The Face of Celebration

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

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The year is over. Our students are gone. Soon, the banner for our year-end art exhibit ‘Celebration’ will be taken down from the front of the school.

But the celebrating hasn’t stopped for me.

We have plenty to celebrate this year: our 25^th anniversary; amalgamation with St. Georges Nursery School; the addition of 14 terrific new colleagues; and big inroads on our plan to establish a high school. These are achievements worthy of celebration, but right now they aren’t what come to mind.

Working on final report cards immerses me in the faces and stories of our students. This celebration has a face, many faces in fact. It has one for every student, and one for every teacher standing by their side. I’m celebrating:

the SK students who started the year unable to read, and who ended it reading in front of the school at our final assembly
all the students who made huge gains in their reading skills thanks to their teachers and our new efforts with Direct Instruction
the new students who started the year struggling in various skills or lacking in confidence, now working alongside their peers ready for their next grade, head held high
the dozens of students who chose to seize challenges like the Caribou Mathematics Competition because they welcomed the chance to be pushed to their intellectual limits
all the students who work their hardest in academics, arts, athletics and citizenship, day in and day out
two students who persisted in writing a book with our YAKCS program, and will have them published over the summer
the students who took their first steps in leadership this year, and the many other dozens who have used their leadership skills to make KCS and the world a better place
the students who tried out for sports they’d never played before, and the students who had the courage to perform for the first time ever at Wake Up With the Arts this year
those who earned banners; ribbons; public-speaking, science and math awards; Four Doors Awards; and year-end trophies
those who didn’t win, who weren’t chosen for a team, who struggled with schoolwork or with a friendship, and who faced each day anew, ready to try again, and seeing things get better and better as a result
and all those who acted with empathy, who held the door for others, who heartily welcomed visitors and who made evident their enthusiasm for life and learning at KCS.

There sure is a lot to celebrate this year. What’s most worth celebrating are our students and all they’ve been through, and grown from, thanks to their efforts and those of their teachers. Their work isn’t done, of course, nor is ours. But parents, when you receive your child’s report card in the mail, try to imagine how much your child has embraced learning, thought flexibly, created, shared what they know, persisted, made a difference and more. Think about their full story. Then look at their face, and celebrate.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

What Our Students Had to Say

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

“Can we get more bugs in the playground?” – JK student

About five years ago KCS introduced a way to invite all students into strategic faculty conversations. Taking place usually once a year, a significant area of focus for the school is chosen and feedback is sought from faculty, staff and all students on that topic, with particular attention on how KCS can improve. In the past, topics discussed in every class have included homework, extra-curriculars, the House System and student leadership. This year’s topic is wellness in all its forms: physical, social, emotional, mental and intellectual. In addition to what comes out of class discussions, Student Voice includes a focus group for interested students in grades 6 to 8 who want to discuss the topic in more detail with senior administrators and teachers.

This year’s discussions focused on four questions:

What are the signs of health/wellness at KCS?
What are signs of ill health/unwellness at KCS?
What does KCS do to promote wellness?
What could KCS do to better promote wellness?

Our students had 23 pages worth of things to say. The results of Student Voice have now been shared with all staff and students in grades 6 to 8 and will be used to inform leadership efforts at KCS among faculty and students.

Our youngest students are still three years old. When asked about what they do to make others feel good, answers included cuddling, sharing and “rubbing their friend’s back if they’re unhappy”. Empathy and wellness go hand-in-hand.

Collectively, the students could describe wellness in great detail. They know that eating and sleeping well, getting along, dealing well with conflict and embracing learning are part of being well. But life doesn’t always work that way and they were equally able to describe what it means to be unwell at KCS, and shared examples such as not getting along with others, times when others weren’t kind or respectful, times when they ate unhealthy food and stress around homework and exams.

The students appreciate the many things KCS does to promote wellness, identifying caring teachers, time to be active, ‘I Messages’, class meetings, special events, having fun, effective teaching, the Habits and dozens of other efforts that make a positive difference.

