Importance of Scaffolding

In a recent discussion with a friend, we talked about meeting the needs of our highly diverse students. We talked about the difficulties some people seem to have with understanding the need to scaffold work for students.

The discussion reminded me of when I was a student teacher way back when and my faculty associate, at the time, was commenting on one of my lessons she had just observed. If I recall correctly, it was my first practicum – in a Grade 1 classroom – in October or November. I had the students completing a writing activity about a book we had read. Some students were very successful with the activity, while others, well, not so much. The writing activity was pretty open-ended, but, in hindsight, may have been a tad overwhelming for some of the most struggling learners. During my post conference with my Faculty Associate, I recall her saying, in passing, that I needed to do more scaffolding for my students. OK, well, I was pretty young – probably only 21 or 22 at the time and, to be honest, I had no idea what she was talking about. It was not something my Sponsor Teacher and I had talked about and it was not something we had really talked about in our pre-service classes.

In time, I figured out what “scaffolding” meant and how to do scaffold for various learners. I wonder though, do all teachers know what “scaffolding” is? Do they understand the importance of scaffolding for our learners. It is through scaffolding that even our learners with the most challenges can actually succeed in an activity. The way a teacher scaffolds can be what “makes” or “breaks” the success of a child. Yeah, it’s THAT important.Continue reading “Importance of Scaffolding”

Connecting With Home

This post is inspired by Chris Kennedy – Superintendent of West Vancouver School District, and more importantly, proud father of 4. In September, Chris wrote a post on his blog, Culture of Yes, entitled Some of My Parenting Wishes For This Year. As I read this post in September, I felt myself continually nodding my head in agreement throughout the entire post. Chris’ thoughts on Homework, Communication, Busy Work, Grading, and they things that really matter, just brought tears to my eyes. These were things I wanted for my kids as well. These were things I knew were possible, but also things I knew that teachers held close to them and found difficult to change.

Like Chris mentioned, these are things that I also want for all students, not only my own.

In May, I was very fortunate to be able to attend the TEDx West Vancouver. One of the main reasons I wanted to attend was to hear Chris bring his blog post alive and do a talk about his Parenting Wishes for His Kids (and all kids). What a great opportunity! There were many other wonderful speakers as well!

If you’d like to see Chris’ talk from TEDx, please see the video below. This link will take you to his post about his experience and his slides he presented during his talk.

You see, these are the things I want for my kids. I want to be involved in my children’s education, but it is difficult when I work the exact same hours my students attend school. I’m sure Chris and I are not the only parents who feels this way. We really need to think about how we can allow our families to be meaningfully involved in their children’s education.

My daughter has been fortunate to have 3 wonderful, caring teachers. My son starts kindergarten this coming September. I just hope that some of those parenting wishes Chris mentioned will be really taken into consideration by all teachers this coming school year. Our kids and their families really do deserve these parenting wishes to be granted.

If you want some more summer inspiration, you might want to check out Chris’ blog for some more of the inspiring TEDx West Vancouver talks from May. They were all truly inspiring and invigorating!

What are your wishes for your child’s education?

How do you help ensure those wishes are granted?

Global Read Aloud

If you have not heard of the Global Read Aloud, well, you should look into it! This is a wonderful opportunity for students and teachers from around the world to come together to read, share, and discuss books!

There are four different titles being explored with the Global Read Aloud this year:

The Kindergarten students are going to be exploring various books by author Eric Carle.

The students in Grades 1-3 will be reading Marty McGuire by Kate Messner.

Those in Grades 4-7 are exploring the book Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.

High School students will be reading Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach.

I recently read Out of My Mind and I must say, I can’t wait to see what discussions and revelations will emerge as a result of so many people reading this wonderfully inspiring book.

Without giving much away, I just want to say that Out of this Mind is a book that everyone should read and discuss. The main character, 11-year-old Melody is an amazing girl who is confined to a wheel chair and unable to express herself how she’d like. She is unable to do many things that she wants to do, even though her mind understands everything. In fact, many would likely say that Melody is gifted in many ways. The story weaves through her struggles in school, with her teachers and her peers.

This book made me have a whole range of emotions throughout the book. At times I laughed out loud. There were moments I felt very angry. Other times, I was frozen in fear. Still other moments, I was overcome by tears. This book brings to light many unfortunate beliefs and feelings many may have (or had) about people who may have special needs. It is my hope that this book will help start important conversations that are essential in understanding ourselves and others in a much deeper way.

The Global Read Aloud looks like a great entry point for many who may be unsure of how to start connecting with others around the world.

I look forward to finding a way to become involved in the Global Read Aloud, even though I do not have a classroom of my own.

Next, I plan on reading Marty McGuire with my daughter. That sounds like it will be a fun read!

Are you planning on being involved in the Global Read Aloud this year?

Doesn’t this sound like an easy way to become involved with connecting with others around the world?

Your Authentic Self

In our work and personal lives, we are often bombarded with differing expectations and opinions. In our personal and professional lives, we are often pushed and pulled in many different directions – both physically and figuratively. We may have people wanting us to do things that we may not feel comfortable doing. We may be expected to do something that we do not see value in. We may be asked to do something in a particular manner, when we may feel there might be another, perhaps more effective/efficient way of doing it. It is a difficult balance, there’s no doubt about that!

What does one to do with all these conflicting interests, views, opinions, *shoulds*, *woulds*, and *coulds*?

It is imperative to really reflect on what we feel, what we want, and what will help us to stay true (or as true as possible) to our complete and authentic self.Continue reading “Your Authentic Self”

Podcasts Oh My

When I have time, I love listening to podcasts! I will often listen to them when I am driving somewhere alone (even on short trips – there are some great short podcasts), in the evening when I am making dinner, in the morning, or when I am exercising (need to do more of that). I find them to be interesting, inspiring, entertaining, and educational.

I was first introduced to them when I started on Twitter two years ago and connected with Jessica Johnson (@principalj on Twitter). She has some podcasts listed on her blog.

I am fairly new to listening to podcasts, but I’d still like to share some podcasts I like to listen to. I will also share some that I would like to explore further myself, but haven’t had the opportunity yet. You might even want to check out the podcasts that Jessica mentions on her blog above.

The first thing you need to do is download a podcast app for your mobile device (although, you can listen to them on your computer as well). I don’t listen to podcasts much on the computer, but I can see the benefits of doing so. Each podcast usually has Show Notes where they include different sites, apps or other recommendations they make during their podcast. These are definitely worth checking out!

Podcasts I enjoy listening toContinue reading “Podcasts Oh My”

End of Year Reflection

What a year this was.

As you may have noticed, if you read this blog, it was a very busy year – so busy, I barely had time to blog. This is unfortunate because I really find that blogging helps me reflect on my thinking, on the things that are happening around me, and it also helps me connect with others, which I really enjoy. Unfortunately, with getting less than 4-5 hours of sleep each night, I just couldn’t fit blogging in there as well.

So, why so busy?

The busy-ness made it challenging on so many levels. I wish I could determine what made this year busier than previous. It just was.

Maybe it was our school Success Blog that took a great deal of extra time. Maybe it was being involved with our Innovative Learning Design Team. Maybe it was being a part of the organizing group for our Digital Sandbox sessions for administrators in our district. Maybe it was the school website that took up more time than last year. Maybe it was taking time to try to figure out our new district Sharepoint program (and helping others with it). Maybe it was the Digital Playground sessions we had with our staff. Maybe it was my involvement in the SurreySchools Exemplar Project. Maybe it was my new role as a Learner Support Teacher (oh, that paperwork). Maybe it was the numerous events at school in the evenings or the amazing Engaging the Digital Learner Dinner Series. Maybe it was all the positions we prepared and interviewed for in Round 1 and Round 2. Maybe it was my participation in TEDxWestVancouver and ConnectEDCA (both of which we incredibly inspiring). The list could go on.

Well, whatever caused it. This year was a busy one! The thing is, I enjoyed all that I was involved with this year. In reflection, I am not so sure how I would change things so I wasn’t so crazy-busy.

I look forward to becoming more connected over the summer (and in the fall). I really miss those connections with others through Twitter, Facebook, and individual blogs. I miss learning with and from my wonderful PLN.

