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Featured School
Where in the world is...
Matthews Hall
Matthews Hall, a small welcoming elementary school, has been thriving in London since 1918. The school's niche in London is to provide enriching learning experiences. Co-ed and non-denominational, it emphasizes personal best, teamwork, maximum participation and respect for self and others.
The faculty provides a deep and broad-based programme of studies that meets high standards and sets challenge. Visitors often comment on the focus in the classrooms and on the children's happiness in learning.
The school bustles with co-curricular activity. Children learn and grow while they work together at club meetings, sporting events, performances, service campaigns, and family gatherings. The school hallmark is the quality of the students: accomplished, self-assured, positive and caring.
To read more visit http://www.matthewshall.on.ca/
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CAIS Conference Information
Please visit the Conferences section of our website for a look at conference details and registration information.
Save the dates:
- June 28-July 2, 2009 - CAIS Summer Leadership Institute is being hosted by Bishop's College School in Lennoxville, Quebec. Registration is available on the CAIS website.
- Oct 22-25, 2009 - CAIS Heads and Board Chairs Conference is being hosted, in King City, Ontario by: Holy Trinity School, Kempenfelt Bay School, Pickering College, St. Andrew's College, The Country Day School, and Toronto Montesssori Schools.
CAIS Athletic Events
Click here to view photos from the CAIS 2009 Senior Boys Rugby Tournament.
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CAIS in Point
Recently, the Best Practices Conference was exceptionally well hosted by Lower Canada College (LCC). Over two days, 130 CAIS teachers and administrators representing over fifty member schools, participated in an open forum, enjoyed two sessions by keynote presenter Alan November, and attended 30 best practice workshops, presented by various participants from across the country.
We are grateful to LCC for the excellent organization of the conference, and are very proud of the quality of the sessions and the thorough preparation by the presenters.
For the balance of this report, I would like to thank Brenda Rilling, IT Director at Selwyn House School, for her assessment of the impact of the conference and of how CAIS might build on the collective experience.
“The Best Practices Conference, held in Montreal on April 30 and May 1, was a lively gathering that focused on some best practices developing from new communication tools available through the Internet. During his morning keynote session, Alan November encouraged and inspired us all to use some of the new “Web 2.0” technologies for ourselves and in our classes. As a testament to the power of the technology, it was during this session when the CAIS ning was created. And not that, as an audience, we weren’t paying attention. In fact, Alan encouraged us to scribe, twitter, blog, text, message, and interact electronically as he spoke. Throughout the morning, Alan introduced us to some new technologies and encouraged us to learn the “grammar” of the web to make our searches more powerful and directed, to develop our own search engines in google, to direct student searches, and to consider how these tools will impact teaching and learning.
The evening before the conference, a panel discussion was held focusing on the question “Are we moving too slowly integrating technology into schools?” Susan Einhorn, Executive Director of the Anywhere, Anytime Learning Foundation (www.aalf.org) encouraged us to consider the types of knowledge we present to students, and also the structure and location where we present the knowledge. She challenged us to think about the physical structure and design of schools in the future. The remaining panellists spent the evening discussing technology in schools and in no time, we had as much audience participation as panel contributions.
The CAIS ning can be found at http://caiscommunity.ning.com/ Currently, there are 45 members. Feel free to share and invite others to join to develop thoughtful conversations, and a resource for asking questions and sharing good ideas.
A ning is a social networking site connecting people with common interests. The success of a ning is directly related to the activity and use of its members. Although many techie-oriented teachers are drawn to nings, you will find that the conversations are pedagogically based and often break off into sub-topics. For example, the CAIS ning has a sub-group “Breathing Life”, which is a continuation of the session on Green Schools started at the Best Practices Conference.
In the U.S., the Independent School Educator’s network, http://isenet.ning.com/, has myriad groups on topics ranging from early literacy, study skills, specific software user groups, math teachers, and one called “Shepherds in the Cyber World”. With more than 2100 members, it is an active resource for educators in independent schools.
