On January 27 2017, I wrote and published a post called, Stepping Stones. It detailed a time in my career, shortly after our school board had welcomed 450 Syrian refugee students, when I took the opportunity to visit schools and share this heartfelt journey of Rama and her family as they fled a war torn country and traveled to safety.  A day later, I was thrilled to see that the author, Margriet Ruurs had not only read the post, but she left a comment and then days later a Facebook friend request.

Fast forward two years and once again I was referencing Stepping Stones within a post ~ as our grade 7/8 students were taking part in the Global Read Aloud and exploring Refugee by Alan Gratz, I read them Stepping Stones to build their background knowledge on the war in Syria.   Margriet, once again reached out with a message of appreciation and inspiration.  At the same time, her book, The Elephant Keeper had been shortlisted for the Forest of Reading and we started to explore the possibility of her coming to London to meet our students at Sir Arthur Currie in conjunction with her trip to Toronto for the Forest Festivities.  With a little help from friends, we were able to make it work and today was the big day. I told our students that this was one of my “Rock star” days as I was going to get to meet someone whose work I have admired for some time.  I am not sure if they noticed the subtle connection between “rock” star and Stepping Stones, but they certainly could sense my excitement as I embraced Margriet like a long lost friend, instead of someone that I just met minutes before I introduced her.

Our incredible Library Learning Commons educator, Danielle Cadieux, worked with our students and encouraged them to create their own inspirational Stepping Stone reflections and then she assembled them to produce an amazing display.  Needless to say Margriet was very impressed with the both the work and the words of our students, to the extent that she has asked us to send her the file, so that our creations can be included on her website. I watched with pride, as she complimented our students for their beautiful work.

There is something so inspirational about listening to an author share how a simple act/idea ultimately leads to a work of art that changes lives. In this case, it was the simple act of scrolling through Facebook and then taking the time to rewind and look again at the unique stone pictures of Nizar Ali Badr and being curious.  It was Margriet’s curiosity and months of perseverance, which led to their partnership, and the ultimate creation of Stepping Stones.

I watched as our students intently listened to her story of how a conversation with a young man at an Elephant Orphanage uncovered his journey from being an elephant poacher to being an elephant caregiver.   It was so evident in listening to Margriet that one of her gifts is her curiosity in others ~ she definitely listens to learn and then uses what she learns to weave beautiful, inspirational stories.

As I continue to explore my own writing (in the simplistic form of this blog) I found myself landing on three take-aways from listening to Margriet today:

• Always be curious
• Take the time to truly listen to the stories of others
• Perseverance pays off (for one of her books, it took 8 years of research)

What guides you as you write?

Come write with me….

This morning at our Principal’s Community of Schools meeting the conversation focused on the newest iteration for our process of documenting school improvement. During my 15 years as a school administrator, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of school communities as we identified our most pressing need, listed the strategies that we needed to implement to make a difference, measured the success of the implementation of the strategies and then reflected on where to land next.  And over the years, I’ve used a variety of board generated templates (some with more success than others).

In my first school, the board wide focus was on literacy and more specifically our DRA scores.  Strategies included the creation of elaborate DRA walls where we measured and monitored our students’ mastery of reading levels. If I recall correctly, the focus was so narrow that each school had to predict and work towards attaining a specific percentage of  DRA scores which would improve.  The template was cumbersome and labour intensive to complete, but we could all recite our School Goal.

A few years later, Ministry documents, such as the School Effectiveness Framework became pivotal in our goal setting work and schools were provided with more latitude to select goals based on both large scale and school based data. I recall conversations with my SO at the time asking if we could include a math goal along with our literacy goal as the two go hand in hand in terms of best practices for both instruction as well as assessment. It was a struggle, but with a little bit of convincing we were able to include both goals.  The template was more user friendly and hence more effective to share with all stakeholders.

Fast forward to 2013 and once again a new way of thinking (and a new template) guided our work as instructional leaders.  School communities were provided with the latitude to select one of four quadrants and select objectives within their chosen quadrant to measure and monitor their work within.  However, it quickly became apparent that such latitude was not the desired outcome and within a couple of years, the four quadrants were reduced to one quadrant (with a specific and narrow focus on math).

This past year, the focus within the one quadrant became even more narrow, to the point that schools were asked to select one of three math objectives and as a result of attending any system professional learning, the actual wording for the specific goal was provided, along with the strategies and the wording to include on the template. The platform for the template may have created the conditions for system level data collection, based on repeated words, etc., but from an end user lens, it was not friendly in the least. School leaders were starting to have conversations about the fact that our laser focus on math was creating gaps in the learning and documenting student achievement in literacy.

