Daily Archives: July 10, 2013

Week 2 Summary : How Did We Get There

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Institutional Isomorphism – thoughts

School has had a strong fine arts program:Music, Dance, Drama, Strings Band, Visual Art

Principal that believed in the Arts:  Supported a music teacher with proper qualifications,

Leadership in teaching art / not crafting.- Visual Literacy

Teachers who extended learning through drama. Dickens Day – Engaging student learning through hands on, collaborative and creative learning.

Through leadership and mentoring teachers began to explore learning through the arts/ collaborating with artists in the community to enhance learning in a multitude of  subjects.

Brought student teachers into our school from UBC’s fame program.  Students who had strengths in fine arts and media.  They brought in fresh ideas and technology and showed us what we could do with technology to continue our hands on, collaborative, and creative learning.

Once the students left however, we were left with a need to learn how to use tech tools in order to utilize what they have to offer

New Principal and new staff who wanted to see us move together as staff learning how to utilize our tech tools to move towards a 21st century model.  New desktop computers in every class including library, music room, ELL  and Learning Assistance.

We began with lunch and learn workshops every 2nd Wednesday.  We would have teachers on staff, people from the community, teachers from the district help us to move towards a digital literacy so that we could begin to teach.

*Websites- communication

* software- typing programs, writing programs , imovie, iphoto, digital photography, …

* email

*online reporting

Declining Enrollment – gave us the push to move our school forward into the model of 21st Century learning

Birth of Global Learner Program – A year of collaboration –A living ever morphing way of teaching that takes risks, collaborates, pushes teachers to find new ways to engage student learning that encourages student leadership. Broadens their thinking and learning to connect to the world and their community. Sometimes uses technology but as a means of achieving outcomes.

 

10 minutes of fame- Global Learner at Montroyal

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10 minutes of fame
Global Learner – The Global Learner program is designed to prepare students for the future, and to bring students, staff and parents together through collaboration and responsive partnerships. We have chosen three school-wide themes, addressing learning outcomes at all grade levels, across subjects, and aimed at developing global awareness. Under the umbrella themes of Children of the World, World Leaders & Leadership, and Global Stewardship, students will take part in focused inquiries which include progressive learning outcomes focusing on 21st century skills.
Collaboration based on three themes – Children of the World- Leaders and Leadership – Global Stewardship- Each term our staff choose 3- or 4 consecutive Wednesday afternoons to offer workshops to students.
• Divided into 2 multi-age groupings Primary – grades 1-3 and Intermediate 4-7 . Kindergarten students join the primary groups for term 3 only.
• Teachers of a variety of workshops for students to choose from.
• Students watch a video presentation on their classroom smart board for the workshops and select their top 2 choices.
• Teachers distribute students to workshops noting learning needs
• We display the product of our workshops throughout the year .
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Global Learner Workshops
Over the past decade, we have seen an unprecedented rise in the amount of information available to people and to the interconnectedness of people around the world. To continue to offer a rich diversity of engaging programs to students, we, too need to grow. Students need to not only be competent in reading, writing and mathematics, but also 21st century skills . They must be inspired to navigate the sea of information through speaking, writing, multi-media, and creativity. Students need to become more globally aware and learn to collaborate with people face-to-face and around the world. A well-rounded education is no longer just the three R’s; success in the future will require digital-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication and high productivity. Are we ready?
Global Learner Workshop Presentations
I approached my principal to ask for any pictures or videos that could help you to understand some of the work that is being done in our school by our amazing creative teachers. In doing so, both she and I realized that we haven’t thought about creating a virtual window for our workshops. There were only a few pictures available to show you what the multi-age collaboration looks like. I am going to spearhead a change to publish the work we are doing and possibly archive the lessons for our workshops.

Instead I would like for you to see a video of the work a couple of our teachers did with the Environmental Club. The teacher collaboration is between a grade 1 teacher with a wealth of expertise and a grade 7 teacher who is tech savvy and extremely creative. Together they worked with students to research, create and communicate with the entire school via YouTube and Smart Boards a project that all students could participate in. They utilized their research to create a video which promoted writing, music and a message to engage students to observe their back yard environment. Enjoy Birds in the Hood