On February 18, 2011, I will be heading out towards Squamish and Whistler to Don Ross Secondary School to deliver a workshop on Assessment for Learning to Secondary Math Teachers.  This school district has been implementing AFL for the past few years in addition to the New Math Curriculum.  I have big names to follow:  Rob Sidley, Linda Kaser, and Judy Halbert.  These names may not mean much to you, but they are influential people in the realm of education and assessment.

Rick Smith from SD 48 (Sea-to-Sky) is a district math coordinator who saw my AFL workshop at the BC Association Math Teachers (BCAMT) provincial conference in October 2010.  He was inspired and applied for a grant from the BCAMT to support math teachers in his district to implement AFL successfully.  Rick, in collaboration with his colleague who also attended the workshop, mutually agreed that my workshop would best fit their needs and current understanding of AFL.  I’m the clean up guy!

Let’s be clear… I don’t mean that “I’m the clean up guy” to imply that the school district is a mess with AFL; what I am saying is that I am the SKIP on this assessment team and I’m throwing the last rock of the end.  Yes, I have made a curling analogy.  I am cool.  No pressure, of course, but I believe my role tomorrow is to act as a spring board and share my “pedagogical journey” with AFL to Sea-to-Sky math teachers.  What I love most is I’m realizing much of this workshop directly relates to my dissertation.

This blog-break is a moment away from my 10 hours of prepping for this workshop.  I had a Power Point from the BCAMT conference and believed that it could take a few hours to brush up the presentation.  A big misconception on my part… and the presentation took a big overhaul.  From what I’ve learned from the Catholic Educators’ Conference as a participant and observer, I did not want to give a workshop that someone walks out on.  I want to inspire, provoke, and motivate.  If I accomplish one of three of these areas, then my job is done.  Ultimately, if teachers makes a shift in their practice, that’s the best feedback of all.