Today’s unveiling of the SIPSAW “School Improvement Plan for Student Achievement and Well Being” is a much welcomed return to the sound practice of ensuring that schools take responsibility to do the work of determining their own current needs, to develop  success criteria that is meaningful for them and to creating their own monitoring and measuring structures.

I loved diving deep in conversation with trusted and respected colleagues who were immediately embracing this opportunity to authentically do the work of school improvement planning and not just try and replicate a one size fits all model.  I walked away feeling excited about being able to truly co-construct our SIPSAW with our community members, instead of just sharing a generic SIP.

As a new school, we have some unique areas that require our dedicated focus and deserve to be documented.  This new lens will help us do the work that is most important for us.

Come write with  me…

JI have to admit that being a Boston Bruins fan in a town that has a divided loyalty between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings (along with a few Habs fans) usually means that I silently celebrate as they continue to move closer to a chance at this year’s Stanley Cup.  I had to laugh when a couple of weeks ago (as Boston and Toronto were battling it out in the quarterfinals) as I overhead a parent, who was picking us his son, ask our school secretary if it was true that the principal was a Bruins fan.  I quickly donned my Bruins cap (which is always close at hand) and emerged from the office.  A combination of surprise and laughter ensued as my first glimpse of the parent landed on his Toronto Maple Leafs cap.  The student nonchalantly turned to his dad and declared, “See! I told you so”.   I then proceeded to share my familiar line, which goes something like this ~ “When you marry a man with the last name  Bruyns, your fate as a Boston fan is pretty much sealed.  Add to that, I grew up in the seventies in a household where Hockey Night in Canada (complete with Peter Puck) was religiously enjoyed ~ especially when #4 Bobby Orr (who grew up right here in Ontario) was on the ice.

Every once in a while, my passion for Boston comes into play as I connect with staff and students.  Currently at Sir Arthur Currie, we have only 2 die hard Boston fans who have made their presence known ~ both girls. One of the girls is an outgoing, wild spirit who in involved in all walks of school life.  We banter openly about our love for all things Boston and every Jersey Day, she finds me and we capture the moment with a twin photo.   We high-five in the hallway after each win. The other student is very quiet, shy and reserved.  A few weeks ago, I found two Boston hockey trading cards on my desk ~ no note, just waiting there for when I arrived.  Later that week, when I was on the yard, she shyly walked up and whispered, “Did you find the cards?”  Now, each day, she finds a way for our paths to cross and we exchange a knowing smile and a silent cheer as our team continues to win and advance forward.

One can never underestimate the power of discovering a way to connect with students who may otherwise stay in the background.   I love how our staff at SAC find ways every day to go above and beyond to connect with our students.

As a footnote to this post, this morning the staff received a message on our Group Outlook site from one of our newest crew members, who will be joining us in the fall.  He included a “ PS Are there any other Bruins fans still interested in playoff hockey?” at the end of his note.

I took that opportunity to post this selfie….

Tonight’s game just finished and our team is now only one win away from the heading to the Stanley Cup finals.  I cannot wait to find my kindred spirits tomorrow and share a high-five with one of them and a sideways knowingly smile with the other.

What are some ways that you share your interests with your students?

Come write with me…

I am currently a part of a book study with a small group of administrators.  We are exploring what our own learning looks like as we conduct our classroom walkthroughs ~ which is a significantly different lens than the traditional one of “how do we conduct classroom walkthroughs”. All too often, we find ourselves caught in a leadership checklist mentality, created by others who are holding us accountable for leading our schools but providing us with an attestation, instead of creating the conditions for us to truly learn something and then reflect upon it.

Formative Classroom Walkthroughs, written by Moss and Brookhart, is a dense read, but well worth the investment of time if you are looking for a way to transform the lens you use as you support, not only your educators but, your own learning during your daily interactions in classrooms. It evolves our thinking well beyond the checklist!

In order to get the most of out of this concept, there needs to be a true understanding of “learning” ~ which involves the process of acquiring new knowledge.   Learning involves those light bulb moments, not reinforcement of what is already known.  Moreover, for this process to be meaningful all three parties need to walk away with something “new” ~ teacher, student and principal.

What I appreciated about this resource was how they suggest principals position themselves to best view the learning and that position is in the seat and through the eyes of the student.  The guiding question, “If I did everything the teacher asked me to do as a student during this lesson, what would I actually learn?” allows us to get to the heart of our work as an administrator ~ which is to support the continual learning of everyone (including ourselves).

