September+2013

Tuesday, September 24
The school year is up and running at Dakota Collegiate. Hard to believe that we are already three weeks in, and well on our way to writing interim reports in two weeks. This Semester I am teaching two classes of grade nines and two classes of Grade elevens. All English, all 1 to 1. In fact, this year the Grade 12 students are the only students in the building that do not carry a computer to classes every day. As the 1 to 1 laptop initiative progresses, I wonder about how it is having an impact on our school culture, and on the way we see ourselves as a learning community.

Yesterday we had an inservice; about 80 teachers from our school and 40 from [|College Beliveau] joined together for a day of sharing and collaboration. In the morning we hosted a mini-unconference, "[|EdCamp]" style. The first hour was given over to collaborative schedule building, where the sharing and ideas took precedent over the time and space. So often we plan it the other way around- start with the space and time, and fill in the blanks from there. It was good to see the DCI and CB professional staff come together to create about 15 meaningful sessions on a variety of topics.

I was quite involved in the planning of the day since I have also been appointed the "Department Head of Literacy with Information and Communication Technology". Certainly the longest title I've ever had, and I'm not so sure that it'll make it's way on to my email signature. In this new role I will be helping out with PD planning, meeting with colleagues in a "peer coaching" role, and aiding in the completion of the the first chapter in the 1 to 1 story at Dakota. After all, once all of the students carry computers every day (in about 11 months from now) we will have accomplished something unique in our Province. Dakota will be the first Public High School in Manitoba to expect all students to bring computers every day.

media type="custom" key="23906262" So...where do we go from here? Again I wonder about how our school culture, our values, and about how we identify ourselves. We know that having 1200 students learning with technology every day has huge potential for them as learners, and I think it must also be having an impact on the school as a whole as well. This year we will be taking a bit of an inward look at our school. Time for some self-reflection, some meta-analysis. Hopefully we will come out of this nascent four year period with a firm grasp on how 1 to 1 works within our school, and with a better handle on how to share what we are learning with other schools locally, provincially, and maybe even globally.

media type="custom" key="23906298" Sharing our PD with College Beliveau was a good start, I think. We can learn from each other, and meeting together proves that we know the value of collaboration. In this increasingly inter-connected world the ability to collaborate and share knowledge are a couple of the "21st Century Skills" that often get tossed into conversations.

September is always a good time to hit the "reset" button. Old familiar patterns recommence, new challenges and opportunities arise, and the big wheel keeps on turning. Now that we are well underway in the school year and in the 1 to 1 laptop initiative, we have inertia, we have momentum. I sense that 2013-14 witll be about setting a direction for down the road; more about the steering wheel, and less about the gas pedal or the brakes.

But whatever happens, it certainly is an interesting ride, with a wonderful view so far.