Month: November 2015

Congratulations to Ron and the boys on capturing a silver medal at provincials this weekend in Gravelbourg.  Ron was not sure how they would fair this year, but felt they’d be competitive, and competitive they were.  So ends another great volleyball season at Hepburn School, and now it’s on to basketball!

On Friday I had the opportunity to head over to Waldheim to see our grade 8’s working in the IA shop and Home Ec lab.  The kids were fully engaged in all sorts of different projects and each student was eager to share with me what they were creating.  While I was there, I had a chance to pop into a couple classrooms to see how teachers there have begun re-shaping their learning environments to become more student centered and noticed a lot of similarities between our two schools and where we are in our respective journeys.  Hopefully you continue to think of ways to keep your environment evolving to best suit the learning needs of your students.  Please have a look at the learning links for more information about learning environments.

Learning Links:

How Student Centered Is Your Classroom?

Setting Up Your Classroom

10 Ways to Think About Your Learning Space

A video about setting up a grade one room….how could this look in other grades?  What about senior subjects?

This is a long one, but it caused me to think about learning environments and wonder, what if…

Here is a look at the week ahead

Monday 30th:

• Moustache Monday

Tuesday 1st:

• Ron & Bruce at ALT all day
• Jr. boys basketball practice today

Wednesday 2nd:

• Bruce gone (am only)

Thursday 3rd:

• 12 Days of Christmas Dress Up Day!

Friday 4th:

• Bruce gone all day (PD in Saskatoon with Jackie Salzl!)
• Grade 8’s gone on their field trip Central Haven to do some volunteer work and then off to Can-Am Gymnastics to blow off some steam!

Create a great week!

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Congratulations to Ron and the senior boys volleyball team as they secured a spot in the 2A provincial playoffs coming up this Friday in Gravelbourg.

Last week in Ryan’s ELA class the students were discussing the books they were reading in their Dystopia unit, and while the conversations were all interesting, one stood out above all others.  One student was commenting on how much she “hated” the book she was reading.  She was able to explain, in great detail, what happens in the book, and why she was so upset about it.  The exciting part, from a learning stand point, is where Ryan went next with this.  He started asking deeper questions to allow this student to talk about why she was so passionate about this novel.  In the end it was this discussion, and those probing questions that lead her to understand that what she really had was a love/hate relationship with the novel.  While she loved the novel, she hated how the protagonist made her feel and in the end she finished her group presentation with the line that Ryan had shared with her, “after all, there is a fine line between love and hate”.

I share this story because this week’s focus for our staff meeting is the difference between conferencing and “touching base”.  Ryan could of asked, “how do you like that book” and maybe even asked, “why is that”, but it was the deeper conversation that allowed the real, meaningful learning to occur.  Have a look at the learning links if you have time, and during the week try to stay aware of moments when you could probe for more understanding.

Learning Links:

5 Powerful Questions

Promoting Higher Level Thinking ~ The Goldilocks Zone

And just for a laugh:

Here is what’s on the horizon for this week:

Monday:

• Staff meeting (together first 30 then split for final 30+)
• Jamie is away at an LF pro. dev.
• Grade 1 – 8 marks due today
• Auto Attendance goes live today, make sure you are getting your attendance done in a timely fashion

Tuesday:

• Jamie is away at an LF pro. dev. (am only)
• Cara is at an ILO for the afternoon

Wednesday:

• Eric Fehr & Luke Martens away at Spotlight on Careers activity (all day)
• Ruth away at an ILO (am only)

Thursday:

• SRC assembly during period 4 to kick off food drive bingo and discuss the 12 days of Christmas (with a fashion show???).  We will also wish the senior boys luck!
• Senior PE swimming/scuba trip (leaving at 11:00 will be back at 3:00)

Friday:

• Subway lunch
• 1 – 8 progress reports go home
• Tell Them From Me survey closes today
• Ron gone with Sr. Boys V-ball team to provincials

Create a great week!

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Congratulations to Ron and the senior boys volleyball team for a successful Saturday, it’s so nice to see their hard work pay off.  On a not so happy note, Friday’s terrible events in Paris had me glued to the TV and social media as information continued to surface about the horrific ISIS attacks.  You may want to consider how you will handle classroom discussions should they arise through questions from students who will have certainly heard about this as well. Situations like these also help me put my own life in perspective.  I had a tough conversation with a parent on Friday that gave me some things to reflect on, and while it may have dampened my mood a bit, I needed to remember some advice I received from my father, that is, don’t let the highs get too high or the lows get too low.

Here is a look at what’s coming up this week:

Monday 16th

• Lori is popping in for a visit, she will be out around 8:30

Tuesday 17th

• Senior progress reports should be ready to go as the issues with PowerSchool seem to have been rectified

Wednesday 18th

• Final Humphrey Assembly
• Bruce gone in the afternoon (my son’s ed psych assessment)

Thursday 19th

• John Kuzbik visit ~ 8:30 am

Friday 20th

• Just a reminder that progress reports for grades 1 – 8 are due on Monday 23rd

This week’s learning link are contained below:

1. This learning link deals with the workshop model in your math class.  It has been so great to see some of this happening in our school this year.  There is a pretty interesting video from a grade 5 class as well as some helpful information that could get you started or help you on the journey you are currently on.  http://mathsolutions.com/nl48/math-workshop.html 
2. The second link deals with trying to avoid the dreading shoelace inspection, you know the one that occurs after you ask a question.  This article posits that maybe it’s the type of question that is standing in the way of discussions.  Have a read and see if you can make any connections to the article.  http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/engaging-students-through-effective-questions 

This final piece relates to the Prairie Spirit School Foundation and their Trip a Month fundraiser.  Click on the poster for more information.

As always, create a great week!

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend.  We had a blast with the little ones out trick-or-treating…I even shared some candy with the kids!

This week we welcome a couple new team members to the Hepburn School family as Cara Fleischhacker joins us in grade 3 and Joe Dobraski starts Monday working with Cory as our assistant caretaker.  While it is a short week, there is still a lot going on (as usual!)

Monday:

• Grade 9 – 12 progress reports are due to the office
• Grade 11 & 12 gone all day to a career fair in Saskatoon with Meredith and Ryan
• It’s picture retake time, so if you didn’t say cheese the first time….well you get it

Tuesday:

• Ron & Bruce are gone to ALT today, Kurt is acting principal for the day

Wednesday:

• Sr. boys have volleyball practice after school

Thursday:

• Our annual Remembrance Day program will be held today
• 9 – 12 progress reports go home today
• Bruce & Tania are gone all  day to a division SERT meeting in Warman

Friday:  This is our day in lieu, please make sure students take home any gym clothes to wash and any perishables that may get “funky” during our little break.

The learning link this week comes from a former classmate of mine at the U of S and if I’m not mistaken Sandi had some classes with him as well.  His blog post talks about the possibility of change and it caused me to reflect on the process that we have been going through with Jamie as our LF.  What may have seemed too daunting last year, or even earlier this fall, is now becoming our version of the 4-minute mile (read the blog and you’ll get that reference).  As you read the article think about what it is you’ve wanted to achieve as a member of Hepburn School.  Are your goals reflected in MPSC?  Who do you share your dreams with? What are some of the things holding you back?  Who can help you get past those barriers?  How can you help others?  Feel free to share by commenting below.

As always, create a great week!

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