Week of May 26—30, 2014

Superintendent’s Memo FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

This week will see May’s end and the beginning of the final month of the school year will soon be upon us. This is an important time of the school year as we wrap up the many things happening in classrooms in anticipation of final as-sessments in many subject areas. Success over the next few weeks will require a focused effort by all involved in our important work. Parents often ask how they can best prepare their children for the last few weeks of the year and the exams that fall in these times. Of course, there is a need to review course material, spend time studying and focus on the essential learning for each of the courses. While there is often a frantic air this time of year, it must be remembered that the assess-ments are designed to confirm what students already know and can do. There is no doubt that the studying is important; however it is also important to attend to the physical and emotional aspects in preparation for these year-end assessments. Ensuring that children have sufficient rest and the proper nourishment can have a very positive impact on their success in these tests. Of course, it is also essential to remember that the provincial exams at the grades 3, 6 and 9 levels are developed to provide insight on student achievement and areas where more help is required. Sometimes there is a tendency to over-emphasize them and we create a level of anxiety that is actually counterproductive to the goal of the assessment. Ensuring that students are prepared academically, physically and emotionally will allow them to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding and therefore provide the best information on their achievement.

Funding issues continue to be a challenge for us as we provide programs and services to students. One of the areas that is particularly challenging is transpor-tation funding. The Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring that all of the dol-lars that are allocated to transportation are used to support bus contractors. The rising price of diesel fuel and the elimination of the fuel funding subsidy have had a significant impact on our ability to provide transportation services. Your trus-tees have been relentless in their efforts to share the challenges with Alberta Edu-cation. At their May meeting, the trustees took another step towards trying to find ways to address the challenges. Through a formal motion, the Board has estab-lished a BTPS Transportation Taskforce to investigate ways that we might address the many challenges in providing transportation services to the students of BTPS and the four other jurisdictions we serve. The task force will consist of trustees, bus contractors, the Director of Transportation Services and the Secretary Treas-urer.

Continued next page.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

From the Supt (cont’d) ............2

Policy Update ...........................2

Curriculum ...............................3

FNMI Teacher Resources ........3

Technology ...............................4

Transportation .........................5

Student Ed Services .................5

Items of Interest…………………..6

MISSION: Buffalo Trail Public Schools is committed to maximizing student learning, in

a safe and caring environment, supported by a highly effective team.

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT (FROM PAGE 1)

The May issue of the Alberta Educa-tion Director’s Report shared valua-ble information on a topic that has attracted some attention in the media lately. The points below were extract-ed out of that information and provid-ed below for both staff and parents on the topic:

Supporting Teachers and Parents with the Current Math Program

Recent media attention has highlighted questions about Alberta’s math pro-gram. To assist school authorities in responding to inquiries, Alberta Educa-tion has a number of resources availa-ble.

The first of a series of targeted supports to clarify the expectations of the Alberta Mathematics Programs of Study is a series of five videos for parents (http://tinyurl.com/mcna7yn). The videos show elementary students communi-cating, solving problems, using technol-ogy and applying strategies in mathe-matics. In addition to these new materi-als, Alberta Education’s mathematics web page (http://tinyurl.com/22pa4s7) is an excellent resource for students, parents and educators. The web page includes:

11 fact sheets for parents of students in Kindergarten to Grade 9 (K–9) describing key changes to the math program, including messages about personal strategies, developing num-ber sense, and appropriate technolo-gy use);

six fact sheets for parents and stu-dents in high school explaining the three high school course sequences;

FAQs for parents, students and educa-tors to answer common questions regarding learning math in Alberta, including the question “How can I help my child with homework?”;

seven videos and accompanying fact sheets featuring each of the mathe-matical processes;

four videos to promote awareness of the revised program and the nature of the program (Math: It’s every-where); and

supports for teachers, including Pro-grams of Study, Authorized Re-sources, Fact Sheets and Useful Links and other Support Materials.

As teachers are the first and best point of contact for parents, Alberta Educa-tion encourages this information be shared with teachers in your school jurisdictions. Parents need to know that the fundamentals of mathematics are included in Alberta’s current program and students are expected to:

know “the basics” (number facts, add, subtract, multiply and divide);

understand their number facts and commit them to memory; and

have the understanding to enable them to apply their knowledge to solve problems in real-world situa-tions.

Mastery of number facts can be accom-plished in a variety of ways, and teach-ers use their professional judgment to choose appropriate pedagogical ap-proaches to help students meet pro-gram expectations.

For further information or questions about the mathematics programs of study, please contact:

Amaya Ortigosa, Team Leader of Math-ematics K–9, at 780-422-5079 or Ama-ya.Ortigosa@gov.ab.ca;

Kris Reid, Team Leader of Mathematics 10–12, at 780-427-3588 or Kris.Reid@gov.ab.ca.

