On the Importance of Hobbies
I taught grade 10 Careers for a bit. I changed it completely from how it was typically taught, though, which was largely one Myers-Briggs-type test after another. Kids in other…
Education
AI Enhanced
This cartoon really helped me understand something. My school board announced a new initiative, the mandatory grade 11 English class will now focus on Indigenous voices. I used to teach…
What is University For, Part 2
Does making it all easier make us lazier educators, or is neoliberal politics to blame?? The Quality of Teaching has been Strained: This is a back-in-MY-day story, but I think…
Royal Cups: Sports Awards in Canada with Royal Roots
Taaaaaall Cup Across Canada sports events are held every year which have a royal connection or an award connecting back to the monarchy. I wrote about one such event last…
Cell Phones and Cigarettes
I have some concerns with the new rules for schools as reported by the CBC. The biggest concern is that the funding cuts came Friday, but yet another cell phone…
What is University For – Part 1
In case you’ve missed it, many students on university campuses have been protesting the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The police have been heavy-handed — or outright violent — with some…
Women’s homelessness
I’ve just published Chapter 8 of my open access textbook. This new chapter focuses on women’s homelessness. An English summary of the new chapter can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/womens-homelessness/ A…
No Ragrets
The frustrating experiences that linger with me the longest are the times I was able to make a difference in my tiny corner of the world or have some kind…
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Aaron Wherry discusses the deadly-serious consequences of climate denialism which is driven by frivolous rhetoric. And Andre Mayer points out the numerous ways…
On Suing Social Media Giants
A collection of school boards are suing a collection of social media sites for allegedly deliberately hurting students. That’s from the Toronto Star headline, but deliberate harm?? I’m not sure…
The most important history lesson
Alberta’s pursuit of a new K-12 public school curriculum has been a long slog. An ambitious curriculum re-development project was initiated by a Progressive Conservative government in 2008. The project…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Brishti Basu reports on the ill effects of WorkSafeBC’s decision to push people back to work while they continue to suffer from…
Connie Eaves, mother in life and science
A trailblazer who eschewed politics, identity and recognition in favour of a tenacious pursuit of life’s secrets Like many women of her age, Dr. Connie Eaves’s career in science was…
Should the Provincial Loyalist Days be Celebrated on the Same Date?
The Loyalists usually only get the briefest of mentioned when the history of Canada is discussed. This is a tad unfortunate as the arrival of the Loyalists forever altered the…
Trans enters the culture wars
Pierre Poilievre states that biological men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. I agree. But then I’m not aware of any biological men attempting to compete in…
Plague Update: Exploding Measles Threat
No, the latest measles don’t make you explode, I meant the threat is rising thanks to anti-waxxer ignorance spreading across the globe. And war, that’s infamously good at helping disease…
Infection Control Measures Work
A Lancet study found that there’s little Covid transmission in schools WHEN infection control measures were in place. Since we stopped all mitigation efforts, hospitalizations for Covid in Ontario have…
Friday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your week. – Amy Peng et al. examine the profound positive impact of mask mandates in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario. And Sheena Cruickshank…
The Motivating Annoyance of Willful Ignorance
I’ve been thinking about my old students today as I read the news. I taught about the Israeli occupation in Palestine for a good 20 years, under the media bias…
In Defence of the Nutmeg Crown
On February 7th Grenada celebrated its 50th year since independence. This was briefly mentioned in my last post but I wanted to return to the topic as there was one…