What Did I Learn Today?
Katrina Watson (@busybeakers) kindergarten teacher, science lover, momma extraordinaire, artist, cyclist, eater of good foods and thinker of happy thoughts.
What Did I Learn Today? This was the first full day of kindergarten for my students. Students walked through my doors in the morning wearing their emotions upon their faces. Some looked worried or anxious but for the most part my new students entered school looking hopeful. Their eyes wide, they exclaimed joyfully and without reservation at every new discovery in their classroom. They wanted to touch things, to physically get their hands on everything around them. I had so much information I had planned to share with them; expectations, rules, guidelines, all stuff these students will eventually need to know but instead we spent the bulk of our day following their joy. They will have many elementary years learning to sit criss-cross applesauce so today we jumped up when we were excited. They will soon learn to listen and give their friends a chance to speak but today we talked over each other in our excitement. Later on the importance of cleaning up after ourselves will be stressed but today we dug our hands into some homemade playdough with glee, we mixed colours with abandon and we didn’t even wash the food dye off our finger tips. Yes, their ABCs and 123s are important, but so to, is their joy. My students walked in with hope and they left with joy. Today I learned that joy will be my professional goal in kindergarten, both for myself and for every student in my care. Katrina Watson (@busybeakers) kindergarten teacher, science lover, momma extraordinaire, artist, cyclist, eater of good foods and thinker of happy thoughts.
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Jennifer George is Assistant Principal at Douglasdale School with a passion for literacy, history, and curriculum that inspires. Twitter @firgeorge What did I learn today? Recent inscription on a Starbucks card from my student teacher: Sometimes when you are running a production studio, walking across Canada and planning an art gala, you just need a little pick me up! When I look at the words from my student teacher it makes me smile. To someone outside of education it might be hard to imagine she was talking about a grade two classroom. This year I have the pleasure of working with a group of wonderfully creative and talented students who are passionate about learning. This year has reaffirmed for me that if you truly honour the passions and interests of students, the only limitation they cannot overcome is the lack of time available in 10 short months. Within our school are very fortunate to have access to a variety of educational technology and two favourites in our classroom this year have been green screen technology and Google Apps for Education. Green screen technology allowed students to share their learning in such an exciting way by making a ‘TV show’ about Canadian animals at risk. They collaborated to create scripts that included news reports, dancing, and even a rock video. Google Apps offers opportunities to extend learning beyond the boundaries of the school day and physical building. I introduced Google Apps in January and within a short time they were creating projects at home, collaborating with friends online, and bringing this learning back into the classroom. I am in awe of what they are able to accomplish and the development of their competencies up to this point. What amazes me even more is to imagine them graduating 10 years from now. What will they be capable after 10 more years in similar learning environments? The learning shared on CBE182 gives me such great hope that my amazing little grade two students will continue to be engaged and empowered throughout their formative years. I leave them with this quote: Promise me you will always remember: You’re BRAVER than you believe, and STRONGER than you seem, and SMARTER than you think. ~Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh Julie (@juliequennell) is passionate about student voice, inquiry and educational technology. M.Ed. grad from #ulethedtech with the best cohort ever. The end of the school year is always a time of reflection. It gives us an opportunity to look back and say what went well, what didn’t and what do we need to work on. This year is no different as May and June have been a flurry of activity with graduations, year-end celebrations, and partner events. The common element though has been students, a reminder to all of us of what is really important. Education is the core of our work and our values are the fundamental beliefs in which guide our work at the Calgary Board of Education. Putting students first, knowing that learning is our central purpose and that public education serves the common good, provides focus for each one of us regardless of our role. Because the cool thing is, we all have a part to play in public education and we are all in this together. From the dedicated staff in facilities who ensure safe and caring schools, some of whom have been with CBE for over 35 years (WOW), to our kind lunch room supervisors and our caring education assistants who support our students, to our specialists in planning, transportation, Human Resources and Technology who without their support our massive organization may just grind to a halt. All these folks work tirelessly to ultimately support the work of our teachers and here is what I know; teachers are a rare breed. They are hardworking, selfless, caring, role models to our students who put in countless hours to ensure that our students are engaged and successful. However all of this would not be possible without our partners, over 350 corporate and non-profits who provide programs, services, supports and financial aid because they also care about student success and making this world a better place. Everyone has a stake in Public education and the stakes are high, as we strive to meet the demands in an ever changing world. Dealing with change, difficult decisions that result from change and often scrutiny can be stressful and demoralizing for those intimately involved in education who have devoted their lives work to making this world a little better. But here is the thing, we are all human and