Category Archives: celebrations

Happy…October 31st!

celebrations, Reflections, schooling, , ,

I (Cathy) was delighted by the dancing Jack-o-lanterns that greeted me this morning from my Google home page.  It captured the celebration of fall and harvest and only hinted at the October 31st celebration that haunts many Ontario schools now as they struggle with Halloween.    Last year many schools in the Niagara School Board (in southern Ontario) banned the celebration of Halloween.  This year, in an  Port Colborne elementary school, a memo was attached to the monthly calendar requesting  students wear orange and black clothing in favour of “a more inclusive Spirit Day.”

When North Ward School in Paris, Ontario banned any celebration of Halloween in the school this year, the parents were outraged and demanded to know why. The answers they were given varied,”it interferes with children’s learning”, “teachers don’t want to put make-up on 30 children.”   When the parents asked if they could set some rules in place like, “no make-up” and “only celebrate in the afternoon” the parents were directed to Wayne Baker, the superintendent of education at Grand Erie District School Board.  On Monday, 2 parents had a two hour meeting with Baker. In the end, the parents  were simply told that the situation was a human rights issue.  It was unfortunate that the parents  were not told this from the beginning.  It was also unfortunate that the parents were not included in  the decision making process.   That’s what parent councils are for-  to be inclusive of and serve the community.

I asked a young mother yesterday (from the Halton School Board in Ontario) if her children were dressing up at school.  She smiled and answered, “Yes, but we have rules now.  No fake blood, no make up, no masks and no fake weapons.”

These rules made sense to me.  I understand that parents may want their children to celebrate the same special occasions that they did as a child.  But our society is changing and sensitivity and understanding will be needed on both sides of the Halloween fence as we adapt, especially in our schools.

On a personal note, my house is decorated, cupcakes are made for the local children (who know me) and the big basket of (my favourite) potato chips is at  the front door waiting for the  little trick-or-treaters who still celebrate- after school that is.

Happy Halloween if you celebrate. If you don’t, have a wonderful fall day!

They Made Me Eat My Words!

celebrations, education, , , , ,

Each fall and spring I (Clive) invite the students – 65 this year – in my teacher education Clive Beckcohort program to an evening potluck at our house. Most of them come, some with their spouses or significant others, and we are deluged with food – especially desserts! It is a great opportunity for them to get to know each other better and for me to finally learn all their names. It also models the type of community building and teacher-student relationship that I think is so important in any school or university class.

We had the fall party a couple of weeks ago just after our fourth class together, which was on practice teaching and the theory-practice relationship generally (sounds dull I know). One thing I had discussed with them was the importance of bringing our theories about life and education down to earth, using practical ideas that we remind ourselves of in the heat of the moment. I told them how one of the teachers in our research project was having difficulty with her class last year, so she wrote “don’t take it personally” in capital letters (DTIP) on her wrist and found it helped.

Two of the students with special IT talents arranged to have a slab cream cake made, decorated with a photo of me in blue along with three of these sayings: another was “you can’t do and be everything.” They brought the cake to the party and put it on display, and we all hoed in when dessert time came. I didn’t mind having to eat my words, they were delicious!

All About Me Books: Power of Writing Your Story

celebrations, education, Events, literacy, , ,

IMG_3099In yesterday’s blog post, Lydia talked about the All About Me book celebration we had with the student teachers in our literacy methods courses. I (Clare) want to add my comments/reflections on the activity. The “assignment” is unusual in that it is ungraded (pass/fail), there is lots of choice, and the finished product is shared with all of the other IMG_3100students. It is not just me, the professor, who reads the assignment – all of the students have an opportunity to learn from their fellow students’ work. The sharing is a wonderful way for them to learn about their fellow students and to learn about many ways to tell a story. Initially, the students are bit resistant to the assignment commenting (complaining!) about it not being graded so why should they do it or that they are not creative so they cannot do it or they cannot see how doing a book about their life will help them learn to be a literacy teacher. The process of writing their books and sharing them transforms IMG_3145their views – they come to understand the power of story, the demands of the writing process, and the importance of audience. Many commented this was the best class they have had in their university studies. One student noted: “I recognize the courage and vulnerability it takes to showcase our own work and know that without a Professor who harnesses this safe environment we wouldn’t have become such a comfortable cohort in our short weeks at OISE.”IMG_3121

