Where’s Hugh?

Hello Everyone, In every darkness there is light and the incredible books that have been turned out during Covid is splendid proof. Lockdown lead to much creativity and as a result we have a stellar line up for this year's Book Circle! Each was selected based on Prize winning, or buzz, or being one of my favourite authors... I am very excited to dive into these. Any will make an amazing holiday gift. Enjoy! In no particular order here they are:

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...