Upcoming events can be advertised on the ning. Currently, the “Refresh I.T. ReThink I.T.” Conference in Montreal on November 12-13, 2009 is listed. Alan November will be speaking at this conference as well.
Given the geographical vastness of Canada, technology is one way to bring us closer together and provide access to resources and expertise which may not have been easy to access in previous years."
Within the next two weeks, key parts of the presentation made by Alan November will be available to member schools via the CAIS website.
William Mitchell, Interim Executive Director
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Register soon to secure your spot at the July 2009 Leadership Institute
The 2009 CAIS Summer Leadership Institute (LI) registration form is on line at http://www.cais.ca/conferences2. Register by Friday, May 22 to secure your spot at this rewarding professional development opportunity! Bishop's College School (BCS) is hosting the LI at their lovely campus in Lennoxville, Quebec from Sunday June 28 to Thursday July 2, 2009.
For your planning purposes:
On Sunday, people will arrive and register for the LI, and enjoy a social get together in the evening. The modules will be run from Monday morning until mid-day on Thursday. Montreal is the closest airport to Lennoxville, and BCS is about a 2 hour drive from Montreal. CAIS will be organizing a bus from the Montreal airrport to BCS, on Sunday June 28 at 4pm. A bus will be scheduled from BCS back to the airport at 1pm on Thursday July 2.
The modules that are being offered this summer are:
* Accreditation and School Improvement - Peter Sturrup and Martha Perry
* Finance - Beth McKay
* Governance - George Rutherford
* Human Resources - Val Cambre (almost full)
* Law - Professor R. Solomon (almost full)
* Leadership (new module) - Courtenay Shrimpton
More details will be posted as they become available.
To read more about the CAIS Leadership Institute please visit: http://www.cais.ca/leadership_institute
HSC Brain Research and Learning Institute
Register today for the Brain Research and Learning Institute on
June 25-26, 2009!
Presented by:
Hillfield Strathallan College www.hsc.on.ca
Greenleaf Learning www.greenleaflearning.com
Dana Alliance for Brain Research www.dana.org
See the attachment below for registration information and conference updates.
As we make the shift from the focus on teaching to learning, it becomes all the more important for teachers, as professionals, to understand the functioning of the learner. The HSC institute will provide information, ideas and interactive learning opportunities to help teachers build best practices based on the most recent findings of neuroscience as it relates to classroom practice. The programs will offer a balance between theory and application with practical strategies, discussion and sharing of expertise.
3) International Summer High School Credit
St. Michaels University School and Collingwood School are pleased to offer our third international summer school programme, featuring two new locations and a number of new courses. In the summer of 2009, students will be able to take accredited courses in English, Math, and Spanish.
http://www.smus.bc.ca/campus/extension/academic.html
4) SMUS Summer Academies
Weekly, July 5 - August 22
SMUS Summer Academies offer students an opportunity to work with specialist instructors to develop their knowledge and skills in the area of their choice. Join students from across North America in this unique summer programme. Youth age 12-17 can spend a week enhancing their skills in a specific area through an intensive, hands-on learning experience with expert instructors. Structured classes include practice sessions, exercises, skill-building activities, group work, field trips, and other forms of learning that complement the subject area. Choose the area of your choice and join experts to explore and enhance your specific aptitude. This summer's Academies include: Voice (July 5-18), Film (July 12-19), Cricket (July 19-25), Squash (July 26-August 1), Basketball (August 2-9 or 16-22), AP Art Preparation (August 16-22).
http://www.smus.bc.ca/campus/extension/academies.asp
PhotoSensitive Cancer Connections
St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School (SMLS), in partnership with Photosensitive, invites students of CAIS and CIS affiliated schools to join in a national Cancer Connections photography exhibition.
The Cancer Connections exhibition features photographs that will help to raise awareness and foster sensitivity to those effected by cancer and the people close to them. The photographs document the effects of cancer on the lives of people across Canada. The display is currently touring the country and appears in the online gallery at www.photosensitive.com/cc.