All wanted to know when we were going to do “something” like this again. You will notice in these photos that the students are truly happy and engaged. Like Lydia, I was impressed with their books – their creativity was astounding, the care they took with writing their books was impressive, and their ingenuity humbled me. I learned so much from them and feel so lucky to be teaching such fine individuals.

For the literacy teachers and literacy teacher educators who follow this blog we thought we would share the assignment description with you.

IMG_3152All About Me Books

The creation of this book about you fulfills a number of purposes:

* it celebrates who you areIMG_3140

* it provides your colleagues with an opportunity to get to know you

* it celebrates the diversity of individuals in our class

* it allows your creativity to emerge and through exploration may prove new potential to you

* it provides a good resource for you to use with your students as an artifact, a way of IMG_3138introducing you to your students, a good lesson to use with them and ….

* it allows you to come to understand first-hand the complexity of the IMG_3128composing and publishing processes and it allows you to consider how various literacy formats/genres can be used with students

* it introduces you to children’s books in another way

* it is fun

IMG_3131Criteria

  1. Meaning

The All About Me text must communicate in some way who you are – it could be descriptive, autobiographic, a metaphor, …. but it must say, “This is me!” It is important to identify your intended audience; therefore, the book must match your intended audience. If, for example, you are writing it for young children, the pictures are very important and the text must be simple and IMG_3119accessible to them. If on the other hand, you are writing it for an audience of adolescents, the tone, structure and theme would be very different. Use a structure/format appropriate for the age group you choose as models.

 

Structure

IMG_3114The All About Me book must be:

* illustrated in some way (use your imagination and ingenuity here).

Any format is fine – text based, artifacts, digital …..IMG_3113

* durable for use in the classroom

* well planned

* well written (adhering to the convention of grammar and spelling)

IMG_3142Possible formats and genres for your book…IMG_3135

 

Accompanying Story on Tape Shape Books
Fairy tale, mystery, make believe Poetry Book
Banners Pop-up Books
Shape Book Wheel Book (using paper fasteners)
Accordion Book Picture Books
ABC book Books with Bookmarks
Books with Pictures and Clipart Book in a box
Books with Photographs Puppet Books
Characters from a Movie or Novel Chart Books
Dioramas Flip Books
Graphic novel/story; Comic format Television Box
Newspaper Momento book
Series of memos Menu
Series of photographs with captions Counting book
I Book Poster
Prezi Powerpoint
Video Other ….. (e.g. rap, song)

 

 

Toronto Marathon

celebrations, ,

On this blog I (Clare) have shared the many accomplishments of our team memberTony and Clare s — some academic, some personal, and some professional.  Today my brother, Tony,  ran the Toronto Marathon. He is an amazing runner and completed the 26 miles in 3 hours and 16 minutes. I was the chief cheerleader.

Congratulations Tony on a superb run. He is a great supporter of my work and I am happy to share his good news of his accomplishment. Here is a photo of us post race.

Literacy Teaching in the Community

celebrations, Events, Visitors, , , ,

Reading as an experience takes many forms. We read alone – in the comfort of our homes. We read in groups – shared reading in the classroom and book clubs. We read to connect to the broader community – through social media and the news.   This week I (Yiola) received an invitation to a  Literary Tea from the Yonge Gogos: an opportunity to engage in literacy in the community.

