Opportunities to Shine

This week, our students had a couple of big events.  Mr. Parker and Mrs. Johnston's classes went camping to Evans Lake, the Grade 7 French Immersion students spent three days at Camp Summit, and about 50 students in grades 3 - 7 participated in the District Track and Field meet.

I was able to join the kids at Evans Lake for a morning and was so impressed with the setting, the counsellors, the activities, the parents who volunteered their time, and with the students themselves.  When I arrived, one group was practicing archery.  I remember hearing a story about the actress Geena Davis.  She was not very athletic growing up, but picked up a bow and arrow at the age of 41.  It turns out, she was so talented that she almost qualified for the Sidney Olympics. She placed 24th of 300 and did not qualify for the team, but participated as a wild-card entry in the Sydney International Golden Arrow competition.  What if one of our students had such a skill that might never be uncovered if they did not have opportunity!

Another group of students was rock climbing.  This is another sport with seemingly unlikely heroes.  It is not the fastest, the strongest or the most coordinated person who is often the best climber.  In fact, it's more likely to be the quiet, but most thoughtful and flexible one.  As I watched Mr. Parker, Mr. Hinchcliffe and Alison belay the kids, I wondered who might carry on with the sport in high school, where they have indoor climbing walls.  We live in such a climbing mecca:  it is so important that our students have the opportunity to try it out for themselves.

A third group of students were canoeing.  I was disappointed to have missed my chance to join them.  Not being a strong swimmer, I have not really enjoyed boating in the past.  But last summer I signed up for a four hour kayak lesson with my daughter, and I was so nervous! I could not sleep the night before.  I do not really know what I was afraid of, but with the excellent coaching of our instructor, I managed to get in the kayak, purposely tip out of it (!) and get back in.  Then we paddled around Deep Bay on Bowen Island and I so enjoyed it.  Being able to take a risk and face a fear can be a life-changing experience.  Every student needs a gentle encouraging coach beside him or her, to take those risks and live to tell the tale.

I wish I could have attended the Track and Field Meet, but Mrs. Yates' class and I had our last visit with Baby Jacob, our Roots of Empathy Baby that afternoon.  However, when Mrs. Fanzega and the students came back, they showed me their ribbons and shared their experiences.  Two stories from the day gave me goosebumps.  The first was about Luke, who, during the 800 m race, saw that his friend Ryan was really struggling.  Rather than leave him to finish alone, Luke slowed down and encourages Ryan all the way through the finish line.  It gives me goosebumps again just typing this.

Another anecdote was from Mickey, who was in the lead in the grade 6 boys 100 meter race.  Unfortunately, the grass was slippery and he fell.  The boy who won the race (from another school) gave Mickey his First Place ribbon.  Can you believe it?

It is an awful lot of work organizing for a track meet and getting ready for a multi-day camping trip.  Sometimes we wonder it is all worth it, but I know it is.  Who knows what small experience might change the life of a child, give them the courage and the confidence to take on even larger challenges?  Thank you to the teachers, the parents, and the students themselves for creating these opportunities to shine.

Keeping Kids Safe in Cyberspace

Last week we had a guest speaker come to talk to our students about social media and internet safety.  Jesse Miller (mediatedreality.com) spoke to the grade 4/5's and then the 6/7's, each for an hour.  In the evening, he spoke to about 60 parents.  His main message was that we can use social media to make the world a better place, but often is it just a distraction and a waste of time, not to mention potentially  dangerous.  When Mr. Miller arrived at our school he took a photo of his shoe to get our longitude and latitude.  From there, he was able to cross-reference several apps on his phone and "found" 10 of our students' profiles, some very open, some with very disturbing text and images.  He could tell where some of them lived, and even found pictures taken at our school, in our classrooms, posted and with students tagged. 

