St. Mary’s University College in Calgary is now offering a unique program. It is a Bachelor of Education (Elementary). It is unique in that it is specifically directed to the formation of teachers to serve in the Catholic school system. The program is open to qualified studetns who have completed a BA degree.

New mailout just came in from Student Finance Dept. It lists some allowable monthly costs that can be applied for on Student Loans. In summary:

• Living away costs are $429 for rent/mortgage/utilities and $512 for food/clothing/transportation/etc.
• Living at home costs are $432 for food/clothing/transportation/etc.

Special considerations may be given if the amounts you are applying for are more than this. You will have to give a copy of rent or mortgage agreement and copies of utility bills for the last three months.

If you work part-time during school the first $800 you make every month is exempt and will not affect your student loan.

Applications may be made in paper or online. Both are available in the late spring. Unfortunately you can apply online using a Macintosh computer. BOO! (Editorial comment: This just screams of laziness on the part of Alberta Education in not getting decent programmers for varioius web browsers other than Internet Explorer. If Google or Ebay or Amazon or . . . even Microsoft can get their sites to work on any computer than so can Alberta.)

To apply you will need your Alberta Student Number (ask at school). To find out how student loans work, complete the Counselling sesson on the EDULINX site. Or you can call 1-800-222-6485.

The LifeHack blog features tips for students on a regular basis. This is one I just have to pass onto the students of St. Jerome’s School (and any others reading this). The article outlines Five Tips for Beating a Standardized Test.

1. Understand the test format.
2. Take sample tests
3. Understand how it is marked
4. Don’t go overboard on studying
5. Consider taking the test at a later date

I love the advice in the first four items. I make sure the students get to know the test and I make sure they see how the written response sections are marked. I also know lots of teachers who provide many “sample” tests. As for number 4, most students go overboard on studying because they do not study the correct way.

I can’t say I’ve ever given #5 as advice to anyone but it is something to keep in mind. If you don’t feel ready for the test rushing the issue will not help. Read the article for more details.

Being a math teacher I have noticed that calculators are not always a good thing in a classroom. I have watched students blindly enter numbers, use some operation (why is it mostly multiplication?), and simply write down the answer. They are unaware of why the answer is incorrect or even how the answer seem to appear on the screen. Yet, I’ve watch other students (a depressingly few) carry out complex “what if” tasks before confidently jotting down the numbers on the tiny screen.

It is such a wonderful feeling to find research that supports what your gut has been saying: calculators can be helpful and also very damaging. Read the rest of this entry »

The Wall Street Journal has posted an excellent article on the necesssity of college degrees:

Imagine that America had no system of post-secondary education, and you were a member of a task force assigned to create one from scratch. One of your colleagues submits this proposal:

First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach an economic reward to it that seldom has anything to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn’t meet the goal. We will call the goal a “BA.”

You would conclude that your colleague was cruel, not to say insane. But that’s the system we have in place.

Having been through the degree process myself (twice) I find myself agreeing with the sentiments of the article. My four years in physics were designed to make sure me and my classmates had sufficient general knowledge before going onto graduate studies. One classmate went onto law studies and I headed to education. So it was our decision that the four years was “wasted”. I thought my education degree would prepare me for teaching. It did - kinda.

It was in the practicuum that I really learned anything. The theory, the philosophy, and the history of education was interesting but I don’t feel it built my competence. Would a CA type of exam be more appropriate here? And I wonder what is in store as I comtemplate my next stage - a master’s degree. I’ve already heard from people how they jumped through the hopes of the program knowing it had little to do with the actual business of counselling. It was just a stage to go through to get to the next level of the game.

The Counselling Connection, the official blog of the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors has run a series of posts about how to deal with bullies. They are mostly for parents but there is great advice for teachers and students.

Part 1: How to listen to your child and how to prepare to talk about the issue.

Part 2: Consulting your child’s teacher.

Part 3: Helping your child develop strategies.

The same website also features really good articles about how to deal with your feelings as a parent, how bullying occurs. Make sure to check them out.

I’ve been sitting on the 2007 Annual Alberta Labour Market Review. This document highlights the labour market situation in our province. Some notable numbers include:

• 71.5% of Albertans are employed
• 6.0% are unemployed (the rest of Alberta have chosen to not be a part of the registered workforce, or they work for their parents)
• Health care and social assistance jobs have the lowest unemployment rate
• Sales and service jobs employ the most Albertans
• Trades, transport, equipment operators have the largest growth in rare numbers

But the most important number is that 13.9% of employed people have less than a high school diploma! That leaves 86.1% of people working in  this province have completed their high school education.  Unfortunately, the report does not say what education most unemployed people have obtained.

Does this help address the question, “Why don’t we get paid to go to school?”

The Association of Credit Union Employees and Directors Scholarship program is offering four awards of $750 each. Candidates must have been a member of a Credit Union from January 1st, in the year prior to the application. They must have received (or will be receiving) a valid high school diploma. They are enrolled in a recognized post-secondary institution. Forms can be found from the counselor in order to apply.

Deadline is end of February.

Lakeland College is hosting a Business Careers Workshop on Saturday, March 1.  The purpose of the workshop is to show students a variety of careers available to those who take Business courses.  The workshop is free and lunch will be provided.  Those students participating in the workshop who go on the campus tour are eligible for tour incentives.

For more information contact Jodi at (780) 871-5429

Grade 11 students, there is an opportunity to work in the health care field. There are eight positions available in nearby facilities. This is a great opportunity for those who are planning to work in the health field. Some possible jobs are:

• emergency
• physiotherapy
• pharmacy
• dietary
• medical clinic
• others . . .

For more information see Mr. Collins