From the desk of the Principal :)

I have had the chance to pop in and out of this classroom and I am very excited about what I am seeing and hearing...not only from the members involved, but the students as well.

I am in a very unique position in that not only am I the administrator at the school, but also a parent of a student in this classroom. As a result, I get the perspective from that of a parent, and an educator. This is very exciting and insightful in many ways.

As an administrator, I am excited to share some of my observations.....first off, it is clearly evident and re-affirming that the key to any classroom is in the instruction. Bev is so thoroughly planned, prepared, has set the ground rules of a safe, caring and respectful classroom, and is now merely using a tool - the technology - to meet the needs of the curriculum and the students. The old saying of building it and they will come is not the case in the classroom.....the students will be there, but whether or not their learning is authentic or not is another story. Bev has ensured that her students are getting a top notch education through her dedicated work ethic and has not just taken the role that we have netbooks so the kids will learn technology!

During one of my visits, many things popped out at me...first off, I had to count again to make sure that my numbers were correct. Yes, all 27 of the students where there....but there was no fooling around, no off task behavior, no going to sites that were not allowed, etc. Rather, there were 27 engaged students, and two in particular stood out to me as this was not common for them. I soon caught on that the teacher had incorporated DI strategies such as anchoring activities right off of her wiki . What a great way to ensure maximum use of instructional time!

Bev has organized her daily planner, has students blogging on real life questions that have them thinking at a deeper level and much, much more. It is funny when my blackberry starts buzzing at 8pm and I see there are new posts from students blogging about items such as grammar, how to prepare for sub teachers and so on! These kids are hooked!

As a parent, my child came home at the start of the year and was very excited about this opportunity. She was also very excited about her new teacher and told her grandma in early July that she was ready to go back to school because Mrs. Kezema was her teacher. So to say the least, the child enjoys school, but this opportunity increased her desire even more. She has her own netbook at home and has shown that she is fairly literate for her age, but I have seen her level grow, but interestingly in a more creative way. I see her moving from games in the evening to communicating via the blogs, adding to a homework assignment, using the apps such as collage makers that they are using in class so that she is more prepared on how to use it, etc. This is really neat and in my mind a great way to occupy her mind as the thinking part is much deeper than it is on facebook, petroptica and so on!

I can see that my daughter and the other students have moved from the excitement of hey we have laptops yahoo!!! to a level in which they do not even realize that they are in a different learning environment than other classrooms. They now see the netbooks as a way of learning, a mere tool to help them in their work. The netbook is no longer a toy/fad/etc, but rather a tool that allows them to do their job as a student. A tool that has engaged students that previously were not engaged. A tool that is available to us, but has not been utilized authentically as it was intended to be!

It has also been amazing to see the collegial work that has been taking place between Bev and Sharon, in addition to Bev, Kirk, Sharon and Rob. The network is strong as is the planning and roll out of all pieces. I can see that we are building capacity in Bev with DI and technology. With Sharon in regards to technology. Both of these areas will greatly benefit our teachers as they will ehance their strong instructional leadership skills within the school! I can see that Kirk and Rob are also building capacity in what they see and believe in terms of digital learning and they have the ability to network this as leaders throughout the division. I truly believe that this project will provide us with a future of capacity to grow our division's teachers with the true benefit going to our students!

In closing, I must also admit how amazed I am with our infrastructure. I cannot believe that things are running so well from an IT perspective! We are basically glitch free!

Until next time.
Randy