Castle Rock Elementary School, Castle Rock, Co, USA

CastleRock Elementary School (CRE)

Background:

This school is a state school in the Douglas County School District. Douglas County is an affluent county but the school has gone through some dramatic changes in recent years with the introduction of the high stake “No Child Left Behind” policy and with a restructure of staffing in the school district, including the abolition of the teachers union. I got the picture from teachers I spoke to morale was not high amongst some teachers.

Maggie outside Castle Rock Elementary

Politics aside, I was keen to visit CRE for two reasons; It is a State school and provides a point of comparison with the independent schools I am visiting and secondly, I worked at CRE 23 years ago as a fourth grade teacher, whilst on a teaching exchange so I was interested to see how the school had changed and evolved.

Castle Rock has 426 students K-6 Grade. Although Douglas County is an affluent area the school still has 35% reduced or free lunches. 

School's student Learner Qualities.

My host was Principal, Kelly Ursetta. She has been Principal of CRE for 3 years.

The school has 1:2 ratio of devices in the school. K-2 Grade classes have iPads and the 3-6 Grade classes use Chromebooks.

Innovations:

The school has put a lot of work in to environment education and the feature of this is their Habitat project. This is a joint project with the local community. It involves developing a nature trail in a reserve adjacent to the school. Each class has a time (45mins - 1 hour/week) to go and work on the Habitat and many of the grade levels have special projects within the Habitat they are working on. In the weekend community members also come and help with the Habitat and they also have some financial support from the local council. 

A wetland area on the School's Habitat Trail

Students use QR codes as a way for students/ parents/ visitors to link to the Habitat Blog and gain information about each area of the Habitat.

For their efforts developing the Habitat, and their recycling and energy saving measures, the school has been awarded a Green Flag award, similar to our Enviro-schools awards. The only difference is the Green Flag Award is worth $8000/annually to the school. That money has gone into more environmental projects in the school. 

In the States many schools like to flag to the public the particular areas they are good at or specialise in. I saw Elementary schools that specialised in Science and Technology and others that called themselves Schools of the Arts. Castle Rock is very much recognised for it's environmental work and within the school many of the integrated topics studied are on an environmental theme. 

The school uses a Project Based Learning approach to topic studies and it was pleasing to see the range of text books that occupied the classrooms in the 90s had disappeared, apart from Mathematics.

The district dictated "reverse" planning method has its merits but it means the students have less ownership of the Learning Outcomes. However the students are getting the opportunity to do their own self-directed Passions projects. Kelly said that their focus for PD had been around big picture pedagogy - Innovation, high engagement, student centred teaching and learning.  

Schools Project Based Learning Model.

One innovative idea around PD is similar to HSS ICT workshops last year but takes it a step further. They call it a Cafe Session. It starts with staff getting together for coffee and cakes and the presenters for the day, who are generally staff members, present a preview of what their workshop will be on that day. There are always three choices on offer. From there staff choose the workshop they wish to attend and go off with the presenter to their room. Topics covered could be eLearning, big picture pedagogy, an environment topic or core subjects. The staff don't have to go to all sessions but if there was enough interest the session could be repeated. In a system where PD budgets are limited this is a good use of resources and staff skills and knowledge. 

Reflection:

Kelly talked about her challenges and like many schools finds staff Performance management a huge task. This was backed up when talking to some Douglas County Teachers who said the implementation of performance pay has increased work and caused tension in schools. One teacher said it is particularly disappointing when he had achieved to an advanced teachers level and then wasn't paid the incentive promised! Kelly commented that one of her challenges has been maintaining staff and this is possibly an outcome of Douglas County Districts demands and expectations on teachers

Clearly political interference has had some morale issues and caused some good teachers to feel not as valued. However, despite this I found Castle Rock Elementary a really positive place and the students were focused on their learning, friendly and articulate. I think despite whatever is going on behind the scenes at District level, Kelly and her team have created a warm and friendly learning environment. 

