A huge welcome to our new sites – South Slope, Marlborough, Buckingham, Burnaby South Access Program and Moscrop Access Program. A great time of learning with all teams and we continue to have more gatherings in the near future to continue the conversation of supporting our students. The days of January have been whizzing by,…
Tag: News Items
September Newsletter Off the Presses
September is filled with a mix of “welcome back activities” as well as planning for possibilities. Our September Newsletter is hot off the presses. Click here for your copy. You can also click on the News tab in the navigation bar for an archive of all the newsletters.
A New Year – New Opportunities
Welcome back! It’s been a fabulous summer, especially with the spectacular weather offering lots of opportunities to rest, rejuvenate and re-energize. We anticipate a very exciting year filled with new connections and new ways to look at past practices. This summer, some schools were upgraded to the new Active Directory – School Connect structure [replacing…
Connecting the Dots
It’s definitely spring. Everyone is in high gear especially with the good weather. Our final session of “Connect the Dots” happened last week with a gathering of folks at Schou. Along with some interventions, we were able to review the latest information on MyScilearn (teacher area). The Results tab now houses the individual graphs and…
iPad/iPod Apps ShootOut – Multisensory Blitz
District Pro-D arrived on February 22nd. Offered at two sites (Byrne Creek and Taylor Park) complete with video feed of our keynote to Taylor Park, it served as a reminder that connection, collaboration, ideas generation happen when we all come together. With over 110 sessions, it was an electrifying event. No small feat for a…
Mid-Year Milestone
It’s February. Congratulations everyone – You’ve reached the mid-year point! Those of you who started this journey in October are now well underway. We’ve had some huge challenges with the full conversion to the online platform. Much of it was technical – thank you for all your patience through the growing pains as we continue…
Hot Off the Presses – January News
It’s blustery and nippy outside. What better time than to dig into our latest newsletter of the year! Filled with hot items, as well as keep you up-to-date with the latest workshops and learning sessions. And who can resist those little tips and tricks that make teaching life both easier and interesting. CLICK HERE for your…
Happy New Year – September 2012
Welcome back. This is a very exciting year with the transition to our new online platform. This has allowed us some flexible options in how we deliver the program, how we support more students, and how we engage in deeper conversations about our students’ learning journey. In anticipation of the process, this blog has been…
In a Networked Community of Learners
It’s summer and the warm weather has certainly given us more chances to sit back and ponder over the year. And what I’m reminded over and over is that WE have great people in each of our school sites doing great things to support our students. Funny how sitting on a log, listening to the waves…
First Ever iPad Party
Get a group of administrators, teachers and district staff together – add food and boxes and more boxes of brand new iPads. What do you have? Excitement, anticipation, a bit of wonder, “eyes wide open”, tons of chatter and buzz… Last week, we spent the afternoon with a set of goals: introduce the iPad,…
Gaining Insights – Videos
Here are some short videos that you may be interested in seeing: The Human Spark – Brain Matters (pbs) Inside the Teenage Brain (Frontline)
Choice Words
Things happen when you return from a conference. New ideas attach with old ones and a host of “how does this all connect” is sifted through a lens of “what if…”. At FETC, keynote speaker Michael Wesch (watch TED talk) talked about the fast rise of the new technologies (Youtube 2005; Twitter 2006) resulting in a new culture of…
The Next Steps… Reading Series Bridges Literacy
It’s here! For those of you with students who completed Fast ForWord or with students who may fit into that RTI (tier 2 or 3) group, this may be the connection you’ve been seeking. I’ll be hosting an online webinar to share details of the Reading Series and Fluency Program, who would best fit, as…
Take Your 3-Ring Binder Online or Bookmarking Gone Extreme!
This is a “have your cake and eat it” situation. Last time I shared bookmarking through the use of Symbaloo (a great tool that lays websites out in visual tiles). Today it’s LiveBinders. This tool organizes your resources and presents your content in a binder format. (They even look like little binders.) Tabs provide the organizational structure so that you…
Launching Reading Levels Series
We’re thrilled to be able to provide Reading Series to every Fast ForWord site. Last year, three of our sites piloted this series with some students who completed Fast ForWord processing exercises. The positive responses from both students and teachers have moved us forward in this opportunity. Reading Levels takes the same approach as Fast ForWord…