South Kelowna ElementarySchool Learning Plan

2017-2019

Our Mission Statement

We at South Kelowna elementary, in cooperation with parents and families, believe in providing a positive learning environment for the development of a student's full potential to become a knowledgeable, responsible and confident life-long learner within the immediate and

global community.

School Motto"Soar to New Heights!"

S.K.E.S Sharing K KindnessE Everyday

Focusing – Narrowing our Goals

District Overarching Goal:"Each Central Okanagan School District student (K-12) will provide evidence of being a learner, thinker, innovator, collaborator, and contributor to find, follow and share their passions."

"and supporting each student to be a confident learner that graduates

with dignity; purpose and opportunity"

South Kelowna has identified two "big rocks" for our School Goals:

(1) Social/Emotional Learning: focusing on the well-being and positive growth of students, and

(2) Differentiated Learning: striving to meet the needs of unique and diverse learners in each classroom.  

Learning Inquiry QuestionWith two concurrent Inquiry processes taking place, each has begged their own Inquiry Question.

In regards to assessment and evaluation we have asked:  How do we assess growth without marks? How do we motivate kids to improve and help them to become owners of their own learning?

In regards to growth mind set, the question raised is:  How do we build more opportunities for connections with our students?

                     

Learning GoalsThe learning goals for South Kelowna Elementary, as developed through the inquiry process are as follows:

1.  To increase overall student engagement and achievement through best practices of assessment and evaluation and by further cultivating a safe and caring environment which allows all students to thrive.

2.  To increase student achievement we are going to make learning more visible with an overall focus on growth mind set and connecting all learners to our world.

             

Scanning – Gathering Input

The above themes resulted from last year's scanning of students, staff and parents, as well as the results from 2017-2018 MDI (Middle Years Development Instrument).

Student Input – random selection from each class – approx. 10%

Students were asked the following questions:

1. How would you describe yourself?2. Think of a time when you made a mistake…..

a. What is happening in your brain when you make a mistake?b. How do you feel when you’ve made a mistake?c. What do you say when you make a mistake?d. What do you think when you’ve made a mistake?  

3. What are your challenges or what do you find hard?a. How do you know?

4. What are your strengths or what are you really good at? What makes you feel proud of yourself?

a. How do you know?5. How do you know when you have learned something?6. What else do you want me to know about you?

The following themes emerged from student surveys:

Students enjoyed being at school, were happy with their learning, and felt they had many caring adults at school.

Friendships were important for students to feel safe and happy at school. Students identified creating & sustaining friendships as a challenging process. Students also had difficulty describing their learning styles and strengths. Students felt most proud when they were acknowledged by adults.

Parent Input – 11% on-line response

Parent Questions:Q1: What grade(s) is you child(ren) in? More than one choice is possible. Q2: What’s going well for your child at school? Q3: Can your child explain what they are learning at school and why it is important?  Explain or please provide an example to help us understand. Q4:  Do you feel that your child feels a sense of belonging or connection to the school?  What did we do to help your child feel that way? Q5: What could we do to help your child be more successful at school? Q6:  Please feel free to add further information and/or suggestions in regards to your child’s learning.

The following themes emerged from parent on-line surveys:

Parents were interested in learning more about the new curriculum Parents were interested in learning more about instructional strategies in the classroom Parents wanted more information on the specific learning progress of their students

MDI Data – Middle Development Instrument – on-line responses from all Gr 4's

The Middle Development Instrument (MDI) is a questionnaire designed to measure the developmental health and well-being of children in middle childhood. The MDI was developed by researchers at UBC in collaboration with the United Way of the Lower Mainland and the Vancouver School Board. This is a self-report questionnaire completed by children in Grade 4 where all the questions are read out loud by a classroom teacher. The questions measure five areas of development and well-being: (1) social and emotional development; (2) connectedness; (3) school experiences; (4) physical health and well-being; and (5) constructive use of time.

Data derived for South Kelowna students indicated:

Happiness, self-esteem, self-regulation all strong and need to continue to grow Social and emotional development – absence of worries, empathy, prosocial behavior and

optimism needed improvement

Teaching Staff Input – based on all of the above data

The following growth themes emerged from staff discussions:

Students could more readily demonstrate social-emotional maturity, responsibility empathy & resilience

Students had difficulty describing themselves as a learner – did not readily identify learning strengths, needs and goals

Developing a Hunch – Plans Around the InputRelated to the above scanning, SKE Staff created the following plans for the 2017-1018 school year:

Develop social / emotional learning by creating stronger friendship connections Build student awareness, self-confidence, and pride in their achievements through

Growth Mindset Support students in describing their learning progress and goals, and inform parents of

their progress through new ways of Communicating Student Learning Differentiate learning to meet students' individual needs through Core Competencies,

First Peoples Principles of Learning, and Inquiry Learning

Learning – Our Learning Journey

To achieve our goals, staff learning took place in a variety of ways throughout the year:

Implementation Day Monthly Staff Meetings

Collaboration Time Lunch and Learns District Instructional Leadership Team Sessions Early Learning Team Sessions Excellence Through the Arts – Artists in Residence School Classroom Visits Inquiry Learning District Workshops

The following chart outlines a number of topics explored:

STAFF LEARNING

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING

DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

Co-plan & Co-teach Leadership Fresh Grade

Core Competencies Zones of Regulation Making Learning Visible

Reflection Growth Mind Set – Power of Yet G-Suite/Google Classroom

Kindness Reflection Google Apps for Educ (GAFE)

Assessing Growth without Marks

Build Opportunities for Connections with Students

Assessment tools to empower students

Learning to Use new Technology

Art Journals/Gratitude Journals STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

Making Learning Visible Core Competencies Innovative Learning Classrooms

Fresh Grade Mindful Breathing Provocations

Innovative Classrooms Kindness – Belonging Stones Differentiated student groups

Multi-age activities with others

Virtual Field Trips

Some of our Learning Stories:

Communicating Student Learning CSLThe following brainstorming resulted from an engaging Implementation Day, centered around the Ministry Mandate to explore new ways to communicate student learning:

Why is CSL important to me and my learners? Promotes growth mindset Shows where they started and how far they've come – personal achievements How students can learn to see how practice makes progress Accountability Celebrate and learn from failure Look at my teaching what I need to do better and how you can help students inform

instruction Informs instruction Promotes motivation to continue to progress and set goals Promotes life-long learners and independent growth mind-set into adulthood Promotes self-reflection Kids more involved = more motivation = more meaningful Shows growth, gives students and teachers the opportunity to reflect/see/articulate and

show

Recognize and record growth

What types of evidence will my students collect? Work in scrapbooks Pictures, videos, group activities Memories Video evidence (reading) Work from different subjects Photos of projects Writing samples, school wide write Science reflections Entry and exit slips with teacher and peer feedback Presentation of scrapbooks to classmates and displays for others

How will students interact with their evidence? Two of the same – comparisons to show personal growth Look, examine work from Sept to June Listen, reflect, Ah moment, celebrate Explain their learning Watch it, read it Be more meaningful to them. Showcase it Make learning goals Share ideas and celebrate together success as well as making "friends with failure" to

move forward Compare and contrast and celebrate making it purposeful to them Self-reflection Film them talking about their work – just talk

How will evidence be collected? Scrapbooks Google classroom Journals Student videos, photos Portfolios Laptop – headsets,. Recording themselves explaining learning/understandings Ipod – video themselves, take photos FreshGrade Teacher capture moments, students comment/explain Conversations, conferencing student-student and student-teacher

Take pictures to show students on screen

Personalized Learning Through Technology

Draw & Tello We explored a great app called "Draw & Tell" that can be used K-

6 to help students make their thinking visible on the iPads. We'll spend the first 20 minutes looking at how the App works and some examples of how it can be used to support the redesigned curriculum. The remaining of the session will be spent "playing" with the App and sharing out how we might use the tool.

Gsuite Essentials

We will dove into GSuite (Google Apps for Education) and learn how it can be a powerful tool for both students and teachers to collaborate, share and create with. This session is mostly geared for those teaching intermediate grades.

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

I became clear that as a staff, we wanted to increase the Growth Mindset of our students. It started at the beginning of the year at our Welcome back assembly where growth mindset was discussed and we watched a short video clip explaining that our brain was a muscle. The more you used your muscle the more it would grow. And so our journey began.

As we all know, things take time.

2016-2017 – SKE created a rock garden where the sign reads: "At SKE we are unique and we support each other to learn and grow." Each child choose and designed a rock to represent themselves and added it to our school rock garden. The books, "Only One You" and "Ishi" were used by classes in support of growth mindset, as well as many conversations and lessons focused on growth mindset.

2017-2018 - Today, we are continuing our Growth Mindset journey by asking students, staff and community what SKE means to them. We received much of the same feedback from students but some students made strong connections to our school.

Here are what the kids are saying:

No one can do everything but everyone can do something. I have lots of opportunities at SKE. I can preserve through my problems. We are creative thinkers. SKE is an outstanding school because I have lots of creative and unique friends. SKE is a thoughtful school. I believe SKE is a place of kindness and growth mindset. School is fabulous at SKE. We have lots of super kind teachers. SKE makes me feel like I can do anything. I can be me. Whenever you walk in the door, you see unique people. Everyday when I walk into the school, I have a smile on my face. I believe I can be creative at SKE.

It was agreed that SKE would best describe all our thoughts if the letters represented these words:

Sharing Kindness Everyday

The February 2018 Winter Olympics has provided us with a focus around the winter sports and Kelsey Serwa, who used to attend SKE in her younger years. Her past teacher's and new teachers are still cheering Kelsey on! SKE hosted a Mini-Winter Olympics where the students took part in the Olympic sports while persevering, Congratulations to Kelsey for winning Gold for Canada in ski-cross. SKE is using growth mindset, perseverance and determination embedded in our daily learning.

2017-2018 Inquiry LearningIn house field trips where connections are made outside the school in our very own community. Our kindergarten class has walked out to our treed area and did an inquiry around the base of the trees. They might be heading out again to look at what's currently there.

The K/1 and Gr.3/4 classes went on a walking field trip to one of our local orchards. They looked through the lens of inquiry and returned with more questions and desire to return in the spring to see how the seasons affect orchards.

Action – Staff Engagement

AssessmentWe started off the year by reviewing 'student questionnaire' and discussed where to do go from here.

Big Idea: Why would educators consider a shift in the way that they report student progress to parents?

We have ongoing staff discussions concerning assessment and evaluation. As we work toward an improved reporting process, we continue to ask ourselves: What is quality assessment?

We reviewed the reporting order and discussed the options available and the musts as per the ministry. The First Peoples Principles of Learning – 7 Principles of Learning (OECD) are both necessary for the changes to happen. Our staff have begun to incorporate these principles through innovative learning environments and reflective practices on the core competencies. Learning evidence can be collected via observations, fresh grade, google classroom, photos, videos, self-reflections, one-to-one conversations, phone calls, emails and daily learning.

Criteria for Quality Communication of Student Learning

We decided, as a staff, that we would grow and learn together towards a common report card for our students and parent community. We will learn and attend the CSL (Communicating Student Learning) workshops offered by the district and discuss as staff next steps. Our focus is what's best for kids, social/emotional, and develop a common language. We are collaborating on moving away from an artificial system of using grades to a more authentic, inquiry, rich learning experiences.

We continue to strive to see what best suits our students by keeping these questions in mind and with the goal that our reports will focus on and begin to reflect quality communication.

Is there a way to "shift" our comments to reflect the re-designed curriculum? How can our comments help parents understand their child's learning?

INITIATIVES FOR 2018-19Mindset for Learning and Kindness and Joy leads to2 School Based Focusses

• Social/Emotional Learning: focusing on the wellbeing and positive growth of students, and

• Mindset for Learning:  How do we develop a learning mindset? What implications does this have a for our classroom environment? Differentiated learning – how do we meet the needs of unique and diverse learners?

Goal1.  To increase overall student engagement and achievement through an understanding of a learning mindset in a safe and caring environment.

South Kelowna's Learning Journey– Moving with a Purpose!

As we look ahead to our new 2018-2019 year – we will continue with our focus on

(1) Social/Emotional Learning: focusing on the well-being and positive growth of students, and

(2) Mindset for Learning:  How do we develop a learning mindset? What implications does this have a for our classroom environment? Differentiated learning – how do we meet the needs of unique and diverse learners?

