The Voice of the Committee

As Trustees, part of our job is to sit on Committees of the Board. AMDSB Policy 10 Some of these committees require all Trustee membership, others 1-3 Trustees. The make-up of the Committee maybe Trustees and/or staff and/or parents and/or community members. It is within these committees that the Trustees begin to learn the functioning of the Board. The trustees also begin to view/direct policies and procedures that the Board operates by and is governed by.
 The Board's Committees are classified as: Standing Committees - Committee of the Whole, Finance Committee, Director's Review, and Board Review/Self Evaluation: Statutory Committees - Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), Suspension Appeal Committee/Expulsion Committee/Expulsion Appeal Committee/Discipline Committee, Supervised Alternative Learning (SAL), Parent Involvement Committee (PIC), and Audit Committee; Advisory Committees - School Year Calendar, Student's Advisory Committee & Student Trustees, and Joint Health & Safety Committee; Ad Hoc Committees - Policy Committee and Board Review Committee; Others - Curriculum Pool, Human Resources Pool, Foundation for Enriching Education Perth Huron, AODA, Huron-Perth Student Transportation, Safe Schools, Key Contributions & Service Awards, and Accommodation Review Committees.
One can now begin to see the time commitment of the Trustee between their Committee(s) obligations and the regular Board Meetings (Committee of the Whole).

The Meeting. The Team

I had the opportunity to meet all my fellow AMDSB Trustees on Thursday at the 2010 Regional Trustee Orientation Seminars in London. With 5 new trustees and 4 returning trustees things maybe a little slow to begin with, as us rookies learn the ropes. The new trustees are Michael Bannerman & Alyson Kent representing Stratford, Lynette Geddes representing West & South Perth and St. Marys, Julie Moore representing Perth East and myself, Robert Hunking, representing Huron East & Central Huron. The returning trustees are Colleen Schenk representing North Huron & Morris/Turnberry & Howick, Al Sygrove representing Goderich & Colborne/Ashfield/Wawanash, Jenny Versteeg representing North Perth, and representing South Huron & Bluewater Randy Wagler. The Seminars that day including speakers on Student Achievement, Bill 177 and the Early Learning Program (FDK). We also had time to discuss and talk amongst ourselves about our role as trustees. The open and frank conversation between the trustees shows the willingness to respect and encourage each other. Connected Principals: TRUST .The challenges of the next 4 years lay before us, we will meet them. We may stumble at times, be unsure of ourselves, ask the wrong or 'stupid' question occasionally and make mistakes but we will do the best we can and learn along the way.  The Leading Blog: Ten Truths About Leadership

The Ombudsman Cometh

Saw this tweet/article 'Ombudsmaning-it' by @HugoWSRatMassey (The Education Reporter). NDP MPP Rosario Marchese has introduced a bill that will place school boards and others under the eyes of the Ontario Ombudsman. This is something that I will need to follow as a new trustee. I see nothing wrong with people having a place/person to go to if they feel their complaints are not being heard. How this plays outs or is implemented will determine its effectiveness. The issues could be a child being bullied, bussing, special needs and even ARC's. This could be one of the biggest complaint area. Will parents use the Ombudsman to try to overturn school closures? Will try to keep myself and you updated as things unfold. 

Parent Involvement

The satisfaction of volunteering is very evident in school. Parent involvement or engagement (a future blog) has become an essential part of the school environment. Much can be said/discussed about the parent's place in the school system. In this blog I am just going to touch on some information that parents can use to help them become part of their child's school or think about it. Get Involved  by Kids Health. People volunteer in school because they want to, not because they are mandated. Parent involvement is now part of Ontario's Education Act. Visit Ontario Ministry of Education .Most parents volunteer in the classroom or are involved through the School Advisory Council (SAC). Many school boards have a Parent or SAC section on their website, AMDSB School Councils , with various information, SAC Handbook , SAC  Video Tutorials. School's SAC's play many roles within the school and vary from school to school. The degree of parent involvement varies as well. Parents need to feel welcome and respected in the school and classroom by the teachers, principal and other parents. The articles and resources for parents, teachers and administration are endless on parent involvement. A good website is Parents as Partners. I will be returning to this topic in future posts as it is an important and necessary part of the school environment. A first step Inform, Invite, Perform . To my fellow parents out there, Thank you.

Canadian Education

Education is always taking a bad rap. Read these two posts and you will realize things are not that bad here. The first is from the Washington Post and the second is from Newsweek Magazine. Let's strive on what we are doing right.

Curriculum

As this is a journey for me and for some of my readers, my posts and links may not be of interest to some readers, especially those who have been in the education field for a period of time. To myself and other newbies,  most information is new or at least needing a refreshing. Here is a prime example, how many parents have taking the time to see what the Ministry's Curriculum Guidelines look like. Ontario Elementary Curriculum . It takes time to comprehend all the information, let alone determine how to teach it. You maybe asking yourself  "If he doesn't know what is to be taught how can he be a good Trustee?" This is an area I need to work on. Fortunately for me, Trustees do not determine directly what or how subjects are taught, this is left to the Ministry, Board Staff and teachers. We do watch and see that it is being taught in an effective learning environment for students and teachers. Within the Ministry's Curriculum Guidelines are standards or levels for students to obtain and it these that the Board uses to determine if the Board is meeting its goals set out in its, AMDSB Strategic Directions. Standards, levels and testing is a whole different discussion. (This discussion will come.) To the non newbies your direction and input and comments are always welcome on all subjects.

What is That?

Every world creates their own lingo and has their own tools. The Education Tech world is no different.
Storybird, ebook, Backchannel, Digg, BrainNook, Animoto, Bitstripes, Wordle, Blogger, Wiki, Twiducate, Tweetdeck, Wallwisher, Prezi, Voice Thread, Skype, Ning, Grouply, DropBox, Livescribe, IWB, Evernote, Google Docs, Ustream, Wordcloud, Voki, Delicious, PowerPoint (old) Yfrog, etc., etc., etc. The list of eprograms and etools is endless. What should be used in the classroom? What is the best for my situation? Do the parents understand what is happening in the 21st Century Classroom and what WEB 2.0 is about? Here is a local example of what schools can do to educate the parents.Hullett Central PS.