Since the move from the AR Lord Annex to Templeton Secondary, the utilization of this website had diminished greatly. When we arrived at Templeton Secondary, we no longer had workstation for each student and the digital aspects of our program have actually declined over the last 4 years. 

Now, with the learning from home situation we currently find ourselves in, that is going to be changing dramatically. At this time I am feeling kind of lucky that the website is actually still up and running. Who knew?

Looking forward to getting some assignments posted and linked between here and Microsoft Teams site as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe we will see some students developing their own websites at home as a means of demonstrating some of their learning?

​Stay tuned.

Some days it is incredibly challenging to believe how fast time flies. From location changes, to program changes, to incredible staff turnaround (retirements, transitions and moves), sometimes it is near impossible to keep up. 
One thing that works for me is to write stuff down, so here it goes. We are up and running again as a Grade 8 and 9 Alternative School. While we anticipated more Grade 8's this year, it turns out our program is running 75% Grade 9 and 25% Grade 8. We adapting in real time (as alternative programs are apt to do).
I am fortunate to have got about the best imaginable new teaching partner in Mr. J. Caswell!. He balances some of my peculiarities quite nicely (he may agree or disagree as per his choice). One thing is for sure, he is tireless in his effort to create a safe place for all students in both our program and school as a whole. As the Templeton SOGI lead and sponsor of our Pride Club he has shown great leadership for the students we serve.
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Well it has been almost 2 years since Sunrise East was closed and folded into EastSide alternative program. Perhaps the Phoenix is a not the best example, but the Sunrise Program has risen if not from the ashes, then at least from the shadows and back into the light. Keeping up a website that was no longer relevant was a rather low priority. That has all changed now!

With the renaming of our current program in its new location, the website is back up and running and receiving a long overdue cyber dusting and updating. Looking forward to improving the website over the next couple months and getting back into the swing of regular updates and additions.

Someday someone will need to plot the average expenditure on technology over Christmas and the prevalence of smart devices among the masses. This year I have taken to simply snapping  picture of items on my "most desired list" and messaging it to the appropriate beneficiaries. 

Today's assignment was to find the origin of April fools day... perhaps a bit of a prank in itself. It would seem that most of the stories of origins could in themselves be pranks


I think many of the classics still remain the best. I loved reading about the BBC spaghetti tree episode. This morning I got a call from my son asking why I had gone to work on Saturday, and maybe it is the withdrawal from Spring Break, but it actually had me thinking I had missed a couple of days. There was also the 1857 invitation to watch the "Bathing of the Lions" at the London tower.

I looked up a bunch of the "youtube" variety but most of them were lacking in originality or creativity.

In order to start this rant in with a vein of honesty, let me start by saying it has been a while since I fully visited Shakespeare in our classroom setting. It had seemed overwhelming and near impossible to keep students interested. This year I decided to try it again after a summer trip to "Bard on the Beach'.

We turned it around a bit this year, watching the movie version starring Leonardo and Kate (if you don't know them by first name, then the last names won't help either). Student were able to follow the key points of the story and for the most part enjoyed the story. Lively discussion around marriage, parental consent and family conflict followed. I was happy that the story had managed to generate interest.

We then moved over to reading the play proper. The integration of technology in the form of individual workstations for each student was key in this regard. Each student was able to read the play along with a modern translation thanks to sparknotes wonderful website. From the readings, students were asked to write a summary of each act in their own words and pick a line(s) from each act to comment on.  We are now almost at the end of the assignment and it has gone wonderfully!

The greatest challenge has been around originality. Convincing them that I don't desire to read a reworded interpretation of sparknotes has been tough but it is happening. Developing the belief that their ideas, interpretations and feelings are both valid and desired has been the focus. I have found that letting them know that there is no "correct" reading (at least in our forum) has allowed most to take the risk of providing original thought. Still it has been tough to let go of the "is this right?" mindset for many, including myself on a few occasions. 

I believe it is the relentless search for marks which drives students away from what they really  think and pushes them to what will bring the most reward in terms of marks. More on this next time... time to get back to it.