Kelly did comment that one of the biggest on-going challenges is ensuring they maintain the momentum around the Habitat. They need passionate teachers to drive the project and ensure it is well maintained and utilised by the school. This is a bit like the HSS radio station, the concept has huge potential but is only as good as we allow it to be. Staff need to believe in it and see it as worthwhile. Saying that, the concept of the Habitat is a good one. Each year our seniors go off and plant trees in our community. It is a nice way for us to give back to the community, however, students have very little ownership of the project and after the planting is done many wouldn't spare another thought for what they have done. It was something they had to do.

If with the council and maybe the Environment Centre we identified an area near the school that we could maintain and develop for the community and all students could have an opportunity to contribute, I think students would feel a greater degree of ownership.

The Cafe Session was a great idea to utilise the skills within your staff and not just in eLearning. It gives staff an opportunity to step up and share and having three groups it means the staff are split into smaller groups which means each workshop will have smaller numbers and staff can really delve into the topic. 

Project Based Learning (PBL), like Inquiry learning, is a good concept but the reverse planning means teachers are the ones directing the outcome. The model is one being promoted to the schools by the school district and hasn't been developed by the school. Also like many of the Inquiry models that exist in NZ schools, the PBL model is linear. Children follow it in predetermined steps. This limits flexibility as students often like to start at different places in the process. They may not need the early stages because they may already have that knowledge. They may want to start with a prototype or an outcome and work back to find why they are having issues or challenges with their outcome. A classic Kiwi example of this is the SAUCE model developed in Spotswood School for Spotswood School but then their enterprising Principal went and touted it across the country. Many schools took it on but no-one, I don't think, owned it except Spotswood School. It was flawed in its design as it was linear and because staff had it presented to them as "This is our model," they didn't own it and gradually it died a natural death. 

After bagging the School district, I think the district concept reined in and with a non-political agenda is a good one. The district does a lot of the admin and has the buying power and influence of a large organisation. It also has a big picture view of the needs across the district and can provide the quality PD and resourcing needed. It would also ensure better transition and genuine linkage between Primary, Intermediate and Secondary. It would take away a lot of the competition that has developed out of the "Tomorrows Schools" self-governing model. At the moment we are islands and we waste a lot of resources doing things for ourselves that would collectively benefit all schools. With economies of scale there are winner schools (the big ones) and loser schools. The Nelson City COS is a step in the right direction and after reflection on the School District Concept I believe the possibilities are exciting. 

Implications for HSS

As mentioned the Habitat idea is a good one and if we could find an area near the school, maybe on the Grampians, that we could develop with Council support that would be a really positive initiative for the school. It would require some passionate staff, students and even parents/ grandparents to drive it and could also be linked with our Enviro-group but not exclusively for them. 

The Cafe Session could be something we do with our Inquiry groups. Each Inquiry group has one or two presenters (This could rotate). The group prepares a workshop and the presenter presents it. The other members of the group attend workshops by other inquiry groups. This could be a really effective way of sharing the work of the inquiry teams and getting everyone involved.

We need to look carefully at our student inquiry model - do we all own it? Does it provide students with the flexibility students need? How do we plan for it? These are some good mid-year review questions we can ask ourselves and a good discussion point for Pedagogy Inquiry group. 

As a cluster of schools we need to make sure our COS works and we must focus on the collaboration part of the concept, rather than taking the 'what's in it for me?' approach. I believe it is the future direction of our system and most importantly will benefit our students.

Castle Rock from CRE

Colorado Academy - Not for Profit Independent School

Colorado Academy - Independent Not for Profit School, Co, USA

Background:

Colorado Academy is a K -12 independent school located near the city of Denver and situated on 95 acres. The school is over 100 years old and started out as a church based school, then became a Military Academy and has been in its current independent school format since the early 1970s. The school has 950 students with 23% of students of colour, 75% of students are receiving some form of financial support.

The school features small class sizes of between 16 – 21 students. They also provide on-site child care for staff, free lunches for students and staff and private music tuition, of which 47% of students take advantage.

The school has a Board of Governors who are nominated to the position, an overall Head of School and then three Principals who run the three levels in the school – Lower, Middle and Senior schools.

