Term 2 Options Have Started

We wrapped up the first term of options last week, and are jumping straight in to Term 2.

Shark Tanks are in the Tank

Everybody has presented their "Shark Tank" Presentations outlining the things they are going to be taking on during their 20-Time independent studies. There are a lot of amazing projects in the works, and I can't wait for students to get started on them. I'll definitely try to keep everyone posted.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

The first round of Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews is coming up. This round is focused on sitting down with your student and having them set some goals for the year to come. We will be starting the personal reflections of the year so far this week, so each student has had a chance to start thinking about what they would like to accomplish before we sit down. If you haven't had a chance to sign up for an appointment slot, please check your email for the invitation. If you can't seem to find it, please let me know and I will resend the invitation. Interviews run from:

• November 14th 5:00pm-7:45pm
• November 15th 4:00pm-6:45pm
• November 16th 8:00am-11:45am

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I'd like to apologize about the "October Gap" in updates. My life became dramatically busier and more complicated when our second child arrived a little over two weeks early in mid-October. Despite the lack of me writing about it, things have been marching along in class. If at any point, anyone is looking for information that is not on the webpage, please do not hesitate to email me.

Whew - Those first weeks went fast!

It was really wonderful to be able to meet so many of you at the Open House on Thursday. I am not sure if it came across, but I'm pretty excited to be teaching all of your students, and I have lots of ideas and high hopes for the year to come. For anyone who wasn't able to attend, as well as anyone who has further questions or concerns, of you would like to arrange a meeting, please feel fee to email me at the address below my picture to arrange a time.

Science 8C - Freshwater Field Trip

My homeroom class went on their field trip exploring the bow river watershed. It was a pretty amazing field trip that allowed the students to participate in water sampling and analysis at the Bow River headwaters just outside of Banff as well as in Canmore near the Water Treatment Center. A liaison from Parks Canada facilitated the day and did an amazing job of educating the students about a wide range of issues that impact fresh water systems. Students learned about environmental design at the Fenlands Athletic Center in Banff, as well as the impacts of development, recreation, and invasive species while playing educational games near the Canmore Golf Course. Pictures of the day will be posted on the new class page.

Social Studies

Students have spent the better part of the past week and a half working on their Causal-Values projects. Which is a fancy way of saying trying to determine what it is they value and where those values come from. They then had to find a visual way to represent those connections. We used this as a springboard to start looking at what sort of things did members of the class have in common, and then have been working on extrapolating those ideas to try to identify things that Canadians value in order to describe a "Canadian Worldview".

This Website

I'm going to work hard to update this website weekly with what has been happening at the school and what my students have been working on. That said, I suspect this page will change and grow as I discover new needs and wants for the space. If there is anything you would like to see more or less of in this space, let me know and I will try to accommodate your requests.