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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Superintendent………………… 2
Human Resources……………...3
Curriculum ............................ 3
FNMI Teacher Resources ..... 3
Technology ........................... 4
Question of the Week……...… 5
Transportation……………….. .. 5
Continued on next page
It is cold out there! We are hardy Albertans and we will not let a bit of cold weather stop us. Of course, there are a few things that we need to consider when Old Man Winter hits! The first is our busses. BTPS’ inclement weather policy provides direc-tion with respect to bus operation in extreme cold or questionable weather conditions. We are very fortunate to have excellent bus con-tractors and drivers who are very familiar with their routes and the challenges that come with all types of weather. We are a very large jurisdiction and conditions can vary a great deal from one end of BTPS to the other. This is why we typically leave decisions about bus opera-tion to our drivers/contractors. If our drivers make the decision that they will not run, they will contact the parents of the children on their route to let them know. We do notify the local radio stations and keep a list on our website. We try to keep an up to date list on our website, but contact by the bus operator is the most reliable source of information. We sometimes get questions why a bus is operating and some disagreement on whether or not they should run. It is im-portant to note that parents have the final say on whether or not they want their child to ride the bus. If a parent does not feel com-fortable putting their child on the bus due to weather conditions, they do not have to use the bus service. We are confident in our driv-ers and have no doubt they will make the best decision they can. At times when the weather is below -45 across BTPS or it is a general storm, we will make the call to cancel busses. In these time we are in constant communication with our drivers/contractors to make the best decision we can.
While our busses are very reliable, there is a chance that they may get stopped on their routes. For this reason, we ask parents to make sure that students who ride the bus are properly dressed for the weather.
Superintendent’s Memo
For the Week of December 8 - 12th, 2014
COMMENTS ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER?
Please send your comments or
suggestions to [email protected]
We’d love to hear from you!
BUFFALO TRAIL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
1041 10A Street
Wainwright, AB T9W 2R4
P: 780.842.6144
F: 780.842.3255
www.btps.ca
Twitter: BTPS#28
MISSION: Buffalo Trail Public Schools is committed to maximizing student learning,
in a safe and caring environment, supported by a highly effective team.
FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT...
Email:[email protected]
Answer the question on page four
and have your name entered for a
prize!
FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT (FROM PAGE 1)
2
GO BACK
December SES meeting:
The December SES meeting will be held on December 9, 2014 at the North Training Lab (J R Robson).
Start time 9:30am – until 4:00pm.
The meeting will be comprised of the following embedded Professional Development:
1). BTPS “Tech Talk” – please remember to bring all of the information that you will need to have and/or have reference to, in developing/discussing your “Google” Behavior checklists and experiences in the last month with the Tech and SES group.
2). Alberta Health Services presentation in the afternoon.
Please be sure to bring your fully charged laptops, your smiles, and enthusiastic SES attitude!
SES Staff, please remember that if you are not able to attend, please notify Gayle at [email protected], immediately. For the rest of Crystal’s article, please click here.
Having the proper footwear, coats, mitts and head gear is very important. If the bus does break down, having students who are ill equipped to handle the cold adds stress to an already difficult situa-tion. Parents need to make sure their children have the gear going to school and staff needs to make sure that they have it for the way home. Over the past two years, our ability to offer optional transportation services like yard service is much more difficult due to the length of bus routes and the additional time it takes to offer this service. The unfortunate result is that some of our students have to walk to the bus pick up point from their house in the morning and from the bus to the house after school. In some cases, the bus stop cannot be seen from the house. In these cases, making sure that younger children are accompanied at the bus stop in the morning and that someone is there to meet them when they arrive at night is essential. Parents are responsible to make these arrangements and our bus drivers cannot be expected to adjust their routes to accommodate. Please help us to keep the children safe by making these arrangements. Finally, cold weather and slippery roads are a concern for those who are walking to school or traveling by vehicle. We encourage everyone to practice caution. If roads are not safe, please do not take un-necessary chances. We want all of our students and staff to arrive safely at school and when there is risk, we want you to all choose wisely.
Take care,
STUDENT EDUCATION SERVICES
CURRICULUM
FNMI TEACHER
RESOURCES FEATURES:
Competition is open: Teachers: Encourage Aboriginal youth to submit to the contest. Participants have a chance to win up to $2,000 and have their work published or exhibited. Help your students enter the largest and most recognized art & creative writing competition in Canada for Aboriginal youth. Use online teaching tools to help students during the creative process. Students can enter the contest online or by email, mail or fax. http://www.our-story.ca/teachers/
If you have any questions regarding this, contact [email protected]
Reminder – BTPS’s FNMI support site:
https://sites.google.com/a/btps.ca/fnmi support/
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PD Opportunities:
Learning Network: December 11, 2014 – Webinar - ICR15-58 - Teacher Talks 2014-15 Enhancing Teacher
Professional Practice The Art of Questioning in the Critically Thoughtful Classroom
Presented by Nate Deboer: Register Now
Of Interest:
New PGP online tool at ATA website: The ATA has re-
cently made updates to the ‘Professional Growth Plans’
self-paced tutorials. They have also launched the ‘Online Professional Growth Plan-
ning Service” (OPGP) which is an online tool that makes it very easy for teachers to
create their own PGP which gets saved to their membership account. For more infor-
mation, visit:
http://www.teachers.ab.ca/For%20Members/Professional%20Development/Teacher
%20Professional%20Growth/Pages/Index.aspx
2015 CTS Conference held this year at Fort McMurray April 9 -
11, 2015. Activities planned during this conference include
keynote addresses from industry stakeholders, hands-on work-
shops in multiple cluster areas, tours of oil sands facilities including reclamation pro-
jects, informative sessions related to current CTS and CTF education, and, of course,
social events. Details: http://2015.ctscouncil.com/
Math Resources:. Curriki is a website where teachers can find
free to use learning and teaching content from diverse content
providers and educators from around the world. Check out Cur-
rikiGeometry - a project based learning course. Or check out the home site here:
http://www.curriki.org/welcome/
GO BACK HUMAN RESOURCES
Celebrate Teaching Excellence!
Nominations for the 2015 Excellence in Teaching Award are now open!
Nomination deadline: February 6, 2015. Nomination packages available at: http://www.education.alberta.ca/
teachers/excellence.aspx
Questions or need assistance, please contact: [email protected]
Coming soon…..
Edwin Parr: Excellence in First Year Teaching nomination packages
TECHNOLOGY
Maker Movement in Education I came across an older you tube video called Caine’s arcade. This is a very interesting story about a young man in east LA and his cardboard arcade. It went viral and he got 15 minutes of fame. The interesting thing about this video is the intelligence, design thinking, engineering and engagement that this 9 year old demonstrated in his arcade is quite profound. It got me researching about where this is in schools as I remem-ber building a marble game and running it at school when I was young. The link to the video is below.
Caine’s arcade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U
Maker Education Mission The Maker Education Initiative’s mission is to create more opportunities for all young people to develop confidence, creativity, and interest in science, technolo-gy, engineering, math, art, and learning as a whole through making. We will achieve our mission by ensur-ing that:
1. Educators have the resources and support neces-
sary to facilitate meaningful making experiences.
2. Organizations have the capacity to engage youth in making in formal and informal educational environ-ments.
3. Communities are equipped to lead and advocate for youth of all backgrounds to access making opportu-nities.
Reprinted from www.makered.org
In some schools we are starting to see this concept embraced by creating clubs and courses in: Minecraft for education – www.minecraftedu.com Lego robotics - www.firstroboticscanada.org/main/fll
Raspberry pi - www.raspberrypi.org Coding in School –www.code.org coding for all grades The Technology Department is very interested in mak-ing sure this type of education is supported and devel-oped. If you are interested in this idea or already doing some of the above, BTPS technology will help facilitate an informal group of educators to get organized and champion this in BTPS schools.
