Page 8 December 1981 Cassiar Courier _ PROFE SSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS The following is condensed. from an article entitled “Teachers Teaching Teachers” which appeared in the Oct- = ober issue of the B.C.A.A. magazine, ‘“‘Westworld”. It helps = to explain the purpose of professional development days, © and that education is an ongoing and never-ceasing process. AND AROUND THE stay home from school, but their teachers won’t. Each time fn = the staff will be participating in what is called “professional +2 = development day” - a practice that began in 1972 and one - S that confuses some parents and irritates others. < Many parents don’t clearly understand what “profess- = ional development” is all about - in fact, teachers wish more z = of them would visit the schools while it’s going on. They 2 = could then see for themselves that not only is the time not 2 © wasted, it is used to make improvements in various aspects ei 3 of the teaching process ‘that will ultimately benefit the ws: <2. students. i John Church, acting director - of the professional devel- = © oprent division of the B.C. Teachers Federation, says pro- S fessional development can be ‘practised from one of four |” = © different perspectives. S The first kind of professional development day involves . = seminars or workshops led by one of fifty teachers trained” = = by the B.C.T.F. to help‘their colleagues in areas such as 2 communication with parerits or stress management. ‘We = refer to this program as teachers teaching teachers”, says 8 Cuurch. The second perspective is slightly broader, and address- © es the question of the rights and responsibilities of teachers. THE s Teachers look at what they are teaching, why they are using . THE SCHOOL IN AND AROUND THE S = or not using a specific text book, and sometimes they be- © Cone involved in curriculum development. —_ = _ Other schools might decide to spend one of their pro- = fessional development days considering the rights and re- = sponsibilities of students. This would include a focus on : mainstreaming, and might involve a workshop concerned a © with, say, whether.a teacher should be required to accept, = ina mainstream class, an educably ators handicapped a student. = Finally says Church a Duda development day = could ‘see teachers getting together to share planning, dis- = cuss how their school is organized and examine how it S might be improved. < - In other words, these days are used by school staffs to = look at what is.being taught and how, whether the rights S and responsibilities of both teachers and students are being - @ respected, how the school is organized and what changes . us could be brought about to make education in that school better. Before 1972, schools or school districts had to make application to the Ministry of Education for every work- shop or seminar they ‘wanted to hold. The number of applications became so great that the new N.D.P. govern- year to be used for professional development of teachers. ee rit atak q Bs. ae @ i ety 8 J “Of course” , Says Church, “the piety also gets sub- f= Missions from parents. who complain about professional @ 2 days. Sometimes they’re complaining on the basis that the = = choo will not be looking after their children, because both & parents are working or it’s a single parent family. Some- PS times parents have complained; and probably with some : < justification, because they have felt that a professional day = has not been well utilized.” ; =) The B.C.T.F. encourages teachers to invite parents to = attend professional days, either as observers or, in some ° cases, as participants. “Some of the most successful pro- = fessional ‘days,” Church notes, “have been those where a parents have been invited to come and take part in what the = teachers are doing”. $ = ONY NI 00H9S qe annoy” ONY NI 100H2S JHLGNNOYY ONY NI TO0HIS aHL GNNOYY GN NI 100HIS qHL annouv anv NI 100H9S qHL aNnOoYY ONY ‘In and Around the ‘Five times during this school year your children will ment decided to grant each school four days in every school © "THANK YOU'S To Sue Omura, for the Hearing eerie for Kinder- garten and Grade 1’s, and immunization (ouch!) for the Grade 5’s and 9’s. - To Mr. Rick Olyksiak, the speech therapist from Fort Nelson, who has done some speech screening with the classes from Kindergarten to Grade 2. ~ To Marie Tracey, for her anti-smoking