Cross Country Running 2014

Coaching cross country is my favourite thing!  I am so proud of these runners!  They braved rain and mud and finished with smiles on their faces.  Way to go, everyone!

The Cross Country Team!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Teenage Brain

I recently read Brainstorm: An inside guide to the emerging adolescent mind, ages 12 - 24, by Daniel J. Siegel, MD.  He is also the author of The Whole-Brain Child and Parenting from the Inside Out.

One of the first things the author does is dispel four myths about the adolescent brain.  The first is that raging hormones make teenagers "go crazy" and lose their minds.  It is actually brain development that affects behavior.  The second myth is that adolescence is a time of immaturity, and that we are waiting for them to grow up.  The third myth is that growing up during adolescence requires moving from dependence on adults to total independence from them.  In fact, the attachments teenagers have with adults are still important, even as they desire more independence and may seem to value their friends more than family.

Seigel goes on to talk about four features of the adolescent brain's growth. 

1. Novelty seeking emerges from an increased drive for rewards in circuits of the adolescent brain that creates the inner motivation to try something new and feel life more fully.
2. Social engagement enhances peer connectedness and creates new friendships.
3. Increased emotional intensity gives an enhanced vitality to life.
4. Creative exploration with an expanded sense of consciousness.

Each of these aspects has an upside and a downside.  For example, when seeking novelty, an adolescent may partake in dangerous behavior.  At the same time, novelty-seeking can lead to a sense of adventure and "fascination for life." 

In between the chapters, Seigel offers "mindsight tools" for adolescents themselves,  These mindfullness exercises aim to help adolescents be more aware of their thinking, balance their minds, breath awareness, and reflection practice (good for "grown-ups," too). 

This book is not a super-easy read, but the "real life" anecdotes help ground the theory.  It helped me understand that one needs to have an open mind set about teenagers and young adults.  If one looks at this time of life as an exciting phase for activating creativity, courage and empathy, not a time to just "survive."

It is available at the Squamish Public Library.

Eagles Among Us

Our students have been learning about eagles this month. Meg Toom from Eagle Watch came and presented to students in our library. The we went out to the Eagle Viewing are in Brackendale. Lots of learning took place both in and out of the classrooms.

Carrots and Sticks

As you may have heard, our Sea to Sky Board of Education recently made the decision to move Squamish's Grade 7 students to Don Ross Secondary in September 2014. Our students are pretty excited about being able to join a Middle Years program and have access to hands on learning: wood work, metal work, sewing, cooking, computers, and so on, a year earlier than anticipated. We know that change is hard. We know there will be some growing pains among students, parents and teachers, too. There are still questions we do not have answers for, but hope that over the next six months, the district teams will create a solid plan for transition. One of the first questions I was asked after the decision was made was, "Will the Grade 6's get year end awards?" That got me thinking. In recent years, the teachers and I have been feeling uncomfortable about the Grade 7 awards. We wonder: What values do the awards (withing academia, citizenship, athletics and music) represent? What values are missing? What impact do awards have on the recipients? What impact do they have on the rest of the students? Leaving one school and moving on to another certainly requires some rite of passage. How can we create traditions that are genuine and inclusive? Here is a blog post by a principal in Alberta who spoke at a conference I attended last month. http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/1079 I especially liked his words about family. If we are trying to create a sense of family in our school, why would we praise and acknowledge only a few? I am a firm believer in the futility of using rewards and punishments to motivate people. Carrots and sticks, as we call them, might work for a very short time, but they do not bring about lasting change or growth. In fact, researchers tell us that rewards are actually demotivating over time. A basic need all children have is to be loved unconditionally. As Alfie Kohn says, "All children have a deep need for their parents' approval. That's why praise often "works" in the short term to get them to do what we want....Rather, the child comes to see her "whole self" as good only when she pleases the parent." (p. 40 Unconditional Parenting, 2005) As a staff, we have not made any decisions about year end awards, but we are beginning to think about it and would welcome input. More thoughts to come...

