Last week started with an Elementary atmosphere as all the Teachers kept their Community (advisory) classes for the whole day!  The teachers decided to teach all the subjects to their Comm classes.  The math, humanities and science lessons were prepared by the individual teachers and shared amongst each other.  Each teacher stepped out of their comfort zones to teach the students ALL their subjects for the day.  The reason behind this day was to help the students move forward with their projects.  The teachers have a special relationship with their Comm classes, allowing them to motivate the students in their PBL.  It was a fantastic day of learning! Thanks teachers for being innovative and creative!

We have been in our school space for 12 days and as the dust settles (literally!) the staff and students are really starting to get into the ELC routine.

This campus atmosphere is calming and welcoming and is layed out more like a University Campus than your traditional high school. Not only do our students learn academics, they are also learning 21 century skills they will need later in life.   As one of our TOC’s pointed out last week “enrolment at the ELC should be mandatory for all grade 10’s.  They will not learn the life skills they are learning here (ELC) in a traditional  high school setting.”

Lesson learned this week ~ if we can step outside our comfort zones and be flexible with our teaching style it shows students how they can also step outside their comfort zones and take a chance in their learning.

Until next week….

Sheldon Steele, VP ELC