RLC Community,
I would like to start off by thanking all of the staff and faculty at RLC for their hard work during last Friday’s "organized chaos" known as our first DISCOVERY DAY. I couldn't have done it without the unbelievable support and guidance many have shown me over the past few years, months, and weeks leading to our launch. Their willingness to dive right in (being "voluntold") was testament to this and we collaborated as a teaching community to facilitate a rather unique day of non-traditional learning.
I couldn't really have imagined this introductory day going any better than it did, and there are many things I observed that as a personalized learning community we should all be proud of:
- Students from all grades were listening to fellow students talk about project-based learning (in two languages!) and they enjoyed it
- Students from all grades gathered around tables of teachers, asking deep questions about how to integrate subject areas
- Students from all grades tried different activities that challenged them physically and intellectually
- Students from all grades ate together in House groups and then enjoyed themselves with games and creating team chants
- Students from all grades and teachers ran 5km in the cold rain and cheered and high-fived one another to the finish line
I don't know about you but I can honestly say in over 10 years of teaching I have not had a professional working day that represented so many aspects of education that I care about, from investigating big ideas to modeling growth mindsets to valuing diverse languages and abilities and all within a vertical integration model where age and gender did not matter; this was truly a holistic endeavor that could only have happened at a small community school such as RLC.
My hope over the coming months is that we can sustain student engagement with these Discovery Projects and Passion Projects and continue to simplify and refine the organizational process to the point where inquiry and student-centred learning becomes second nature.
Personally, it has been hugely rewarding to see a whole-school progressive vision such as DISCOVERY DAYS finally become realized. The talent and persistence of all of us— the most adaptable faculty in the world— has made this initiative not only possible but plausible.
Thanks for everything we've done and more yet to come,
Eric Daigle
Academic Lead
Rosseau Lake College