Mar 08

Lenten Reflection- Who I am

During our summer meetings, senior administration reviewed the book Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads by Chris Lowney. Because of the richness of the book, we decided to go deeper in our review and engage in a monthly discussion, chapter by chapter. I have a good understanding of this book since I presented on it at our Division PD Day and will be presenting on this same theme at the uLead Conference next week. But each time I re-read a section, there is always something new that strikes a chord and causes me to further reflect.

One of the quotes in the book is from Nelson Mandela:

“My greatest enemy was not those who put or kept me in prison. It was myself. I was afraid to be who I am.”

Not until the discussion around the SALT table did this quote finally impact me…being afraid to be who I am! Most people see me as very passionate about what I do but all in all, pretty mellow. I don’t appear to get overly excited when things go wrong and am often able to roll with the punches, although sadly, both our children experienced an often different side when they were growing up. Even my wife doesn’t fully understand how I deal with some of the things I deal with.

I’ve learned that with age comes experience, with experience comes wisdom and with wisdom comes patience, but I also know that my junior hockey mentality and fiery temper lies just beneath my skin. My “lizard brain” as Father Tim Boyle explained years ago to our administrators, the fight or flight mentality is always present. It is who I am and it is who we all are!

Our human nature makes it so easy for us to judge, to condemn or to treat others as they deserve, rather than how God wishes them to be treated. We can easily make excuses for our own transgressions but offer no latitude for the mistakes of others. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples:

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Luke 6:36-38

It is ironic (or well planned) that our Spiritual Development Day falls during the season of Lent, a time when we are called to deeper reflection and prayer. We gather tomorrow continuing with our faith theme of Walking Together.  And in order to walk together, with all of us at the same table, we must recognize who we are and move toward who God has chosen us to be. It is not without struggle but as faith filled people we acknowledge that with God all things are possible!

Have a blessed third week of Lent!

Mar 01

Lenten Reflection- Sacrifice

We begin the 2nd Sunday of Lent with a reading from the Book of Genesis, where Abraham is ready to sacrifice his only son Issac, the one he loved, as an offering to God. Being a father I cannot imagine offering any of my children up in this way as an offering. Yet God, for the sake of all of us, gave this ultimate sacrifice, his only son Jesus. God’s desire for Abraham to offer his son is not to be taken literally, but rather it symbolizes a need to sacrifice those pleasures in life that take us farther away from God.

When sacrifice is viewed in those terms, it provides a little more zeal to the three pillars of Lent, namely prayer, fasting and almsgiving. What we are being asked in this second week of Lent is whether or not these three pillars have been superficially followed or have we really dug deep into our faith and sacrificed. In other words, has our journey taken us from being compliant in Lent to becoming committed to Lent!

Being committed to Lent requires real sacrifice and should not be easily achieved. It is likely to be fraught with some missteps since we are all human. But every misstep should be followed by an even larger step back to God and toward our commitments. The season of Lent requires us to be reflective in our faith, to challenge our own spirituality and ultimately tame our wild beasts. To accomplish this, we must endeavour to make those sacrifices that force our faith to grow deeper and experience the fullness of this Lenten season.

During this second week of Lent, may we all reflect on our personal journey and continually strive to be committed to our faith and not just compliant!

God Bless!

Mar 01

From the Desk of the Superintendent- March 2015

Here is a photo that caught my attention as it made its way through the “Twittersphere.” I’m hoping that our month of March will look more like Victoria then Moncton here in southern Alberta.

Every March, the fine arts comes alive in two of our Lethbridge schools with the annual staging of their musical  productions. This year, Catholic Central High School will be performing Anne of Green Gables from March 6-14 and St. Francis will be hosting Annie from March 10-15. I’ve attended productions from both schools in the past, and always leave, amazed at the talent of our students, their high levels of performance, and grateful for our staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes. It is a wonderful evening out for the entire family and I would highly recommend attending these showcase productions. Please click on the links of each school for ticket information.

