The dog had an incredibly brisk walk this morning. (Thursday – you do know that I don’t get up in the middle of the night for these 5am postings, don’t you?) We had been watching the news from Toronto as per our normal routine and both the host and the weather person referred to Friday as a PA Day for teachers. That was it. No clarification of exactly what that means. I was so disappointed. If they got that fact wrong, can you actually trust any of the stories that they report? The actual event of Friday would be so easy to fact check. In fact, if it was true that the teachers had negotiated a PA Day, it would be a great teacher bashing story – negotiating for the day before a two week vacation? It’s just a reminder that so many people don’t get it. They need to read this post “Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science. It’s Harder.”
And, maybe some of the awesome blogs that Ontario Educators write to demonstrate the ongoing work that it takes to get and stay on top of things in Education.
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Friday’s event didn’t pass by Brandon Grasley who took to poetry at:
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Let’s lighten up things a bit…
Debbie Axiak shares some of the things that made her laugh this week.
How many other professions can do that?
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This post, by Brian Aspinall, reminds me of an activity that I used to do with Grade 11 Computer Science students after they’ve “learned” how to do a sort in their programs, in Grade 12 and at the University pre-service class to reinforce the notion that they might be able to code a sort, but do they really understand how it’s done? In this case, Brian incorporated Procedural Writing in Language Arts and Computer Science with this activity. I like the way that he described the activity. BEFORE you click through and read his post, just write down the steps that you think you need in order to make toast. Now, read the post!
BTW, this isn’t the first step.
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Those of us who use technology so regularly know of the power that can be brought to the classroom and for students. In this post, Mary-Ann Fuduric takes the time to itemize the power in the Assistive Technology realm. In particular, she talks about
- Phonological/Phonemic Awareness
- Decoding Skills
- Fluency
- Comprehension
- Writing Skills
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’tis the season…
Not necessarily…
Tim King shares some of his thoughts about the Holiday season reasoned over time. It serves to remind us that there are many takes to the season. There’s nothing like trying to keep a lid on the container called Home Room with the school edict that this is just another school day when you’ve lived every morning since September with these kids and you know that, if there are 30 of them, there will be 30 different ways that will experience the break from the school routine.
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Normally, I do like to spread the acknowledgements for my TWIOE post around but had already tagged this post from Brandon Grasley for inclusion. Then, he posted the Friday post and I felt compelled to include it as well.
I was going to make a comment similar to what I did with Tim’s but I’m going to change direction just a big. I think that it’s just testament to blogging and the power that goes along with it. As I visited the post this morning, there were a number of readers who had taken the time to “like” it. While “liking” may not necessarily be the best response to the post, it’s the only one other than leaving a comment that’s available to the reader. I look at it as a way for folks to acknowledge that someone has bared their inner thoughts and to show that, despite whatever isolation we might feel at moments, we’re all in this together.
And, we sure wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for our social media connections.
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Having broken my own arbitrary rule, I’ll see your Brandon and raise you two Avivas. Her blog was on fire this week. There’s some good, thoughtful reading there.
Aviva’s exploring ways of incorporating inquiry into her classroom. This is quite an interesting approach. Check her blog for details and I’m sure a reflection will be on its way.
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Amy Bowler got tagged in the Sunshine Blog Award meme. Her Tumblr blog was a new find for me so I was curious to find out more about here. Here’s what I now know!
Loblaws is such a classy place to meet a spouse. I wonder what aisle? What would the choice have been if she had gone to No Frills instead?
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Last week, I talked about a meme that was running around Ontario and North America. It’s a fun little activity to get to know other just a little better. As it typically happens, people end up getting double and triple tagged for these things. To help avoid the situation, although apparently I didn’t do it completely, I tagged some folks in Europe that I deal with on a regular basis. In fact, one of them, Marisa Constantinides and I have a number of Words with Friends games on the go at any time and this lovely lady clobbers me all the time. So, I wanted to know more about her and included her. She was good enough to play along…
Well, I know so much more but I’m still puzzled at her amazing capacity to know words….
Marisa’s blog “TEFL Matters” is located here.
This just in…I also had tagged Vicky Loras in the same meme. Vicky is an Ontarian taking up residence in Zug, Switzerland now, owning her own school. Here are her answers to my questions.
Doug’s Questions:
- When was the last time you backed up your computer? I think it was in March – unfortunately, it crashed and asked me if I would like to back it up. I wish I had done it earlier, but I managed to save the majority of my files.
- If you could speak any language other than English, what would it be? I wish I could speak Turkish and Finnish fluently. They have always been languages that I would love to learn. I started off with Turkish and hope to start Finnish too.
- Where would you go for your dream vacation? I would love to go to Corsica, because I have been told a lot and shown lots of photos by a French student of mine.
- Have you ever received a parking ticket? No, because I don’t drive! Ha ha!
- You’re in control of the thermostat. What’s your ideal room temperature? Really warm, because I get cold easily.
- Have you ever taken an online course? I have – it was a 60-hour TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course which I enjoyed immensely, and a Grammar one too.
- What was the last educational conference that you attended? It was the IATEFL BESIG (Buisiness English) conference in Prague, in November. I loved the sessions, the conversations that emerged from them – but my only disappointment was that I didn’t manage to see Prague almost at all, as I was there for only two and a half days.
- When was the last time you were in a public library? Very recently – it is one f my favourite places to be : )
- Have you ever dabbled with Linux? No ; )
- What would you consider to be the best photo you’ve ever taken? A sunset over Lake Zug. The colours were astounding and I was really surprised it came out that good, as it was with my phone.
- What, and where, is your favourite park? I love the parks in Niagara-on-the-Lake (well, actually the whole place : )
I had to smile when I read her answer to question 4. Toronto would cure me of driving too.
Vicky’s blog is located here.
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Thanks for dropping by. This is the last TWIOE post before Christmas so let me wish you the best for the holidays however you celebrate them. Please click through and read the blogs at the links provided and check out the complete list of Ontario Edubloggers here. This week was actually a highly productive one for bloggers so you’ll see and read lots!
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