This Week in Ontario Edublogs

It was a pleasure to have Diana Maliszewski as guest host on the voicEd Radio This Week in Ontario Edublogs show. She had an interesting blog post and shared her thoughts on all five that we discussed. We were wondering just when she and I first met and I remembered the interview with her. Yet another reason to blog…

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Collecting Insults

• Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
• http://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/2023/07/collecting-insults.html

This wasn’t your typical Diana post. She normally packs a few different topics into her weekly post. Not so this time.

The first part dealt with an infographic that she created to reaffirm the value of her library to the school. We also learned that she’s a big fan of Canva.

It was the second part of the post that was totally not-Diana. She’s the most positive and upbeat person but this was different. She has had some detractors over her career and they shared their thoughts in writing.

I remember being told that putting it in writing after the fact is such a terrible experience. If you have an issue, address it face to face and in the moment if you want change. You can do a million things right but one letter that’s negative can hang around forever.

Diana’s even blogged about that. There’s a wealth of insight in the post about her way of dealing with things. It’s a good read.

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Friday Two Cents: Organizational Skills Need to be Taught

• Paul Gauchi – @PCMalteseFalcon
• https://paulgauchi.wordpress.com/2023/07/07/friday-two-cents-organizational-skills-need-to-be-taught/

There was a Diana / Paul connection that I didn’t know going into reading the post and Diana brought it out in the show.

I’m not a Toronto person so I did have to do some research to understand Paul’s message about the Eglinton LRT.

It looks like it’s going to be a straight line but it’s been under construction for 12 years and counting.

Paul attributes part of the delay to organizational skills and uses this as an inspiration to include more of that in his teaching.

The list that he includes blows me away – they built the CN Tower in 3 years?

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Measuring Risk in the Woods

• Marie Snyder – @MarieSnyder27
• http://apuffofabsurdity.blogspot.com/2023/07/measuring-risk-in-woods.html

Every time I read some writing from Marie, I’m reminded that I do treat Covid like it’s over. Just because we’re not reporting it doesn’t mean that it’s not happening.

So, what do you do if you’re in the woods on holidays and someone starts coughing? They self-diagnose as a summer cold but are they right?

Last night, at a soccer game in Essex, there was a gentleman down the way who started coughing up a storm as well. It caught the ear of my nurse wife who wondered what was up. Fortunately, he was down wind and did stop.

Marie’s wellness report goes beyond that and deals with ticks. Those things are ugly and really can carry a powerful bite. Check your pet today.

Just a note – Marie did listen to the show and added her thoughts about our discussion and, in particular, Stephen’s comments about a Covid sign at his Dairy Queen. One just opened here in town; when the rush passes, I’m going to make an effort to go and see if we have a sign.

Back to the ticks – there’s an image making the rounds on Facebook reminding us all to check between the pads on our dogs’ feet as it can be a hiding place for them.

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The 500 – #254 – (Complete & Unbelievable) The Dictionary Of Soul – Otis Redding

• Marc Hodgkinson – @Mr_H_Teacher
• http://the50-20.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-500-254-complete-unbelievable.html

Before this post, Diana knew of this classic Otis Redding.

Such a great song.

But, it wasn’t on this album and Marc suggested this song as what he’ll add to his playlist.

So many people have covered it. Just do a search on Spotify or Youtube. A quick summary includes Aretha Franklin, Three Dog Night, Percy Sledge, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Glen and Campbell. I love the Aretha Franklin version. But, truth be told, anything Aretha Franklin recorded is awesome.

My learning here followed along Marc’s discussion about Redding’s death. I’ll be honest; I knew he died in a plane crash but that was about it. I learned so much more after reading this post. It inspired me to do a little more reading, including this article.

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Pixel Art

• Arianna Lambert – @MsALambert
• https://heartandart.ca/pixel-art/

Yes, we had included a post from Arianna last week but this one reveals a dirty little computer science teacher secret. So, I had to include it.

Arianna worked with pixels and her students at the end of the school year and there was great engagement. If you’ve ever done this, it’s no surprise at all. Most students are really curious about how things get to the screen.

So, here’s the computer science thing.

Even the best of students get a little bored with doing traditional business or mathematical applications. They want to write the program and get over it.

BUT, introduce them to graphic design, animation, gaming, and they’ll work and labour over a project for hours on end. Even something as simple as moving the image one pixel to the right and then loop it has got so much value to it.

I love how she describes the design process and how it could have been perceived as cheating! It really is a rich activity.

Just don’t tell them that it’s good for them!

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To stay up with these folks and future posts, follow them on Twitter.

• Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
• Paul Gauchi – @PCMalteseFalcon
• Marie Snyder – @MarieSnyder27
• Marc Hodgkinson – @Mr_H_Teacher
• Arianna Lambert – @MsALambert

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This Week in Ontario Edublogs on voicEd Radio

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. They’re all contained in this playlist that, sadly, continues to grow.