A deeper look into school rankings
As a teacher I never paid much attention to the annual Fraser Institute Rankings; when our school did well, people applauded and when our school fared poorly, people raised questions. The interesting...
View Article10 Skills for “Doing” School
I think it was Mark Twain who wrote, “I never let schooling get in the way of my education”. Unfortunately, Twain had a point; there are skills that you need to do well in order to “do” school well in...
View ArticlePower of a Student-Designed Curriculum
“Children should be given a voice not only about the means of learning but also the ends, the why as well as the what.” — Alfie Kohn In an education world dominated by mandated curricula and...
View ArticleHomework Why’s and Homework-Wise
“…the more we learn about learning, the more willing we may be to challenge the idea that homework has to be part of schooling” Alfie Kohn I remember my days in school when the bell would ring and the...
View ArticleReflections of an EdCamper
After a day in which I was truly inspired by the students at our school (post upcoming on our Identity Day), I had the privilege of attending an inspirational day of professional development in which...
View ArticleRecognizing ALL Students: Greystone Middle School
EVERY child has a strength inside them; it is our job, as educators, to bring this out. “Recognizing ALL Students” is a page designed to showcase the success stories of schools that have moved away...
View ArticleIt’s Easy…
As educators, we are often faced with an opportunity to take the easy road or the hard road. The easy road often works for us as parents, teachers, administrators but it rarely works for kids. The...
View ArticleGrading and Assessment with @tomschimmer
In June, I offered our intermediate teachers the opportunity to attend, with me, a one day session with Tom Schimmer on the topic of “10 Things That Matter From Assessment to Grading” (based on his...
View ArticleAssessment Chat with @TomSchimmer – Thurs, Nov 17
It is no secret that an area of education in which I am passionate is assessment – in particular Assessment For Learning or Formative Assessment. The work of Dylan Williams, Ruth Sutton, Rick...
View Article6 BIG Assessment (AFL) Practices
During the past few years I have been involved in a number of conversations around the topic of assessment. One key struggle that I have is the many ways in which the term “formative assessment” is...
View ArticleQuestioning Awards and Grades
As a result of our school’s decision to end our traditional awards ceremony and the blog post by Janet Steffenhagen, Bill Good of CKNW 980 in Vancouver interviewed me and hosted callers on the topic of...
View Article10 Ways to Start With Strengths in Schools
I sometimes struggle with the volume of posts that give lists of ”5 ways…” or “10 reasons…” but I have recently been asked a few times how schools could get started using a strength-based model with...
View ArticleAre We Marking Assignments or Assessing Learning?
There has been much focus on shifting our assessment practices in education and, particularly in BC, moving toward more Assessment For Learning (or formative assessment) in schools. This is such an...
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