At the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, the Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal (IMR) Plan was approved. This plan looks at all schools and prioritizes the projects based on high, medium or low need. To assist in setting those priorities, the Division works with a local engineering firm (MPE Engineering Ltd.) to provide additional expertise and ensure all projects fit within the strict IMR funding guidelines. Alberta Infrastructure requires that a 3-Year Capital Plan be submitted each year. Last year, the Board requested we look beyond the 3-year envelope and produce a 10-Year Capital Plan. Working with FWB Architects and the City of Lethbridge, we reviewed projected enrollment and population data, conditions of our schools as well as other local contextual factors. The result was a 10-Year Capital Plan that was approved by the Board last week. This plan should serve our division well into the future.

Although not always understood or even visible, the 10-Year Capital Plan links well to the advocacy role of the Board which was also front and center at the meeting. When I left the principal position of St. Patrick in 2001, design plans were underway for the replacement of St. Mary in Taber. Since then, the Board of Trustees and Senior Administration, both then and now, have quietly gone about their advocacy role to deliver the following capital projects:

  • New School- St. Mary School (Taber)
  • Modernization- Ecole St. Mary (Lethbridge)
  • Modernization- St. Joseph School (Coaldale)
  • New School- St. Paul School (Lethbridge)
  • Modernization- St. Basil School to Catholic Education Centre (Lethbridge)
  • New School- St. Patrick Fine Arts Elementary School (Lethbridge)
  • Modernization- St. Catherine School (Picture Butte)
  • New School- Catholic Central High School Campus West (Lethbridge)
  • Modernization- St. Michael School (Pincher Creek) in progress
  • New School- North side elementary (Lethbridge) in progress
  • Value Management Study- St. Patrick School (Taber)
  • Numerous modular classroom throughout the Division

The Board’s advocacy role will likely be in high gear given some early indicators of the upcoming provincial budget. We have done some preliminary forecasts using 5%, 3% and 1% reduction in government revenues as well as a 0% increase. None of these scenarios are palatable! As more information becomes available about the budget, I will share what I can. I’m not prepared to sit and point fingers at any government on the management of funds as I know it is a complicated and complex process. However, it is easy for me to stand up and advocate for ALL the children in our schools and the required supports for teachers to meet their increasingly diverse classroom needs.

One of the advantages of our school division is our continual focus on learning, not only for students and staff but for parents as well. This coming Wednesday, March 4th from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM, St. Francis will be hosting a Social Media Awareness Night.  This is an excellent opportunity for parents to find out what’s hot and what’s not for teens using Social Media and share tips with other parents on how to set your kids up for social/emotional success. Please contact the office at St. Francis for more details. With our Catholic faith being central to everything that we do, our entire division will come together for our annual Spiritual Development Day on March 9th. The principals will continue their own Lenten journey as they gather with Senior Administration for their retreat on the afternoon of March 10th. Cognitive Coaching training begins this month for our leaders and our teachers will begin round 2 of grade level meetings. The focus on learning cannot be under-emphasized as we continue to grow and improve as a Division.

I want to close this message with a sincere thanks to all of our staff who are continually meeting the needs of our students using innovative practices and engaging pedagogy.  I am thrilled, when I can travel nationally and showcase what “little Holy Spirit” in southwest Alberta, is doing to achieve such remarkable success. I’ll be witnessing another great example of this when I travel to St. Catherine School in Picture Butte on Tuesday and watch their Project Based Learning presentations on Human Rights! This cross curricular project is perfectly aligned with our desire to engage students in meaningful ways and is where our journey in Holy Spirit is taking us.

Have a wonderful March!

Feb 22

Lenten Reflection- Wild Beasts

In Sunday’s Gospel, (Mark 1:12-15) Mark writes, “…the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts;” It is hard for us to imagine living in solitude for 40 days. While there may be times that we appreciate the peace and quiet,  it is not a common event for us to participate in, especially of our own choosing. And being surrounded by wild beasts for most of us is less than desirable! Yet, metaphorically, we are surrounded by wild beasts each and every day. All one needs to do is pick up any newspaper and “good news” is not in the majority.

It is rather easy for us to become jaded with the “wild beasts” in our secular world. The conflicts we witness in far away lands, the poverty, the crime and the hatred can pitch us toward hopelessness and despair. And often, because they are beyond our normal existence, we have a tendency to become slightly numb and experience a sense of helplessness. We begin to believe that since many of these atrocities happen “over there” we really don’t have an ability to make a difference.

