It was an afternoon of guest presentations at the South East Cornerstone Public School Division regular monthly business meeting on Feb. 26.
A delegation from Arcola School provided a presentation on the school’s guided reading program, complete with young readers who demonstrated their skills. They were followed by presentations from Peggy Lawson, co-ordinator of instructional technology and Brian Belinsky, manager of information systems.
It was interesting to note that with all the discussions swirling around new communication systems and changing technologies, three of the Cornerstone trustees were joining the regular team from warmer vacation spots. Warren Betker, Kevin Keating and Harold Laich were tuned into the meeting via online audio hookups for the presentations and regular business portion.
Lawson’s presentation focused on instructional technology delivered online, usually through the division’s online Cyberstone School system that gives students who have varying needs and demands on their time, an opportunity to gain full high school credits through online courses.
Lawson noted that assessment tools have been developed for the instructors and new software allows for a centralized data base with most of the students having e-textbooks and iPads and an opportunity to share resources from all Cornerstone schools.
The cloud-based software allows students to deliver homework assignments, share notebook messages among themselves and the teachers.
The website was linked last summer, said Lawson and “it’s user friendly, more mobile friendly with an internal staff portal for monthly administration meetings.”
There are currently 764 enrollments in Cyberstone’s 34 courses with 30 students coming from areas outside Cornerstone’s boundaries.
“It’s not for everyone, because it requires discipline so there is a high dropout rate,” said Lawson. The students may drop out without penalty in the early stages of each program delivery. “None of these are snap courses, or classes that someone might think will be easy because it’s online. The courses still have to be effective in educational circles. A person can get a full high school education through Cyberstone, but it’s not easy,” said Lawson. In many instances, the online version is replacing traditional home schooling because it offers a high school diploma at the end, which isn’t the case for the home schooled students.
Lawson added that many students have been able to convey their knowledge in non-traditional ways through videos and other means.
“We have Smart boards in all classes now (traditional and Cyberstone). We’re getting away from Power point presentations and moving into website learning, videos and Prezi with some hands-on projects that allows the student to explore their passion and go beyond expectations.
Lawson said schools such as Pleasantdale and Spruce Ridge in Estevan are tech smart schools along with McLeod and McNaughton Schools in Moosomin. They have QR codes for the kids and engage in Mystery Skype, Global Read Aloud programs, plus math and science support projects.
“It supplements classroom instruction, they aren’t add-on, extra work loads for teachers or students, they are aides for teaching the lessons. In the future there will be such things as virtual reality and 3-D printing projects to check into,” she said.
Belinsky provided the trustees with updated information on the information systems deployed by the division. He said Estevan Comprehensive School and the Estevan alternative school are receiving updates as part of the overall $1.3 million upgrading. Schools are keeping their mobile technology updated as well as desktop.
During the presentation, Belinsky reported that Westview School in Estevan is getting an upgrade in wiring and access as is ECS and its access points to support various devices.
“Internet connectivity is getting close to peak and top sites exceed that on certain days,” said Belinsky.
There is a business case to make for enhanced services, he said since there is proof that money is saved, especially if a move can be completed to assign one server per region, but there first needs to be some assurance there is ample bandwidth to make the changes. Belinsky also reported on some personnel changes within the information systems department to include a system analyst.
Young readers impress Cornerstone trustees
A team of 14 young students from Arcola School paid a visit to the South East Cornerstone Public School Division’s head office in Weyburn on Feb. 26, to spend a few minutes reading to board members.
The break from the usual “business as usual” routine during their regular monthly public meeting, was welcomed by the trustees who broke off into reading circles with their new-found friends who represented a cross-section of students from Grades 1-3 in the school who are currently involved in the school’s guided reading programs.
Earlier in the afternoon session, Arcola principal Kevin Hengen, assisted by his sister-in-law/educator Colleen Hengen, took the trustees through a journey of progress in the school’s reading program that began with a new directive established in 2010.
“The kids had just not been doing well. We had work to do to get staff in agreement as to what direction to take and I’ll admit, there were a few arguments and even a few hurt feelings, but eventually we came together as a team with a common strategy,” said Hengen. The watershed year, or breakthrough term occurred in 2012-13, he said, and since then, it has been an upward trajectory with progress being tracked, especially at the early learning stages.
Colleen Hengen noted the Jolly Phonics teaching aid has been deployed along with other proven aides such as a reading buddies program in the school, home reading projects and smaller sized groupings for instruction that fit the varying levels of expertise.
“We have three teachers on staff who are master teachers in this category, so for a guy like me, who is a science teacher, it was a matter of getting it going and then getting out of the way,” said Kevin Hengen.
“Our goal is to have all students reading and comprehending by Grade 3,” he added.
“I heard some wonderfully skilled readers,” said chairwoman Audrey Trombley who huddled with a couple of Arcola students who relayed some storybook tales to her via the old-styled open book.
“The kids we brought you today weren’t necessarily the best readers, but rather just a good sampling of the program and the progress we’ve made in the school because some of them just weren’t reading at all, or reading poorly a year ago and now they are pretty competent,” said the principal.
“The girls I had whisked through their stories and explained some parts to me they thought I might not understand,” said trustee Carol Flynn with a chuckle.
Before they departed, the young readers left the trustees with home made bookmarks that celebrated the joys of reading.