I look forward to catching up on some of the blogposts I’ve got in drafts or that I’ve wanted to write over the past few months.

I look forward to reading more and reflecting on what I have read here on my blog.

I look forward to becoming re-acquainted with my camera and taking more photos which I will share here and on my flickr account.

Stay tuned.

I’m back!

My Life and Legacy

We attended our final Digital Sandbox for Administrators session this past week. Our Deputy Superintendent, Jordan Tinney , led four blogging session for administrators this year, as part of our Digital Sandbox series for our administrators in our district. This was the final blogging session and was meant to celebrate all the wonderful learning and sharing happening around us and between us. To widen the influence, and to introduce the concept of blogging to others, all bloggers in our district were invited and then encouraged to bring a friend. We were to bring anyone who may be interested in blogging, interested in learning about others, or just interested in learning a bit about this new culture “out there”.

We had a George Couros (@gcouros), a friend of #sd36learn who visits our district regularly, come as a guest to help facilitate the blogging session. During the session, we were challenged to reflect upon and share our answers to a number of questions. You can see these questions and a storify on each of the answers here on fellow passionate educator Joe Tong’s blog. (@teacherTong).

Our final challenge was to answer the following questions:

Why did you become an educator?

What do you want your legacy to be?Continue reading “My Life and Legacy”

It’s Not About Breakfast

We have a Breakfast Club at our school which is open each morning from 7:30-8:25, when the morning school bell rings. In all honesty, it actually usually runs past this time because kids are not often turned away when they come in late and we know they’ve not had breakfast.

Last week, we had the Breakfast Clubs of Canada bring in a group of individuals who wanted to learn more about our Breakfast Club and how it impacts students and student learning. There are the usual answers, of course (you can find some of those answers here and here). Yes, the students are more able to sit and concentrate when they have food in their bellies. Yes, they are more likely to be more cooperative (and less cranky) when they are not hungry. Yes, they are more able to think more clearly. Yes, they are more likely to have fewer behavioural challenges. All of these things lead to better student achievement and more overall learning. But, Breakfast Club is so much more than about the food and the benefits of eating breakfast. It is more than filling those bellies which makes our Breakfast Club (and others) an essential component to these kids days (and future, I would like to suggest).Continue reading “It’s Not About Breakfast”

Student Achievement to Me

I was asked recently to share my thoughts on what student achievement meant to me and how an elementary principal contributes to student achievement. What interesting and powerful questions. These questions are both huge and could be the topic of a thesis! I had about 10 minutes to present my thoughts.

So, I thought I would share my thoughts here.

The position of elementary principal can be a powerful one – both positive or negative. A principal really shapes the culture of learning in a school. Go into any school that is thriving and full of excitement around learning, and I believe you will find a principal with that same enthusiasm and excitement. Likewise can be said for the opposite school as well. Being a principal is a very important role and must been seen as such and not taken on lightly.

Here is my powerpoint (and, as funny as it might seem, this is the first powerpoint I have ever created! – Although, I did create my first Keynote presentation on my iPad here):Continue reading “Student Achievement to Me”

How I Share

I’ve written about the importance of sharing here, here, here and here, so I thought I would blog about some of the different ways I share with others. I am hoping that if I share some of the ways I share with others, that perhaps that might inspire others who are, perhaps, a bit more reluctant to share, to share.

It is important to mention that while I enjoy sharing what I am doing and what I am learning, I enjoy the reciprocal nature of the sharing. I learn a considerable amount more, from others sharing their stories than people receive from my sharing.

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Sharing Face-to-Face

There are so many opportunities to share each and every day. I do so in a number of ways, both formally and, more importantly and perhaps more effectively, informally.

Study Groups – I have the honour of being involved in two different Study Groups of Administrators. We share the wonderful things going on in our schools, our challenges, and our successes. We also share any new learnings we have. In addition, we often have a book or some other focus for our group sessions that helps to guide our discussions.

Digital Coach for Administrators – During the past two years, I have been fortunate to be one of our Digital Coaches within our district who has tried to help our fellow administrators through the challenges of technology and constant change. I learn just as much from them as they learn from me, of that I am certain.Continue reading “How I Share”