New Campaign Flyers!

Check out the re-election flyers! Actually got some help from the pros at Topshelf Creative on this one.

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

Disclaimer

This blog is the opinion of Jason Scott. Although Jason Scott is a School Trustee on the Sunshine Coast Board of Education, his views do not  represent the views of the Board, even if they probably should.

Just voted at GACC–ZERO waiting!

If you want to beat the mad rush on Saturday, hit the advance polls today! Gibsons and Area Community Centre or SCRD Field rd. office.

Catch The School Trustee All Candidates Meeting On Coast Cable

It was a great turnout last night for the School Trustee all candidates meeting. Thanks to Coast Reporter for organizing the event and thanks to Coast Cable for filming. If you missed it you, don’t despair, you can watch it from home!

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

Advance Voting Tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Wednesday, November 9th) is the first advance voting day–your first opportunity to choose who will represent you on local boards and councils for the next three years!

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!

 

 

Guest Post: Facebook in the Classroom

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.

 

BC’s New Education Plan Unveiled Today!

 

Is “B.C.’s education system broken”? Heck no!

In a recent Province column, Jon Ferry discusses Thomas Fleming’s book A World Apart. According to Ferry, Fleming claims that “our overly politicized school system is rudderless, leaderless and essentially broken.”

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!

 

 

What is BC’s New Education Plan?

George Abbott, minister of Education, put out a missive this week that seemed to mostly fly under the radar (thanks to Susan Skinner, North Vancouver Trustee, for pointing it out).

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.

Do you foresee any of these changes occuring?

And how will they ultimately look?

What’s the “Occupy” movement about? Democracy.

The “Occupy” movement spreading quickly throughout the US and Canada is a call for real democratic reform.

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!

Public Sunshine Coast Board of Education Meeting: Tuesday October 11, 2011.

The next regular meeting of the Sunshine Coast Board of Education will be Tuesday October 11, 2011, 7:00pm, at the School Board office. Did you know that the agendas for regular public meetings are available on the Friday prior to meetings? You can find the full October agenda here. If you can’t attend the meeting, express yourself here, or via email: jscott@sd46.bc.ca

Here are a few highlights: