Faulty Wiring
We’re hard-wired for immediate survival, so we need reminders to help us persevere longterm. Short-Term Wiring For decades I taught a course, the Challenge of Change in Society, which used…
Teaching
On Helping Professions
Should mental health professionals be more concerned about the spread of a brain-invasive virus that affects mental health by doing a number on the brain?? Amanda Hu wrote “I feel…
Children Risk More Illnesses after Covid
What every pediatrician in the world needs to read – from tern: Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a really bad thing, isn’t it? I wonder what the…
Fraud Fest in Waterloo Region
Catherine Fife and Debbie Chapman speaking to protesters. It feels like we turned a dark corner in Ontario. In my hometown in particular. Doug Ford came to K-W to be…
Strike While the Fire’s Hot
Happy Labour Day! I’m sitting at a comfortable distance from Ontario school contract negotiations this time out, and I don’t know all the ins and outs of the various union…
Success with CR Boxes and CO2 Monitors in Classrooms!
About a year and a half ago, I presented to the local school board about the benefits of masks to filter air before it hits our lungs and of using…
On Parental Rights
It’s not a thing. Well, legally it’s not. There are no “parental rights” section of the charter to defend. It’s a thing as in it’s a dogwhistle to see how…
On Student Absences
I’ve been thinking about the concern with kids not going to school for reasons beyond the rampant illnesses caused by letting a highly-infectious virus run wild. The Fortune article suggests…
A Bit about Poetry
I’ve finally completely aged into poetry. I’m still not able to stomach country music, my friend’s marker of getting up in years, ready for a rocking chair and blanket on…
The Problem with Asymptomatic Cases
“The World Health Organization (WHO) weekly update on the global Covid-19 pandemic found that in the last four weeks, there was an 80% rise in infections.” This article, published yesterday,…
Cleaning Air
When the air quality was particularly bad from the smoke from so many fires, my son decided it would be a great time to fry up some burgers on the…
Bill 98: Better Schools and Student Outcomes?
Bill 98 got Royal Assent a couple months ago, on June 8. At the time ETFO commented, “The level of authority that Bill 98 grants the government, with regard to…
Back to Basics – Again
Leece’s new and improved education system that he’s flogging all over the place is keen on “Back to Basics” rhetoric, despite it being an archaic mantra. Conservatives love that old-school…
Extremist Group Criteria
A mom delegated at a school board meeting in the states about the group, Moms for Liberty. Here’s the Tiktok video (but also at the link in case – I…
Mixing Church and State
The religious far right is growing and getting more powerful and unnerving, and we know the fights happening in schools board meetings. This 25 min. BBC video from earlier this…
The Charter’s not a Buffet
Trudeau spoke to parents concerned with their right to decide what their children are taught in schools. The group of Muslim parents were very worried about the “gender ideology” being…
On Training Children
I have some nuanced or maybe fence-sitting views about Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) that I’ll try to sort out below. As a trustee, I went to a PD session in…
Teaching in the Face of a Bleak Future
I can’t imagine teaching right now. This post is a mishmash of thought around teaching at such a momentous time in history. Well, momentous for us. I’ve only been retired…
Ideology and Indoctination
We’ve got marches and rallies surfacing, sometimes right outside of schools, with people chanting, “Leave the kids alone” in order to put an end to “gender ideology.” What does this…
On Track for Privatization
A couple weeks ago, Texas came very close to passing a bill defunding public education: a “school choice” bill that would provide vouchers for parents to be able to “use…