I have had the pleasure of completing a number of summative evaluations over the past few weeks where I have intentionally placed myself in the seat of the student ~ completing the tasks alongside of the students, as a co-learner.  Using the lens of a learner has provided me with richer material to include in my post observation discussions. For example, historically I may have commented on the good practice of providing students with a graphic organizer. However, as a result of this new lens, I was able to provide feedback on the learning and discussion that accompanied the completion of the organizer (both mine and the students’).  That feedback is pivotal to the teacher’s learning about their practice.

As a result of reading and more importantly, discussing this resource with colleagues who push my thinking, I’m excited to dive deeper into the next chapters and explore more of the identified learning components and how they will impact my learning as an administrator.

As a teacher, when an administrator pops in for a walkthrough, what is one thing that you would like to learn?

Come write with me…..

I can clearly recall the first time that I watched Brene Brown’s TedTalk “The Power of Vulnerability”.  I was immediately drawn into, not only her words, but how she was delivering her message.  She presented as someone I could easily see as a part of my circle of friends. I was intrigued by her research (and I continue to explore my own journey and how vulnerability plays a role in my day to day interactions with others) but more significantly, I was captivated by her gift as a storyteller.  So, like so many fans I was thrilled to learn that Brene had videoed a Netflix special called, “The Call to Courage”.  On the day of its release, I powered off all of my devices, poured myself a drink and watched it.  She did not disappoint me as a super fan. In the several years since her first Ted Talk, Brene has refined her skills as a storyteller ~ painting an even more vivid picture for her audience.  Heartwarming and funny stories involving her family members are told with such emotion that you can’t help but feel like you’re on the dock at the lake or the deck of the pool witnessing what could have been a tragedy, but as a result of putting research into action, ended with triumph.

Individual viewers will take their own pearls of wisdom from the presentation, depending on what their soul is seeking at the time. I firmly believe that our soul triggers what our ears hear.  Today, as I treated myself to a second viewing, I found myself drawn, most profoundly, to the phrase, “the stories we tell ourselves”.  Upon reflection (and to be honest, I didn’t have to dig too deeply) if I were being honest, I’d have to admit that, at times, I am guilty of this self-doubt go-to mindset.   I have typed and deleted about ten examples of how this impacts me on a regular basis, because each example sees trite and petty when I see it in print.

However, in the vein of honesty and vulnerability ~ here’s a few of the deleted examples:

When a colleague walks past and doesn’t engage in a conversation ~ I tell myself that I must have done something to upset them.
When a parent doesn’t respond to an email about a student ~ I tell myself that they don’t agree with the message.
When a task force is created and I’m not asked to take part ~ I tell myself that my ideas are no longer valid, innovative or needed.
When I post a blog and not a single person likes it ~ I tell myself that it was crap and begin to question if I should even continue to write

In rereading this list, it is easy (behind the safety of my keyboard) to provide a rational different story for each scenario.

My colleague was busy thinking about something else.
The parent is fully aware and just as concerned with their child. They are doing their best and not sure how to explain that.
The task force selection committee is aware of my other commitments and wants to share the load.
Not everyone is going to connect with everything that I write ~ it doesn’t mean that I should stop writing.

As Brene cautions her audience, it is so easy to tell ourselves unpleasant, self doubting stories, but we need to rise above it and begin to tell ourselves stories of self-worth, bravery and courage.

My goal this week is to be more aware of the stories that I tell myself.

What about you?  What stories will you tell yourself?

Come write with me……

We finally found some time (and ticket availability) to go and see The Avengers:Endgame tonight.  For the past two weeks, I’ve heard nothing but amazing reviews from everyone who has watched it and who has been dying to share the story line.  I can truly say that all 182 minutes of this movie were absolutely captivating.  The writers Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely wrote a script that was indeed worthy of honouring The Avengers series and no doubt fed the appetite of the Marvel super fans.

The costumes and special effects (loved watching it in 3D) did not disappoint, nor did the visual appeal of the various locations throughout the galaxy. It never ceases to amaze me that someone thought this all up in their mind.  But, it was the story line and script  that truly made this a Marvelous Marvel moment for me.

These days, I find it rare, in our instant gratification, Netflix binge watching world, to experience a script that can maintain a viewer’s interest for such a sustained period of time. Most scripts become formulaic.  We know when the punchlines will be delivered, the tempo and timing of the emotional rollercoaster and when to expect both the climax and the neat ending.  And with Marvel movies, we know to wait for a scene following the credits

However, the writers of Endgame seemed to throw out the formula (especially those scripts that has become synonymous with Comic Characters) and create a fantasy world filled with human story lines and emotions transcending the boundaries of the future, present and past.  Excessive battle scenes were replaced by emotional reunions which transcended time. Life altering decisions transformed the superhero into a super human which provided one of the many layers to the title of Endgame.  Taking viewers back to familiar scenes in previous films and continuing the story line beyond what we originally saw was a brilliant way of helping us to understand the characters, even more deeply.