What can we do better? These ideas were interesting and will lead to numerous discussions among faculty and senior students. Some are too tricky to act on anytime soon: a turfed field, a roof patio, a swimming pool and a cafeteria among others. But many can and surely will be done. We actually have a plan in place to get more bugs in the playground – we look forward to announcing that one. It was nice to see that our grade 8s would like more and earlier opportunities to play with their grade 1 and 2 buddies. The students had interesting ideas for changes in the timetable. One idea was to have a shorter day, while another was to have a longer day! A number suggested vending machines with healthy food. The bathrooms and water fountains also got special mention, as did more time outside.

Twenty-three pages is a testament to how much students have to say. We’re listening, and we look forward to working with student leaders to bring more wellness to KCS, bugs and all.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

When Islington History Came to Life

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

Learning like this is priceless.

Thanks to local artists, the Islington BIA and many generous others, Islington Village showcases local history in 26 murals throughout the community. With exquisite detail, they give a realistic image of life long ago. But it takes more than that to make history come to life. For that, it takes an inquiring mind, some time and vivid imagination. Recently those all came together in our grade 3 classes at Kingsway College School.

These young students were given the task of choosing one of the murals, researching it and preparing a poster to tell the story captured in the mural in their own words. It seemed that this was an opportunity many were waiting for. No ordinary project, this one had heightened meaning for them thanks to the murals they’ve seen throughout their childhood. They learned about what happened on the ground on which they live, play and go to school. With personal fervour, some went beyond the murals to pursue further research on the War of 1812, World War II, Hurricane Hazel, multiculturalism and more – topics that are well outside of the grade 3 curriculum. Many also joined their families on a guided walk through the village. This was the first time our grade 3s studied the murals but its success has already sparked a desire to expand the effort next year.

Projects aren’t new to these young students. Fun learning isn’t new to them either. What made this project special were the murals that we so fortunately have right in our community, and the opportunity to delve into the local story behind them.

At Kingsway College School, there are numerous ‘Habits’ that we aim to establish in our students. One of those Habits is ‘Share What You Know’. The murals of Islington are a powerful example of the value of ‘sharing what one knows’. In the wake of this project our students have equally ‘shown what they know’ by sharing their posters in the school and through social media. Some other great Habits were wonderfully evident thanks to this mural project: ‘Embrace Learning’, ‘Respond with Awe and Appreciation’, ‘Think Creatively’ and ‘Persist’.

That’s learning that’s priceless.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy

Wake Up to Something Wonderful

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

Ten days ago was our last Wake Up With the Arts (WUWA) for 2013-14. My parents arrived later the same day for their first visit in a year. They’ve now left, and though I’m just finding the time to write now, this blog has been on my mind since last Thursday. It’s a story I simply have to tell.

Wake Up With the Arts is the brainchild of our arts department and rooted in the desire to open up more showcase and performance opportunities, particularly of a kind that have less pressure and demand than the Christmas, closing and other special concerts of the year. About once a month from 8:00 to 8:30, around a dozen performances are shared by students from JK to grade 8, student artwork is on display on our three gallery walls and many bulletin boards, and coffee and muffins are on offer in the foyer. With only rare exceptions for the youngest students, teachers have no role in organizing these performances. The expectation is that they’re the initiative of the student(s) who sign up. Solo vocal, piano, violin, guitar, percussion, brass and woodwind performances tend to make up the majority of the mix. Students also organize duets, ensembles and multi-grade groupings in any of the performing arts, including dance and drama. Parents, nannies, teachers and fellow schoolmates gather in the foyer to enjoy and cheer on the performers before rushing off for the rest of their day.

That alone is wonderful enough, but there’s more.

