2015 Year End Reflections
This school year has been a steep learning year for me. The RVSO and RVSCLC schools are significantly different in structure and scope and have provided an excellent backdrop to an exciting year.
Goals and Objectives
1. Establish and nurture positive and productive relationships with the members of the RVS Online and RVS Community Learning Centres in order to better understand the history, norms, values and traditions of the school community.
Objective A: Establish and nurture positive and productive relationships with staff members.
Objective B: Establish and nurture relationships with the student body of the RVS Online school.
Objective C: Establish and nurture relationships with the parent community of RVS Online and RVSCLC.
Objective D: Establish working relationships with Education Centre personnel.
Developing relationships in the field of education is fundamental to being successful. Through this year, I have been able to establish good relationships with the staff at both the CLCs and Online. Since I spent the bulk of my time at Cochrane and Croxford, certainly those relationships are stronger. I'm looking forward to working in Chestermere as well next year to establish those relationships there. As well, I have been able to develop relationships with my students. Being both an administrator and a teacher and working in both the Outreach and WeConnect capacities, I have been able to make connections not only with the students but the administrators and WeConnect coordinators as well. I will need to continue to work with parents and outside agencies to establish greater connections in the communities. It would be good to establish a plan for how we can get greater parental and community involvement at each of the CLC campuses. I also think that building a stronger relationship between the high schools and RVSO will only strengthen the program itself. We need to communicate how we can all best serve the students' learning needs.
2. Collaboratively develop and communicate a clear vision for continuous improvement (academic growth and achievement), grounded in research based outcomes and supported by historical data and feedback from school and district staff members, parents, community-based partners and students.
Objective A: Establish and communicate a shared vision for RVS Online and RVSCLC that capitalizes on strengths and seizing opportunities for areas of continued growth and development.
In consultation with the Associate Superintendent of Schools, we have established a clear vision for both the RVSCLCs and RVSO. By establishing clear parameters for next year and beyond, we will no longer be a last resort dumping ground for students but a viable option for those students whose learning needs are best met through our mandates. Through both the SARR and more recently the SEP, it has become apparent that we need to establish some clear expectations for data gathering and reflection on the data. In some ways we have begun but there are other practices that could be implemented. (Learner engagement forms for each of the courses giving teachers excellent data and feedback from their students, formal analysis of Diploma Exam scores, increasing completion rates etc.) Also, working with both Alberta Education staff and Education Centre staff to introduce and establish the principles of High School redesign into our schools. In our SEP we included three of these principles for our areas of growth for next year. The professional learning opportunities for our staff PL days have been established and we are in a good place to move forward.
3. Work with RVS Online and RVS Community Learning teachers to explore and develop engaging and authentic teaching and learning practices for online courses. (Including Understanding By Design, Authentic/Balanced Assessment and Universal Learning)
Objective A: To establish a collaborative culture amongst the teachers and staff in RVS Online.
Objective B: To explore and develop engaging and authentic teaching and learning practices for online courses.
This year was a good beginning in starting conversations about engaging and authentic teaching and learning practices. I wanted to learn this year what was necessary to make a blended or online course engaging and authentic to students. After attending the iNACOL conference, I became aware of the very many iterations that blended and online courses take. Beyond that though, working with Education Centre staff in beginning conversations about what those courses should look like for RVS students, have also been a learning opportunity for me. As well, and probably the most profound influence has been teaching online classes and determining what my students needed from me as their teacher and what they need to see in a course. This feedback has been the most valuable.
So what do I need to work on for next year...
- to strengthen the relationships with all staff, students and other schools
- to provide instructional leadership in the areas of assessment, universal learning and instructional design
- to develop the online and blended courses
- to establish common protocols for each of the schools surrounding WeConnect teachers and courses
- to work with staff in building their leadership capacities by being open and available for questions, and providing leadership opportunities as they arise
I have always pursued professional growth and learning throughout my career. Each context gives me the opportunity to grow as a professional and gain a greater understanding of the complexities of education, teaching and learning. I am grateful for the opportunities I have and the people with whom I work. I am looking forward to next year and the new challenges and building upon the work I began this year.
