At least one astute listener realized that we weren’t live this past week. Stephen had another commitment so we recorded the show a day early and it played on voicEd Radio at the normal time. Here’s what was on.
All Good Things…
- Arianna Lambert
- https://heartandart.ca/all-good-things/
This was a sad and yet inspirational, post from Arianna. We’re been big supporter of her work on the ETFO Heart and Art of Education blog for a long time.
She starts out by letting us know that this will be her last year of blogging there. If she ever wants to toss out a post, I know another blog space that will be happy to accommodate her.
Three things that she’s observed and elaborates on during her six year blogging stint:
- Black Women’s Voices Are Needed in Education
- Growing a Thicker Skin
- Reflection in Practice is Essential
She has definite opinions on each and you can’t argue with any of it. If anyone is interested in getting into blogging, then Arianna would be a great person to turn to for mentorship.
In the meantime, Arianna’s observations are good reading.
Say Hi and Bye to the New Guy
- Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
- https://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/2023/10/say-hi-and-bye-to-new-guy.html
This was a little different than normal for Diana. She basically spent her time on one topic. And, what a topic.
In her school, there are a lot of Occasional Teachers and Catherine was one of them. She’s qualified in Special Education but took three Additional Qualification courses over the summer. That normally would be a real state of endurance. But, Diana moves past that to something that requires more endurance.
Catherine commutes 90 minutes one way on the TTC to get to work. Imagine 180 minutes of your day devoted to travel. Hopefully, she has one of those portable desks to do lesson planning or marking on the way to and fro.
There are a couple of good news things in the post that will pump you up. When Diana learned of the commute, she helped the cause by taking her to the place where Catherine would start her journey. And, the best news, well, you’ll have to click through and read it.
What a lovely story and tribute, Diana. Nicely done.
Thoughts from a New Occasional Teacher – Part 1: Safety Tips
- Brenda MacNaughton
- https://heartandart.ca/thoughts-from-a-new-occasional-teacher-part-1-safety-tips/
Back to the Heart and Art of Education blog, Brenda shares with us some thoughts about safety.
I never was an Occasional Teacher so this was all news to me. Sure, when you get a permanent job, you read the school handbook and you know all this stuff.
Things like the Fire Alarm and what exit to take. Or what the alternate exit would be.
If you were just going to be at a school for one day, would that even cross your mind? I’ll confess; I had never thought about it.
That’s but 1 of the 10 things that Brenda covers in this post. It’s a great Part 1 of what will be a series. I look forward to reading more.
Reminders From A COVID Experience
- Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
- https://adunsiger.com/2023/10/07/reminders-from-a-covid-experience/
I knew that Aviva had contracted Covid. Like so many things, she’s very open and transparent on social media.
As a professional, she was concerned about her teaching environment and the closeness to her young students. Plus, she describes the pedagogy that she uses when working with them. That really amplified things for me.
In total, it certainly meant that she needed to be away from work for a bit. Unless you’re a teacher, you don’t realize that you don’t just call in sick. There’s much more to it than that.
Aviva takes some time to reflect on lessons learned from Covid.
- It’s okay to take a break.
- Know when it’s time to disconnect.
- Technology provides some great problem solving possibilities.
- Sometimes reflecting on your own experiences can help you view learning opportunities differently.
- Celebrate the small moments.
- Be grateful.
- Sometimes it’s okay to lean on others.
I thought it was a good read. We know that it’s still with us but we don’t get the daily reports on the nightly news like we used to.
Skip the dishes, we mean doctor (#144)
- Doug McDowall – @dougzone2_1
- https://dougzone22.ca/2023/10/03/skip-the-dishes-we-mean-doctor-144/
As the show was running, Doug was sending Stephen and me graphs from waste water testing to let us know that you can find Covid statistics if you look in the right place.
I thought that Doug’s post was a little unique in that both he and I had blogged about the same topic – pharmacists taking on some more roles that were traditionally handled by doctors.
Ever compassionate, Doug put himself in the shoes of the Minister who had to do the press conference that was required because of the state of health in the province. Even I felt sorry for her after reading Doug’s interpretation.
In his list of things that can be diagnosed was “dysmenorrhea”. Now, as a husband and father to daughters, you’d think I shouldn’t have to look it up. To my defense, that was never how it was described around here.
Since the announcement, birth control has been put forth as another things that a pharmacist could take care of.
This Week in Ontario Edublogs on voicEd Radio
(yes, this is a recording)
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.