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PRSD PULSE

PRSD RESPONSE TO SUPPORTING CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR – DIVISIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF CPS

Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) is the non-punitive, non-adversarial, trauma-informed model of care Dr. Greene originated and describes in his various books, including The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found, and Raising Human Beings. Lives in the Balance website offers much more information and many resources.

About the CPS Model:

The CPS model is based on the premise that challenging behaviour occurs when the expectations being placed on a kid exceed the kid’s capacity to respond adaptively, and that some kids are lacking the skills to handle certain demands and expectations.

The model focuses on identifying the skills the kid is lacking and the expectations he or she is having difficulty meeting (in the CPS model, those unmet expectations are referred to as unsolved problems). Then the goal is to help kids and caregivers solve those problems.

The goal is to foster a collaborative partnership between adults and kids and to engage kids in solving the problems that affect their lives. As such, the CPS model is non-punitive and non-adversarial.

As trained educators, we must recognize that challenging behavior is set in motion by lagging skills and not lagging motivation, then it's easy to understand why rewarding and punishing a kid may not make things better. We want to solve those problems collaboratively (Plan B) so the kid is fully invested in solving the problems, solutions are more durable, and (over time) the kid -- and often the adults as well -- learn the skills they were lacking all along.

PRSD Cohort Work:

Barrette Plett, CES Guidance Counsellor, is currently a student of Dr. Ross Greene working on his CPS Provider Certification Training. Barrette is leading teams from our schools in a PRSD CPS Cohort.

We have completed 3 sessions so far:

Session 1 – What is CPS?

Session 2 – ALSUP Assessment of Lagging Skills & Unsolved Problems

Session 3 – Navigating Plan B

Our next gathering will focus on practical implementation questions.

For more information about CPS or if you are interested in our PRSD Cohort please contact:

Barrette Plett bplett@prsdmb.ca or Louise Duncan lduncan@prsdmb.ca

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NUMERACY REPORT

GRADE 9 TEACHER NUMERACY ACHIEVEMENT PROJECT

Grade 9 PRSD teachers have been taking part over the last several years in a numeracy achievement project co-ordinated by the Manitoba Rural Learning Consortium. This project is being done with many school divisions across the province and has had measurable success.

Grade 9 teachers met four times last year to collaborate, plan, and discuss assessment and instructional strategies, with the curriculum at the center. Common assessments and a common timetable were used and are in the process of being used again this year. Already, in this second year of use, teachers are seeing a noticeable improvement in student ability to get through the challenging grade 9 program. The goal of PRSD’s involvement in this program is to have more PRSD students ready and prepared to take challenging math courses in grade 10.

The Manitoba Rural Learning Consortium provides a crucial role in Manitoba’s rural public schools. By providing rural areas with quality teacher professional development such as this, they ensure that rural communities have equal or better access to teacher support as city schools. We thank the Manitoba Rural Learning Consortium for bringing in quality presenters to facilitate these learning events. The benefits of them are directly passed on to PRSD students.

PRSD ONLINE GRADE 8 COURSE FOR TEACHERS AND EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS

This has been a busy school year for a very committed group of teachers and educational assistants in PRSD, who are taking an online math course designed by Melissa Sankar of Maxwell Colony. The purpose of this course is to review the fundamentals of Kindergarten to grade 8 math; focusing on the aspects that will be critical for students as they enter into grade 9 and begin taking their math courses entirely over the HITV system. The course is offered most Wednesday nights. Typically about seven or eight people take part. The course is broadcast out of the PRSD HITV studios in Elie and Bob Beaudry, the divisional numeracy leader, presents. Special guests have included Peter Andres from the Department of Education and Alvin Gross of Iberville Colony.

Thank you to all who have been instrumental in setting this course up. Trevor Boehm has generously given up a great deal of time to set the program up and comes to the rescue when technology issues spring up. Thank you as well to Melissa Sankar, Darcie Zorniak, Jack Phillips, and Murielle McMillan who have made the course possible.

If you would like to join the course, or have suggestions for future online math courses for teachers, educational assistants, or parents that could be broadcast in this way, please contact Numeracy Leader Bob Beaudry at bbeaudry@prsdmb.ca.

MATH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROJECT AT ROLAND SCHOOL

Students at Roland School have been very fortunate to have had some expert math presenters in several times over the last few months. Sherry Perih and Sara MacPherson from the Department of Education and Training have been working in collaboration with Heather Scott, grade 3-6 Math teacher at Roland School, at putting together a series of instructional videos for teachers. About once a month, the team comes in and works with Heather’s classes at math activities linked to the grade 3 Provincial Assessment.

Students have been having a lot of fun and have learned several new games. Other teachers from the school are even joining in on the excitement and learning! Videos will be published on one of the department of education’s websites once they have been edited and are ready.

Thank you to Heather Scott, the wonderful students at Roland School, and the Department of Education and Training for making this exciting project a success for everyone involved!

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LITERACY REPORT

CELEBRATING LITERACY!

PRSD is thrilled with the literary efforts and achievement of some very young but proficient writers. Together with the divisional Literacy Leader and their classroom teacher, students at several colony sites are publishing books written by the class.

The process is intricate and focusses on the development of key reading and writing skills. Students begin by making inferences about the cover of a published novel and then the class brainstorms about potential events within the plot of a book with that title. The next step is sequencing events while ensuring that key elements of a fictional piece are included (character, setting, conflict, theme, etc.). As a class, students work together to create a draft, which then requires editing and revising the material. A final draft is written and each student is responsible for the illustrations within their class book.

The results have been astounding; these books are an amazing artifact created through careful planning, guided and focussed teaching, collaboration within the classroom, and the active and entertaining imaginations of PRSD’s students. Not only has the finished product been a celebration for staff; students are immensely proud of their efforts and welcome the opportunity to showcase their work to visitors.

Thank you to the early years’ students of Lakeside Colony for providing this picture which perfectly captures the collaboration required to successfully write and publish a class book!

ST. FRANÇOIS XAVIER SCHOOL

3D PRINTING IN SCIENCE

Grade 6 students from St. Francois Xavier School combined 3D printing with their Flight unit in Science.

Students designed their own fuselage shape using 3D computer software. They then printed the fuselages and attached various wing designs to see which wing shape flew best. The planes flew quite well!

Along with learning new skills, students were able to enhance their numeracy and literacy related to 3D modelling and design. Students were able to reflect upon their findings and communicate their results to the class.

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CARMAN COLLEGIATE

INTER-GENERATIONAL DAY

On January 24, 2019, the grade 6 classes at Carman Collegiate participated in an Inter-generational Day at the Active Living Centre. A volunteer committee from the centre organized the day and kept everyone fully engaged! The day comprised of students participating in several games where they learned the rules and tricks from a senior volunteer at each station. There were 6 stations; carpet bowling, floor shuffleboard, Crokinole, table tennis, drums alive, and storytelling sit-down where students heard extraordinary tales, which was a student favourite.

MANITOBA’S LONGEST RUNNING HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

On January 17-19, 2019, the Carman Cougar Hockey Team hosted the longest running High School Hockey Tournament in Manitoba. This was a special event, as it marks the 50th year of the tournament. This is a testament to the amazing support both financially by our sponsors and also our amazing volunteers from within the community and school.

The tournament has seen WHA/NHL talent such as Brian Coates, Patrick Fisher, current Winnipeg Jet Tyler Myers and Hockey Hall of Fame members Chris Pronger and our very own Ed Belfour. Current Hockey Manitoba President, Bill Whitehead, is also a Cougar Alumni.

MANITOBA AG DAYS

On Wednesday, January 23, 2019, Carman Collegiate grade 8 students attended the Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon. The day started early for the students as they arrived in Brandon by 9:45 am in order to participate in the first section of their day, which was held at the Agriculture Extension Centre. There the students were involved in the Adventure World Game. Each student was given a “continent” name and was asked to sit in their designated continent. From there, they worked with agriculture university students in discussing and answering questions dealing with world population, food production, and food distribution. Many interesting and eye-opening discoveries were made in regards to agriculture around the world such as how urban population is increasing as rural population decreases in certain regions, as well as the import and export of food items globally, just mention just a few.

The students then were given instructions and materials for the MB Ag Days Adventure held at the Keystone Centre. The students were placed into teams of five and with their clues went on a scavenger-type adventure where they were to approach certain booths spread out throughout the Keystone center to ask and answer particular questions dealing with the specific company (ie. Manitoba Corn Growers Association). Having over 500 different agriculture-based companies throughout the Keystone Center, the students needed to do some strategic planning in locating their specific booths as well as finding answers to the difficult questions.

What an adventure it was as the interactive agricultural activities gave students a first- hand opportunity to increase their knowledge and understanding of Science, Social Studies, Careers, and Agriculture within our own province.

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CARMAN ELEMENTARY

ARTIST IN THE SCHOOL

Carman Elementary students have enjoyed their music experience with Tom Neufeld. This group of grade 5 students are enjoying creating their own song about a draft horse named Zibby. The students are learning how to write their own songs using an app called GarageBand. The students are recognizing that the chords Mr. Neufeld uses for the guitar are the same as the ones they learned for the ukulele.

BASKETBALL BEGINS!

Mr. Stobbe started his basketball unit in January and the students loved it! For most kids, grade 4 is when they get to play their first basketball game. The students enjoyed dribbling a figure 8 around their legs to practice their eye/hand coordination. They played Pirate Basketball which involved stealing the ball from an opponent and then getting 3 chances to make a shot. Grade 4 students turned professional and practiced their multiplication by keeping score where each basket was worth $200.00. The best part was when the students played Crazy Basketball. This is a game where there are two cross-court games being played while a full court is also being played in the same space.

HOMESTEAD CO-OP DONATION

Homestead Co-op employees who volunteer enter a draw to win $500.00 donation to the local charity of their choice. The employee gets one entry for every five hours they volunteer. The draw is made every 2 months. This month Yvonne Jeffers was the lucky winner and she chose the Carman Elementary Breakfast program. Jason Rheault and Yvonne presented the donation to the Breakfast program coordinator Janet Currie. Several students were able to thank Yvonne on the day the donation was presented.

Thank you, Yvonne for choosing us!

PANCAKES AND PAJAMAS

On January 16, 2019, Carman Elementary Parent Council cooked pancakes for all 315 students and 38 staff. The pancake mix was donated by Pioneer Grain. We had parents cooking in the multi-purpose room and the library. Pancakes were ready for our 10:40 a.m. snack and they were delicious.

Since we were having a later breakfast, the students and staff also spent the day in their pajamas. It was a great way to spend a cold day in January.

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ELM CREEK SCHOOL

GRADE 5 STUDENTS HOST WEATHERCASTER CHRIS SUMNER TO LEARN ABOUT WEATHER!

As a part of our Science unit on Weather, the grade 5’s invited Weathercaster Chris Sumner to speak about his job and to answer some of our burning questions about weather. We enjoyed his presentation and loved the videos and information about severe weather, weather instruments and weather prediction technology. We also welcomed community members to share about how their occupations are affected by the weather.

ELM CREEK GRADE 2 CLASS TOURS MEXICO!

This past January, Ms. Salazar’s grade 2’s arrived with their suitcases, sunglasses, and sandals. They waited at an Air Canada kiosk and a customs line up to board flight AC275 to Mexico. Travellers passed through security, presented their tickets, and got their passports stamped. A few had to have their bags checked over! The flight included an Air Canada air safety video, chewing gum (for popping ears) and an on flight movie

(an informational PowerPoint presentation on Mexico, its location, education, culture and landscape}. Travellers then landed and went on 6 tours throughout the day. Guides (parents) assisted the travellers at each tour. Restaurante La Cocina served Mexican food samples and fresh fruit. Shopping at the market La Tienda included picking seashells and choice of an authentic bobble head toy. The jewelry tour had participants making a necklace with a pattern (math). At the beach, participants enjoyed swimming, surfboarding, relaxing, and beach ball, along with photo opportunities by our photographer. After “snorkeling”, explorers drew a crayon resist underwater scene. The art sunset tour had our artists paint a sunset with palm trees on a plate. The Mexican music, walls filled with ocean and beach scene murals, and

giant umbrellas made the experience incredible. Travellers wrote a postcard home – WISH YOU WERE HERE!

