Monday 19 October 2015

STUDENT LED LEARNING WALKS: Sharing Learning in Context

“As educators, we know that student engagement, achievement and well-being flourish when students, staff and parents share a common understanding of learning goals and related success criteria…” Growing Success, 2010


STUDENT LED LEARNING WALKS: Sharing Learning in Context

This week we will host our first two STUDENT LED LEARNING WALKS (SLLWs) on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  A strategy for sharing learning in context that has roots in Manitoba, I first encountered this idea when I met Principal Mirella Rossi from Precious Blood Elementary School in Toronto in February, 2014 at the Learning Partnership’s Outstanding Principals Conference.  The idea intrigued me – to transform curriculum from “words and expectations to tangible samples of students’ understandings and learning” and facilitate discussions “with our families about what our students are engaged in” (M. Rossi, ‘Principal Connections”, Winter 2013).  We’ve been considering the possibilities as a staff over the past several months and in June of 2015 made a commitment to engage our families in this less formal, learning celebration strategy for the 2015-16 school year.

The flexibility SLLWs afford a school is one of the most intriguing features. As we explored the intentionality of the strategy, we teased out the basic premise as being an opportunity to help parents understand there is a ‘flow’ to learning and provide students with opportunities to discuss learning across the school with their parents through student eyes –as well as an opportunity to open up what happens in classrooms to students and parents without attaching an evaluative perspective while sustaining strong connections to the provincial Programs of Study.  It is not about how a particular student is performing in relation to expectations of achievement but rather about the work they are engaging in from Kindergarten – Grade 4 that is grounded in the expectations of the Programs of Study.  Not evaluative as in meeting expectations but definitely formative as in ‘here is what I’m working on and how I am using skills and strategies that engage my thinking’. It’s a whole new way of thinking and approaching the sharing of student experiences from a teacher perspective as well, and we have wrestled with our own preconceptions and understandings while forming plans to spotlight daily student work.

What will parents see when they attend our SLLW evenings?  Their first encounter will be with a document board featuring Program of Studies’ goals for writing to represent and communicate understanding from Kindergarten to Grade 4. No exemplars (this is not about evaluation but rather about the learning journey) but a clear and distinct connection to the competencies and outcomes that guide all learning in Alberta schools. The SLLWs will be centered in our school gymnasium and parents will, with their children, walk through displays of current student work in chronological order beginning with Kindergarten and ending with Grade 4.  Although teachers will be present both evenings, it is the students who will do the guiding and talking as they perceive the work from a child’s perspective.

This is an innovative experience for parents – to see what students across the grade levels are actually doing day-to-day related to writing to communicate and represent ideas.  It is also a unique experience for children to see other students work as well as their own, and to speak to the work rather than strictly to their own success in the work.  Understanding the depth and breadth of classroom engagements is an area we have not always been able to adequately share with parents and the SLLWs offer all of us a fresh way to understand and discuss learning as it is truly lived out on the school landscape.

We are looking forward to this exciting new opportunity to share student experiences with parents and engage our community with the amazing work our students expend tremendous effort into every day!  Thank you, Mirella Rossi, for sparking our thinking in new directions – another strong example of how connecting with a wide professional learning network enhances the daily work of schools across Canada JJ

Lorraine Kinsman, Principal

Cranston School

Sunday 4 October 2015

first post

hello world
"Do the best you can until you know better.  Then, when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou

October 2, 2015

Today,  600+  Kindergarten - Grade 4 Cranston School students, sang, danced and ran with unbridled enthusiasm in the annual Terry Fox Run – like so many other students across Canada.  Part of the fabric of being a Canadian school and of our Canadian heritage, one might say. At Cranston School, the annual Terry Fox Run is also proudly part of the fabric of Peace Education. In fact, EVERYTHING we do is connected to Peace Education.

Today, a parent commented to me about our school wings being named ‘Peace, Hope and Harmony’.  “When we first came here," she said, "I thought that was such a trite thing to do. But now I get it – the names mean something to the children.”  Our students live and work every day in Peace, Hope and Harmony – EVERYTHING we do is connected to Peace Education.

So much is written about bullying, lack of empathy, apathy amongst children. Adults wonder whether it is exposure to television programming, too much 'screen time' on technology, lack of engagement in sports, religion, the community - why is there so much bullying and hurtfulness in schools? Millions of dollars - possibly billions - are spent each year on anti-bullying programs, self-esteem projects, websites and videos to promote strategies for improving relationships in school. From my perspective and experience, there is one simple way to interrupt this negativity - ensure peace education is a part of all we do and say in schools.

 Peace Education is not a program but a way of living on the landscape at Cranston School. We do not have an anti-bullying program, for example, but when an incident of bullying happens, we build awareness with the students around why these behaviours hurt others and find ways to ‘make it better’.  The beginning of the resolution of every incident begins with the questions “How does this help build a peaceful community? What do you need to do differently next time? Why? What does that look and sound like?” with the students involved. Simply and consistently, these questions change the way our students treat each other and the world - with the result that we have remarkably few negative incidents. Our students live and breathe concepts of peace every day in every way.

Each school year, Peace Education looks a little different than it did the year before as teachers and students respond to the world. This year it includes the 'Student Vote' initiative, while last year students were focused on the ‘Right to Play’ initiative. Every year includes experiences with the Roots of Empathy program, ‘peace’ literature, Pinwheels for Peace on September 21 - International Peace Day, student art sales that support the Darajani Primary School in Tanga, Tanzania, helping families across the city with our seasonal 'Families Helping Families' project, learning to play cooperatively across the age groups on our school grounds, and other project small and large that make a difference in the way our student see and live in the world. There are no rules – just teachers, students and parents committed to making the world a better place. For example, this year we are piloting the introduction of a 'Puppy Pals Reading Program' where students can have the opportunity to read with a canine pal as a way of coping with some of life's most challenging childhood stresses. A new program researched, proposed and organized by one of our teachers that acknowledges not all of us have to encounter the world in the same way to be accepted and successful. 

I've been committed to Peace Education in the schools where I've been Principal for twelve years and have been amazed at how this simple commitment to teaching what peace means, looks like and sounds like can change the culture of a school and of a community. There are no rules to follow and the programs and ideas we decide to support or offer come from suggestions within the school community. It is such a simple way to change thinking - put peace on the table whenever possible and students will find a way to make it happen. Perhaps even more importantly, they will take these simple lessons with them into their futures and continue to shape a caring, kind and accepting society for Canada - similar to the impact a young Terry Fox once had upon our country. And what more could anyone ask of Canadian schools and students?

Lorraine Kinsman, Principal
Cranston School