My host for the day was Principal of the Lower School (elementary level), Lisa Ulsh.  Lisa has been in the role for three years and is responsible for teaching and learning programmes in the K – 6 area as well as being a member of the overall leadership team.

The school is extremely well resourced and its extensive grounds are well maintained. 

One feature of the school is its focus on quality professional development for staff. The school puts $239 000 into professional development/ year. The school 100% funds individual teachers workshops or conferences etc. If a staff member wishes to complete their masters, the school will cover 85% of the tuition costs.

Innovations:

Project X – traditionally, the school had operated as three separate schools but staff felt more collaboration between each “school” would be beneficial for continuity for students and good support for teachers particularly at transition years. In Project X teachers from each ‘school’ do a tour of each area. For example 8 teachers visited maths at 9^th grade, 6^th Grade and 3^rd Grade. This gives these teachers an overview about what the subject looks like at each level. 

Below is a copy of the invitation Eric Augustin, sent out to teachers inviting them to join a Literacy tour:

"All,

You are invited to spend an afternoon, December 9 (F day), witnessing first-hand how students experience literature at CA. This is open to all, not just English teachers!

We will spend an afternoon beginning in a LS classroom, move onto a MS class and finish with an US Literature class. At the conclusion of the tour, we will gather to toast the teachers who opened their rooms to us, share and discuss our observations. See below and the attached for details.

We request you participate in the entire tour, not just select one class to observe. Therefore, this may result in missing a class of your own and if so, let me know how we can help provide coverage for that class.

Please email me if you are interested in joining the tour. Dependent upon response we may have to limit the number of attendees.

Schedule: Dec 9 - F Day."

12:55 - 1:30	4th Grade - Suzanne Kolsun-Jackson
1:35 - 2:20	8th Grade - Liz McIlravy
2:20 - 3:30	10th Grade - Stuart Mills
3:40 - 4:30	Debrief in Project X Room

To add a bit of fun to the concept, Eric makes up tour posters to advertise the tour and create a bit of interest and discussion amongst staff. See the example below:

Another idea in this project was more radical. ‘Student for a Day,’ in this programme teachers spend a day in a classroom in different areas of the school as a student. The teacher does everything the student has to do including any homework.

At the end of the day Eric poses some reflective questions to assist the teacher think about their experience. Here are a selection of questions from a recent 'Student for a Day' experience: (Taken from an email from Eric to the teacher)

"For the reflection I encourage you to be descriptive rather than judgmental

How would you describe the student's day?
What was it like to be a student here today?
How interesting were the classes from a student's perspective?
How much input did the students have in the learning?
How much 'air time' was controlled by the student’s vs the teacher?
How active were the students?
What did you find most challenging throughout the day?
What did you wish a teacher did to make the learning more accessible?
In terms of your own practice, what takeaways do you have?"

Below is the teacher’s honest response to the questions:    

"Eric,

Thanks so much for setting this up! I did find it incredibly valuable, thanks.

I would describe the students day as fragmented. Inserting a transitions into a student's schedule every 45 - 15 minutes, makes it tough to create a state of flow and deep exploration. The longest time a student is in one particular place is 60 minutes during the first period of the day, but every other class, advisory, break, lunch and sports are a maximum of 45 minutes. It takes the average kid at least 5, maybe 10 minutes, to re-engage in a new subject and classroom, which leaves about 35-40 minutes of actual work.

I really enjoyed being a student and feel like the majority of classes are taught well, in the sense that teachers provide meaningful and relevant lessons. From a student's perspective, I get the impression that they feel supported, care about and generally enjoy themselves.

My personal benchmark for 'interesting' is a class that compels kids to investigate a topic further on their own. I would say that Math and Photography met that benchmark. It’s honestly hard to say how engaged students are in a given class, because they are so complicit and obedient, most of the time. Many of the classes felt didactic and didn't leave a lot of room for self-expression or investigation, but I also understand that some kids are acquiring basic mastery of subjects, so direct instruction may still be appropriate.

