Happy 2012 to all, and here’s hoping the first couple of weeks of the new year have been good to you.
It was great to jump back into trustee life after the Christmas holidays with a full and interesting first week back. My week consisted of …
- reviewing the almost final draft of the Community Sustainability Task Force Report (to be released on February 2);
- a Board of Governors meeting for the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation at which we celebrated the $10,000 raised at the Adam Gregory concert for Full Day K plus future plans (save the dates: April 25—Student Fashion Show; May 24: Ready for Life Fundraising Breakfast);
- a Board and Superintendent Evaluation Committee meeting where we finalized a new Superintendent evaluation document and process;
- a SWAC (Southwest Area Council of Community Leagues) meeting;
- a Board Conference Meeting;
- a meeting with the Minister of Education and the full Board where we presented some of our successes to him along with our key needs;
- a meeting of an Early Childhood Development coalition that is forming in the southwest (The coalition is taking a look at the results of an Early Childhood Development Mapping Initiative called ECMap (http://web.extension.ualberta.ca/extcms/index.php/ecmap1/), discussing what the results are telling us, and will be developing strategies to improve areas of weakness. If you are interested in knowing more, please contact me); and
- last but not least, two school council meetings. Thanks to both Duggan and Johnny Bright Councils for their warm welcome and their insights into life “on the ground” in their school communities.
UPCOMING….
PUBLIC BOARD MEETING (Tuesday, January 17, 2 -6 PM)
Everyone is welcome to attend either in person at the Centre for Education, One Kingsway or online at http://www.livestream.com/edmontonpublicschools
You can find links to all the reports and motions mentioned below at http://www.epsb.ca/board/january172012_agenda.shtml.
We will be discussing whether or not it would be a good idea for all four Metro Boards to engage in some collective research in the areas of FNMI, ELL, or Early Learning.
We will be giving Third Reading to the following policies:
- Student Programs policy
- Authority of Human Resources Decisions
- Capital Projects policy
- Student Accommodation policy – NOTE – This includes principles around setting Attendance Boundaries. I have received a number of emails over the last five years about attendance boundaries, so please be sure to take a look at this policy and let me know what you think.
- Communications Framework (formerly News Media Relations)
We will look at a slightly revised version of the Fall Update on our 2011-12 Budget, which is projecting a very serious end to our fiscal year. As of August 31, it is estimated we will have only $1.7 million in our operating reserve.
We will review the following reports – full of rich information on a variety of topics:
- Number of Results Review Meetings attended by trustees under the new system introduced this fall
- Metro Boards Student Engagement Practices
- Budgetary Implications of Opening Bessie Nichols, Michael Strembitsky and General Griesbach Schools in September 2012
- Alignment of the National Mental Health Strategy Framework and our District work
- The Lieutenant Governor’s Circle on Mental Health and Addiction
- Comparison of Metro Boards Unused Space
- Section 11.1 of Alberta Human Rights Act
- How Communications Supports all Schools in the District
- Bereavements
- Participation in Commit to Kids, and last but not least….
- Summary of “Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities” (from Trustee Janz and me) – find out what we learned from the intimate group of parents and community members who gathered with us at the end of October to brainstorm, share ideas and be inspired by Erin Wright of APPLE Schools and Bev Esslinger of SHAPE.
Thursday, February 2
Release of the Community Sustainability Task Force Report
City Hall, 10 am. Everyone is welcome!
Wednesday, February 8
Winter Walk Day.
To register or find our more, visit www.shapeab.com
Wednesday, February 27
Parent Keynotes (Teacher Convention)
Choose one parent keynote to attend, courtesy of Edmonton Public Schools “Parents as Partners” program, Edmonton Catholic Schools and the Greater Edmonton Area Teachers Convention. Choose either Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture or BoySmarts. For complete information and to register, visit http://www.epsb.ca/familiescommunity/events.shtml
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Value of Parents Setting Goals and Modelling Positive Behaviour
Teachers have to write up goals for each class for each subject, and it is evaluated. What if, as a new year begins, parents wrote up the goals they have for each of their children in school and how they plan to achieve these goals with each child?
For example, schools are focussing on anti-bullying. How can parents support this goal? One idea is to model positive social behaviour themselves, particularly in front of their children. What do children learn when they see parents using a parking lot at least twice a day, five days a week, to turn around in – even when they have been told not to do that? What do children learn when their mom or dad is rude to the owners of said parking lot when they ask the parent not to do that?
As another example, what if a goal were to help their children to learn to take responsibility for their actions and to exercise good time management? Are parents ready to support teacher administration of consequences of not completing their homework? I believe too many parents write up excuses, defend their children and cover up for incomplete homework, and some also do homework for their kids.
Thanks, Helma, for sharing these ideas.
The Value of Mistakes.
Why let kids experience the frustration of botching something when you can prevent it? Here’s why: such frustration is a precursor to deep, lasting learning. That’s right, students’ grasp of new concepts and skills is often better when they struggle through the process of learning those concepts and skills than when teachers error-proof that process.
From David Ginsburg in a blog posting “Don’t Prevent Students’ Mistakes, Prepare for Them” You can read the full blog posting at http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coach_gs_teaching_tips/2012/01/dont_prevent_students_mistakes_prepare_for_them.html?utm_source=feedburner
As always, I am happy to receive any comments, great ideas, or experiences you may wish to share!
Catherine

