Boys are falling behind!

Boys' grade averages are below their female counteparts in secondary school.

Young men are more likely to drop out of secondary school and less likely to graduate university than young women.

Men are now outnumbered in most professional programs including law and medicine.

The average Canadian university campus is 58 per cent female.

Boys are unmotivated and have been brought up in the most recent generation to support their female counterparts.

These are some of the findings cited in a Maclean's article last week. 

As educators, we have been aware of the physiological and emotional differences between male and females.  Females mature physically and emotionally faster than boys and are better able to focus on assigned tasks.  This article corroborates this by citing a recent brain development study.  In short, the brain of a five-year-old boy is roughly equivalent to that of a 31/2-year-old girl.  Hence, girls start school with a very significant academic advantage.  The rest is history!

Our School Improvement Plan has specific goals and strategies that address understanding and identifying the learning styles of boys prior to instruction, implementing differentiated learning, graphic novels and esteem building activities for example. 

Are boys disinterested due to how they have been raised?  Are girls dominating due to physiology and a nurtured sense from their mothers who had to endure and fight decades of discrimination?  Are elementary and secondary schools to blame for feminizing the curriculum to promote girls and keep boys from being discipline problems?

Here is the Maclean's article.

http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/10/18/are-we-raising-our-boys-to-be-underachieving-men/

Thanks for reading!  Looking forward to your comments.  Parent/Teacher Interviews are this Thursday, October 28th from 6:30 pm to 8 pm. 

21st Century Learning

I was at a 21st Century Learning Conference in Chicago last week.  It was very informative, interesting and daunting quite frankly.

I have the utmost confidence that the education we deliver in our Catholic Learning Community is comprehensive and faith based.  Our wonderful and dedicated teachers by in large deliver the curriculum in an engaging manner that is differentiated to meet the varied needs of our students.  Guided by our gospel values, students crictically, creatively and ethically synthesize information in a collaborative learning environment.

Yes....CtK has many smartboards, several computer labs, wireless technology, multi-media projectors, laptops and interactive clickers.  Yes....our staff uses class portals, wikis, blogs and many different websites to augment the delivery of their instruction.  In fact, this blog is the only one of its kind in our board by an administrator!

That said, this conference confirmed what I already knew.....that schools across this province fall short preparing our students for the 21st Century. Given that we are already ten years into this century, we have some catching up to do.

What does a 21st Century Learning school look like?  Feel free to go to the link below and view a number of such secondary schools in the US.

http://www.bobpearlman.org/Learning21/21stcenturyschools.htm

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center

I was at the United Center this past Saturday where I watched the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2.  The highlight of the evening took place before the game.  Specifically, the raising of the 2010 Stanley Cup banner in recognition of the Blackhawk's Stanley Cup victory during the 2009-2010 NHL season.  The multimedia pomp and circumstance was impressive.  The ritual of passing the banner from the hockey greats of 1961 who last won the Stanley Cup for Chicago to the players that were on last year's squad was mesmerizing.  However, the pinnacle took place when everyone joined the vocalist and organist in singing the American national anthem.

Say what you want about our friends south of the border.  As a Canadian, I was brought to tears from the baritone vocalist who sang with precision in a big, broad and resonating voice while the Blackhawk fans roared.  You could literally feel the sound waves pass through your body.

Americans faithfully believe in their country and in what the Star Spangled Banner represents. It reinforced my place as a Catholic educator.  Despite the trials and tribulations of Catholic education, I must remain resolute in my dedication to it because of our faith and what it represents to our students. 

The emotional reminder provided by the Americans was timely as we approach Thanksgiving. I give thanks for a wonderful family, outstanding teaching and support staff and a Catholic Learning Community that provides faith, guidance, inspiration and motivation to our students.

Thanks for reading.  Progress Reports will be distributed on the 14th.  Looking forward to your comments.

World Teachers' Day!

Tuesday, October 5th is World Teachers' Day!

Below is an excerpt of what I sent to our staff via email Sunday afternoon.

In recognition of this upcoming World Teachers’ Day, I would just like to thank you for your “level 4” work on a daily basis. Our admin. team could not ask for a better teaching staff.  Your dedication, creativity, thirst for professional learning, collegiality, and leadership has been inspiring to me.

Your consistent care and compassion to our disenfranchised students truly speaks to  Matthew 25:40  - And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

 As the Principal of CtK, I am very proud of you and the Catholic Learning Community that we continue to nourish by “Doing it Right!”