In math, students were allowed to solve algebraic expressions in several ways, which left room for choice and also cultivated a real understanding of the material, rather than plugging numbers into an equation. In science, students had just finished a unit on Mendelian genetics and were asked to create a hybrid creature that (octopus and cat) took into consideration dominant and recessive allele's to figure out which characteristic of each animal would show up in their offspring. The photography class showcased student's portfolio's focused on the concept of 'reflections'. Students gave one another feedback on their composition, angles, frame of reference, etc. It was a really cool project and allowed lots of room for student voices.

The photography class was especially student driven followed by input by students in English as they reviewed and analysed essays from previous Wrap tests. It’s clear to me that student engagement is directly correlated to their participation and voice in the class. The more they are given direct instruction, the harder I found it was for them, and me, to concentrate.

I found the transitions most challenging and the lack of time to sink my teeth into a topic. When I read a great book, magazine article, Khan Academy video, etc. in order to gain a deep appreciation or understanding, I usually need a minimum of 1 hour to tinker with the material, process the information and reflect/synthesise the things I've just learned. I like the idea of creating longer blocks of time, but don't know how to achieve this with all of the other competing demands.

I wish more teachers allowed students to teach their peers and learn from one another, create opportunities for personal choice and we're responsive to student interests, rather than arbitrarily completing a lesson in order to 'stay on schedule'. When students are forced to explain a concept to a classmate, their learning is deepened in a way that cannot be achieved through direct instruction. When kids are allowed to take a concept and investigate it further on their own, they gain a sense of ownership and agency to be active and engaged learners. Lastly, when a teacher can realise that a concept needs additional explanation or a conversation goes in an interesting, and relevant tangent, a good teacher will cultivate this exploration, rather than cutting a rich conversation short in order to finish a lesson.

My take away from today is that kids want to be joyful and when they feel joy, it opens their minds to learning. When a room is an anxious, stressful and rigid place, those same habits of mind are cultivated, which stunts growth and learning. I realise that I need to make an effort to be more of a student of teaching by seeking input colleagues and looking to others for examples of excellent teaching. I am a better teacher as a result of frequent and ongoing dialog with Dani and Adrian, and I believe this approach should be duplicated across the school. It’s more time consuming than planning lessons alone, but the outcomes from many thoughtful and intelligent minds is always better."  

The teacher made some real insights that can only strengthen themselves as teachers. These insights were not about subjects and content but more about the sort of environment they experienced first-hand that was conducive to learning. The "Student for a day" concepts sound quite out there but when you read the teachers response you release how powerful such an experience could be.

Buddy Project

Next week was going to be senior launch week. This week is post exam week where senior students do some college orientation but also spend some time with their junior buddies. This would include in class help but also attending a zoo trip together. Throughout the year these student support their buddy. This buddy project is part of a larger pastoral approach across the whole school around positive behaviour and respect. Both Maggie and I noted how friendly polite and respectful the students were.

I attended a global perspective class (Humanities) where these students were really engaged in their learning and were doing a project where they were developing a new city anywhere in the world. Students had to understand why the host country was the best location for the city. It was a student-led project and one student even commented he enjoyed the level of student agency in the Global Awareness class. They said it allowed them the time to gain a greater depth of understanding of the topics.

Facilities:

One of the special features of the school grounds is in the junior Science lab. This lab is an old observatory that sits on pontoons in the middle of a lake. The lake has just been dredged and surroundings replanted so that it will become a living habitat that students can study from the science room.

As mentioned earlier, the school is incredibly well resourced. The innovation lab is a new feature of the school. It replaces the old technology rooms we would have at intermediate and high schools and could be something a Primary school could look at. It incorporated the best of technology rooms in terms of wood and metal working equipment but featured many high tech machines such as 3D printers, Laser printers, robotics and computing. The emphasis is very much design and build. As well as normal class sessions the school also runs an engineer’s club for students who have a passion for this area. Their latest project is to convert an old school bus into a camper van!

The High tech Innovation Lab

The Learning Centre a feature of each of the three "schools." Features the traditional library and a suit of desktops for student research. It also manned by a full time teacher who is available to assist students. 

