I was chatting with friends and one of them asked me, “Who’s the best teacher in your school?” Yikes! Why would anyone ask me that?! It’s strange, I hadn’t heard that one yet … and that’s almost 25 years in! In fairness, the context was best ‘whoever’ stuff. You know … best baseball player, best hockey player and then, best actors and politicians. Of course … Read More →
The Importance of Conversation Tangibles
I somehow managed to have several conversations today. Sounds simple enough, but very unusual for me. Conversations … with an ‘s’. Plural. Sitting down and having an impromptu conversation has long been a luxury that I don’t take for granted. When I say a conversation, I mean a conversation by definition. I have lots of discussions. Lots. The vast majority of my face to face … Read More →
iTunes U: Under Used at a Billion Downloads
1,000,000,000. Really? Yes, really! A billion of anything should be a jaw dropper, but a billion access / downloads related to education. Really? Yes, really! First shared by Devindra Hardawar What’s ‘next’ in our fast paced world … minutes later becomes ‘what’s now’ … like most technology-connected innovations in education, it takes one person to ‘champion’ an innovation and run with it. But in the past, … Read More →
Pink Shirt Day – Doing Our Part Together.
The 6th Annual Pink Shirt Day is here. It’s great to see our students and staff decked out in pink t-shirts and hearing our students on the radio and our announcements describing their actions and plans for the day … great stuff from the perspective of a principal! As educators we are well aware of the powerful and negative impacts that bullying can have on … Read More →
How to Foster Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance: An Educator’s Guide | MindShift
“How can we best prepare children and adolescents to thrive in the 21st century? This question is at the heart of what every educator attempts to do on a daily basis. Apart from imparting content of knowledge and facts, however, it’s becoming clear that the “noncognitive competencies” known as grit, perseverance, and tenacity are just as important, if not more so, in preparing kids to be … Read More →
Why It’s Important to Make Things…
Is it human nature to connect to making ‘things’? Having a visible and physically tangible product of my learning has always been a very important part of my personal growth. I love to create. I also see this characteristic in many colleagues, teaching and support staff and of course … learners. In my iFun class our final project is not ‘made’ for marks … its … Read More →
Blended Learning … Shaken vs Stirred.
Maintaining choice and opportunity are possible with the right approach to scheduling, staff and elective program availability. Many schools have made the decision to really ‘shake’ up their delivery mechanism in the context of Blended Learning models, but we have chosen to implement Blended Learning in different ways for different students and programs. We are ‘stirring’ our own pot as we address both the needs … Read More →
Hey Kids … Time to Get ‘Tougher’!
Resiliency, grit, determination, perseverence … terms we are more likely to hear on a Monday Night Football or a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. It is interesting that we are hearing them more and more often in the context of education. There is no doubt that these are characteristics that can make a difference and should be a part of our ongoing conversations in education. I … Read More →
A Professional Learning Community … It’s About the People
Teachers and school administrators know that teaching can be a ‘lonely’ job. It seems counter-intuitive with all those kids and people in a school every day, but its true. Days fly by and before we know it, after the marking and prepping are done for tomorrow, ‘life outside of school’ kicks in. Kids to the rink, dance, and dinner … AND “where do I find … Read More →
Integration, Inclusion and Adaptations …
“Sitting in a large lecture theatre for a presentation that I was attending voluntarily, I reached into my purse for my glasses and realized I had forgotten them at home. The lecture was two hours long and although my hearing is fine, being within a visual fog that made it impossible to see the lecturer was frustrating. After a while, I gave up trying to … Read More →