sometimes we make mistakes and we need to learn from those mistakes so that we can be better for our students and that is why we need to reflect. CBE 182 has given our staff, students, parents and stakeholders an opportunity to share the great work that is happening each and every day in our school. We are able to hold our heads a little higher and to showcase to the world that at the Calgary Board of Education we are determined, resilient and committed to student success. To everyone who is involved at the Calgary Board of Education, Congratulations for a great year, Thank you to each and every one who contributes to our organization and hears to moving forward together. Joy Bowen-Eyre ( @JoyBoweneyre and Joybowen-eyre.ca ) is Trustee Wards 1 & 2 with the Calgary Board of Education. She loves running and traveling and is the proud mum of 3 #yyCBE students. Willow Park School is a school that encourages students to learn through the arts. In our Career Technology Foundation (CTF) class, grade nines had the 7th Annual Math and Science Speculative Arts Festival. When the project started, we got to hear from several speakers about their careers and how it includes art to inspire us as we were looking at topics. The project asks us students to choose any science or math concept and represent it in an art style. I chose the concepts of crystal systems which uses polyhedrons to show the shape of the crystal molecules. Polyhedrons are geometric 3D shapes and I created the shapes with pipe cleaners then used the borax crystal experiment which makes crystals form on the pipe cleaners. Alongside it, I did a painting which I overlapped the nets of the shapes in order to hide them in the painting. There were also many other projects, ones which personified planets or hazard symbols. People created drama performances or dances as well. It's a good way to let students choose a science or math topic that they are interested in and expand their knowledge. Some students explored supernatural topics like ghosts and six senses. In the end, it lets students go with their strengths and interests to create cool projects. All grades came by to look at our projects and got to learn something new. Sarah H attends Willow Park Middle School in Grade Nine. She thinks fezzes are cool and enjoys watching anime in free time. On Saturday, April 26, I went to the Young Writers’ Conference. It was a big deal for me because I got to meet tons of amazing authors like Nicole Luiken, Jhan Groom, and Eric Walters. I learned so much about writing and creating different worlds and stories. Kennedy is a grade four student at Twelve Mile Coulee School. She enjoys writing stories and reading science fiction.
Each year, we aspire to foster a sense of wonder and passion within our students. For us, it started when our students forged a bond with a professional athlete, subsequently focusing our learning around the question: “What is the relationship between Science and Sport?” This mentorship has fuelled our students’ enthusiasm to learn, explore, and grow. They have grilled a World Champion to consider the impact of friction on his bicycle, inspired an impromptu lesson on aerodynamics from an Olympic gold medalist, and challenged a CFL receiver to describe how physics influences his strategy. Others have connected by taking up knitting to demonstrate perseverance or by interpreting principles of of human kinetics through the arts. The impact on others has been less explicit, but by no means less valuable. The language of fair play has become engrained in their values. Reflecting on their mentor’s experiences will encourage the use of a new strategy rather than giving up when encountering an academic challenge. Some now live the continual cycle of goal (re)setting after witnessing its importance to someone they admire. A role model is powerful. Seeing that person discover, commit to, and pursue their passion can be everything. These moments of learning and personal connection always serve to remind us of the power of a relationship and how any small interaction can be a pivotal moment in a shaping the narrative of student experience. Not all of our students will become scientists – fewer will pursue professional athletics – but we will endeavor to empower each to ask questions, take risks, and pursue their passions, in whatever form that might take. C. Ware (@shelware) & E. McCrady (@elainemccrady) are passionate Gr. 5 team teachers who won’t stop exploring & are science nerds at heart. Our current inquiry stemmed from a curious student’s question, “What does the word ‘tame’ mean?” Having recently come across an article titled “Wild Pets”, in National Geographic students were interested to hear what it was all about. After engaging the class in reading parts of the article, one student furthered her connection to the stories by bringing in an article from the Calgary Herald titled, “The Bear Whisperer”. This led to discussions where students created opinions of their own on the topic. As the students passionately and respectfully defended their viewpoints within the classroom, teachers motivated students to invite their families into our conversation by taking this debate up at home. Some students formed their thoughts around the question, “Is it okay to have wild animals at the zoo?” Having recently visited the Calgary Zoo, students were highly engaged in this topic. Other students related closely with the article found in the National Geographic and were curious to define their viewpoints around the hobby of keeping wild animals as pets within the home. We supported our students by visually providing them with a string across the floor; the further away students sat represented how strongly they felt towards their viewpoint. To move our students further with their debate skills, we asked our leading Grade nine debaters to demonstrate a live debate. Knowing Alberta Initiative for Wildlife Conservation was scheduled for a visit today, we asked AIWC to adjust their presentation to respond to the curiosities of our young debaters. D. Beach, E. LaMontagne, D. Van Dijken and J. Ward are Langevin's highly collaborative grade one team who strive to build programming from student voice and interest.
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