“To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn. That learning process comes easiest to those of us who teach who also believe that there is an aspect of our vocation that is sacred; who believe that our work is not merely to share information but to share …
I am sitting in a rather dry business meeting, biding the time until that wonderful point of the day when the proverbial whistle blows for three o’clock- when a few words of insight, spoken in passing, grab my waning attention. Let’s just say this, to preface this little nugget of wisdom: it is the only …
Over the years, I have had moments as a teacher so memorable they have left a significant, lasting impression. Imprinting forever in my long-term memory the emotions that were felt when that experience occurred. I remember a particularly difficult teaching assignment in which I took over a short-term social studies position at the high school …
When I was a little girl, I remember this so clearly. I was perhaps eight years old or there abouts, and at the time of this memory, I was standing in the bathroom beside a cupboard used for storing towels. I asked my mother this question: “Am I good?” My mother answered me as best …
Warning: the contents of this article might be offensive to some. In that, it might make you conjure up images of snot, mucous, throw-up, broken arms and the like. Consider yourself trigger warned. Last weekend’s Globe and Mail had an article in its Focus section about trigger alerts. Essentially, trigger alerts are advance warnings that might alert …
It matters how you treat people. It matters how you live your life, how you do your job, treat your friends, speak to your kids, care for your animals. It matters. And it matters that you infuse love into what you do, through each and every seemingly small moment of the day. Even if those …
“The loss of these last five days has been a disaster, with the loss of instructional time…and we need to gain back as much (of that time) as we can.” P.E.I. Minister of Education, Alan McIsaac, as quoted during a CBC radio interview which you can listen to here We have accumulated thirteen storm …
I really appreciate my friend for challenging my thinking, as you will come to read below. I am providing her challenge to my thinking and perspective along with my response to her. This welcome challenge was issued to my last blog post regarding What is Worthwhile Knowing: A Teacher’s Perspective. I would readily open any …
When he was a little boy, he was never called gifted. He never went to formal school. He was a Down’s baby. Not a baby or child with Down Syndrome, among other distinguishing characteristics. Not a child with exceptionalities. Not a person with special abilities. No. He wasn’t all that. He was mostly a label. …
I am seeking to make my own journey in education one that is characterized by love. By empathy and kindness. By an overriding influence of Care. In order to have a Curriculum of Love as the guiding light within our classrooms, we must acknowledge that we are part of a vast connection of interconnections- even …
It’s almost recess and I am urging the children to put away their snacks so as to ready for the recess bell. The students start slowly stowing their lunch boxes inside their backpacks and heading for the door. All except for one, that is. The same One who, day after day, has persisted in waiting …
Dear Counselor Down the Hall: In December, before the busy rush of Christmas, before the calm of early January (after the seasonal chaos), before the press of semester changes and reporting periods and term-end assessments and all that entails: I wrote a letter. My letter was written to a young teacher and it was …