presentations to the students from Grade 1 to 12. The students *. seem to have gained a lot from this. - To Corporal Bowen of the RCMP and Steve Hanley from the Mine Safety, for their interest in and oon- cern for the students’ safety and their presentation . the students on road. safety and the dangers of play- ing around snow removal equipment. - To Pat Borsato and the ladies who helped with the last minute “touch-ups” and grooming for the school photographs. Great job! - Thank you to the Grade 6 & 7 classes for. their hard work on the Halloween UNICEF collections. A total of $150.00 was raised and has been sent to the UNICEF office in Vancouver: Good work for a good cause. “- Finally, to Lee Coran, Heather Fugere, Dave Pewsey and Sherry Sethan for their willingness to be involved ~ in running as candidates for the School Board elect- ions. . WELL DONE! - - To the Grade 1/2 Class (and Fred) for being the most punctual class in the school (for the second month in arow). Keep up the good time-keeping! - To the Grade 11’s for being the most punctual Sec- ondary class. It’s good to see so many of you on time. (Only 11 lates in October). - What about those classes at the other end of the scale??? What are you doing about your time-keeping. Is it fair to the other students in your class and the teacher (not to mention the extra work’ for Mrs. Brand) to be arriving late, missing the work, disturb- ing the class? Where is the consideration for others? NEW REPORT CARDS - ’ The new report cards which should have come in by new are, hopefully, much clearer and more informative than last year’s for the parents. If you have any com- ments on the new format, the school woud be glad to hear from you. Res THANK YOU AND. _ : . FAREWELL To Mrs. Denise Clark, who leaves us on Mov. 27th, to take up her new role as a parent. Her willingness to help, pleasant manner and dedication to her role as . -Teacher Aide at the school will be missed by all of us, the students, teachers, office staff and administration as well as her bright smile and subtle wit. Good luck and good health to you in your new role Mrs. Clark. We hope you will continue to drop by and see us when time per- mits. out of your new, but still busy schedule. School Writers Corner In the night - - | gaze out my window And look upon a star Whose sparkle shines. From so many millions of miles‘away. - I think of how it must be That it is like our world Where someone, In the night, Gazes out a window To look upon stars As I do. If the world might end - Tomorrow, What would you say To making a friend Right now. ENTRA by Barb Gurvan INTRA! MARTIANS LAND - MARTIANS LAND - Grade 3 I went to London and I saw. a spaceship. The spaceship was throwing missiles. It blew up a priest’s poUse then it went all over town. After it hew up a grave and most: people that were there were dead. I went back to my land. It was better. by Tina Cvetkovich - Once a spaceship landed on another planet. They were called the one-eye monsters. ' ‘Two monsters already landed on earth. The monster in the air did not land on . earth. It is wrecking a house on fire. He likes that. by Jennifer Becket I went to the house and I went in: I saw martian in the house. After he left there was a war ahd it was _& long war and we won and the ppacesup Was wrecked. by Coon Dancetovic Ss 3HL CNNUYY GNY NI 100H9S 3H GNNOUY GNY NI 100HIS JHL GNNOUY GNY NI 100H9S 3H4 GNNOUV GNV NI 100H9S aH GNNOUY ONY NI 100H9S ~~ * mm rane TF “> Cassiar Courier December 1981 Page9 © In and around School District 87 NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 87 (STIKINE) ELECTS ITS FIRST BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES During the past month a series of Annual Meetings has been held at Atlin, Lower Post. Dease Lake, Cassiar, Telegraph Creek and Good Hope Lake for the purpose of electing trustee representatives for each School At- - tendance Area. The new board has seven members: Mrs. D. Odian, Atlin (2 years), Mr. W. Carlick, Lower Post (2 years), Mr. W. Wood, Dease Lake (1 year), Mrs. S. Sethan, Cassiar (2 years), Mr. D. Pewsey Cassiar (1 year), Mr. G. Frank, Telegraph Creek (2 vests); and Mr. B. Longson, Good Hope Lake (1 year). The inaugural meeting and swearing-in of the trus- tees will be held in Cassiar on December 4/5, 1981. The new board will have to contend with the 1982 Provision- al Budget at its first meeting. NEW TRUSTEES OFF TO