Full Day Kindergarten

At this time of year kindergarten families are normally getting excited for their start to school in the Fall.  At David Cameron Elementary we normally have our orientation session already completed and information out to families.  We are little behind this year for a number of reasons, but are anxiously anticipating the start of full day kindergarten at David Cameron.  We are slated to have three K classes next year and our teaching staff have been working hard in preparation; buying equipment and resources, talking with each other about plans for instruction, and determining classroom locations.

The most exciting aspect of full day kindergarten is the luxury of time to play.  Kindergarten is based upon the idea that play is learning.  Students are able to explore, imagine, and play symbolically as they learn to interact with others and the world around them.  Our Kindergarten staff were fortunate to spend a morning with other kindergarten teachers last week, discussing the importance of play as the central element to their programs.  The Primary Program (Ministry of Education, 2000) says: "Children learn through play.  Through their play, children develop sensory motor control, eye-hand coordination, and problem solving skills.  Physical, social, intellectual, and emotional development are all enhanced through play.  Piaget (1980) went on to say that, "Play therefore becomes a creative experience in which the child bends reality to his [sic] wishes, incorporating his [sic] social experiences, reliving his [sic] pleasures and resolving his [sic] conflicts, thus ensuring survival".

The gift of time for kindergarten, will allow our staff and new students the opportunity to explore a variety of themes and concepts through play-based learning.  We anticipate that each of our classes will be located on the first floor to allow easy access to the outdoors, so that their play can incorporate indoor and outdoor spaces.

This is an exciting opportunity for all.  I'm sure there will be some learning and some fine tuning in our program that happens over the year, but in the end the caring and thoughtful approach our teachers are taking is sure to make this a great experience for everyone.  As I wrap up, I think about a notion from Lev Vygotsky that suggests "children rise about their average behaviour in play".  This is what creates such fertile ground for learning.  Bring on the full day K!

Time for Change

I have avoided writing this for some time now.  Sorry to those few of you who follow this blog regularly.  Now that we know who the new principal of David Cameron will be I can begin to get my head around transition.  I have said to several people over the past month or so that moving to a new position is bittersweet;  I am excited about the new challenge and possibilities of the new job, but I am also saddened at leaving such a vibrant and caring school community.

I have been reflecting back on the time that I have been fortunate to spend at David Cameron, and all that we have been able to accomplish together, and am in awe of the commitment that this school community has shown in making education special for our children.  I remember back to the warm welcome that I received from staff, students, and parents upon my arrival at David Cameron and have continued to strive to ensure that new families have been able to feel the same thing.   Over the years we have come through the blending of two schools into one new entity through the development of a shared culture.  This was due in large order to the open and caring nature of everyone involved.  The development of a strong culture has been a passion of mine and it is comforting to see how strong it has become.  We now have a very clear set of beliefs about how we choose to work and be together.  This is very encouraging for a strong future.

I know that everyone is replaceable and that it won't take long for the culture of the school to evolve to its new state.  I am pleased to have played a small role in making the education of so many great kids a positive one.  I have a little bit of time left at the school and will continue to give my full attention and effort to our students in that time.  More reflections to come as we get closer to the end of the year.

Fundraising and our Fun Fair

This weekend I was helping out with my daughter's soccer team as they try to raise funds for a big soccer trip coming up.  I didn't do much, but it took a good chunk of my weekend just the same, and in the end it was a very successful fundraiser.  While I was doing it, I began to think of all of the fundraising tasks that our school undertakes over the course of a school year and in particular how monumental a task our upcoming Fun Fair is.

This weekend I had one task, organizing a 50/50 draw and the volunteers that go along with it.  It took a lot of time, with lots of emails back and forth.  Our Fun Fair is exponentially more intricate and time consuming.  The success of the event is due to Trish and Michelle and their tremendous organizational skills, but it also requires the commitment and involvement of countless others.  I think I heard it said the other day that there are 100, half hour volunteers slots to fill on the night of the event.  This does not include the pre-planning and organization that goes on for months ahead of time.  I hope that we have a tremendous turn out this Friday (April 29th), not only in support of our school and PAC, but also as an acknowledgement of the hard work our volunteers have done on behalf of our students.