Sets of iPad in junior classes 

Robotics in the Lower School - Lego Mindstorm

Around the High School block was a number of breakout spaces for students to use in study periods. They were being well used and some were collaborative spaces and other quiet spaces. One of the features of them was whiteboard walls where students could do problem solving for science, maths etc. These were also a feature of many of the classrooms. 

Student collaborative work space with whiteboard table and wall

Quiet zone student work space with blackboard wall.

Staffing:

Independent schools typically don't pay as well as state schools but it appears the conditions are excellent. As mentioned earlier the school has a commitment to professional development and in supporting their teachers to Masters level qualifications. Because they are independent they have the opportunity to carefully choose staff to suit their schools strategic direction and Head of School, Mike Davis, emphasised this is a really important area for them. Teachers are provided with lunch daily, they have a gym and weights room at their disposal, there is onsite childcare from babies to pre-k (5Years) and staff have plenty of release time to allow for planning and studies. There was a genuine positive 'buzz' amongst the staff.

Finally a neat idea for literacy. Called Literature Circles, the teacher previews a number of novels/ books. The preview would be done in an exciting way to create interest. The students then choose a book that interests them. You may need to limit the number of children in each group (4-5 would be ideal). The children are then grouped according to their book and work together as a book club. Coming together to share their thoughts on the book and could collectively decide how they would present their book.

The school has 1:1 iPads for students in the Lower School and 1:1 devices in the Middle and Senior school. Most seniors had both a Macbook Air and a iPad Air. Students used these extensively to assist their learning.

My Reflections:

This was a beautiful school with a passionate staff. There is lovely tone right down to the children and staff sharing the same lunch room. Like so many schools they are transitioning into a new pedagogy that is more student led and takes the teachers off the “stage.” The very positive thing at Colorado Academy is, after talking to all the leadership team, the change taking place is shared vision from all school leaders and all had an excellent understanding of the big picture and the direction the school was heading. They could then provide the quality PD opportunities to support staff through the transformation as well as focusing their appointments process on the type of teacher they need to support their pedagogical changes.

The Project X is an innovative way to open up the various areas of the school and create some consistency of practice. It was interesting to note that the teacher who was a student for a day focused on how the teaching happened and what the class environment was like as opposed to what is taught. This is interesting as secondary subject areas tend to focus on content. I believe a project X type programme could be a valuable part of our new Nelson City COS.

The culture of the school was something that stood out to me. The students were articulate and focused on learning. As I walked around the school they were friendly and polite. The school was clean and tidy and both staff and students were very proud of their learning environment. This doesn't happen by accident and, the Community of Learners Schools, at Colorado Academy School values are clearly articulated and reinforced. Students appreciate the level of trust and self-responsibility the staff provide them. This is emphasised from a very early age.

Once again the role of the teacher and the student in the class was a big discussion point. Students talking about student agency and emphasising that they like to drive their own learning and being given time to delve deep into their topics and get it completed. The teacher stepping off the 'stage,' putting away the text books and being the activator of learning. It is easy to say Colorado Academy can do amazing things because it has heaps of money but the reality is that what it does well doesn't cost money - student engagement, quality teachers, quality professional development in school, and a positive school culture. 

Again I saw the importance of providing real opportunities to present to an audience. Not just in topic but while we were there all areas of the school were preparing for a school-wide art exhibition for parents. They also had an art studio where individual senior students run their own Art Exhibitions. 

The school facilities were well thought out and very much kept pace with changes in education. Use of devices by students, innovation labs, breakout spaces, whiteboard walls, and robotics all very much embedded in programmes.  

Innovative furnishings in Lower School

 The idea of a buddy project that crosses across intermediate and secondary is really innovative. Not a Big Brother Big Sister type project for 'At-Risk' kids that involves dragging kids out of class but an in-class programme that might see a student support a younger child in reading, writing, or maths. Maybe attending a shared trip. Logistically a nightmare but more organic than the 'Intervention' programmes we currently have available to us. 

Implications for HSS:

The Project X concept needs to be part of our Nelson City Community of schools if we are to really understand each other and work together successfully. 

We must continue down the path of student led learning and as a cluster of schools we must look to ensure this model is consistent at all levels.