My aunt Valerie is a Yonge Gogo.   “Yonge” for Toronto’s famous Yonge St.  and surrounding area and “Gogo” the  African word for ‘grandmother’.  The Yonge Gogos  (how I love the play on words) are grandmothers in Canada who work with grandmothers in Africa.

http://www.grandmotherscampaign.org/?page_id=10

The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign raises funds in Canada for the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s work with community level organizations in Africa that provide grandmothers and the children in their care with the necessities of life, including counselling, nutrition, shelter, school supplies and income generation activities.

This year’s literary tea features Sally Armstrong, journalist, filmmaker, and award-winning author.  There will be a reading from her book Uprising and time to socialize.

I think an event such as this is simply amazing:  hosted by strong women in our local community who are committed to and working with strong women abroad; bringing the community together through literacy to raise money for a wonderful organization – the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Home

I find this literary event of interest because of the visiting author, the featured book, and the focus: the empowerment of women around the world.  Here is a description of the book:

Uprising: A New Age Is Dawning for Every Mother’s Daughter

From Africa to Asia to the Americas, women are the key to progress on ending poverty, violence, and conflict. Award-winning humanitarian and journalist Sally Armstrong shows us why empowering women and girls is the way forward, and she introduces us to the leading females who are making change happen, from Nobel Prize winners to little girls suing from justice. Uprising tells dramatic and empowering stories of change-makers and examines the stunning courage, tenacity and wit they are using to alter the status quo. In this landmark book that ties together feminism and our global economy, Sally Armstrong brings us the voices of the women all over the world whose bravery and strength is changing the world as we know it.

Retrieved from: http://www.speakers.ca/speakers/sally-armstrong/

Attached is the flyer for the Literary Tea. The event takes place October 19th at 2pm in Toronto.  I will be there. You too are invited to join as well. If you are able to attend please contact Ena @ 416-485-0753.  Perhaps I will see you there to share literacy teaching in the community.

sally 1 pdf

Google Doodles for FIFA World Cup 2014

celebrations, , , ,

Google’s daily doodles tend to put a smile on my (Pooja) face, as I suppose they are intended to do. The past eight days of Google’s doodles have been dedicated to the FIFA World Cup being hosted in Brazil.  To keep pace with the  World Cup, the doodles have been changing multiple times a day to reflect in real time what is happening in Brazil.

Google doodles are usually created in California, U.S.A. However, this is the first time doodles are being created outside of the U.S.A.: “[A] handful of the team’s 17 members are reacting almost in real time to games, results and events happening in the 12  World Cup venues.” (http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/google-doodles-go-international-with-fifa-world-cup-2014-544758)

Doodles are usually made months in advance, but to keep the doodles relevant they are being created only hours before we see them. The doodle team leader, Ryan Germick, stated:

 This has never been done in real time response, there is not really an event so singular where the whole world is watching. The fact is that this is a singular sport, one game is on at a time and the whole world is fixated on one match and so it is a chance to be part of the dialogue. The part we are celebrating is that the whole world comes together.

 Here are stills of my favourite Google doodles so far: 

Today’s doodle was a familiar scene for many people working in offices all around the world:

Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 9.17.09 PM

Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 9.17.28 PM

 

This doodle is set in Rio De Janeiro’s favelas. The “L” from Google is kicking the soccer ball around by itself:

Screen Shot 2014-06-22 at 1.57.54 PM

 

This doodle was featured on the first day of the World Cup. This moving doodle featured many of Rio de Janeiro’s famous sites:

Screen Shot 2014-06-22 at 2.03.34 PM

 

 

Graduation Time and New Journeys Begin

celebrations, graduate students, university,

It is that time of year again when thousands of University graduates wear their gowns and receive their degrees of academic achievement.

