An Unprecedented Emergency
The Guardian has an excerpt of Stephen Emmott‘s new book, Ten Billion, about the effects of overpopulation on the environment. The situation is dire. I haven’t read the book, but…
Snyder
A Work-Out Rant
As soon as I was in my mid-30s, women everywhere started randomly looking me up and down and warning me that as soon as I hit 40, I’d have a…
Animal Testing: What’s wrong with education this time?
Okay it’s really about our kids. But this post was inspired, in part, by this cartoon gaining swift popularity: There’s a burgeoning rebellion against the way we teach. I’m all…
Humans: Too Invasive or Too Compassionate to Survive
In my last post, and elsewhere over the years, I went all Agent Smith and suggested that humans are a virus that can’t be contained. All other animals work within…
Enviro-Optimists vs Doom-Mongers: Another Wentian False Dichotomy
Margaret Wente, in her latest discourse, thinks the reason the environment’s being ignored is because of all the pessimists making us too depressed about it all. She splits all environmentalists…
Silence During Tragedy
I went to a history conference, and one of the PhDs at the front was talking about the common occurrence of silence during tragedy. And, while those around me discussed…
On Our Rape Culture: Rehtaeh Parsons’ Unfortunate Legacy
And another one gone – a victim of assault and revenge porn enacted and filmed by a bunch of teenaged boys who had more power than they might have ever…
When Men are Raped
A man was sexually assaulted by four women in Toronto, and the story is make the facebook rounds. I hate to say “of course,” but of course people think it’s…
On Boredom
I’m not talking about the “nausea of ennui” discussed from Seneca (“many who judge life to be not bitter, but superfluous”) to Sartre, that total lack of interest in anything…
Undergrads: Underloved or Just Under Grads
An article in the G&M today expresses concerns with the “hookup culture” of university students. There’s a big fear that casual sex will create “a drastic divide between physical intimacy…
Seniority Does Not Always Equal Merit
The title is from a line in an essay published in Friday’s Globe and Mail: “I’m a First-Year Teacher Who Will Automatically be Fired at the End of the School…
On Teacher Accountability
One criticism that Cooper and friends say is part of the problem with education is a lack of teacher accountability. I actually agree with this one. But how do we…
On Deducting Late Marks
I was going to list the pros and cons of taking late marks off assignments, but I had my students blog about it, and they hit on pretty much any…
On Misplaced Admiration
Damian Cooper’s out to reform education, and our board has come up with yet another a new assessment document as a response. The article of the day that he co-wrote…
On Crappy Contractors – a Solar Powered RANT
I’m trying to get solar panels on my house under the MicroFIT program. It’s been a process so fraught with frustration, I’m thinking of forgetting the whole thing. A colleague…
On Hate Crimes and Sexual Orientation
I was reviewing for a test on theories of discrimination and hate crimes in Canada with grade 12 students, and one review question was, “When was sexual orientation added to…
Following Your Dreams or Living an Illusion?
Ken Robinson, Sir, you are killing me! I know you probably didn’t mean for people to interpret your words in a warped way. Nobody does. But that’s what happens when…
Regulation 274, Education Act of Ontario
I was just about to start a petition at Change.org about this, but, thanks to Angie Potts, there’s one already there. After, I’m guessing, about 5 day, it’s got 415…
On Education, Stress, and Success
I’m starting another run at the Futures Forum Project: three subjects over two periods with one teacher (two team-teaching this year) that emphasizes an intentional digital footprint as we write…
The Not-So-Awful Truth About Being Single
“If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.” Jean-Paul Sartre In yesterday’s Globe & Mail, Margaret Wente claims that people can get to a much greater depth of…