The references to past movies with seemingly similar themes of time travel were sprinkled throughout the script and brought a smile to the faces of those of us who could nod in agreement and in recognition of the comedic one-liners.

Finally, this film explored the frailty associated with loss by writing a script in which even the super heroes were not immune to losing themselves and their strength in times of pain and regret.

Kudos to the Marvelous Marvel writers!

You walk into a room full of professionals who closely work together, who speak a specialized language of Edujargon and who are about to share information with you about your child ~ information that you are anticipating may be hard to hear.   You have read your child’s report cards. You have been there each night as they try their best to understand how letters combine to make words and how numbers have a hidden pattern, which never seem to make sense. You brace yourself for the sharing of the “report” and wonder what next steps lie ahead.

Today, at school, our Leadership Learning Team facilitated a number of these meetings and we knew that our first and foremost job was to alleviate all of the above-mentioned fears for our families.

As a brand new school, we’ve had less than 2 years to build trust with our families and because of that we have been very intentional in how we structure our meetings so that families know how much we love and care for their children.  We are also intentional in sharing the best practices that happen each day and how masterful our educators are at assessing and evaluating student achievement.

When we first opened, my role was to set the stage and model the language and structures that we would use during these meetings.  Yet, within a short time I found myself fading more and more into the sidelines as our Leadership Learning team took the lead by using the kind, caring language, supportive body language and navigating the trajectory of the meeting, making adjustments along the way. We are intentional in watching the reactions of our families.

Today was another shining moment for our team, as I listened and watched them share detailed, and evidence based profiles of students ~ all the while using a strength-based lens.  Our educators are masterful at providing such an incredible range of opportunities for all students to succeed.  There was no doubt that they loved their students and I watched as parents beamed at the examples of reaching new DRA levels or mastering more sight words than they had a few months ago.

Then when it was time to share the results of the standardized test, the stage had been beautifully set and together we focused on the positives and had a plan for those areas that were going to require some additional exploration.  I watched with pride as our Learning Support Teacher brought her chair directly beside a parent and calmly, kindly and most importantly in parent friendly language explained the results.  You could see a noticeable relaxed expression on the parent’s face.

I made a point of connecting with all of the educator’s involved in today’s meetings and sharing my gratitude for a job well done.  Their work today made it possible for us to move forward and learn more about our students so that we can create programs that will more effectively meet their unique learning profiles.

However, the narrative does not end there…. Tonight as I pulled into my driveway, I received a text message from one of the teachers, asking for the contact information for our Learning Support Teacher.   She wanted to send her a text message and share how “fabulous” she was with one of the parents today.

My pride in how the meetings had been facilitated was intensified by my pride in how our team supported each and did not let an opportunity go by without sharing appreciation.

It is no wonder that we can speak so naturally about students with a kind, caring and strengths-based lens ~ it is how our Currie Crew sees each other.

A few days ago, @MmeBergevin posted a visual of the True Colours quadrants and the accompanying personality traits associated with each colour.  Seeing that graphic took me back to the spring of my last year as a classroom teacher.  In those days, there was a selection of off-site professional learning opportunities available to educators, as opposed to our current model of site based school improvement focused learning days.  I knew at that time that I would be transitioning into a vice principal role in the upcoming fall and I was intrigued by this session.

I can clearly recall the two presenters ~ one whom I immediately connected with and the other, whose style seemed unorganized and frustrating to me as a participant.  As we went through various activities and learned about the four quadrants and how knowledge of our colour could influence our interactions with others, I learned that day that I was drawn to presenters who shared a similar personality colour.  As soon as I had determined my dominant colour of Gold, I knew that when it was time for the presenters to reveal their colours I could easily identify the one who was Gold and the one who was Orange.

Oh, what a simplistic, single-minded view I had of myself and those around me….  Such an embarrassment when I think about it.  I was dismissive and jealous at the same time of others because I had not learned to appreciate the value within each quadrant.

Fast forward to today and add 15 years of learning about differentiation, multiple intelligences and emotional/social intelligence and now I find myself looking at the same quadrant with an entirely new lens.

