Tuesday November 15th 7:00 pm
Wednesday November 16th 9:00 am
Thursday November 17th 7:30 pm

Advance voting polls will be open from 8am-8pm, at the following areas:

• Gibsons Community Centre (700 Park rd.): for Gibsons area candidates and SCRD area School Trustees and Directors.
• SCRD office (1975 Field Rd): for SCRD area Trustees and Directors (including “A” and “B”).
• Seaside Centre(5790 Teredo Street): for Sechelt Trustees, Councillors, and Mayoral candidates.

If you would like to cast a vote for yours truly for School Trustee, and you live in School District Rural Area 2 (West Howe Sound, Elphinstone, Roberts Creek, Sechelt Indian Government District) you can vote at either the SCRD Field road office or the Gibsons Community Centre.

Get out and vote!

Facebook in the Classroom

by Andrea Erins

While Facebook was once discouraged and even banned from many classrooms and schools, educators are beginning to embrace the social networking tool as a way to enhance students’ learning experience.

So how can teachers use Facebook in the classroom, you might ask? Here are some ideas.

1. Classroom Groups – This is one of the most popular ways that teachers are using Facebook. Teachers can give students Facebook-related assignments such as posting what they learned or questions they have on the group “wall.” This will encourage other students can respond and encourages collaborative learning through discussion. The teacher can also post relevant links with additional material for the students to view.

The key to using a classroom group on Facebook is to make it private. Teachers should create separate profiles with strict privacy settings that they only use for school. Students can also create separate accounts or they can simply adjust their privacy settings to limit what content the teacher sees. The classroom group should also be private so that only the teacher, students, school administrators, and parents can view it.

2. Messages – Facebook is a great way to keep everyone informed. Teachers can send messages to everyone in the classroom group about unexpected absences, upcoming events, rescheduled exams, or missed assignments. They can also send a private message to an individual student or parent – these days, many people will be more likely to respond to Facebook than to an email.

3. Sharing Content – Teachers can post a link to an interesting webpage, article, or video that they want their students to view. They could also add photos from a recent class trip or project. They can even post notes from class, homework assignments, or study guides. Even students can get involved and post related links or photos to enhance the learning experience.

4. Keep Everyone Updated – If a parent has a Facebook account, it’s easy for them to stay updated on classroom happenings. All they have to do is check the class group page. If they have a specific concern, they can also send a private message to the teacher.

5. Class Project – Facebook itself can turn into a class project. Have students make Facebook profiles for fictional characters or historical figures and have them interact with each other the way the characters would. The students will get into the role-playing aspect and will embrace this chance to check Facebook as part of their homework, rather than use it as a distraction from doing work.

Andrea Erins has been a college professor for 13 years and likes to write about various topics related to education. She is the owner of the site  Masters in Education.

Let me know if you would like some to distribute or just to have as mementos!

Other quotes in the article are equally scathing, mostly regarding the conflict between the Education Ministry, the BCSTA, and the BCTF.

Certainly, if all one did to gather information was to follow the news, this viewpoint might be seen as having some validity–but only if one does not spend any time in public schools.

While I would agree that the frequent negativity and bickering from the “higher ups” is unproductive and, frankly, immature, our public schools continue to offer exceptional, world class education for our children. We are consistently seen as having one of the best public school systems in the world.

As a parent and a trustee I am both excited and proud of our public schools on the Sunshine Coast.

Something definitely needs to change within the politicized realm of public education, but, fortunately “on the ground” our public schools remain vibrant, amazing places that offer the best educational experiences available!

The plan contains many ideas we’ve heard before, but not a lot of detail about any proposed changes. There are 5 key elements to the “plan”:

• Personalized learning for every student.
• Quality teaching and learning.
• More flexibility and choice.
• High standards.
• Learning empowered by technology.

I’m not anti-business, not even anti-rich people, but I am very excited about the movement and the potential for positive dialogue and change in our society. I don’t think the goal of the movement is to brand all corporations as bad, but to illuminate the fact that the citizenry (the other %99) have virtually no say in how corporations operate within our respective countries.

I’m not as interested in whether or not business execs are rich, but I am interested in how they got rich. Was it from cheap public resources? Policies favouring one corporation over another? Pouring waste chemicals into public rivers? Slavery? Deceptive advertising? Those are the things citizens deserve a say in, and politicians, beholden to the groups that fund their war chests, have repeatedly not acted in the public interest in these matters.

The heart of the movement isn’t about taking from the rich, it’s about highlighting the fact that citizens in our “democracy” are not allowed to participate in the decision making process regarding matters of public policy.

Though it kills the status-quo-nicks, the fact that there isn’t a hard list of demands from the participants is sort of the point! This isn’t a special interest group lobbying for their own specific benefit. The reason the movement has gained momentum is that young people will be demanding a say in every area of public interest. As hard as it is to fathom for some of us, young people are simply not going to be satisfied with our centuries old system of having a handful of people deciding for them all matters of public import.

Our system isn’t horrible, it’s just not democratic. More and more people are wondering why that is. There are going to be true democratic reforms–it’s inevitable–just a matter of how it comes about.

Politicians (and media) that continue to dismiss this movement as an unorganized group of misfits do so at their own peril!

Here are a few highlights:

We have an interesting, education related presentation to start meetings off with. It’s worth coming just to watch the presentations. And, yes, you could theoretically leave right after.

This month’s presentations:

• Celebrating Education–Special Education – Dan Galazka, District Principal
•  Roots of Empathy – Shannon Quinn, S.C. Roots of Empathy Coordinator

Public Question Period:

This is your chance to ask the Board a question–any question–live and in person. There is another question period at the end of public meetings.

Summary of Agenda:

Reports

Superintendent’s Report

a) Strategic Plan Update

i) Five Year Capital Plan

ii) Technology

iii) Social Responsibility –

from September Board Meeting

b) Other Reports

i) Class Size Report for September 2011 –

motion

ii) Student Survey Prize Draw

c) Information Items

i) Cheques Issued – larger cheques issued in month of September 2011

d) Chair’s Report

e) Board/Committee Reports

i) Education Committee Notes – September 29, 2011

ii) Finance, Facilities & Transportation Notes – September 15, 2011

iii) Policy Committee Notes – September 20, 2011

7. Correspondence

a) C. Hershler, Executive Director,

deer crossing the art farm,

b) UBCM, Danyta Welch – Heritage Centre, Madeira Park Elementary

c) UBCM, Danyta Welch – Long/triple jump pit upgrade, Elphinstone

d) Trustee Ken Sinnott – Letter of Resignation

e) Town of Gibsons, Michael Epp – Harbour Area Plan

f) Langdale PAC, J. Thomson – After School Care Program

g) BCTF, Susan Lambert – Brief to the Select Standing Committee

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