Once again the presentation of work to an audience is emphasised and as a school we must seek these genuine opportunities to present to an audience. 

As part of our cluster we could look at some organic ways to develop buddy programmes across the schools; whether it be in-class, use of students on camp, music or cultural exchanges. 

Colorado Academy reinforced the importance of appointments and ensuring we are choosing teachers for our school and our direction not just "Good Teachers." Every teacher should be a literacy or numeracy specialist but if that's what makes you good then you are missing the big picture. We need people who can build relationships with children, engage them, allow students to take the reins and drive their learning and who feel they don't have to be 'in control." 

Their emphasis on professional development also goes along with this. Quality PD available to address teacher’s needs and the strategic direction of the school. Ensuring staff stay attuned with changes in pedagogy. Also giving financial support and encouraging staff to extend themselves academically by supporting teachers through their Masters. The school was focused on building the capacity of their staff. 

The Connected Classrooms Projects - Schools District 74

Part Four: Connected Classrooms Projects - School District 74, BC

Background:

This school district is geographically isolated and also the schools have very small numbers, both the high schools and the elementary. Obviously this makes class sizes small and each cohort year group is very small and most students could conceivably go right through school with the same children in their class. Socially this is very isolating. At high school level with few specialist teachers subject content could be limited.

The school district is situated in the Rocky Mountains area about 4 hours east of Vancouver, BC. Each school is around an hour apart.

The school district has 60% First Nation people and this comes with historic social issues in families with many parents struggling with parenting skills. This is due to  a lack of role modelling parenting skills through generations -  an outcome of the institutionalising of generations in the Indian Residential schools.  Attendance was not an issue as school was the most consistent thing in their lives. The behaviour of the students was generally good as the students respected the institution of the school and the teachers built relationships with the children and so explicitly understood their needs.

Along with the social and geographical isolation, the teachers felt real professional isolation as they hardly saw another teacher throughout the year apart from the small number in their school. 

Along with the social and geographical isolation, the teachers felt real professional isolation as they hardly saw another teacher throughout the year apart from the small number in their school. 

Connected Class at Cayoosh Elementary

The Connected Classroom Project:

With the challenges described above a group of teachers and administrators from the school district got together to come up with a way of making cohort groups bigger and addressing the social isolation students felt. They developed the Connected Classrooms Projects with Lytton, Cayoosh, Cache Creek and Ashcroft Elementary Schools. 

This project brought a Grade 6-8 class together from each school every day via video conferencing. 

Each class had cameras, sound equipment, and interactive whiteboards installed and teachers would collaborate together planning their units of study. One teacher would take the lead for a unit. When the classes got together the lead teacher would review what they had done or a student would do this. All four classes are visible on the large screen in the classrooms. Collaborative work is seen on the SMART boards of all classes and in the classes I visited students seemed to manage the SMART board. A sound system allowed students from each school to share their thoughts and where they were at in their integrated unit. They also could ask questions and students from other schools could suggest answers.

I was impressed with how student-led their learning was with the lead teacher role being just to manage the link-up. Students I observed had been working on projects for a while and were excited about how they were going to present their project and were sharing ideas across schools on how best they could share with their audience on the presentation night. There was a real buzz about this.

Lytton Connected Class heads off on a field trip with a class from Lillooet 

Another innovative aspect to this project is when a class goes on a field trip it generally includes one or more of the classes in the Connected Classroom group. The day I was there the students from Lytton were heading off on a field trip to a Farm and were picking up a Connected Class from Lillooet on the way.

The teachers commented that the video conference connections are great but the opportunity to get together on a field trip was rich socially and was an important part of the project.

I had the chance to visit Kumsheen High School in Lytton and while there the visual media class linked up with students at Ashcroft High School. The visual media specialist teacher was in Ashcroft and the teacher at Kumsheen took a facilitators role during the lesson.

12th Grade Kumsheen High School students connected to Visual Media teacher and her class Ashcroft High School. 

