Excellence

"It's a funny thing about life:  if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it."
- W. Somerset Maugham

At David Cameron we have very high expectations for ourselves, our students and for our larger community.  We think that we can contribute to excellence by setting the bar high and helping our students reach for it.  The idea of excellence is one, that for many students, is not in their vocabulary, however, it is very much within their reach if they choose it to be.  The month of February has us focusing on excellence in our school.  While excellence is a core area of our work throughout the year, it is important to pause and reflect on the importance of excellence in our lives at this time so that we can re-focus our efforts.

Each day at school I am fortunate to see examples of excellence all around me.  It may be in the student who stops me to let me hear the song they have learned on the recorder and how they have added to it to make it their own, it might be in the teacher who comes to tell me about the unbelievable math lesson that they just had and how the kids were completely engaged, or it might be in the Family Olympic Night that our PAC hosted last Friday that saw a great turnout of our school family.  Excellence is all around us, everyday, and in every way.

Excellence becomes a frame of mind, a way of seeing the world.  If we can instill the notion in our students that they are capable of excellence, there is no knowing what they can accomplish in their lives.  So, it is for these reasons (and many others), that we turn our attention to excellence in this, the month of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the final month of term two academics, and our mid-point in the school year.  Keep working with us to help our students believe in themselves and to not settle for something short of excellence.  We all have the capacity to do so much, so well.

Technology and our Future

There are a few new term out there that refer to "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants".  Digital Natives are those that have grown up with technology as an integral part of their lives, whereas, Digital Immigrants come to technology later in the game, are a little unsure, and are more reluctant to embrace the opportunities.  Our children are so accustomed to technology that it seems strange when it is not a part of what they are doing, in fact, our current students have not known a world without the internet.

The challenge for our school is not, how do we keep up to the pace of change, instead it is how do we ensure that students understand how technology can be used to stimulate creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, and the ethical use of technology.We are currently working with a committee of staff members to examine a variety of directions that we are interested in exploring.  These directions include, wireless access, laptops to have computers as part of the classroom, handheld devices such as iPods to enhance learning.  Then we have the instructional side that includes document cameras, SMART boards, and digital projectors.

We are excited to be moving forward with some technology directions in our school to ensure that our students have the opportunity to embrace technology as part of their learning.  Over the coming months we are hopeful to have some instructional technologies added to our classrooms as well as developing a plan to have more seamless integration within the classroom for student use.  Stay tuned for some exciting developments over the next while.

Unity

This month, our virtue focus is on Unity.   Unity is what allows us to be together, work together, and be better together.  It is how we interact as a "school family" and how we invite others into our world.

At the beginning of January we had the great opportunity to welcome ten international students to our school.  These students are from Korea and are here for only a few months to gain some understanding of our culture and to practice their language skills.  Here we are two weeks later and these students have made friends and are completely immersed in school life.  These opportunities to meet and befriend others from around the world help to show that the differences we have are not that great and they serve to unite rather than divide.

Unity also means that we are able to work and play together respectfully and responsibly.  Our students continue to show this on a daily basis at David Cameron.  Last week on one of the many rainy days we have been having lately we had  the students inside during lunch and had the chance to use our new "Rainy Day" plan.  Students were able to select from a variety of games and activities that were dispersed throughout the hallways around the library.  Students played with friends, little buddies, and siblings and without a single problem.  At the end of the lunch period, everyone cleaned up what they were doing and returned to their classrooms to eat.  What a great show of unity.  If we didn't have everyone working together to make this a success it could have easily been a disaster with over 300 students in a fairly small area.

It is examples like these that make our school such an incredible place to be.  It also shows that learning takes place not just in our classrooms but in the everyday interactions between people.  Way to go David Cameron!

Student Leadership

As educators, our real role is to make ourselves redundant.  We teach students to think for themselves, and how to find information that they need in order to solve problems in their everyday lives.  Part of this learning, includes taking on leadership roles and being able to direct, organize, and follow through on tasks.  The ability of our David Cameron students to do just this never ceases to amaze me.  We have such an incredible amount of talent and positive peer role models in our school that it's a wonder teachers get to organize anything.

Leadership comes from being thrust into positions, taking control of situations, or being invited in to power.  With the Olympics on people's minds, hockey is something that seems to be a focus for leadership opportunities in our school these days.  We have the organized and formal approach where some students in grade 4 and 6 are taking control by organizing an intramural hockey league. They are setting dates, rules, and teams.  On the other hand, we have our regular recess/lunch hockey going on in the turn-around, where older students are including younger ones and teaching them how to play.  These older students recognizing that in order for everyone to have fun, someone needs to take charge, have done an admirable job of ensuring a great outside activity.

These are two small examples of the myriad leadership initiatives being undertaken in our school.  Who knows, maybe one day we'll have some of our student leaders writing this blog instead of me.

The Start of A New Year

At this time of year, people often look forward to things to come while at the same time, reflecting on things that have happened. I am always excited to return to school after a great break and look forward to the great opportunities yet to come in this school year.

As we get set to return we are fortunate to have ten Korean students joining us for a couple of months. These students are in grades 5 and 6 and will be here to practice their english language skills and to learn about our customs and culture. To welcome them, our virtue for the month of January will be Unity. This is a chance to see that despite differences, we can all connect and contribute to a greater whole.

We also have new plans in place to support students on Rainy Days. Students will be able to socialize with friends from other classes and choose from a variety of games and activities that will be available to them.

In addition to these great opportunities we will also continue to focus on improving our technology plan, moving forward with our goal selection process for next year, Foundation Skill Assessments, and a variety of performances that will be visiting our school.

I look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with all of the great families and staff here at David Cameron over the course of 2010.  Happy New Year to everyone.