At this time of year when we are considering the end one calendar year and the start of another, I can't help but feel excited about all that is possible and yet to come. At the same time though, I look back at what has been accomplished and will no longer be. A new year is always a bit of a give and take for me emotionally.
This is exactly how I am feeling as we close in on the end of 2010 and the retirement of two of our long-serving staff members. As we prepare ourselves to say farewell to Ms. Heck and Ms. Chauhan I look back at all that they have accomplished in their long careers and the influence they have had over countless numbers of students and say thank you. Our school will forever change as a result of their retirements, and while we are saddened to see them go, we must also look to the future to see what is possible for all of us. We take the lessons learned from these long-time colleagues and we apply them in new contexts and with new people.
To recognize for all of us that we will one day be moving away from the David Cameron Community is a difficult one. As Chris Kelly and Bruce Bearsto (Education Canada, 2010) reflect on this inevitable change, they say, "it is also vitally important [to] recognize that their time will be temporary, the organization will eventually and inevitably be carrying on without them, and the best they can hope to do is to affect at least some aspects of the ... culture in a way that will have some positive and enduring impact on others; namely, on the students".
With this in mind we say farewell to our colleagues Ms. Heck and Ms. Chauhan and know that we wish you well. We also thank you for your time, efforts, and contribution to the culture that is David Cameron School.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The Strength of a Community
It is hard to believe that it has been three years since I joined the David Cameron School Community. Over that time I have been impressed at every turn by the depth of caring and connectedness of everyone involved in educating our students. This has never been more apparent than over the course of this past week.
Over the last week and a bit we received news that a former David Cameron Student, who still has a sibling in our school, had not been well. He had spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital as doctors tried to determine the illness. With concerns mounting, the student was moved to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, where he has been diagnosed with cancer. The nature and extent of the disease is still to be determined. While the family and our community continued to struggle with the news, many people began to ask, "what can we do for them?". We quickly wrote a letter asking for contributions at our movie afternoon and were overwhelmed by the response. Parents, staff, and neighbours were quick in their reactions, with people phoning to ask if they could do more than donate money. A few of our students took it upon themselves to make and sell friendship bracelets to help raise money for the family.
This willingness to step in and donate or offer services has shown that there is a strong and vibrant community that exists in support of our school and our students. We spend a lot of time at school talking with students about values, beliefs and virtues. It is great to see that these are being internalized and acted upon. December's virtue is Service; that is, service to others to help make their lives a little easier. We are fortunate to have seen this virtue put into action in so many different ways over the past few weeks.
We will continue to determine how we can best support the family as they learn more about what the coming weeks and months will bring. As the family helps us to understand their wishes and needs we will keep all of you informed as well. Thank you to everyone who has contributed in some way to making this whole ordeal just a little easier for this family.
Over the last week and a bit we received news that a former David Cameron Student, who still has a sibling in our school, had not been well. He had spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital as doctors tried to determine the illness. With concerns mounting, the student was moved to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, where he has been diagnosed with cancer. The nature and extent of the disease is still to be determined. While the family and our community continued to struggle with the news, many people began to ask, "what can we do for them?". We quickly wrote a letter asking for contributions at our movie afternoon and were overwhelmed by the response. Parents, staff, and neighbours were quick in their reactions, with people phoning to ask if they could do more than donate money. A few of our students took it upon themselves to make and sell friendship bracelets to help raise money for the family.
This willingness to step in and donate or offer services has shown that there is a strong and vibrant community that exists in support of our school and our students. We spend a lot of time at school talking with students about values, beliefs and virtues. It is great to see that these are being internalized and acted upon. December's virtue is Service; that is, service to others to help make their lives a little easier. We are fortunate to have seen this virtue put into action in so many different ways over the past few weeks.
We will continue to determine how we can best support the family as they learn more about what the coming weeks and months will bring. As the family helps us to understand their wishes and needs we will keep all of you informed as well. Thank you to everyone who has contributed in some way to making this whole ordeal just a little easier for this family.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Professional Development
On Friday, November 26, the David Cameron Staff got together to explore our personal and professional pre-dispositions towards learning and the learner. Our session was facilitated by retired Vancouver School District Superintendent, Chris Kelly. The idea for the day was to discuss and share our personal views of our learners and how those views impact upon the students' ability to learn. This was a great opportunity for our staff to work together and gain a stronger understanding of individual beliefs and how they support our greater collective beliefs.
During the day we explored three key questions posed to us by Chris, these were:
1. How do we actually view children and young people as learners?
2. How do we define the core purpose that focuses, guides and characterizes our efforts as educators?
3. How should we continue to engage in, and support our own learning and development as a professional learning community?
These are three very big questions to tackle in a single day. As we began our work together it quickly became evident that as a collective group we hold the learner in high esteem and believe that we do have a positive impact on them as developing human beings. Much of what we have done and continue to do in our school around beliefs and values surfaced and were reinforced through our conversations.
