184 Days of Learning

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Over the past couple of weeks in class, we have been talking about the idea of contentment and how it seems so hard to be content because of all of the things that surround us. I have been reading a book called, “Life Without Limits” by Nick Vijicic. I think he is a really good example of contentment because unlike most people, he was born without limbs. Even though he was made fun of at school, he kept trying and working towards his goals; he never gave up. He now travels around the world in an attempt to inspire people to never get up. He has done things that people thought were not possible for him to do. So when we talk about contentment in class, I really think about how people feel so discontent with the things in their lives. This seems odd because just look at Nick, he has no limbs but he has learned to be content with what he does have and that is why he has no limits.

Another example of looking at the idea of contentment that I think is a really good one is people who live in third world countries. These people have such poor living conditions and sometimes not enough food to feed their family. They are content though; they never want more, they just want enough to get by. Seeing and hearing about people like this and that they are content, I wonder if I could ever be content? I have an iPod and I love it, I can do almost anything on it. When I ask myself about what really matters in life, I realize that being content is being ok with what you already have. These are just some of the reasons why I’m working on being content and grateful for what I have instead of always wanting more.

Emma is a creative and thoughtful student who sets high limits for herself. She strives to reach outside the box and learn more about the things she is unfamiliar with. She loves drawing and music and creating new things.

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As the year draws closer to the end, I am left to reflect upon the fact that my first year of teaching is coming to a close. Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in what I feel will be the experience that defines my first year as a teacher. I joined a group of 26 students, half of which joined from my school (Broxton) and the other half from Meridian Heights, on a trip across the country to Russell, ON through a program called SEVEC.

This trip helped me gain a new understanding of time management, as it took a lot of work to prepare beforehand. I also learned a lot about district procedures, school policies, preparing forms and letters, etc. Most importantly, I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a professional. It takes a great amount of energy and dedication to embark upon such a trip, but as much work as it can be, it is worth it. I have a new bond with the students in my class who participated, I have even more respect for the colleagues I work with (who knew that could even be possible) and I have a new appreciation for my former teachers, not having known the amount of work they all put in over the years to make the most of this wonderful profession. Now more than ever, I rest assured that getting in to teaching was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I look forward to my future with Parkland School Division!

Jamie is a first year teacher, teaching a grade 8/9 split class in French Immersion at École Broxton Park School. I graduated from the Campus Saint Jean (U of A) just last April. I grew up in the Edmonton area, and had not spent much time out in the Spruce Grove area. Given the amount of success and support I have had at Broxton Park, and in the Parkland School Division, I plan to move out here and cannot wait to continue my career here. 

And the Little One Said….

Sometimes the best teachers come in the smallest packages. A young kindergarten student, who is a future blogger to be sure, gave me some of the best wisdom I have heard in the last decade or two. Several young girls from his kindergarten class were visibly upset that another girl was able to stay in at recess. They did not realize of course that she was staying in to do extra work and in the world of kindergarten that probably is irrelevant anyway. They said very loudly that this wasn’t at all fair. Enter Eli, the five year old philosopher, who with arm extended in a calming manner said, and I quote, “Ladies, ladies, life is not fair, get over it.” A fellow kindergarten scholar beside him then added, “And don’t worry, when we get to Heaven, everything’s fair!”

Eli is a wise man. Our need for everything to be “fair” is really not in tune with how our world operates. While laws are enacted and policies written to “level playing fields,” “balance budgets” and “right-size organizations,” maybe we are missing the point. The people of Finland have resolved that culturally an education is so important they do not put an economic value to it. They just fund it because it is fundamental to the success of their society. In our “bang for the buck” Alberta, I think we need more people like Eli who understand somethings are so important they transcend fair, level, or balanced.

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Hi my name is Macey Andersen I am a grade three student at Graminia School. Both of the grade three classes have just finished our grade three bake sale where we had a lot of different treats like cupcakes, cookies, banana bread, and cake.

