Life has a funny way of coming full circle ever since becoming a student teacher at Andrew Sibbald Elementary.

I have been challenged to think outside the box and become a lifelong learner alongside a wonderfully unique Kindergarten community. Setting up a Yurt daily as an outdoor classroom, is one example of how space can impact a child’s learning. When I have my own classroom I will ensure that outdoor learning is an integral part of our routine.  I have gained so much knowledge during my time as a student teacher, but I feel the most significant has truly been what I learned from the students.

One student taught me how important it is to remember to have fun and be silly.  Another how important it is to take the time to play everyday.  I was also reminded to be the best that you can be and that if something doesn’t work out there is always tomorrow.  Many students shared compassionate heart melting stories reminding me to appreciate the little things in life.  Students taught me that kindness matters and smiles and laughter are extremely contagious.  Most importantly however students taught me how critical it is to provide a safe and welcoming environment where they feel loved and appreciated.

These lessons don’t come from a textbook, but from experience and understanding.  Subsequently, it seems fitting that what I learned in Kindergarten twenty years ago is a direct reflection of the lessons I was taught every single day by students.

Erin Manes (@erinleamanes) 2015 UofC B.Ed graduate, adventure seeker, animal lover, and community volunteer with a slight addiction to golf. 

It started with a voice; someone wanting their voice to be heard, and to help others to be heard. 

The Student Voice group at Centennial High School was concerned about stress and anxiety. The students took part in the Speak Out Forum which is a way to communicate students’ experience in the education system to Alberta Education.  They discovered that students were worried: about their futures, their grades, class size, their exams, their extra curricular time, and their jobs.  

The group decided to take action, and find ways that students could manage stress, depression and anxiety in a positive way. They created an action plan at the HASS (Healthy Active Schools Symposium) which  they rolled out over the 2014-2015 year. First on the docket was learning more about mental health with Centennial High School’s Mental Health Teacher. Students created pamphlets and presented resources to their peers in YOTES (homeroom) class. In March 2015 Student Voice sent students to The Youth Mental Health Summit. Students were able to talk to their peers about mental health, as well as listen to personal stories of people who struggled with their mental health and learned healthy, positive ways to manage mental health. 

The Student Voice group is now embarking on organizing a Mental Health Week to correspond with Canadian National Health Week on May 4-8th.  I am so encouraged by these students who want to educate people about Mental Health to remove stigma and to make the world a better place.


Lexie is a teacher who enjoys reading, bike rides, Netflix and puppy snuggles in her spare time.  @MrsKinjo is her handle on Twitter

My trade is known for being shallow, you know the stereotypes about “COS girls”. People often assume my day is filled with hair and gossip, that there is little substance to what I do. Yes, we do hair and make-up, but what we really do is support each other as a community. I have the honor of working with a group of students who support each other, through all of life’s struggles.  We talk about the power of media on our self-perception and how we can learn to love ourselves. They share because they feel safe within their community.  I do this in an amazing school where staff sets the tone by caring for each other. 

As I write this I have bright pink hair to raise funds before I shave my lid and all I hear walking through the halls is words of encouragement from both staff and students. I am amazed by the ability of students to support each other. 

As an inclusive specialist and Bullying Prevention Educator I talk to students and staff about inclusive language and am so proud of how well it is accepted and absorbed into daily practice. When someone slips, a friend asks them to choose a new word, there is no shaming, only care.  What I learned today is that it does not matter what you teach because what stays with students is not what you write on the board, but how to care for themselves and others.


Chris is a first year high school Cosmetology teacher with a passion for social justice and beauty inside and out.  

I always find it humourous when students give me the ‘Why are you talking about hashtags, you’re my teacher!’ look, and I was the recipient of many such looks recently.  We had just explored forms of energy, and I challenged my classes to take some photos of objects and then create a picture collage showing electrical energy conversions.  They were then to asked to post it on their social media of choice. 

At first students were reluctant to get started on the collage because they had to wrap their minds around the expectation for how to complete the task. However, by the end of class, they became invested in the assignment and started exploring a broader variety of forms of energy such as: kinetic energy into sound energy, stored chemical potential energy into kinetic energy, etc.  Deep conversations resulted, where students strove to become more creative with how they were asked to show their understanding. 

This assignment also gave students the freedom to decide how they were going to submit their finished product.  Some students chose to post with #energytransformation, some decided to directly message me on Twitter and/or Instagram, and some chose to email me.  By the time students finished and submitted their products, it was evident that they developed and could communicate a much clearer understanding about such an abstract concept.  It’s definitely something I would do again.

