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INSIDE: May/June 2012
River Journey
It looked like the CBC had come to town. The interviewer studied her questions. The sound man ran a voice check. The cameraman secured his tripod in sand that was like sugar beneath our feet.
On-The-Land Education
As teachers we are often challenged to balance full classrooms, demanding curriculum, "new" pedagogy, differentiated assessment and evaluation, and to ensure that students are engaged in higher-order thinking. Rather than learn something new, I would encourage you to read on and remind yourself of something old, yet effective.
A Case for Teaching Philosophy to Children
Teaching philosophy in middle school? Ridiculous? Arcane? Pretentious? The suggestion calls up stereotypes—the bespectacled, large-craniumed social misfit pretentiously arguing over a misinterpretation of Heidegger, or, worse, droopingly bored early adolescents, suffering in silence while a teacher lectures on Plato's Republic.
What Writers Are Reading
As a writer I am often asked "What is the best advice you can give to someone who wants to write?" Invariably I notice that many of my writing colleagues give the same answer to that question as I do: "Read! Read books aimed at the audience for which you write. Read fiction! Read poetry! Read nonfiction! Then read some more!"
7 Keys to a Positive Learning Environment
In recent years there has been an intense focus on the achievement of students and the annual progress of schools. While academic gains are obviously important, they cannot be viewed in isolation; we must also create the conditions for learning to occur.
Plunging into Poetry
Some elementary school teachers avoid poetry because they believe it is too difficult for students to understand, they fear that poetry is too boring to generate enthusiasm for reading and writing, or they worry that they don't have the knowledge to teach poetry effectively. This lack of confidence and enthusiasm for poetry has led to a situation in which pupils are not inspired to read or write poetry for pleasure. What a shame!
Goodbye Tension, Hello Pension
Retirement is a strange and foreign thing, at least for me. I am not a new teacher, but I do have a couple of decades left in me. So whenever we approach the end of a school year, and retirement announcements circulate, I am mystified by the idea that some of my colleagues are, in fact, old enough to retire.
Happiness in Nunavut
Tusarvik School's Grade 10 English class put together this video for Sustainable Happiness in Nunavut.
News
Free eBooks for Children's Book Week
In honor of Children’s Book Week, Sylvan Dell Publishing will be offering 70 award-winning eBooks free on their website from May 7th to May 13th. This is in addition to free activities available every day on the Sylvan Dell Publishing website including a “For Creative Minds” educational section, 40-70 pages of free teaching activities, three quizzes, and a related websites page for each title. To participate in Sylvan Dell Publishing’s free eBook event, visit www.sylvandellpublishing.com and click on the Children’s Book Week icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
High School Keyboard Competition
Metalworks Institute is presenting KEYS, a competition for Canadian high school keyboard players. The competition winner will receive a full tuition scholarship to Metalworks Institute's two-year Music Performance and Technology program (Keyboard Major), which has a value of $38,900, and the competition winner's school will receive a Roland Jupiter-80 keyboard valued at $5,000, courtesy of Roland Canada. The entrants must be a student at a Canadian high school. They will be required to submit a solo video less than 4 minutes length, performing any style of music, on any type of keyboard. Deadline for submissions is May 31 and the winner will be announced on June 15. The KEYS Competition is sponsored by Roland Canada. To get more information, including competition rules and to enter the Metalworks Institute KEYS Competition, visit www.mwikeys.com. For more information on Metalworks Institute, visit www.metalworksinstitute.com.
The Big Wild Eco Challenge
Earth Day is just around the corner; do you have anything special planned? The Durham District School Board in Ontario does—“The Big Wild Eco Challenge” is a daylong event that invites students to get in touch with Canada’s Boreal forest. Through educational activities and challenges students will learn skills such as tent set up, wilderness identification, forest biodiversity and no trace camping. If you are interested in knowing more about this unit, contact caribou@cpaws.org and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society will send you information, courtesy of the Durham District School Board.
Explore Cuba
Authentic Cuba Travel is offering some interesting programs for Canadian teachers. Visit www.authenticubatours.com for details.
Correction for Moroccan Vegetable Curry Recipe Oops! We left off the last three steps for making the Moroccan Vegetable Curry dish in the November/December 2011 issue. Please go to the following link for the complete recipe.Moroccan Vegetable Curry Recipe.
Digital Literacy Tutorials for Alberta Students
Alberta Education has licensed MyWorld: A digital literacy tutorial for secondary students for all secondary schools in the province. The interactive tutorial – developed by Media Awareness Network (MNet) – offers students simulations of popular online sites to teach them about cyberbullying, hate speech, online marketing ploys and privacy protection. MyWorld also contains information on authenticating online information, reputation management, dealing with online relationships and ethical use of the Internet. MyWorld builds on an existing licence agreementAlberta has for MNet’s complementary resource for elementary students Passport to the Internet. For more information on MyWorld, visit http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/catalogue/products/descriptions/myworld.cfm.
Stop A Bully
This program, developed by a teacher in B.C., allows any student in Canada to submit a bully report directly to school officials by choosing the "Make A Report" option on the stopabully.ca website. Schools can let students know that this service is available to them, and if the staff wishes to implement the program fully, the school can join and pay a membership fee that covers the costs of the program. www.stopabully.ca.
Grade 4 & 5 Snowpass Program
The Grade 4 & 5 Snowpass Program allows students to ski and snowboard for free. Learn about the program at www.snowpass.ca or email Laura Rice at info@snowpass.ca for application forms or more information.
K.I.D.S. Website
The Kids Development Society, featured in the May 2010 issue of Canadian Teacher Magazine, has launched a new website that provides information about Rick and Adrianne's work to benefit families and communities in Southeast Asia. www.kidsdevelopmentsociety.org.
The Story of Food
USC Canada's new short, animated film will get you thinking about our broken food system. It identifies what's gone wrong, and what we can do to rebuild it. Watch it here.
Canadian School Calendar
The Canadian Education Association prepares a school calendar each year,
which is free online at www.cea-ace.ca/publication/2011-2012-school-calendar.
The School Calendar provides all opening and closing dates for primary
and secondary schools in every Canadian province and territory.
Awards for Canadian
Teachers
A number of national and provincial/territorial awards are given
to Canadian teachers each year to recognize their outstanding dedication
or innovative contributions to the field of education. For more
information see the "Other
Teaching Awards" link on the Prime Minister's Awards website.
