#OntEd
Teacher Innovation Advocate - Totally outrageous on here - Prime Ministers Award for Teaching Excellence Certificate of Achievement Recipient - He/Him
Last month the partnership between
@osstf
and researchED ended. This is the direct result of the advocacy of many.
@BBFarhadi
and I tried to document the journey so that others can continue to ask critical questions of this organization.
#OntEd
My heart aches for Indigenous communities with news of more unmarked grave sites and hundreds more children who never returned home.
We must confront and learn from this horrific side of history, including here in Ontario, so families may find the closure they deserve.
I think this stance falls in line with my own education philosophy.
I'm not the controller of knowledge, doling it out when I see fit.
I am a facilitator of learning, a mentor to young adults and a partner in their in their individual education needs.
Ok, great families, you've got the playgrounds open.
Keep making noise to get
- paid sick leave for essential workers
- vaccination priority for essential workers and hot spots
- financial compensation for those unable to work
#OnPoli
Students have more computing power in their pocket then I ever had in school. And they are EXPERTS at using those devices...so I made use of that.
"Add your questions to the google doc I just shared, anyone can answer these questions. Yes you can do this on your phone."
NEW: Premier Doug Ford, during a Holocaust memorial event at Queen's Park, turns his attention to pro-Palestinian demonstrators and campus occupiers.
"We need to remove those people," Ford says. "These universities have to make a move."
Ford calls the protests "disturbing" and
So…four more years of this shit.
Honestly I blame the Liberals and NDP who couldn’t be bothered to work together for the ~60% of Ontario who voted for progress.
As an outgoing, physically affectionate person, who lost all her income in one day, I’m only surviving this because I set myself a goal a day.
Today’s activity is getting a hand cramp from writing letters.
What are y’all up to today?
"You mentioned the Richter scale, so I wanted to google what the largest earthquake ever was"
"I'm putting a reminder into my phone about the assignment"
"I'm asking my mom if she remembers the quadratic formula"
I liked this, because I was able to leverage these moments into conversations about individual learning skills, like self-regulation.
And at the same time, I started to notice that sometimes their "off task" device use was really on task.
Opened my Saturday
@TorontoStar
and found a whole section devoted to Private Schools. At a time when
#OntEd
Public School teachers are fighting to make education post-Covid work, running this section seems like a poor choice.
What would it look like, if American teachers and students walked out...and stayed out...until something actually was done to combat the gun problem.
Because it is a gun problem.
Not a video game problem.
Or a toothache problem.
Or a mental heath problem.
It's a gun problem.
I could do WAY more with my classes. No need for a computer lab when students were bringing their own devices.
I leveraged collaboration when students didn't have a device.
Good bye unit tests, hello projects that allowed students to show their understanding in different ways.
Things got better.
Did students still text? Absolutely.
Did they play games? Sometimes.
But I was able to talk with them openly and as a class about what they were doing.
"Do you think this is the right time to text your friend?"
"What game is that? What math is going on in it?"
So no, their won't be a ban on cell phones in my classroom. If their was I'd be losing too much.
Too much conversation and community building.
Too many interesting opportunities for students to expand their learning.
Too many chances to talk about individual learning skills.
And I RELAXED!
"Yes, you can use your cell phone as a calculator. Maybe text dad and ask if he can buy you a scientific calculator later tonight?"
"Take pictures of the questions that stump you when you are doing homework, then email me"
And when I needed the attention of everyone?
"Please turn your phones screen side down and close your laptops"
That's the extent of my classroom device management.
Students are so busy in class anyway, they don't often have time to get distracted.
Profoundly disappoint to see absolutely nothing from
@Sflecce
today.
You are the Minister of Education for
#OntEd
. Do you have nothing to say about the harm caused today by the anti-LGBTQ+ protests?
Is your integrity worth so little?
@ValeriaBrownEdu
My oldest daughter had a massive stroke. She spent 7 months in the hospital. Induced coma, surgery, tons of testing. Intense physical therapy for her recovery. We had to pay for parking a few times.
From the front page of the
@TorontoStar
,
@krushowy
with exclusive news about Education Minister
@Sflecce
’s plan to strictly limit the use of cellphones in schools. Ontario would have the toughest curbs in Canada.
#onpoli
My expectation for students to use devices in productive and interesting ways radically decreased how often they were off task and zoned out.
Cell phones were not something to hide and sneak into class anymore.
"Use your fav graphing calculator app to see what's happening here."
"Homework: take a video of a mathematical relationship"
"This app lets you edit video on your phone. Let's use it to create a presentation about what you've just learned. No test this unit if you do this."
