A text I sent after my first day of a longterm sub in a low-income, high-needs middle school, after being exclusively secondary: "these kids are going to be the end of me. I don't know how I'm going to do this."
Now at the end of week one, and I would die for each and every one of these hooligans.
One of my favourite papers of all time from the Canadian Paediatric Society.
Kids need to learn to take risks and fail when the stakes are small and they have mentors to help correct the course and develop skills of risk assessment. #edusky
cps.ca/en/documents...
I don't play nearly as much as when I was a student, but the idea of playing some minecraft with global teachers is a very intriguing one!
Today I was doing a Coding&Robotics outreach program at a different school, and a wide-eyed 6th grader looked at me and excitedly declared: "You look like Thor from the avengers!"
And I will never let it go my friends. Never.
Really got a hoot out of this comic - wanted to share.
#iteachenglish📖
Students submitting AI generated papers to a teacher grading them by plugging them into the same AI is very.. dystopian. It's just a robot reflecting on it's own work.
Though I feel like there's a mildly entertaining short story in there somewhere.
Friends of #edusky - I would love if you dropped your substack (or your favourites to read) down below! There are some great perspectives on my feed and I would love to hear about it in long form.
Huh, interesting. My sole experience in secondary (both as a teacher and student) was with a 5 course schedule, with a switch over after christmas to a fresh 5 courses (except ELA, which goes full-year). In my undergrad I did an overloaded semester with 7 classes. Absorbed so much less per class.
Totally anecdotal based on primary teacher and ECE friends. But there's definitely an uptick in deficits around socialization, self-regulation etc. in their spaces. It's good to hear that it isn't a blanket issue in all classrooms though!
I'm hearing a lot about the early years. Those that were toddlers during the pandemic.
🎯 - but i'll add: these stays important even after graduation.
"To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."
Also, play is important. Play brings joy, and you deserve joy.
My Education degree did so much (neccessary!) learning on pedagogies and different ways to structure learning. But so little on anything that goes on outside instructional time. Which is so much of the job! Your podcast has been a shining light in a lot of those areas, so thank you :)
Which podcasts has #edusky been listening to lately? Rural commute has me burning through episodes. My favorites right now:
Cult of Pedagogy by @cultofpedagogy.bsky.social (obviously)
The Creative Classroom
The Broken Copier @marcusluther.bsky.social (a recent add to rotation thanks to bluesky!)
Math isn't my domain. This is just lovely inspiration for making curriculum fun and approachable for students.
To have been a fly on the wall during the societal responsibilities discussion. Those moments of watching the youngins start to think deeper, building their bigger picture worldview, is one of the great joys of working with them.
It involves a touch of french revolutionism, but trust, things get rosy as heck afterwards
A great commentary.
"...public education needs to challenge, broaden, and complicate students’ relationships to the country’s traditions and their attendant commitments, not extinguish difference."
I remain awed by Greg Ashman's sheer commitment to not understanding inquiry-based & constructivist pedagogies. And for all of the caricatures offered of ideas he dislikes, "fully explained" & "fully demonstrated" are load bearing concepts that are themselves soft as butter. 🙄
And facilitating a constructivist approach may take more time, leading to less overall content being taught in the classroom. But it sets kids up for a more enriching life of learning for themselves past graduation.
Well said! A large chunk of the population is only in formal education for the first 18/80ish years of their life. It's important to foster a population who know how to seek out and construct their knowledge past secondary - as well as think in the grey. Explicit instruction still has a place.
If you don't mind having a bit of a newbie on the feed.. hello!
Hi friends! 👋
I've been engaging on #EduSky more than I expected, so I just wanted to make a quick thread to introduce myself.
I recently made the career switch from social work to classroom teaching. While it's been a trial by fire - I couldn't be more pleased with the shift.
1984 because themes of information suppression, the dangers of totalitarianism, and media literacy are evergreen - possibly more relevant than ever. Gatsby, because the prose is so pretty it makes my heart flutter.
Fantastic read - and a very helpful, timely one. As a first year teacher I've been trying to find authentic, meaningful ways for these kids to connect with and through writing. I'll definitely be taking several notes from this article moving forward 🙌
