Zen and the art of class organization

Each year, we go through the ritual of organizing classes for the next school year.  It is a balance between enrollment projections, the number of students currently in our school, and past trends.  It is an important activity as it determines the number of divisions that we have, therefore the way in which we organize students for instruction, and ultimately, how many teachers we have in our school.  This becomes an even more difficult process in a year where the Board of Education is faced with a possible shortfall in necessary funding.

As we consider all of the factors that are available to us, we also try to look at the needs of the particular student groups we have.  Do we need to group students in a particular way in order to provide support, do we need to separate some students to ensure workable class groupings, do we have "split" or "straight" grade classes?  Then we have Provincial legislation and District Policy that provides some "rules" around how many students in a particular class, and of those students how many might be on an individual education plan (IEP).  We then have to ensure that we consult with the District, our school staff, and parents via the School Planning Council (SPC).

All of this is terribly important in ensuring the best balance of grade offerings, and student groupings for learning because students don't get a "do over".  This is there only shot at that grade and we want to set them up for success with a great bunch of classmates in a class structure that supports their needs and abilities.

So, we carefully choose how we configure our classes and how we place the students in those classes, then over the next several months (right up to and including September), we watch the student registration numbers.  A few students at a certain grade level registering at our school or leaving our school could mean the gain or loss of a division, which means; you guessed it, re-organization and re-placing the students in the new classes.

Patience, understanding, and a certain resolve to get it right no matter how many changes occur, is the challenge we face each year at this time.  So, with deep breaths and thinking happy thoughts we are poised to plunge in.

Inquiry Teams

A unique feature of working in the Sooke School District is something called "Inquiry Teams".  Inquiry Teams are groups of teachers and administrators that have a particular question that they would like to answer.  The District provides some funding support to allow folks to meet and discuss their question.  This allows staff members to be actively engaged in advancing their practice and improve the academic success of our students.

At David Cameron, we are working on the following question; "Does the use of Literature Study Circles (LSCs) help students to become more sophisticated readers?"  What an incredible project this has turned out to be, with a large number of our staff actively involved and many more following along to see how it goes.  At this point we are working across grade with grade 5 and 6 students, however, we are poised to extend this with grade 1 and 2 students being involved as well.  

LSCs allow students to choose from a variety of books (novel and graphic) and then to meet with others who are reading the same book to have in-depth conversations and to share their connections and understanding.  This program has exceeded beyond our hopes on many levels.  One thing is the number of staff who have become involved and are doing some amazing things with students to enhance their learning.  The second thing is the students themselves.  After the last LSC, students shared their connections with books through a variety of means during the LSC Celebration.  One student wrote an original piano score, another student chose a song with lyrics that connected to the novel, other students did role plays, and on-and-on it went.  And thirdly, we have extended our involvement beyond classroom teachers to include EAs, support staff, and even our school secretary.  At the end we were truly able to say that students were reading at a far more sophisticated level.

Inquiry Teams happen all across our District and ask many different kinds of question.  I t shows a positive commitment from our District and an incredible sense of professionalism from our school staff.  These are the kinds of things that continue to push learning for everyone to new levels.

The Power of Mentoring

What a great Spring Break.  The week has flown by, with quite a mixture of weather thrown in to keep us on our toes.  Today turned out to be not too bad and allowed me a chance to get out for a run.  While I was running I started to think about some of the people in my life who I consider mentors.  We know that mentors are people that we have to choose, whose values and beliefs match with our own.  There are a few key people in my life whom I still rely on for feedback and advice.

Just before spring break we said farewell to three of our student teachers, Leah, Shannon, and Carmen.  The role that our staff plays as mentors and positive role models for beginning teachers is impressive.  The vast experience and background that our teaching staff has to offer to those just starting out helps to ensure that the student teachers have a solid foundation to begin their careers.  As in all relationships, however, there is a give and take.  In the teacher/student-teacher relationship our teachers gain fresh insights and ideas to blend into their own repertoire, while student teachers gain immensely from years of experience. This is an important part of the work we do as we create opportunities for people to put their studies into practice.  It requires support from the University, the School District, staff, students, and most importantly, parents.  We have been fortunate to have excellent beginning teachers placed in our school.

As I think about it, the relationship that exists between the teacher and student-teacher is the same that exists between teachers and students.  The idea is to provide them with some knowledge and then let them explore how that fits with their understanding by trying it on for size;  all the while, providing them with feedback, encouragement, and support.  We build the scaffolding that supports the learning and then as they become proficient we are able to take the supports away and let them experience their learning for themselves.  Many teachers remain life-long mentors for students who return for advice and friendship.  What a great legacy.

We all play the role of mentor in some way in our lives.  When someone chooses to ask our advice and accept our feedback we grow ourselves.