Where’s Hugh?

Happy New Year all! I haven't posted in some time as I have been heads down as most people: trying to survive the lockdown, the virus, constant changes to work conditions, etc.  But I am back to blogging in 2021 now that 2020 is done - and good riddance too! Most of 2020 was a write-off of course, but a some great things did come out of the year: some great books! I have started a Book Circle with some friends for 2021. We will read a book every month and pass it on until we have worked through 12 titles. It is a great way to keep reading when all you want to do is binge Netflix and eat Pot of Gold Chocolates on the couch.  I am excited to read all of these books and encourage those of you who read any/all of them to respond with your comments/opinions on the selections.  Here is my TOP Twelve list of reads for 2021 made up primarily of books published in 2020 in no particular order. Happy Reading! #1 is Hamnet & Judith , by Maggie O'Farrell.  #2 is The Glass Hot...

Why don’t we hire new Teacher grads and use debt forgiveness instead of pay? Why don’t we use community centres and libraries to supplement much needed classroom space?  Why not use nursing students to take temperatures in schools? Why not reopen all of the schools the board has closed in past 10 years like Greenwood CI and Scarlett Heights?  Why not have board office employees work from home and use board admin buildings as extra classroom space?

How should we approach the opening of school in Sept?  Schools of the future need to be rethought.  When I started teaching I wrote a letter from the future to each of my students asking them to attend their 30 year high school reunion. ( I was younger then so I figured 30 years out I would still be able to attend. ) The idea was to get students to picture themselves as adults and to imagine a future they have helped shape. I received wonderful letters from future dentists, artists and millionaires. The return address to the invitation was “School name, Community Learning Support Centre”. In the future of education that I pictured schools would be community spaces that would double as senior learning centres as well as community resource places.  I thought of that this week as I read a proposal in a NYTimes OpEd by Dr. S Jogee, an Astronomy professor and parent, suggesting we make kids stay home this fall if they can access online learning and leave schools open to only t...

Here’s the best line that I’ve read in a while:   “Restaurants get eulogies. Airlines get bailouts. Shakespeare gets kicked when he’s down.” It’s sooo true. Sure says a lot about what we value as a society. I walk a lot with a friend- we start each day off with a 1 hour walk in Earl Bales Park. It’s gorgeous and energizing and I cannot do without it. One morning my walking partner asked me “Is Covid-19 is God’s response to human kind’s hubris?” This is a deeper topic than we typically cover in our morning walks. We usually discuss distance learning/teaching challenges, why dogs should be on leashes, and how gorgeous the forest looks today... But hubris? God? Wait up! It’s too early for this... But as you can tell, the question has stayed with me, because I think it is true: not the God part- but the hubris part. I’m partial to Greek philosophy and the concept of our creating our own circumstances, and I often teach the nature of humankind as seen through literature. So I was d...