Anything Worth Doing, Is Worth Doing Well

Today was the TC10K race, with over 13 000 runners.  It is a run that I love to do every year, and somewhere in the middle of doing it, I wonder why I like it.  Today, I felt good until the 5K mark, but kept going, at the 8K mark I started to think how I had ruined a great morning, but I persevered and reached my goal.  On Friday night, we had our PAC sponsored Fun Fair.  When the skies opened and the rain fell, it would have been easy to say "call it off", but our PAC persevered, by adjusting their plans and staging a hugely successful "indoor" Fun Fair.  This quality is one that we want to instill in all of our students.

It seems that giving in when things get tough is too easy a choice these days.  At school, we work to help our students understand the message that if it is worth doing, it is worth putting our best effort forward and working until we complete it.  The staff at David Cameron School continually push our students towards their best work and to ensure they finish what they start.  Persevering under difficult circumstances is a great life skill and one that will help our students in their future careers.  We as adults need to be great role models for this, and we are.

School Spirit

One of the exciting opportunities we have for students is to be involved in our Student Voice group.  This is a group of students that meet with our vice-principal, Ms. Jarvis to discuss issues related to the school and to suggest ways to improve school spirit.  Student Voice is made up of representatives from each of our grade 1 to 6 classes.

This year, Student Voice has offered suggestions on dealing with garbage on the school grounds, how to hand out play equipment at recess and lunch, and what to do on our "spirit days".  The photo attached to this blog shows our recent "Crazy Hat Day" with a few of the selections on display that day.   These days are important parts of our school community and help engage students.  They show students that pride in your school and fun can go hand-in-hand with a focus on academic work.  Showing school spirit is an important part of making stronger connections which ultimately lead to greater student results.

Fair and Equal: The Same Thing?

I think that I have mentioned before that in any situation their are a variety of perspectives, including the students, staff members, parents, and even the broader community.  With that in mind, it's fair to say that no two situations are ever the same.   Which brings me to my point this week,  that is, fair does not necessarily mean equal.  Equal means that everyone gets the same thing, fair means that people get what they need.

At the essence of fairness is determining the circumstances of each situation and the people involved.  What is going to stimulate the greatest amount of learning and move the person forward strengthened?  This is how we would want to be treated if we were in a situation where we had made a mistake, and its where students should be so that they can make mistakes and learn too.

A few years ago, the notion of "zero tolerance" emerged as a necessary component of most school codes of conduct.  To many, zero tolerance meant that everyone got the same consequence regardless of circumstance.  The notion has evolved to the point now where zero tolerance means that something will always be done when rules and beliefs are broken, but the consequence will be fair and in relation to the needs of the individual.

I believe this notion of, what's fair is not necessarily what's equal, is important in allowing students to take risks in their learning and still be held accountable when they make mistakes, but in a way that strengthens them, rather than blaming or shaming them.

Why Do We Care So Much?

I watched the movie "The Blind Side" last night, for which Sandra Bullock won a best actress Oscar.  The movie was great and got me thinking about disadvantaged people and why we care so much.  In the movie, a family ends up taking in a total stranger who has suffered a life of neglect and poverty.  They nurture and support him towards his own ultimate success.

As we each go through our day-to-day world we come across so many people that have less than us, and yet, there are a few that we truly "connect" with and want to help.  Dan Gardner in his book "Risk" talks about the numbers of people in need as being overwhelming to the average person, we can't relate.  However, when these numbers are reduced to a single story or person, it links more easily to our emotions, as a result it is easier for us to act when it is one person than 1000.  It still doesn't answer the question of why we do it.

In teaching, there are so many students that cross our paths, that at times the need can be overwhelming and yet, we do what we can for each one of them.  Still, there are some students that truly "catch" us and pull us into their story for whom we want to do more, and in doing more, we gain.  I think it is as much what we get out of the relationship as what the other person does that makes us care.  It is in this shared sense of growth, support, and nurturing that we gain as well.  I see first hand examples every day from students, parents, and school staff caring for other individuals.

There is a little boy at school with whom we have struggled over the years.  This year has been a standout year for him as many staff have reached out and provided the support and understanding that he needs to be successful.  In extending that understanding we too have benefited.  I saw him and his father in the school hallway a while ago and stopped them both to say thank-you for helping me to learn the value of patience.  In this relationship, we have both gained.

So, why do we care so much?  It is in our capacity as human beings that we have the unique gift of empathy.  Beyond simply caring for others, it is also a bit selfish as we realize that in giving we also gain.

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.