The Fun Fair is the largest fundraising event of the year, but it is not the only one.  PAC has several events over the course of the year as do individual classes and groups of students (e.g. our SPCA club).  While these events are not directly related to curriculum in classrooms, they do provide an awful lot of additional bonuses to the school in the form of field trips, equipment, etc.  The events organized and staffed by students also provide crucial lessons in money management, cost-profit understanding, organization, and advertising (writing in context), to name only a few.

So, while it may sometimes seem a burden to volunteer some time at these fundraising events, the value is well worth it.  I hope to see a huge show of David Cameron support for our Fun Fair on April 29th.  See you there.

"Digital Tatoos"

I heard it described awhile ago that when we go on line we create a "digital tattoo".  That is, we create a history of our activity that is forever.  When we send an email or text message or a post to a social network site, we have no idea what could happen with that information and to whom it may be passed.  When we surf the web we leave a trail that creates a profile of the sites we like to visit and therefore, what advertisers might target us.  Like a tattoo on our body we can cover it up or have it removed, but it is never really gone.

These are only a few of the things that we need to be aware of in order to maintain our privacy and safety as we stay connected via the internet.  Therefore, thanks to our PAC, we will be hosting a cyber safety session for our grade five and six students.  The grade fives will be involved in a session that provides them with some safety tips and ideas about things that they can do to protect their privacy.  Our grade sixes, many of whom are actively involved in social networking (e.g. Facebook), will have a more detailed session that will explore possible concerns including on line predators.

Technology is an amazing tool that can do a lot of great things, but like anything, we need to make sure that we use it in a morally responsible way and we need to make sure that we take precautions to maintain our safety.  These sessions will occur on Tuesday, April 26th.  We encourage parents to talk with their children about the ideas and concepts that they have learned during these sessions.  Open communication and interest in what your child is doing will go a long way to support them in learning to be safe and protect their privacy on line.

April Virtue - Unity

This month our school is focusing on the virtue of "unity".  Unity is the ability to understand the differences in people so that we can embrace them and come together in support of each other.  As we do each month, we begin with our school-wide assembly to introduce the virtue.  This month was a little different in that we linked our virtue of unity to building understanding for our staff and students around First Nations culture.  We were fortunate to have Scott Sam and Murray Campbell come and perform for our students.  They sang and drummed a number of songs that kept everyone entertained, but at the same time, they were able to explain the significance of the singing and of the songs themselves.  What a great assembly!

After recess, our students re-formed into their Family Groups for another opportunity to experience First Nations culture through art work.  Charlene George joined us for this part where we were able to blend important aspects of culture with the use of our technology in the school.  Charlene used our camera and television abilities to teach each of the Family Groups throughout the school.  She had chosen some of her own original designs for students to be able to colour and put together.  As the students worked in each of their rooms in the school, Charlene explained the significance of each piece and the story behind its design.  What a great opportunity for our students to extend their understanding of the importance of art in telling a story about people.

The whole morning was so much fun for staff and students alike.  Each of our students was able to bring home a couple of pieces of art and hopefully a whole new set of stories.

Spring Has Sprung

This year Spring Break has come later in the month of March then it did last year.  This means that when we return to classes tomorrow there will only be three months of the school year remaining.  The last three months can often be the busiest three months, as teachers work hard to complete academic requirements, PAC gears up for their big Fun Fair fundraiser, and we begin the many transitions that will occur.

During the last term we will have a number of transitions that are important for our community.  The most obvious one is with our grade six students heading off to middle school.  While some of their transition activities have already happened, there are several more to go.  At the other end of the spectrum we have our last group of half day kindergarten students transitioning to full days and a new crop of students entering kindergarten with the start of our Full Day Kindergarten program.  In between each of these, and equally as important, are the transitions for each of our students from one grade to the next, a process that we take as a great responsibility.

Of course, there are also adult transitions that happen within our school community.  We have many parents who are in their final year at David Cameron as their youngest or only child moves on to middle school.  This will mean some large holes need to be filled on our PAC as we head towards our AGM in May and the election of a new PAC.  Finally, we will be transitioning a new Principal into our school community.  The District has not yet appointed the person for this position, but will likely do so in the next short while, and then we can begin the process of introducing her or him to David Cameron.

These changes will include a host of additional challenges for us as we continue to keep our focus squarely on  a successful academic term.

Report Card Language

At this time of year, teachers in schools across the province are working hard to prepare report cards for families.  The teachers at David Cameron are no different.  We are so fortunate to have an incredible group of professionals working with and for our students.  This is certainly reflected in the care and attention put into report cards.  Our teachers struggle with getting the comments just right to make sure there is a caring blend of support and direction for improvement.

