Cdn EdWire: The Pros and Cons of Banning School Fundraising

Ban school fundraising, province urged – Toronto Star

Fundraising ban would hurt schools, educators say – Toronto Star

Chris Selley: How is this a public school system? – National Post

Report card: Sizing up Ontario’s education system – CTV

Three cheers for exams! GTA school credits test gains to warm-ups – Toronto Star

‘Vote against kids’ parodies attack-style ads – Toronto Star

OTHER NEWS

Canadian public school boards recruit foreign students to boost coffers –Globe and Mail

The Global Search for Education: How to Support Your Education System – Huffington Post Canada

New high school textbook aimed at aboriginal youth means business – Globe and Mail

Student surge hits Catholic system – Calgary 
Extra teachers needed to handle crunch – Calgary Herald

Sex workers, genital mutilation not suitable topics for children: TDSB – National Post

What news am I missing? Can you recommend some education blogs for me to follow? Please tweet me at @max_cooke, e-mail me at mcooke@cea-ace.ca or better yet, use the comment box below to suggest additional articles happening in your region so that others can check it out. 

INTERNATIONAL

Where Did All the Male Teachers Go? France Worries That Boy Students May Be Suffering – Le Figaro

EDUBLOG HIGHLIGHTS

Michael Fullan and Advice on Moving Forward – Culture of Yes (Chris Kennedy)
Michael Fullan is one of the architects of the current government of Ontario’s platform on education (here), and has recently written a widely cited paper Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform, which I have previously blogged about here.

While his most prominent work is with Ontario, Fullan has been working, on and off, with school districts and the Ministry of Education in British Columbia for more than twenty years as well.  This past week, along with two others very involved with innovation projects around the world, Valerie Hannon and Tony Mackay, Fullan spent a full day working with school superintendents highlighting several key concepts in the context of our work in BC…

Supportive Assessment – For the Love of Learning (Joe Bower)
I often talk to teachers and parents about assessment. I simplify assessment into two steps. First you collect information about a student’s learning and then you share it with others. Collect and share. That’s it. Sounds simple, right? Well, there’s a couple caveats. First, any information collected should be done based on what students are learning while doing projects that are in a context and for a purpose.

Second, the collecting and the sharing of this information should be done by the kids and not simply to them. Just like how the best kinds of learning is done by children rather than to them, the same goes for assessment…

Learner First – The Principal of Change (George Couros)
“Boredom continues to be a leading cause of our high school dropout rate.”  Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap 

I was so intrigued by a video that was created by Rod Lucier’s cohort at the Learning 2.011 conference(and this reflection that you should read) this last week in Shanghai that I wanted to share it.  The basics of the video show the boredom of students as they sit through the traditional lecture or “drill-and-kill” type teaching that has happened in schools.  A student dreams about the opportunities for hands on learning that is interactive and collaborative.  I remember sitting through these classes during my time in high school usually thinking about anything else other than what was being taught…

Meet the Expert(s)

Max Cooke

CEO

Max Cooke is the CEO of the EdCan Network.

Max Cooke est le directeur général du Réseau ÉdCan.

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