PRINCE ALBERT — Prince Albert Catholic School Division trustees got a look at how the Teacher and Innovation Support Fund funding is impacting Grade 3 classrooms at Ecole Holy Cross.
Simon Lambert was the Grade 3 teacher who developed the funding supports and is now a vice-principal at the school. He outlined the impact during the regular meeting of the board on Monday.
Lambert’s classroom received $70,000 in provincial funding last year. The province allocated a total of $2.5 million, with teachers being able to apply for up to $75,000.
“It was during the 2024-25 school year where the minister of the day had offered this opportunity for teachers to apply for a teacher innovation fund and he had an idea around self-regulation and the tools that students use in classrooms to support that,” director of education Lorel Trumier explained.
The pilot project runs until the end of the 2024-25 school year.
The approved project was completed over the summer and the classrooms are fully implemented this school year.
Trumier said they received the funding in April 2024 and by the time everything was fully installed at the beginning of this school year Lambert had already taken the opportunity to become vice-principal.
“When we met with the ministry to talk about that they said, ‘well, as long as there's the teachers in the school who are willing to take on the project, the project could remain as long as Simon would oversee the establishment of the goals of the program,’” Trumier said.
The proposal was to create a learning space that responded to the diverse learning needs of students. The project provides a classroom conducive to self-regulation, enhances student engagement through learning tools and offers an opportunity to create different learning zones for students.
“If we had the opportunity to do that in every classroom, we would,” Trumier said. “We've always prioritized putting the right people in front of our students and making sure that we have staff working with students.
"This took a different nature (and) different flavour to the project. It was around the tools that they use, but there is no doubt that some of those strategies would be beneficial in all classrooms,” she added.
The new teachers for the two Grade 3 classrooms have embraced the technology.
“He (Lambert) walks in every classroom, every day that that information or that those tools are available to those students and he can see the benefit,” Trumier said.
Resources purchased with the funding included 50 adjustable desks, 50 cantilever chairs, 10 adjustable workstations, 13 Zenergy fabric ball chairs, four adjustable stools, two Smart GX boards, three Front Row sound systems, 20 iPads with headphones, two large kidney-shaped tables for collaborative work and six large bookshelves.
Lambert was proud of what the sound system could do for students.
"These new sound systems the speakers are mounted in the ceiling and they provide 360 coverage of sound, so it doesn't matter if you're at the front of the back or in the middle,” he said. “You're getting a nice even sound distribution that's beneficial for the students and the teacher.”
Lambert said the list of positive impacts includes access to handheld technology and optimized space for effective learning. He also noted that the updated technology helps learning outcomes.
It has also created a collaborative engagement between teachers to maximize the new technology.
The equipment is also being shared with other classrooms. Lambert gave an example of one of the chairs being used by a student in another class to help with issues that they had.
"Information and strategies are something that teachers will share very openly with each other about how to support student learning,” Trumier said. “You can imagine the success that Simon has seen, that the news gets out that new strategies are found and new tools are found and it's starting to benefit other classrooms.”
Lambert was excited to share the project with the board.
“I was really sad when I didn't get to use them as much, but I was very happy to pass it on to the teachers,” he said.
According to Lambert, students have options to meet their needs for self-regulation. He noted that access to iPads allows students to access online reading application programs that help improve reading comprehension. The updated sound technology helps students hear instructions clearly and promotes learning languages in the French Grade 3 classroom.
“I get to spend time in the Grade 3 classrooms and every single time I'm in there, I'm questioning the project and thinking is this what is this really working? Is this the best way for these tools to be used? And every single time I'm amazed on how effective the different tools that we were able to purchase are working for the students,” Lambert said.
As well, the new smart board is interactive for use in all subject areas, has a multiuser interface, and supports a new interactive math resource.
"They're very dependable, and since it's new technology, we're not worrying about updates that don't work and whatnot, so they're very excited to get those,” Lambert said.
Teachers were encouraged to create projects that enhanced areas such as student achievement, student and teacher wellness, school safety or other areas. Applications need to be approved by the Principal and a superintendent, in this case, Wade Mourot who introduced Lambert on Monday.