Ms. Salazar has been organizing a virtual trip for her students for the past 15 years. The amazing experience integrates several curricular connections with English Language Arts: purposeful letter writing (the postcards are actually addressed and mailed), viewing opportunities: safety video and PowerPoint highlighting Mexico; visual arts: with acrylics, blending & color mixing, silhouettes, line drawing of sea creatures, crayon resist and shaving cream wash underwater scenes, math: bead patterning, science: identifying shell types and observing patterns in nature and characteristics of marine animals; social studies: exploration of Indigenous Mayan cultures, dance, customs, foods, geography/mapping, land regions, climate, education system, and religion/churches. In music, the students even learned the Mexican Hat Dance! Students will have fond memories of their “trip” for years to come!

ELM CREEK STUDENT PRESENTS AT BRANDON’ S AG DAYS

Elm Creek School student Taylor Carlson (Grade 11) presented at Ag Days in Brandon, MB on January 22, 2019, as part of the theme of Telling Our Ag Stories. Taylor spoke on her trip to Des Moines, Iowa, where she attended as the 4-H Manitoba representative at the Global Youth Institute (GYI) in 2017. She also spoke about how attending GYI changed her outlook on what a difference youth can make in the world of Agriculture and how it has shaped who she is today and how it will affect her future. Attending this conference encouraged her passion for being an “agrovate” and as a result is working on a STRIVE project with her sister, Harleigh, where they are putting together a Mobile Educational Livestock Display

where they will teach urban children about where their food comes from.

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ÉCOLE ST. EUSTACHE

PARENT RECIPIENT OF YES I CAN! AWARDS

École St. Eustache is especially pleased to announce that a parent of our school community will be receiving a Certificate of Recognition at the Yes I Can! Awards supported by the Manitoba Council for Exceptional Children. Mary-Jo is a strong advocate for all children in variety of ways. She has advocated for her own son, Tyler, who lives with ASD so that he could successfully be educated in our French Immersion school from K-6. She also encourages his strengths by making it possible for him to be involved with SwimAbilities Manitoba, where they participate and volunteer for the organization. Additionally, she supported his annual participation in the Manitoba Science Symposium the past three years, which is a passion of strong his and where he won gold. She also helps him make his caring and thoughtful ideas a reality, such as running a coat drive because he identified the need. Helping Tyler make his ideas work allows him to experience success and connection to others in positive ways.

Mary-Jo also supports other children to achieve their goals. She includes children who have exceptional needs in their family activities and provides supports to those parents.

She reaches out to others who are in need and seeks to be a positive and calm influence. Her capacity for kindness truly seems to have no limits.

Mary-Jo is also a team player. She is exceptional to work with, as she is always collaborative and open to support and feedback. Mary-Jo is on Tyler’s side, and recognizes we are all on his side too! Working with her to support Tyler is a wonderful experience.

HUTTERIAN COLONY SCHOOL

COMMON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

The Hutterian Colony School teachers took part in their first Common Formative Assessment marking session at the Friday, February 1, 2019 professional development day. The day was in question after school cancellations due to the extreme cold conditions. Students at the grade 4 and 8 level though were able to complete their assessments on Thursday.

This process started back in April 2018 with staff discussions about Common Formative Assessments. In May, several of our teachers with former Literacy Leader Barb Penner and former EAL Leader Mary Reimer, created an assessment for our students at the grade 4 and 8 levels. In the fall of this school year, Literacy Leader Mary Reimer and EAL Leader Mandy Nykolaishen, developed and finalized rubrics for expository writing.

Students were to have three days to complete the assessment, but due to the cancellations, this was adjusted to being completed in two days. Then on Friday, Mary and Mandy led our teachers through a process of developing a common understanding of what constitutes a meeting or not meeting expectation in the different writing elements. Our teachers then went to work at marking the papers. All papers had a minimum of two teachers assessing, and if there were differences in the assessment, a third teacher came in and completed an assessment as well.

The day went very well and ended with teachers having the opportunity to discuss their next instructional steps based on their students’ results.

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MIAMI SCHOOL

STUDENTS ATTEND ROYAL MANITOBA THEATRE CENTRE PRODUCTION OF MATILDA

On January 11, 2019, Miami’s High School Choir and Drama students had the opportunity to see the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's production of Matilda: The Musical. Twenty-five students attended. They were particularly moved by the professionalism and performance abilities of such a young cast. The dancing and set design was very well done. Students are using the show as inspiration for their own upcoming musical theatre performance and are eagerly anticipating attending more RMTC shows in the future.