SCHOOL The seven trustees who constitute the Stikine’s first ever Board of School Trustees are ‘off-to-school’. The trustees will attend the B.C.S. T.A. New Trustees Semin- ar in Vancouver during December 10-13, 1981. In’ses- sion with neophyte trustees from other school districts they will face such issues as: The new trustee - Roles and Responsibilities Policy Making — The Key to Board Success School Board & District Staff — Two Facts of Educational Leadership School Boards and the Law Understanding Education Finance There will be some time to meet their counterparts soci- ally but they have a busy schooling ahead of them. TAKING EDUCATION’S PULSE A POLL ON THE PUBLIC’S ATT TITUDES TOWARD: THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS Recently the Gallup Poli concluded its 13th annual investigation of American ‘attitudes toward the public schools. The poll is a kind of educational thermometer for Americans, identifying high and low temperatures on important educational issues. While some of the issues “are “hardy. annuals’, many reflect changing priorities and new areas of interest in schooling. , A useful exercise for the Stikine parents might be to , balance their attitudes against the findihgs below. . MAJOR PROB LEMS CONF RONTING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN 1981 Although discipline ‘continues, as it has for many. years, to be regarded as the number one problem facing the local public schools, a slight decline has been regis- tered in the percentage of respondents who cite discip- line as a major problem. This year; 23% of the national total include discipline in this category, compared to 26% of the national total in 1980. This decline does not show up among parents of children now attending public schools, however, and it is this group whose opinions are likely to be the best informed. : ‘The order of mentions of other problems remains virtually the same as reported.last year. Use of drugs is : the second most frequently mentioned problem, and poor curriculum/low standards is in third place, followed by lack of proper financial support and difficulty of get- - ting good teachers. The question dealing with the most-im portant prob- ‘lems as the public sees them is ‘‘open,’’ which permits respondents to give their views without benefit of a list. This procedure offers the opportunity to discover new problems as they arise. Entering the list for the first time this year, and receiving enough mentions to put it in. the top half of the list, is “Lack of.respect for other students and for'teachers.” | . Question: What do you think are the biggest problems- with which the public schools in this community must deal? _ Non-English speaking students ~ Communication problems Too many schools/ declining enroll ment. Moral Standards RESPONSE National Totals es % Lack of discipline 23 Use of drugs ore 15 Poor curriculum/standards 14 Lack of proper financial support 12 Difficulty of getting good teachers 11 Integration/busing (combined) 11 Large school s /overcrowding 5 . Parents’ lack of interest ; 5 Teacher's lack of interest 4 Lack of respect for other students/teachers 4 Pupils’ lack of interest/truancy 4° Crime/vandalism ‘ 3. Mismanagement of funds Sit Problems with administration 3. Drinking/alcoholism 2 Lack of proper facilities 2 | | 1 I THE SCHOOL IN AND AROUND THE SCHOOL IN AND AROUND THE SCHOOL IN By now, all parents should have received their son’s/daughter’s first term report card. _ The new report card reflects many of the results and concerns locally and provi ncially. = An information/explanation on the new report cards was sent home with each student, and the school would be glad to hear from any parents who have concerns and/or com- ments on the new report card. Honor Roll- iret Teri GRADE 8 Shelly Billingsley Chris Litke John Tooke ' if Paul Auric Szilard Fricska Jacqueline Molan Jerry O'Neal Catherine Pewsey Wendy Cartwright ‘Urusla Froehlich ' Kato Schneeberger ~ Donna Taylor 28 Happy Wolidaps fe NI 100H9S 3HL GNNOUY GNY NI T00H9S 3HL GNNOYV GNV NI TOOHIS 3H = Ouy ONY GRADE 11 Darrell Newberg Mark Nuyens Marlene Overton GRADE 12 a ee ee ee a eo NI 100H9S 3HL GNNOYV ONY NI 100H9S 3 THE BOY. SCOUTS WOULD LIKE TO CLEAN THE SNOW FROM YOUR ROOF ‘OR DRIVEWAY. MONEY EARNED WILL GO TOWARD A TRIP NEXT YEAR. PLEASE CONTACT ANY SCOUT .OR PHONE THE SCOUTMASTER — AREGGER AT 778-7416. 3\ Boy Srouts of Canada “Ql