The SHIFT Blog

Matt and I are fast approaching our one year anniversary in this role.  When we started, last February , with the roughest of plans.  We were going to demonstrate how the Halton District School Board is building a shared culture of Innovation.  How we did that was left, for the most part, up to us.  No pressure. We both really wanted to create our own Podcast, but some advice from Phil Davison and Cindy Cosentino led us to believe that it might be better to start with a Blog first.  So we dove in, blogging and then eventually launching our “ Case For Innovation… ” video series, followed by a few Calls to Action .  We’ve Shifted at The Barn, we’ve presented at conferences both inside and outside Halton, we’ve been vulnerable and silly.  In short, we’ve tried our best to put our own individual learning on display. Matt and I have a lot of fun in this role.  We have a very fluid “to-do” list that gets pretty fuzzy around the edges. ...

Here we go, all set for another year playing this game called school!  Some of you undoubtedly have spent some time last week preparing for students’ arrival on Tuesday, some of you unpacking after moving schools, or perhaps arriving at your first school. Differentiated seating comes to life in this classroom just in time for a new school year #GettingReadyforSept5 #HDSBInspires pic.twitter.com/zxdz8p4e9q — ÉFT (@HDSBEFT) August 31, 2017 It is a time of transition, beginnings and reflection:  how are we going to do better this year?   Just finishing up a couple of great reads to best meet the needs of all learners. #gettingreadyforsept5 pic.twitter.com/uqzTe4eZqj — Mrs. Paci (@MPaci1) August 29, 2017 If you are like us, the inevitable nervous butterflies are settling in.  Imagine how our students must be feeling, especially if they are transition into a new school. Bateman LINK Leaders are hard at work training to support our incoming Grade...

So, we have nearly made it!  Another year down.  Hopefully you have been reading the blog (heck, you are now at least!) and you have been thinking about ways that you’d like to experiment, to push, to shift.  The end of the school year, however is a bit of a tricky time to implement big changes.  Well, how about connecting with fellow shifters a little bit before the next school year ramps up?  We are offering you a chance to “Shift Your [Blank]”, a summer symposium on Thursday, August 24th.   It will be a chance to connect, think about some ways to shift your _____ for the upcoming school year.  There will be a free lunch and Shift swag to boot. So, what do you say?  Want to shift gears with us and start dreaming about September?  We know, it is a tricky thing to think ahead to August, but the early Shifter gets the worm.  Open to All Secondary Teachers.   Register Here to Embrace the Shift!

Today, the Shift launches the first in a series of videos that we are calling “Call to Action”!  Here is how we picture it working: with each “Call to Action”, we are asking you to take on a small challenge, reflect on how it’s goes and share your reflections, either here in the comments, or on Twitter using #HDSBInnovates. We are hoping to spark some thinking and sharing on specific topics as we delve deeper into how to innovate and improve our practice as educators here at Halton. So, without further ado, here is this week’s Call to Action.  Have a watch, we’ll be here for you when you get back: So?  What do you think?  What would you like to improve? This isn’t about change for change sake.  If innovation is about "creating new and better things", within education, we have to assess if what we have done is truly better.  If you simply do different things that are not better, this is change for the sake of change. This is why asking WHY is impo...