10. Provide evidence of the ways in which you establish and maintain partnerships among colleagues, parents, and community.
Working With Colleagues
Education has moved from being a career of isolated educators to a group of collaborators working in the best interest of students. Following are a few short summaries of collaborative efforts I have been involved in this year:
- I travel to school each morning with an experienced master teacher; Barb. We collaborate and reflect together each morning over our short drive and sometimes a cup of coffee. We share our experiences, successes and challenges in order to shape our burgeoning high school into the best form of what it can be. Barb has been invaluable to me as a resource, especially in the area of Catholic tradition and faith development in which I am woefully a neophyte.
- On a regular basis I meet with Shawn to discuss what we are doing in our science classrooms and how we can make it better. Shawn is one of the most talented and best planned educators I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He is constantly striving to find new experiences for his students and in that I strive to reach his level of expertise.
- One member of our small high school is a first year teacher by the name of James. James has been given a teaching load that I believe would be daunting for any teacher, but as a first year teacher the challenge is exceptional. I have made a habit of sharing both resources and advice with James in order to make his entry into this profession easier and more successful. In his first semester, James had the difficult task of operating a split class for Math 30-1 & 30-2. Near the end of the semester James found himself short of the time required to cover all of the material in Math 30-1 (not uncommon for even experienced math teachers working with this over packed curriculum). In order to help students complete covering the material, I agreed to teach one of four units during my chemistry class since students in that class had been working at a better than expected pace. This was done primarily through the use of online lessons and assignments which I would then answer questions on or solve for the students (rather than teaching the material directly). Students were allotted approximately two classes per week in which we would work on math.
- I travel to school each morning with an experienced master teacher; Barb. We collaborate and reflect together each morning over our short drive and sometimes a cup of coffee. We share our experiences, successes and challenges in order to shape our burgeoning high school into the best form of what it can be. Barb has been invaluable to me as a resource, especially in the area of Catholic tradition and faith development in which I am woefully a neophyte.
- On a regular basis I meet with Shawn to discuss what we are doing in our science classrooms and how we can make it better. Shawn is one of the most talented and best planned educators I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He is constantly striving to find new experiences for his students and in that I strive to reach his level of expertise.
- One member of our small high school is a first year teacher by the name of James. James has been given a teaching load that I believe would be daunting for any teacher, but as a first year teacher the challenge is exceptional. I have made a habit of sharing both resources and advice with James in order to make his entry into this profession easier and more successful. In his first semester, James had the difficult task of operating a split class for Math 30-1 & 30-2. Near the end of the semester James found himself short of the time required to cover all of the material in Math 30-1 (not uncommon for even experienced math teachers working with this over packed curriculum). In order to help students complete covering the material, I agreed to teach one of four units during my chemistry class since students in that class had been working at a better than expected pace. This was done primarily through the use of online lessons and assignments which I would then answer questions on or solve for the students (rather than teaching the material directly). Students were allotted approximately two classes per week in which we would work on math.
Working With Parents & the community
As a member of the teaching staff at Saint Mary's, I try to bring community into our school whenever an educational opportunity presents itself. This year I have organized:
- Aqua Tera come into our school in order to present to students the environmental and economic issues surrounding bottled and tap water.
- Larry Vavrek a member of our local community who is a champion in raising awareness for organ donation in our province.
- St. Mary's Student Convention - I am in the process of booking an expert in fine foods, olive oil and vinegar to present to students aspects of this specialized career as well as the education and continuing education required to be a professional.
- Poetry and Tea with local seniors - As a community service project, I am heading up a team of high school teachers to organize a visit to our local senior's home where our students will read their poetry, have tea, treats and conversation with our local elders.
- I am a member of our schools grad committee. We are working to make St. Mary's first graduation a fantastic event. Aside from helping to design that day I will also be functioning as MC for the event.
- Aqua Tera come into our school in order to present to students the environmental and economic issues surrounding bottled and tap water.
- Larry Vavrek a member of our local community who is a champion in raising awareness for organ donation in our province.
- St. Mary's Student Convention - I am in the process of booking an expert in fine foods, olive oil and vinegar to present to students aspects of this specialized career as well as the education and continuing education required to be a professional.
- Poetry and Tea with local seniors - As a community service project, I am heading up a team of high school teachers to organize a visit to our local senior's home where our students will read their poetry, have tea, treats and conversation with our local elders.
- I am a member of our schools grad committee. We are working to make St. Mary's first graduation a fantastic event. Aside from helping to design that day I will also be functioning as MC for the event.
Destination Imagination
peace county regional science fair
I worked in partnership with Shawn (my science teacher counterpart in the Jr. High) to make the St. Mary's Science Fair happen at the school and regional levels. I took care of the correspondence and dissemination of information on the regulations for the regional fair. Shawn organized the school presentation of projects, and oversaw the day to day issues students had. I also played a small role in this respect. Originally Shawn was to accompany the students to the regional competition, but complications arose for him and so I went in his place.
Because I was previously obligated to Destination Imagination the next morning, Shawn and I arranged to have parents meet me in Peace River in the afternoon so they could chaperone the students for the night. |
High School Redesign
Bringing our school into the 21st century has been a truly collaborative effort, between our staff, students and parents. High School teachers have met formally on a regular basis, and informally on an almost daily basis to identify our successes and challenges in order to identify the direction in which our school community should develop to best serve students in our ever changing world.