mind as being unique is our first “crew” of full day kindergarten (FDK) students.  The word I’ve heard from other districts that implemented FDK in some of their schools last year was very positive.  Our teachers and schools have been working behind the scenes for the past year to make this a highly successful opportunity for students. 

Another unique group is a large group of “new” teachers we have brought onboard.  At one point in June we had over 30 teaching positions posted.  We received over 100 applications for quite a few of our positions and I am excited to say we were able to build a strong cohort to join our SD20 team. These positions became available as some teachers retired and other temporary positions finished at the end of last year.

To both special groups - welcome to SD20! 

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August 28, 2011 - Welcome and Heads up about Personalized Learning

Ready.  Set.  GO! 

The new school year is upon us. Nearly 4,000 students and 600 staff are ramping up and getting ready for
school to start.  The “buzz” continues to grow right through the September long weekend in anticipation of the first day
on September 6^th.  I too am excited to start the school year with this being my first year as Superintendent of Schools.

As the new Superintendent, I look forward to serving our communities.  It is my privilege to lead the district.  British Columbia’s K-12 public education system is shifting to more of a student initiated, self-directed approach.  The learning outcomes remain rigorous but the approach is more teacher as “facilitator” with more involvement of students and parents in the learning journey.  Foundational skills like reading, writing, oral communication and numeracy remain critical.  Competencies like social responsibility, collaboration, innovation, environmental stewardship, and ethics also are important to achieve.  Flexibility and choice on how students achieve the required outcomes play a greater part as does how the students demonstrate their understanding of the required outcomes.   “Personalized Learning” is the tag that we are using to describe this approach.  Is it completely new?  “No”.  Is it happening in our schools?  In some cases “yes” but not everywhere.  Our challenge is to understand how we can personalize our classrooms to meet the individual needs of ALL our learners.  This shift is a journey and we are starting to move down this path as are all other educators in the province.

The Ministry of Education has produced an interactive “flipbook” for you to learn more about personalized learning.  It also allows you to provide specific feedback on a number of questions.  I encourage you to take the time to learn more about this emerging emphasis.  As a district we too will be dedicating time and energy to shift our practice supporting personalized learning.  It is a major change so we’ll need your support and patience.  Needless to say it is an exciting time in K-12 public education.
Personalized Learning Flipbook - http://www.personalizedlearningbc.ca/ Lastly, please stay involved in YOUR schools.  Public education is an amazing asset for our communities.  I encourage you to keep in regular contact with your child’s teachers, principal, other parents and the school community.  Your involvement supports student achievement. 

Have a great fall!

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August 26, 2011 - Congratulations to SD20 organizers, volunteers and participants to 2011 BC Senior Games

Over the past year many dedicated and committed SD20 staff has been involved in the planning and organizing of the BC Senior Games that recently were held in our region.  I want to thank them for their contribution to our community. 
To our staff that volunteered during the games – thanks.  Your effort helped make the games a success.  To those who participated in the games, well done!

It is events such as these that remind us what a fabulous community we have.

Congrats!

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August 24-26, 2011- District Leadership team engages in Pro-D

On August 24 to 26^th the district leadership team met for 3 days of professional development in Rossland.  The sessions were geared around productive workplace discussions and constructive inquiry.  Sessions were led by BC Public School Employers Association and Justice Institute staff.  I found the sessions informative and very practical.

Thanks to Raj, Georgina and Sue for leading the workshops!


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