This blog post is for the students of BC. It’s for all the teens who have heard about – and are contemplating joining – a student walk-out on Wednesday of this week. I need to talk to you. I need…
Things Your High School Teacher Wanted You to Know
1. I can hear you. Really. I’m not deaf. It’s a surprise, I know, given my horribly advanced age. And you know that I can hear you. How many times have I called you out for swearing when I’ve heard…
Simplifying this Potential Strike Business
As some of you may have heard, teachers are headed to the polls this week, taking yet another strike vote. And we’re not allowed to talk about why we’re doing it, what has pushed us to this point. The union…
Tales from the Trenches
Today, I presented my seminar at the BCTF New Teachers’ Conference. And I think it went…okay? “Tales from the Trenches: What you Don’t Learn in Teacher Education” was an account of my foibles and floundering in my first years of…
“Normal” Isn’t in the Travel Dictionary
2013 was the summer of England and France. My husband, Brent, and I hit seven cities in three weeks, taking in a mix of city and country. This is part of a series of blog posts recounting our adventures over…
I’ve never…been reminded to live each day.
It was an “I’ve never…” I’d never thought of. You know, that game, where you, erm, hydrate with “I’ve never…” every statement that you’ve actually done. “I’ve never been to Europe.” Well, I have. Sip. “I’ve never danced on a…
Ten Hours a Year
Well, the news coverage about this week’s Supreme Court decision continues, and although I don’t really want to get political here, I have to. Just a little. So stay with me. This was twenty-five minutes of my day today: Yep,…
Democracy gets a sticker today.
“Court orders B.C. to restore class sizes and pay $2 million in damages to teachers” proclaims the Vancouver Sun’s headline. It’s a good day. After more than a decade and two prolonged battles in court, the BCTF (the BC teachers’…
An Intellectual Treasure Hunt
I lucked out the first time I was assigned to teach Social Studies 9. For a bilingual Canadian Europhile, the course is pretty much brain porn. You know those things that you wish you were part of, that you can…
The Language of Love…and Hate
It’s a big week at my school: grade 8 course selection week. The now not-completely-terrified thirteen year-olds are being asked decide how they’re going to spend their next year. It has also historically been one of my most aggravating weeks…