Since 1990, PhotoSensitive, a not for profit organization of photographers, has been harnessing the power of black and white photography to raise public consciousness of critical issues around the globe. Cancer Connections provides the opportunity to take photographs of a wide range of subjects: people who have survived cancer, those who have lost friends or family to the disease or people involved in the fight against it. The group welcomes student submissions to the exhibition.
Students are asked to be creative in the portrayal of their subject. Visit the website to get ideas and view the over 400 photographs currently online. Submissions will be accepted in September 2009, with photos posted onto the web gallery over the fall and winter. All student photographs will appear in the Cancer Connections web gallery. A select number of submissions will appear in a physical traveling exhibition as it goes to Vancouver, Calgary and the Grand Finale show in Ottawa in 2010. Mini exhibitions organized by individual schools or groups of schools (perhaps in conjunction with local cancer societies) are also possible.
Submission is straightforward and details appear online. Ideally, black and white photos should be submitted electronically at 20” x 16”, 300 dpi, though PhotoSensitive will work with hard copies and/or convert colour images to black and white. A 50-word caption and completed subject release form must accompany the photo submission.
To find out more about PhotoSensitive and Cancer Connections visit www.photosensitive.com/cc; browse photos, read stories and watch the launch videos from the first three exhibitions in Toronto, Montreal and Charlottetown.
St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School is excited to be launching the Cancer Connections photography project within the CIS and CAIS community. This project combines many aspects of curriculum, while reaching out to the broader community both locally and nationally. A kit for teachers and students will be available in August/September, through St. Mildred’s, to assist with the introduction of the project in your school.
We encourage you and your students to participate in this educational and inspirational opportunity to be part of PhotoSensitive’s unique exhibition.
For further information please contact:
Jackie Osmond Patrick, PhotoSensitive at (905) 282-9074, jackie@photosensitive.com
or
Karen Dyne
Director of Arts, St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School
Tel: (905) 845-2386 ext. 756
e-mail: kdyne@smls.on.ca
Submitted by: Karen Dyne, SMLS
The Whitworth Award for Education Research
The Whitworth Award for Education Research. The deadline for submissions is Friday, May 29th!
Recognizing work that matters:
The Whitworth Award for Education Research is administered by the Canadian Education Association (CEA) and was first presented in 1967 and has since recognized a distinguished group of Canada’s foremost researchers in Canadian Education.
The recognition:
- an article published in Education Canada magazine
- an invitation to deliver the Whitworth Lecture at a CEA event
- an original sculpture by an Inuit artist
Deadline for nominations: Friday May 29th, 2009
Please visit www.cea-ace.ca/whitworthaward for detailed information on nominations, selection criteria, and submission formatting.
About the Canadian Education Association:
Founded in 1891 as a ‘meeting place’ for those responsible for public education in this country, CEA has become a thought centre for transformation in education in Canada. CEA generates ideas and mobilizes for action through its research and public events. It engages policy-makers, decision-makers and educators in examining promising ideas that anticipate and respond to educational concerns.
Submitted by:
Canadian Education Association
317 Adelaide Street West, Suite 300
Toronto, ON, M5V 1P9
Tel: 416-591-6300
Fax: 416-591-5345
It's Spring: Get Sporty!
Last month, The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation e-newsletter ran a feature that may be of interest to some of our readers.
The article highlighted the importance of assisting children in finding athletic endevours that they enjoy, and then helping them maintain an active lifestyle. Spring is the perfect season to ask kids what they would like to "play" outside. Some children are naturally inclined to be competitive, others are not. So whether they chose biking with family or friends, or joining a soccer league, it's a great time to enjoy the outdoors and stay (or get!) fit at the same time.
Most of us know that establishing regular fitness habits early in life helps develop the mind set for a future active lifestyle. But, The Heart and Stroke Foundation goes beyond just stating that idea, and suggests that adults need to encourage children to be physically active, and lead by example.
As teachers and parents, sports or physical games and activities, can be an excellent way to connect with our children. The time together sharing a common goal, while having fun, is an opportunity for communicating about achievements, goals and other matters of general interest. Excercise can be so much more than just being physically fit.
Lindsay Ireland, CAIS
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HSC_May_09.doc
smus_edext_ispy_09.pdf