After yesterday afternoon with a high of 13 degrees and walking around comfortably with just a jacket, it was back to winter coat and big mittens today. Spring in Ontario. As I look out the window, I see little flakes of snow. This is nuts.
What’s not nuts are the posts this week from Ontario Edubloggers.
And it seems just like yesterday when I first went to kindergarten. It was such a traumatic experience. But, it launched my educational career. You gotta start somewhere.
On the Heart and Art Blog, Melissa Turnbull writes to remind us that this is the tenth year anniversary of full-day kindergarten. Except for having kids of my own, I figured that Grade 1 would be the end of thinking about kindergarten! Then, later in my teaching career as a computer consultant, it was my privilege to visit students and teachers in their kindergarten environment. Everything is so small. Looking up from those in the roof, we must have looked so big.
Full days changed everything for the youngest in our schools and you’ll find Melissa’s observations and links interesting to check out.
We now think of it as just the way that education is done but it was a huge shift at the time.
We all do it annually.
Diana Maliszewski reached another birthday milestone recently. You’ll have to click through and read her blog post to figure out which one. She doesn’t hid anything.
I love the fact that she doesn’t mind having a birthday. May that never get old. She does have one thing about birthdays that I never had. A birthday during the school year. It’s a special time where you might have something going on at school – I can remember kids’ parents bringing in cake for the class and all of us singing.
There really are no bad days for birthdays. Well, maybe mid-August when all your friends are at cottages or doing something to capture the end of the summer. And then it falls on the family reunion where your celebration is ignored because everyone is greeting everyone else and waiting for the corn on the cob to arrive. But, other than that, there are no bad days.
But I’m not bitter. I’m envious that Diana is so positive about every thing that’s happening to her as she hits another milestone and is still the enthusiastic wonderful person that she always seems to be. May that never change.
Happy Birthday, Diana.
Don’t judge a blog post by the images in it. If that was the case, you might skip past this post from Alanna King. Well, unless you like a good wine.
I do like a good wine so I was drawn in by this post that was not the typical post from Alanna. As it turns out, it wasn’t too much about wine at all. It was more about design layout for some advertising pieces.
The Business educator in my was intrigued by her analysis of some different layouts and how she interpreted them. It was interesting to see the design and the strategic placement of chocolates in a couple of them. We did this exercise in Marketing classes all the time!
I had to smile just a bit to see the wine bottles lying on their sides. In our financial reach, there don’t seem to be any bottles that come with real corks anymore so there is no need to lie them on their sides.
Actually, our “vin de jour” now comes conveniently in a box. For a couple of years at university, we got into making our own wine and I learned so much about the process. Now that I’m older, it’s far more convenient to just drive into town and buy it ready to go.
And with all the great wineries in Essex County, you can go right to the source.
Girls Who Game (GWG) 2020-2021
I have great admiration for educators who go above and beyond and it’s even more amplified with all of the challenges that we have in education and society right now.
But, that doesn’t stop Zelia Tavares and Katina Papulkas from offering gaming opportunities to the young ladies involved in the Girls Who Game club. Thanks to Zelia who names names in this post, I have a couple more Ontario educators to add to my list – Kamla Rambaran and Sebastian Basualto.
The post is an update to this effort – gaming in Minecraft which seems to be very popular and I’ve yet to hear of someone who has regretted getting involved. With Zelia and her tinkering abilities, it must be a hoot for the girls.
They’re talking about designing “an eatery of the future in Minecraft”. I couldn’t help but think that I had a glimpse, growing up with the Jetsons.
But what an environment to turn the imagination loose to see what might shake out! You might not be able to create it in real life but you often can in Minecraft.
Slice of Life: She likes me so much!
I started to write “It’s the little things that matter.” But this isn’t a little thing. It’s a huge thing! It might even be the most important thing
Lisa Corbett drops just a lovely post to read in these times.
Maybe it’s because she was out in the cold doing her morning assigned duty and was looking for things. Maybe it’s something that she suspected all along and it was just reinforced. Maybe it’s just that we’re all looking for good things these days.
Whatever the reason, this post is a reminder to all that there are special relationships in education and it could be easy to overlook. Lisa didn’t; she captured the moment in her mind and blog and you’ll feel good reading about it. You may wish to keep your eyes open in the future to see it happening around you.
Exploring The World of Google Arts And Culture – E040
The Edugals, Rachel Johnson and Katie Attwell, dropped another podcast – this time about Google’s Arts and Culture product.
I’ll admit that it’s a wonderful pastime for times when I might be a little bored or I’m just looking for something inspirational and different.
For all the time that I’ve poked around in this environment, I know that there’s so much left to be explored. It’s never time wasted.
I’m mentioned various parts hers in posts from the past. I use it as a personal reminder if I ever want to follow the cookie crumbs back and re-enjoy things. The applications are so rich for the classroom and I appreciate the fact that the ‘gals took the time to share their thoughts.
If you’ve never explored this resource, this post and podcast may be just the inspiration that you need to get started.
LearningInTheLoo: Photocopier Fitness
This isn’t too depressing at all.
After reading Laura Wheeler’s post, I thought about all the time I spent staring out the window or eavesdropping on conversations going on while I was waiting for something to happen while at work.
With Laura’s list, I’m reminded of how there can be dead time in the course of the teaching day. Her list…
waiting for:
- your copies to print
- the staff bathroom to be free
- your lunch to heat up in the microwave
- the bus to arrive
- the bell to ring
- students to arrive
I wasted all that waiting time doing other things. Rats!
In the graphic, Laura offers some suggestions about what you could be doing instead and doing something good for yourself.
I hope that you can find some time to click through and read all these terrific blog posts. There’s some inspiration, fun, and insights to get you thinking.
Then, follow most of them on Twitter.
- Melissa Turnbull
- Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
- Alanna King – @banana29
- Zelia Tavares – @ZeliaMCT
- Lisa Corbett – @LisaCorbett0261
- EduGals – @EduGals
- Laura Wheeler – @wheeler_laura
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.