Blog Posts

Now in my thirty-fifth year as an educator, I still look forward to the beginning of the school year with anticipation. It still feels like yesterday, but three and a half decades ago, I started my career in Peace River South School District as a grade 6/7 teacher in Devereaux Elementary School. I remember when I first saw the ad for the position, going to a map to see where the heck this place was. The principal, Mr. Evans, interviewed me over the phone and offered me the job shortly thereafter.

This time last year, I posted a blog expressing my profound gratitude to all our staff for getting us through what was a tremendously demanding year. As I look back on this past school year, I continue to be truly grateful for how we have managed an even more challenging year than we anticipated.

One of the lasting legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic will be its exposure of pre-existing societal inequities to a wider audience. While inequities have existed in society and schools since they were created, the pandemic has caused many of us to see them with greater clarity. The murder of George Floyd perhaps served as a catalyzing moment, but I suspect there were more forces at play.

The way that students experience math is fundamental to how they view themselves as mathematicians. We want students to experience math in a way that encourages a willingness to engage in productive struggle, see that mistakes truly do result in learning, and become confident thinkers. Using concrete manipulatives is an integral part of building strong mathematical thinking because they deepen students’ conceptual understanding.

Rovi Sandhu, a grade six teacher at Chief Dan George Middle School, asks himself, "What can I do to ensure kids receive what they need?" Inspired by the book Street Data (2021), Sandhu put his inquiry question into action. He invited each student in the grade six pod to partake in an empathy interview, allowing them to share aspects of their lived experiences at school.

The most recent stop on my student voice inquiry journey was at WJ Mouat. I continue to be fascinated by the diversity of thought about certain issues, and simultaneously the remarkable consistency around other topics. Rather than editorialize, I will Arianna (Gr. 9), Omran (Gr. 12), Jazzi (Gr. 11), Nickolas (Gr. 11), Bella (Gr. 11), Lily (Gr. 12), Nathan (Gr. 11), Jayda (Gr. 12), and Natalie (Gr. 12) speak their truth:

When you think about school, what is the first word that comes to mind? Why?

A class of McMillan grade 3 students holding ice cubes, a small group of grade 6 students at Fraser trying to figure out the flavour of a Jolly Rancher without looking, Bateman Career students making a cow from a blank piece of paper, Hansen Social Justice students studying a penny and then looking for “their” penny in a pile of pennies, a group of hairstylist students discussing being present when with a client, a group of Reimer students listening for specific sounds in their environment, a group of educators focusing their attention on their breathing.

Choosing a Path
 

The goal of Abbotsford Career Programs is to connect secondary students to training for high-opportunity occupations. As the labour market and employment outlook in our province changes, our programs have evolved to meet new demands.

I visited the temporary Upper Sumas Elementary site this week to see how the staff and students were adjusting to their “new” environment (For those of you who have been around as long as I have been, this was the old Abby Elementary School site). As I approached the front doors, I saw a class of students standing in circle in a little garden patch. I made eye contact with the teacher, Ms. Marr, who invited me to join their circle. She told me that they had just finished sharing what they were grateful for and invited me to do the same.

The commitment the Abbotsford School District has towards building equitable and inclusive schools has led our teams of LLC teachers and library technicians to develop a shared inquiry around equity in our library learning commons spaces.

Our conversations and research have centered on the following inquiry questions: