Category: well-being

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in Blogging, Computers, COVID-19, Education, Equity, inquiry, inspiration, learning, Mathematics, Media Literacy, Music, Ontario Edublogs, podcasting, Read/Write Web, social media, Teaching, technology, voicEd Radio, well-being

I can’t help but think that we’ve been so lucky with the warm weather and that things are going to catch up with us. I had to be in Windsor this morning (yesterday morning as you read this on Friday) and had a long walk along the waterfront trail at the foot of Ouellette Avenue and took a couple of pictures.

The Renaissance Centre in Detroit

http://www.greatcanadianflag.com/

But, this post isn’t about me. You’re here to great some great content from Ontario Edubloggers. Read on.

The deafening silence of university presidents

At times, those of us from K-12 kind of forget about universities and the leadership potential that they have. Yes, we know of the Faculties of Education but the reach is obviously so much greater. Thanks to Charles for writing this post and sharing his outrage that their voices were quiet during the recent episode with CUPE.

As luck would have it, they might have a chance to speak up next week. Hopefully, they’ve read Charles’ blog post and are rethinking their silence.

To emphasize the point, Charles reminds us of this poem.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

https://www.paih.org/first-they-came-the-poem-of-protest

TRAUMA IN THE CLASSROOM

From the TESL Ontario blog, this is a powerful couple of blog posts about trauma in the classroom as non-English speakers arrive ready to learn.

I think we’ve all had that student that comes in and has challenges with the language. However, in most cases, they knew that they were coming to Canada and had hopefully worked on language development.

With what’s happening these days, there are people that are just getting up and leaving and don’t have the preparation. That presents a whole new experience.

The first post talks about the children:

  • What we know 
  • What we learned
  • What we think

It’s not easy but, as educators, you do get to go home at night and recalibrate. The second post brought out the emotion in me as it talks about the effects on teachers – I’d never heard of the expression “vicarious trauma” but I sure have now:

  • How can vicarious trauma be addressed?
  • Where can I learn more?

If you find yourself in this position or you have a colleague who is, this pair of posts is worth the time to read. After all, you can still go home at night but it is difficult to recalibrate when you’re the one with the issues.

The Sound of Paper #SOL2022

This was so my life in the classroom. There was paper for every lousy stinking thing that was going on. As I mentioned in the voicEd Radio show, we had every colour of paper that you could have stuff duplicated on. Boring me opted for white because supposedly, it was a bit cheaper.

The colour blue though was reserved for the principal and every Friday at noon, we got the “Blue Memo” which outlined everything scheduled to happen in the next week. The rule around the school was “if it’s not on the Blue Memo, it doesn’t happen”.

There’s a mindset that goes with publishing to paper. Darn it, if I’ve taken the time to put my thoughts and inspiration to paper, you need to read it. As Melanie points out, if you try to stay on top of things, that pile can get pretty big.

But, paper isn’t just paper anymore!

We’ve embraced the notion of ePaper and email as a proxy for paper because it’s cheaper and, quite frankly, can be edited before distribution and, at times, makes the concept of proofreading a lost art.

It does stack up and Melanie gives us a real visual of her life with paper of all sorts. I had to smile when she talks about turning to a podcast – is that the next new paper? At this point, you can multitask by working and listening to a podcast but will that evolve too? Imagine your next staff meeting as a podcast …

Fluent in Math

It pained me to read this post. Diane does a good analysis and I appreciate that. But, I’ve always loved Mathematics and I suppose that I’d be one of the people that might talk about Mathematics as being a universal language. As a Mathematics graduate from Waterloo, I had a richness of classmates and professors from all over the world and so it flowed nicely for me. It’s not like I was a genius; I had to work my butt off but it was work that I enjoyed. While I’ve long cleaned out my bookshelves of textbooks from my university days, I still have some Mathematics books. I love this one and still pull it out every now and again just to read and work my way through a problem.

Diane challenges the notion that Mathematics is universal and makes a good discussion about each.

  • Vocabulary
  • Multiple Meaning Words (this one had me laughing because it is absolutely true)
  • Word problems (this one had be uncontrollably laughing on the voicEd show as I visualized this)
  • Different algorithms and notations
  • Different expectations of student role
  • Culturally-embedded word problems
  • Exhaustion

Old Fellas New Music Episode 34

Paul and Bob Kennedy do a nice job with this podcast. 9 songs, 1 hour and a great bit of conversation and insight between the songs.

They share their thoughts on the music (apparently this episode had Paul at the cottage – great internet access I might add) You can listen to the show at the second link above.

If that’s not enough, there’s a supporting blog post at the first link so all your modalities are addressed. I don’t always enjoy all the songs that they feature but if I wanted only my own likes, I’d do my own podcast. But, there’s always something to like and walk away with. I like that they do the heavy lifting and I just get to listen and enjoy.

This week, for me it was this collaboration from Allison Russell /Brandi Carlile – You Are Not Alone that stood out. Of course, we’ve all heard of Brandi Carlile and she’s with Elton John in his concert this weekend on his last tour. But, Allison Russell was new to me and what a beautiful voice and in both official languages.

Enjoy.

Bonding Over Basketball

Aviva shares a bit of her teaching history from Kindergarten to Grade 6 and has been at it long enough to know that there are some students that you bond with immediately and others that take a little work. She gives a shoutout to her friend Paula who she acknowledges has the gift.

I think that we all would confess that all (or at least mostly all) students can be reached out to and have a bit of a bond although education is definitely not a one size fits all.

I thoroughly enjoyed her story about her experience trying to reach them all and that there were some that were a real challenge for her. If they only would enjoy a good book with her!

Good teachers don’t give up and write them off; they continue to look for the road that leads to connection. We all do that.

One of the things that worked for me was the computer lab – when students were working, I always allowed them to play music which seemed to soothe the teenage mind well. To be inclusive, I needed to give everyone a chance to determine what we would listen to. It wasn’t always pleasant but we do what we need to do at times.

I think this is a great read for all educators but might also have a special place for those teacher candidates going on a practice teaching placement as a reminder that connections aren’t always easy and yet they’re so important.

#LearningInTheLoo: Cycles 1 & 2 of Implementing a #ThinkingClassroom

I’ve missed Laura’s Loo-worthy material. I had to check if I’d just missed them or she was busier on TikTok instead! As she notes, life gets in the road frequently of best intentions.

This is a two-parter about thoughts of the environment that leads to success for Thinking Classrooms. There’s great stuff there. I wonder if principals outside her school download and print these for staff (not in Blue and be mindful that Melanie might not get to it immediately).

These are one-page materials – it reminded me of creating what I called “One Page Wonders” and respects the audience by not delivering a book when a single page will do.

Do yourself a professional favour and read all of these terrific posts and then check out these awesome writers on Twitter.

  • Charles Pascal – @CEPascal
  • TESLOntario – @TESLOntario
  • Melanie White – @WhiteRoomRadio
  • Paul McGuire – @mcguirp
  • Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
  • Laura Wheeler – @wheeler_laura

This Week in Ontario Edublogs on voicEd Radio

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This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in Blogging, Computers, COVID-19, Education, inquiry, inspiration, Interviews, learning, Media Literacy, Ontario Edublogs, PLN, podcasting, Read/Write Web, social media, Teaching, voicEd Radio, well-being

It was good to be back Wednesday morning on voicEd Radio and talk about some blog posts. Amanda Potts guested this week and we talked about a number of things; one being the incredible flower pictures that she shares on Facebook. I figured she had a full set of camera gear; it turns out that she uses her smartphone. I feel so unworthy. I need to up my game.

Presenting

This was a reminder for me that there’s a first time for everything. In this case, Amanda partnered with Melanie White to do a presentation. She notes that, as teachers, we do it all the time but the big difference here was that people paid to go to this conference and hear her among others.

I thought that this was a wonderful discussion of anguishing over and tweaking a presentation before going live to make sure that it’s perfect. Amanda, I can tell you that now you’re on the speaking tour <grin>, you’ll do it all the time. There’s nothing so embarrassing as reusing an old presentation that has reference to a previous location. I always appreciate it when a presenter goes that extra mile and you can tell that there’s a reference to the presentation’s current location or audience.

Nerves are always good, I find. It keeps you at the top of your game.

Getting Ready for School: A Television Interview

Speaking of nerves…

When you’ve written a book, that opens a lot of doors for you. When you’ve written THE book on students and social media, you’ll get people like Global TV wanting you to appear on their television show to share your expertise.

That was the case for Jennifer. Good choice, Global.

Her post dovetails so nicely with Amanda’s because she shares her own nervous moments. There were five four points that she wanted to address. The whole interview was a 2-minute deal and Jennifer was a part of it, not all of it. So, in typical television fashion, things were edited to meet the time allotment. Her enthusiasm does come through loudly and clearly.

Anyone who has ever done something like this knows that you walk away saying “I wish I’d said that” and Jennifer was no exception. Her extra thoughts appear bolded in this post.

Her book SocialLEADia is something that every teacher needs in their arsenal when dealing with students and social media. It should be in every school library.

Those Last Three Years

I suspect that everyone is thinking about the return to school in a much deeper manner than normal this year. Will this be the year that things return to normal or whatever normal will be going forward?

The true professional gets better every year in the profession. They understand students, teachers, and learning, just that much better with experience. Matthew questions whether he and other educators are better now than before.

Maybe teaching during the pandemic didn’t make me a better teacher in the moment. But maybe it has the potential to make us better educators tomorrow.  

There’s no doubt that educators will have become better in their use of technology. Nerdy me hopes that that translates to better things in the classroom now that everyone is headed back there. Time will tell, I suppose.

Educators that read this blog know that they’ve been thinking about the return all summer. For those not in education, Matthew shares insights on what’s really going through an educator’s mind as September looms.

BACK TO  SCHOOL: POST-SECONDARY EDITION

I never had the opportunity to teach my own kids and I suspect they’re eternally grateful for that. It actually wasn’t possible since I never lived in the community where I taught.

For Vera, this will be the third time teaching students that are the same age as her own children. That’s an interesting observation and I wonder how many other educators have made that it. I know that it never occurred to me.

Vera points out that her twins were very helpful in giving her insights as a parent about their growth and development and how it helped her understand those students in her class.

The other takeaway for me what that I had no idea where Holland College is. I do now.

August Interlude

August is always an interesting month for me. My birthday was mid-month and from that day on, it was a family reunion, and then gearing up for the return to school – both as a kid and later as a teacher.

We spend a great deal of time these days just sitting on the patio and listening to music and lately the crickets have been singing along.

In the post, Sheila shares some quotes about August and one included the crickets.

“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year – the days when summer is changing into autumn – the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.” – E.B. White

I thought it was an interesting tribute to a month that isn’t quite July or quite September.

Slice of (Summer) Life

Here’s a post that brought a big, big smile to my face.

As parents, I think we all try to make special moments for our kids. In Lisa’s case, it was to take them to swim in all five of the Great Lakes this summer.

This is a wonderful story about how the family met that goal.

I know that Lake St. Clair isn’t one of the five Great Lakes but it’s a pretty good lake. I could take her to some pretty cool beaches if she’s interested in doing that next year. We walked the dog at Belle River yesterday and the beach was packed. A little further north, Mitchell’s Bay is a favourite location as well.

Magic? Or Is It?

If you need a song to listen to while you read this. Maybe we can see why some students are hesitant to participate.

A wise person once told me that teaching is the nearest thing to performing real magic that you can get. It seemed a little hokey at the time but I came to appreciate it. Quite frankly, I’d forgotten about that until I read Aviva’s latest.

There’s an interesting story about a “camper” who was in the hallway and how things changed for her. It’s a great read; make sure you do it.

Once you get the whole context, you’ll appreciate Aviva’s closing thought.

While we might not have a wand or a magic spell to address all of these scenarios, Ms. Ung shows us that with love, time, support, and a combination of deliberate decisions, we can all work a little magic of our own.

I hope that you can find to click through and read all of these wonderful posts. Are you inspired to write your own? If so, reach out and let me know.

And, make sure that you’re following these bloggers.

  • Amanda Potts – @Ahpotts
  • Jennifer Casa-Todd – @jcasatodd
  • Matthew Morris – @callmemrmorris
  • Vera Teschow – @schlagzeug_usw
  • Sheila Stewart – @sheilaspeaking
  • Lisa Corbett – @LisaCorbett0261
  • Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca

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This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in Blogging, coding, computer science, Computers, COVID-19, Education, inspiration, learning, Media, Ontario Edublogs, Read/Write Web, social media, Teaching, voicEd Radio, well-being

It’s another Friday and a chance to wander around the province and take a look at some posts from awesome Ontario Edubloggers. Listen to the Wednesday show for five of them but it’s only here that you get those extra two as a bonus.

Not the same Christmas

First up is Melissa Turnbull writing on the ETFO Heart and Art Blog. This post should serve as a reminder that not all students in your classroom celebrate Christmas or celebrate it the same way. Some classrooms more so than others but …

She nails it with three observations that generate my comments here.

Not all students are celebrating Christmas – I think we all know that but if you’re old enough, you’ll remember the outliers in your classroom that didn’t join in. When I went to elementary school, it was all about Christmas. We even all piled into the gym first thing in the morning to sing Christmas carols. Except for one of my friends who had to stay in his classroom and do seat work…

Students may be worried about being away from school – As bizarre as it might seem, we now know that a school may be the safest and most comfortable place for students these days. For some, it may also provide the best meals. Then, to be gone for two weeks takes all this away…

Some students will receive gifts – some will not – That is so true. I can still recall the conversations that would typically start with “What are you getting for Christmas?” Some had great expectations, including going to Florida or something.

Melissa concludes with a number of things that she does in her classroom. It’s a good read and reminder; I know that experienced teachers have been around the track a few times and should know all this but it might be new to younger teachers.

Shelving the Elf

After reading Sue Bruyns’ post, we now know what exciting things that she does on a Sunday afternoon and, sadly, it doesn’t appear to be watching football. She writes about the week ahead in a memo to staff. That brought memories for me of the “blue memo” that would be in the mailbox on Friday afternoons and essentially laid out what was going to happen next week, day by day.

Sue has morphed her message into one of reflection and I think finding that memo on my mailbox on Monday morning (or in my email), could be inspiration to start off the week on a positive note.

The topic of discussion here was the use of Elf on the Shelf in classrooms. Since this concept comes late to me, I was interested in reading her take and talking about it with Stephen Hurley on our Wednesday show. Now, I’m not above a good scavenger hunt to find things hidden around places. In fact, there’s a treasure hunt going on in our town now based on the light displays. It makes you look just a little harder and pay attention. There are a few there to denote the religious part of the season for some but many are there as part of a seasonal light show that extends over a period to cover many of the religious celebrations.

I’ll admit that having this creepy thing hidden on shelves spying on you as an attempt to modify behaviour was a little strange. Stephen indicated that, even if you did find it, that you were forbidden to touch it.

Sue addresses it this way.

It would have been easy to turn a blind eye to the situation and quietly shake my head and avoid the conversation. But over the years I’ve learned that the easy path is rarely the right path.

Her message is based in the concept of the Elf and religious connections and is a good read and a time for reflection as to whether this is a wise move. Sort of like her memo would be.

Limit #SOL2021

I’m going to steal this image from Melanie White’s post.

Isn’t that great advice for any educator?

Teaching is a profession that takes everything that you have and then asks for more. How many teachers realize it when they feel like they’ve given it their all and then something or someone asks for “just a little more”?

Can you say everyone?

The simplest solution is to “learn how to say no” but that seldom works as we all know. The result, and I think the Christmas season is the worst for it, is the sense that you’re drained and feel like you just can’t give any more and yet a system requires more.

Imitation Isn’t That Flattering

Tim King writes a post that I think that a lot of teachers of technology and Computer Science have experienced so many times. When an administrator who doesn’t have background in the discipline looks at what you’re doing and then asks you to make it easier, it’s an affront to your professionalism.

All teachers observe and understand when the going gets tough. I love the quote “When a problem happens, a teacher appears”. Technology teaching is unique in that there is so much background that must be developed before work of any substantial quality and quantity is possible. That is different from some other subjects where you can ease into things.

In Tim’s case, it was having students program an Arduino.

Photo by Harrison Broadbent on Unsplash

Others might use a Micro:Bit; in my time before this, we had kits with wires and boards and LEDs. You need a great deal of understanding in order to make it work and I can remember the frustration of trying to get the first couple to work and then I got it. It was fun later on to push the envelop. A definitive essay on this is Seymour Papert’s Hard Fun.

http://papert.org/articles/HardFun.html

I hope that Tim sticks to his beliefs in this one. I don’t know how you’d address the curriculum expectations otherwise.

Taking Care of Myself

It’s been a while since Jennifer Brown had blogged and she addresses this before dropping the message about personal health issues on us.

She has support as demonstrated in the comments from dear friends and that’s so good to see.

The issue that she describes is hereditary and that drops on so many of us. For me, it started on my father’s side of the family and strong prescriptions for glasses. I think we all can empathize with Jennifer and send her some virtual hugs to start her on her journey to control things.

Her blog post should be a reminder to all to stay on top of things during COVID times. I appreciate, although was freaked out by all the plastic draping at my dentist, and I’ve maintained my other doctor’s visits albeit by telephone for the past, it seems like forever.

You need to be an advocate and you truly do need to take care of yourself and Jennifer nails it in a powerful post. And, trust a Teacher-Librarian to not place her trust in Dr. Google, but reach for a book as a credible source of information.

I most certainly extend my best wishes and encouragement for her to continue to stay on top of things.

To Move Or Not To Move? That Is The Question.

I thought that we were finally going to get a look inside Aviva Dunsiger’s classroom and not have pictures of her students outside. She did relent towards the bottom of the post.

As a secondary school teacher, when I would drop into elementary schools for visits, kindergarten classes always befuddled me. There’s activity everywhere. I have amusing memories of being outside in the play area where it’s just mayhem to my eyes and the teacher next to me described what every child was doing and why, even those that were behind her. Kindergarten teachers really do have eyes in the back of their head.

We live and teach in different times. Around here, and I know that Windsor and Essex County is currently faced with high COVID numbers, accountability has never taken on so much importance. In the post, Aviva starts off by describing the process of seating plans. Now, it’s old hat for most grades but it’s not something that you’d think would be so thought provoking in a kindergarten class. We were told that the plans were important for supply teachers and the principal when they would come into the class to do what they do. It was also invaluable when learning new names at the start of a course. Now, it’s also the way to contact trace and ensure safe distancing between students.

The current Kindergarten direction is so play-based that the notion of having and sitting in a sitting plan setting just seems so wrong. And yet, these days, its value is so right.

Aviva’s blog posts are often so revealing about her current reality and insightful as to just what is happening in her classroom. It seems so different these days compared to the past.

This kind of nails it.

With COVID restrictions, free-flowing movement and interactions in the classroom are more challenging.

But, good Kindergarten teachers will find a way to meet that challenge.

Knitting, Crocheting and Loom Knitting

Another post from the Heart and Art Blog got me really appreciative for the work that people are doing to reach out to every student and to bring new experiences into the classroom.

Tammy Axt takes us into the area of knitting and more.

For many people, knitting is used as a relaxing pastime to calm emotions and focus energy and I have seen it have a great impact at school

My mom was always knitting. It is a repetitive activity, to be sure and it can be so creative. Of course, we hold our parents on pedestals and I’m no different. She could knit anything. I got a lesson once and made a badly formed scarf. There is so much skill to make things so cohesive and consistent. I think that the biggest appeal for me was that it was so mathematical in the shape and form of the knitting involved.

The closest thing that I ever came to what Tammy describes in this post was a field trip to a museum where we got to try out a loom. It was kind of cool and insightful for the few minutes that we were there and then we moved on to something else.

I’ve recently found out that my former next-door-office-mate is a big knitter and has opened her own store online to sell what she’s doing. My wife and I actually went out to one of her shows and her stuff is amazing. (Don’t tell anyone but we bought a Christmas gift from her)

In my family, knitting died off with my mother and mother-in-law being the last of the big knitters. Certainly, my kids have expressed no interest at all.

As a result, I appreciate Tammy’s message and those students that experience it may well get an insight from her classroom that would be available nowhere else.

I hope that you can find the time to click through and enjoy these original posts and appreciate the wisdom and sharing that Ontario Edubloggers do.

Then, follow these folks on Twitter

  • Melissa Turnbull
  • Sue Bruyns – @sbruyns
  • Melanie White – @WhiteRoomRadio
  • Tim King – @tk1ng
  • Jennifer Brown – @JennMacBrown
  • Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
  • Tammy Axt – @MsAxt

This week’s voicEd Radio show is available here – https://voiced.ca/podcast_episode_post/hard-candy-cultural-responsiveness-and-self-care/

Staying safe

by dougpete, posted in Computers, well-being

One of the things that I’ve always done is try to ensure that I’m running the latest and safest versions of any software that I have available to me. If I’m doing something and get a notification that there’s a update release, I’m all over it.

For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by the concept of malware and viruses and try to figure out what’s going on and perhaps even see inside the mind of the person(s) that are behind the development of it.

A real eye opener can come when you take a course on ethical hacking. If nothing else, it is a way to humbly recognize that there are limitations to whatever skills that you think that you might have. Staying up to date is a never ending battle and I doubt that we’ll ever get to a 100% safe environment – as long as we’re connected anyway.

There was a time when you had to concern yourself with the media that software was delivered on. Now, it all comes through your connections so you don’t even have that textile feel of software. It’s just there….

It’s kind of amazing when you think about the number of applications that you might have installed on your device. Then, you might have multiple devices and it just grows seemingly out of control.

Technologically, we’re getting better at being informed about the latest updates since we get our software typically through “stores” and often they’ll let us know when there are updates. Still, it’s a one by one process.

I don’t know how or why or why I didn’t suspect his but I found that the Government of Canada keeps track of things for us at the Alerts and Advisories site located here.

https://cyber.gc.ca/en/alerts-advisories

I had one of those illuminating moments when I first found this but then worked my way through it.

Instead of going from application to application, there’s a huge collection of information and updates available here.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m the last to find out about things like this but I have now and have tucked it away as a bookmark for my safe computing future.

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

by dougpete, posted in Blogging, Computers, COVID-19, Education, inspiration, learning, Ontario Edublogs, PLN, Read/Write Web, Teaching, well-being

This has been another strange week but I guess it’s just another day in the life in 2020. The highlight, as always, is being able to share some great blog posts from Ontario Edubloggers.

MAINTAINING BALANCE & THRIVING DURING COVID-19

Welcome a new voice to our blogging group – Gonul Turkdogan. She shares this post with us on the TESLOntario Blog.

I know that we hear a lot of advice about balance in these extraordinary and unique times. Actually, in education, we’ve always heard about it. Usually, it comes from someone who has things in check and therefore thinks everyone else should as well. That part is interesting and we certainly do need to hear it now, maybe more than ever.

It was the “thriving” part that really got me interested in this 11 point blog post. While all are good points, there were three that really stood out for me.

6. Currently, I am a volunteer with TESL Ontario as an Exchange Video Moderator.

For one thing, I didn’t realize that there was a moderator for things like this although it makes sense when you think about it. It’s a volunteer position and Gonul is thriving by giving back to her community in this manner.

8. I have also found it extremely satisfying to do presentations, webinars, and posters

I get this completely. There was a time when I would be a passive audience member and I got some things from sitting in a presentation. But, my world changed and my understanding grew exponentially when I started doing presentations myself. You never understand anything as deeply as you do when you teach someone else.

10. But don’t forget getting some physical exercise!

These days, exercise usually comes in the form of dog walks. There’s just something special and rewarding about turning off everything else and devoting my mind to paying attention to other things. Even something as simple as parking at the furthest distance to the school or shopping centre and hoofing it can be so rewarding.

That’s but three pieces from this post. It’s rich in advice and I would suggest reading it from top to bottom at least a few times.

Slice of Life: Walking

And, finishing Gonul’s post with exercise leads nicely into Lisa Corbett’s Slide of Life post.

She has taken upon herself to do some walking, setting new days in a row records for her. She’s currently at 166. That’s impressive and I enjoyed reading how she had one goal and then just kept stretching it. For her health and mindset, I hope that she keeps stretching.

She’s set a limit of -25 for the temperature that puts a halt to her walking. That’s legitimate and also reveals the challenge that walking is for teachers who are typically working during the warm part of the day.

My adversary for the winter time is snow ploughs. It’s always a good idea to walk facing the traffic when there are no sidewalks like around here. Except when a plough is coming.

I’ll bet that ploughs are more frequent in her world than they are in mine.

Mountain of Marking

The best insight I ever had was

“Teaching is the greatest job in the world – except for the marking”.

I think that, like most people, when I first started teaching marking involved mounds and mounds of paper all needing a number or letter assigned to it.

We’ve become more sophisticated over the years. The biggest revelation is that not everything needs to be marked! And, we’ve taken a new turn on the concept and put more emphasis on the notion of assessment and the options/benefits that it offers over traditional marking.

Click through to read Diana’s thoughts about:

  • Plickers and Clickers
  • Self- and Peer-Assessment
  • Google Forms
  • Rich Assignments with Long Completion Times
  • “In-The-Moment” Marking

I’ve done them all – the big game changer for a variety of reasons for me was the last point in Diana’s list.

Self-preservation, in the time of Covid-19

Deborah Weston never leaves anything on the table in her posts. This time, it’s a personal story of her walk through COVID and teaching at times.

Many people attempt to put a bow on many things when they talk about how teaching these days has impacted them. This post is anything but.

I’m sure that she’s sharing the sort of insights that many people have had for these past months. Her experiences in the Spring and the Fall. I think that most people feel like they’re on the end of an “easy pivot”. As we know, it’s been anything but.

That sad part in this whole post is that Deborah does share some of the health challenges that she’s had to deal with as a result. It’s a brave person that is able to that so publically.

Running a Marathon to Support the Peel Learning Foundation

Teaching and Learning has continued, as we know and Rob Ridley is sharing part of what he’s doing to keep something special in his area of the world alive.

He’s running his 41st Marathon!

This is no small feat, to be sure. I’ve seen people running these days with the goal of being able to compete in a virtual half-marathon. This takes the running concept to a whole new level.

The Foundation provides support so that students can get clothing, food, soap, deodorant, bus tickets, school supplies, backpacks and many other things. They help students in some of the hardest times of their life – and give them a hand getting through the challenges they face.

Wellness- Time to Set Priorities

Elizabeth Lyons shares her thoughts about Wellness. As regular readers know, instead of one word for 2020, she’s elected to go with one word a month.

And Wellness is her word for November.

Again, being brave and out in the open, she shares her thoughts about her own personal COVID scare.

Click through to read her post about the steps and life changes that she’s making to address it personally. If you’re feeling the pressure, you may be inclined to do some of what she’s doing.

The Burnout Blog

Any blog post that involves dogs and dog walking get my immediate attention!

For Anne-Marie Kee, she finds enjoyment and a break from walking her dogs. What’s not to like?

The balance of the post talks about the challenges she faces in her school, including the creation of a task force to deal with wellness. I like the concept described for a Wellness Wednesday approach.

Her life includes a couple of things that I’ve never experienced.

  • being a headmaster
  • working in a residential school

There really is another world out there and I appreciated reading her thoughts and action items. There was an important notion about wellness there – it’s one thing to talk to others about it and quite another to look inwardly to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself.

Part of my motivation is writing this weekly post. I’m inspired by the thinking of others. I hope that you can find time to click through and read these wonderful posts.

Make sure you’re following these bloggers on Twitter.

  • Gonul Turkdogan – @turkdogan_gonul
  • Lisa Corbett – @LisaCorbett0261
  • Diana Maliszewski  – @MzMollyTL
  • Deb Weston – @DPAWestonPhD
  • Rob Ridley – @RangerRidley
  • Elizabeth Lyons – @mrslyonslibrary
  • @AMKeeLCS – Anne-Marie Kee

This post appears on:

https://dougpete.wordpress.com

If you read it anywhere else, it’s not the original.