Anti-Bullying (Pink Shirt) Day
The last Wednesday of February is known as Anti-Bullying Day (also known as “Pink Shirt Day”) in Canada. Originally, the day started as a protest against a bullying incident at a high school in Nova Scotia against a male student who wore a pink shirt to school. On this day participants are asked to wear pink to symbolize a stand against bullying. On Wednesday February 29th, several brave individuals took to the stage to share their stories of bullying, their experiences with hatred, taunting and outright malicious behaviour. I sat in the audience and heard my colleague and...
Read MoreThey all grow up sometime…
The other day was a moment for me in my teaching career that I had yet to have experienced. Before I began my teaching career, even before I went to teacher’s college, I spent one year working a part-time job and tutoring students in mathematics. For a short time period of a few months, I tutored at this agency where I worked twice a week with various students of varied ability. However, I can’t say that I really enjoyed that, so I started tutoring from home. One of my students was a young musician in Grade 12. He struggled a little bit with math but more so needed some...
Read MoreYou sank my Battleship!!
The grade 7s just finished a quick unit called Coordinate Geometry, basically learning how to plot points on the Cartesian plane. The kids learned about Rene Descartes (who as the story goes created the Cartesian plane by looking up at the flies on his ceiling while he was bed-ridden) and we challenged them to a newly designed game of Coordinate Geometry. Mr. Barry and I set up a chat window for the students to call coordinates from one room to the other, some were assigned our battlefield and others were in charge of strategizing our attack on Mr. Barry’s class. A very tech savvy...
Read MoreMathbucks
Having had so many warmer than average winter days, Mr. Barry and I knew that the timing of our excursion to our neighbourhood Starbucks would be met with some daunting winter weather! However, no amount of snow or wind could keep our Grade 7s from having a great time venturing over to have their desired beverage while challenging their mathematical abilities by calculating which size was the best purchase in terms of percentage volume and price change. Many of the customers watched with curiosity and even began discussions of their own. Some commented that they wish they had done similar...
Read MoreA Good Thought
The most important thing we can learn – or teach – at any School – in a world of perpetual change – is the ability to go on learning. None of us have all the answers – quite often we don’t even know what questions to ask. Nor can we discern the road ahead by looking in a rear-view mirror. Past lessons must constantly be renewed and reapplied, as we adapt to new technologies and new expectations. (Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Foundation Ceremony for the AKU Graduate School of Media and Communications, Nairobi, Kenya 27 July 2011)
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