A key notion that emerged was the importance of belonging, competence, and self-determination as essential aspects for learning. Much of our conversation centered on the importance of belonging and ensuring an environment where students, staff, and families feel part of a strong community. It became abundantly clear that in order for students to be successful as learners they need to be in an environment where they feel a strong sense of belonging and that we as a school community must continue to reinforce and explore new practices that support this concept.
This day was a great starting point for us as a staff. Our next steps are to explore continued ways to engage in professional inquiry that will support our learners in reaching their potential. In the end, Chris left us with the notion that it is our job to "enable rather than determine a person's capacity for learning".
During the day we explored three key questions posed to us by Chris, these were:
1. How do we actually view children and young people as learners?
2. How do we define the core purpose that focuses, guides and characterizes our efforts as educators?
3. How should we continue to engage in, and support our own learning and development as a professional learning community?
These are three very big questions to tackle in a single day. As we began our work together it quickly became evident that as a collective group we hold the learner in high esteem and believe that we do have a positive impact on them as developing human beings. Much of what we have done and continue to do in our school around beliefs and values surfaced and were reinforced through our conversations.
A key notion that emerged was the importance of belonging, competence, and self-determination as essential aspects for learning. Much of our conversation centered on the importance of belonging and ensuring an environment where students, staff, and families feel part of a strong community. It became abundantly clear that in order for students to be successful as learners they need to be in an environment where they feel a strong sense of belonging and that we as a school community must continue to reinforce and explore new practices that support this concept.
This day was a great starting point for us as a staff. Our next steps are to explore continued ways to engage in professional inquiry that will support our learners in reaching their potential. In the end, Chris left us with the notion that it is our job to "enable rather than determine a person's capacity for learning".
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Student Conferences
Each year at this time parents, teachers, and students get ready for our first round of student conferences. These conferences create the opportunity to meet and discuss student progress to this point in the year. Student conferences are considered one of two informal reports (along with three formal reports) mandated by the Ministry of Education. Informal reporting can be accomplished in many different ways, including such methods as, email, phone conversations, interim reports, and just recently completed by one of our staff, Skype.
While conferences are considered informal, they are an important contact with families to see their child's classroom and meet face-to-face with the teacher. Many families have already had conversations with their teachers and have a good sense of what is happening, so this simply presents another opportunity to reinforce student successes. During student conferences, most teachers share samples of student work, discuss areas that they are doing well in, as well as areas for improvement. This is also a great time to discuss goals for the next term in order to help students focus their energies in areas of needed improvement.
The value in having these conferences is in the strengthening of the home-school relationship. The greater insight that families have into their child's learning, the better able they are to support the learning. When we partner in this way, we are able to make much more progress than working separately. So, thanks to all of you for your efforts on behalf of the students at David Cameron and your willingness to take the time to have these important conversations.
While conferences are considered informal, they are an important contact with families to see their child's classroom and meet face-to-face with the teacher. Many families have already had conversations with their teachers and have a good sense of what is happening, so this simply presents another opportunity to reinforce student successes. During student conferences, most teachers share samples of student work, discuss areas that they are doing well in, as well as areas for improvement. This is also a great time to discuss goals for the next term in order to help students focus their energies in areas of needed improvement.
The value in having these conferences is in the strengthening of the home-school relationship. The greater insight that families have into their child's learning, the better able they are to support the learning. When we partner in this way, we are able to make much more progress than working separately. So, thanks to all of you for your efforts on behalf of the students at David Cameron and your willingness to take the time to have these important conversations.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Having Fun
As I sit here on Halloween Eve, I can't help but reflect on the fun we had at school on Friday. Our students were fantastic, lots of kids dressed in costumes and many brought in carved pumpkins for display. Having a day where kids (and staff) can have a little fun together is a great way to ensure positive connections.
Our day started with a parade of fabulous costumes as students and staff arrived at school. We had ghosts and ghouls; Michael Jackson, fairies and princesses (plus lots of others). As well as the costumes, we had students arrive with their pre-carved pumpkins for display in our main entrance. Just before lunch time our primary students came to the gym for a little dancing fun. The students enjoyed dancing to the Monster Mash, the Chicken Dance, and many other favourites. At lunch time it was the intermediate students' turn to dance. There music was slightly more current with pop hits blasting in the gym. After lunch all of our students participated in a Halloween Safety assembly to help ensure their safety while trick or treating.
All of these things show that we can have fun together at school and still meet expectations for how we behave. I am reminded of something I read years ago that said, "student's won't always remember what they learned in school, but they will remember the fun they had with their teachers." I hope we can be the kind of school where we can all have fun together to help make the learning easier.
Happy Halloween everyone.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Creating the Conditions for Students to Fix Problems
On Thursday and Friday last week, seven of our staff were able to participate in a session on "Control Theory" led by Diane Gossen. Control Theory comes from the work of William Glasser, a noted psychiatrist who has been working on the concepts of behaviour for more than 40 years. Control Theory forms the basis for Restitution, a way of working with students to help them fix behavioural mistakes.