The ability to impact those global issues individually may be debatable, but the fact is we have wild beast always lurking in our own lives. These wild beasts may be lack of love or compassion, perhaps it is gossip or excessive pride or it may simply be a refusal to truly reflect on who we are and what we do. It is always safer to look at other’s transgressions before we accept our own. Wild beasts!!!

So we enter this season of Lent in the hope we can face our demons and tame the wild beasts in our own lives. While there is no magic recipe, we have a formula that can assist us in our journey. Embracing the three pillars of Lent will provide us some strength and structure.

The journey will be challenging and different for each of us; Barriers for one may be opportunities for another. Regardless, it is a journey we all must travel if we believe we are Easter people. And as a Catholic/Christian community, we are  Easter people, we believe in the Resurrection and we seek eternal life with Jesus.

May God bless you as you journey this Lenten season!

Feb 16

Communication 24/7

I’m a strong proponent for effective and ongoing communication between teacher and parent. That communication, properly conducted, should enhance the relationship between the two parties, resulting in a strong bond that positively impacts student learning. Communication should flow easily from both directions in an effort to better inform, eliminate the potential for misunderstanding and build trust. It is difficult to argue why communication would not be on every parent and teachers’ top to do lists. Unfortunately, the pendulum of effective communication has swung violently to one extreme and created an almost 24/7 requirement.

Just for some history, I asked my parents if they had ever contacted one of my teachers at night, on the weekend or beyond the school day or year? They were perplexed by the question until I explained that teachers today are bombarded by phone calls, e-mails and text messages almost 24/7. And even more alarming, is the expectation of some parents for an immediate response, no matter when the message is sent or received!  While I can fully appreciate that the level of communication with my parents was insufficient, the level of communication today is overkill! Some excessive parental expectations coupled with the continued increase of access to technology is causing many teachers being overwhelmed with the need to stay plugged in and connected to maintain this 24/7 insanity.

This is not to be critical of parents who desire efficient and ongoing communication with their child’s teacher, although some may recognize their own overzealous approaches. It is meant to raise awareness of the communication insanity of anytime, anywhere, any place. Awareness of an issue is often the first step in making a change. It is simply to highlight the growing concern that our teachers face and the negative impact it is having on many of our finest teachers.

Teachers are also parents and have families that require and deserve their attention and time when they leave the school, whether it be at 3:30 PM, 6:00 PM or later. While I place high expectations on the teacher to be constantly improving his or her practice, that expectation cannot supersede the priority of family on a continuing basis. Finding the right balance requires attention to both with not one consistently overshadowing the other.

Which leads me back to communication 24/7. Students should expect their teachers to be at their best when they walk into the class. Parents should expect the same. But “at their best” will not occur without some semblance of balance. This balance cannot be found without the ability to lay down the phone, not answer the text and simply unplug for a time. While communication must be ongoing for all the right reasons it cannot be all the time.

Jan 30

From the Desk of the Superintendent- February 2015

It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly the school year passes by, and given the recent weather, it is hard not to believe we are in early spring. However, no illusions here…old man winter will still come back and bite us! I hate to say that January was a busy month because all of us in education know that every month is busy! It is a sprint from the beginning of the school year until the end and most of us rarely look up during the process. So instead, I’ll provide the comment that January was just another ordinary month with some usual meetings and regular happenings!

January marked the beginning of our grade level meetings for all teachers (and interns) in grades 1-6. It has been a priority of mine to attend as many meetings (held at the board office), involving our teachers  as possible. The importance of building relations with staff and having them get to know, Chris Smeaton, the person and not just Chris Smeaton, the superintendent cannot be understated. It also provides an excellent forum to hear from the grassroots, the successes and frustrations occurring in our schools each and every day! During these meetings, I’m always provided some time to communicate future directions or just say a few words and during this last round, I chose to discuss the topic of divisional data and how it can inform our practice, target our resources and communicate how we are a high performing school division. Our Learning Leadership Team is well versed in this topic and I would encourage all of us to find opportunities to continue this conversation.

