I’ve written about this before, but this year, Gord Downie, of The Tragically Hip fame has had an impact in my classroom. Long story short, The Hip is largely considered to be Canada’s official band. Their songs, with Downie’s lyrics, are frequently poetic ruminations on our country and identity. In May of last year, Downie […]
Author: Jay
Mentor Text Wednesday: The Tweet-o-graphic
Mentor Text: Women of Isis Infographic by Karishma Sheth & Thomas Alberty Writing Techniques: Editing Purpose Presentation Background: I’m a huge fan of The Best American Series. As a reader, and a teacher, I find them valuable beyond compare. There are a handful, such as poetry, non-required reading, short stories and science-fiction and fantasy, that […]
Resolutions
2016 is just about done. That, as we all know, makes it resolution time. Even if we’re not publicly stating them, we’re making them. Of course, as teachers, we did this already, back at the beginning of the school year, right? And, well, we’re sort of consistently making resolutions throughout the school year, as a […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: The Unique Narrator
Mentor Text: The Book Thief by Markus Zusakand The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom Writing Techniques: Point of View Voice Background: December, as we all know well, is busy. Really busy. Which makes it one of the worst times to get engrossed in a book. But I did it anyway. See, I had […]
The Poetry and Image Pairing
Sometimes, when we’re really, really lucky, many of our goals and passions weave together in wonderful ways. In 2016, I decided I wanted to dedicate myself to exploring poetry more deeply, partly for my work with my students, but also, because of what poetry is, and how moving it can be. I also wanted to […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Reflecting On the Year’s End
Mentor Text: The Quietus Albums of The Year 2016 Writing Techniques: Writing an Introduction Reflective Writing Background: I sat to write this week’s post with an idea in mind. Alas, it seems impossible for me to operate a browser that has but one tab open, so I opened a couple of websites, and took a […]
The Important Thing I Remembered This Week
The last few weeks have been insane. I had the usual chaos of report card time. My wife is an early years teacher, with reports due a week after mine. There were the meetings, marking, planning, teaching and normal joyful chaos of our work. We also have two wonderful children, that add so much to […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: A Transcendent Review
Mentor Text: TV Review – The Walking Dead S05E09: What’s Happening and What’s Going On by Regina Lizik Writing Techniques: Writing Reviews Background: Sometimes, a mentor text sits in your files for a long time. You wait for a need for it, or a reason to pull it out. Sometimes, you’ve saved it knowing that […]
#squadgoals or The Importance of Collaboration & Community
Frequently, I seem to find myself with a work related catchphrase, something I find myself repeating in classes, in meetings, and in PD opportunities. It becomes a key part of my philosophy for a time. This year, I find myself harping on the fact that what we do, as teachers, is a human endeavour. When […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Drawing Opinion and Response
Mentor Text: WE by Nick Sousanis Writing Techniques: Expressing Opinion Visual Thinking Background: As I write this, I’m beginning the multigenre project with my Grade 11 class. They’ve done some research around a topic that falls into the realm of global issues that interests them, and will use the multigenre project to present their learning […]
moving writers 