Here are some other things we learned:

• Thirteen is the age a person is supposed to be to join Facebook.
• There are 90,000,000 children under the age of 13 who have a Facebook account.
• Most of our intermediate students said they have a Facebook account and their "fake" ages ranged widely.
• Privacy settings don't really work as words and pictures can be passed around like the game of "Telephone."  Don't put anything online that you would not want your mother or your boss to see.
• Four young girls in Ontario were recently fooled into meeting a middle-aged man, who online, was claiming to be Justin Beiber.  He sexually assaulted them.
• How do you value friendships?  Write down the names of your friends on a piece of paper.  Only those people should be your friends on Facebook.  Get rid of the rest.  Do you really want friends who only remember your birthday because Facebook reminded them?
• You are the most important thing in the world to your parents - Share your passwords and accounts with them.
• Would you spend a dollar a day to use Twitter, Facebook or Instagram?
• Photos on Snapchat DO NOT disappear forever.
• Followers:  Would you think it would be creepy for a 40 year old man to be following an 11 year old girl on the street?  Why is it not creepy on Instagram or Twitter?  Get rid of followers you don't know.  They can find out your name, where you go to school, where you live, etc.
• Be a friend to your friends in real life.
• Do you sleep with your phone?  Might it be interfering with your sleep?  Get an alarm clock!
• Think of your favourite sport, and playing hard when it really matters.  Would you do that with a phone in your hand?  Pay attention to what really matters.
• A student in the US lost an opportunity to have a $75,000 scholarship because he tweeted racist remarks. Others have lost their lives and bankrupted their families, texting while driving.  Again - pay attention to what matters.

We thank the District Parent Advisory Committee for funding Jesse Miller's parent presentation.

January 2013 - Focus on Reading

Did you know that BC students out-perform most students in the world in reading? According to the recent PIRLS study of grade 4's, students in BC have better comprehension tahn their peers in many other English and non-English speaking countries.  See for yourself at

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/assessment/pirls_2011_bc_sum.pdf

This month at Ecole Squamish, we are spending a lot of time thinking about the art and science of teaching reading.  Our school goal is in reading and the SPC is presenting to the Trustees and District Education Staff this week as part of the yearly review of our Learning Plan.

One of the strategies we use at our school is screening and assessing primary students' readiness and reading skills with a tool called the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills.  Despite it's long name (we call it DIBELS for short)  it involves a short session with a child, having them identify letters and sounds, combinations of letters and nonsense words.  This helps us figure out what skills they are missing and what to teach and help them practice.

Alivia (grade3) reads the morning messages.

Teachers use a variety of approaches to further support and encourage reading in the classroom.  A number of our teachers are implementing an approach called The Daily Five, which promotes independence, self-regulation, improved stamina for reading and writing, and positive peer interaction.  The teacher is able to conference with individuals and small groups while students read to themselves, read to a classmate, listen to reading, write about something that matters to them, and work on words.  These are teachers of primary and intermediate students - it is not just for beginning readers.

In intermediate classrooms, teachers tend to focus on the skills that we know good readers have:  the ability to make mental images and connections when we read, to use a variety of strategies to figure out new words, to draw inferences and determine the main idea of a piece of wrting, to reflect upon and respond to what we have read.  Some teachers follow the approaches laid out in Reading 44, Reading Power,  or other frameworks.  But they all know that six things are true about reading:  students need to, on a daily basis, read something he/she has chosen, that it at the "just right" level so they can read with accuracy, write something personally meaningful, talk with their peers about reading and writing with their peers, and listen to a fluent adult read aloud (Allington & Gabriel, 2012).

Here are some photos of "reading in action" at our school.



Ms. Gibson working with one of her grade 1's



Writing about reading in grade 6/7



Silent Reading Time in Ms. Miller & Ms. Robichaud's class.



Thomas and Rafi enjoying their reading.

Mark's reading a mountain bike magazine.



Hannah practices yoga while she's reading.

As it is National Family Literacy Week, we want to let you know how proud we are of all of our students, and thankful for the support they get at home.

If you have questions about your child's reading progress, please contact your child's teacher, myself of Mrs. Reed.

