mindfully thinking about learning
What’s been mulling around in my head, amongst the worry about my family’s health and the pride in how the government and citizens of Canada are handling the Covid-19 crisis, are waves of anxiety about what is to come for all of us. That’s normal. It’s not unusual, or unexpected. Much of the anxiety has…
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It’s the first year since I’ve been 4 years old—with the exception of one September when I was on maternity leave—that I haven’t been a student at, or employed by, a School District. The truth is, I always wanted to be an educator, and began working with students with special needs when I was about…
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The new school year has started, and I’m in a new school as a vice principal. My role at the Ministry of Education has come to a close and I’m grateful for the amazing learning and the wonderful colleagues that I worked with there in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Branch and the Incubation and…
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We hear a lot these days about the idea of INNOVATION. Not to be confused with invention, innovation means to improve upon, to make things better. How do you connect to innovation in your practice? Jennifer Kranenburg is a teacher from Ontario whose story is an inspirational example of how creative educators, focused on responding…
Read MorePeter Skillen and I had the pleasure of attending a working group session at the YMCA of Greater Toronto led by Candy Chow (YPALS Coordinator – YMCA of Greater Toronto) and Nina Arcon (YPALS Specialist at YMCA of Greater Toronto). This group of about 12 young people are about to launch a blog that will…
Read MoreWe hear lots about the outsourcing of jobs to computers and last week I walked right into it at a McDonald’s restaurant.
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This week I had the honour to be invited to contribute to a panel of amazing people at the recent Think Tank session from CECCE, one of Ontario’s French School Boards, along with well known thinkers about transforming educational environments. My ECOO colleague Peter Skillen and I have crossed paths recently with many CECCE educators…
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In a few days, I’m taking on a new role with a secondment to the Ministry of Ontario in the 21st Century Learning Unit. I’m feeling bittersweet about the new role; sad to be leaving my school and all of the wonderful students, teachers and parents I’ve come to know in my short time as…
Read MoreI remember hearing Annie Kidder from People for Education talking about parent engagement a couple of years ago. She was cautioning the educators in the room to look beyond the obvious in terms of parent engagement. We often think parent engagement means that the parents actually need to show up at the school for events. …
Read MoreThis post was first published on August 11, 2014 for voicEd.ca As teachers, we don’t always know our impact unless our students come back and share with us. Similarly, as global teacher learners, we don’t always know the people that we reach and the positive impact we might have on the growth of other educators. …
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