Christine Ho Younghusband

Mothers’ Day Reflection

Mother’s Day 2014… What can I say?  It was more like a Mothers’ Day weekend.  I am not complaining.  First, my daughter presents me with a bouquet of flowers, a beautiful dragonfly glass, and Pandora charm on Thursday (BTW: she bought all of those gifts with HER money).  On Friday, my little family had a super yummy Thai lunch with my twin brother who flew in from Toronto and my super cute parents.  That evening, we connected up with my sister and her little family to celebrate Mothers’ Day, which we renamed the DOUBLE DUCK DINNER.  We celebrated Mothers’ Day with TWO Peking ducks… duck wraps, lettuce wraps, and stirfry… complimented with a variety of other dishes.  Go big or go home… we went BIG… and felt BIG… and enjoyed the FAMILY FOOD FEST.  But hey, food builds commuity… it brings people together and makes us happy.  The weekend ends with a BBQ dinner from Lucky’s on Saturday and Sunday leftovers.  #HappyMothersDay

The Reflective Practitioner

Thank You Leah Goard for quoting me. #honoured

I think about my dissertation and my personal hold ups… cognitive, emotional, and logistic… and I can take one of two roads.  First, I could get down on myself and give up.  Or, I could look at the situation as a learning opportunity.  I choose the latter.  Ironically, I resist the notion of “The Reflective Practitioner” in my research, but it is something I do everyday.  As I reflect, I understand now that it is an integral part of my study and desire to learn more about as it relates to teaching and learning.  When I think about my teaching practice, I wonder… “Why do I do what I do?” with respect to content delivery, assessment, and the learning environment… you name it, I’m asking.  By asking, I am self-assessing the quality of my work.  Is what I am doing benefiting student learning?  Am I helping students or am I creating a barrier?  If I am not supporting students with their learning, how can I do things differently?  My next step is to modify it… try it… and assess again.  This process resonates with Kolb’s experiential learning cycle… Learning while doing.  My main objective is to foster the love of learning in others and myself.  If I can’t do that, I need to dig deep and ask why.

SD46 Student Forum

Closing remarks by Student Trustee Maya Treuheit

On April 30th, SD46 held it’s first Student Forum at the Sechelt Learning Centre.  This inaugural SD46 event was developed and facilitated by the SD46 District Student Leadership Team (DSLT).  Topics such as extracurricular activities, social media, and student stress were discussed at 7 round tables.  Each table consisted of one school trustee, DSLT representative, SD46 staff, and student representation from each secondary school.  At my table, “Team Double Green,” we had myself, Student Trustee Maya Treuheit, Principal Carolyn Spence, and one student representative from Elphinstone, Alternative Schools, Chatelech, and Pender Harbour ranging from grades 8 to 12.  We had an excellent discussion… coming up with great ideas such as an OPEN INVITATION to extracurricular activities, considering BYOD in schools, and creating a sensitivity to RACISM and racial slurs.  Thank you students of SD46.  I look forward to next year’s SD46 Student Forum.  Your voice matters!  #StuVoice  #StuVoiceBC

BCSTA AGM 2014

The BC School Trustees gather in Vancouver at the BCSTA AGM.  The event starts with a keynote, followed up by concurrent sessions, and concludes with our deliberations of motions at the AGM.  I am so proud of SD46 at this AGM.  First, our student trustee, Maya Treuheit, attended this event advocating for student voice and spoke at the microphone in favor of motion 18.  Second, SD46 teachers Kirsten Deasey and Kathy Stoddart eloquently presented SPARK 10! as a concurrent session to delegates.  Third, trustees Lori Pratt, Silas White, and Chair Betty Baxter moved 6 motions that ranged from the BCPSEA Board, UBCM, to the Auditor General.  Fourth, Trustee White chaired the first part of the AGM along with Student Trustee Treuheit reading motions beside him.  And, I was elected to the 2014-15 BCSTA Board as director.  Well done SD46!  The little district that could.

Food For Thought

A proud prize winner… yup, jam made locally.  I answered a trivia question correctly and voila… FOOD.  Thank you to all those who presented, planned, and organized the Centre for Civic Governance at Columbia Institute titled, “Food for Thought” in Vancouver.  I was not sure what to expect, but walked away with so much.  First, I learned a tonne the pre-conference session on public speaking.  We were called to task with speech writing, video recording, and critique.  It was intense, but worthwhile.  This was followed up with several concurrent sessions.  The ones I attended focused on food, schools, and student learning.  The first session I attended had several speakers talking about bringing fresh food to students.  Their passion to do was astounding, not to mention their journey to ‘make it happen’ for students.  Inspirational.  The second session I went to was led by three grade 12 students talking about their learning experiences with a project-based learning adventure in culinary tourism and the “Taste Trail.”  Exceptional.  I fully endorse and support student leadership and advocacy.  My third session was to support my colleague SD46 Trustee Silas White and Principal Sally Thicke who presented on Davis Bay Elementary’s K-3 Primary Nature Program, from governance to implementation.  An excellent presentation that derived much interest and dialogue.  It’s nice to know that SD46 are on the leading edge with this environmental education initiative.  Well received.  Finally, I ended the conference with Indigenous Sovereignty.  A change in rhythm but an excellent way to conclude the conference with my ultimate take-away… FOOD BUILDS COMMUNITY.  #gratitude

