Finland’s got one of the best education systems in the world. But it doesn’t follow that every idea they have is necessarily and entirely a good idea. And this newest one seems to be forced on them, more than born out of teacher innovation. Their newest idea is to get
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A Puff of Absurdity: Changing the Curriculum
Months ago, Kathleen Wynne proposed guidelines for sex ed in Ontario, and many parents are still furious. A group called Campaign Life Coalition has put quite a spin on it all. In grade one, kids learn all the correct names for all the parts of their body. CLC calls that
Continue readingRob Maguire: I’m teaching copywriting at UBC
This week I begin teaching a UBC Continuing Studies course on copywriting. While I’ve given plenty of workshops and conference presentations, I’m very much looking forward to working with the same group of students for a full two months. After all, the enjoyment I get from teaching communications skills is
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Restricting Free Speech
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – Evelyn Beatrice Hall I’m not so sure I agree with Ms. Hall’s famously misattributed line. People say some truly cruel things, and I’m not convinced we should have a right to
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Sex Ed, Double Standards, and the Red Herring of Consent
We discussed Erin Anderson’s article from Friday’s Globe and Mail in my philosophy class on Friday, and it provoked a whole gamut of topics. I’ll try to encapsulate some of them here. The article starts with an important question: “The question left is whether we’ll waste this moment, leaving the teenagers today
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: This Will Revolutionize Education – Veritasium
Well, it is nice to know I have a little job security. 🙂 Filed under: Education Tagged: Education, Revolution, Teaching
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: AER Strategies
Margaret Wente recently wrote about a teacher, Lynden Dorval, who was fired for giving students zeros when they didn’t complete assignments. Fellow teachers argued his case: “They told the tribunal that when there are no consequences, a disturbing number of students – quelle surprise! – don’t do the work.” She
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Time Management for Teachers
Need more learning and less stress in the classroom? What you do behind the scenes can make or break your work day. :> Being a fan of organization strategies, this video makes me happy on several levels. Enjoy. Filed under: Education Tagged: Helpful Hints, Organization, Teaching, The School Year is
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
I love Nicholas Carr’s book. There are lots of studies and science mixed with many stories and asides and discussions of philosophers and other great thinkers. It reminded me of reading a Bill Bryson book. You get the facts painlessly. And it presents a strong argument for keeping kids (and everyone)
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Just Not Ready to Laugh at Climate Change
We had a great end-of-year send off by a few teachers who took the time and effort to make the final day entertaining. Years ago, we had a team that would roast all the teachers. Some audience members were visibly upset and offended by the comments, so it went
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: EQAO, Literacy and Ability
My 9-year-old says that EQAO stands for Evil Questions Attacking Ontario. I think she’s on to something. We just administered the literacy test at our school this week. I’ve always understood administering this standardized test as a means to ensure that nobody graduates high-school without demonstrating an ability to read
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: What Do Teachers Want?
I seem to have missed hitting “publish” on this one from a few days ago: I’ve gleaned, from Steve Paikin’s twitter feed, a version of teachers that don’t fit the media stereotype of money-grubbing lazy bums. The quotes are from his tweets, so here they’re thrice removed. Kathleen Wynne just
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Backing for My Views on Education
There’s an article in The Spectator, and a new book out (at your left there), that says everything I’ve been saying about education for a couple years now. It’s actually to the point that, if I weren’t such a D-list blogger, I might actually think she plagiarized from my blog posts!
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Learning with the Olympics
We’ve been warned not to say anything publicly that could make our board or school or identifiable colleagues look bad in any way. I don’t think I’m doing that here. I’m merely expressing a different opinion, and I expect I’ll be in the minority of public opinion. I’ll really just
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Further to York University’s Discrimination Issues…
If you haven’t heard, a York University prof denied a student’s request to work in all male groups for religious reasons. York’s Centre for Human Rights suggested the student should be granted the request to avoid being with women in public. I commented with my views here: I see
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: On Education – how it ‘werks’.
Go read The Bowl, the Ram and the Folded Map:Navigating the Complicated world by Elodie Under Glass. It is fine narrative post with plenty of interesting bits and sheep! It is wool worth your while. However, these paragraphs in particular, caught my educational eye as they articulate not only what
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On the New Math
Elizabeth Renzetti has a funny and somewhat insightful article in the Globe & Mail today about our obsession with math. In a nutshell, we’re equating math with jobs. She says, “The problem is that we have started to think of our children as future employees, even the ones who can’t
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Teacher Blogging Challenge Meme
I had a neighbour question my blogging habits. I told him I love to get my thoughts down in writing. He scoffed, “But why put it out there for others to see?” He seemed incredulous of the idea that this is a way to connect with like-minded souls or a
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Do you listen to Children?
Are we getting children the help they need? There is a nefarious double bind that we put children in that makes it very hard for them to be heard. “Children should remain silent, and they are ‘good’ when they’re quiet, but ‘bad’ when they are not, because they are disturbing
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Zero-tolerance No-Touching Rule… for Kindergarteners?
I’ll never forget the first day I got called in to teach a Kindergarten class. It was probably one of the most terrifying experiences of my life to see 30 […]
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