A High Regard for the David Cameron Staff

On Thursday and Friday of last week Dale and I had the pleasure of listening to Chris Kelly once again.  Chris is the retired superintendent of Vancouver School District.  He is an amazing and insightful speaker, who shares his passion and understanding of the education system in a truly inspiring manner.  Chris' focus for our sessions was "What Matters".  Together we explored this concept in a variety of settings, eg within our District, within our administrators group, and within our schools.  One key message that resonated for me was the need for people to feel genuinely regarded by others for the work they do.  This got me thinking about the great things that happen in our school everyday.

I was watching a group of students heading towards the gym the other day.  Nothing unusual about that, other than in the middle of the group, was one of our students with special needs.  This is a student who would not go near the gym, much less line up with class mates, only a few months ago.  It is through the care, understanding and daily commitment of our Education Assistants and our teachers that this learning has occurred.  On another occasion I watched as a teacher masterfully worked with her class on a project.  The project was organized in such a way that students could bring their own interests and talents into it.  The engagement that these students showed because the teacher thought through their needs and interests in structuring, it was amazing.  On another occasion I had a conversation with a teacher on our staff who is in a new assignment this year.  She was talking to me about her concerns for meeting the needs of all of her learners and the work that she had put into planning the learning environment.  I was struck by the depth of understanding and care that she showed for each student.

These are three very small examples of what goes on every day in our school in every one of our classes, because of the care and commitment of our staff.  It wasn't until I began thinking of these (and many more) examples of the work done on a daily basis by our professional and caring staff that I began to truly understand what Chris was referencing.  Our staff doesn't do this for recognition or for accolades, they do it because they care, and for that, I believe they deserve to be genuinely regarded.

Writing for a Purpose

A few weeks ago we were pleased to host renowned children's author Julie Lawson to our school.  Julie has written a number of popular children's books, including her most recent effort, "The Dragon's Pearl".  Our students were able to listen to Julie describe the writing process and the amount of effort and research needed to make a compelling story.  This was a great way to extend our students' understanding of the writing process and the need to have a purpose for writing.

This week we will be hosting the dramatic duo called Sun Ergos.  They will be performing a theatrical version of Julie Lawson's book, which will create a great opportunity to compare the two.    After the performance students will be asked to write a letter to another school persuading them to invite either Julie Lawson or Sun Ergos.  This will provide the students with an authentic reason to write and will allow them to develop their persuasive skills.  Teachers will then mark the students work collaboratively and make decisions about areas that are strengths and areas in need of additional support.  Over the next several months, classroom teachers will work with their classes, teaching them the finer points of persuasive writing, which will then be followed up by another assessment in the spring to see how well the students have progressed.

Every Time Counts

This weekend I had two separate conversations with friends about private school versus public school.  One friend is thinking about taking her daughter out of public school and the other has decided that public school is the place for her.  In both conversations, the similarities were striking; they each described the importance of the personal contacts they have had with teachers.  The one that is thinking of leaving, felt that her concerns were not being heard, the one who is choosing to stay, has had great connections with the public school but was disappointed with the private school.

These two conversations got me thinking that "every time counts".  Every time we as educators have an interaction with a parent or a student we are helping to shape their perception of public school.  This is a huge responsibility that each of us carries.  It strikes at the core of creating a caring and compassionate system that is responsive to the needs of the people it serves .  Each time we speak with a student or parent we must seek to understand what they are asking of us and determine the best way to approach the issue.  This may be a student struggling with a concept or a parent wondering about something happening in class.

I always listen carefully when I hear someone thinking of leaving public education because there may be something in it that I can do differently in my school.  This was a wake-up call for me to make sure that every interaction counts and that people leave the conversation feeling heard and understood.

Great Things to Come

I had planned to talk about assessment this week, however, there are some exciting things coming up at school so I will have to put the assessment piece on hold for now.  We have some incredible opportunities for kids this week and the best part is, they are linked thematically and strengthen the work we are doing on assessment (so I guess this does tie in to my assessment theme).

Julie Lawson, a local Victoria author, has written a picture book called "The Dragon's Pearl".  We are fortunate this week to have Julie visit our school on Monday to talk with classes about the book and the writing process.  We will then have the return of the performing group Sun Ergos on Wednesday.  They will be doing a performance of the same Julie Lawson book.  This is a wonderful opportunity to link the book, the author, and a live theatrical production.  Pretty cool for our kids to see these connections.  It doesn't stop there though, as we will be using these two visits as the focus for our School-Wide Write.

Each year, we ask students to provide a writing sample at the beginning of the year and then again in the Spring.  We use a common theme that allows us to see where students are in their writing ability at the start of the year.  Through this assessment we can structure our instruction appropriately for the year and then see how much students have improved by the spring.  This year, we will ask students to provide a persuasive writing sample about what they have experienced this week, specifically, students will be asked to write about whether they preferred the book or the play of the "The Dragon's Tale".  They will choose one side or the other and then provide rationale for their choice.  Teachers will then spend time working together to mark the students work in relation to the British Columbia Performance Standards for Writing.

What an incredible opportunity for linking our learning and showing students the relevance of different forms of writing.  We at David Cameron are fortunate to have such a thoughtful and forward thinking group of educators to provide such seamless learning for our students.