Adult Learning for Student Success

I'm spending this weekend at the Connecting Leaders Conference in Richmond.  I have enjoyed listening to several speakers so far, two of whom have focused on how to make human connections using technology.  What a concept.  Sometimes we think of technology as de-humanizing and isolating.  These speakers have told us countless stories about how Skype, blogging, tweeting, etc. can actually bring us closer, both with our neighbours and with the global community.

One story was about how an 80 year old grandmother, who immigrated from Greece decades ago but had never learned English, began to use email to write to her son, coached by her grandchild, practicing her English and learning to use an iPad all at the same time.

Another story was about a class of grade 5 students in Alberta, connecting via Skype with a class in New Jersey, just after Hurricane Sandy.  They were teaching each other about all kinds of things like extreme weather, emergency preparedness and response, even the difference between metric and Imperial measurement.

When I think back over the past five years at Squamish Elementary, I am struck by how we have evolved in our thinking about technology, including cel phones.  We used to see devices as a threat to teaching and learning.  We had students hide away their phones and feared the worst.  Now we are not so wary, more trusting. Sure, some misuse may still happen, but now we are trying to take advantage of these powerful devices: all of human knowledge in the palms of our hands.

Now we have the task of coaching children in digital citizenship, in critical thinking, so that they can navigate the internet with the ability to question and analyze what they read and see, and use technology with personal integrity.  School should be like a basecamp: the place where you prepare for great adventures, where you come back for coaching, where you are safe and nurtured, but also fully equipped with the tools for success.

Happy New Year!

Grade 1, 2, and 3 students at the building site, co-constructing!

Welcome back to school, everyone.  I hope you all had a wonderful summer.  I enjoyed my summer immensely.  I loved the sunshine.  I got out running in the trails almost every day, I read about thirty murder mysteries, I swam in the ocean and the lakes, I visited the Sunshine Coast, I hung out in Vancouver, I went to Bard on the Beach, and spent a lot of time with my son and daughter, my parents, and my new baby niece, Annabel Violet!  A highlight for me was running the Squamish 50 Miler in August:  15 hours and 41 minutes of pure running enjoyment!

But I missed your children!

Back-to-school time reminds me why I love this profession of teaching and learning.  It is the children's curiosity, their enthusiasm, the energy they have, and their acceptance of each other, quirks and all, that feeds my passion.  Now that I think of it, the above sentence describes the adults in the building, too!

The "New Year" also inspires us to set goals for the next ten months.  I try to set SMART goals:  specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely.  And I encourage students to set SMART goals, too.  Not like, "I want to get straight A's," but more like, "I want to learn all of my timestables by Christmas," or "I want to manage my time on my projects and finish them by the due dates."  So my goals for this year include:

• to learn all new students' names by Christmas
• to get into all classrooms and teach, and release teachers to collaborate
• to talk to my staff every month about how to make learning as engaging for all students as possible

And I'd like to have fun, while doing that!  Learning should be fun, not all the time, but most of the time!  Just like running a marathon:  it can be painful at times, but well worth the outcome and sense of accomplishment.

Have a great 2013 - 2014!

Turning the Page: 2012 - 2013

Jumping for joy on Sports Day



Go Blue Team




Climbing Burgers and Fries




Our new Hexamid/Spider Web/Climbing Thing!




Be the Change!



Rainy Day Reading Buddies

These are some of my favourite images from this school year. 

Our school is now at capacity as we have, over the past two years, integrated the District French Immersion Program.  It has been a pleasure to welcome many new families to our school commuity.  Growth and change can be painful sometimes.  In the past five years since I have been here as principal, our school has doubled in size.  We've faced new challenges such as:  How do we get 400+ students into the building in an orderly fashion each morning?  How can we help the French Immersion and English students coexist and develop some mutual appreciation?  How will we share computer lab and gym in a fair and equitable way?  How will Ms. Sorban teach all of those intermediate students to play band instruments and not lose her mind?

Luckily, we are a team at SQES!  People with energy, enthusiasm and optimism can always find a way to overcome obstacles together.  That includes teachers, support staff, parents and students, as well.  Thank you everyone for making 2012 - 2013 a memorable year!  Here's looking forward to September with the same positive, purposeful perspective!