Speaking of data and evidence, next week, SALT will be heading to schools where administrators will be presenting the progress on their goals and priorities. This midterm review of  Continuous Improvement Plans allows schools to continually “pivot” as Simon Breakspear would say,in order to make slight alterations while still “in flight.” The reason that the data is so important is it provides a baseline and allows us a constant check on our progress. I’m consistently impressed with our schools as they navigate the data ensuring best practices are implemented. My latest blog post, Tracking progress with data speaks of the process.

The topic of inclusive communities has been in the media and Catholic schools have certainly faced a fair amount of negative criticism. Right or wrong, we’ve tried to keep a low profile and stay out of the media storm but please know that the issue is receiving full attention behind the scenes. Earlier this fall, I was part of the writing team that established the CCSSA Commitment to Inclusive Communities document. This is only the beginning of the work required to ensure we can categorically demonstrate how we fully support students of sexual minorities, recognizing we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Catholic school divisions from across the province are currently providing feedback to another writing team of which I’m involved in, to develop further protocols and practices. Earlier this month, I led a 3-hour workshop for a large group to provide further information on future plans. While this work is painstakingly slow, it is important to get it right!

The January board meeting focused on the future with a start to our three-year education planning. Trustees will be reviewing our results and current state of affairs on February 9th to begin setting the planning process in motion. There was also discussion on the status of our 10-Year facility plan. With the growth we are experiencing, there is a need to plan beyond the current 3 year time frame. The modernization of St. Michael’s School in Pincher Creek will begin this summer and we should have shovels in the ground in early spring for our new elementary school in Legacy Ridge. We’ve also had the value management study confirmed for St. Patrick Taber for February 10-11. This process will finalize the scope of the modernization for the school. Beyond those projects, we know we have significant population growth in west Lethbridge that must be addressed as well as a need to update the facility at St. Francis. The board is requesting that the government provide a value management study for St. Francis to begin that process.

Although February is a short month, it brings about some excellent professional learning opportunities for our staff and some extended rest for our students during Family Week. Senior administration will meet with our Zone 6 colleagues in Brooks late next week and then our Catholic colleagues later in the month. Additionally, I’ll be travelling to Toronto as part of C21 Canada’s CEO Academy for Learning Innovation and Technology. This is an exciting opportunity to be invited to be part of C21 Canada and I’m looking forward to interacting with 20 other educational leaders from across Canada.

Most importantly, we begin the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday on February 18th. Unfortunately, this date falls within the Family Week, but I do hope that families keep the tradition of ashes alive in their homes just as the students would experience in schools. Please contact your local parish for times of Ash Wednesday services.

As students begin a new semester or quarter, I wish them the best of luck. For those travelling during the Family Week, be safe and have a wonderful time. And finally, may God’s blessing be upon all as we enter the season of Lent.

Jan 28

Tracking Progress With Data

The following blog post was published in the Lethbridge Herald on January 28, 2015.

Next week, senior administration will be travelling to each of our fourteen (14) schools to review their continuous improvement plans. These one-hour meetings occur on a regular basis every 4-6 weeks. Continuous improvement plans set the direction at each school. They are established at the school level in collaboration with staff and school council. Although they link to division goals and priorities, the ability to create a plan that is “school unique” provides for improved commitment and enhanced accountability.

The first meeting of the year always revolves around the reasons why a school has chosen particular priorities. This is where the use of data begins. Student learning outcomes, Accountability Pillar results and surveys, including the highly informative Tell Them From Me survey, are examples of some of the data used to determine goals and priorities. Data confirms many of the intuitions that schools and leaders have about what is going well and what needs to be improved.

After goals and targets are set and communicated, subsequent meetings focus on progress. Unfortunately, for many years in education, progress has been measured by activity only. It has been a checklist. While it is important for schools to articulate what they’ve been doing since the last meeting, the depth of the process comes from the dialogue around, ‘how do we know that what we are doing is making the greatest difference?’ In other words, what evidence do you have to support the work you are doing?