BCSSA Spring Forum 2014

With personalized learning as the ‘new direction’ of BC education, Ron Berger’s presentation on Expeditionary Learning at the BCSSA Spring Forum was inspirational and enlightening.  The Spring Forum was an excellent opportunity to imagine what project-based learning is like and what it could be.  It can be purposeful and service oriented.  Berger started the keynote with building character through commitment, courage, compassion, and contribution… instilling virtues in student learning.  Various examples of students demonstrating their learning were shown… ranging from field guides, music videos, to student-led conferences.  What captured my attention was the Butterfly Critique… using formative assessment and multiple drafts to establish quality work.  Learning was more about WE and less about ME.  My biggest take-away is, project-based learning is structured by formative and summative assessment.  #absolutely

EdCamp35 Reflection

What more can I say… awesome, awesome, awesome… YUP.  #EdCamp35 was a ‘hat-trick’ of awesomeness and I loved it.  This is my 4th or 5th #edcamp and this one in particular was magical.  Food trucks, thought provoking discussions, and cross-pollenation of ideas made #EdCamp 35 memorable.  For me, #EdCamp35 was #myPLN… sharing ideas in-person.  I was star struck.  I met so many people from #myPLN face-to-face.  I am so grateful for Twitter and my virtual professional learning community.  Meeting #myPLN face-to-face in Langley was an incredible experience.  So what do I love about #edcamp?  First, we have no title… you can be a student, superintendent, teacher, parent, support staff, principal/vice-principal, or school trustee… we are all invested in education… we are all equal.  Second, we choose what we teach/learn with our two feet… no hard feelings if you walk out mid-session or join a session late… we personalize our learning.  Third, we are teaching and learning… #edcamp is participant driven and most likely discussing ‘hot topics’ in BC education as teacher and/or learner.   Best of all,  I realized that the conversations ‘go deeper’ with #myPLN at #edcamp because I already have an online relationship with them.  Learning becomes more authentic and meaningful.  I owe much gratitude to #myPLN.  They inspire and motivate me to learn more about education.  Thank you to all those within #myPLN I met face-to-face and those who made reflective blogs of #Edcamp35 (see below).  #highfive to all those who ‘showed up’ and embraced the #poetrychallenge.  The poems were absolutely #Bryndges… (yup, it’s a hashtag).  And a BIG THANK YOU to the organizers and supporters of #EdCamp35.  #muchgratitude #myPLNrocks

Victoria Olson (@MsVictoriaOlson) – A Tech Teacher on a Mission – My #edcamp35 Reflections
Shawn Davids (@sdavids51) – Leadership with a Purpose – EdCamp35: Oh What A Day!
Karl Lindgren-Streicher (@KarlLS) – Student Centered History – #edcamp35: A Reflection
D’Alice Marsh (@DAliceMarsh) – A Lifelong Learner – Edcamp35 Another One Under My Belt
Bryn Williams (@brynmw) – VP Stories – Reflections of #Edcamp35

EdCamp Haiku

CISVA Math Teachers

Thank you CISVA Secondary Mathematics Teachers for taking the time to engage in professional learning.  It was my pleasure to return back to CISVA to discuss project based learning (PBL), assessment for learning (AFL), and the new curriculum.  To my delight, many of you are on your way with PBL and AFL.  Thank you for sharing your excitement, enthusiasm, and ideas during the workshop… and thank you for collaborating with your colleagues to create new ones.  Mathematics can be a challenging subject area to skew away from traditional pedagogy.  Ideas such as PBL and AFL forces us to reconsider, reflect, and redesign our teaching practice and imagine ‘how things could be different.’  You all inspire me.  Your kind words set the benchmark high.  I hope I met your expectations.  I appreciate your feedback and will be making revisions to my teaching practice.  I love this about education.  We are all learners.  We are all teachers.  Collaborating collegially.

Gratitude

Gratitude.  It’s so nice to take a moment and “smell the roses.”  Sometimes we can get so busy ‘doing things’ and ‘getting things done’ that we cannot appreciate the little things in life that brings us much happiness.  Although I do not have any roses in my garden or roses near by me, the metaphor reminds me to take a deep breath… look around… and observe.  Blogging is an excellent tool for me to ‘stop’ and ‘smell the roses.’  I’ve wondered why I blog… Who’s reading?  Who cares?  What’s it’s purpose?  What’s my purpose?  It gets big like that.  When I do blog, I am sharing what’s important to me, but also it’s an opportunity to influence others to do the same.  I am awed by the wonderful people in my life and incredible learning experiences I’ve engaged in wholeheartedly.  It’s humbling.  Thank you all for being a part of my pedagogical journey.  I appreciate the little things… a smile, a compliment, an idea, a hug… it’s all good.