Happy September 2 and welcome to a new year of learning adventures!
Each year, on the first day of school, our ITS department (IT consultants, DLSTs, Mark Carbone and me) gathers for our first planning meeting. It's always a nice way to start the year, with a sharing of summer stories, a review of some highlights from the previous year and a glimpse ahead to department priorities for the coming year. One of the standard agenda items at this meeting is a viewing of the WRDSB System Video. Although the content and the quality of this annual video has been improving in the past couple of years, it has lacked the WOW factor, in my opinion, and although it has motivated some meaningful discussion, it has never really been the highlight of our meeting.
I found this year's video . . . absolutely stunning! It is amazing on so many levels! It features a student voice as narrator through much of the video. We see and hear about innovation, forward thinking, creativity, global connectedness, collaboration and DIVERSITY! "Our diversity will not be a barrier, but rather a reason for our success." . . . is a direct quote from one of the students. Wow!
We see students engaged in learning, collaborating, using a wide range of desktop and mobile technology, singing, playing, and even dancing in the hallway! It's positively joyful in places! There are no superintendents, no administrators, no tele-prompters - instead, we hear from a few teachers and many students who express themselves with honesty and sincerity as they discuss their learning experiences and their hopes for the future. They are believable ~ we relate to them ~ they are inspiring. WOW!
Kudos to our director John Bryant and everyone who was involved in creating this powerful video. It made me proud to be a WRDSB employee and was definitely my WOW of today!
All WRDSB staff will likely be watching this video at an upcoming staff meeting, but to get a sneak peek, or to re-watch it, you can visit this link > http://metamedia.ca/WRDSB/category/2013-14-goal.
Each year, on the first day of school, our ITS department (IT consultants, DLSTs, Mark Carbone and me) gathers for our first planning meeting. It's always a nice way to start the year, with a sharing of summer stories, a review of some highlights from the previous year and a glimpse ahead to department priorities for the coming year. One of the standard agenda items at this meeting is a viewing of the WRDSB System Video. Although the content and the quality of this annual video has been improving in the past couple of years, it has lacked the WOW factor, in my opinion, and although it has motivated some meaningful discussion, it has never really been the highlight of our meeting.
I found this year's video . . . absolutely stunning! It is amazing on so many levels! It features a student voice as narrator through much of the video. We see and hear about innovation, forward thinking, creativity, global connectedness, collaboration and DIVERSITY! "Our diversity will not be a barrier, but rather a reason for our success." . . . is a direct quote from one of the students. Wow!
We see students engaged in learning, collaborating, using a wide range of desktop and mobile technology, singing, playing, and even dancing in the hallway! It's positively joyful in places! There are no superintendents, no administrators, no tele-prompters - instead, we hear from a few teachers and many students who express themselves with honesty and sincerity as they discuss their learning experiences and their hopes for the future. They are believable ~ we relate to them ~ they are inspiring. WOW!
Kudos to our director John Bryant and everyone who was involved in creating this powerful video. It made me proud to be a WRDSB employee and was definitely my WOW of today!
All WRDSB staff will likely be watching this video at an upcoming staff meeting, but to get a sneak peek, or to re-watch it, you can visit this link > http://metamedia.ca/WRDSB/category/2013-14-goal.
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