Tearing the Roof Off!
So I’m pretty excited about a new job I’m starting this week – and also a little nervous! As I’m sitting here getting started, there’s a lot to get my head around…
My school has created a position called the PD/Outreach Coordinator, and I’m the first lucky soul to fill the role. Basically, here’s the position from 30,000 feet:
I work at a Charter School in Alberta, and Alberta Government documentation basically states that Charter Schools have two clear mandates:
- To deliver the assigned Program of Studies in an enhanced or different way, demonstrating an improvement in student learning (our school has a focus on Inquiry-Based Learning through technology
2. To share their practice back to the larger learning community
In the past, our school has focused its efforts toward mandate #2 (what we call ‘outreach’) through teachers delivering presentations at education conferences. While our efforts have been applauded (a recent school evaluation by the Alberta Government commended us for the amount of outreach we have engaged in over the last decade) the leadership at our school has set a vision for a more robust and far-reaching outreach program at our school.
That’s where my new position comes in. In an extremely simplistic definition, my role is (1) to assist teachers in the planning of Inquiry Based Learning at our school and (2) to find opportunities to share and collaborate with anyone who’s willing (locally, provincially, nationally or internationally)
While there’s much to figure out, I know the following will happen:
1) A School Blog. I’ve loved the experience of sharing my classroom through this blog over the last 6 months. The next step is to blog in a similar style about all the grades (4-9) and subjects at the Calgary Science School
2) A Database of our Projects. Our school wants to build a database of the Inquiry work that is designed here. While the format and medium for sharing is still to be determined, my role will be to document and post rich descriptions of the projects at our school. The vision is to use technology to “lift the roof off our school” and share what we’re doing
3) Networking and Collaborating. Basically, we’re looking to find a wide variety of stakeholders to work with. I’m looking for teachers to work with. Students to work with. Universities to work with. We want to Skype with you, plan with you, have our students collaborate with you. All subjects..
Let the fun begin! (Flickr image from DolfinDan)
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