Whenever I need to regroup and reorganize or reenergize, I make my way to the PLACE and MAP classrooms at Memorial. In these programs, we have some of the most amazing young people in our building. Many of these students face daily challenges that we can only imagine, and yet they are so welcoming, so trusting and one of the best things in my day.
Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to wrap my brain around inclusive education and what it really means to me. As a Special Needs Coordinator I truly believe that inclusion is about doing what is right for each individual student, finding the best opportunities for all. As a classroom teacher, I believe that an inclusive environment means encouraging a student to be the best they can, while remembering that fair isn’t always equal. As a part of MCHS, I believe that students and staff do not need a definition of inclusion written out for them, it’s just the way we do things.
A few weeks ago MCHS Student Leadership held one of their first dances in quite a few years. PLACE staff members offered to stay after school to escort a few of our students to the dance. Cosmetology students offered to do hair and nails, the students had dinner together, and planned to dance the night away. We were having a great time before we even got to the dance.
I was so proud of all our students that night. The PLACE students hardly sat down. They danced their feet off, having the time of their lives. Throughout the evening they were surrounded by their peers, asked to join in dance circles, and were welcomed completely. Many new friendships were forged.
One of the greatest things about working with Special Needs students is being able to witness the wonderful effect that these amazing young people can have on the lives of their peers and those around them.
At Memorial, inclusion happens. It isn’t an ideal that we are moving towards, it is the life that we lead. There is a place for everyone here, which is truly a great thing.
Marsie is currently the Special Needs Coordinator at MCHS. I am also lucky to teach some math and spend time with students through Leadership and Rugby. Looking forward to working with students and staff as a Learning coach with PSD.
If you were to ask my class about pysanky, they would excitedly tell you about the day when they made their own pysanky using traditional Ukrainian tools. These decorated eggs were the focus of our classroom for an entire day. After a short teacher-led demonstration of how to put the wax into the kistka, melt the wax with a candle, draw with wax on the egg and choose the progression of dyes, the students took over. It did not take long for students to discover that making pysanky was not as easy as they thought it would be; instead of becoming upset, students saw the difficulty as a challenge that they could overcome. They revised their designs and continued to experiment with their technique.
Students knew that they had the entire day to create three pysanky and I was impressed by how they were able to focus on their art for such an extended period of time. While many students were finished after working for about three hours, there were a number of students who worked for up to 4 ½ hours to create their intricate designs. Parent volunteers gave us the gift of their time, some for part of the day and some for the whole day. Without their assistance, the day would not have been possible.
So what did students learn this day? They learned respect for an artistic tradition of another culture and that they are dedicated artists. They learned that plans can change, mistakes can happen, eggs can break, and the world will go on.
Donna Ainslie-O’Connor is a grade 3 teacher at Brookwood School. She loves giving her students a challenge and then watching them discover how creative and capable they are.
As we near the end of a three year AISI project focused on infusing the critical thinking process into best practices, I continue to be inspired and excited by the learning that has taken place with our teachers and students. What at first seemed daunting and overwhelming has become embedded in the work we do with students.
Our students embrace critical challenges and view them as opportunities to become personally involved in tasks that require judgment. The students have come to appreciate the value of building criteria to focus their learning. They enjoy the brainstorming and placemat activities around the process and have garnered a good understanding of the difference between qualitative criteria and requirements. The students also enjoy the process of embedding qualities when developing qualitative criteria as many spirited discussions, conversations, and debates are the norm. Words such as evidence, conclusion, accurate, relevant, inference, and evaluate have become part of the students working vocabulary. With practice, they have also become more conscious of the variety of thinking strategies available for their use and are able to refer to the critical challenge to guide their choice. The students have become comfortable with four different habits of mind and have been observed using the language when working collaboratively.
The critical thinking tools have become the framework that the students adhere to as they are moving through a critical challenge and a knowledge of the six prompts has given them a stronger understanding of each critical challenge. By building communities of learners, we are able to create rich learning environments for our students to expand their thinking.
