I hope that everyone has recovered from the snow storm and done so safely. My right shoulder is killing me; this was the heaviest snow I think I’ve ever shoveled. But, you’re here to read great stuff from Ontario Edubloggers so here goes…
Wouldn’t you be …?
- Sheila Stewart – @sheilaspeaking
- https://sheilaspeaking.wordpress.com/2023/01/21/wouldnt-you-be/
Yes, I certainly would be and I suspect that we all would.
Sheila is following the work of Dr. Naomi Fisher and contemplated an image that was posted about a mother’s anxiety about sending kids to school.
Sheila no longer has children in the Ontario school system but that doesn’t excuse her for having some concerns about kids and what they’re dealing with at school. Looking forward, there may well be grandchildren, Sheila!
I found the post pretty serious and timely as it lead nicely into Bell Let’s Talk Day. Stephen and I had a nice chat about it on the show Wednesday morning.
Will we ever get it right? Probably not because the world and society continues to change but we all need to keep our eyes open and speak out when appropriate. Sometimes, it goes unseen by those who could actually do something about it.
It always seems that we’re playing catch up.
Teachers, YOU ROCK!
- Kelly McLaughlin
- https://heartandart.ca/teachers-you-rock/
I often wonder if Kelly knows that I write about the great content she shares since she doesn’t appear to have a Twitter handle.
Teaching is an interesting profession. Not everyone could do it; not everyone wants to do it. If you think you just check in at 8:30 and check out at 2:30, you better keep on moving. The job is much more than that and requires some serious commitment, both in time, dedication, empathy, and emotion.
I was sorry to read about the challenges she had in her placements – I was the exact opposite and was paired with incredibly supportive and inspirational teachers and environments. My only challenge was commuting in the GTA. There’s another layer to add onto the level of stress.
I’m glad that she’s happy with her decision to land in this profession.
More people should blog or let the world know of their great decision.
Kelly’s post would be a great inspiration.
Daily Math Talks with Young Children
- Deanna McLennan – @McLennan1977
- https://mrsmclennan.blogspot.com/2023/01/daily-math-talks-with-young-children.html
I’m old enough to know the term arithmetic.
The mathematician in me just loves this post.
I still remember a university professor who talked to us about how some baseball players become good at their job. “Practice, Practice, Practice”. How do students get good at mathematics? “They do the odd numbered questions on page 37 and then go outside and play baseball.” What if they could experience the joy of mathematics?
That’s not how it works in Deanna’s class. Absolutely, they “do” mathematics, whatever that means but they actively talk about it. In the post, she describes how the students sit and talk inspired by her. Here’s an example
I’m just inspired by her super neat printing! Numeracy is important but it shows up in many different ways in this example. I can just picture myself sitting on the floor eating this up.
This is an insightful post and composed of a lot of pictures of chart paper and activities.
I’ll bet that she has a computer and access to a data projector but there’s something extra special about hand written content like this.
Growing Age Gap
- Matthew Morris – @callmemrmorris
- https://www.matthewrmorris.com/growing-age-gap/
As I said in the promotion for the voicEd Radio show, the older you get, the older you get.
It’s a fact of life.
Matthew is starting to realize this.
Every September he welcomes kids of a certain age into his class. They’re always the same age. However, he’s just another year older.
And that is the realization that teaching suspends time. Halfway. I mean, only one side.
– Matthew Morris
I wish I could offer you a rap version of this, Matthew. But, I grew old. Rod Stewart offers some advice.
Leading by Example or What’s Good for the Goose…
- Marie Snyder – @MarieSnyder27
- https://apuffofabsurdity.blogspot.com/2023/01/leading-by-example-or-whats-good-for.html#more
Last week, I attended my wife’s aunt’s funeral.
If there ever was a setting where you have collection of people who might be at risk of getting Covid, this has to be it. Lots of elderly friends paying last respects in a small location and who knows what kind of ventilation there was. I’ll give credit to the funeral home; they had masks beside the hand sanitizer. We brought our own. I can tell you that we were definitely in the minority wearing it though.
But, wait! There’s another setting – schools.
Marie is the voice of safety and yet the closest to ensuring that everyone is safe is this sign.
If you follow the Kitchener news (I do and it drives my daughter nuts), there isn’t agreement there any more than there is anywhere else. Folks, Covid is not over. We’re just not reporting about it.
Marie takes a look at the set of rules at the Davos World Economic Forum where there is a three page document outlining Covid rules and regulations. That doesn’t play out the same way in her schools.
We seem to be all over the map on this. How will we ever kick it?
#LearningInTheLoo: Feedback w/ Voice Notes feat. @DeannaToxopeus
- Laura Wheeler – @wheeler_laura
- https://mslwheeler.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/%F0%9F%9A%BD-learningintheloo-feedback-w-voice-notes-feat-deannatoxopeus/
This was a little different from the regular things from Laura’s blog.
It’s a “Learning in the Loo” created by Deanna. A guest blogger!
Here’s a snippet.
From https://mslwheeler.files.wordpress.com/
Of course, you’ll have to click through to get the whole document!
But…I Just Want Checkmarks
- Daphne McMenemy – @McMenemyTweets
- http://daphnemcmenemy.com/but-i-just-want-checkmarks/
I’ll just leave this here. I did read her post and tagged it for this post.
Sadly, the site seems to be down. Maybe it will come back with time. Daphne is at FETC so undoubtedly busy doing something else.
Please find some time today or on the weekend to click through and enjoy these blog posts.
Drop off a comment if you’re inspired.
Then, follow them on Twitter.
- Sheila Stewart – @sheilaspeaking
- Deanna McLennan – @McLennan1977
- Matthew Morris – @callmemrmorris
- Marie Snyder – @MarieSnyder27
- Laura Wheeler – @wheeler_laura
- Daphne McMenemy – @McMenemyTweets
This is a regular Friday morning post around here, celebrating the best in Ontario blogging. You can find all of the past posts here.
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.