After a bizarre week of snowy and then warm and melting weather, it’s time to sit back and take a good read of some of the things that have appeared recently on the blogs of Ontario Edubloggers. There’s always good stuff to read.
And think about.
WE ALL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO LEAD
Are these trite words?
Maybe, but then David Carruthers saw this image in a social media feed.
This is a short post (two paragraphs and a sentence) but it speaks volumes. David takes a quick look at people and the positions they hold in education.
You’ll have to read his post, but as you do, ask “Who has the people”?, “Who is really leading in education?”, “Are there people leading and don’t know it?”
Thanks, David, for a post that really had me thinking.
Modeling an Analogue Clock in Scratch
Think of the clocks that today’s students see. How many would you think would be analogue? How many digital?
Think of your own youth. How many of each did you see?
In honour of the analogue clock, Jim Cash explains a Scratch project where a pair of students create an analogue clock. As Jim points, out, it’s not a trivial activity and like so many of the projects that he shares, there’s just a whack of mathematics involved.
I can recall a similar project that my students took on much like this. (Theirs included an alarm feature). It’s not a quick and easy project.
Beyond waiting for Wiarton Willie to let us know whether or not he sees his shadow (as an aside, with all the lights and television cameras, how could he not see it?), there is a message of hope that spring is on its way.
But then, Ramona Meharg takes a look around her classroom and shares the hope and good wishes that she has for her students for the future.
I hope for so many things. I hope my students will be safe when they are not at school. I hope they will believe in themselves. I hope they will overcome the obstacles life puts in their way. I hope I will find that spark in them that makes them want to come to school. I hope they will always choose to be kind. I hope I will continue to be a model of life long learning throughout my career and life. I hope I and those I care about will stay healthy. I hope for happiness, well being and a well lived life.
Her students are so fortunate that they have a loving and caring teacher who thinks about this. Do you?
Hope is an interesting word. It implies that you want something to happen. By itself, to me, it gives a sense of chance.
Where does hard work and effort fit?
I love this post by Lisa Corbett. She had me at the opening sentence.
Perhaps the only thing worse than being a teacher’s kid, is being a teacher’s spouse.
I think of comments from my own kids when they’d ask a question and expect an answer but got a probing question instead.
“Dad, you’re such a teacher.”
Or, when I have a conversation with my wife.
“I want an answer and don’t go all teacher on me.”
I had to smile at the two images of solving a mathematics problem in Lisa’s post. It’s a comparison of two worlds – old school and new school mathematics.
If you’re a kid, who do you go to for homework help?
Why not go? (and some ways to get there)
I like how Lisa Noble is exploring things in her self-funded leave.
This time around, she shared a presentation that she gave to the recent OLA Conference. About knitting!
This is a conference that everyone in the province really should attend at least once. True to the notion of the teacher-librarian having a finger in all subject areas, there’s a little something for everyone.
I attended the conference three times. The first time as a participant; the second doing a session with a teacher-librarian colleague and the third time doing the Great OSLA Faceoff with my competitor Zoe Branigan-Pipe. There were pictures and I still have the t-shirt.
How do you get to go to conferences like these? In Lisa’s post, she shares a number of different strategies to make conference going affordable.
I’ll bet that Lisa never pays sticker price for anything!
Jennifer Casa-Todd went to the same conference as Lisa (I hope they met up) and shares her thoughts and takeaways. It’s a different take since Jennifer didn’t present.
Her big question that helps frame the post is…
How are we genuinely building community in our schools and helping our most vulnerable students feel welcome and included?
She shares with us three sessions and the impact that they had on her. It’s an interesting read and she makes the connection to what she sees as a teacher-librarian day in and day out.
And, of course, she sees how social media can play a part.
JOURNALING – A MEANS TO ENHANCE RESEARCH WRITING
From the TESL Ontario blog, comes an entry by Laura Brass.
She talks about research – even the word brings back not-so-fond university memories in the non-mathematics or computer science courses.
While the research we conduct as language teachers is not a life-and-death matter, we all strive for accuracy and need useful points of reference. In my case, research journaling kept me from getting lost in the sea of references, articles, methods, and conventions, while at the same time, it helped me connect the dots between theory and practice.
I like the process that she describes and wish that I knew about it when I last had to do research. Gone are the little stickers and scribbled notes I used as my advanced organization tools!
Her conclusion?
Conducting research is FUN.
Please take the time to click through and read the original posts. There’s lots of good material in these blogs. Share them (or this post) with colleagues and just bask in the wisdom of these great Ontario educators.
And make sure to follow them on Twitter. (You’ve already bookmarked their blogs, right?)
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.