Framework for Enhancing Student Learning 2017-2021
Our School Inquiry Question
The Context
As the province implemented a Redesigned Curriculum, educators needed to shift their practice to allow for a change in focus to Core Competencies and a Curriculum model that combined all three elements of Content, Curricular Competencies and Big Ideas. During this FESL cycle, we have taken the time to delve deeper into our practice, and to embrace the depth of the new curriculum allowing all learners to engage deeply with their learning.
Our teachers value and engage in collaboration to plan units and create meaningful opportunities for all students. By articulating and showcasing the work that is happening so well in so many classrooms, we have been able to celebrate our school in a positive way. Teachers have been challenged to generate learning opportunities that are concept based and competency driven. These shifts have been documented throughout the past few years in many ways.
Westcot FESL Year 1: 2017-2018
- As a school we became familiar with both the ADST curriculum, recognizing the opportunities offered as it was both taught discreetly as well as integrated into other subjects.
- We fostered the development of skills and knowledge that allowed students to create practical and innovative responses to everyday needs and problems.
- We worked on understanding Core Competencies and how to build effective student reflections.
- We redesigned our website to showcase some of the excellent learning and teaching happening at Westcot.
Grade 2/3 StartupSkools Young Entrepreneurs Business Models (Cards and Cokkies for Kids, Artists for Ecuador)
Grade 7 Probability Fair Fractional Music
Grade 6/7 Street Art Festival
Grade 6/7 Genius Hour/20 Time
Grade ½ Loose Parts InquiryGrade 4/7
Westcot Coding ArcadeGrade 5 – 7
Real Game Career Fair
K – 3 Not a Box Explorations
Global School Play Day
Grade 4-7 Zen Maker Lab
Grade 6/7 Student Space Flight Experiments
Grade ½ Carpentry Workshop Maker Space
Kindie Doodle Bots Story Boards
Grade 1 Buddy Bench
Grade 5 Fur Trading Forts
Grade 6/7 Kindness Rocks
We explored the language of Core Competencies in further depth. Developing common student language and understanding of the core competencies across the grades was key to successfully supporting students as they learned to self reflect with intention. Teachers articulate key core competency questions in their Learning Stories in order to keep them at the forefront of planning and assessment
How can we celebrate and showcase the learning excellence at Westcot?
What is a Learning Story? A Learning Story is a framework that documents student learning, created to capture key aspects of learning goals and how they connect to the BC New Curriculum.
Core Competency Questions: Every Learning Story starts with identifying the core competencies addressed in the unit
Context: Teachers articulate the goals of their unit and identify the key learning experiences to help student go deeper in their learning
Reflections: Both teachers and students reflect on the unit building powerful thinking and learning skills
Unit Visuals: Key elements of each Learning Story are highlighted visually and by identifying essential questions
Curricular Competencies: Often the most powerful learning that happens in our classes is transdisciplinary in nature - pulling from many curricular areas to create learning experiences that allow for deeper learning
WESTCOT FESL Year 2: 2018-2019
Wanting to build on the exciting work of changing the learning culture of the entire school, we continued to work on the goal of making learning visible. Two teams of teachers came together to understand how Google Expeditions could be used as an effective ADST tool, as well as a team working with district leaders to build questioning skills. The Learning Stories team fine-tuned the visual learning plan by introducing the common language: Engage, Make Meaning, Share and Inspire
During the course of this year, this team worked with the entire Westcot teaching staff during professional days and staff meetings to help develop a common understanding of the language framework, the goals of visible learning, and be inclusive for all classes. The willingness and supportive feedback from staff demonstrated the shared commitment of the school for this endeavour.
Westcot FESL year three: 2019-2021
In our third year, a group of six teachers collectively participated in a course offered by Harvard’s Project Zero that examined group learning through Making Learning Visible Framework. Inspired by Reggio Emilia educators, they spent months reading, discussing and reflecting on how documentation leads to visible and more powerful learning for students.