RVS Guest Author: Andrew Doyle, Teacher, Glenbow Elementary – In April I had the privilege of attending a conference in Edmonton on Diversity, Equity and Human Rights issues in schools. The keynote speaker at the conference was author, teacher and inspirational speak David Bouchard. David came in and in true fashion (according to those who have heard him before) was as kind with his time as he was generous in spirit. [ Read More ]
RVS Guest Authors: Melinda Csak, Janet Chapman, and Adam Turner, Grade 3 Teachers, Prairie Waters Elementary – During our busy school year, most teachers dream of a winter getaway. We envision palm trees, lazy beach days, and a warm tropical breeze. Most educators wouldn’t dream of getting on a plane in February to fly across the continent to Detroit, Michigan, of all places. But we did! At the beginning of [ Read More ]
RVS Guest Authors: The Rainbow Creek Elementary Learning Support Team (Laura McArthur, Principal, Dawn Rife, Assistant Principal, Susan Sellan, Resource Teacher, Jill Lloyd, Early Literacy Teacher, Steffi Kynoch, Child Development, and Darcey Campbell, ESL Teacher) - This year at Rainbow Creek Elementary, our Learning Support Team (LST) brainstormed ways to bring current research, published articles, or new divisional initiatives to our staff. Should we have book clubs? Let’s try blogging! How [ Read More ]
RVS Guest Author – Richard Gaudio, Learning Specialist – One of the ways that we are building a culture of sharing in Rocky View this year is through four Celebration of Learning events. The goal of these Celebrations is to share the best practices of educators in Rocky View for a live audience and then showcase the videos on the RVS YouTube Channel. Our next RVS Celebration of Learning will [ Read More ]
RVS Guest Author: Justina Law, SIS Learning Specialist – It’s official. I now have more degrees than I do credit cards. But what exactly does this mean? Completing an EdD (Education Doctorate) has been a huge investment in time and money, neither of which I will ever gain back. When I tell people that I am in the midst of completing a doctorate, they inevitably ask me why. The reality [ Read More ]
Guest Authors: Deb Rougeau-Bell, Leadership Mentor, and Manny Ferreirinha, Director of Organizational Learning - Rocky View Schools (RVS) is pleased to continue supporting all of our combined work in creating a culture of improvement, innovation, and excellence. Professional learning is central to who we are as a jurisdiction, it’s in our DNA, and is at the heart of our mission and vision for 21st Century learning. To this end, all of us [ Read More ]
Guest Author: Kevin Wttewaall, Director of Technology for Learning – In his final blog in a three-part series, Kevin shares the impact that Rocky View Schools’ (RVS) 1:1 initiative has had on its educators. In the 2008/09 school year, all RVS teachers were provided with laptops, which was critical to enabling them to become skilled with 21st Century learning technologies. Schools and the jurisdiction also provided job-embedded professional learning opportunities along [ Read More ]
Guest Author: Lynne Shemko, Executive Assistant – Years ago when I worked at Ralph McCall School, I received a book from the school’s former Principal Bill Bell to read for a staff professional learning session. That book was the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. Although I did my best to finish the book, I found it to be a hard read as it was difficult to [ Read More ]
Guest Author: Heather Fansher, Assistant Principal, Springbank Community High School (with contributions from Mili Rowse, Organizational Learning, and Carol Perry, Teacher, Glenbow Elementary) – Whenever you ask an educator about the level of support they received in their first few years of teaching, many say that there was little to none. Often, teachers in their formative years were left alone to struggle with the complexities of the classroom. It was [ Read More ]
Guest Author – Richard Gaudio, Learning Specialist – In a recent lecture, Dr. Michael Geist described how the new Canadian Copyright Act represents a “seismic” shift for education. Bill C-11 includes a number of measures that will allow educators and students to take advantage of digital technologies. Most significantly, it expands Fair Dealing to recognize education in a structured context as a legitimate purpose. The Government of Canada defines Fair Dealing as: …a [ Read More ]
Guest author: Leslie Collings, Principal, Springbank Community High School – I am a big fan of personal learning networks (PLNs). A personal learning network, to me, is connecting with people and ideas with whom you may or may not know to learn from them/their ideas. With the explosion of information on the Internet, I have to admit that I have become a big user of Twitter. Twitter is the hottest [ Read More ]