I (Yiola) work in the most amazing graduate/teacher education program. The Child Study and Education program (MA CSE) that is part of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). The program’s vision, structure, and content, are premised on the child being at the centre of learning. How children learn and what research says about children’s learning are central to the program. The program looks at child development and learning and grounds these notions in the varied contexts (social, cognitive, spatial) that children experience.  With this focus in mind, I teach a curriculum course and a teacher development/instructional methods course. Equity and inclusion, collaborative practice and professionalism frame my courses.

http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/ics/

This two year Masters level graduate program prepares  teacher candidates for teaching in elementary classrooms (early years to sixth grade).  The program now admits sixty students per year.  Included here is a photo of some of our graduates at our graduation reception last week. This photo is taken in front of our beautiful and unique building, the McCarthy house, located at 45 Walmer Rd. in Toronto. It is an old Toronto mansion that not only houses the MA CSE program but also contains the Toronto Laboratory School and the Laidlaw Centre (faculty from the University of Toronto).

As I watched and celebrated with our graduates this year I heard of the many journeys that were upcoming: many are now on the Toronto District School Board hiring list and will be occasional teachers in Fall, some are going on to PhD programs, a few are traveling to places around the world to explore and contribute to schooling systems abroad (India, Brazil), some graduates are entering the independent school system.  I wish every graduate much success and happiness as they embark on new challenges and adventures.

Mostly, I wish the graduates of the MA CSE program a continued sense of commitment and passion for instilling a love of learning, a sense of confidence and an “joie de vivre” in the lives of all the children they teach.

Some of the amazing graduates from the MA CSE program. I (Yiola) and 2nd from the left. Next to me is my wonderful colleague Prof. Dale Willows.
Some of the amazing graduates from the MA CSE program. I (Yiola) am 2nd from the left. Next to me is my wonderful colleague Prof. Dale Willows.

World Cup: A Global Celebration

celebrations, Events, , ,

FIFAMy (Clare) work productivity has taken a real tumble the past week with not much hope of it improving for the next three weeks. Watching the World Cup seems to have become my main occupation. For many years I have been a real fan of the World Cup. I was introduced to the World Cup in 1988; however, at that time, few games were broadcast because the television market in Canada was miniscule. Oh how things have changed. The entire tournament is now broadcast (and repeated throughout the night). The World Cup has its drama – questionable calls by the refs, diving players, FIFA’s “unusual” decisions, and rowdy fans. Nevertheless, I love the way the world comes together to cheer their team and join in a global celebration.

Italian teamAt this point, I am not celebrating my team — Italy. Their recent play was lackluster as they lost to Costa Rica. But I will be watching them on Tuesday (probably on live feed on my computer at work) and if disaster strikes I will transfer my allegiance to another team. One of my dreams is to attend a World Cup game. I will probably never see Canada on this stage but I am still rejoicing in this amazing show of athleticism and strategy. In Toronto – the most multicultural city in the world – every team has a fan base. Many cars have flags attached to their car windows revealing their allegiance. I love that some cars wave flags for a number of teams. What team are you cheering for? Who do you think will win the tournament? (With Spain and England packing to go home the field has opened up.)

 

Clare Kosnik awarded 2014 JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award

celebrations, graduate students, literacy, Literacy teacher educators, Teacher education, , , , , , ,

 

clare u of tYesterday, we (Clare’s grad students) had the honour of seeing Clare awarded the 2014 JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award. Professor Brian Corman, Dean of Graduate Studies (Uof T), acted as MC for the proceedings. Dean Corman reported there were many distinguished applications and the selection committee was under great pressure. However, the decision to award Clare was unanimous. 19 letters from present and former grad students were included in the application. Dean Corman shared some of the comments written in the letters: “epitome of a pedagogy of caring”, “challenged me to think deeply”, “met with me weekly, which after talking to other grad students, I realized other supervisors did not do”.  Clearly, her students  felt privileged to have worked and be working with her.

While accepting the award, Clare suggested doctoral supervision was a terrific topic for a research study. She shared that as she read the letters she was astounded by the differences in what the doctoral students said mattered to them. We hope someone takes Clare up on this suggestion.  They should begin the study with Clare.  Using her work ethic as a model, many other grad students might have the opportunity to work with a supervisor as dedicated, caring and wise as Clare.
Congratulations, Clare! Well deserved.

photo 1clareclare 2clare and us