There are times in our careers that we use the term professional judgment as a license to do whatever we believe is right! We’ve earned our degree! We’ve “practiced” our skills! We’ve been inducted into the profession! The very definition of a professional supports our “right” to trump any disagreement of practice. Quite honestly, a rigorous pre-service …
Category: Educational Updates
Jan 13
Early Learning: A great way to start!
In June 2011, Alberta Health and Wellness and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health released a document entitled, “Let’s Talk About the Early Years.” This major report highlighted the importance of early childhood development on life-long health, well-being, learning and behaviour. It is a powerful reminder of the need to focus on …
Dec 31
Not another New Year’s resolution
You can probably tell from the title that I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. It really doesn’t make sense to me to wait until the beginning of a new year to change some aspect of your life. Why is January 1st so important? Didn’t we want to have a healthier lifestyle, lose weight, …
Dec 09
Learning and Innovation
I need days like today! The busyness of the work week is replaced by the quietness in my office. Days like today are filled with reviewing my Twitter, reading articles and watching video clips…and of course responding to never ending e-mails. But most important, days like today allow me to reflect on what I do as …
Nov 25
Perspective!
Yesterday, I hit the gym as I’ve already put some pre-Christmas weight on and was feeling a little disappointed in myself. While riding a stationary bike, I noticed a young mother pull into the parking lot, get out of her car, into her wheelchair and then unload two small children. Perspective! Often my exercise regime …
Nov 21
Maintaining the status quo is falling behind!
Alberta continues to be recognized as one of the best educational systems in the English speaking world. Parental choice, high-quality teaching, centralized curriculum and significant government funding are examples of the many reasons for this recognition. Given that, it may be surprising to many of our public that Alberta Education and local divisions continue to …
Nov 11
Building a strong school community
There is an old saying, “It takes a community to raise a child” but what happens when the community in unable to do so? Unfortunately, I think many of our communities regardless of their location either cannot or worse choose not to be part of raising our children. Therefore, it is critical that we develop strong …
Nov 04
Playing at the outer boundaries!
A couple of weeks ago, Holy Spirit Catholic Schools hosted our annual division-wide professional development day that showcased many of our own teachers leading sessions and also included an open spaces concept. This year I offered both a morning and afternoon session entitled, “A Conversation with the Superintendent- Let’s talk about transformation!” It was an opportunity to share my …
Oct 21
Learner Engagement
When I first began my career in education, great teaching was often defined by a classroom where students sat quietly in rows. There was such an emphasis placed on classroom management as an effective teaching tool. And while I believe that classroom management is required for excellent teaching to occur, students sitting quietly in rows …
Oct 14
Inclusion is about an attitude!
This past week my learning was further enhanced through two powerful events held in our school division. The first event was our Division-wide Professional Development Day. Dr. Julie Causton-Theoharis an Assistant Professor at the School of Education at Syracuse University provided our opening keynote and held an additional two sessions highlighting inclusive education. Her stories and …