Caulfeild in 150 Words

Create a short, sharp and succinct description and visual portrait of your school. This was a challenge our Superintendent Chris Kennedy laid before us today. These are known as “elevator pitches” which Inc.com explains as “a well-crafted ad…a personal 30-second TV spot: It should be a simple-to-grasp promotion that’s catchy enough to not let your […]

Being a Farmer

This week I presented at Discovery Education’s Ignite Vancouver. This is my 5 minute presentation. Please excuse the run-on sentences and poor punctuation. It is written like I spoke it – fast. Last year a researcher travelling the globe studying education systems around the world asked me this question. This is a great question because […]

Help. My Professional Growth Plan

I am the principal of a school with 326 students. This year, like every other year, those students were grouped by age and then broken into divisions within what might be called the factory model of learning. I already knew that each class would have: a broad range of skills; a broad range of maturity; a broad range of interests. […]

What’s my Possible?

Last week I participated in my first Ignite session as a speaker. It was a very inspiring night with a host of wonderful ideas being shared. This blog post is what I presented over 5 minutes (20 slides set at 15 seconds each). I used to live in Kitsilano and while I was there the phenomenon of […]

Dare to Go Further

I love this video because we have all been there. Maybe not looking down from the top of a ski jump, but doing something that instilled an element of “hesitation”. No matter the scaffolding of skills or amount of experience, when something new and challenging arises, that fear of the unknown, that fear of failure […]

Thank You Ridgeview

It has been three years since the photo was taken. This was my first day of school as the Vice-Principal of Ridgeview, and what an amazing experience it has been. In my time at Ridgeview we integrated inquiry into classroom teaching through our Ridgeview Inquiry Cycle, successfully delved into bring your own device for grades […]

10 Thoughts

I always enjoy Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts opinion piece on CBC Sports so I thought I would try my own version as I reflect back on the first three months of the school year. 1. Inquiry continues to deepen its roots throughout the classrooms at Ridgeview. Our foundations of time, collaboration, and trust have allowed […]