Ingrid Phare is a grade four teacher at Brookwood School in Spruce Grove. She has been a lead teacher for the Critical Thinking AISI project.
Our class was recently asked to individually write a speech of our choice. Well, speeches are not my forte. It took me many days to decide on a good topic to write about and once I decided on a topic to write about it took me many more days to complete it.
I chose motivation as my speech topic. I decided to choose motivation because motivation can come from anywhere or anyone at any time in your life. Whether you’re motivated to get off the couch to get a drink of water or if you’re motivated to make a decision like running a marathon. I came to understand that motivation comes from within.
Giving the speech was the next step I had to take. Giving a speech about motivation is not the easiest task. For one you need to stand up in front of an entire class and present a five-paragraph speech about something that people may not even find interesting. I kept reminding myself that “everyone else has to do it, it won’t be that bad!” It turned out not bad. No one fell asleep and everyone clapped after. My friends even said it was a good speech.
So next time I’m up against something hard I just have to remember that motivation is like the wind. Sometimes it’s strong and sweeps you off your feet and sometimes it feels non-existent but it is always there.
Kalyn is a grade 8 student at Stony Plain Central School. Her interests include horses and basketball.
The class has been involved with a program called Heroes. This class has taught me how to deal and interact with people easier. I like the Heroes program because it is teaching me on how to deal with my emotions. I also now know if my friends are Balcony Friends, Living room Friends or Basement Friends. Balcony Friends are those to look up to, Living room Friends are those who keep an even playing field without building you up or pulling you down and Basement Friends are those who pull you down.
Phil Houston is our Heroes Leader. I like Phil Houston a lot, he is very inspirational and he also he knows what you’re feeling most of the time. He is very understanding and really listens to what you have to say. I think it’s a great opportunity to have a class with Phil and it is an honor to have Phil be a part of our class. Phil is a Balcony Friend.
For the past couple weeks in Heroes, we have been talking about being content. Thanks to the Heroes program, I know that I can do anything I want to do. We have looked at a few examples about being happy with what you have, one example is Abraham Lincoln. I think Abraham Lincoln is a lot like me in some ways. He had so many failures in his life it’s not even funny but no matter what people said about him or how many Basement Friends he had, he didn’t give up. Abe Lincoln was a very determined person just like me, if he can make it, so can I. I hope to keep learning more about how to a hero. I also think all ages in school should have a chance to experience Heroes and to see that everyone has an opportunity for success in their lives.
Kalten is a student who looks at all things as an opportunity for learning. He questions things and searches for new understanding. His vibrant outlook makes him a role model among his peers. Kalten’s zest for life can often be seen when debating topics in class, competing in track and field events or when on the ice playing hockey.
Today I participated in the Chick-fil-A Leadercast that featured a wide array of visionary leaders. The event featured many great speakers and inspirational leaders, some of my favourites of the day being @AndyStanley, @AngelaAhrendts, @johncmaxwell, and @TimTebow. It was a great event full of amazing wisdom that left me inspired and motivated to continue to grow in my leadership capacity. After listening and tweeting #cfaleadercast leadership wisdom all day, I thought I would take a few moments to reflect upon and share some of my biggest take-away leadership principles of the day that spoke to me the most.
Great leaders are vulnerable. Intentional vulnerability by leaders creates an atmosphere of trust imperative for any great team. I choose to be transparent.
A leader is a dreamer with a plan. Innovation is the starting block and the implementation of the of the vision is the race. I choose to plan to dream.
People will live DOWN or UP to the expectations leaders set. Creating an atmosphere of high expectations in a culture of trust, fostered by mutual collaboration, with the freedom to take risks is essential to great achievement. This is true of students and staff. I choose to expect a lot of myself and others.
Managers manage everyone in the same way… leaders lead everyone differently. People are individuals. It is the mission of a leader to foster an environment for team members to flourish. Leading everyone the same will not motivate or inspire. I choose to seek to know the people around me as individuals.
