@Shamlet

The main difference between an educator and a columnist who dabbles in education writing is that the educator looks at exam scores as useful but really quite tentative, context-specific data points, while the columnist thinks they're looking at standings in a sports league

The main difference between an educator and a columnist who dabbles in education writing is that the educator looks at exam scores as useful but really quite tentative, context-specific data points, while the columnist thinks they're looking at standings in a sports league

mountain in the background, a frozen lake, and burnt, blackened trees in the foreground

Spent the weekend in post-wildfire Jasper and the unsettling juxtaposition of beauty and burnt trees, scars of devastation and signs of recovery

Everything we have and are is so fragile, and also not

Prairie Chick Prints gift pencils with sayings on them: Pencil Pusher 2B or Not 2B Lookin' Sharp Broken Pencils are Pointless Write On

And for all these centuries we thought Hamlet was talking about existence

top half: blue sky in the left corner with sweeping blue-grey clouds bottom half: distant mountain range with snow-covered brush in the foreground and a couple of trees

skies and peaks -- beauty as a bulwark against it all

Posting about something other than The Big Event Of The Day does not mean you are unaware or unconcerned or unconsumed. It often means you are striving to remain stable and sane.

the front of Cassios Italian Restaurant, Jasper Alberta

Putting those troubled days with Iago and Othello behind him, Cassio enjoyed a long and successful tenure as Governor of Cyprus and then moved to the Canadian Rockies to open an Italian restaurant

Teach poetry with knowledge and zeal, and also share precisely what it is about poetry that makes your life richer and better, why it is worth someone's time

top third: blue cloud-dappled sky middle third: mountain in the background, flanked by pine trees bottom third: snow-covered lake

snow-covered hill with a deer moving right to left, mountain in the background, pine trees on both sides of the foreground

semi-frozen, semi-flowing river, mountains and trees in the distance, snow-covered log in the bottom foreground

semi-frozen, semi-flowing river, mountains in the distance, pine trees on the right and left foreground

Jasper is scarred by wildfire, but still as breathtaking as ever

the end of the madness will begin in a field

One of the most basic and most devastating consequences of tech is that it has made people forget that knowledge is valuable and hard-won

English teacher life: I cannot pay attention to any tv guest panelist speaking from their office or den because I'm looking at the books on the shelves behind them

English teacher life: just turn poet into a verb, as in "tomorrow we're going to poet all class"

Fair. Probably I'm in the echo chamber (or just hopelessly naive) thinking it will make any difference.

Meanwhile over here, it's all about how broken McDavid will be after another catastrophic disappointment

@julianday.ca Man, how does the goalie go back to Winnipeg after this

That lost version of Hamlet 1.2 where Laertes gets a medal and Hamlet gets accused of ruining Denmark

In 3.4 of Macbeth, the king's unhinged, paranoiac ranting moves from unsettling to intolerable with startling speed. The thanes depart in disorder and the incoherent spectacle is a key turning point. They are done.

YouTube video by Prime Minister of Canada Prime Minister Carney delivers remarks at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

A speech from a world leader that is focused, coherent, articulate, and worthy of rhetorical analysis in the classroom

a Honey Nut Cheerios cereal box featuring a picture of Marie-Philip Poulin, captain of Team Canada and a five-star national hero

In Canada, the players on the women's national hockey team are deepy respected and admired as the heroes they are, and we put them in commercials and on cereal boxes and stuff

English teacher life: if you haven't spent a couple of hours putting a poetry booklet together by copying and cutting and taping a few pages from various anthologies, have you actually lived

a snow-covered driveway and branches covered with wet snow

Enjoy seeing a sense of wonder and novelty -- and some beautiful pics! -- in response to amounts of snowfall that in my neck of the woods we would call a regular winter Tuesday

This was November 8

If there's a leaderboard for 2026 word of the year, "immiserate" must surely be in the lead at this point. Never really saw it before, but seems to be popping up quite regularly now.

Which tells you a lot about how 2026 is going

Agreed, though the US women were the class of the tournament. Both Canadian teams needed one more goal, and when you don't get it, crazy things can happen.

In normal times, it wouldn't be that big a deal, but with the US threatening our very existence, sports takes on more meaning than it should --

Beautiful shots!

That wasn’t the game, nor the Games, Canada wanted One perfect hockey game could have washed over Canada’s medals total and the CoC’s funding warnings, but then Jack Hughes started dancing

Solid analysis -- and "Matthew Tkachuk, draped in an American flag like a hillbilly George Washington" gets pretty high marks on the simile scale 👏

a frozen river with winter-bare trees, evergreens, and snow on either bank ; blue-grey sky

to live in a cold place is to know a certain kind of calm, silent, frightening beauty

It's just a game, but damn I really wish we'd won that game 🍁🏒

The key to late-career teaching is doing your best to weather the physical and emotional wear and tear that has accumulated in your life over decades -- health, losses, responsibilities, fears

Prime Minister Carney is presented a jersey by the national women’s hockey team.

Prime Minister Carney watches the Winter Olympics.

Prime Minister Carney poses for a photo, wearing a hockey jersey.

Prime Minister Carney watches the Winter Olympics.

Could not be more proud of you, Team Canada.
 
You’re coming home with 21 hard-fought Olympic medals. Though what Canadians will remember most is how you wore the Maple Leaf: with pride, with grit, and with determination.

A good time to go shopping in Canada right now -- stores are empty because everyone's at home post-game, crying or napping or both