Principal Connections

So I'm new to my school this year and one of the strategies that I found worked like a charm at my previous school when I just began was snooping. I use my mad ninja skills to quietly sneak into classrooms, labs and the library to see what kids are up and learning. I've had a lot of fun! I learned that in the Medieval period, artists used egg yolks as a binding element in tempera paint. I came upon a research session in our library where students were trying to convince me that Deet is NOT the root of all evil. I've walking in on students learning how to make French pastry and in sneaking into one of our hospitality classes, students gave me amazing pointers on how to make salmon. Seeing flipped classroom in actions and witnessing Holocaust memorial lessons makes me excited and serves to remind me that there are ALWAYS fantastic things happening in our schools across all curricular areas. My snooping usually results in catching the teacher totally off guard when he or she...

Friday was Faith Day. It is intended as a break for our students, and a much-needed day of contemplation and thanksgiving for those of us who have answered our calling to accept our role as educators in this unique and separate systems. I feel fortunate everyday to work in an environment where I can freely live my faith and attempt to model for our kids what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ on earth. Days like these are especially important to me because they afford me the gift of time - time to reflect, to relate with the staff and even time to catch up with my principal on the drive up. This year's event was held at Loretto Maryholm (check out the view in the photo above) and while I will admit to have moaned and groaned about the distance away from the usual work location, I later appreciated the drive up because of the good, uninterrupted conversation that was had during the car ride up. We are so mired in the daily grind that we sometimes forget the importance of...

Being a member of any team is always an interesting experience. Lots of different experiences. Lots of different philosophies. Different talents. Different approaches. I was very fortunate at my previous school to be a part of a team that was so naturally cohesive and part of the reason for that, I think, is that many of the different aspects that I began listing were so similar. We were on the same page all the time about everything everyday. It was weird, but awesome. This year I find myself on a different kind of team and I think that the Almighty figured I could stand to learn a thing or two. Each of us couldn't be more different. Everyday I have learned something new. Sometimes the lessons are harder to learn and accept but it's learning just the same. Today's Halloween experiment was proof that when we put our mind to it, we can be quite the unit. I think we have come to be very supportive of the collective. It's been an absolutely MENTAL two months, bogged down...

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that often in my role, I have to tell parents a lot of things they don't want to hear - their child is failing multiple courses or that their son or daughter's poor choices have resulted in a suspension. I think that becoming a parent and growing in this role while simultaneously growing my role as Vice Principal has had an effect that even I underestimated. I deal in fact so naively, I try to trick myself into thinking that if I stick only to the facts, I won't allow any emotional reaction or prediction of outcome interfere with how I conduct myself. Typically, the fact-finding process is pretty straight-forward - interview kids, searching lockers, viewing camera footage... Secretly, I hope though, that I'm not going to have to break a mother's heart with what I find. The other day, I conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual assault. When the student and her mother came forward to see me, I could tell that ...

My grade 8 teacher was the late (and truly great) Classford Johnson. I remember his class like it was yesterday, including something he used to say on a daily basis: "I don't want to be loved, I want to be understood." As a kid, I knew what he was getting at. He wanted us to respect him, his rules and expectations. If we got along, great. If we didn't, it didn't matter to him as long as we respected him, his rules and his expectations. Most of us loved him. He was tough but fair. He appreciated a good joke and laughed with the rest of us when we something was funny. My memory of Mr. Johnson and his infamous phrase came into my head quite a lot in the days after I had bid farewell to the staff and students of the school I have just left. Admittedly, I was confused. As a kid and as a classroom teacher, I never really paid much mind to what people thought of me. I have always abided by the Golden Rule when it came to my relationships at school and hoped for the best....

I've been called a lot of names in my day, but today took the cake. Our very lovely chaplain paid me a visit today and called me "cyber Santa" . It just make my day. The name-calling came on the heels of some technological initiatives of mine that went 'live' today. This year, as a part of my own personal growth plan I plan to increase our school's online presence by expanding to various other social media, namely Facebook and Instagram. I also took over the existing school Twitter account and made a few adjustments. The aim is to promote our school with as many different types of social media as possible and provide parents and the wider community with options in how to learn more about what is going on at our school. In my efforts to help streamline administrative and operation procedures and processes, I had planned to introduce a number of paperless processes, managing the school's master calendar through Google Calendar, whereby each staff member has...