Day: March 1, 2020

My Week Ending 2020-03-01

by dougpete, posted in Just Rambling

Here’s a summary of some of the things I learned and published this week.

Readings 

You can follow my daily readings as they happen here.  Below are a selected few, with commentary, from the past week.

  • Lest you think that the current government is the only one to mess with education, here’s a look back at the Harris years in Ontario.
  • This was the biggest hockey story in years. I couldn’t believe that the Houston Chronicle picked up a story about a Zamboni driver in Toronto.
  • I know that the original intent was to make this a cultural thing but the logic behind it makes it a great idea for anyone.
  • One of the ways to have a successful border crossing is not to upset the person who is screening you. At the Ambassador Bridge, they have cameras that read your license plate before you get to the booth. But, guess what? The new blue Ontario plates can’t be read by their machine.
  • OK, here’s yet another reason to distrust someone who is wearing Apple AirPods in your vicinity.
  • I don’t know that privacy concerns for students should come as any surprise. Without direction from a Program Department, teachers are using all kinds of applications that aren’t necessarily looking out for student privacy. Individuals can opt in and out at their own comfort level but when students are directed to use a service, the game changes.
  • Do you remember the joke “Don’t pick your nose on Sunday; you won’t find God up there”? Apparently advice like this has been around for a while.
  • This is just a fun article about the realities of being a teacher. I’ll bet you can’t read it without laughing or at least smiling a bit.
  • This comes as no surprise. The new Microsoft Edge web browser is actually pretty good. So good, in fact, that Google is warning you about the dangers of using it.
  • If you’re planning a trip to China, you’ll have to find an airline other than Air Canada. They’ve stopped flights there. How soon before other countries with confirmed cases are banned as well?
  • I’m surprised that it’s taken this long and also that every district hasn’t written this type of letter.
  • This kids are alright. Well, at least this smart kid is – handing out bonus marks to classmates who might need them.
  • This is an interesting post about paying fees to someone to speak or work with you in education. Terry Freedman has long been on a pedestal for me and I read so much of his stuff. It doesn’t seem right to pay someone a lot of money to have kids do simple coding in class when a true visionary like Terry is asked to do it for free.
  • Now, this is really interesting. In Toronto next year, they will change school opening times for some schools to save money on busing. That’s outside the box thinking. It will be interesting to see how parent adapt.
  • This is the most sickening story that I read last week. Sadly, it was also broadcast on the news and now I can’t unsee it.
  • If only this would work! But, I think that most people – or at least most of the people that I know – would like to think that most people like them. Except the jerks though. There are always jerks.

Blog Posts on
doug … off the record

My daily contributions to this blog. If you’re looking for a week in review for doug–off the record, you came to the right place.

#FollowFriday – February 28, 2020

https://wakelet.com/wake/62b36827-9fe0-46cd-9fa6-36f23bf63544

voicEd Radio

This week, Stephen Hurley and I chatted about: Music, Reading, more Reading, Time, and eLearning.

This week’s show – https://voiced.ca/podcast_episode_post/february-26-music-reading-more-reading-time-and-elearning/

All of the podcasts are archived here.

Intro song

Blog posts this week came from:

  • Ramona Meharg – @RamonaMeharg
  • Tina Bergman – @blyschuk
  • Melanie White – @White Room Radio
  • Lynn Thomas – @THOMLYNN101
  • Dave Lanovaz – @DaveLanovaz

Technology Troubleshooting

Last week, I reported about a display problem with my Chromebook after an update. There was another update this week that I was hoping would resolve the situation.

So, I rebooted and logged in an it looked like it was going to work well.

Then the problem resurfaced.

But, I can replicate it now.

On a fresh boot, the Chromebook works as it should. But, if I bend the screen over backwards to use it in tablet mode, the Chrome browser turns into tablet mode. As they say in the business, this is expected behaviour.

When I return to computer mode, it should switch back. Sometimes it does and other times it doesn’t. This is unexpected behaviour.

I’ve done some searching for a solution and I’m not alone. It’s been reported so there should be some sort of solution coming, I hope.

Video of the Week

The original!

Photo of the Week

This is exciting news for me. It may not mean much to you – yet. Forget the house across the road but look at that thick black cable. There’s going to come a time, hopefully soon, when the fibre optics in there will deliver high speed internet to our house. If you thought I was noisy now, just wait.

Thanks for reading. Please join me daily for something new and, hopefully, interesting.

dp

This blog post was originally posted at:

https://dougpete.wordpress.com/

If you find it anywhere else, it’s not original.

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Whatever happened to …

by dougpete, posted in Just Rambling

… one piece snowsuits?

From the Padlet suggestion wall comes this from Anonymous

One piece snowsuits. You had to lay them on the ground and sort of crawl or contort your way into them like an Olympic gymnast. Then it was like trying to walk on the moon once you got outside in them. One of my favourite scenes from a Christmas story is the kid in the snowsuit crying: I can’t move my arms..  so true.

Conspiracy theory … it’s a lobby from kindergarten teachers who have to help put them on and off at recess and school start/ends.

Personally, I don’t have a timeline to refer to on this. Memories aren’t that accurate. I do remember a time when my parents had purchased one for me (and the older one got passed down to my brother) and I wore it to school. The only negative thing I can recall is that the cool kids had shed theirs at some point and were wearing just coats instead. It did make me feel left out.

Of course, eventually, I got to wear a coat instead of that silly snowsuit. I do remember that snowball fights and bodysledding at recess were a great deal colder and wetter.

But that lasted until high school and the year my parents bought a snowmobile. Whipping through Hullett Township in Huron County in the winter can be brutal so everyone had a one piece snowsuit again. On the occasion that we were allowed to take the snowmobile to school, we didn’t wear the snowsuit and it really made a difference.

On those really cold nights when the driveway needed to be cleaned with the snowblower, my dad would put on this suit to stay warm. We weren’t allowed to use the snowblower but there always was a shovel.

For those times we went cross-country skiing, it was back to a winter coat and long underwear. They did OK, I guess, but were certainly not in the same warmth class as a one piece.

One piecers did have one significant drawback though. When nature calls, it’s a whole routine to undress enough to take care of business. I can’t imagine helping an entire class of kids through the process.

For a Sunday, do you have any stories to share?

  • Do you remember wearing a one-piece snowsuit?
  • At what age does a fashion statement kick in and the snowsuit get dropped for just a regular coat?
  • It’s now possible to get a two-piece snowsuit that work like a pair of coveralls with a coat over top. What could go wrong?
  • If you are or were a snowmobiler, what was your attire?
  • How about for cross-country skiers?
  • Regular skiers?

Please share you thoughts in the comment below and feel free to add additional thoughts to the Padlet if you have a topic that we can have fun with on a future Sunday morning?

This post appeared on:

https://dougpete.wordpress.com

If you read it anywhere else, it’s not the original.

OTR Links 03/01/2020

by dougpete, posted in Links

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.