The students were reviewing a recent photography field trip all the Year 12 visual media students had been on to Victoria, the state capital. The students I spoke to were very excited about the trip both because they loved the work they did with a professional photographer in Victoria and because of the social interaction with other 12th grade students. On its own Kumsheen could not have afforded to employ the services of a professional photographer but as a collective of schools it was possible.

All the teachers I spoke to said for them as professionals the Connected Classrooms was a wonderful tool for allowing them to connect with colleagues and they felt they were better teachers because of it. They commented that they learnt a lot from each other and they had to be on top of their game when they were the lead teacher in particular, so this meant they really had to reflect more on their practice. Despite their geographical isolation they said they felt very connected to the community of teachers within their school district.

One of the spin offs of the connected classrooms has been the breaking down of the competition between students of the various towns. Historically, there had been huge competition between the four towns - Lytton, Lillooet, Cache Creek and Ashcroft to the point that when they got together for sports, games would often turn to violence. The students had no connection with each other and only knew students from the other towns as historic rivals. The connected classroom projects, now five years old, has brought these students together and they have got to know them as fellow students and even friends - a face, a name, an individual.

Lytton Elementary School

This was the first school in this district I visited. With 90% First Nation People there were many challenging social issues in the community - alcoholism, domestic violence, and unemployment. However, despite this, immediately you could see the school was a warm and caring environment. With a roll of 70 and four teachers the Principal said they "rattled around" in the large building they had as it used to be the District High School.

Main St Lytton, BC 

When I arrived the students were all sitting around having breakfast, something that happens every morning. The Principal, Denise O'Connor was busy finding some lunch for some students heading away on a field trip. There was no doubt there were some challenges teaching in this school but the atmosphere was about learning and the students were keen to get stuck into their day. Denise had lived in the community all her life and clearly had a real passion for the community.

Maggie with Denise, Principal of Lytton Elementary.

Chris Lewis, the class teacher, of the Connected Class was a very positive teacher who clearly had an excellent relationship with the class. I spoke with him briefly before he headed off on his class field. He said the Connected Class Project is vitally important to his little class (15 students) as it socially and academically expands the student’s world. However, he said the issue for them was connectivity. Their network was poor and connection was unreliable. Across the town the problem was the same and although there has been talk from both government and business level, the solution is a distance away. The problem was not so bad in other towns, which were larger.

Lytton Successful Learners Traits

Kumsheen High School

We briefly visited Kumsheen High School with Denise. This school has 45 students and Principal, Chris, explained the challenges and limitations of so few students.

Because of these the Connected classrooms were vital. The students can access specialist teachers in subjects at other schools and also have access to experts who can link in the school via the video conferencing. The professional photographer used for the Victoria field trip is a great example. They have the ability to link with the expert before and after the field trip to set up and then review the project. The school was using the Google Apps to collaborate with peers.

Both staff and students were very positive and focused on learning. One 12 grade student commented with pride that he was going to College next year and not going to waste time taking a gap year off.

Cayoosh Elementary School -  Lillooet

This is one of two elementary schools in this town and is the largest in the school district with 180 students. I was welcomed by Patrice Barth, the Principal, who gave me an overview of the school and the area and escorted me to Errin Gregory Connected Classroom. Lillooet is a small town with the main industry being a large plywood factory. The school had around 60% First Nation People.  

Cayoosh Elementary in Lillooet, BC

Errin’s class had 26 8th Grade students. One of the features of the class was Rosie its pet tarantula. Quite a unique pet and the children were excited to demonstrate feeding Rosie.

The class also has 1:2 Workbook laptops in the class, which many students were using when I was in the room.

1:2 Ratio of Workbooks in the class

The students had been working on individual projects at all three schools in the connected conference. Errin was the lead teacher for these projects and was leading the video conference with Cache Creek and Ashcroft.

All three Connected Classrooms working together.

Each school reported on their progress, with students leading all of the discussion. Then Errin collected in ideas for presenting projects from her class and wrote them up in a document on the SMART board.

Children discuss presentation ideas - screen visible to all three classes. 

Each class shared their ideas for presentation by either sharing their documents on the second screen in each class or by one student verbally reporting back. The process was clearly well embedded in the class’s routine and students responded well to their interactions with students from other schools.