The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda. Growth is not passive; it is intentional. My daily habits and choices will either lead me to where I want to go or take me father away. The greatest investment you will ever make is in yourself. I choose to be intentional about growing. Keep reading →
My name is Alana and I would like to begin my story here. When I was in grade 8, I went on an exchange to Levis, Québec and it impacted my life like you would never know. I learned about their culture, languages, architecture and most of all how to make friends with a complete stranger and then go live with them for 2 weeks. It was a very unusual, fascinating and exciting trip.
On the first day of the trip we started out by bus then 2 planes and then another bus, It was a very exhausting and long journey. When we finally arrived at the College de Levis (their school) we all dropped our jaws gasping. The school was this humongous, gorgeous and fascinating building that resembled Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from Harry Potter. Unlike our school, it practically took the whole entire day to tour it. It even had Olympic size swimming pool!
When I first saw my twin I was very startled, excited and so nervous my hands were shaking. This is because I was finally meeting my twin that I had only talked to over Facebook and that I was so far away from my family and home for the first time. My twin, Anne-Marie, looked somewhat like I pictured, this is because you can’t really tell through just a picture. She was a bit shorter than me though, and had long black hair, light brown freckles and wore her school uniform that consisted of a plaid skirt and a red top with matching black dress shoes. Not to mention she could fluently speak 3 languages. (French, English and Spanish) We spent the afternoon at the College de Levis having a welcome dinner and getting to know our twins. In the evening, Anne-Marie’s parents arrived and it was time for me to leave the familiarity of my friends and go home with this family to St.Marie to begin my adventure. Right from the start the family made me feel welcome and safe which was such a relief.
In the coming week we toured their school, the town of Levis, Quebec City, parliament, many churches, the Plains of Abraham, The Capital Observatory, Montréal, the Biodome and Olympic stadium, the Museum of Civilization, old Québec, Maison de la découverte,ste-Julie, Petit-Champlain, Citadelle de Québec, saw the Musical “Big Bazaar “, Notre Dame Basilica, Montmorency Falls and many other marvelous places. However, my favorite place of them all had to be Montréal because of the Biodome and Olympic Stadium and the candy stores. You could walk down the street and find this amazing candy store but then if you kept walking you could find an even bigger one! But the Amazing part of the candy store was all the different chocolates and candies that you can’t get in Alberta. I found a lollipop the size of my head!!!!! Every day was packed full of events so the only real time I got to spend time with Anne-Marie’s family was on the weekend. The weekend was the family’s decision on what to do and they decided that they would like show me their sugar shack, their mall and the town. All in all it was a very fun experience and during this time I had also started to bond with Anne-Marie and eventually became good friends with her.
By the time we had to leave everyone was heartbroken although we all knew we would see our twins once more. So we departed for the airport once again and then to Alberta. It was a very interesting ride back though. The aircraft crew found a dent in our plane so we had to sit in the plane for another 2 hours until it was fixed. This meant we had to all phone our parents and tell them to pick us up later. But the real fun began the next morning when we all had to get up for school!
After a week had passed it was time for our twins to come to Alberta. Anne-Marie had never taken a plane or seen the mountains so it was a very different but similar experience from mine I imagine. The day they arrived in Alberta we had planned a welcome dinner in the gym at our school, just like the one they prepared for us back in Quebec. At first Anne-Marie was a little shy, like I was, but gradually started to speak up. Our week was packed once again with more exciting events. We went to the Telus World of Space and Science, Fort Edmonton, West Edmonton Mall, Galaxy Land, West Edmonton Mall’s Water Park, the Town of Stony Plain, the City of Spruce Grove, Magic Lantern Theatres and of course Jasper. On the weekend my family decided that we would take Anne-Marie to Jasper early and meet up on Monday with everybody else. During this time we took a helicopter ride, saw the Columbia Ice Fields, Mount Robson in British Columbia, Over Lander Falls and many other fascinating places. When we were meeting up with our group on Monday we were waiting for our bus when we saw a bus up ahead. It was on Anne-Marie’s side of the truck so we asked her to see if it was ours. So she peered out her window and then turned towards us and said it wasn’t ours. So my mom said how do you know and Anne-Marie responded “because I saw a bald guy!” We all laughed and I know that I will never forget that day when Anne-Marie made me laugh so hard my eyes watered. I know it may not seem that funny but if you were there I know you would be laughing your head off.