During the last couple of years, this evidence based conversation is becoming increasingly familiar, not only between senior administration and school administration, but in our schools directly with our teachers. Whether we want to refer to it as reflective practice or action research, the desire to verify our professional judgment with evidence is a positive step forward. There has been a prevalent shift in education to search for the right data; data that not only communicates to the public what we are doing in schools but, more importantly, informs our practice as part of our continuous improvement journey.

Finding data that both communicates and informs can sometimes be our most difficult challenge. It has always been fairly easy to measure achievement with the likes of a paper and pencil test.  But measuring learning, in its broadest sense, has been far more elusive. The desired student competencies of collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity, all essential for future success, are not as easily evaluated using the current 20th century assessment practices.  And so, as we continue to meet next week to track our progress, our efforts remain focused on finding and collecting the right data to better inform our future goals.

Jan 11

Play is serious learning!

During the month of January, our division hosts elementary grade level meetings. As a superintendent, I always try to attend parts of these meetings. It  allows me to interact with our front-line staff and provides me with a great learning opportunity. Although I typically have something to contribute, I always come away from these meetings with far more to reflect upon.  The conversations remind me of the importance of being a learner, especially in my role.

In the last number of years since I’ve been attending, I’ve noticed a fairly consistent dialogue on the importance of student engagement. Teachers don’t share worksheets but rather innovative games, programs and pedagogy that they are using to ensure high levels of student engagement. This is music to my ears when I hear, “My students love doing this and I’m seeing their improvement , their growth, their learning.” In education, this is the  Holy Grail, as we’ve combined student interest with student learning. What a novel thought?

So much of this engagement revolves around the principle of play. While the Oxford Dictionary defines play as to  “Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious of practical purpose” I prefer the notion of play as defined by Mr. Rogers:

Play is serious learning; the fact that it happens to be fun…well that’s just a bonus. We’ve come to believe the Oxford Dictionary definition of play in that it has no serious or practical purpose. How wrong and how unfortunate! Students in school and especially young children learn to create and dream during play. They develop communication and collaboration skills through play. They learn to share, take turns, discover and solve problems. Funny, isn’t that what we want for our 21st Century Learners?

A high percentage of high school dropouts has been linked to boredom in school. Given that,  play (in the broadest sense) must be a K-12 principle and not just something they do in that “kindergarten” room! Play is about being interactive and being hands on. It may involve running but often just getting up and moving around will suffice. And while it may look vastly different in each class and every grade, great teachers find a way to “play” every day!

The importance of play in our schools cannot be understated and it cannot continue to be devalued by the pundits of the “back to the basics” movement. Play is an integral part of a child’s development and it is critical in the learning process. Play engages students! We continue to structure our world into either/or and yet the best way forward contain and/both. The pendulum has to find some middle ground to acknowledge the importance of play in the lifelong learning process. Engaged students equal committed learners and play facilitates that engagement!

 

Jan 04

Failing is okay!

I’ve spoken about failure before and how we are instilling an almost risk aversive society of students because failing or anything that resembles adversity is being squashed because of self-esteem! Nothing could be farther from the truth! Let’s be frank, “Failure as a permanent condition is unacceptable but failure as part of the learning cycle and developmental process is essential.”

The world can ill afford our continued “walking on egg-shell” mentality. Our children are facing a resiliency crisis. Mental health issues in children continue to soar and anxiety is becoming so prevalent in schools that it is almost the norm  rather than the exception. While we all want our children to be safe and enjoy a better lifestyle than we did, wrapping them in a cocoon, sheltering them from all adversity, limiting their ability to be responsible and finally keeping them from failing is contributing to quite the opposite.  

Our society needs more people who are solid in the new basics of education, the 4 Cs- Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. None of those competencies can be fully realized in a strictly sheltered environment where failure is not an option. We need innovators to solve the problems created today and that will not occur without failing along the way.

