SEPTEMBER 2007 VOL 5 No 1 |
||
| Welcome back!!! It is my prayer that your first month went smoothly and that God blesses your work this year. | ||
| Curriculum leadership is complex. As you balance the many needs placed before you, whether it is SQAP and accreditation procedures, implementing school goals, managing day-to-day curricular concerns, or designing new initiatives, you will need a “generosity of spirit” to manage ever-increasing demands with decreasing resources. | ||
| In the midst of your curricular leadership work may you remain open to the hopeful possibilities that fuel your work. The challenge is to manage the tension between the reality of the moment and the possibility that something better will emerge; the gap between the way things are and the way we know things ought to be. The positive side of that tension (knowing “what could be” balanced against the tension of “what is”) is that it can bring us to a place of new learning, a new way of looking at issues. | ||
| Interestingly, leadership literature identifies qualities such as patience, humility, integrity, trust, faithfulness and generosity, as the qualities of leadership necessary to manage that tension. That’s language we are familiar with: | ||
|
||
1. |
.Junior Creation Studies Social Studies Update. |
|
| The Creation Studies Curriculum is nearing completion. The unit God Keep Our Land: Exploring Ontario (Grades 4/5/6) was distributed September 14. God Keep Our Land: Exploration - Conflict, Hope and Healing (Grade 4) is in its final stages. One Body, Many Parts: Ancient Greek Trading Communities (Grade 5) is in the layout process and is being piloted. The template unit All God’s Children: Our Global Neighbours, is being piloted as well. The work – and the progress - continues …. | ||
2. |
High School News. |
|
| ** Principals, see Memo 07-P-06 for secondary school news from Gary Van Arragon, newly appointed OACS Secondary Coordinator. | ||
3. |
OACS Junior Curriculum Conferences |
|
|
||
| The focus for the day will be the new science curriculum project. In addition to gathering teacher input, workshop sessions will address OACS and Ministry of Education goals, the design principles upon which the units are based, the role of IT, the development of scientific literacy, discussion of time allotment for teaching science, teaching strategies, assessment and evaluation, and much more. Since the curriculum day comes at the front end of the project, it also provides the writers and coordinators a wonderful opportunity to receive teacher input from around the province before units are written. If you have specific suggestions or topics you would like to see discussed or presented for any of the remaining program days, please contact me at hugom@oacs.org. | ||
4. |
Presentation 2006-7 CTBS Testing |
|
| Last March my presentation at the OACS Spring Sessions on the 2006-2007 CTBS Testing was cancelled. I've attached the relevant PowerPoint slides for your information. They will be sent as an attachment. Please make sure that they get passed on to whoever handles the CTBS file for your school. If you have any problems opening the attached file, please contact Nellie at nelliev@oacs.org and we’ll be sure to provide it either on CD or in another electronic format that works for you. | ||
5. |
Future OACS Curriculum Conferences |
|
| OACS Intermediate Curriculum Conferences (Grades 7 & 8) | ||
|
||
| Dr. Syd Hielema, Redeemer University College, will be dealing with the topic of faith development in adolescents. This topic surfaced last year as an area that intermediate teachers wanted to spend time on. It is a follow-up in some ways to last year’s presentations on media and media influence on intermediate students. As well, four schools, one from each regional workshop area, have been asked to pilot the PACS unit “A Lot of Temptation, A Lot of Grace,” and to report on their findings at their respective regional workshops. Thanks go to Bill Freeman and Donna Veenstra (Orillia), Aaron de Jager (Brantford), Sylvia Smeenk (Trenton) and Julie Reitsma (Strathroy) for taking on this project. We look forward to hearing from you! | ||
| OACS Primary Curriculum Conferences | ||
|
||
6. |
Special Education Update |
|
| The PowerPoint presentation, The Landscape of Special Education in Ontario’s Christian Schools: From Research to Practice, by Dr. Steve Sider, Ph.D., Redeemer University College, which was part of the Special Education Conference, is also available. Click on the link below to download the presentation. | ||
7. |
Report Card Task Force |
|
