I just read the report on Innovation from the Conference Board of Canada which ranks Alberta as 15th overall. Given that Alberta is one of the top educational jurisdictions in the world, the stat is a little disconcerting. Innovation is defined by The Conference Board, “As a process through which economic or social value is …
Category: Educational Updates
Sep 11
Moving forward with Student Learning Assessments
Last week, Holy Spirit decided to participate in the Student Learning Assessment pilot. The choice of all or none implementation was certainly not preferred but in discussing with many of our administrators and grade 3 teachers who participated last year, ALL was better than NONE! Enclosed is the message sent to all of our grade …
Sep 06
National Principals Leadership Institute- Designing Schools for the Future
This past summer, I was invited as a member of C21 Canada to attend the National Principals Leadership Institute in New York. The invitation provided for a presentation on the work of C21 Canada as well as an opportunity to serve as a leadership consultant to school and system leaders from across North America. The …
Jul 12
Leadership is not about pleasing everyone!
Last week, I received a scathing comment to my blog Giving up control. While I didn’t agree with the comment, I allowed it to be published and thanked the individual for his opinion. Earlier in my leadership, I may have engaged in an argument with the individual trying to convince him that I was right …
Jun 03
Leadership Counts
The following article was provided to the Lethbridge Herald and published on June 03, 2015. Last week, one of my esteemed superintendent colleagues wrote about the importance of teacher quality on student learning. The research on this is very clear and so divisions invest heavily in providing opportunities for teachers to engage in high quality …
Jun 02
From the Desk of the Superintendent- June 2015
June has arrived! Nine months of incredible work has led us to this point. Exams are forthcoming, field trips are in full swing and summer vacation is right around the corner! But before we talk about June though, let’s talk about the history that took place in Alberta in May. Can you believe that after 44 …
May 17
Giving up control
Traditional methods of teaching have long been successful. They are known by parents who “succeeded” in classrooms of this type, they are comfortable for many teachers and some students thrive on this type of instruction. It should come as no surprise then, when there is resistance! It is difficult to argue with a teacher, parent or student who …
May 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- May 2015
Less than two months to final exams, year-end field trips, closing masses and to saying goodbye to our classes of 2015. For some reason, maybe it is just my age, each year seems to pass more quickly than the previous one. The next two months will see all of us hurdling with break neck speed …
Apr 23
Getting your Thoughts
The following article was written for the Lethbridge Herald and published on April 22, 2015. In the past, schools and school divisions have typically been very good at communicating to parents, students and the general community. This communication, by and large, includes simple information that stakeholders need to know. Events like parent teacher interviews or other special …
Mar 29
Lenten Message- Holy Week
I remember taking my mother to the movie The Passion of the Christ when it first came out. It was a movie she wanted to see and so we went. As a cradle Catholic, I’ve heard the passion story for as long as I can remember, but when I saw this version play on the big screen, …