For numerous young children, this is the first occasion when they’re willing to perform in front of a group. At this most recent WUWA, I learned that one of our new students in grade 3 would perform a solo guitar piece for the first time. He had seen a previous WUWA and saw that other students perform even when new to their instrument and even when they made mistakes. He saw that the audience loved the performance regardless. He told his Mom that if those students can do it, he could do it too.
At a WUWA last year, a student in grade 2 decided to improvise a piano piece for her performance. I wasn’t there to hear the piece but I was thrilled to hear that her courageous artistic spirit had a place to be showcased at KCS.
A different time a group of grade ones rounded up their grade 8 buddies to sing Christmas carols together.
Some of the music is familiar, while some are originals composed by the students.
One of our grade 4 boys has frequently showcased his exceptional hiphop dance moves – an inspiring example to get more young men dancing.
Another boy in grade three has twice sung for us a cappella, and most recently he led the whole audience in “thinking of a happy thought” and invited us to join him in the chorus of the hit “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

It’s no secret that children have tremendous capacity and often outright ability in the arts. It’s not always easy to showcase them enough. And it’s rare that all students have a regular opportunity to “share what they know”, just for the love of it and their willingness to take a risk. Polished or not, every performance makes a difference. It tells future performers “If I can do it, so can you”. It has all in the audience beaming with delight and bursting with pride. And it reminds all in attendance of how wonderful the world can be, and a school can be, if we make time to see what students want to share.

Come if you can next year. There’s no better way to Wake Up.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

It Works! (Question and Be Curious, But How? – Part II)

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

I thought it would!

A few months ago I wrote about the book Make Just One Change and the methodology it shared for teaching how to come up with good questions. For all the value of questioning, it seemed to me that the profession was pretty barren on direct methods for teaching this skill. Instead, some students seem to come by questioning naturally, and others pick it up as they mature, or not. Of course, students are exposed to lots of questions at school, and they’re regularly invited to come up with questions. Despite this, my gut was telling me we could accomplish more.

Then I read about the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). Immersing students in question-asking, it also offers the benefit of learning from one’s peers, it releases students from the threat of judgment, and it includes informed reflection, so students would start developing not only the habit of asking questions, but also the habit of asking increasingly effective ones. The method struck me as straightforward and destined to work. I had to try it out, and our grade 6 teachers were willing to let me. Their students were about to start their culminating social studies assignment and they needed questions to begin. Enter the QFT.

The Question Focus (or QFocus) was ‘Canadians Making the World Better’. The process began with a ‘question frenzy’, where groups of 3-4 students, one also being the ‘recorder’, came up with questions based on the QFocus. Rules of engagement were shared before the 7-minute frenzy: ask as many questions as you can; do not stop to answer, judge or discuss; write every question as it’s stated; and any statements were to be turned into questions. The recorder typed the questions in the class Edmodo newsfeed, thereby allowing all students to eventually see the questions of the whole class when the exercise was done.

The frenzy was followed by a brief exercise in open and closed-ended questions; a discussion on the students’ current purpose in asking questions (their QFocus and their assignment); and then an exercise in choosing and justifying their top three questions from the many others they came up with earlier.

The end result? Better questions than the teacher had seen students come up with in past years. They were mature questions that even caused concern in some parents who thought they were too hard (until they learned they came from their children). The students were welcome to change their questions if they felt they needed to, but instead most chose to stick with them, and by doing so ended up writing longer and better assignments than required.

Good questions are at the heart of great learning. At KCS we’ve seen over and over again that students are capable of more than most would expect, if we only persist in finding how to unlock it. We’ll be adding QFT to our list of tools for unlocking potential in students. And this will be one area of education where I no longer have that nagging feeling that we don’t do enough.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

Can you come down?

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

When administrators are called and asked to come down to a classroom, some concerning scenarios can come to mind. For all the planning that goes into a day at any school, there’s always an element of unpredictability.

Recently I received one of those calls from a teacher. Without pause I headed down. To my relief, she wanted to share how her recent effort to introduce more student-centered project-based learning (PBL) with her young students was playing out. Her classroom was a busy hive of learning, with children researching different aspects of Islington Village’s history. They were following the research process they’d been learning since grade 2, and discovering fascinating stories that happened on the very ground that they live, play and learn on every day. The greater student choice was part of the responsible risk for this teacher – would the students end up successful, can they handle the freedom, the challenge? These are among the many good questions teachers consider in everything they do. She took the risk to give more freedom than usual, and was so excited to see how they were responding that she asked me to come check it out.

