What Can Football Teach Us About Public Education?
How can we help parents get as excited about the quality of learning in schools as they do about the quality of the football?
Tag: school
Afraid to be Wrong
Over the past few days, mostly while shovelling snow, I have been listening to one particular podcast from the CBC Ideas Program: Knowledge and Democracy. The program examines the interaction between science and society, looking at the “position” of the discipline “science” in a democracy. It is of particular interest to me because of our […]
What’s Our Next Step in Spreading Great Practice Around #TELT?
In Ontario we know we have pockets of excellence when it comes to Technology-enabled learning and teaching. When I refer to “pockets of excellence”, I mean schools and classrooms where learning to do this, digging into doing this well, and supporting the understanding of how learning needs to change to meet the realities of today’s […]
Thoughts: Labour Day 2014
I wanted to tell a funny story on this Labour Day. I will share this entertaining piece instead: Teachers Don’t Sleep on Labour Day by @albertfong I have plenty of my own crazy tales, of course, having spent nearly 30 years of Labour Days ignoring my family in spite of it being my daughter’s birthday, our wedding anniversary, a […]
Are You Really Willing to be Disturbed?
Today is my day to participate in the #OSSEMOOC Pic and Post, where we encourage learners to pick ONE piece of learning, take a shot of it, and share it with others. Got something to share? Of course you do! Here’s how to make your learning visible so others can learn too: http://ossemooc.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/collaborative-blogging-2/ If nobody shares, […]
What is the Purpose of School? Nova Scotia Considers Its Future
It’s perplexing to me that as Canadians we can unite at ungodly early morning hours to cheer on our hockey team as a country, yet when it comes to education we live on seemingly unconnected islands. In my province, Ontario, we have just completed a “visioning” exercise, looking at how to move our public education […]
Student Mental Health in the Media
Recently, there was an uproar about math scores in Ontario. The media called the results of the PISA test “a crisis” and quickly blamed schools, teachers, the education system, and anyone else related to public education. Yesterday, we learned shocking statistics about the state of students’ mental health in Toronto District School Board. The response? […]
When Knowledge and Belief Collide
Recently I had a second opportunity to listen to the Director of Education for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, John Malloy, speak at a conference (#NOELonline). Below are my notes (with personal annotations) from his presentation. What are our beliefs as educators? Photomatt28 via Compfight cc We have beliefs around what classrooms should look like […]
OTRK12: The Learning
I am in my second last session of the OTRK12 Conference in Mississauga. As the twitter feed flies by me I am reflecting on how much I have learned and how much I need to share. Here are some of my notes from this morning’s chat with John Malloy, Director, HWDSB. Some of the other […]
The Speed of Trust
When I landed my very first job as a secondary school administrator, a friend took me aside and handed me a copy of The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey. Trust, she said, was the most important part of relationships and the key to success in leadership. Photo Credit: Dru! via Compfight cc […]
