Case Studies and More from SD 68 Nanaimo Ladysmith

As another busy school year comes to a close, the year-end case studies are starting to trickle in and we are so inspired by the stories of learning, collaboration and inquiry that schools and districts are sharing. This time of year is one of both celebration and reflection. And it is so encouraging, as we read through your stories, to be reminded of how fortunate we are here in BC to have engaged, passionate, authentic educators leading our world-class education system. Together, we are making change for ALL of our learners!

We will soon share all of the case studies on our website (and a reminder to submit these to Donna by June 30^th). But to give you a small taste of the caliber of work happening around the province, take a look at the learning around Innovation and Inquiry that took place in SD 68 Nanaimo Ladysmith over the past year. 

Thanks to Linda Baldwin – SD 68’s District Innovation and Inquiry Coordinator (how cool is that title!) – for collating the stories shared at the district’s Celebration on May 31^st and putting together this slideshow capturing the school inquiries that were shared at the Celebration.  Fairview Community School chose to create video case studies this year (also cool!). 

Linda also shared learning from the first year of the district’s Innovation and Inquiry Lead Teacher Initiative, which she coordinated on behalf of the district. This team of lead teachers engaged in a system level inquiry, coming together several times over the course of the school year, and working specifically at building capacity with collaborative inquiry as a professional learning strategy and supporting instructional leadership at the school level. This slideshow shares contributions from the Innovation and Inquiry Lead Teachers, with each providing one slide that was representative of one highlight (project, inquiry, collaboration) of their work from the school year. This truly is an innovation approach and model for building leadership and capacity. Do you think it could work in your school district? Something to consider for next year!

More stories to come soon. Enjoy the last week of school everyone!

Our reason for living

What a wonderful couple of weeks it has been for the Networks. There have been a number of regional celebrations over the last few days - from the Lower Mainland to Prince Rupert - school teams are sharing their inquiry learning and celebrating the purpose, passion and persistence that kept us afloat and paddling forward together over the last few months. 

We’re still brimming with energy from the success of the 2016 NOII Symposium. We are extremely grateful to those who contributed their time to the event through presentations, leading flash chats, volunteering, and being fully engaged in lively discussions over the course of 3 days, beginning with Dr. Helen Timperley’s pre-Symposium event, continuing with engaging speakers, igniters and school presentations, and then culminating with Ted Cadwallader’s metaphor of the wayfinders – as we work together to ensure that every child in BC crosses the stage with dignity, purpose and options. 

Several presentations and highlights from the Symposium have now been posted on our website here. We’ll also have video coming soon, thanks to our student videographer volunteers from North Vancouver School District.  Some shared comments are also captured below and through #noii2016. 

Thanks to speaker Kaleb Child with SD 85 Vancouver Island North for sharing so many new words and ideas with us through his presentation at the Symposium. We’re struck by the concept of Tlayu’la gaxans gwi’gwala’yu – “our reason for living” and collectively making the change for our children. This is indeed the most important journey we can embark on together, and we are so honoured to have the opportunity to share together in the passion, purpose and persistence needed to continue paddling and wayfinding together.  

Celebrating AESN Learning in Prince Rupert

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share these pictures from the AESN Celebration of Learning that was held in Prince Rupert recently, particularly with today being National Aboriginal Day. Judy and Linda were honoured to be a part of the event, particularly hearing from students and educators, and sharing in learning with the student drummers. Thanks so much to the Northwest BC Network team for organizing this event.

Network schools all over BC are integrating First Nation ways of knowing and being into all aspects of the curriculum. Learn how this is happening, and what schools are learning, by reviewing the AESN case studies. Contact information is included with the case studies, so others can connect directly with schools to hear stories and collaborate on learning.

A great day of learning at the AESN celebration in Prince Rupert. Thanks to northwest team and SD 52 drummers pic.twitter.com/wUGeYzX2lo

— JUDY HALBERT (@JLHALBERT) June 2, 2015

Collaborative Inquiry

There are many educators with the Richmond School District that have been engaged with the Network and embracing the Spiral, and news ways of thinking and learning together. They recently held their Celebration of Learning, and Janice Novakowski (@jnovakowskisd38) has been wonderful in sharing ideas and pictures with us @noiiaesn (see below).

We know how crucial it is to create safe spaces to share what we are learning as educators and to tackle big questions together. So we’re very grateful that Hieu Pham-Fraser, Teacher Librarian at Archibald Blair Elementary, recently connected with us to share pictures from her inquiry project, as well as a fantastic video she has created around Collaborative Inquiry. The video describes collaborative inquiry from a conceptual framework, but it also provides details on strategies used by Richmond educators this past year, making it a useful tool and/or conversation starter for upcoming school or inquiry team meetings.

Janice and Hieu, among others, have also documented some of their collaboration strategies through the district blog. Check out this latest about their Playful Inquiry Dinner Series – very cool work!

#sd38 well represented at @noiiaesn end of year sharing circle. Such inspiring projects from across BC. #bced pic.twitter.com/RTGXq3wYBh

— Janice Novakowski (@jnovakowskisd38) May 20, 2015

Celebrations of Learning

With the end of the school year in sight, school districts across BC are coming together to host Celebrations of Learning – opportunities for school and leadership teams to showcase their inquiry work and share learning from the past year. Taking time to learn from each other through in this way is important.  Not only do year-end celebrations provide a space for networking, collaboration and professional learning, but it’s a time to recognize the effort, time and energy that goes into the commitment to improving our practice and positively influencing student learning. It’s also really nice to just take the time to recognize each other – to congratulate each other for being a risk-taking, brave, curious community of leaders and learners.

Last week the Lower Mainland region hosted their Celebration in the Delta School District. School teams showcased their work with poster boards and colleagues had time to chat with each other and their about the projects. Please remember to send your pictures to us at noii.aesn@gmail.com or share them with us via @noiiaesn. 

Sharing #sd38 playful storytelling inquiry project @noiiaesn pic.twitter.com/kRU3ujYbOL

— Janice Novakowski (@jnovakowskisd38) May 20, 2015

On June 1^st the Northern BC Region will host their Celebration in Prince Rupert from 10am – 3pm at the Museum of Northern British Columbia. Judy and Linda will be there to share in the learning. To register for the event, please click here for more information.  

In addition to celebrations, you can learn about what others are working on by reviewing school case studies. Both NOII and AESN case studies are available on our website. 

Hosting an event in your region? Please let us know!