It has been great meeting new students and starting a new semester. After the first few days of getting organized we are well on our way to accomplishing some great things. 

Having a five-month-old at home is a great reminder of how we learn; both Tessa as a baby and me as a parent. We all start somewhere but soon enough we are all running around like pros. 

In ENG2D – Grade 10 English, we are beginning with some writing work, which will transition into all things essays in the next week. I will assess strengths and areas of focus for the semester. We also have had some good class conversations (on 9/11-themed mattress sales) and I look forward to more debates and seminars with this bunch. 

The ICS2O – Grade 10 Computer Studies class started out with a bang exploring the awesome Scratch programming language. Using problem solving skills, creativity, and some online tutorials, students are already doing some cool coding. We will continue on this introduction for the week with a small project before talking about computer hardware. 

 As always, parents/guardians and students are invited to contact me if there are questions, suggestions, or comments about a class. Have a wonderful second week!

It’s the start of another school year and I couldn’t be more excited. Great things are happening at GCHS including the introduction of some awesome new courses focusing on entrepreneurship and coding. I’m excited to say that I will be leading the coding courses, (ICS2O) this year.

I’m looking forward to working with students in an open, inquiry-based style. I have a feeling some of the students will have a background in computer science, and it will be fun to learn what they already know – and what they’d like to know. I have added some coding resources to the resources page on this website. There was a high demand for the course and I will work diligently to make it interesting, engaging, and useful for students.

I am also pumped to once again teach ENG2D – Grade 10 Academic English. I changed the design of the course to include more discussions, inquiry-based learning, performance tasks, and culminating activities. I found students have a richer understanding of the material, are more engaged, and more likely to complete expectations. This course includes a good mix of material, (Romeo & Juliet, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird are the foundational texts) so I think it will work out well.

So, welcome to new students. Welcome to new parents and guardians. Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year!