6 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday September 6, 2003 THE O AK VILLE BEAVER 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O n l L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, exL 224 Circulation: 845-9742 GUEST COLUMNIST c o n d W o nih M ,intv overto fi e rro r,M p o rtio no fidvcrtisngap aceo ccupw lb yS m w rom ouiIt b u ttwb eien c ooftiead v e rtisement^b opakllorotth ea p p ic a to iora te.T h ep u b * ah arro aer» eoth erig h tloo IAN OLIVER Publisher NHL OUVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief K ELLYMONTAGUE Advertising Director CHARLENE HALL Circulation Manager O M B m i * · n r n im al *m O nm * P m C o n *. I t a o u d t o a M * W d a ta SL SUM 1 ,,M S B 2 M 7 .P h o n e(4 1 8 )M M M 1. A tM d M n gm accep tedo nth e · lo rsig n atu re.M ln o tb och arg edlo r. Establishing a professional learning community Schools will incorporate teacher collaboration into their daily practices By Ethel Gardiner, chair, and Debbie Downs, vice-chair Halton District School Board For many years, the Halton District School Board, like every other Board in the province, has been under extreme pressure to change. This change is witnessed not only in the implementation of a new provincial curriculum, but also in the need to remain current with a rapidly changing, inter connected world. Businesses, industries and other public sector institutions have also faced these realities. In what is known as an information/knowledge-based society, contin uous change is required in order to simply survive. Traditionally, public education has been slow to adapt to societal change. Some suggest because it is such a large and geographically disparate system it simply takes too long. Others might contend its core values and beliefs essentially Debbie Downs remain constant therefore reducing the need for such change. Despite one's argument, it is impossible to ignore the Halton District School Board's need to prepare its students for a very different world than the one for which even the last generation was prepared. Although always at the fore of most integrated thinkers, the need for everyone to possess the requisite skills to be able to continue to learn throughout their lives is stronger than ever. Therefore, the chal lenge now becomes the creation of an educational system that facilitates the growth of these life-long learning skills. In response to this challenge, the Halton District School Board is focused on implementing a professional learning community. What exactly do we mean by a professional learning community? In short, we are attempting to improve student learning and achievement by using the best information and evidence we can gath er about the way children learn. The professional learning community will provide a structure for discovering and sharing ways to increase learning and achievement for our students. This will be accomplished by every employee learning and then sharing their learning with others. The notion of a professional learning community is not new. For at least a decade, educational researchers from across North America agree that schools need to incorporate teacher collaboration into their daily practices. Enabling teach ers to collaborate makes sense because teachers learn best from each other. Earlier this year, trustees of the Halton District School Board were excited to leam of plans to focus on staff learning during professional activity days and through four early dismissal days during the school year. Since the collective agree ments we have with our elementary and secondary teachers' unions prevent us from using non-school time for this purpose, we must provide training and in-service workshops for teachers during the workday. These school-based sessions will be structured learning experiences focused on student learning and achievement. In a variety of ways the Halton District School Board has been a professional learning community for years. What is different this year is the board-wide focus that all members of the organization leam together and engage in continual renew al with a view to improving student learning. We know this will be an exciting year in our schools as a result of this profes sional learning focus. 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M Kun Caradan Champion, Mton RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: I Ontario Community Newspapers Association ® A » R Suburban Newspapers of America Ethel Gardiner THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR; myc · - T . . , O T V A U C T IO N (o afcv H » « 9 H fW i1 © » 5 L T-» H a Hs "\> T K V V; M U Here's hoping that Farmer Andy is outstanding in his field I bought the farm. No, I didn't croak, and I ain't pushin' up expense. daisies - honestly, how would I be writing this if I'd To wit, they call me up, they email me, they run into me on already gone to the Great Hereafter? I just, well, bought the street and they call me side-splittingly funny names like the farm. "Farmer Andy" or "J.R. Juniper," after the 'People who Technically speaking it's not a famous Ewing rancher from Texas. They try farm, but, rather, a 21-acre "coun know me have to make me feel foolish by asking trick coun try property". And, technically try questions like: "How many times a day do a real tough speaking, it wasn't just me who you have to milk the bulls?" time imagining bought the farm. No, it was me, my They say things like, "Howdy," and me in a country "y 'all" and "some weather we've been wife, our three city kids and our havin', eh?" unrepentantly urban hound, with setting.' tons of help from a very kind, They make a big deal of planting their thumbs in their pockets as they inquire about this year's com deliriously generous and most forthcoming institution we like to crop. They make all sorts of references to the old TV show call, "The Bank." Green Acres. I can't even begin to express how funny I find all of this. People who know me have a real tough time imagining me in a One friend, marveling at my boastfully large acreage (hey, country setting. When they do attempt to wrap their wry minds suddenly size does matter!), asked if we were planning on cre around this image, as they ponder the great incongruity of a ating a modern-day model of Thoreau's Walden. Whether we certified city slicker residing out in the boonies, they tend to planned on roaming the property, naked! Another noted that 21 shoot beverages through their noses. Simply put, they think acres is "just this side of being it's own country." After inquir this purchase is a real hoot. A hoot-and-a-half. And, since we ing whether he could fish in our bass pond (yes, dear readers, purchased, they've been having gads and gads of fun, at my there is a bass pond), this same wiseacre took to calling me King. King Andy. Whoa, what a funny bunch of friends. Truth is, I never wanted to move. My city home was my coveted castle. But my wife, you see (and how many Twilight Zone stories start with those very words), my wife wanted to find a home (and a pasture and a new paddock, etc.) for her two horses. We kept looking at country properties - acres upon gorgeous acres - that were torpedoed by century-old country homes that were wholly incompatible with our citified tastes. But then one day, as fate (and our patient realtor) would have it, we found the perfect house on the perfect property. Suffice to say, Farmer Andy was bom. Sweet Grass Ranch was bom. And now we city slickers find ourselves on a giant learning curve, contemplating things that two months ago we would never have imagined ourselves ever contemplating: well water, septic systems, designated wetlands, or, how about the purchase of a tractor for lawn cutting and snow removal? Whoa! Look into the future with me, dear readers. I see a man standing on his vast property. I hope he didn't make a mistake leaving his beloved city home. I hope we can say, with confidence, and assurance: "Oh, look, it's Farmer Andy, out standing in his field!" Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.