| In the December 20006 CC, I mentioned that we will be reviewing the OACS report cards this year. I’d like to start that project by January, 2008. I have some names already of teachers interested in becoming involved in the process. If you are interested in serving on this task force, contact me at hugom@oacs.org by Friday, November 9. | ||
8. |
Leadership Development |
|
| Last January we began looking into the possibility of working with CSI to host an Educators' Leadership Development Institute (ELDI) in Ontario. We are moving forward with that idea with the hope of holding one in mid-August. Developing future leaders is an issue close to all of us. Start thinking now about who on your staff would be a candidate for this. ELDI is limited to approximately 15 participants. We will be looking for OACS administrators to participate as leaders and facilitators. | ||
9. |
The “Stewardship Project” |
|
| The teacher resource unit, “Is That ALL There is? Stewardship Challenges for Young Christians,” is a collaboration of Christian Stewardship Services (CSS), the Foundation for Niagara Christian Schools (FNCS), and OACS. This resource is in progress. For more details, see the information flier (separate attachment). | ||
10. |
“Constructing an Elementary School Timetable” Document Review |
|
| We are planning to review the document “Constructing an Elementary School Timetable.” It was published in 2002 and has not been reviewed in detail since then. Many changes in curriculum have taken place, impacting the allotted time for various curriculum areas. If you are interested in working with others on this topic let me know. If you have suggestions for changes please e-mail them to me at hugom@oacs.org. | ||
11. |
PACS Bible Units |
|
| The latest PACS Junior High Bible Program Overview Update is attached. Note the projected publication dates. A draft of the unit “Climb On!” has been sent to the OACS office. If you have not purchased the PACS Bible units in the past I would encourage you to reconsider. The feedback so far has been very positive and most schools are using the PACS materials along with CSI Bible Program to build their Bible curriculum. For schools with split grades, having the PACS units available would help solve the “have we taught them that before” problem. | ||
12. |
Junior Creation Studies Science Update |
|
| The OACS has just begun a project to write a new Science program for Grades 4 to 8. At the same time, the Ministry of Education is revising its Science curriculum document for Grades 1 to 8. The current plans call for four strands (down from five) and 20 units in Grades 4 to 8 (down from 25). Herman Proper is moving from his role as OACS Director of Support Services and Secondary Programs to take on the role of Project Coordinator. His Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Guelph and Master of Arts (Education) degree from Simon Fraser University are a good fit for the project. Herman will be working with lead writer Cathy VanderVliet, a graduate of Calvin College with majors in Science and Physical Education, with additional science studies at Queen's and McMaster Universities. Cathy brings to the task twenty-five years of teaching and experience as curriculum coordinator at JKCS in Oakville. See the newsletter (attached) for more details. Herman and Cathy are members of the Science Teachers Association of Ontario (STAO). | ||
13. |
Mathematics |
|
| If your school is struggling with dated textbooks or math resources that have become irrelevant to the current mathematics curriculum, consider taking out a membership in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Membership includes a choice of one of several print journals: Teaching Children Mathematics (Pre-K-6), Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School (5-9), and Mathematics Teacher (8-14). On-line resources are also available to individual NCTM members. Look up http://www.nctm.org and consider this opportunity to help keep your curriculum and methodology current. | ||
14. |
School Resources |
|
|
||
| In His service,
Hugo Marcus, OACS Director of Curriculum Publications |
||
PDF Attachments Included |
||
| Memo 07-P-06: Welcome to a New School Year - Gary VanArragon | ||
| OACS Blood Donor Challenge | ||
| PACS Junior High Bible Program: Overview Attached | ||
| CTBS Results 2006-2007: Please email Nellie at nelliev@oacs.org to request a copy | ||
| “Is That ALL There Is?”: the Stewardship Project | ||
| Junior Creation Studies: SCIENCE Project Newsletter September 2007 | ||
| The Landscape of Special Education: Dr. Steve Sider | ||
 |
Talk to us |
|