Please take the time to thank our teaching staff when you get the opportunity.....perhaps through this blog.  They are wonderful people who have truly dedicated their efforts to meeting the needs of your children. 

Looking forward to your comments.  Hope to see you this Tuesday from 10 to 11 am for our first Parent Engagement session called "Helping Your Teen Succeed in High School."  Please sign in at the main office.

Lockdown at CtK

Our school went into a lockdown last Tuesday based on information that there was an individual in our building allegedly with a knife. A lockdown is a response to an emergency situation wherein the evacua­tion of a school building is neither safe nor advisable and steps are required to isolate stu­dents and staff members from danger.   

The decision to call a lockdown is not taken lightly.  As educators, we must always act as a judicious parent "in loco parentis" (in the place of parents). 

There is a litmus test that we discuss before sending the school into a lockdown.  Is the source reliable? Has it been validated through a first hand or third party? Was there more than one report or sighting?  Is someone's safety immediately in jeopardy?  What type of weapon?

In retrospect, we are always our own worst critics.  Either way, we received commendations from the Police Department and Senior Administration for our exemplary manner to the immediate threat of the initial situation, our leadership  throughout the situation, and through the media and community relations that followed in the after math.
 
At the end of the day, we will always err on the side of caution when it comes to the safety of staff and students in our Catholic Learning Community.

Looking forward to your comments.  Our first Catholic School Council meeting is this Wednesday, September 29th at 7 pm in the library.  You are welcome to join us.

Cell Phones in the classroom?!

Last week, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty suggested that students should be allowed to use cell phones in the classroom.

Currently, students are prohibited through board and school policies to use any electronic device on school property without the express consent from staff. 

Specifically, there are several reasons for precluding students from using cell phones on school property.  Students have used cell phones to traffic illicit drugs, copy assessments, communicate to other friends what is on a test, bully and harass other students on school property and take improper pictures of staff and students that invariably end up on the Internet.

The 21st century learning environment speaks to the use of technology in every facet of education.  For example, there will come a time where all instructional materials will be distributed to students electronically and textbooks may go the way of the horse and carriage. 

Many students come to a school that has inferior technology to what they use on a daily basis at home.  That said, students have access to wireless networks for their laptops and computer networks for classroom instruction.  In addition, staff frequently use interactive smart boards, youtube, wiki spaces, class portals and electronic clickers that allow students to respond to questions and get immediate feedback on projector screens as part of their instructional and assessment practices.

I am not sure where and why cell phones would offer any educational benefit above and beyond what we already have in place?

Looking forward to you sharing your opinion.  As an aside, you are welcome to join us at our first Catholic School Council meeting in our library September 29th at 7:00 pm.

Academic Dishonesty

Why do students cheat?  Is it out of laziness?  Is it a shortcut to success?  Is there too much pressure to meet standards of excellence that are required to get into College and/or University programs?

This weekend's Sunday Star had an article from the University of Toronto that articulated how University Professors face a new tide of student dishonesty. 

Here are a few of the "cheating horror stories" at U of T:

• A tutorial assistant charged three students $1500 each to slip them the answer sheet when he escorted them to the washroom during the exam. Ruling: Suspended for five years

• A student plagiarized an essay, then forged a doctor's letter saying he was too sick to hand in a second essay on time.  He then plagiarized it and handed it in late, followed by a third plagiarized essay. Ruling:  Recommended for expulsion

• A student submitted an essay written originally by a professor at Purdue University whose name, sadly, she failed to include in her essay bibliography.  Ruling:  Suspended for two years

Plagiarism is dealt with on a situation by situation basis at CtK.  Because our role is to nurture our students, often times they are given the opportunity to redo the offending assessment piece without penalty.  Students are realizing that post secondary educators are far less forgiving.  Handing an assignment in late or a professor prodding a student to hand in missing assignments like we do on a constant basis are all laughable concepts in post secondary.  It simply is not tolerated in the large majority of circumstances.

The 2010 Growing Success document on Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools seems to have mildly shifted the pendulum back to where teachers can consider assigning late marks and zeros.  CtK has had a detailed policy for handling assessments that have not been handed in as per the deadline.  Teachers that follow the policy have been allotting zeros if a student fails to complete the assessment piece through this process.  In light of this new document, our team will be getting together to re-look at our policy to consider assigning late marks for pieces handed in late.  Once the policy has been approved by our administration, we will post it on our public website at http://www.ctk.ca/.

Looking forward to your comments.  See you all at Curriculum Night this Wednesday at 6:30 pm.