As well as these identified focus areas the School Learning Plan:- Inquiry-based models for learning- OECD Principles of Learning

- Provocations- Innovative Learning Environments- STEM projects- Technology-supported learning Leadership Team at SKE Monthly Focus Assemblies

2018-2019September – Growth Mindset 2019

September Staff Meeting:

Innovative Learning CommunitiesOur dedicated staff of educators are engaged in embedding the OECD 7 Principles of Learning into their classrooms and beyond. Our Gr. 4/5 classes have created a combined learning community.

October – Kindness

For the month of October the theme was kindness which is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. We looked into how we can be kind to our classmates around the school and the world in general so that we can spread kindness to as many people as possible.

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

The book of the month was "Be Kind" By Pat Zietlow Miller which is about being able to see that someone is down and then be kind to them not expecting anything back. It also explains that no matter if the act of kindness is big or small it makes a difference to someone.

October Challenge: Do one random act of kindness.

1. Get a stick note.2. Write an act of kindness on it.3. Post it on the Kindness Board.

October Staff Meeting:

November

November Staff MeetingIn November we looked closer at the seven actions of assessment for learning created by Anne Davies and Sandra Herbst. Which outlined the following:

1. Students have a clear learning destination.2. Students use samples to understand quality and development.3. Students participate in the co-construction of criteria.4. Students are involved in feedback cycles to feed the learning forward, including self-

and peer assessment.5. Students collect evidence to prove that they have learned.6. Students set goals for their next steps.7. Students communicate their learning to others, both formally and informally.

December – Perseverance --- December with Teagan Adams

For the months of December we chose to focus on the term perseverance. Perseverance means "not giving up" or" hanging in there until you complete the task you started." It's important that people understand that it will take time and lots of effort if they wish to achieve something that they really want.

"We love a Challenge!"

The book of the month was "Flight School" by Lita Judge. This book is all about working hard and being persistent in order to achieve you dreams.

November Challenge: Use none deposable water cups.

1. Bring a reusable water bottle to school every day.2. Use your water bottle when you are thirsty.3. Know that you are doing your part to care for our Earth.

January 2019

January – Integrity

January we focused on the theme of integrity which means doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching. It is important that everyone knows to be honest even when it is hard, so that we can understand and trust one another.

"Feedback is a Gift – Accept it"

At the integrity assembly we read "Ruthie and the (not so) Teenie Tiny Lie" by Laura Rankin. This story is about lying and how standing up for the truth can help cut even the biggest mistakes down to size.

January challenge: Share examples of integrity:

1. Get a stick note.2. Record an act of integrity.3. Post it on the integrity board, outside the library.

January Staff Meeting:We asked our teacher a question "What is important to you as a learner to make your learning successful when we come together?" Here are some of the answers they came up with.

CRITERIA

Group 1

I can be relevant by providing up to date applicable contributions.

I can be respectful in my listening, sharing and understandings and accepting the opinions (when different from mine) of others.

Group 2

I can share my ideas.

I can be an active, mindful listener with clear communication.

I can be calm and positive to help create a supportive and welcoming environment.

Group 3

I can share my ideas.

I can be engaged in discussions with others

I can stay on topic.

I can respect/accept other and respectfully disagree.

I can demonstrate growth mindset and be open to change.

I feel safe in asking questions about why changes are taking place.

I can work as a TEAM member.

I can take risks.

I can think "out of the box."

Group 4

I can be given the opportunity to discuss and share ideas in a safe, no-judgmental and kind environment.

I can share my ideas on the topic for discussion.

I can participate in providing food and drinks to enhance the meeting experience.

I can listen and appreciate the idea of others.

February – Courage & Harmony Day – Teagan Adams

February Staff Meeting: Sharing the Families' PerspectiveFebruary we the teachers looked into how we can better represent the student's achievements so that students and their parents may better understand what they are accomplishing

In the feedback loop of communicating our initial prototype, we sought input from parents asking them questions about the redesigned report card. 