One of the things we all struggle with; teachers, parents, and students alike, is the language that gets used.  Sometimes we get caught up in "eduspeak" and move away from stating what is happening for a child in clear and simple language.  This happens in all professions where vocabulary specific to that profession emerges, and while we do our best not to head down that road, it does happen sometimes.

The bigger issue is the language of achievement.  These are the words like, "Johnny is fully meeting expectations . . ." that appear on report cards.  By Ministerial requirement, all report cards must include what the student is able to do, areas for improvement, ways to support learning, and a statement of achievement.  This is where the language can become confusing.  In the primary and early intermediate grades the term "exceeding" gets used to describe a student who is doing exceptionally well.  It becomes difficult for teachers and parents to determine what exceeding means.  Granted, there are examples on the Ministry Performance Standards, but the word is difficult to pin down.  Does it mean that the student has surpassed the expectations of the grade and is working on material at the next grade level, or does it mean that they have surpassed the expectations of the teacher?  Letter grades use a different term to describe "A" level work; that is work that is excellent or outstanding.

At the other end of the spectrum we have the terms "approaching", "minimally meeting", and "satisfactory" work.  Approaching is used on primary report cards to denote someone who is meeting expectations but at a lower level.  The term seems to suggest someone that is not yet meeting the expectations, but is approaching them.  Minimally meeting expectations is the phrase used for early intermediate to denote the same level of achievement, while the letter grade language of "C" means satisfactory.

It would be great if we could determine a common language that was truly reflective of what a student is able to do and that is clearly understandable by parents and the public.  In the meantime, the one valuable thing that all of this language does do is to create opportunities for teachers and families to connect in conversation about their child.

Appreciative Inquiry

On Friday, about a dozen of the David Cameron staff got together with Dan Doherty, an Appreciative Inquiry facilitator, to examine in greater detail the idea of Appreciative Inquiry (AI).  Wow!  What an incredible opportunity to learn about such a powerful way to look at things and to connect on a deeper level with colleagues.  We spent the day together engaged in meaningful conversation about our school and learning.  We looked for examples of greatness and how we can build upon those for future successes.

During the day, Dan led us through the process which focused on the question, "How are we effectively fostering constructive inquiry, and how can we enhance the spirit of inquiry within our students beyond what we are currently doing?"  What a powerful question for us to engage in for the day.  Dan further explained that AI is "asking questions that add value" (this one clearly did).   One of the basic principles of AI is that what you focus on expands.  If we focus on the negative (destructive), we get more of that, but if we focus on being constructive that is where we grow.

As we explored, inquired, and asked deeper questions we began to collectively see great things in our school and ways to build upon them to extend the quality of experience for adults and students.  Themes began to emerge about trust, risk taking, and the continued development of our school culture.

The day was a great example of what professional development can and should be.  Staff were engaged, energized, and it made us think about how we can be better for our students.  We now have a core group of staff keen to explore ways that we encourage risk taking and trust already, and how we can get more of it.

Parents as Partners

On Thursday last week, I had the chance to hear Sir John Abbot speak about learning in the 21st Century.  He takes an interesting perspective on how history has shaped our ability to learn and the lessons we should draw from that in how we structure our schools.  Key to his thinking is the importance of a nurturing and supportive home environment, hence the importance of parents as partners in learning.

Sir John talked about the elements for students to be successful and refers to a "three-legged stool that can find balance on any surface".  The three legs of the stool are home, community, and school, which suggests that school is only a part of the learning journey we are all on.  The home, plays a critical role in the development of the child, particularly during the first five years.  When humans are born, their brain is only about 40% developed, which means that a lot of brain development is environmental and not pre-disposed.  As a result, our innate abilities must be "activated" through stimulation in the environment, "use it or lose it", whereby lack of stimulation at an early age means brain connections aren't made and that area of development is shut off.  A nurturing and supportive home environment helps to activate our learning at an early age and stimulates our brains.  While this is critical in the first five years, it continues to be important throughout our lives in the creation of a supportive and encouraging environment for learning.

Jesse Jackson once said, "no parent is too poor to turn the TV off and labour alongside their child."  In order for our children to be successful we must have parents in partnership with the teacher and school to support student learning.  Engaging our parents in understanding the changes that we are trying to make in education is important for the long-term success of our students.  We have to make the message strong enough to bring people together.

