I spent the past Saturday at school. While it is not unusual for me to drop in on the weekend, this was a little different. From 6:30 a.m. until 8 at night, a film crew from Telus Communications was using KGMS as a backdrop for an upcoming commercial. Focusing on our school, the 30 second spot (which took twelve hours to make!) highlights how the effective use of technology can support the learning process. Telus has been a strong supporter of our school and this was an opportunity for both partners to celebrate the collaboration that has benefited our students. Having said that, during the hours of watching the crews at work and the excited participation of one of our students and one of our staff members, it gave me plenty of time to reflect on the role of technology in enhancing the learning experience for our kids.

There is an underlying assumption in modern schools of all stripes that “more is better” when it comes to laptops, SMART Boards, and various other digital supports. But, does the addition of these kinds of resources guarantee a better educational experience? The answer is, “not necessarily.” As one of our teachers has said: “it’s not about technology, it’s about learning.” This should be the mantra of every classroom in every school. There is no point in investing in SMART Boards or interactive digital short-throw projectors if they are only going to be used as 21st century blackboards and overheads.  That is not good enough. What needs to be happening has to begin with our academic vision of the school.
We have to ask the questions: “How can we enhance student learning and academic performance with the aid of technology?”; “What could we do more effectively with technological support than we could do without it?” and, “How do we make students and teachers see the available technology not as a gimmick, but rather as a stepping-stone to take learning to the next level?”

Interestingly enough our teaching staff spent part of last Friday’s professional development day discussing exactly this issue and looking for new and innovative ways to use our available technology to engage our students, and continue to unlock the barriers to learning. We are blessed at KGMS with excellent access to both interactive digital boards and student laptops through our shared mobile computer labs. With more than one computer for every two students, we can basically ensure that anyone who needs that kind of resource support can get it at almost any time of the day.

But, the point of all this innovation is not to simply “decorate” the school with technology but to continue to use it to make us a better school. Many schools pride themselves on having a smart board in every room, or requiring every family to buy their child a laptop. The might make for great marketing, but ineffective use of those resources – while good visual p.r. when prospective parents or visitors glance in the class – can impede rather than enhance the learning process. There is no practical reason for stretching limited technological resources or requiring families to lay out money simply to ensure that every teacher in every class has her or his students sitting at a keyboard. What makes more sense is to focus our resources where they will have the greatest impact. In the best schools, like ours, students excel in the use of technology because teachers who “get it” are given the support and the infrastructure they need to push forward the frontiers of learning. It would appear to be far more effective to guarantee that every student has at least one exceptional on-going experience with technology in her or his learning day rather that to try to provide a series of mediocre ones. Teaching and learning is the ultimate interactive experience. Whether or not it involves the use of technology is far less important than the extent to which it engages, challenges, and meets the needs of our kids. 


That is why, as much as we have invested in technology in our classrooms, our real priority is to continue to staff them with “state of the art” teachers. They’re the real “smart” in smart boards!

The day after Labour Day was an exciting day around our school.  The doors flew open and in surged a sea of faces: some excited, others anxious; some frowning, others with wide, sunny grins; some timid, others bold; some determined, and others reticent – and those were just the parents!  Our students came tumbling in the same way – there were the cautious steps of the newly arrived; the relaxed swagger of the old pros; and, everything in between.

No matter how they stepped through the door however, two hours later, I think that both  our students and their parents made their way home feeling good about their days and their choices.

Kenneth Gordon is a school of second choice. To be honest, there are probably no parents or children who enter the school system with a burning desire to attend KGMS. Some other school had the privilege of being their first choice.

First choice schools are picked for a number of reasons: they are close to home; or they have status or a larger than life reputation in the community; or they are where Mom or Dad or Grandma or Grandpa went to school. Whatever the reason, we parents often select the first choice school for our child with less thought and research than we give to buying a new car!

Students arrive at Kenneth Gordon because those first choices didn’t work. This time, parents have done their homework. They have listened to learning specialists; they have researched their options; and they have made an informed choice that they believe will be a good fit for their child. That is the way that every enrollment decision should be made and that is why, at KGMS, we are proud to be a school of second choice.

Many of the students that I have worked with over the years have come to me with the same story. They tell me how they just can’t learn. They say that no matter what their teachers taught them, they couldn’t master it. What did that say about them as a learner, or as a person? When I get those kinds of questions, I always think of a quote by the American educational critic Neil Postman who wrote in one of his books: Building a Bridge to the 18th Century that hearing a teacher say to a student, “I taught you that concept, you just didn’t learn it” is as absurd as hearing a car salesperson say to a customer “I sold you that car, you just didn’t buy it!”

Clearly if a customer doesn’t buy the car, than the technique of the salesperson wasn’t up to the task of selling to that particular customer, in other words, they didn’t “sell” it – it is hardly the buyer’s fault if she or he didn’t buy. The same holds true for teachers and students. If the strategies employed by the teacher, fail to meet the needs of the learner, than it is the teacher that needs to go back to the drawing board, not the student. If a student doesn’t learn it, then you didn’t teach it!

As long as first choice schools continue to struggle to meet those needs, there will be an important place for second choice schools like Kenneth Gordon. But, if in some ways we are like no other schools, in others, we are exactly the same!

On Tuesday, when those floodgates opened and that sea of shining faces streamed in, the energy level was palpable and the excitement – electric!

Staff members and students alike were genuinely thrilled to see one another after two long months apart.

It’s a funny thing, as much as I love summer, each fall when I experience first hand the joy of learning once again, I remember that I love September even more!