I’ve enjoyed many of those moments with our increased effort to bring project-based learning to KCS. Blog followers already know about the fish project in JK. Our grade 7 science teacher shared his delight at how all of his students are responding to the new Lego robotics challenge they face this term, designing a device that would help in the event of a natural disaster. Our grade 6 to 8 students are embracing the current art challenge to create their showcase piece on ‘celebration’, in any way their hearts and skills take them. Our primary teachers shared their efforts at a recent meeting and it’s clear that they’re all taking steps and seeing promise.

The unpredictability of the school day isn’t always an educator’s favourite part of this profession. Tough things happen and we’re the first responders. Some unpredictability this year has been a real treat, however. The success of PBL, while not unpredictable, was a surprise I didn’t know was coming with that call from a teacher. It’s a surprise that I look forward to our teachers and students, and me, experiencing more and more at KCS.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

KCS gets IT

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

We might get it around here but we can now say that we get I.T. around here – as in information technology… software development. Thanks to one elective and the help of the students learning to code more quickly than me, I’m increasingly getting IT too.

Elementary schooling isn’t what it used to be. Sure, there are a number of things we do that you would recognize. But, appropriately, our students and teachers are also learning what we couldn’t even conceive of learning in grade school when we were young. And we’re loving it.

A group of grade 7 and 8 students and I are learning how to use the coding language Visual Basic to create our own video game. We have an instructor from Real Programming 4 Kids who is walking us through the steps of creating the necessary bits and bytes of a simple annihilation game. You know those ants that bedevil you at the back door or the cottage? They’re lucky they won’t meet our game AntKill!

I love learning side-by-side with the students. Teens in their element are a sight to behold. They’re helpful, respectful, attentive and persistent. If they’re not listening when they should be, it’s because they’re reading ahead in the notes, eager to build their program. And they’re mighty proud of their growing skills.

Electives fall in the category of Learning for the Love of It, something we directly strive to provide. That means time when students are learning not what the teacher tells them to, not what the Ministry or their parents say they should, and nothing that will be marked. Including clubs and teams of course, student-driven leadership and learning projects, YAKCS and more, it’s learning rooted in student choice and driven by interest and the desire to stare down challenge.

I am learning for the love of it too. And with all the good learning skills that step up when passion is involved, one day I know I’ll join the few in fully getting IT.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

When Good Enough is Best

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

Yesterday, I read an article that reproached me for the hours I spend working. Today, I read a different article that pointed out the psychological benefits of devoting time to a cause you believe in. Happily, those two are one in the same for me and I sit here on a Sunday morning, writing.

My reading is often like that: passionate, supported arguments for one notion, followed by equally passionate, supported arguments for the opposite. Parents and educators are like that too. Disparate notions for what’s best, fervently held, abound. Navigating it all is a job I embrace.

I recently pored through Alex Russell’s book Drop the Worry Ball and immediately appreciated his message. Russell and many others argue that today’s parents are by-and-large ‘over-parenting’, excessively involved so our kids have maximum happiness in life. Russell argues that we need to let children experience more failure. But other books and articles add relevant nuance. Letting children experience failure has value, but not all experiences of failure are good. Letting children forge their own path in the external world is important; knowing when and how to step in is equally so. Overprotecting our children from harm has significant downsides; blindly putting our children in harm’s way clearly has its own. Having a close and loving relationship with our children is a positive thing; but good parenting can lead to those crushing words, “I hate you!”

Most adults inherently recognize the complexity in raising children, and nothing will stop us from wanting what’s best for ours. That’s why we cling tightly to the Worry Ball. A recent article in The Atlantic, How to Land Your Kid in Therapy, however, brings a welcome message to this cacophony of parenting perspectives. It’s our desire to be great parents that’s the problem. Aim to be a “good enough” parent. And then step back. Wendy Mogul, author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee reassuringly adds that children even “need to think it’s a tragedy of earth shattering proportion that they’ve been born into the wrong family at some point.” Phew!

That takes us back to Russell’s message. Your children are well loved, served and protected. Amid the competing perspectives on raising children there emerges a sage middle ground. If you’re like most of us today, try to relax, step back and let their lives unfold on their own a bit more. When the unpleasant happens, ask, “Am I needed here?” Arguably, this is one part of life where being good enough is in fact doing what’s best.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

Alex Russell is speaking at KCS Monday, April 14, 2014 at 7 p.m. All are welcome and admission is free. His book Drop the Worry Ball will be available for sale at the event.