Children and students must be allowed and encouraged to play, to explore, to create and to dream! And the end result must not hinge on only getting the right answer, it must be deeper than that! And if the goal is about learning then, it nust include some aspect of failure! In Tony Wagner’s bestselling book, Creating Innovators- The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World some troubling data is shared that illustrates how we are perpetuating a society of risk aversion. “The average child asks 100 questions a day,” he says. “But by the time a child is 10 or 12, he or she has figured out that it’s much more important to get right answers than to keep asking thoughtful questions.” Often, possessing the “right answer mentality” paralyzes students (especially those who don’t just get it right away) into not making an attempt at the problem period. The fear of failure overrides any desire to deeply learn or simply try.   

Gwen Moran, in her blog post, 5 Ways to encourage kids to grow up to be innovators lists five principles to begin the process. (1) Play, (2) Curiousity, (3) Passion, (4) Fearlessness, and (5) Purpose. All of these principles involve challenges, hills to climb and/or adversity to overcome. While they will grow innovators, more importantly, they will grow resilient children capable of dealing with the many burdens that each will face in adulthood.

We can no longer fear failure in our society, our homes and our classrooms. We must embrace it, teach it and model it! This does not mean we throw our children to the wolves, they still need to be in a safe environment, but not coddled, smothered or suppressed from truly experiencing real life challenges. There is a big difference! Disappointments, challenges, adversity and failures in themselves don’t harm children. The elimination of them…does!

Dec 31

The Benefits of the Education System in Alberta

The following article was written for and published in the Lethbridge Journal on August 31, 2012.

In Alberta, Catholic Education is publicly funded. This has been a constitutional right in Alberta since 1905. This same right is also provided in Ontario and Saskatchewan. For parents and families coming from locations where Catholic Education is not fully publicly funded, this is seen as a tremendous gift. In the communities of Lethbridge, Coaldale, Picture Butte, Pincher Creek and Taber, Catholic Education is provided by Holy Spirit Catholic Schools.

The Alberta education system is well regarded throughout the world. It is recognized as the best system in the English speaking world. There are several reasons why Alberta continues to dominate world rankings in international tests. Locally elected school boards ensure that public education is a high priority in the areas they serve. They provide a community context and have an ability to address local needs. A second reason for Alberta’s strong educational system is high quality teaching. Alberta teachers continue to be leaders in classroom instruction through intensive pre-service programming, high standards and on-going professional learning. Thirdly, Alberta’s curriculum is common for all students. It is robust, diverse and the envy of countries around the world.  

A final reason why Alberta continues to be a world leader in education, although rarely highlighted, is the fact that the province supports three publicly funded systems: Public, Separate and Francophone. The three systems are not a duplication of services, but rather provide for excellence because of the existence of both parental choice and division competition.

Parents in the Province of Alberta have the ability to choose within some parameters which publicly funded school system they desire for their children. Parents wishing to access the Francophone system must meet the requirements set forth in section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For the public or separate (Catholic) systems, the parameter lies in residency, space and resource availability as well as a desire for a faith based education or not. The opportunity to choose any of the three systems comes without the necessity of tuition fees as is the case for private schooling. Parents desiring a faith based education rooted in the gospel values for their children have the ability to access the Catholic system. This opportunity is provided to both Catholic and non-Catholic students. It is an option that continually motivates Public, Separate and Francophone divisions to provide an educational product that benefits students and the communities they live in as well as it promotes system competition.

Since the majority of educational funding is based on student enrolment, school divisions are continually seeking improvements to attract students. There is a natural competition that develops as each district strives to enhance programming and facilities. As each division seeks improvement, the bar is raised resulting in students and communities being the benefactors of this competition. The competition that develops does not need to be cutthroat in nature. In fact, it is far better when the neighbouring divisions develop strong working relationships. These relationships can then create collaborative practices that further enhance advantages for all students. The school divisions in Southwest Alberta have developed strong collegial relationships, as demonstrated by many partnership opportunities. Excellent practices have been shared, co-created and taught to one another to ensure that students in the area are receiving the highest quality of education available.

The Alberta education system offers parents the advantage of choosing a faith based education for their children without the requirement of tuition fees. Through the high educational standards established by the province, the same robust and diverse Alberta curriculum is taught in Catholic schools. However, Catholic values and traditions are permeated throughout the teaching which enables the Catholic school to live and breathe our faith. Education in Alberta and, in particular, Southwest Alberta is well served by the Public, Separate and Francophone systems.