This year we want to learn from the past so that in the future we can better understand how to show students and their parents what they are learning and how well they are learning the topic. To do this we surveyed and looked at feedback from parents to better understand how to support parents with assessment feedback and reporting.

March – Compassion

This March we chose to look closer into the term compassion which means showing kindness, caring, and a willingness to help ourselves and others. This is a word for a very positive emotion that has to do with being thoughtful and showing empathy. Being compassionate to others is hard but it is something that is imperative for everyone to show to others in a school environment.

"I Need to Take Care of myself, so that I can Take Care of Others"

At this month's assembly we read the story of "The Invisible Boy" by Trudy Ludwig. This story focused on reaching out to someone that needed a friend.

March Challenge: Practice compassion in the following ways:

Keep a journal to record your thoughts and feelings. Take time for yourself to do something you enjoy, when your body tells you to take a

break.

March Staff Meeting:Task: With a partner, list examples for each principle of the “7 Principles of Learning” that you have used or observed in your classroom this year.

(1) Learners at the Centre All daily 5 ADS Story workshop Choices of: topic, books, activity,

research topic & how to share learning Inquiry Learn through play, exploration Engage (create) actively (stations &

(2) The Social Nature of Learning Read with Math games Calendar time ADST Story workshop Mindful of different learning

needs/diversity "What does social mean?"

small groups) Exploration (work together), plan

together, social skills Taking responsibility for learning Self-assessment Visuals, STEM challenges,

worksheets, leadership activities Maker center, create & inspire each

other Collaborate Opportunities to explore Provocations (manipulatives) Inquiry learning ( math games) Experiments

Social platform (tech), stickies/posting to share

Interpersonal skills Co-criteria for this Skill: Common, Respect, Problem

Solve Tons of partner work, peer tutoring,

etc. Group/class planning for activities Think pair – share, sitting in groups,

option to work with others on activities

Free play, allowing students to work out their own conflicts

Learning community Grateful circle Whole school/multi-age activates Literacy stations

(3) Emotions are the Gatekeeping to Learning

Have to be regulated Zones, centers, stories Attend to emotional/mental health…

before learning Flexibility in lessons to adapt to kids

responses Orchard scale – motivation to

learn/buy in Movements – brainstormed 1 movement – feeling, emotions,

animals, characters Style/Genre, connections (Reading

Power), questions/infer, Transform Zones/empathy/recognition Zones & growth mindset, moving

meetings Mindset learning, perseverance

empathy Social emotional teachings/lessons

(4) Recognizing Individual Differences Flexible seating Flexible to present your learning Reading levels Output in writing Let them chill Show & share Flexibility/choice whenever possible

(learning looks/sounds different for everyone

Fair = meeting everyone's needs Individual differences I just do. How can anyone not! Flexible learning space – fidgets Sentences starters & open writing Small vs. Large /one on one group

instruction Meet them where they are *respectful

of think time students share their individuality in

multiple ways in classroom/school (ie verbally with in personal stories)

(5) Challenging All Students Adjust / re-adjust lessons etc. As

needed Reading – ie. Chapter books (R) Differentiated word work (W) Varied the levels (M)

(6) Meaningful Feedback for Learning Writing & reading goals (conferences) Assessment one on one Clear rubrics/criteria, FreshGrade,

self-assessments Criteria – co-constructing (Me &

Choices Levels of learning, level 1, level 2,

level 3 – bowling pins Levels, making choices for their

learning providing extra opportunities Challenging Managing expectations appropriate to

ability Yes, meeting needs of each individual

by use of inquiry projects

students – Dance) Giving feedback daily basis

individually & including class in each other's goals so they can help each other

Oral feedback & conferencing Mastery – finish things fully to best of

ability Rubrics, criteria, co-created criteria,

reflection, FreshGrade

(7) Building Horizontal Connections Buddies SS – reading, writing, art Integration Dabbling – connect –

curriculum/classroom, same language & World events

History of Song Growth mindset & leadership Isn't this what we are all about? Even

using the Orchard visual in in all aspects not just academics.

Reading books & doing art connected with other curriculum (nonfiction)

Connect it to sports etc. people we know

Storytelling circle Leadership activities

April – Joy & Happiness

This month's theme was Joy & Happiness which comes from being aware of our life and appreciating the little things we have. Because when we appreciate the small little things that happen every day we can have a better outlook in life.

