Prairie South School Division Conversations

During the past two years, schools have been asked to comply with healthy nutrition standards and rid themselves of junk food as serve most often foods. We relied on the Sask. Schools Boards Association document to set the standard of foods that could be served most often, occasionally and least often. Schools have made valiant efforts to make changes, but do find the guidelines very restrictive. In an attempt to address this, I met with the PSSD nutrition committee and our new Public Health Nutritionist, Shari Tremane. We are recommending that in addition to the SSBA guidelines, that the Public Health Guidelines may also be used. This will increase healthy food choices for schools and provides specific products that may be purchased. As we continue to provide learning excellence in our academic and extra-curricular programs, so too will we continue to strive for excellence in healthy food choices in PSSD schools.

Smart Board Technology

Several years ago portable SMART Boards were purchased by many schools. Over the years we found that the SMART Boards were not being used. We found that teachers could not be bothered setting up the SMART Board for every lesson due to the time requirements for configuration. If you are considering SMART Boards, we suggest purchasing units that are permanently mounted in the classroom. Also consider allocating funds for PD. Dean Shareski and Jeff Boulton would be willing to work with teachers in using this technology towards improving student learning.

For schools without permanent projectors in classrooms:

Take a look at the 680i SMART Board. The 680i unit has a 77” diagonal with a built in projector for $3485. We would also suggest purchasing the AirLiner wireless tablet for $434 which enables students to interact with information from their seats. Have this unit mounted in the middle of the classroom with whiteboards on both sides. When we looked at this unit the first thing that came to my mind was how long will it be before a student trys to hang on the arm? This unit has a “break away arm” and the part that breaks away is $34.

For schools with a permanent project in classrooms:
A 77” screen (Model 680) is $1465 with a bundled AirLiner wireless tablet the total is $1830. The 64” diagonal version (Model 660) will cost $1179. The SMART Board needs to be wired to your computer which needs to be within 10 feet. If your computer is located further than the 10 feet you can purchase a 16 foot extension for $30 or a wireless Bluetooth connection for $229.
If we purchase 10 units there is a deal; however it is not a reduction in price. If you are considering purchasing a unit please contact Jeff Boulton or Dean Shareski.

What else is need? Consider an audio system – computer speakers are around $200. You can purchase the SMART board pair of speakers for $340. To access how teachers use the SMART Boards check out the resources here: http://education.smarttech.com

As we begin the 3rd year as a restructured school division, it's timely to look back & forward. In order to meet provincial requirements, goals were set to show the achievement of PSSD students. We have started to develop a data baseline that shows PSSD student learning in Math, Reading, Writing, grade 1 & 2 reading levels and grade 1 ELA (6 strands). While setting goals is an important starting point, the real power to improve student learning lies in the classroom. This involves two key factors: identifying what students know/don't know and adjusting instruction to address both. This will be the work that we are asking schools and classroom teachers to address in the coming years.

How will we know if student learning is improving in our quest to meet the PSSD goals (improved writing & problem solving)?

We have student results that provide clear evidence that using the Write Traits and writing process show genuine improved student learning. We believe that practice with Math problem solving strategies will improve student learning results. We ask that students use these processes daily and know them so thoroughly that they are second nature to students.

Both strategies are addressing systemic change across the division and give all students an opportunity to improve their learning.

I see students & teachers & schools tracking individual student and class learning by using the rubrics to monitor learning challenges and growth. Then data is being gathered, shared, discussed & posted to show evidence of student learning within classes/grades and throughout schools.

The way to improve school division/systemic goals is one student at a time. I encourage & applaud the work I witness in classrooms where posters, learning activities, evidence of student work is visible in hallways, on classroom walls, in student & teacher work & talk. We see data that is posted, shared & discussed with staff and students. The data is being used to assess student learning and to continue the learning journey to improve. Students are tracking & reporting their own learning growth & challenges -- a strategy that is well supported in the research.

We recently shared our AFL math results and Writing Benchmark Results with the Board and school administrators (to share with their staffs). Clearly, our results almost parallel the provincial results.

W. E. Deming, famous for his work on organizations & change, states that 96% of the problems we encounter when making change, relates to the system. This invites us to ask, as a school division what can we address within our system of teaching that will positively affect our student learning results. No one has the full answer to this, nor is there a recipe. We do know however, that the answer lies in large part with important work of classroom teachers and their expertise with instruction & assessment.

Michael Fullan, reknown Canadian researcher, indicates that for years we have been tweaking changes in education (or what some call bandwagons)and that if we truly want a fundamental shift in student learning and results, it calls for second order change -- paradigm shifting change. Fullan suggests that one of the most productive strategies is to start by aligning what is taught & how it is assessed both within and across subjects & grades. This calls for us to agree on:
-what do students need to learn
-how will we know when/if they learned it
-what will we do if they did/didn't
-use of research based instruction & assessment strategies
-what is proficient learning (teachers assessing together)&
-what successful student work looks like.

We are asking schools to address the 2 division goals -- so we can see if a systemic focus does improve student learning. Many of our PLCs are addressing the alignment of their subjects, assessments and grading. It's our initial attempt to address second order change in PSSD.