Because this is what I do…
May the 4th Be with You ~ Part 4 (final)
- Sue Bruyns – @sbruyns
- https://www.susanbruyns.com/2023/05/08/may-the-4th-be-with-you-part-4-final/
Sue closes off a series of May 4th blog posts with this one. I was never a Star Wars fan so I just roll with the May the 4th stuff. Everyone knows that is was just for the movies and that Star Trek was the real life futuristic show.
That really isn’t the point here. If you know or read Sue, you know that she’s outrageously supportive of education and her own school Sir Arthur Currie Public School especially. There was a wonderful theme about music running through the posts which did have me clicking through and reading them all.
I love the fact that she recognizes Brian Wilson (not that one) for a spectacular contribution to the school. You’ll have to click through and read. It’s not just Brian, either.
This was the last of the four and she leaves us with some wisdom from Star Wars.
- Be open to new possibilities (like singing in a staff choir)
- Hope springs eternal
- Loyalty matters most (Brian’s loyalty to our Crew made it easy to craft his nomination package)
- Just be yourself (it’s OK to cry when children sing meaningful songs)
- It’s never too late to change (or to revisit playing the clarinet after 40 years)
- Focus creates a sense of perspective (blogging creates the conditions to examine all kinds of perspectives)
- Different traits can make the best bedfellows (our Currie Chorus is composed of students with varying narratives and yet together they unite as a harmonized masterpiece)
Updated just this morning – Stephen and I got the ultimate nicety – she blogged about our show – https://www.susanbruyns.com/2023/05/11/2068/
The Role of your Professional Association
- TESL Ontario – @TESLOntario (Allison Keown)
- https://blog.teslontario.org/the-role-of-your-professional-association/
This is a nice reminder of the great things that your subject association can do for you.
Allison specifically notes:
- Certification Services
- Professional Development
- Career Development
It’s something that all professional associations do and her rationale for TESL applies equally to all subject associations in the province. Why stop at being a member of just one?
It’s also important to recognize that, with experience and maturity, you become the expert that new teachers need to reach out and contact. Your professional association is the ultimate match maker in education.
Class Photo Project inspired by @KC_Adams_art
- Laura Wheeler – @wheeler_laura
- https://mslwheeler.wordpress.com/2023/05/01/class-photo-project-inspired-by-kc_adams_art/
When I got a notification that Laura had another post up on her blog, I thought that it was going to be another one in her great series of “Learning in the Loo”. I always love working my way through those and love it when I learning something new.
That wasn’t the case here.
In this post, Laura shares an incredible learning activity that can so nicely be applied to the classroom. Even looking and understanding the exemplar that she shows is incredibly powerful.
Laura offers some advice if you want to use this Photo Project in the classroom and it’s so wise. And, if you decide to make the leap, she’s even provided a copy of the student organizer and reflection activity that she has personally used with her students.
Such wisdom and kind sharing!
Adapting your syllabus to an online content/AI generated content world
- Dave Cormier – @davecormier
- http://davecormier.com/edblog/2023/04/21/adapting-your-syllabus-to-an-online-content-ai-generated-content-world/
Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave recently, you should know that Artificial Intelligence is starting to appear everywhere. Of course, the naysayers for education are out in force and they are absolutely wrong.
I’m old enough to know that education feared calculators, computers, Google and predicted the end of education as we know it. In reality, it has only got better and our classrooms are so much better as a result.
I know that this will date me but my dad bought me my first calculator when I was in high school and I wasn’t allowed to use it! That changed at university and it was another university professor, Dr. Jane Gentleman, who spent half an hour in a private session talking about not only using a calculator but getting an RPN calculator and doing things so efficiently.
Of course, we know that the world didn’t end because of this appearance of new technologies. Dave not only is ready to embrace it, but he’s ready to show via presentation how it can be incorporated into your curriculum. He’s generous to describe everything in the post as well as sharing his slide deck.
Subject Associations – if you’re concerned about your members in this new world, you need to get Dave in to speak to your members.
It’s not the end of the world but the opening of a new and improved future in education. There are such valuable recommendations in here and lots of good ideas in assessment and evaluation to help guide the way.
Every educator needs to read this.
Wild turkeys taking back Boston (#119)
- Doug McDowall – @dougzone2_1
- https://dougzone22.ca/2023/05/09/wild-turkeys-taking-back-boston-119/
I don’t know about your neck of the woods but we have wild turkeys all over the fields here. They are not a particularly attractive breed though. In a chat with Doug, I had AI render me a few.
Imagine them appearing on the streets of Boston? Doug did some digging into the issue and even conducted an interview with one. I invited a third-party fact checker, Alfred Thompson, into the conversation and there are a lot of them in the United States northeast.
The similarity in attitude between them and Canada Geese and a desire to own the roads is well known around here.
Using National Film Board Resources in Elementary Classrooms
- Barbara MacNaughton
- https://heartandart.ca/using-national-film-board-resources-in-elementary-classrooms/
I got a little education just from opening Barbara’s blog post. Like so many people, I guess I just take the National File Board for granted. Barbara pointed me to its mandate in her opening paragraph.
Mandate
Created in 1939, the NFB is a federal agency under the Department of Canadian Heritage. Its mandate is to create, produce, and distribute distinctive and original audiovisual works that reflect the diverse realities and perspectives of Canadians, and to share these works with the people of Canada and the rest of the world.
Through its conservation, restoration, and digitization work, the NFB is ensuring that its rich collection, which represents Canada’s collective audiovisual heritage, remains accessible.
Who hasn’t used resources from them?
They’re just so Canadian – and relevant.
The balance of her post is a sharing of resources with student age, topics, and suggestions about their use.
What’s Your “Banana” Joy?
- Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
- https://adunsiger.com/2023/05/06/whats-your-banana-joy/
If it wasn’t that it was from Aviva, I would have read this blog post just because of the title. I like to be asked things. When I found out that the author was Aviva, I expected that the post might take far away from my original thought of the job that comes from slicing a banana to go over top of my morning cereal.
I wasn’t disappointed.
She was inspired by a piece of Lego Artwork and a colleague further developed the significance.
- More than 50 students created this banana.
- Students have been adding to this banana together on their weekly visits to the Learning Commons.
- Students from Grades 1-8 have contributed to this LEGO artwork.
- Every single child is speaking about the banana when they come into the library.
- The banana brings Jenn joy, but it also brings joy to all those that see it.
So, I’ll pull a typical Aviva move and change the topic a bit to a fond memory of the teacher-librarian at our school who encouraged visits to his centre by starting jig-saw puzzles when he got to work and students would drop in on spares, lunch, or actual school work. It was nothing to see a group of students talking around a table putting the occasional piece into place. Or a teacher walking by and spotting a piece that needed a home.
Sometimes, it’s just what it takes.
Please take some time to enjoy these blog posts and perhaps share them with colleagues. But, make sure that you’re following these people on Twitter.
- Sue Bruyns – @sbruyns
- TESL Ontario – @TESLOntario
- Laura Wheeler – @wheeler_laura
- Dave Cormier – @davecormier
- Doug MacDowall – @dougzone2_1
- Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
This Week in Ontario Edublogs
Opening Song
Closing Song
Peace Playlist
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.