Walpole Island E.S. Part 1

We were supposed to start practicum a few weeks ago, on October 19th. Due to the current policy of work to rule in reaction to Bill 115, we did not. Not all was lost though! Instead, I had the opportunity to visit Walpole Island that day with the Reciprocal Learning Program I'm currently participating in with China's Southwest University (SWU).

Walpole Island Elementary School was really eye opening. It was the first Canadian public school I have been in for over a decade and I really felt tall! There were many notable things about this visit, but in this post I will limit myself to those strictly relating to the school programs I observed.Walking around the school on a P.D. Day, it wasn't really representative of what things must normally feel like, but still it was really helpful. They have numerous strategies in place that I thought I'd like to adopt (steal)!

1. Kiss the Goat

Promotion for Kiss the Goat voes 

Scoreboard keeping track of votes: the kiss marks the staff member's name and the tally is beside

Above you can see an example of creative fundraising. I had never seen something like this and was really impressed. Students (and staff) can buy votes for a quarter each. They are voting on what teacher or staff member they would like to see kiss a goat! If an initiative like this is implemented a spirit of community and fun created in the school, except for poor Mr. Soney who was winning/losing, with 370 votes to Mr. Tooshkaugh's 313. It is a great idea for a laugh and for a good cause. 

2. Posted Learning Plans

This may be something standard in schools, but nonetheless I thought it was great. Writing out the week's plan and posting it all to see does a few things: sets out goals for the students; gives them warning about what to expect; gives them a thrill because they enjoy an upcoming subject or maybe the reverse. I like the idea of being able to check off a list as a class at the end of a week. A feeling of accomplishment was something I've often found less tangible in a learning environment, and this may remedy that.

3. Culturally Significant Materials

I saw a lot of examples of culturally specific material at Walpole Island Elementary. It is a reserve school and, as I will discuss more in a later post, they are very concerned about offering what was called culturally critical curriculum and an environment suitable to nurture this. I think this is something that is applicable in any school. All students should feel their culture is being respected and valued. At Walpole Island, I saw a few examples of this.

Using the feather as a symbol of success which is part of Anishinaabe culture in DRAs 

National representation of First Nations people and symbols to recognize groups by