Our plan to move to the Yukon and for me to substitute teach is going pretty well. I’ve been working more than not over the last month and the last week I have been in school everyday. I’ve been covering a year 7 class and it’s been fun.
Our first peak at the Northern Lights. Photo courtesy of Christa Galloway. You can see more on her blog theroadnorth.ca
Plan coming together
Our plan to move to the Yukon and for me to substitute teach is going pretty well. I’ve been working more than not over the last month and the last week I have been in school everyday. I’ve been covering a year 7 class and it’s been fun. Mostly. Of course as a substitute there’s no real responsibility beyond making sure all hell doesn’t break loose and delivering the lessons as best as you can that are prepped by the class teacher. I have enjoyed working with the older students although truth be told I am a little aghast at the levels they seem to be performing at, their attitude to learning and their inability to work independently. This is in no way a reflection of their teacher who I think has worked miracles to get them to where they are. Personally it has got me thinking about standards and how to improve attitude and attainment in students such as the ones I have been teaching the past few days. A by product of these thoughts has been to catch myself starting to care about such things which is only possible when you start getting to know students. Of course as a sub, teaching here and there that doesn’t really happen so the last four days have been a real treat.
Bad Blogger
The last little while has been busy and I have found myself neither writing my journal nor my blog. It is becoming obvious that I will need to be much more disciplined, which ironically I was discussing with the class today. What is going to help me is that we are on a limited bandwidth here which means that unlimited streaming is not an option. Consequently I will not be able to come home from work and just plonk myself down in front of the TV for the duration of the evening. Getting into some sort of work ethos now will not only help my blogging efforts but will also help once studies come my way.
The older I become the more aware I am of what I eat. Mainly, truth be told, because it is no longer possible to eat and drink willy nilly without consequences. There was a time when the weekend binge meant nothing, but soon after my 35th birthday things began to change. Now, 10 years later I eat too much, drink a bottle of wine and bam there you have five pounds. The rest of the week that is spent eating carefully and abstaining from wine means it goes but still it’s annoying.
A really healthy snack is dehydrated fruit. It’s even something you can do yourself with a little investment.
What our children eat matters as well
The older I become the more aware I am of what I eat. Mainly, truth be told, because it is no longer possible to eat and drink willy nilly without consequences. There was a time when the weekend binge meant nothing, but soon after my 35th birthday things began to change. Now, 10 years later I eat too much, drink a bottle of wine and bam there you have five pounds. The rest of the week that is spent eating carefully and abstaining from wine means it goes but still it’s annoying.
Of course, when you start thinking about what you eat and where it comes from, I mean really think about it, you end up not eating much at all. From engineered meat products to miserable animals and inhumane practices to genetically modified seeds to too much sugar and or salt in everything it is no wonder that the western world has a problem with obesity and cancer.
But I digress. What got me thinking about this was lunchtime at school. Over the last week I have been substitute teaching and supervising the children’s lunch is part of that. When I was teaching before there were dinner ladies and so I was never really conscious of what my students were ingesting. I was still of an age where my metabolism was coping with anything I was throwing at it and so food wasn’t, embarrassingly, a consideration. But now after a year of conscious eating I am more aware than ever of food. Not just the quantity but the quality. I have to say with a few exceptions, the students I have seen are not eating well. So why is this important?
Before I go further I should say that this is not an exercise at finger pointing. I know the effort it takes to eat properly. Not only effort but money and knowledge. Our own family meals sometimes fall short, even knowing what we do, and having more money than many families. So it is no surprise that many hard working parents find it difficult to put together a balanced lunch with the recommended nutrients that can be eaten in 25 minutes. As educators we need to consider the fact that more and more of the research suggests that what we eat really matters. Not only in terms of physical well being but in cognition and mental health as well. So this really is something that we should be concerned about.
What do I mean by not eating well? I mean a lot of processed foods, sugary drinks and sugary snacks. Students pack lunches that I saw lacked evidence of fruit, veg or much that looks unprocessed.
Why is this bad? The most obvious is we know that processed foods and excess sugar intake are a big part of why there is an epidemic in obesity. (You can see some alarming stats here from the Childhood Obesity Foundation.) But more than that there is a growing body of research out there that is linking diet to mental health as well as cognition. There is a great article from the people at the Mental Health Foundation in the UK that can get you started. But in short it’s suggesting that eating a balanced diet is central to a persons mental well being. It goes further to suggest that there is evidence,
“that food plays an important contributing role in the development, management and prevention of specific mental health problems such as depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease.”
— Mental Health Foundation
WOW – just think about that for a moment and what that means for students and educators.
How many students after their lunch are “off the rails” how many of them come into school in the morning not having had breakfast? Those students, in all probability are the same one’s who are not getting much if any proper nutrition at all. Because if they are not getting breakfast or a balanced lunch then the chances that they are getting a wholesome dinner are slim to none. This has consequences for them as a student, obviously, and for the school as well.
What can be done about this? Well school meals are one possible avenue and done properly would at least ensure one decent meal a day. A breakfast club is another. But of course this takes money and to do it properly lots of money that is not available, especially in these days of frugality. So we are left with educating the students and encouraging parents to provide nutritious and eatable meals that don’t take longer than 30 minutes to consume. So in that vein here are several links to websites that will provide you with ideas. I have to say some are better than others and these are only there as a reference – I’m not endorsing them in anyway and nor are they in any specific order.
From BonAppetite.com 25 Quick and Easy School Lunches to Pack for Your Kids. Some of the nutritional benefits of these may be a little suspect but there’s some good ideas too.
BBCGoodFood.com A little bit gourmet perhaps but they definitely look delicious.
Some great ideas from womansday.com not only on what to pack but how to get your child more engaged.
I am still waiting to hear from Alberta Professional Standards. At this point paranoia starts to seep in. Is there something wrong, my degrees not up to par, my grades were sub par. Of course that’s all ridiculous I was a qualified teacher in the UK and so I would fall over backwards if they turned around and said my degree had no meaning here in Canada.
The view from our deck, Mount Lorne, Yukon
I am still waiting to hear from Alberta Professional Standards. At this point paranoia starts to seep in. Is there something wrong, my degrees not up to par, my grades were sub par. Of course that’s all ridiculous I was a qualified teacher in the UK and so I would fall over backwards if they turned around and said my degree had no meaning here in Canada.
At the end of last year there seemed a possibility that I could teach in NWT. Apparently each year in January a number of teachers don’t return from their holiday vacation and consequently the territory is desperate for teachers to take their place. Unfortunately having spoken to the lady in charge of recruiting teachers they are unable to consider me as my degree has not been validated by any Canadian teaching organization. It turns out that until that happens I will be unable to find a position anywhere in Canada.
On a brighter note; on the way to discovering that it turns out that in the Yukon you are able to substitute teach with pretty much no qualifications at all. If you are qualified it a bonus and you get more money but the bar to entry is finishing school and a police record check.
So having talked to the substitute teacher co-ordinator here in Whitehorse, a lovely lady called Lynn, we decided to pack up our bags and relocate from Midland ON, to Whitehorse, YT. After travelling 8 days and covering around 5500km we arrived safely. You can read more about the journey at theroadnorth.ca.
We have settled in a place outside of Whitehorse (more of which I will write about at a later date) and tomorrow I will be introducing myself to the elementary schools in the area in the hope that I will be getting some substitute teaching work. Wish me luck.
I’ve been reading a piece by Andrea Elliot writing for the New York Times called Invisible Child. It is an incredible piece of journalism – the sort of journalism that really illustrates the power of words. This quote came from it –
a metropolis rived by inequality and indifference.
the quote and indeed the piece is a sad inditement of society and in particular ours. While the piece is based in New York what’s really upsetting is that I suspect the little girls story is not a unique one. The quote is not one of those you would find on a wall a top a pretty picture. But the piece does have plenty of implications for educators who struggle to make a difference to these children’s lives. You can read the whole thing here. It a long read but really well worth your time.
Quite early on after I decided to return to teaching I discovered there was a community going by the #cdnedchat which met every Monday evening and discussed all things education.
When I was involved in photography I used twitter on and off and over the five years I gained around 2500 followers. I was never convinced of it’s effectiveness, which probably says more about me than Twitter.
Quite early on after I decided to return to teaching I discovered there was a community going by the #cdnedchat which met every Monday evening and discussed all things education. I thought I would sit in and see what it was all about. I have to say initially I was very sceptical that communicating in 140 characters or less would result in anything meaningful being learned. I was wrong! It is moderated by a number of educators, @cdnedchat, @thecandydish, @msvalios, @neurophilomath to name a few (apologies to anyone who should be in this list and isn’t). Each week a specific topic is discussed. There are dozens of people involved and I suspect many more lurking, all who have ideas and thoughts to share often with links to relevant articles. It’s like having a crash course in the topic of the week and provides plenty of food for thought as well as references to research further. As someone coming back into education it’s a pretty amazing resource and one I hope to be able to continue to take part in each week as we head out west.
