Tuesday, October 13, 2009
First Day in a Rural District
Having been a city dweller for pretty much all my life, I have to say that my first day of observation at a more remote school district was a really incredible experience. What really impressed me was the community integration which occured with the school, and the dedication the teachers I spoke with and observed had to the community at large. Additionally, although the school lacked some of the extra elements which can be found in larger disctricts (ie. the latest technology aids, a more complete roster of electives for students for choose from), the administration and the staff more than made up for this with a strong relationship with community liaison organizations and through tailored extracurricular programs set up within the school.
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Which remote school district/school?
ReplyDeleteLindsey
I had the exact opposite experience while observing in Kelowna at Mt. Boucherie. I've had a chance to observe a plethora of elective classes, including American Sign Language, and Chess 12. Other electives include hairstyling, cooking, automotive mechanics, woodworking, Japanese, visual arts/graphic design and medieval weaponry.
ReplyDeleteEach of the classrooms in the school has a projects and the teachers have laptops so they can use powerpoint for their classes. There are also smartboards that the teachers can sign out in the library. Many of the science classes also have laptop carts so that each of the students can use the laptops in the classroom. After observing a couple of classes with the technology, my views are still mixed. I observed at least half the class accessing games online while they were supposed to be researching food contamination by bacteria.
The grading system at Mt. B. is also very progressive. Teachers are required to follow the Assessment for Learning guidelines, meaning that students can hand in work without penalty anytime during the semester, make-up tests are given if there is poor performance on tests, and teachers can not penalize students for being disrespectful. The school is striving for a 100% pass rate in their classes. Like my views with technology, I have mixed feelings about the assessment for learning guidelines. Has anyone else encountered this?
That's an interesting contrast. I'm up in Port Hardy, and I've found that budget constraints are a major issue in pushing forward with more technology-orientated content in classes. There are LCD projectors, but whiteboards are the norm, and most classes are centred around handouts and texts, not computer-based assignments. There's a real issue with designing such content, as many of the students don't have access to computers at home, and find it difficult to get to the school to use the facilities there during off-hours, or during their day.
ReplyDeleteThe teachers themselves are very creative, and try to make their courses flexible to incorporate a more wide-ranging scope of material. For example, one of the history teachers hosts an off-hours history club, where students can bring snacks, games, or movies which are centred on historical topics.
Additionally, there's a great deal offered in terms of First Nations curriculum, and a greater variety of technical programs (woodworking, mechanics, metal shop, etc.) than at schools I remember. A lot of this reflects the needs of the local economy. However, the great limitation right now is funding, which will probably lead to a school closure in the district soon, as a means of having one school offering a greater variety of electives and extra curricular activities (i.e. more academically orientated options, more sports teams, a school band, etc.).