Transitions

This past week we had two events for our grade six students to begin their transition to middle school.  In only a few short months our grade sixes will be saying good-bye to elementary and hello to the next chapter in their education.  This is true for many of our parents as well who will be leaving David Cameron with their child(ren).  Our two feeder schools, Spencer and Dunsmuir, have done a great job in welcoming everyone and making them feel at home right away.

Over the next few months, these transition events will continue for both students and parents, helping to acquaint them with the routines and layout of these schools.  We are fortunate in this district to have such great places to send our students.  We know it is hard to let go of a place many have know for seven years (more for some parents) and moving to something so different, and so big.  This is why so much effort is put into these transition activities.  Students get a chance to see the strong performing arts programs at each of the schools, meet with school counsellors, administrators, teachers, and other students through a variety of events.

A huge thank-you goes out to the staffs at both Dunsmuir and Spencer for the care they show with our students.  I know it is relief to our parents to know that their children will be in good hands.

Supporting the needs of all

In the past, I have blogged about "fair not being equal".  Fair is the process of figuring out what each person needs in order to be successful and move forward with their learning.  Equal means that everyone gets the same thing, regardless of circumstance.

I am reminded of this again as we struggle to support the behaviour needs of a couple of students at school who are going through a difficult time.  The circumstances in each case are very different and therefore require a different approach.  The process of uncovering, and working with the student to figure out what they are trying to get from their behaviours is slow and sometimes frustrating as set backs continue.  Each of the students' issues are manifesting as outbursts of behaviour, in which case the notion of equal would mean that the same consequences are dispensed to each - but how would this support their particular needs and the particular struggle that they are facing?

I think that for the most part, our staff is extremely attuned to this notion of fairness over equality, but it is a struggle for everyone when we consider the competing interests.  As educators we want to take the time to help students learn from their mistakes, but we must also take into account what's fair for: other students who are faced with these behaviours, other staff who sometimes take the brunt of these outbursts of anger and frustration, and other parents who see the behaviour manifest but don't know the details behind the scene.  These are some of the factors that weigh in our decisions as to the best way to support the individual and the broader community of learners as well.

Treating everyone the same and handing out the same consequences in each circumstance would certainly make my life easier, but it would also take away our credibility as an educators.  Education is so much more than math and reading, it is the whole person that requires our attention, our support, and our love.  I am also reminded of advice a colleague gave me years ago:  "what is best for the student is not always easiest for the adults involved."  With this in mind, and with the many successes I have seen over my career, we continue to find what is best for the learner and work hard to make a difference.

The Value of Involvement

Michael Jordan is a pretty famous sports personality and wasn't too bad a basketball player.  When he was in grade 9, he was cut from his school basketball team, he persevered, made the team the next year, and the rest is history.

We have 30 grade five/six boys and another 30 grade five/six girls that have come out to play basketball for the school team this year.  It would sure be a lot easier to coach if we reduced those numbers to about 12 players on each team, but what would the negative side of that be?  It would mean that a lot of students wouldn't get a chance to participate in a physical activity, they wouldn't get the opportunity to represent their school, and they wouldn't have the chance to engage with their school in a different way.  For many students the relationship with their school is tenuous, and as they go through the grades, if they don't have a "hook"; something that engages them, then the chances of losing them increase significantly.  For some, athletics is a nice distraction to the really important things in life, but for others, it is the important thing that allows them to hang on school.  It is precisely for this reason that we take all comers and try to give them the skills and attitude to carry on with sport in their life.

I am proud of the commitment that our staff has to our students and to ensuring that they have great opportunities to connect with their school.  Athletics serve a very important part of our school community.  We are fortunate to have such great involvement.

Community and Technology

What a great event our PAC put on this past Friday night.  Our Family Dance was a great success with many of our families coming out to enjoy an evening at the school.  At one point during the evening I was talking to a couple of our parents about the incredible advances in technology that have happened over the past few years and how easy that technology is to use.  We were looking at the source of our music for the evening, which included an iPod Touch and an iPhone hooked up to our school stereo system.  We marvelled at the idea of having so much music at our fingertips in such small containers.  As we were talking a student came up and requested a song from her iPod Nano, but the connection was different from what we were using.  No problem, we grabbed a MacBook from our lab and plugged the iPod into that and then patched the MacBook into the stereo system: instant playlist and another 250 songs at our disposal.  A little later, another student came up and requested a song that was not on any of the three players we were using.  Again no problem, out came two more iPhones from the parents I was talking with, we quickly found the requested song and had it playing.

