by Deirdre Bailey and Amy Park Our Grade 4 classes have spent the past three months inquiring into the topic of “Waste and Our World” with the goal of developing an appreciation and understanding of their roles and responsibilities as global citizens of this environmentally fragile and increasingly endangered planet. We had hoped that our… Continue reading Inquiring into Waste and Our World
by Deirdre Bailey Today was amazing for a number of reasons. We finished our decomposition lab this morning. It had been an enlightening few weeks of learning what becomes of a perishable food, halved and left in the open for three weeks. Some awesome things happen to rotting fruit after it starts to smell, not… Continue reading These Kids Get It!
As written in a previous post, one of our teachers, Dan McWilliam has been playing with augmented reality in his wood shop elective class. As a new semester begins – students can now visualize how their designs will appear in the real world. And even go so far as to place themselves digitally beside their… Continue reading Mixing the Real and the Virtual
-by Dave Scott, Grade 8 Humanities This term the Grade 8 Humanities team has been experimenting with creative ways for students to demonstrate their comprehension of key concepts and ideas surrounding the Italian Renaissance. Informed by Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design, we are interested in shifting the focus of learning from students memorizing isolated… Continue reading Demonstrating Understanding through Pixton
In May 2012, a new annual Canadian educational conference is starting and the Calgary Science School has been asked to be the first host! This exciting event will be taking place at our school May 25-27, 2012. ConnectED Canada will be a yearly educational event that brings together teachers, administrators, students, parents and other stakeholders… Continue reading ConnectED Canada is Coming to CSS!
by Candice Shaw, Grade 7 Math/Science Teacher As a teacher with 2 full years of experience, I acknowledge that I have learned a tremendous amount in those years, much more than University education could ever teach me. However, I know that I have even more to learn in order to better my practice. I graduated… Continue reading The Gift of Team Teaching
Over the last few weeks grade eight Humanities students have been working hard to author their very own graphic novels based on a list of selected short stories including Alice Munro’s Day of the Butterfly and Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter. Inspired by Larry Lessig’s Ted Talk arguing for the revival of our creative… Continue reading Creating Graphic Novels 2.0
Guest post by University of Calgary student teacher, Lisa Nguyen I cultivated a love for poetry at a young age, but for many people it is an inaccessible genre that is tedious to read, nonetheless teach. Although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I’m convinced poetry appreciation and creation relies on effective communication. If a… Continue reading Poetry that Moves
by Dan McWilliam This year I am trying a new elective where students use their creativity and engineering skills to create anything they want from two 2×4 pieces of wood. While the final product is up to the students, the goal of the elective is to have students go through the process of planning, drafting,… Continue reading Augmented Reality in the Wood Shop
by Deirdre Bailey I used to think exclusively in black and white. I have a sincere appreciation for the clear-cut, precise and absolute and have argued that those who are not 100% sure of their accuracy should not be entitled to an opinion. I have spent most of my life infuriated by indecisiveness and I… Continue reading First Attempts In Learning