You are asking yourself why? Well, both classes just set up a bake sale to raise money for schools in Peru. Why Peru? Why not Mexico or Belgium? As part of grade three social we are studying Peru and we have learned that the students in Peru do not have a lot of school supplies. So we decided to help by using our money from the bake sale which was over 400$ and the money from our recycling to send out teachers out and buy supplies for us to send to the poor students.

We are going to buy pencil cases to put in these things, pencils, crayons, erasers, notepads, and a few toys. We are also going to buy some sports balls to send them. We are going to pack the supplies ourselves which is going to be very fun. We are doing our best to make the students in Peru happy!

Macey is a very enthusiastic student who demonstrates a great understanding of the world we live in.  She loves spending time with her family and friends and of course her cats!

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Today I learned about the power of a story and what a group of students can accomplish. Spruce Grove Composite hosted our 3rd annual Bike-A-Thon today to raise money for the Canadian Cancer society.

The opening ceremonies included a speech from Dr. Dave Pysyk, who has been personally affected by cancer for the past 2+ years. His story captured the attention of all participants as he described his battle with cancer and the side effects that he continues to overcome on a daily basis. His ability to hold an audience is as strong as ever, and his journey is nothing short of remarkable. The group of students and staff at SGCHS are biking on teams of 10 riders for twelve consecutive hours to raise $25,000 for cancer research and prevention. The success of the event has been based on one of our teachers, Cheryl Jereniuk taking it on and growing the event every year.

The power of Dr. Pysyk’s story and his connection to our school, combined with a group of students with the energy and creativity they bring to the event makes it one of my favorite days of the school year. It is a tremendous reminder of what can be accomplished when our students buy in and commit to making a positive difference in their community.

Dave is a teacher at Spruce Grove Composite High School.

After attending a workshop of using ipads in the classroom, I was inspired to find an exciting way to use QR (quick response) codes at Millgrove School. With the support of Mrs. Barker and her Grade 3 students, a plan was set into action. With the writing traits in the back of their minds, students not only wrote narrative stories about animals, but once completed, they self-assessed their writing with the aid of a 5 scale rubric. Following this was the peer assessment and then the final teacher assessment. All comments and marks were recorded to improve upon for the next writing assignment.

Once the stories were typed, a QR code was created for each student. A bulletin board was developed and the lead sentences of each students’ story were on the board, along with a sign that read…*If you would like to read the remainder of this writing piece, pull out your iphone or ipad and use your QR scanner to scan the code below. Enjoy!*

Students and parents are now scanning stories and the excitement of using technology within a writing assignment is alive! So if you are interested in motivating your students, add a QR code! Below is a QR code so go ahead, scan it and see what happens!

Ali Verhey is a teacher at Millgrove School. 

I love being an Assistant Principal and all that entails, but my favourite part of the job is my time with students.  I learn so much from them.

One unique way that I have enjoyed connecting with students this year is through their love of art.  Fortunately, our School Council was able to fundraise and purchase a ceramics kiln for our school this year.  In my opinion, there is no better way to produce creative sculptural pieces than through the medium of clay.  I have been lucky enough to be able to team-teach in the classrooms to get these projects going.

Children love the feel of clay.  They describe it as “playing with fudge”, they love to muck it around, they love to make texture marks, and they love to turn an idea into something three-dimensional.  It really is the process, not the product here that is important.  I’ve never met a child that didn’t enjoy their “clay day”.

Encouraging originality is also important.  In any art class, we don’t want the final product to be “cookie cutter” similar; too often molds, templates, and step-by-step crafts stifle creativity.  Let them get dirty!  Let them make it their own.  I am always truly amazed with what children come up with when allowed to explore.

Our goal at Forest Green is to have the children experiment in clay, creating Greek pottery in Grade 6, Asian elephants in Grade 3, First Nations masks in Grade 5, family plaques in Kindergarten, and so on.  Each year, we hope to see their confidence grow where they might begin to move beyond these class projects to imagine, plan, and create original pieces according to their own goals.  The visual arts are just another way to develop important 21st century skills such as innovation, creativity, perseverance, and problem solving.  We are so proud of our little artists!

Cheryl Johnson is the Assistant Principal at Forest Green and Connections for Learning.  She is a lifelong learner, loves her students, and sharing her passion for art!

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When I started my career as a teacher I knew very well what my life would be like. As a child, I experienced: dollar store hunting, going to work at least one hour before the bell rang and leaving two hours after my friends had been dismissed. I am the daughter of a teacher! My mom is a Kindergarten teacher in southern Alberta and has always represented all that I thought a model teacher should be. She has creative ideas, engaging lessons, and most of all she is always learning!

Last week I was lucky enough to have my mom visit me for a few days over her spring break. I was yet again inspired by just how amazing of an educator she really is.

On the first day, she visited a kindergarten class to help out and look for ideas that she could use in her class. The second day she came to my classroom to help my grade four and fives with print making. In the afternoon, she worked with a few students at a time taking on crystal creation experiments. Our evenings were spent: buying an ipad for her classroom, looking into apps that she can use with her five years olds, and introducing her to twitter.

This visit reinforced what I already knew – great teachers never stop learning. My mom is near the end of her career and is eligible to retire this year. I was inspired watching her learn and brainstorm ideas for retirement projects. Her passion learning and helping kids and teachers hasn’t changed in all these years. I only hope that I too am that engaged in my learning when I reach the end of my career!

Corre is a lifelong learner and loves teaching her amazing students at Forest Green School.

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In my opinion, watching students make discoveries in the classroom is one of the most rewarding experiences of teaching. Over the past few months I have made a discovery of my own, however, achieving personal goals with my students is even more rewarding.

Back in February I began training for the Vancouver Sun Run along with my colleague, Megan Rankin, and twelve of our brave junior high students. Most of our group, including myself, had never actually run a 10km race. In fact, some of our group had not run more than what was required in Phys Ed or track and field. Experienced or not, we all had a common goal of achieving our best in the race.

We were not alone as Woodhaven, Blueberry, Seba Beach, Wabamun, Tomahawk, Greystone and Entwistle joined us, filling two coach buses as the “Parkland Sun Runners”. Our entire adventure was a huge success. Besides running in the 10km race, another element of the trip was to explore the amazing city. We shopped on Robson Street and at Granville Island. Stanley Park was a major highlight where we visited the Vancouver Aquarium and rode vintage style bikes along the seawall, taking in the spectacular views. The wide smiles on our students’ faces said it all. They were exceptional representatives of our district.

On the morning of the race we lined up with close to 40 000 other runners, live music playing in the streets, people cheering and a booming rendition of O’ Canada. Then the horn sounded and we were off! When the race was over there were high fives all around and expressions of accomplishment on the faces of our Parkland Sun Runners. As our racers finished, I realized that we had finally reached the goal we had been working so hard to achieve over the past three months, and we had done it together. I could not have been more proud of our students for pushing themselves to do their best. Sign me up for next year.

Landon is a Grade 7 teacher at Stony Plain Central and has a new passion for running.

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I learned a very important lesson from a short person the other day.

At ten years old, this kid has had more life experience than most. He has learned how to communicate with people who don’t communicate using words. He has learned to show compassion to all the people who he comes into contact with on an average day. And he knows that everyone deserves a break now and then.

There I was, complaining about a recent bad experience I had in a store with a salesperson. I was talking about how they weren’t very helpful and were pretty condescending to me while I was trying to get something done with a two year old. “What a rude person and he should have treated me better,” was the gist of what I was saying to his mom. He walked by, then turned to me and said, “Maybe the guy was having a really bad day. Sounds like you were.” He then walked away.

Maybe he was…I know I was.

How did this kid have the compassion and wisdom to see something I couldn’t? He had great teachers! He grew up with a brother who is a little bit different. His brother has Down’s Syndrome and is non-verbal. He learned patience from his experiences with his brother. His mom raised him to understand that we should have high expectations of the people around us, as well as a tremendous patience for the times they don’t quite live up to those expectations. Two great teachers and a willing student made him a smart boy. Learning can occur anywhere! It happened for me at the park with a ten year old boy!

Melissa, grade 4 to 7 teacher with CFL, currently on leave with her newest little boy!