I find this fascinating in part because of the incredible technology available at our finger tips, but also because of the ability the technology has to bring our community together.  This year our PAC has made a purposeful decision to create some "no-cost" events for our families to come out and enjoy.  In this case, utilizing the technology allowed people to have fun, enjoy a wide range of music, and easily accomplish the task by ourselves, without having to hire someone to come in and do it for us.  Truth be told, it wasn't really the technology that did this as much as it was a hard working group of parents, but the point is that the technology allowed for it to happen.   We often hear stories in the media and the lament of many, that technology is causing us to lose connection with one another.  Many of our children prefer alternatives such as texting, tweeting, or even blogging, to face-to-face contact.  I don't think this makes us less social, in fact I think it helps us to be more social, creating greater opportunities to connect with friends over bigger distances.  The technology that so often seems to push us apart can also be responsible for bringing us together.  Of course, the important lessons still have to be how to play nice and get along with others, whether in person or on-line.

Thanks to our PAC for organizing this event and bringing us together.  In the end, it is still the people involved that make a community what it is.  Technology is only a tool that helps us, it is not what creates it.

Student expectations and their behaviour

I am now officially a part of the twitter crowd.  So far only as a follower trying to figure out all of the things that our students do without thinking.  In one of the first posts I read, by our own vice-principal, I found a fascinating quote that got me thinking about our work with students.  She was commenting on a blog post by Joe Blower (http://www.joebower.org/) and said, "how can a teacher claim to be progressive yet subscribe to a series of punishments for non-compliance".

The blog and the tweet (never thought I would write that in a sentence) raise several issues about the progressiveness of our education system.  We are certainly in a system in transition. There are those that are keen to move us forward with what research is telling us about reward and punishment and those that cling to past practices.  The challenge for us is to continue to move forward and to help those less inclined to understand the changes occurring around them.  How do we support students in a system that is standing astride the old and the new?  As Dr. Dave Hepburn said in an interview in the most recent Boulevard Magazine, "If a doctor is practicing the way they were five years ago, they may as well be practicing in a museum".

Students make mistakes.  Sometimes they repeat the mistakes over and over without changing their behaviour.  Does this mean that they should be punished, made to feel guilty, shunned from the group?  On the contrary, we need to support kids when they make mistakes and to help them learn from them, not push them further down.  Don't get me wrong, there are and need to be consequences for our actions, but there is a difference between consequence and punishment.  Our work on Restitution (www.realrestitution.com) allows us to support students when they make a mistake and allow them to return to the group strengthened rather than chastised.

This is an area that we all need to work on and move forward with to support the development of our students.  The ultimate goal that we have in mind is to have students make positive behaviour choices because it is within them to, rather than the fear of punishment.

What's Changed?

I had a fascinating conversation with a friend, colleague, and mentor last night.  He has been retired for a while now from education and doesn't miss the politics of it all.  He still likes to keep up to date with what's going on and asked a fairly simple question that unfortunately does not have a simple answer.

We were discussing the opposing views of education funding.  The Ministry of Education says that they have been and continue to increase the amount of money that goes into education; the BCTF describes on-going underfunding and the resulting issues, most notably increased class sizes and changing compositions in those classes.  His question was, "are kids doing worse in school now because of  class sizes?"  See, a seemingly simple question with a not-so-simple answer.  It seems to boil down to how you answer it.  Our grad rates are at an all-time high - more students staying in school and graduating, scholarship results are up, and provincial exam results seem to be holding, as are FSA results at grades 4 and 7.  In Sooke our aboriginal student success rate is above the provincial average.  By these measures it would appear that things are holding or improving, but that would be a simplistic answer.

The deeper answer is that we have dedicated, caring teachers who continue to struggle daily with the impact of more students, greater diversity, and fewer resources to do the job.  It is because of these teachers and there unrelenting desire to ensure the success of their students that we continue to get the results that we do.  Teachers are notorious for taking on more and more in support of their students.  The worry is that these gifted and caring individuals will burn themselves out and move on to easier, less demanding careers, retire early, or simply quit.

I'm not sure where we go from here, but it does seem clear that we have to do what we can to support the most important element in education - our teachers.