Some student feedback: "It was awesome!", "I was really surprised when they actually grabbed the girl and did the hammer throw."

INTRODUCING WRESTLING

Grades 5 to 10 are participating in an introductory wrestling unit at Miami School in Ms. Wimble’s PE class. Students are learning that the game is about controlling your opponent and not about causing injury or harm. The rules are designed to ensure the safety of participants. Within the unit, students are asked to give their best effort, and not to give up, even if the activity is demanding. Canada has a reputation internationally for producing world-class female wrestlers and so the activity is a very good fit for our young ladies as well. This combative sport operates within weight classes so participants compete only with others roughly their own size which opens the door for smaller athletes to excel. Our students will be able to spread the good word about wrestling; it is fun, provides lots of activity, and you get a chance to find out how tough you are.

I LOVE TO READ MONTH 2019 THEME: WHERE WILL YOUR NEXT BOOK TAKE YOU?

Miami School Junior Student Council along with Mrs. Angela McCullough has been busily preparing for I Love to Read Month. They are excited to share their love of books and reading with the student population. That brings us to our 2019 theme; “Where will your next book take you?” Will you go to the moon, save the princess from the dragon, or empathize with the main character? Books can take you anywhere! The Junior Student Council has put together a calendar of activities, planned a spirit week, and are planning kick off and wrap up assemblies. Teachers have been busily organizing guest readers to visit classrooms to share their favorite books. From guest readers to Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), it’s sure going to be an exciting month.

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ROLAND SCHOOL

PARTNERING WITH SPORT MANITOBA AND FIT KIDS HEALTHY KIDS

Roland school staff and students have been working in partnership with Sport Manitoba and Fit Kids Healthy Kids to provide both professional development and additional physical activity opportunities. During the winter months, Fit Kids Healthy Kids’ program coordinator Cassidy Nicholls will provide three fun afternoons filled with physical activity for students. She also visited Roland School on February 1, 2019, to facilitate a professional development opportunity for staff on physical literacy.

WITS PROGRAMMING

Roland School has been partaking in WITS programming throughout this school year to support our school wellness initiatives. WITS is an approach to conflict that gives the following strategies- Walk away, Ignore, Talk it out, and Seek help. Each time we meet, we investigate how characters in stories use their WITS to approach a problem in a positive and constructive way. This whole school approach will compliment our grade 5 & 6 peer mediation programming we started this January. Keep up the great work Roland Raccoons!

ST. LAURENT SCHOOL

STUDENTS ATTEND ROYAL MANITOBA THEATRE’S PRODUCTION OF MATILDA

On January 18, 2019, the grade 5 and 6 and the grade 9 and 10’s went to the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. They went to see Matilda the Musical. It was a great day with a stop at McDonald’s and Subway to grab some lunch.

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ST. PAUL’S COLLEGIATE

GRADE 10 – 12 STUDENTS LEARN THROUGH MPI VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE

On February 8, 2019, St. Paul's Collegiate’s TADD group brought in Manitoba Public Insurance with their DRIVER-X Virtual Reality Experience to our grades 10 - 12 students. Participants explored a three-dimensional environment in a seemingly real and physical way on the power of choices. Through a fun, interactive story line based on distracted driving, speeding or drug impaired driving, the driver got behind the wheel in virtual reality (VR) and experience the outcomes and consequences of the choice they choose to make as a driver.

During lunch, TADD Manitoba brought in lunch for participants and alongside Manitoba Public Insurance held a 1-hour session with our TADD group and senior student council about drinking, distracted, or drugged driving.

GRADE 8 SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS VISIT MANITOBA MUSEUM

On January 23, 2019, students in grade 8 Social Studies (English class) visited the Manitoba Museum. Students are studying Ancient civilizations. They participated in a Mummies workshop and an Ancient Societies workshop. Of

course, students had time to visit the Non-Such which was quite a treat. As well, students visited the Planetarium and Explored the Universe. The day was fantastic. A special thanks to this class for being great St. Paul’s Collegiate Ambassadors. The staff at the Museum stated that this was the best class they ever had! We are very proud of our grade 8 students.