Take care,

POLICY UPDATE

Two draft admin proce-dures are currently being reviewed by school admin-istration and staff.

302.9AP Approval for School Participation in Physical Ac-tivities will ensure all schools are fully informed as to what activities are suitable for stu-dents to participate in. Com-ments are due to Ro-sanne.isberg@btps.ca by Fri-day, May 30.

401.3AP Public Interest Dis-closure (Whistleblower Pro-tection) will align the division with the Alberta legislation that came into force in June 2013. Comments are due to Rosanne.isberg@btps.ca by Wednesday, June 4.

Both draft procedures have been posted on the BTPS website under Board/Policies/Policies Under Re-view. GO BACK

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“Parents need to know that the fundamentals of mathematics are included in Alberta’s current program . . .”

CURRICULUM

Speak Out – Minister's Student Advisory Council—Applications for the 2014-2015 Minister's Student Advisory Council are now open! Your students can get involved in decision making, connect with other students, grow as a leader, and help share student voice in your community. The Minister’s Student Advisory Council consists of 24 youth between the ages of 14 and 19 years old. More infor-mation about the Council and what they do is available at www.speakout.alberta.ca/COUNCIL/tabid/65/Default.aspx.

The application deadline to join the 2014-2015 Council is Friday, May 30, at 4:30 p.m. For the complete application package go to: http://speakout.alberta.ca/onlineapplications/regcouncil.aspx.

Access free resources for critical thinking! BTPS is a Partner with The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2), a non-profit association that promotes critical think-ing in primary to post-secondary classrooms. Learn more about them at www.tc2.ca

Our partnership brings teachers many benefits, including free access to online collections of teaching resources, professional learning resources, as well as dis-counts on other TC2 publications and services. Gain access to these benefits by taking a moment to create a personal account on the TC2 website: http://shop.tc2.ca/login.html. You don’t have a district password. Instead you create your own personal account at http://tc2.ca/shop/index.php?main_page=create_account&zenid=q5vflfj02ht1igsmpv9p9kcam2 and when you use your Buffalo Trail email address, the system will recognize you as a member of a Partner district. Need help creating your account? contact mail@tc2.ca.

While you are at TC² submit your nominations for the 2014 Certificate of Achievement in Critical Thinking, Class ACT Award, to recognize educators with notable success in furthering critical thinking. Submit your nomination by June 9th. http://tc2.ca/en/about-tc2/what-we-do/how-we-acknowledge-excellence/class-act-award-nomination.php

Continued on page 4.

FNMI TEACHER

RESOURCES

Can you see the math in this image?

There is more to this FNMI| connection than Social studies, here is Cross-curricular combining historical FNMI concepts and Math Games from the Aboriginal People of North America: Math was very much alive in historical FNMI communities, explore these historical games that are conveniently categorized by Mathematical Content

http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/RR/database/RR.09.00/treptau1/mathcontent.html

Here is another resource that connects Math concepts and FNMI resources. Its a database from the University of Lethbridge. It is a bit difficult to navigate, but if you persist, it is well worth it. Here are some tips to help out: after clicking on the link below; click 'search collection'; select the checkbox for Math then click 'execute search' and you have access to 95 Math/FNMI items including lesson plans and website links.

http://142.66.3.210/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=FNMI%20Curriculum%20Collection&-loadframes

Reminder: Visit BTPS’s FNMI support wiki: http://fnmisupport.wikispaces.com/home

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School in Hughenden, date unknown. Downloaded from the Provincial Archives of Alberta website httpcul-

ture.alberta.capaaeventsandexhibitseducationifonlytheycouldspeakdefault.aspx

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CURRICULUM (CONT’D

FROM PAGE 3)

More Free resources for BTPS teachers Alberta Assessment Consortium (AAC) is another BTPS educational partner. It is a non-profit independent voice, that provides a focus on Assess-ment Materials as well as Professional Learning. You don't need to create an account, just use the district login. Both members and visitors have ac-cess to tons of assessment re-sources based on the Alberta curriculum.

Showcasing this week: Perfor-mance Assessments" Engage students in authentic assess-ment experiences through AAC performance assessment tasks, specifically written for the Al-berta curricular context. For de-tails visit: http://www.aac.ab.ca/assessment-materials-2/performance-assessments/.

Dual Credit Carpentry oppor-tunity—In the 2014-2015 school year, BTPS will offer a Dual Credit Carpentry oppor-tunity for BTPS high school stu-dents. nterested students will participate in the technical train-ing for their First Period ap-prenticeship in Carpentry. This is a solid start to becoming a ticketed journeyman in this Red Seal trade. Students will earn both high school credits and Lakeland College credits and ad-vanced standing with Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training (AIT) for recognition of their success in the same course.

View detailed information about this Dual Credit Carpentry course exclusive to BTPS students: http://www.btps.ca/About/News_Releases/news05201401.aspx.

