I feel like garbage - I've got COVID. It might have come from my class, where I've watched one, then 3, then 7 students marked absent with the COVID code over a 5-day period (I got sick day 5).
It's like red ink bleeding across my seating plan.
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To be fair it might have come from my 3 year old, who can't yet be vaccinated and spends days with other unvaccinated children.
It might have come from my 6 yo, despite the KF94s we bought for him.
Maybe my spouse, who is a music teacher and sees hundreds of kids a week.
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Teachers and others have been critical of the provincial reentry plan not because they are hysterical, as you suggest, but because the plan was sorely lacking.
We were concerned that COVID would spread in schools (it has).
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Sep 16, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
3rd week of back to school, some thoughts:
I saw two different family members today. One dropped off a loaf of bread, knocked on the door, then retreated down the stairs for a distanced visit. The second came to the door and masked before talking to us.
And it hit me...
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It's going to be a lonely year.
This summer, our cohort included these people. Because my spouse and I are both teachers, our cohort is now more than 200 other children. And our own family support group aren't part of it any more. They can't be.
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Aug 21, 2020 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
Further to Dr. Robinson's oft-quoted, now clarified Journal op-ed, this interview sheds light on why experts like Robinson and Hinshaw are more confident about our school reopening plans than many teachers.
Why are many teachers concerned? A thread:
omny.fm/shows/ryan-jes…1. Social benefits: Teachers are 100% on board with the fact that in person learning is better than online, for a swath of reasons
We agree.
Emergency remote learning was hard. Intentional online learning is better, but there's no substitute for butts in seats. Let's move on.
Jan 31, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Curriculum Panel:
We can agree that some students in grades 1-5 struggle with literacy or numeracy.
We know that the earlier that these students are identified and can access extra supports, the better.
The panel and I don't disagree here. The panel and I DO disagree...
The curriculum panel and I DO disagree on how those students are best identified.
Standardized testing for early years students would catch some, sure, but is it effective? My high school students take standardized tests. Sometimes they are a good measure. Sometimes not.
Dec 4, 2019 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
"In Canada, socio-economically advantaged students outperformed disadvantaged students in reading
by 68 score points in PISA 2018. This is smaller than the average difference between the two groups
(89 score points) across OECD countries."
Ok, we're doing well. Marginally better than our southern neighbors. But this isn't what interests me... /2
Nov 29, 2019 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
I don't even know where to begin here...
1. I DON'T expect that a minister will necessarily have a background in their portfolio, and I know that the experience of a trustee is removed from the classroom.
...2. I DO expect that a minister will work to understand their portfolio, by doing things such as meeting with front-line workers, stakeholders, and reading important framework documents (like curricula)....
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