This week I applied for a one-year lectureship with the University of British Columbia's West Kootenay Rural Teacher Education Program (WKTEP). As part of their application package, applicants are asked write and submit a one page Personal Philosophy of Learning. Admittedly, it has been a while since I have actually thought about a my holistic … Continue reading A Personal Philosophy of Learning →

This week, Vancouver-based facilitator, David Hatfield, worked with our Grade 8 boys as part of our Health Relationships, Healthy Living workshops. Hatfield's long-standing areas of focus including masculinity, conflict transformation, and rites of passage were on display as he worked with small groups of boys ages 13-14 year olds. The purpose of David's visit was twofold: start … Continue reading Finding Our Boys →

I recently finished The Arbinger Institute's, Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box. Truth be told, it was more out of curiosity than pure interest that led me to indulge in this relevant book. A relationship between leadership and self-deception? Huh? The book claimed to be written for "every situation from leadership, accountability, human … Continue reading Getting out of the Box →

The British Columbia Principal and Vice-Principal's Association (BCPVPA) is the support network for school leaders in the province. To assist with the work done by school leaders, the BCPVPA publishes an important, and essential, document called the Leadership Standards for Principals and Vice-Principals. The Standards are not intended to "be prescriptive in nature", but rather "[t]he Leadership Standards are … Continue reading Teacher Evaluation as a Shared Professional Learning Experience →

DISCLAIMER: I continue to be amazed by the unending support that our school PAC (parent advisory committee) offers our students and staff. Without question, a strong and supportive PAC can have a profound effect on the learning in our school.With the recent implementation of the new British Columbia K-9 curriculum the need to address the … Continue reading MakerSpace: Early Steps →

It has been a little over one year since we cranked up the earliest iteration of the Trafalgar Middle School Makerspace as a component in the Lifelong Learning Explorations program for our students.As with any school program attempting to serve its learners, there is the need for a healthy does of reflection on both the … Continue reading From MakerSpace to Reflection of Practice (a journey of sorts) →

For the past eight weeks I have had the pleasure of learning from another educator. This educator is not a master teacher (of which there really is no such a person), a seasoned veteran, or even one with a couple of years experience. My teacher was a practicum student-teacher completing of her final leg of … Continue reading Learning From An Unusual Teacher →

As our millennials continue their journey through our public education system, many schools have begun their shift from a place of developing digital citizenship skills to one of embedding digital leadership practices.Courtesy of Sylvia Duckworth and Jennifer Casa Todd, 2015Changing the use of the internet and social media has been rapid. George Couros very neatly differentiates the shift: … Continue reading From Digital Citizenship to Digital Leadership →