Ashcroft High School

We did actually spend a great deal of time in this school but went to lunch with their Visual Media teacher and one of the original Connected Classroom teachers, Brooke Haller who worked at Lytton Elementary School at the initiation of the project. She commented that the School District leaders and Principals were 100% behind the project both in terms of financial costs of setting up, allowing flexibility in the curriculum and by encouragement and interest in the project and it’s progress. They now see it as a vital part of success in teaching and learning in their district. She also mentioned the difference the Connected Classroom project has made to overcoming professional isolation in her region. Teachers from other schools are interacting and sharing with each other on an almost daily basis.

 My Reflections

Innovation in this unique environment has been about overcoming barriers and creating innovative modern learning environments where students can interact with their peers. Class programmes observed model best practice – student led, choice for students.

Clearly, access to a quality network is a barrier they need to overcome but this is achievable and it didn't stop them achieving a level of connectedness. The idea of Connected Classroom doesn’t need to be limited to schools in insolation - it also has applications for all schools as the technology and concept would allow classes to link up across districts, countries or across the globe. Neighbouring small rural schools in New Zealand would really benefit from this model. If they could get over their local rivalry and competition (which this model would help with) their students would really benefit from the greater level of social and academic interactions. As Principal of Tasman, we had around 18 Year 7 /8 students. 9 Year 8s. If genders were 50/50 then that would leave 4 or 5 of each gender. Chances are these children would have gone through the past 7 years with the same students, not an ideal situation. If we were to link with other local schools of similar sizes we could have increased the size of the cohort, increase the opportunities, and reduce the isolation of each school "Island." Tomorrows School has given us many opportunities but it has also made each school an individual island that we tend to protect pretty closely.

Hampden Street is truly lucky with the level of ability and capacity we have in IT and our network connection. We could connect with local schools but as we are relatively large we don't have the same social isolation issues. We could easily link with schools in other parts of the country and collaborate on projects. I think our best opportunity would be to be a global Connected Classroom with a school in Indonesia. This would easily be achievable at HSS. With the staff and student's skills in using Google to collaborate on work and our existing relationship with Indonesia through AsiaNZ, we have a good opportunity to genuinely collaborate in a global connected classroom.

Parallels with the needs of the First Nation people and Maori was interesting. Clearly the needs of Maori and support for their culture within education is well ahead of where the First Nation people are. The generational effect of the residential schools has been a limiting factor. Many aspects of the First Nation Culture has been lost through the affects of the residential schools. Very few First Nation can speak their native language and so even with 90% First Nation students at Lytton, establishing any type of bilingual programme would be difficult.

It’s all about relationships and this was so true in this challenging environment. These teachers were dedicated and knew their students well. The staff cared about their students and knew the community.

Implications for HSS.

Clearly visiting after two school districts I can see the need for student agency at all grades is the way forward in modern education. Students owning their learning and being able to articulate and own their inquiry process is vital. Once again the opportunity for student’s to present their project to an authentic audience was key to the success of the Inquiry Process. Many (even most) schools in NZ, including Hampden Street, tend to have their inquiry as a teacher led model. The teacher may say it is student led but the students are following a model they don't own and see it almost like a 'paint by numbers.' We also tend to run our inquiry separate from the "valuable" literacy and numeracy time" which always happens in the morning. Why!!! Genuinely integrating these subject’s into a student-led inquiry makes them so much more relevant, engaging and authentic for students.

As mentioned in my reflection, the concept of the connected classroom has excellent applications for our school.  It would give us the ability to link up and collaborate with another school either in another part of the country or internationally in Australia or Indonesia. It could be linked with our Google Apps for Education. We would not necessarily need to spend a fortune on expensive audio visual equipment as we could use Google Hangouts or Skype for Free. Using Google docs students would have the opportunity to genuinely collaborate on projects between schools.

A Connected Classroom concept could also be used to link classes with experts and teachers with other teachers to collaborate on projects. Several classes working on the same topic could video conference with an expert as a rich way to share knowledge, without the expense of getting them in and with students and teachers being able to interpret the information together as they listen to the information.