For more general information about the provincial Dual Credit Strategy, visit:http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/dualcredit.aspx

http://albertadualcredit.ca/

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TECHNOLOGY

NEW ACRONYM LFPT – LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY FRAME-WORK—This is the first document created by Alberta Education to start to tie together the Inspiring Education directions that are to be in place for 2016. This document lays out the poli-cy directions that are needed to be planned to bring technology into the classroom in a purposeful way.

Policy Directions:

Student- Centered learning

Research and Innovation

Professional Learning

Leadership

Access, Infrastructure and Digital

Learning Environments

The full document can be found at http://education.alberta.ca/media/7792669/ltpf-quick-guide-web.pdf

Please visit this site to get an under-standing of what we are going to be using to guide our direction for tech-nology

GAFE TRAINING—We are pleased to announce that if you would look to get a head start in training with GAFE we have the following resources available to you. Please look at the following web page going google https://sites.google.com/a/btps.ca/goinggoogle/introducution

This web site has a collection of videos tips and programs to help learn all about Google apps suite.

Technology staff is also actively train-ing to learn the ins and outs of this program so we can support you with all of your questions. We are doing a deep dive into train on May 23rd so the entire department can be prepared to help you when you need it.

GAFE STATISTICS—5,681 GAFE creat-ed accounts Sept 1st for Pilot

3247 authenticated accounts

• 59 % of accounts ( 3 % growth since Mar 14th)

2464 actual operating accounts (person has actually been working with it)

• 45 % of accounts (3% growth since Mar 14th)

HELPDESK—Helpdesk is available via email. Please send your technology issues to the email address below. Deb Wright monitors the email and will forward your helpdesk request to the appropriate technology staff person.

Email us at techhelp@btps.ca tech problems; sishelp@btps.ca for Pow-erSchool PowerTeacher problems

Phone 780-806-2053

Text 780-806-9228

BTPS EdTech Cheat Sheet click to link

Twitter hashtag #btps28 GO BACK

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“Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.” ~Vernon Howard

BUS DRIVERS NEEDED: Local contractors are in need of bus drivers in the following areas:

Marwayne (Regular Driver VR-M3 2014-2015 school year)

Paradise Valley (Spare Drivers)

Kitscoty (Spare Drivers)

Provost (Spare Drivers)

Innisfree (Spare Drivers)

Open Bus Contracts:

VR-K3 Blackfoot

VR-K5 Kitscoty (Morning Gold Estates Route)

WW-20 Irma

MIN-I3 Innisfree

If you are interested in driving the bus on a full or part-time basis, please call me at 780-806-2051 and I can put you in contact with a local bus contractor. GO BACK

Parent Information Session for Transition Planning for families who have a child with a disabil-ity— The purpose of the infor-mation session is to share infor-mation with your family about the services that are offered by Alberta Human Services to support adults with disabilities. Any teachers or support staff who would like to attend are also welcome.

Participants will learn about pro-gram eligibility requirements and gather information that will assist youth and their families to plan for the future. Representation from the following program areas with-in the Ministry of Human Services will be present and provide infor-mation:

Assured Income for Severely Handicapped (AISH)

Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)

Alberta Works

Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD)

Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD)

The next information sessions are scheduled for:

June 10, 2014 - Lloydminster 10:00am to 12:00 at the Chil-dren Services office-#113, 4910-50 Street

June 18, 2014 - Wainwright 10:00am to 12:00 at the Wain-wright Children Services office 1006-4 Avenue

Please RSVP for the Information Session you will be attending by phoning Jeanette Porter at 780-871-6402 or by email at Jean-ette.porter@gov.ab.ca (please leave a message indicating your name, child’s name and which ses-sion you would like to attend).

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TRANSPORTATION

STUDENT EDUCATION SERVICES

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COMMENTS ABOUT

THIS NEWSLETTER?

Please send your comments

or suggestions to Ro-

sanne.isberg@btps.ca. We’d

love to hear from you!

BUFFALO TRAIL PUBLIC

SCHOOLS

1041 10A Street

Wainwright, AB T9W 2R4

P: 780.842.6144

F: 780.842.3255

E: central_office@btps.ca

www.btps.ca

Twitter: BTPS#28

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Active Healthy Kids Canada is pleased to present our 2014 Report Card on

the Physical Activity of Children and Youth: Is Canada in the Running? This is the

10th anniversary of the most current and comprehensive annual assessment of

the physical activity of children and youth in Canada. For the first time, this Re-

port Card reveals how Canada stacks up against 14 other countries.

For more information, and to access the 2014 Report Card and related materials go to www.activehealthykids.ca.

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Charlie-Ann Bonnefoy,

grade 6 student at Provost

Public School, was

informed recently that a

story she wrote was

selected to compete in the

finals of the Young Writers

Creative Writing Contest.

will also be published in an

anthology, entitled The

River's Song.