When my last daughter graduated from St. Clair College, I thought I was done with graduations. It turns out that your kids have kids that graduate. It seems like just yesterday when I had to sit through a Montessori graduation…
A Winning Week
- Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
- https://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-winning-week.html
As you know, I’m a big fan of Diana. In this post, she rolls together a large collection of things that I probably would have turned into at least six separate posts.
- Diana’s youngest, Peter, graduated from College
- TDSB Quiz Bowl
- Pokeman Video Game Guest Speaker
- AQ Guest speaker for Spring 2023
- TDSB TL End of Year Social – Certificate and a Rose
- Staff Social and Retirement Party
- Red Maple Marketing Campaign
It’s hard to believe that she still has a day job but great teachers are involved in so much. Read to find out about her busy week and an interesting choice she had to make. My wife would not have let me make that choice.
snacks
- Will Gourley – @WillGourley
- https://heartandart.ca/snacks/
Who would have thought to blog about the philosophy behind snacking and whether or not there’s a difference between crunching snacks and non-crunching.
Will, of course.
In my humble opinion, the Queen of crunchable snacks is Miss Vickie. Her Dill Pickle is the standard that all snacks should aspire to be. Will takes us on an intersting tour of snacks…
When I was young, I was all about reading the Hardy Boys and I would lie in my bed with a sleeve of Saltines. It truly was me! Snacks were a part of reading
Also, there’s just something so wrong about declaring that yogurt is a snack. Unless maybe if you add some peanuts to it to get the crunch.
Will’s on to something here.
The Preeminent Personal Playlist Project
- Noa Daniel – @iamnoadaniel
- https://noadaniel7.wixsite.com/bobblog/single-post/the-preeminent-personal-playlist-project
I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll do it again.
This activity from Noa is over the top. Sure, all kids listen to music, some more than others.
But do they really think about the music that they’re listening to.
Can they curate properly? Can they share what they know about the music to others? Can they present?
Her activity has all this rolled in and I think it’s one of the great activities that can be used in any class. Sure, there are other great activities but they require special equipment and may not appeal to all students.
This one has it all. Check it out.
Pincushion
- Diane Kim
- https://heartandart.ca/pincushion/
We’ve all been there.
We’re in Grade 8 and get a chance to tour the school where you’re headed to in Grade 9. I still remember worrying about the change going from a one floor flat place to a building that had three storeys, a new section, two gyms, shops, and typing classrooms. The one thing that all of us going into Grade 9 was that English was our native language.
Things have really changed and Diane’s post is a powerful reminder of that. She’s with ESL students. As intimidated as I was, I could only imagine what must have been going through their minds during their visit.
It is testament to her professionalism that she worked with the kids and then made them feel at ease.
There really is an emotional part to this post and she describes it so beautifully. You need to read it.
And, I thought that the last paragraph of her post was so important and a reminder to all teachers.
Friday Two Cents: Perverse Inspirational Quotes
- Paul Gauchi – @PCMalteseFalcon
- https://paulgauchi.wordpress.com/2023/06/09/friday-two-cents-perverse-inspirational-quotes/
I’ll steal this image from Paul’s post.
There are some quotes in there that will bring you a smile and perhaps want to share one of your own.
A favourite of mine is “Nobody is completely useless – you can always be used as a bad example”.
On the radio show, Stephen shared this gold quote from Yogi Berra “If you come to a fork in the road, take it!”
Reflecting before Retirement
- BRENDA MACNAUGHTON
- https://heartandart.ca/reflecting-before-retirement/
This is something that a great deal of educators are thinking about during this month. Brenda shares her thoughts.
- Expect Change
- The days are long but the years are short
- Take care of yourself
- Lead by example
- Rest
- Rely on your colleagues for support
- Celebrate!
Some interesting things to think about as she passes the torch.
I wish her all the best and maybe she’ll be starting her own blog for the future?
Honour and Celebrate
- Amanda Hardy
- https://heartandart.ca/honour-and-celebrate/
I thought that this was a timely reminder of Indigenous Peoples Day. It’s a little late for this year but bookmark these resources for ongoing use and preparation for next year.
There are some interesting thoughts and ideas from Amanada to make it worth being so bookmarkable.
And, a link to a nice collection of resources at
Please take some time to click through and enjoy all these wonderful posts. And, follow these folks on Twitter.
- Diana Maliszewski – @mzmollytl
- Will Gourley – @WillGourley
- Noa Daniel – @iamnoadaniel
- Paul Gauchi – @PCMalteseFalcon
This Week in Ontario Edublogs
Opening Song
Closing Song
Peace Playlist
Since the situation in Ukraine, we’ve been opening and closing the show with songs of Peace, War, and Love.
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.