First Term Reflections

Our first term of the 2012 - 2013 is drawing to a close.  Report cards have been issued, parent-teacher interviews are being held this week, and we are all reflecting on how the first three months of school have gone.  I am pleased to say that despite all of the new things we have experienced this year (100 new students, 10 new teachers, for example), the tone in the school and on the playground is very positive.  I am seeing students engaged, teachers excited about projects and technology and collaborating with one another.  I am also seeing many acts of kindness and generosity, such as students and teachers sharing supplies and knowledge with one another, parents donating their time to our school to fundraise, serve lunches and run clubs, bus drivers encouraging and supporting children, custodians caring about our school environment, and our educational assistants taking the time to build relationships with students and teachers.  We have a good place to learn and to be.

In other learning news, last weekend, most of our French Immersion students took part in the Squamish Culture and Heritage Festival at Quest University.  We were able to preview the projects that the students prepared on Wednesday afternoon.  Very impressive!

Felicitations to all!

Last week I attended a workshop in West Vancouver on The Daily 5 approach to teaching reading and writing.  This approach, created my two American teachers,  is truly a juggernaut, rolling through North American schools, embraced by teachers who want a more effective, efficient, engaging way to teach students to read and write, self-regulate and own their own learning.  I am very impressed with the work that is being done in not only West Vancouver classrooms, but in our own Sea to Sky District.  Many teachers are really ready to practice in a way that appeals to the 21st century child.

We now look forward to all that December brings: our annual Writing Day, the Band and Primary Christmas Concerts,  classroom celebrations and gingerbread-house building madness!  We hope you will be able to attend one or more of these celebrations.



Last Year's Christmas Band Concert



Happy New Year!



Terry Fox Warm Up

 September always seems more like New Year's to me than January 1st.  I guess it is partly because I've spent the last 43 years living according to an academic calendar.  Our school year started off with a lot of change.  We have over 100 new students and 10 new teachers.  We have one new Vice-Principal, Sue Reed, and one new Educational Assistant, Barb Clarke.  That is a lot of newness!  But in the midst of all that newness there are "anchors" that keep us grounded, so to speak.  Some of these anchors are the traditions, the rituals and celebrations that happen every September. 

There is the Terry Fox Run, before which teachers spend a great deal of time reminding students who Terry is, what he did, and why we should keep his dream and his memory alive.



Cross Country Running team at BES





Our Roots of Empathy Baby, Lucas, is bigger than Baby Apple.

 Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope certainly inspires our Cross Country Team, another autumn tradition.  It was wonderful for Mrs. Heilig and me to see so many (60+) students come out to practices and to the three meets.  We think the students learned more than just how to strategically run the trails.  We think they learned about courage, sportsmanship, determination, and empathy.

Speaking of empathy, our little Roots of Empathy baby, Lucas, came to meet his Wondergarten Class (Mrs. Yates).  He is going to teach the students about how we care for the most vulnerable, and how we are all vulnerable and must look after each other.  Have you read Mary Gordon's book, Roots of Empathy?  You really should.

This week we are looking forward to another tradition, the Hallowe'en Carnival.  This annual event, run by parents and volunteers, raises a lot of money for our school.  This year, we hope to put some money towards the installation of a new playground for our students, and for the community.

Spooky, I know!

Finally, we are looking forward to the beginning of a new tradition:  WE Day.  Twenty-two of our grade 7's, all of whom applied last June, will be attending WE Day at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, with 20,000 other youth and their supervisors.  WE Day is an initiative of Free the Children, an international organization with Canadian roots.  Our students will hopefully feel empowered and inspired to actions that make the world a better place.  Thanks to Mrs. Verbeek for organizing.

The fall is a season of change and new beginnings, just as much as spring is.  I'm looking forward to the year ahead and all that we can learn in 2012 - 2013.



Configurations for Learning

A Beautiful Multiage Class:  Can you tell the 2's from the 3's?

As always in June, I begin to wonder what challenges and opportunities the next school year will bring.  As I plan for staffing, ordering planners, replenishing art and gym equipment, I am thinking ahead to that first week of September, when we configure classes and try to make the best placement decisions possible for each individual student. 