I wonder how 15 years ago I landed solely within the Gold quadrant and could not imagine myself identifying with many of the traits within the other quadrants.  As I look at those same definitions today, it is amazing how many of the traits within all four quadrants I know see evidence of on a regular basis.  Is this simply as a result of life experiences and being in the role of a school leader (which creates the conditions for interacting with so many individuals) or have I done something intentional to move from monochromatic to polychromatic?
I can’t help but wonder if I were to have the opportunity to return to the scene of the original professional learning session if I would now see the strengths of the presenter who identified herself as Orange.   I hope so…

Take a look at the graphic.   Do you have a dominant quadrant?

Come write with me…

The past two evenings we have had the absolute pleasure of meeting educators who are currently in the process of transferring schools and are considering Sir Arthur Currie as their next step along their teaching/learning journey.   I am continually amazed and impressed with their preparation and their passion as they take all of 20 minutes to try to condense as much as possible into the body of their responses. I never underestimate the courage that it takes to put yourself out there.

When creating our interview experience, we want to ensure that candidates feel a sense of ownership for both the beginning and the end of the interview.  Once we complete the questions, there is always an opportunity for candidates to share something that we did not capture within the body of the questions or specific questions that they may have for us ~ about the assignment or the school.

One of the most frequently asked questions seems to always centers around the SAC school culture.   When we first opened, we committed to making our practice public and to that end, there is not a day that goes by that something is not posted on social media.  There is a sense of pride in the day-to-day learning activities and there is a sense of collaboration that is easy to highlight.

However… inquisitive, prospective candidates all want to know the same thing, “Is what we see on social media and hear ‘throughout the valley’, genuine?”

The easy answer could always be, “Of course”. However, we find that those asking the question are looking for something more substantial ~ a concrete example of what makes our SAC crew so incredible.

In addition, as always seems to happen, those examples are never hard to find as they occur regularly.  The example that we shared last night was one that had just happened that day.

One of our Intermediate teachers posted a message on our Outlook Group site ~ “We are in the process of figuring out numbers for Graduation, please let me know if you are planning on attending”.  One would expect to see a thread of, “I’ll be there” or “Sorry I can’t make it”

However, our thread read like this…

“I’ll be joining! Let me know what you’d like help with”
“I’ll be there! Please let me know if there’s anything I can help with”
“Count me in! Willing to help out wherever needed”
“I’ll be there! Let me know if you need help with anything as well J”
“I’ll be there and would love to help out again this year”
“I can help too”
“I will be there and am happy to help any way needed”

That is only one-half of the responses that were shared within that thread.  It is important to keep in mind that as a brand new school ~ none of those educators, who so willingly stepped up to lend a hand, have taught any of our Graduates.

This is just one example of what happens each day at SAC.  There are no pockets of excellence. Instead, there is an entire community of excellence where everyone demonstrates kindness, exceptional practice and a desire to learn as much as possible from each other.

To those candidates who have interviewed with us ~ Thanks for asking the question.

When determining if you want to join a school community, what is the one question that you ask?

Come write with me….

Staffing season always brings wonderful surprises. The meeting of new educators and the opportunity to reconnect with others whom I have worked with in other settings is exciting. I continue to be impressed with the preparation that candidates do prior to our time together. Whether it is the creation and sharing of digital resources or the collection of information about our school that has been captured by scrolling through our school Twitter feed or connecting with current staff members.  The extra work never goes unnoticed and is always appreciated.

As is the case with most interviews, once the formal interview questions have been asked, we always provide the candidates with an opportunity to ask questions about the school and/or the assignment ~ and tonight was no exception.

As we fielded those candidate generated questions about our school goal, our tapestry of diverse learners, our inventory of technology and our school team, I couldn’t help but wonder what an interview format would look like if the candidates were provided with the responsibility of asking rich questions vs our traditional format of having them answer a prescribed set of school generated questions.  Would we gain a better sense of the candidate’s fit for our SAC team?  Would we gain a better sense of their classroom practice? Would we gain a better sense of how they would embrace collaboration opportunities?

I believe that you can learn a great deal about a person by the questions that they ask. Do they have an inherent sense of curiosity?  Are they truly excited about learning something about a new topic?  Are they asking questions that lead to a conversation or ones that can easily be answered with a simple Yes or No?

Just as we expect our educator’s practice to evolve and be responsive to changing needs, we need to ensure that our practice, as school leaders, also changes and evolves to keep us current and pushing not only our thinking, but the thinking of those around us.  Maybe that next level of thinking in terms of interviews is not grounded in creating the next best question ~ it’s more about creating the space where candidates can ask better questions.

If you were applying for a position at a school and you could ask only one question, what would it be?

Come write with me….