The Art of Parenting in a World of Worry

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

Eighteen years ago, expecting our first, I remember saying that I intended to have a different learning activity ready at home for every day of my child’s youngest years.

That was the first of countless parenting notions that didn’t go at all as planned.

It’s easy to laugh at some of what my husband and I thought before the reality of parenting hit. Many assumptions were thoroughly throttled when it became clear our boys were their own individuals, with their own minds (funny we didn’t assume they’d get that from us!).

What isn’t funny is the worry that comes with parenting these days. Media and much of society suggests that there’s plenty to worry about; the threat of future unemployment, mixing with the wrong crowd, bullying, drugs, excessive online gaming, online predators, ‘failure-to-launch’ from home and more lurk in the dark edges of our minds. These potential threats are alarming, to be sure. They are worthy of our watchful eye, and intervention when needed. But Alex Russell, clinical psychologist and author of Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement, suggests that the more alarming and widespread problem is how many of us are responding to the threats.

Drop the Worry Ball is an account of how our generation of parents has saved our children from failure, to the unhealthy end that they’re unable to deal with failure on their own. Our well-intended efforts to ensure their lives unfold as desired have left them ill-prepared to face the obstacles, the “non-catastrophic failures”, inherent in a life fully-lived. Be resilient is one of our KCS Habits because it’s an attribute that’s both a necessary yet under-appreciated part of success. Where children used to learn resilience, today they’re experiencing crippling anxiety or engaging in avoidance behaviours (endless gaming being one example) to alarming degrees. Many feel entitled to getting their way, and have become deft at manipulating parents to make it so. Messing up and not getting what we want is unpleasant, sometimes deeply so. That being said, they’re a powerful way, and arguably the only way, to learn how to pick oneself up, learn from mistakes, and face life undaunted. They’re a whole lot better than a life unlived.

I don’t know if my parents worried as much as I worry about my boys. I do know they let me face life with a great deal of freedom, and my fair share of non-catastrophic failures. They kept their worry in check so that I might become the adult I am today. If my husband and I can keep Russell’s message in mind, our boys will also become self-reliant adults, as my husband and I assumed they would be.

It just may not unfold as planned.

Alex Russell is speaking at KCS Monday, April 14^th at 7 p.m. All are welcome and admission is free. His book Drop the Worry Ball will be available for sale at the event.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

A New Definition of Cool

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Andrea Fanjoy

One reward for getting older is no longer caring about looking cool. Surrounded by tweens and teens at home and school, I’m often reminded of the lengths I went at their age to not look uncool. (Do sneakers in the snow sound familiar to anyone else?)

Gratefully, I wear warm winter boots now. I also get to witness and share the unbridled excitement that comes from, yes, data. Jumping out of our skin for numbers and charts won’t register on the typical ‘cool’ list of things to do, but it’s an unforgettable sight I’ve been grateful to witness a number of times now.

Two years ago, a significant area of focus for the school was reading. Since then, we’ve invested in a series of Direct Instruction programs, including Reading Mastery and other companion resources, that ensure all students pick up the skills needed to be thoroughly successful readers, from phonemic awareness to making inferences. All reading teachers from JK to grade 6 have received extensive training to deliver the program. Leveraging the small-group instruction time in our Super Skills and Workshop classes, we now deliver an intense, research-based, aligned effort to teach this most critical skill. Assessment happens frequently to monitor student progress. We also use a comprehensive standardized assessment to capture baseline data at the start of the year, mid-year and at the end with our youngest students, just to double-check.

That’s the data that’s got us beaming like giddy teens. Seeing the extent to which our students are growing in their reading skills is gratifying beyond words.

Teachers join the profession to make a difference. That difference is rarely quick and rarely rooted in one effort, no matter how significant that effort is. The complexity of meeting the needs of all students, to the greatest extent possible, is typically just too great.

Getting our kicks out of data may be considered uncool. So be it. But making a difference is what these teachers are about. Our excitement at doing so is irrepressible. And we’re not afraid to show it.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.