Sunday, February 26, 2012

Parents and Performance Standards

A few years ago, a group of parents got together to review the performance standards. Our language as educators can sometimes sound quite weird and the guide that was developed provides a very useful set of explanations. Many of you are working hard to help parents understand the shift in assessment practices and how the performance standards are designed to help learners coach themselves. The suggestions for parents in the reading guide for parents are still current and very helpful.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Assessment Resources

Jacob Martens (VSB) is developing and collating a strong set of assessment resources. Please check out his blog,

Policy or Practice?

One of our key beliefs that the best way to influence policy is through demonstrating strong practice. Here is an article from a blog post by Richard Elmore at Harvard along the same lines although in an American context. See what you think.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Deepening Inquiry and Building Curiosity

The Networks of Inquiry and Innovation in partnership with DASH, VIU and educators from the West Vancouver School District are hosting a one day seminar on May 6. Please take a look at the flyer and mark the date now for an exciting day of learning, inquiry and networking. Video clips from the 2011 seminar are available on the network website www.noii.ca.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Making a difference

Valentines Day is a good day to remind ourselves about all the people whose lives we touch through our work. We were given the link to this movie from one of our students at VIU. Please take a look - We have all had a Teddy in our lives.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Quick News Flash

Congratulations to Surrey principal, Yrsa Jensen, a long time network leader is one of four BC principals to be honoured February 28 as one of Canada's Outstanding Principals. Linda and I have been fortunate to have been associated with Yrsa both through the network and through her work in designing the Leadership Seminar series at BCELC.

Check our Brooke Moore's latest CEA blog post to learn how she is encouraging her grade 8 student to 'jump into inquiry.'

Mark Sunday May 6 on your calendar for the annual network seminar. This year the theme will be Inquiry and Innovation: For a Healthy Learning World. We are working in partnership with DASH and our colleagues at VIU to create what we think will be an exciting and highly engaging day of learning and connection. The location will be SFU Harbourside. Stay tuned for more details.

The 2011-2012 questions for both the mainframe network and the Aboriginal network are now available on the website. Don't hesitate to contact schools directly for more information.