So when we finally met up with our group on Monday we toured around Jasper, did some hikes such as Malign Canyon, went on Jaspers Tram and did some shopping around the town. It was funny watching all the Quebec students run from one side of the bus to the other, trying to get their cameras ready at the same time to take a picture of the elk and mountain goats . This is because we would just sit there paying no mind to these creatures but they thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. On our way back home I asked Anne-Marie what was favorite thing that happened so far and she said meeting you and of course West Edmonton Mall. We laughed and promised we would try to stay in touch. On the last day we went to say goodbye to our twins and it was probably going to be for the last time. It became a very emotional day and it made me, and I know many others, upset also. In my opinion, I thought that I was paired up with the best twin and that we had lots in common which made it even harder to say goodbye, because we became close. But in the end, I wouldn’t change this experience for anything else. In conclusion, what I learned from this trip is that you can become friends with a complete stranger if you just be yourself and find a common ground. I would also like to give thanks to all the teachers who participated in this exchange and made it possible for us to go on it and have so much fun. I am very glad to have been able to share this experience with you and I hope that you enjoyed it, if you get the opportunity to participate in a exchange, do it! I promise you you’ll never forget it.
Grade 8 students were to write a script and create a video recording of an interview with Caesar Flickerman and another character from The Hunger Games. This is Elizabeth and Damaris’ interview. Damaris is a student that joined our Language Arts 8 class last fall when she moved to Spruce Grove from Mexico. She spoke no English then – we’re so proud of her growth!
As teachers I think that we are often so focused on student learning that we often overlook all of the learning in our own lives that is taking place. I have challenged myself this year to take on new responsibilities within the school that I have thought about in the past but never pursued. I am now leading division meetings and I actually coached a basketball team!
Division meetings can be an interesting place where all kinds of opinions and suggestions are offered. I was a little worried about how the new role would affect my relationships with staff members but was pleasantly surprised to see that all was just fine. We even get a lot accomplished. A great deal of help was offered by those before me, thank goodness! My organizational skills have been put to the test but I’m sure many of you can relate to that one!
Coaching basketball was an interesting, steep uphill climb. Fortunately, I had a great co-coach who was just as willing to learn as I was. I had watched my own kids for years and tried desperately to remember all of the great drills and strategies that all of their coaches had used. We even managed to find a great course during convention. Our girls had a great time, learned a lot and even won a few games!
I challenge all of you to step out of your comfort zone and try those things that you have thought about doing for years. I am so glad that I finally did.
Donna Miners is a grade 5 teacher at Duffield School.
I have often wondered when my perfect lesson will be taught. I believe I have been close, inspiring my class, challenging the students, and having those ‘aha’ moments. However there always seems to be that inner voice saying to you ‘That was good but what could you have done better Mr. Wournell!’ I am certainly not a perfectionist but I find myself shooting to teach that perfect lesson. I remember when I was student and the lessons that inspired me and challenged me to think outside the box, the lessons that motivated me to dig deeper and the conversations with my aunts, who shared their joys of teaching.
I look at the students I am teaching today and watch their eyes light up when a project comes together and listen to the conversations they are having about solving a problem and helping each other. I listen to my colleagues who ideas inspire me to re-evaluate my teaching practices and how I could be better and attend conferences and PD sessions looking for one thing to bring back and use. However, that perfect lessons alludes me. Perhaps it is the drive to be better, to always challenge my students to be the best, and to look for the smile on their faces at the end of the day that keeps me raising the bar. I am probably my own worst enemy because I believe I have taught those ‘perfect’ lessons but at the end of the day I am always raising the bar to shoot for the next level of the perfect lesson. I will probably retire before I teach that lesson but raising the bar can only be beneficial to myself and my students.
Ken Wournell is a Grade 4 Teacher at Ecole Meridian Heights School.
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