At the center of Control Theory is the notion that humans have different realities and experiences (pictures in our minds). It is through these realities that we understand the world. If we have different pictures then we experience events differently. Students that have limited pictures or options see only a few behaviours as choices for themselves and when their choice doesn't match the situation, we have a behaviour problem. Control Theory also focuses on the notion that all behaviour serves a purpose - we behave in certain ways for a reason. We cannot control others, we can only control ourselves. As a result, the way in which we work with students is to create an abundance of new options so that they can choose alternative pathways to get their needs met.
When individuals perceive a mismatch between what they hoped to get and the end result, they behave in certain ways to close the gap between their need and the reality. For example if someone orders a cup of coffee with a particular picture of what that coffee will look and taste like, and the actual coffee does not match our expectation, we have a mismatch. This is where behaviour comes in, we can make a variety of choices to adjust our expectations down ("it's okay I can manage with this cup") or we can adjust to get what we want (send it back to be re-done). In short, we have a variety of socially acceptable ways to get our need for a good cup of coffee met. Students who struggle with behaviour issues have these same mismatches with everything from school work to relationships. The difference is that they don't have enough strategies to adjust so that they can get their needs met, the only options they have are to show alternate behaviours.
The day and a half session with Diane has opened our eyes to working with students to figure out what needs they are trying to meet through their behaviours and to provide them with alternate pathways to get those needs met. Control Theory is more supportive and learning is enhanced through this view of behaviour.
At the center of Control Theory is the notion that humans have different realities and experiences (pictures in our minds). It is through these realities that we understand the world. If we have different pictures then we experience events differently. Students that have limited pictures or options see only a few behaviours as choices for themselves and when their choice doesn't match the situation, we have a behaviour problem. Control Theory also focuses on the notion that all behaviour serves a purpose - we behave in certain ways for a reason. We cannot control others, we can only control ourselves. As a result, the way in which we work with students is to create an abundance of new options so that they can choose alternative pathways to get their needs met.
When individuals perceive a mismatch between what they hoped to get and the end result, they behave in certain ways to close the gap between their need and the reality. For example if someone orders a cup of coffee with a particular picture of what that coffee will look and taste like, and the actual coffee does not match our expectation, we have a mismatch. This is where behaviour comes in, we can make a variety of choices to adjust our expectations down ("it's okay I can manage with this cup") or we can adjust to get what we want (send it back to be re-done). In short, we have a variety of socially acceptable ways to get our need for a good cup of coffee met. Students who struggle with behaviour issues have these same mismatches with everything from school work to relationships. The difference is that they don't have enough strategies to adjust so that they can get their needs met, the only options they have are to show alternate behaviours.
The day and a half session with Diane has opened our eyes to working with students to figure out what needs they are trying to meet through their behaviours and to provide them with alternate pathways to get those needs met. Control Theory is more supportive and learning is enhanced through this view of behaviour.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Giving Thanks
What a fabulous weekend this has been. The weather was great, the food was great, and connections with family were great as well. I began thinking about what to write in this week's blog on Friday, after another very busy week at school and how much I was looking forward to the Thanksgiving weekend. Normally, I'm not one to get too hung up on the whole "what am I thankful for" thing, but this weekend I started thinking about how thankful I am for the tremendous staff I have at David Cameron School.
This really became clear to me as I read an interview with Bill Gates in the latest Maclean's magazine. He was lamenting the failure of the American education system and the tolerance for mediocrity in its teaching ranks. As I read, I kept thinking how opposite his perspective is to my reality. At David Cameron we have teachers that are not only dedicated, but have the learning needs of all of our children as their central focus. Our teachers are not complacent and happy with the status quo, they are constantly looking for new insights and strategies for their teaching that will help students achieve greater learning.
Last week, I wrote about our Literature Study Circles as an innovative, cross-grade method of increasing the sophistication with which students comprehend text. This is a single example of the kinds of things that our teachers do on a daily basis, while at the same time supporting the variety of needs that students in their classes have.
David Cameron school has become a complex, fast-paced, large elementary school, but despite these challenges our teachers remain committed to the learning of each child. So, Thanksgiving has made me think about how truly thankful I am that I get to go to a place every week that has such a caring and forward thinking group of teachers. Thanks to each of you.
This really became clear to me as I read an interview with Bill Gates in the latest Maclean's magazine. He was lamenting the failure of the American education system and the tolerance for mediocrity in its teaching ranks. As I read, I kept thinking how opposite his perspective is to my reality. At David Cameron we have teachers that are not only dedicated, but have the learning needs of all of our children as their central focus. Our teachers are not complacent and happy with the status quo, they are constantly looking for new insights and strategies for their teaching that will help students achieve greater learning.
Last week, I wrote about our Literature Study Circles as an innovative, cross-grade method of increasing the sophistication with which students comprehend text. This is a single example of the kinds of things that our teachers do on a daily basis, while at the same time supporting the variety of needs that students in their classes have.
David Cameron school has become a complex, fast-paced, large elementary school, but despite these challenges our teachers remain committed to the learning of each child. So, Thanksgiving has made me think about how truly thankful I am that I get to go to a place every week that has such a caring and forward thinking group of teachers. Thanks to each of you.
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