Want your class to try coding? Join the world wide moment “Hour of Code”. This is an organization that is attempting to get 15 million students coding during the week of Dec 8th to 12th. Check out the link below. I have, it is easy, logical and fun for all ages.
http://hourofcode.com/ca#join
BTTube
Last week was the last of our promised 40 BT tube vide-os. Topics were Plicker – digital formative assessment, feedback on program, and a draw for the Chromebook.
Helpdesk Volume is at normal levels. Remember a ticket is not closed if you feel the problem is not fixed. You can comment back to your assigned technician through the ticket. Please continue to contact us with your technical problems using BTPS equipment so we can deploy solutions faster and track problems to become more proactive. Reminder: Do not call the main central office switch board as they are not trained to help with technology. Email us at: [email protected] - Tech problems [email protected] - PowerSchool
Power Teacher problems
GO BACK
Phone: 780-806-2053
Text : 780-806-9228
Twitter: hashtag #btps28
BTTube:
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The winner from last’s
week ???
is Colin Beecroft@Vermilion
Elementary.
Congratulations Colin!!
Thank you to
everyone who participated.
13 students were recognized
for RAP.
Wainwright Elementary School - vote here!
GO BACK
PAYROLL & BENEFITS
TRANSPORTATION
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NEW:
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE 701.7
Roles and Responsibilities:
Principals, please remind parents in your next news-letters that it is their responsibility to have their child(ren) arrive safely to and from the bus stop. The bus drivers cannot stop at every stop to wait for students who are tardy or to make sure that someone is home for the younger students. Other students and parents become concerned when their children are not picked up or dropped off on time because bus driver is deal-ing with such issues. As the safety of students is im-perative on the bus driver’s ability to maintain a tight schedule (especially during winter driving conditions), parents must ensure that their children are on time for their morning pick up, and that someone is there to meet them at the bus stop or at their home at the end of the day. Thank you for your cooperation. For more information parents can refer to the AP at
http://www.btps.ca/board/admin-procedures/Section_7_Transportation/701.7AP_Roles_Responsibilities_AP.aspx
REMINDERS:
BTPS WEBSITE FOR BUS CANCELLATIONS:
Please remember that all bus cancellations are posted on the BTPS website. You can click on the icon “Bus Cancellations” on the bottom right hand corner of the website. You may have to scroll down on some screens to see it. If you click this link, all bus cancella-tions that the Transportation Office is aware of, will be posted. http://www.btps.ca/
PROPER WINTER ATTIRE FOR SCHOOL BUS TRAVEL:
It’s that time of the year again folks where the possibil-ity of getting stuck in a snow bank is a reality. Not just in rural Alberta, but even in the towns these days too! Please remind students that they need to be dressed properly for the winter weather. Having children my-self who say it’s not cool to bundle up I know the struggles parents have to get their children to dress properly, but they should carry mitts, toques and a jacket with them in case of emergency. Most rural bus drivers will let them leave them on the bus or they can just pack it in their back packs. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Please remind your parents in your next newsletter. Students can be written up with a misconduct report and referred to the principal if they continue not to dress appropriately. We appreciate the support. Thank you
REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY: BUS CONTRACTORS AND SPARE/TEMP DRIVERS NEEDED:
Kitscoty Bus Routes:
VR-K1, VR-K3 & VR-K6
The Board is now operating VR-K1 and VR-K3, but the bus routes are open if a contractor would be willing to take them over.
We have a contractor who is considering bus route VR-K6, however, they cannot commit to taking on the bus route if they cannot find a full time driver. Unfor-tunately, the parents of VR-K6 have to drive their children to school at this time and this is challenging for some families. We really need someone to step up and commit to driving this bus. If you know of anyone, please have them call me asap at 780-806-2051.
If you are interested in driving the bus on a full or part-time basis in your local area, please call me at 780-806-2051 and I can put you in contact with a local bus con-tractor.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
Chrysti Mannix, Director of Transportation 780-806-2051 or [email protected]
AROUND BTPS…..
Who gave
the morning
key-note address at
the TES Team day on
November 24th,
2014?
