The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. ~Maya Angelou As I often do, I give immense credit to my brilliant, deep-thinking, and reflective teaching colleague, Barbara Hargreaves, for her inspiration for this post. In anticipation of our current home … Continue reading ‘Ways to Be Home’
Category: Learning
Emergent Strategy: Never a Better Time Than Now
We are socialized to see what is wrong, missing, off, to tear down the ideas of others and uplift our own. To a certain degree, our entire future may depend on learning to listen, listen without assumptions or defenses. ~ Adrienne Maree Brown With a desire to rethink and reinvision the true purpose of public … Continue reading Emergent Strategy: Never a Better Time Than Now
A New Normal: Learning Amid COVID-19
Yep. Here we are. Strange times, indeed. While we are currently celebrating our kids by honouring the planned two-week spring break, we do know that the holiday will soon be over (for everyone). Sleep schedules, eating times, and access to electronic devices will all witness radical changes. With the inevitable end in sight (and the … Continue reading A New Normal: Learning Amid COVID-19
Finding Equanimity: It’s Not Just For Yogis Anymore
You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone. ~Marcus Aurelius Lately, I have, for lack of a better phrase, worked on not … Continue reading Finding Equanimity: It’s Not Just For Yogis Anymore
Teaching (and Learning) Science Through Two-Eyes
This we know. The Earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. … Continue reading Teaching (and Learning) Science Through Two-Eyes
Bringing FLOW To Our Students
Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times — although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in … Continue reading Bringing FLOW To Our Students
This Is Us (with Grade 9, baby)
Middle school is exactly what it sounds like. A mixed-up mess of nothing, and yet everything at the same time. ~Julia Remillard I couldn't help myself. Cue the music... https://youtu.be/IOLl-8ZqMZw All That Is Old Is...Still Old In my twenty-two plus years in British Columbia public education as both teacher and administrator one thing has become … Continue reading This Is Us (with Grade 9, baby)
Cynefin: Learning to Live with/in Complicated/Complexity
We are glorious accidents of an unpredictable process with no drive to complexity, not the expected results of evolutionary principles that yearn to produce a creature capable of understanding the mode of its own necessary construction. ~ Stephen Jay Gould A respected colleague recently introduced me David Snowden's Cynefin (ku-nev-in) model. The framework itself appears holds … Continue reading Cynefin: Learning to Live with/in Complicated/Complexity
It’s Fun to Have Fun, But Students Are Too: Dr. Seuss and a Lesson for Teachers
It's better to learn how to learn than to know. ~Dr. Seuss I am currently reading master biographer Brian Jay Jones's brand spanking new ode to literary behemoth, Dr. Seuss. Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination has compelled me reflect, on more than one occasion, on the many connections to Geisel's … Continue reading It’s Fun to Have Fun, But Students Are Too: Dr. Seuss and a Lesson for Teachers
Sh&$ Happens (or Why Destiny Matters)
I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfill our destiny, but our fate is sealed. ~Paulo Coelho Sh#% happens Emerges (for a reason) Admittedly, I struggled this year … Continue reading Sh&$ Happens (or Why Destiny Matters)
GETTING CURIOUS 