So it turns out that Twitter, in the right context used correctly can be an amazing tool for learning. I am going to hazard a guess that this is the case for any tech in classrooms. You can’t just throw it in there and hope for great learning outcomes. It needs to be thoughtfully deployed and the learning outcomes planned just like any other area of the curriculum.
“When people have no choice, life is almost unbearable. As the number of available choices increases, as it has in our consumer culture, the autonomy, control, and liberation this variety brings are powerful and positive. But as the number of choices keeps growing, negative aspects of having a multitude of options begin to appear. As the number of choices grows further, the negatives escalate until we become overloaded. At this point, choice no longer liberates, but debilitates. It might even be said to tyrannize.”
I already mentioned that waiting is not something I do well. It’s doubly true when the thing that I am waiting for has implications for not just my future but that of my family as well.
interesting news
A friend of our recently (well in the last year) became enamoured with a teacher. He’d been teaching in The Northwest Territories for the last three years. He had interesting tales to tell as well as news that they often struggle for teachers after Christmas when many teachers decide that they haven’t got what it takes to teach in Northwest Territories.
I already mentioned that waiting is not something I do well. It’s doubly true when the thing that I am waiting for has implications for not just my future but that of my family as well.
interesting news
A friend of our recently (well in the last year) became enamoured with a teacher. He’d been teaching in The Northwest Territories for the last three years. He had interesting tales to tell as well as news that they often struggle for teachers after Christmas when many teachers decide that they haven’t got what it takes to teach in Northwest Territories.
So after some initial inquires I found that this was true and having talked to Christa decided that this may well be an avenue for us to explore. It doesn’t change the fact that I will still have to complete studies to get certified but if I can get a position teaching then I wouldn’t need to do a teaching practice / practicum. The main benefit being that I will be being paid while I do my studies.
the kicker
Having discovered then, that teaching in Northwest Territories is a potential option waiting on Alberta Ed agains becomes a pressing concern. I had resigned myself to a September 2014 start so no real pressure but now with this possibility I need them to validate my degree. Once it is validated then I can apply for positions. I won’t be certified but with it validated then it will allow me to apply for positions and I will be on my way back into a classroom.
*sigh*
So with all the exciting news from Northwest Territories I eagerly emailed Professional Standards in Alberta. We are fast approaching the sixty business days since they had all the documents they required, which was how long they suggested I would have to wait until I had news (to be fair this was a minimum but you know I’m an optimist) so I was hoping they’d say yep – any day soon. Instead this is what I got:
Dear Richard,
All files are evaluated in date order of completion and there are still a number of files ahead of yours to evaluate. As soon as it is completed, you will be notified.
As I have started to research the educational blogosphere a couple of thinks occur to me. First that there is A LOT of information out there. I mean huge amounts, way too much for anyone person to consume in a day. So how do you cut through the chaff to find the wheat without it taking forever? I know full well once I start teaching again there will be little time to waste wading through blog after blog looking for relevant and useful information.
The second thing I have noticed is that very little is about primary/elementary/early years education. I look at my Feedly page and there is not one site dedicated to pre-secondary education. There probably is and I just haven’t found them yet but still it will take some research where the sites I have found to date have been found organically, so to speak.
update – so a quick google for elementary school blogs brings up this site – which has a link to all the blogs you would need. So it’s a little out of date but still a great resource.
I’m in the process of reading Mindset by Carol Dweck and it’s funny to realise that for much of my adult life many aspects of my world have been dominated by a fixed mindset. It’s slowly changed over the years but I really would have like to have come across this book sooner.
Sue hails from Australia and started her professional life as a lecturer. I ‘met’ Sue Waters taking part in an online course about blogging in an educational setting. Sue is a big part of the team at edublogs who provide blogs for educators. We have been blogging for a long time as Isis Photography so it was interesting to hear about blogging from an educational perspective. Sue was a fountain of information and was kind enough to allow me to ask some questions about who is Sue and what is blogging. You can read the full interview here. Thank you so much to Sue for being a great sport.
