Wednesday was another live voicEd Radio show for This Week in Ontario Edublogs. It was great to talk about the blog posts from others before I get to blog about them here!
Mentoring Moments: Importance of Our Names
Writing on the Heart and Art Blog, Nilmini Ratwatte Henstridge takes us on a discussion about names. I’ve mentioned before; a wise person once told me that it’s the most important thing that we own. Teachers need to respect that and call students by their correct name, or if it’s going to be different, it’s because of student choice.
Nilmini has an interesting spin on the concept where she suggests that the student “Names Stories” should be identified and celebrated in class. Especially these days, it’s so important.
In my case, I’ve always gone by “Doug” or a nickname of “Andy” after my father. It’s only when someone calls me by my official name that my head snaps a bit. A standard joke around here is that only a police officer or a doctor calls me “Douglas”.
To help the cause, Nilmini provides a list of books that can be used with students. There’s something powerful about reading about it. Just the fact that it’s in a book adds an air of credibility to the process.
If you do nothing more that just click through on this link, you’ll end up on the new Matthew Morris website which features his blog. It’s been a work in progress for a while now.
It’s looking good.
As Matthew continues to write, I’m finding that he’s revealing more and more about himself and I’m finding myself immersed where he’s been in situations that I I’ve never been. In this case, it was being one of a group of 4 in a class of 60.
There’s a great deal of wisdom in this post for all although Matthew is definitely very open and public about his approach to learning and being honest with himself.
I mean being authentic in your relationships with the children you are charged with teaching but I also mean rigorously reflecting on your shortcomings or blindspots as a person, and by extension, an educator.
We all have shortcoming and blindspots. Sometimes they keep us from reaching where we want to go and other times it shuts out things that we’d rather not see and/or deal with.
This post has really got me thinking about so much. I suspect there will be more to come in subsequent posts.
Contexte déficitaire: changeons de paradigme
Reading Joel McLean’s posts always slow me down as my Grade 10 French kicks in. Ultimately, I do rely on a translation program to make sure that I’m close to his meaning.
In this case, I really was and he takes on the statement that I know that we’ve all used.
j’ai fait de mon mieux / I did the best that I could
How many times have you used that expression? For me, it was probably more often that I care to admit.
As Joel notes, it can be used as an excuse for not getting the best results. After all, you did the best that you could, right? The fault lies with someone else. Somehow, it allows us to accept failure or at least not reaching the ultimate goal.
In the post, Joel suggests a different way to respond and look at things with an eye towards a solution that helps you get better.
It’s a lesson that everyone should take to heart.
From Amanda Potts, a post that exhibits her own humility and vulnerability.
Just where is the “joy” in education?
Her context is a new course that she’s teaching “Understanding Contemporary First Nation, Metis and Inuit Voices”. a Grade 11 English course.
Now, anyone who has ever taught Grade 11 knows that it’s one of the more challenging years in a student’s and, by inheritance, a teacher’s timetable.
She’s taken a ton of professional learning opportunities and yet still feels like she needs to do more to actually do the course justice. From her description, I feel her message and yet I’m wondering how many other teachers are teaching the same course without the background that she’s acquired.
I love the statement that she shares that she won’t allow herself to get this wrong. I can’t help but think that this will be a very long year for her and I do hope that she can find some joy in her efforts.
It’s not just her post that’s important here; it’s garnered all kinds of comments from visitors to her blog so she can start with the comfort that there is a network of people behind her.
Halloween Costumes for English Teachers
My immediate reaction to this post from Kristy was this was more for elementary school teachers until I paused and remember that we did dress up a bit as well. The only restriction in my class at Hallowe’en and Christmas was that you couldn’t dress up with tinsel as that would do a number on computers.
I was lucky, I guess, in that my school colours were orange and royal blue. Often, Hallowe’en would land on a football game day or before/after and we could wear a jersey along with some other things.
In the post, Kristy gives us a list of 21 suggestions. Three of them seemed doable for this computer geek…
- Go as an E-reader (14)
- Go as a Banned Book (20)
- Go as a Copycat (21)
Interestingly, on the news tonight it was reported that school boards are encourage people not to dress up for Hallowe’en.
Friday Two Cents: Comic Strips: Shepherd
The latest comic strip from Paul Gauchi brought a smile to my face. In fact, it might bring a smile to many who are struggling with going back to the face to face classroom and are considering alternatives.
With the return to in class learning, many educators have to reteach basic social skills, such as walking in a straight line or using “please” and “thank you”.
So, is there an alternative to this noble profession?
Check out Paul’s comic to see a spin on it.
Student Perceptions of Gamification: A Comparison of Research Studies
Gamification is a word that I haven’t heard used in education for quite some time now.
It’s more common to hear words like “sanitizer”, “social distancing”, “masks”, … as a result of the return to schools while dealing with COVID.
So, it was with interest and a fresh outlook that I read this post from Mike Washburn.
It was interesting to see this topic addressed after such a long bit of absence. I suspect that there are still those that don’t understand the difference between gaming and gamification.
Gamification for gamification’s sake is as Ian Bogost has so eloquently said, bullshit (Bogost, 2015)
As classrooms return to near normal, I have a feeling that the usual suspects will be back at it as they understand the power when done properly. For others, it might be starting at the ground floor. The one thing that has change as a result of all the learning at home is that students are far more familiar with computers than ever before.
I hope that you can click through and enjoy all these posts.
Then, follow the authors on Twitter.
- Nilmini Ratwatte Henstridge – @NRatwatte
- Matthew Morris – @callmemrmorris
- Joel McLean – @jprofNB
- Amanda Potts – @Ahpotts
- Kristy – @2peasandadog
- Paul Gauchie – @PCMalteseFalcon
- Mike Washburn – @misterwashburn
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