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Posts Tagged ‘Jennifer Pardee’

The Bowen Island Signature

Posted in Personalized Learning, SD45, Sustainability, tagged , , , , , , , on October 15, 2012| 1 Comment »

I wrote a post earlier this year which described the changes in my own teaching in How My Teaching Has Changed.  Last week, I was reminded of this post in a conversation with a parent of a Grade 6 student at Bowen Island Community School.  Her son is part of outside45 — a Bowen Island-based environmental education program for Grade 6 and 7  students blending learning in the classroom with frequent experiences in natural and built environments on-and-off the island.  The mother spoke about how excited her son is with school; how he has no idea what he is actually doing is learning, but he does spend the day studying science by exploring the diversity of life within ecosystems rather than reading about them, and a lot more different from the way science is traditionally covered. Rather than reading about science in a book, or even simulating experiences in a classroom, he and his class were engaging in “real-real” learning –connecting real science to real life.

This story, however, is part of a larger signature at Bowen Island Community School.  I use the term “signature”, as Bowen Island is not about creating a choice school, it is “the school” on Bowen Island.  It is about connecting to the community, and defining a ‘signature’ that is both reflective of its place, the school, and the district community.  There are clear elements of  inquiry, self-regulation and digital literacy in the programs on Bowen Island, but they look different from other sites in the district.  One common theme, throughout the school, is that of sustainability.  The outside45 program is part of this, but the school has also recently built an Outdoor Learning Classroom and has opened the school up to field experiences for other schools through its “From Our Forest to Our Seas” opportunity (click here for more details).

Bowen Island is unique, and at the same time it is part of something much bigger currently developing in education.  Its ‘signature’ is that of inquiry and looks through a lens of the environment and sustainability, that takes self-regulation and links it to restorative justice and the development of social-emotional learning, and takes digital literacy and blends it through curriculum.  While the program is unique to Bowen’s community, there are similar conversation elsewhere in the district.  At Gleneagles Ch’axáý Elementary, it is the arts that is a common lens for inquiry; at West Bay Elementary, it is the Primary Years IB framework, and at Caulfeild, it is the iDEC program that links inquiry to technology and a series of “soft skills”.  AND, it is not only occurring in West Vancouver.  The outside45 Program in itself  is proving to be powerful, and the linking of students to their physical world can be seen in other corners of the province from the Environmental School Project in Maple Ridge, to the Ecological Education Program on Saturna Island, to the Nature Kindergarten Program in Sooke.

Bowen Island Community School epitomizes the notion that you don’t have to be sick to get better.  The school has deepened in connections to the community, evolved its programs to build on relevance on engagement, and is continuing to search for ways to meet the needs of the families in the community.  They have also taken the themes that link schools across the district and brought them to life at their school.  Some are waiting for an implementation plan for personalized learning in our province — at Bowen Island Community School, and at all of our other sites, people aren’t waiting — they are bringing personalized learning to life now.

I am looking forward to being on Bowen Island this Wednesday night (October 17) to speak on the topic, “What Our Kids Need – A Look at Innovation in Education on Bowen Island and Beyond” and being part of their community dinner. 

Bowen Island Community School is an example of how to evolve to meet the changing needs of our kids and our world.

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What is West Van Talking About? Checking in at the Midpoint

Posted in Change, Personalized Learning, Professional Development, SD45, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2012| 5 Comments »

The beginning of February is generally seen as the midway point of the school year; it also marks the midway point of our first year in the West Vancouver School District, where our school and district leaders have turned to blogging to connect with their school communities.  At a recent principals’ meeting we took a look at some pretty amazing statistics, including about 250,000 page views on their blogs since September, emphasizing how powerful a tool this can be in connecting with a local and global audience.

And just what have some of  our educator leaders been writing about lately?

Director of Instruction, Lynne Tomlinson, recently wrote about Inquirydom in describing some of the challenges as we embrace inquiry and innovation:

There is a danger in overusing educational jargon and too often, good ideas and purposeful, relevant pedagogy are watered down to a shrink-wrapped version of their former selves.  As educators, we are well aware of the “pendulum swing” of learning models over time and it is important to think critically about the reasons why we may want to embrace any changes to our programs, large or small.

Kalen Marquis, teacher-librarian at Bowen Island Community School guest-blogged for Principal Jennifer Pardee and described the value of digital dialogues:

Used purposefully, Digital Dialogues may enhance the development of important skills and provide timely access to useful information and time-tested knowledge. Used wisely, they may facilitate ongoing inquiry and gradually develop the broadest awareness, deepest understanding, and most inspirational and transcendent wisdom.

Chantal Trudeau, Principal at Ecole Cedardale, wrote about the careful work that often happens at elementary school level to integrate curriculum, particularly when it comes to combined classes:

Teachers do not ‘cover’ a curriculum, they teach students. Teachers plan their instructional program meticulously to ensure that the Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLO) from the Ministry of Education are taught to their students at their level of ability. . . . In the elementary years in particular, learning and instruction often take place in an integrated fashion and do not always stay within the boundaries of a particular subject area.

Darren Elves, IB Coordinator at Cypress Park Primary School, looked at how we teach learners to ask good questions, and the important value it plays:

At a time when our government is looking at better defining the parameters of 21st century learning and teaching, it is my belief that the students’ abilities to explore the key concepts by acquiring and practicing a range of questioning skills will further enable them ‘to be active participants in a lifelong journey of learning’.

Scott Wallace, Principal at Gleneagles Elementary, recently described play and its importance in school.  Reflecting on a recent workshop staff participated in, he shared five key concepts of the Play is the Way program:

  • Treat others as you would like them to treat you
  • Be brave — participate to progress
  • Pursue your personal best no matter who you work with
  • Have reasons for the things you say and do
  • It takes great strength to be sensible
Val Brady, Principal at Hollyburn Elementary, blogged about a topic that regularly comes up with parents — anxiety and how we can help.  Her post was informative, full of resources, and reassuring as a normal behaviour:
Anxiety is a normal emotional state that we all experience at various times in our lives. Anxiety serves as a means of protection and can often enhance our performance in stressful situations.  It is closely related to fear, which is another normal and necessary emotion that everyone experiences.
Rockridge Acting-Principal, John Crowley, linked the recent announcement on UBC shifting to a broad-based admission system to the important role of “The Other Part of  School Life.”:
I encourage you all to challenge your child to be involved outside of the classroom, to develop the perseverance and leadership skills that come from working with other students, and work on that essential skill called “finding balance”.
And Sentinel Secondary Principal, Jeannette Laursoo, highlighted the amazing experience a number of Sentinel students had at the recent Model UN Conference in New York:
At the conference, Sentinel students became members of a crisis committee and represented the viewpoint of their assigned country when faced with a pressing issue or event.   They discussed, debated, and solved the issue.  For example, Aeron Westeinde, was on the Modern Day Haiti Committee, which was responsible for rebuilding Haiti from the ground up.  They developed programs to improve security, education, agriculture and irrigation within the country.

These are just a few snapshots of what is being written, and how staff are being more transparent with their own learning, and the learning in their schools. Some themes emerge, ones we see elsewhere including the role of early learning and self-regulation, the power of digital learning and the interest in inquiry-based study.  What is also clear in so many of the posts, is the powerful experiences students are having — personalized learning is alive and well in West Vancouver.

The blogs are a great celebration of community — curious students, engaged and passionate teachers, thoughtful and visionary school and district leaders.

For a complete list of the West Vancouver School District blogs, please see (here).

Thanks to all who have engaged with us this year.  We appreciate being able to share, and to continue to share, our learning with our local and global communities.

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Parents as Participants – One School’s Example

Posted in Parenting, SD45, tagged , , , , on April 26, 2011| 5 Comments »


In an earlier post, Parents as Participants, the initial impetus came from A Vision for 21st Century Education, a document released last December that made the argument — the roles of students, teachers and parents need to change as our education system evolves. Over the past two months, each of our schools has considered what “parents as participants” to improve student learning would look like in their schools, and meetings have been held with students, staff and parents.

Here are some of the common themes and suggestions that have emerged:

  • Share expertise with class / school (guest speaker)
  • Volunteer (in class or with extra-curricular)
  • Engage with newsletters / websites / blogs / planners, etc.
  • Show interest in your child’s work and answer their questions (help but don’t do the work)
  • Give your child descriptive feedback
  • Build relationships with teachers and other adults at school
  • Educate yourself on the changing classroom (and rethink what you know about school)
  • Encourage healthy behaviours at home (eating, sleeping, time management, boundary setting)
  • Jump in with technology alongside your child
  • Extend the learning outside of class hours (family trips, extension activities, etc.)
  • Model that you are a learner, for your child
  • Communicate regularly with school
  • Value the administrators’, teachers’ and staffs’ professional roles in your child’s school
  • Help set learning goals for your child (co-planners)
  • Foster independence

Here is one particularly clever and thoughtful summary from Bowen Island Community School. Thanks to Jennifer Pardee (Principal) and Scott Slater (Vice-Principal) for sharing it:

In thinking about “Parent as Participant” we were thinking of a performance which had:

1.   Parent on Stage, Modelling

  • Model an interest in school by reading Newsletters, Website, Twitterfeeds, etc.
  • Model Lifelong Learning by sharing with students what they are learning themselves and perhaps
    doing their own readings about topics in school     Model Citizenship by joining PAC or volunteering in other ways
  • Share expertise with classes

2.   Rehearsal, Coach

  • Answer questions about homework and discuss ‘big ideas’ of learning
  • Show interest in both the process of creating and the creation itself
  • Remember that it is the student’s performance and that while the parent can help, it is they who have to be able to perform alone

3.   Parent in Audience, Child on Stage (stage = assignment/authentic transfer task) Audience

  • Stay in your seat and give them some space
  • Read what your child writes, clap for it, make the writing/reading experience a performance with the accountability a performance entails

4.   Backstage / Connector

  • After the performance, give more descriptive feedback than simple applause: what did they do well, what do they think they need to work on to get better, what will they do differently next time.
  • What connections can be made between the show/learning, and other aspects of experience?
  • Ask child, what can you do now? Where can you go next?

5.   Next Show: Facilitator

  • If the child knows where they want to go next, help them — family field trips, etc.

Idea: for parents to take time in their busy lives to be deliberate as coaches and models for their children; to explain to them not just how they support learning and the school in general, but why, and in doing so impress the point of the importance of education and the need for numerous influences on learning.

This is an important conversation we look forward to continuing, and we would like you to help continue the conversation.


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