Goals and Objectives
1. Establish and nurture positive and productive relationships with the members of the RVS Online and RVS Community Learning Centres in order to better understand the history, norms, values and traditions of the school community.
Objective A: Establish and nurture positive and productive relationships with staff members.
Objective B: Establish and nurture relationships with the student body of the RVS Online school.
Objective C: Establish and nurture relationships with the parent community of RVS Online and RVSCLC.
Objective D: Establish working relationships with Education Centre personnel.
Developing relationships in the field of education is fundamental to being successful. Through this year, I have been able to establish good relationships with the staff at both the CLCs and Online. Since I spent the bulk of my time at Cochrane and Croxford, certainly those relationships are stronger. I'm looking forward to working in Chestermere as well next year to establish those relationships there. As well, I have been able to develop relationships with my students. Being both an administrator and a teacher and working in both the Outreach and WeConnect capacities, I have been able to make connections not only with the students but the administrators and WeConnect coordinators as well. I will need to continue to work with parents and outside agencies to establish greater connections in the communities. It would be good to establish a plan for how we can get greater parental and community involvement at each of the CLC campuses. I also think that building a stronger relationship between the high schools and RVSO will only strengthen the program itself. We need to communicate how we can all best serve the students' learning needs.
2. Collaboratively develop and communicate a clear vision for continuous improvement (academic growth and achievement), grounded in research based outcomes and supported by historical data and feedback from school and district staff members, parents, community-based partners and students.
Objective A: Establish and communicate a shared vision for RVS Online and RVSCLC that capitalizes on strengths and seizing opportunities for areas of continued growth and development.
In consultation with the Associate Superintendent of Schools, we have established a clear vision for both the RVSCLCs and RVSO. By establishing clear parameters for next year and beyond, we will no longer be a last resort dumping ground for students but a viable option for those students whose learning needs are best met through our mandates. Through both the SARR and more recently the SEP, it has become apparent that we need to establish some clear expectations for data gathering and reflection on the data. In some ways we have begun but there are other practices that could be implemented. (Learner engagement forms for each of the courses giving teachers excellent data and feedback from their students, formal analysis of Diploma Exam scores, increasing completion rates etc.) Also, working with both Alberta Education staff and Education Centre staff to introduce and establish the principles of High School redesign into our schools. In our SEP we included three of these principles for our areas of growth for next year. The professional learning opportunities for our staff PL days have been established and we are in a good place to move forward.
3. Work with RVS Online and RVS Community Learning teachers to explore and develop engaging and authentic teaching and learning practices for online courses. (Including Understanding By Design, Authentic/Balanced Assessment and Universal Learning)
Objective A: To establish a collaborative culture amongst the teachers and staff in RVS Online.
Objective B: To explore and develop engaging and authentic teaching and learning practices for online courses.
This year was a good beginning in starting conversations about engaging and authentic teaching and learning practices. I wanted to learn this year what was necessary to make a blended or online course engaging and authentic to students. After attending the iNACOL conference, I became aware of the very many iterations that blended and online courses take. Beyond that though, working with Education Centre staff in beginning conversations about what those courses should look like for RVS students, have also been a learning opportunity for me. As well, and probably the most profound influence has been teaching online classes and determining what my students needed from me as their teacher and what they need to see in a course. This feedback has been the most valuable.
So what do I need to work on for next year...
- to strengthen the relationships with all staff, students and other schools
- to provide instructional leadership in the areas of assessment, universal learning and instructional design
- to develop the online and blended courses
- to establish common protocols for each of the schools surrounding WeConnect teachers and courses
- to work with staff in building their leadership capacities by being open and available for questions, and providing leadership opportunities as they arise
I have always pursued professional growth and learning throughout my career. Each context gives me the opportunity to grow as a professional and gain a greater understanding of the complexities of education, teaching and learning. I am grateful for the opportunities I have and the people with whom I work. I am looking forward to next year and the new challenges and building upon the work I began this year.
