Now more than ever the concept of being part of a village is starkly apparent. The world village, often so disjointed, is intricately interconnected. COVID-19 and the extraordinary measures being taken to plank the curve are a wake up call to the importance of a sense of community and our job in helping it grow,…
I recently attended a book launch open house where my friend Rob Dunlop celebrated the culmination of four years of work on his book STRIVE for Happiness in Education. Rob is totally on the right track with this book. In a time of such significant upheaval on multiple fronts, his book serves as a balm.…
As a student, I loved learning about everything. I read voraciously which allowed me to see places and meet people I wouldn’t ever be exposed to in real life. I saw patterns and madeconnections across subjects and disciplines which then drove me to learn more. It sparked a curiosity in me about the world which…
"talking about divergent topics in other classes would encourage students to see the interconnectedness of our world"
Mirror, mirror, on the wall... Audio read by Lynn Thomas Usually, when we talk about reflection in education we are referring to assessment and evaluation. We evaluate through reflecting, that is, thoughtful consideration (#7) or meditation (#6) on something. Both of these qualify as the action we take as educators to assess and evaluate whether…
A teacher's job is full of questions; that's what we do really, live in questions. Answering, asking, composing, rephrasing -- all those questions fill our day. And then we ask some more questions -- questions that we hope will challenge our students, push them deeper, and foster critical thinking. We perfect our questioning skills to…
"If we want to live wider and deeper lives, not just faster ones, we have to practice patience -- patience with ourselves, with other people, and with the big and small circumstances of life itself." M. J. Ryan Have you ever felt frustrated? Exasperated? I think those are pretty natural feelings to experience occasionally but…
"Once you stop learning, you start dying." Albert Einstein We hear the phrase "outside the box" a lot and it can get tedious through overuse. It can also be scary to people who feel they aren't that creative or who don't want to be WAY out there. The thing is I don't mean outside the…
Audio read by Lynn Thomas I love old maps. They speak to me of adventure, exploration, new worlds. Ultimately, they tell stories, and being an English teacher, I love stories! Sea map of PortugalGedaente en ... vant Landt van Portugal; from: Mariner’s Mirror,Lucas Jansz Waghenaer, 1584 A cool thing that occurred to me is how…
Today I want to tell you about Sarah. Sarah is a student in my grade 10 academic English class. I don't have to engage Sarah. She came engaged and ready to learn because she has goals, big goals, laudable goals. But, Sarah struggles in my class sometimes. She has a hard time keeping up with the readings. Sarah has…
