The DSS Principal Page

On April 23rd our students will be receiving their mid term report cards. This is only a week and a half away. The second semester, despite being the same amount of instructional days as the first semester, always seems to go quickly. All secondary schools in Grand-Erie report three times a semester. Just before March Break we sent home an anecdotal progress report. This report isn’t mandated by the province but it is good practice to let parents, guardians, and students know how they are progressing early in the semester. We follow this progress report the next school week with parent -teacher interviews to further communicate with parents and guardians.

The second and third report cards are provincial reports and they are far more detailed than the anecdotal progress report. These reports are kept on file in the students’ OSRs. Both provincial report cards have a percentage mark, a comment, learning skills and attendance. The percentage grade is determined by the student’s performance in Knowledge and Understanding, Thinking and Inquiry, Communication, and Application. The comment is remarks by the teacher that indicate a student’s strengths, needs, and next steps for success. The learning skills are Working Independently, Teamwork, Organization, Work Habits and Homework, and Initiative, and the teacher indicates Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement in each of these areas. Attendance is also indicated on the report and this appears as a number of classes missed out of a total number of classes. Another piece of information that is on the report card is the course median which is the ‘middle mark’ of everyone in the class – half the class achieved higher than that mark, and half achieved lower.

Each of these pieces of information is very important in communicating how a student is doing. Obviously the numerical mark indicates the level of success. the comments indicates to parents and guardians the areas a student needs to develop and what they need to do for further success. The learning skills also indicate very directly how a student can improve. The attendance record should never be overlooked. Regular attendance is one of the most important thing a student can do to succeed. Lastly, the course median helps you see how a student is doing compared to their peers in the same course. Some very difficult senior courses logically would often have a lower course median than some other courses.

Why am I taking the time to review all of this? The answer is simple: this is the last semester before the provincial report card changes. Starting in September of 2010, the provincial report card will look different. I wanted to review the current report card and remind everyone of what it reports so that in the fall, when the new report card appears, we can compare it to current report card and better understand why the changes were made and what they indicate to us about students’ progress.

On Monday of this week, some of our Phys. Ed. students had the opportunity to hear Dave Green and Don Vail speak about some of the hockey players and teams that have been part of Dunnville’s sports heritage. Dave is known to many in Dunnville because of his involvement in youth hockey and baseball as well as Junior hockey and the Mudcats. Dave played pro hockey in the US during the 1960s and then coached extensively here in Dunnville. Dave also taught elementary school in Dunnville for many years. Don Vail is a retired Dunnville Secondary Teacher who was my Guidance Counsellor when I was a student here, but I don’t ever remember him telling me I should be a principal! Mr. Vail also happens to be a former Mudcat who was the leading scorer in 1951 and 1957. Dave and Don brought posters and a picture slide show which recounted hockey history throughout the decades in Dunnville and enriched these with stories of the past.

I was able to be there for part of the presentation and I was very interested to observe some of the students in the room and their level of interest. There were students in the room who had fathers and grandfathers on the teams that Dave was talking about and I had the opportunity to play with some of them on those teams (the fathers-not the grandfathers!). There may have even been some students in the room who had a great-grandmother on one of the teams. We tend to think that women’s hockey is a fairly recent phenomenon, but Dunnville had a women’s hockey team way back in 1923.

The presentation from Dave Green and Done Vail was excellent, and this type of community involvement in DSS enriches our students’ educational experience and connects, re-connects, or keeps them connected to their community heritage.

I had a couple of people ask me recently why they often see police cars at my school. I understand the underlying question which is “Why do you need the police so often?” The short answer is that we don’t often need the police here and there are various other reasons why police cars are parked out front.

Our school shares an OPP School Resource Officer with the three other Haldimand High Schools. Our Officer, Mary Boddy, has responsibilities that include counselling students, promotion of safe schools through programs such as Crime Stoppers, Safe Grad, Why Drive High?, and other initiatives that promote safe choices for our students. Mary also fosters positive relationships between our students and the OPP.  This morning Mary was here and she commended students during the morning announcements because she got 121 “Good Mornings” from kids in the hall prior to home room. Mary occasionally deals with conflict issues or behavioural issues with students but almost always in a counselling role. Because we share Mary with three other schools, we only see her about once a week.

A far more common reason for police cars to be at our school is because officers have just dropped in. Officers will drop by the school, take a walk around the halls, talk to kids, and generally do their own part to foster good relations. Police in the building isn’t a big deal for our students because they see the officers talking to kids in the cafeteria during lunch or to kids in the hall and they see that these conversations are friendly.

Occasionally police are here on business because of something that went on over the weekend or during an evening. Sometimes teenagers make bad choices and sometimes this requires police involvement.

Rarely have Mr. Carruthers or I called the police to attend our school because of an incident that occurred here during the school day. Sadly, when people see a police car anywhere, the natural assumption is that something bad is happening there. At DSS we welcome the OPP to be part of our school community and we are pleased that we have such a positive and supportive relationship with them.

One of the things that never ceases to surprise me during second semester is how quickly it seems to move along. It seems as though we have just started the semester and here we are about a month away from midterm and only a few weeks away from  the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). The OSSLT will be written on Thursday, April 8th by all grade 10 students in Ontario and by grade 11 and 12 students who were previously unsuccessful writing the test. Our students who will write the OSSLT this year will write in the morning on April 8th and there will be no regularly scheduled classes in the morning for any DSS students. Students who are not writing the test who come to school in the morning are welcome to attend a study room for  help in various subjects. Regular classes will resume at 12:30 pm on this day.