"Appreciate the little things"

The book of the month was "You Are My Happy" by Hoda Kotb. This book tells a story of a mama bear and a baby bear reflecting on the joyful events of the day.

April Challenge: Make a gratitude list – a gratitude list is when you write out all the things you are grateful for in your life. Some examples might be:

Reading a good book. Spending time with friends or family. Feeling the warm sun on your back. Enjoying nature like flowers, birds, and animals. Quite time outside listening to the sounds of nature.

April Staff Meeting:The discussion for the April staff meeting was about Insights EdPlan.

EdPlan

Home

- For P/T conferences/new student- Student profile- Type last name of student - Pulls up data

Support for students – to meet needs of each child

Assessment Data

- PM benchmark data- Don’t put a # - if not done, just leave it blank

New

- Oral language – for SLP – reports- RTI class

o All assessments on child broken down into a pyramid at the beginning of the year

May – Achievement

May's theme is achievement which is the process of achieving something. It is something you strive to complete successfully, by using your effort, courage, or skill. This is to teach students that it will not always be easy to accomplish what they want but if they use the skills at their disposal and enough effort they can achieve anything they believe they can.

"I Got This!"

This month's book was "The Empty Pot" by Demi which tells the story of a boy trying to achieve his dream of being an emperor. But to do so he has to put in all his skills and the effort in order to achieve this dream.

May challenge: Create a vision board where you draw, cut & paste, write or attach ideas that will inspire you to work towards your goal.

May Staff Meeting: For the may staff meeting we started to look back to see how far we have come from the beginning of the year in regards to the Assessment of Learning and Reporting.

Students participate in the co-construction of CriteriaThis is the area we identified as a staff in November that we needed more practice and

experience with. As you can see below, after additional resources and support, we realize it will take more time to develop this area into our teaching and learning journey.

May 2019

June

June Staff Meeting:During the staff meeting we were talking about what questions to ask for the student interview online questionnaire. The options that we chose from were:

How often do you do kind things for others? (Never / Once or Twice a month / Once or Twice a week / Three times per week or more / About once a day)

What helps you be the best learner? What area in school would you like more help with? I learn best when… What helps you to be your best learner? Here are some ways that I show kindness to others: (Students fill out the answer) At school, what would you like more help with? What do you do at school when you are challenged? Can you name two people at school who believe that you will be a success in life? What are you learning and why is that important? How's it going at SKE? What do you want to learn next? What kind of learner are you? What helps you to be the best learner?

In the end these are the questions that we thought were the best for the students of South Kelowna Elementary.

Click here to view the results.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aUUa-jDIgm6UGtw4kkNO5y9ywpX6It4iCVRwvB8tP1Q/edit?usp=sharing

Summary of the Results:I learn best when……Students indicated a variety of ways they learn best and all classrooms have learning environments with a variety of seating options and multiple opportunities for students to learning in a variety of ways. The classroom environments are constantly being revised and updated to suit each learner the best way possible.

At school, what would you like more help with?

More than half the students reported requesting more help with MATH. They also indicated continued support with writing is was appreciated.As a result of our own scan and this student data, we as a staff, we have decided to include a math focus for our 2019-2020 school year.

Here are some ways I show kindness to others……..Students indicated many ways to share kindness. Ideas such as opening doors, picking up garbage, smiling, sharing, paying attention, including others, playing with everyone, being nice, caring, encourage them, using manners, and pay complements. The main way where almost all the students expressed kindness was through HELPING.

How often to you do kind things for others?Students indicated that they showed kindness in one way or another at least ONCE EVERYDAY.

INITIATIVES FOR 2019-20Mindset for Learning and Kindness and Gratitude leads to2 School Based Focusses

• Social/Emotional Learning: focusing on the wellbeing and positive growth of students, and

• Mindset for Learning:  How do we develop a learning mindset? What implications does this have a for our classroom environment? Differentiated learning – how do we meet the needs of unique and diverse learners?

Goal1.  To increase overall student engagement and achievement through an understanding of a learning mindset in a safe and caring environment. 2. To increase student confidence and skills in the area of numeracy