Silence is golden! But unfortunately, in today’s society it is becoming a lost practice. We have become so plugged in and so activity-based that the gift of silence is neither appreciated nor valued. While I love my apps, listening to my country music and the busyness of my life, I would be lost without some …
Category: Educational Updates
Apr 03
Autism Awareness Day 2012
Yesterday I headed out to our elementary school in Taber, St. Patrick, and visited our pre-kindergarten program, “Playful Spirits.” I was invited by our Pre-K leader, Mrs. Lastuka, to participate in her room’s celebration of Austism Awareness Day. I knew I was in for a treat when I was told to wear blue and be prepared …
Mar 27
Words we should never hear in school!
Schools should always try to be safe havens for all students. Even with all the bully-proofing programs offered and the multitude of strategies that school employ, we will never create that panacea. But I believe as educators, we can do something relatively simple that will assist in ensuring that all students, regardless of background, religion, color, creed, …
Mar 25
Why Blog?
I would certainly say, that I began the process of blogging as another communication technique for our division. Last year, I produced a monthly e-mail message entitled, “From the Desk of the Superintendent” for our staff and school councils. The purpose of this mass e-mail was to inform our community about actions taken at the monthly …
Mar 18
Purpose, Mastery and Autonomy
Educational reform is hard. If it was easy, we’d already have arrived where inclusive education was the norm and no achievement gap existed. But although we are on that journey, we have yet to arrive, in part because educational reform requires change and change is simply…hard! Complicating the issue is that the system, especially in …
Mar 11
Tortoise vs. Hare
This past week I led one of the worst meetings I’ve had in my career in senior administration. It wasn’t contentious and nobody’s temper blew but it left me and I’m sure the other twenty of my administrative colleagues wondering why we came together. The meeting was a joint meeting of our budget, curriculum and inclusive education …
Mar 04
The Power of Introverts
This afternoon I listened to Susan Cain speak on “The power of introverts.” Like any TED talk I’ve listened to before, the message was thought provoking and caused me to ponder on what we are trying to do in education today. I’m a great advocate for ensuring that the competencies of the 21st century are well established …
Feb 26
Provincial Achievement Tests
In the Province of Alberta, students in grades 3, 6, and 9 write Provincial Achievement Tests (PAT’s) on a yearly basis. Grade 3 students write tests in only Language Arts and Mathematics, while students in grades 6 and 9 complete the previous two plus Science and Social Studies. These tests were initially instituted as a …
Feb 17
Being instead of doing!
I’m a subscriber to the Leadership Freak. I love the insights I receive about leadership in under 300 words. The blog causes me to reflect on my own practice as a leader in a school division- sometimes I’m reaffirmed for what I’m doing and other times… However, some of the posts really push me hard in my thinking …
Feb 12
Preparing tomorrow’s teachers!
On Friday, I had the pleasure of presenting to members of the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge on the transformation agenda. I began my presentation with a quote that I took from a tweet by Dave Martin (@d_martin05) “If we teach today, the way we were taught yesterday no one will ever …