We are doing various things to help our students succeed on the test. All of our grade 10 students will be receiving extra literacy preparation and test writing skills as well as some exposure to practice tests in their period three classes. Students who were previously unsuccessful writing the test or who have been identified by their teachers as grade 10 students who will benefit from extra preparation will participate in 3 intensive preparation sessions prior to the test.

Students should do their best to participate in all the preparation activities in order to give themselves the greatest opportunity to succeed.

Additional preparation materials as well as practice tests are available on the EQAO website at the following address: http://www.eqao.com/ under Parent Resources and Student Resources.

The following is a direct link to Student Resources: http://www.eqao.com/Students/Secondary/10/10.aspx?Lang=E&gr=10

Information letters are going home today to all DSS students and next week to those students writing the test.

Human nature being what it is, many of us tend to procrastinate. We all have deadlines to face and often we don’t view them with too much urgency until they start to draw near. Well students, guess what? Those end of semester deadlines are bearing down on you! The obvious deadlines are those that involve handing in assignments. There are summative assignments, culminating activities – possibly involving seminars and presentations, independent studies, and essays. You know what these are, when they are due, and the value they represent for marks.

The less obvious encroaching deadline is the necessity of mastering the expectations of your course. In simpler language, learning the material in your courses and being able to apply that material to problems, questions, or arguments to prove that knowledge on a final test or exam. The bottom line is that you have to study.The inevitable question I get this time of year is “How long do I have to study?” The honest answer to that question is “I don’t know.” Neither your teachers nor I can give you a length of time that will guarantee that you will have learned your stuff. I will guarantee you this though – flipping through your notebook the night before a final exam or looking at the pictures in your textbook isn’t going to do it. Studying is an active thing. You need to make notes, ask questions, solve problems, and be comfortable that you understand the material. Success in school would be easy if we knew that staring at notes for one hour would result in a mark in the 60′s, three hours a mark in the 70′s, five hours a mark in the 80′s and so on. Some of you who brought a good understanding of the subject matter to class, listened to the teacher, kept good notes, asked questions, and handed in all assignments, may need only to go through your notes a few times and perhaps could have a certain level of success, based on the work you put in all semester. You still need to review and make study notes and perhaps work on some questions to refresh your memory and to be ready to prove your mastery of the course material though.

Studying should start now. This may be in the form of going through your notebooks to make sure your notes are complete, or summarizing material in the form of study notes. Short reviews of notes every night will bring much more success than cramming the  night before. Now is the time you have teachers available to you to answer questions or to explain things you encounter in your studying. After all, who are you going to ask at midnight the night before a final exam if you come across something that you need help with? Better to sort that out now that to be frustrated on exam day.

Nobody likes studying for final exams – at least I haven’t encountered many people who look forward to it. It is something that we have to have the discipline to make ourselves do. The reward is great, and next time, studying will be that much easier because you will understand the success it will bring.

During the Holidays, or in the time leading up to the Holidays, there is inevitably an increase in charitable donations. At DSS, we have a wonderful tradition of giving, not just during the Holidays, but all year long. Whether it is Famine Relief, Heart and Stroke, Aid Awareness, or numerous other causes, our students step up and exhibit a generous spirit of giving. This Holiday Season, DSS students have collected toys, clothing, and food for the Salvation Army’s Christmas campaign. I am amazed at the generosity of our students and their families. DSS collected over 4500 items to donate to the Salvation Army! Congratulations to all our students on this achievement.

We have had many other activities going on during our Twelve Days of Christmas. Student Council has organized daily activities leading up to the Holidays for our students. Last week was highlighted by the Semi-Formal and pictures with Santa, as well as Ginger Bread House Contest. This week we have had a Basketball Buyout during which our teachers narrowly defeated the Senior Girls Basketball Team. If it is any consolation girls, most of the teachers who played don’t seem to be moving too quickly this morning. Yet to come this week are the Christmas Assembly and the Christmas Movie. Student Council has worked hard to help our students enjoy the Holiday Season.

Everyone have a restful, fun and safe Holiday and Happy New Year!

Here it is, my first blog. My thanks to Mr. Carruthers and his computer class who both set me up and have been encouraging (pestering) me to get blogging. I wasn’t exactly too sure about the blog. Not long ago I didn’t know what one was. Not that I am techno-challenged, I’m on the computer all day. The computer for me though is a source of management – student files, mark programs, attendance, and so on. It is also a means of one to one communication and sometimes one to a small group with e-mail. Lastly it is a tool: scheduling, reporting, and obtaining data. The Internet is a source of information, and in a  minor way, entertainment. What it hasn’t been for me is a system of extended communication or a vehicle of interaction.

Technology has advanced so quickly that language apparently hasn’t kept up. We now invent words that previously didn’t exist: hence the blog. Is blog a noun or a verb? Do I blog or do I have a blog? Blog to me sounds much more descriptive, but I don’t think it had an adjective or adverb function (“I feel kind of bloggy today.”) Mr. Carruthers says I should hope for a lot of hits to my blog. Is this a good thing? This sounds like something I should try to guard against. But, since the blog has developed as an effective way to communicate, it is about time that I abandon the monthly Principal’s Comments and go with shorter and more relevant updates.

My fear is that I am joining too late and that next week everyone will be doing something new and I will be just getting comfortable with the blog. Next week I will attempt to continue to blog, but, by then everyone else might be plipping, or scarting or some other word that Webster’s has not yet heard of.