 
Sheila Dow (@shulaya) teaches Grade 8 & 9 Science. Passionate about science, teaching, and photography, but not necessarily in that order.

I currently teach Knowledge and Employability at Centennial High school where I have chosen to bring mindfulness education into my class using literature. Recently, in both my 10-4 and 20-4 English/SS (Humanities) classes, I have committed to being present and in the moment with my students by reading outloud to them.  Together, we agree upon few common understandings of how to be present with one another.  We agree to disconnect ourselves from our devices but sketching or doodling is okay.  

Last year, I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and its sequel Hollow City.  Students were engaged, asked questions, did not understand when I did not know that the Hollows were following (read the book!).  They would NOT let me miss a single day of reading.  It was by far the most powerful experience I have had being present 'with' my students.  This experience encouraged me to continue to support my students to 'live in the moment'. Mindfulness practice occurs as they learn to focus on my voice as I read the story, tune out all the distractions in their lives and just listen.  

It's important to me to create a safe and welcoming place for all my students.  I often use humour to create an environment where students are encouraged to try again tomorrow.   It's a place where students, especially those with elevated anxiety, can find an opportunity to relax and learn. I feel that his type of support promotes and encourages students to do their best work, positively participate, and communicate with others in the classroom. I have an 'open-door' policy that welcomes any Centennial student at any time and includes those that feel like sitting in, interacting with myself, or doing work.  A large part of my job is to engage our students around the issues they are dealing with and can include some thing as simple as organizing a “get work done calendar,” a supportive conversation around anxiety and stress, or celebrating getting onto the grad list.  Wellness is most the most important thing I do with my students.

The Teaming Up For Healthy Learner’s (TU4HL) Backpack initiative began in September 2010 continues to be going strong and encouraging Comprehensive School Heath (CSH) culture.

Committed staff, parents, and the school nurse that participated in this committee planned, created backpack activities and collected resources for over a year to get this initiative up and running. The committee had a vision to bring the three priority areas of Comprehensive School Health into the homes of families. This vision was made possible from provincial and donor funding associated with Alberta Health and Wellness and Education Matters to support and enhance “Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Positive Social Environments” (the three priorities) in the lives of Tuscany students.

Thirty two different back packs were created with unique and fun filled activities. Each backpack is filled with a children’s book that makes connections to one of the three priorities. Activities coordinate with the theme of the book and necessary equipment to complete the activity is included in each backpack. Afterwards, each family is encouraged to complete a response in a journal to reflect on the activity. Children from each class take the backpack home for approximately one week.

Activities vary for each grade ranging from cooking activities, taking nature hikes, designing a creative craft project, imaginative play activities, to outdoor and indoor games. Over the four years a Tuscany student will be at the K-3 school, the child and their family will have had the opportunity to participate in 4 different back packs activities.

The back pack initiative is one of the ongoing initiatives that the TU4HL committee continues to implement each year at Tuscany School to keep the essential pillars of “Active Living, Healthy Eating and Cooperative Play” strong and evident in all the work that we do!

The back pack initiative is one of the ongoing initiatives that our committee continues to implement each year at Tuscany School to keep the essential priorities of “Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Positive Social Environments” strong and evident in all the work that we do!


The Tuscany Teaming Up For Healthy Learner’s Committee includes teachers, parents, and the school nurse. They are dedicated to bring Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Posiitive Social Environments into the lives of Tuscany students and families which falls under the umbrella of Comprehensive School Heath (CSH).

Technology is the driving force behind the Robotics class, an interdisciplinary study that introduces students to CAD, system design, computer coding, mechanics, electrical applications and, most importantly, a healthy dose of collaboration and teamwork.

With projects that span from designing basic electronic circuits, to our in-class Sumobot contest, and all the way to the extracurricular FIRST Robotics Competition, I get the pleasure of seeing teams of students come together to solve every kind of problem under the sun.

This has never been as this year when I had the pleasure of guiding our group through the FIRST Robotics competition. We teamed up with Clay Scales, a volunteer engineer with experience working at NASA to construct a box stacking robot.

Through the expertise of Clay and this lab the students effectively fundraised for, designed, fabricated and competed with a robot that was reliable and effective in playing this year’s FIRST game, Recycle Rush.