When we sit down to create classes, we try to balance multiple factors, regardless of the grade levels.  Teachers are teaching children, not grades, and as such, we look most carefully at the social, emotional, and academic profiles of the students.  Combined classes are a reality.  Research (eg. Veenman (1995); Mason and Burns (1996) has not found multiage classrooms to have detrimental effect on student achievement.  In fact, it is argued that students will achieve more if teachers are able to capitalize on the multi-age arrangement. 

We know, through such meta-analyses of educational research as John Hattie’s Visible Learning, that what does have a huge impact on student learning are strategies such as students self-reporting their on their own performance, small group learning, teachers providing feedback and coaching rather than “marking,” and reciprocal teaching (when students teach each other).  Also, incredibly important, obviously, is the teacher-student relationship.  I do not remember whether I was in a combined class in Grade 7, but I sure remember Mr. Nelmes, who, in sharing his passion for reading and writing and history, and with his wonderful kindness and compassion, inspired me to become a teacher.

As I’ve mentioned before, curriculum in BC is changing, becoming more about big ideas, deeper learning, focusing on critical thinking, creativity, communication, personal and social responsibility.  In the future, we will focus less on what grade a student is in, and more on these competencies and learning standards; less on whole-class instruction of the same thing and more on personalized learning; less on tests and percentages and more on authentic assessment; more choice, more opportunities for each learner to show what they know in an innovative way.

Change is not easy.  People resist it.  But it is necessary if public education is going to succeed.  One of my reflective teachers recently said, “I want to work next year with you as a team to help build community in the class.  I can’t rely on the students to comply simply because I am the adult in the room.  Kids are different now.”  I agreed.  Students are powerful, independent, sometimes have a sense of entitlement, and are very savvy.  They will teach us about technology as we go. We can model ethical and safe use of technology.  If we can let go a little of the need to control students, and coach them as all people want to be coached, with kindness, encouragement and helpful feedback, we will deserve their respect and appreciation.

To return to class configuration, for any parents reading this, we base our student-placement decisions as much as we can on exactly what I think you’d want us to:  each child’s social, emotional and academic needs.  We thank you for your trust.

Curriculum Changes

As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course…

Wikipedia

My Oxford English Dictionary defines curriculum as “the subjects that are studied or prescribed for study in a school.”  But somehow the race course seems like a more appropriate description.  Our current BC Curricula are so jam-packed with prescribed learning outcomes, that it requires a Herculean effort to teach to them all in one school year.  Many teachers fear that if they do not cover the length and breadth of the curriculum that they will be both letting down the students and next year’s teacher.  This statement is often overheard: “I do not have time for _________ as I have too much curriculum to cover.”

Sadly, what students remember most about school are not such curricular minutia as “explain the properties of 0 and 1 for multiplication, and the property of 1 for division” or “describe key characteristics of the justice system in Canada.”  They remember experiences, relationships and the opportunities they had to solve problems, be critical thinkers, be creative and playful and active.

            Last week, some colleagues and I attended an afternoon session with some folks from the Ministry of Education, to hear about some changes that are in the works!  We know that deep learning requires more time and “space” than rote memorization and regurgitation of facts.  The changes to the curriculum are going to include reducing the size, creating space to allow creative uses, focusing on competencies, concepts, and big ideas and organizing the learning around standards, which are key skills.  Each curriculum will weave these five competencies throughout:  Communication, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking and Innovation, Personal Responsibility and Social Responsibility.

            So what will that look like in plain English?  We were shown a sample of a grade seven science curriculum.  It fit on one page.  There were four big ideas about Scientific Inquiry, Life Science, Physical Science and Earth Science.  Below each big idea statement were three learning standards, such as a student being able to collect evidence, design and carry out experiments, and make some evidence-based conclusions.  Of course, the web-based curriculum will have links to resources, ideas for cross-curricular integration, and so on, but the One Page Overview was clean, concise, and very teacher-student-parent friendly.

            I am confident that this brave, new approach will bring our teaching and learning into the 21^st century and will prepare our children well for the future.  Hopefully, our children will be the innovators who use their thinking skills to reverse global warming, solve the pine beetle problem, put an end to poverty and homelessness, and celebrate world peace!