In the end, we achieved a berth in the semifinal and through FIRSTs “Hardest Fun Ever” approach saw students who took their fabrication, programming, electrical engineering to the next level; turning it into real world experience and problem solving skills that will guarantee that they have a future in technology.

No one has ever given me five careers that answer the opening question which is why we focus on learning something new about technology every day. This is our students' future, unlike an Amish Furniture Maker...the only legitimate answer I have ever received to that question.

Have you ever wondered the impact that 120, 5-year-old Kindergarten students can make?  With only 7 months into a 12-year journey these little, big-hearted people have made a difference.

It all started in October.  Kindergarten was about to embark on an adventure of planting, growing and giving.  The Kindergarten program at Evergreen school is connected with “The Little Green Thumbs Project” from the Calgary Zoo.  One of the main components of being a Little Green Thumb is to share.

With many different ways to share plants, the Kindergarten teachers and students came up with a plan to help Calgary Kids.  One of the seeds we planted in our garden was basil.  It was growing very well so we decided to plant enough basil to sell a plant to each family at our school for 5$.  The money raised would go to “Calgary’s Brown Bagging for Kids”.  Five dollars goes a long way, it feeds a hungry child lunch for an entire school week.  The children have decorated brown bags for the lunches to go into.  Not only will that child get a lunch, but also a thoughtfully decorated bag.  The children are excited about the process of selling basil and are taking plants home themselves. Most of all, they are delighted to send a lunch to a child who needs it.  The plants will be sold on Earth day.

The children have planted, grown and consumed from our garden.  Among many things the children have learned is that they can help others with just a tiny seed.


Suzanne Smith teaches Kindergarten.  Gardens flourish with love and care, so do children.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the different roles involved in teaching and learning.  When I was a child, most of my schools still held to a dichotomy of teaching and learning.  The teacher taught and the student learned.  It is now so much more wonderfully complex than that.

My current school, like many schools, has a wide number of buddy groups between grades and between programs.  Students have so much to teach one another.  My CSSI class recently made a movie with some grade 3 students in the community program.  As we were making this movie, students from both groups helped each other read their lines, remember their cues and in so many other ways.

We have a very engaged group of grade 9 students that come twice a week from Mountain Park School up the road.  They read with students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 in the community program.  The energy and excitement for learning that these older students bring is incredible.

We have had several student teachers in our school this year.  These student teachers bring a whole new dimension to the complexity of the question of “Who is a Teacher and Who is a Student?”  Working with student teachers provides many opportunities to look at our own teaching practice in new ways.

In so many ways around our school, teachers become students and students become teachers.  This adds such depth and richness to the whole educational experience.


John Kershaw (@jmkershaw) teaches students with autism. He has a strong belief in helping all students find their place in the community.

We’ve learned that kids still surprise us.

We’ve been experimenting with blogging as a way for students to explore their interests. What started as a 1-kid thing grew into regular requests for students to create their own blogs and to take leadership roles in the classroom. From book reviews to piano recordings and coding tutorials, these kids are surprising.

One student explored a favorite hobby as she developed a blog critiquing literature of her choice. It’s no longer just a review site, it has grown into something new and amazing. It’s branched into the class dynamics, as represented through a “Bone” book study (organized by the blog’s author) and conversations that seamlessly cross the boundary between online and in-person.

In class, conversations celebrating poetry led to a student requesting to share his work online. Mr. Personification (Now Mr. Calculator for his upcoming math blog) has inspired his classmates to share their poetry and to celebrate the written word.

Another author has travelled to Vietnam. She’s taken time out of her travels and exploration with family to blog her stories, answer kids’ questions, and to engage in online conversations. To increase her readership she’s thrown up some pictures of a “prize” she picked up last week in a farmers market in Ho Chi Min.

Conversations and collaboration are what led yet another student to learn how to code (his game is embedded below). In the third grade, this kid has mastered loops and conditional statements. He’s taught (as a “Coding Club Assistant”), shared, questioned, and improved as a video game designer. He’s now an accomplished programmer, as shown by his outstanding fighting game.

What did we learn today?

We learned that students have a creative urge, an intrinsic motivation to be challenged, and an open mind to try the impossible… We just need to set up the right tools and to facilitate their ideas.


Mike and Amanda are part of the third grade team at Evergreen School in Area 5.  Mike can be found Tweeting at @mik_enzie and collaborating with an outstanding 3rd grade team at teamevergreen.weebly.com