Looking at a side-by-side comparison of the original
#OntEd
destreamed math front matter and the edits that were released yesterday.
The edits are evil.
Dive into the thread if you are interested.
Worth remembering as Ontario gets ready for a provincial election.
#OnPoli
‘We pledge to make abortion unthinkable in our lifetime': PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff
In ‘97 I was a high school student and walked the line with my dad.
Today he did the same with me.
Solidarity in defence of
#OntEd
students and our world class education system.
#OSSTF
This entire section of the front matter to the grade nine math curriculum appears to have been removed.
Why?
Because some far right politicians got upset.
Why are they driving
#OntEd
curriculum?
YOU should care about this deletion, even if you don’t teach math.
If you are here because of this tweet ⬇️ please remember that devices in classrooms is a sideshow issue in the real
#OntEd
battle. Access to modern Sex Ed, proper funding for
#Autism
supports and keeping class sizes small is where the real fight is!
Today would be a great day for
@fordnation
to
- implement a vaccine passport system in Ontario
- make vaccines mandatory for
#OntEd
workers and learners returning to face to face instruction.
Hold on.
There was a protest today.
At a school.
In Ontario.
Because the school was celebrating the International Day of Pink.
Let that sink in.
#OntEd
@Jason_Veltri
The phone gets real time blood sugar readings from her CGM, which is then sent to her insulin pod, adjusting insulin rates as needed.
Prior to this is was finger pricks/drawing blood and manually giving herself insulin at every meal.
The phone improves her quality of life.
Dufferin-Peel Catholic district school board voted against flying the pride flag.
The fact that this motion even exists in a Catholic board is beyond my comprehension.
The tide is turning. Parents can experience victory if they speak up!
So...the next year I decided to try something. I flipped the script. I told my classes I wouldn't take their phones as longs as the device was kept on top of the desk. No more texting in their lap or hiding what apps/games they were using.
What if…and hear me out…grades were not the metric used to accept students to post secondary
Not “exit exams” either.
What if students spent four years developing a portfolio of their work and accomplishments in HS instead?
I did an interview with CBC earlier today Re: cell phone ban in
#OntEd
I’m thinking of the students who document their learning by taking photos or video notes.
I’m thinking of ELL students who use google translate.
Students who want to research something in the moment.
Rudy doesn't get it.
No child is going to look back on their educational experience and say, "Damn, I really wish I wrote the EQAO when I was in grade 9"
They will remember the teachers who made impacts on their learning.
Small class sizes help us make that impact.
#OSSTF
#OntEd
Make sure your child is up to date with their other vaccines for viruses like measles, polio, hepatitis B and more.
Find the full list of vaccines that children should receive before going back to school:
#VaccinesWork
Hey White Teachers,
Do you "keep your classroom neutral" by "keeping politics out of the classroom?"
Do you realize that by doing that you are making a political decision that reinforces the status quo?
Have you been paying attention to world events?
#OntEd
Yesterday I tweeted about tech in classes. I was contacted by the
@globeandmail
, created a google doc shared it with them. Multiple people helped me edit virtually. It’s now online.
20 years ago this would sound like nonsense. /via
@globeandmail
I think the big story this morning is the (mostly) victory of love over hate in the
#OntEd
trustee elections. I hope someone in the media writes it.
Did any of the anti-woke win?
I was newish to teaching and new to the high school. I was told by other teachers that if devices were out I was expected to confiscate and bring them down to the office. Not knowing any better and wanting to fit in, I followed this advice.
Every day I was carrying multiple devices down to the main office. Students who had their phones brought down a certain number of times had them kept in the main office until a parent could arrive to claim the phone. Days might go by.
And yet, cell phone use didn't decrease.
Just heard the
#OntEd
minister say that larger class sizes are good because they build...resiliency?
Would be interested to see the data on that.
@LisaThompsonMPP
Today in destreamed math
#ThinkingClasstoom
:
Students to boards.
Write down a pair of numbers that multiply to 36.
Survey each group. Only positive pairs.
“Sit down if another group wrote the same pair as you”
Most groups sit down.
“Any group still standing earns 1 point!”
I'm just going to leave this here...
#OntEd
Minister of Education forgets to thank teachers at FIRST Robotics Competition. Good thing a student reminded her.
I tried out
#UnGrading
for the first time this semester. It was something I had wanted to do for awhile but some learning with
@Jessifer
and
@HDSB_TheShift
pushed me over the edge.
We used portfolios and interviews to co-construct marks with our Grade 9 Math students.
#OntEd
High school students have questions about sex and sexuality.
Offering answers to those questions in safe spaces isn’t inappropriate.
Higgs is clutching his pearls. His stance will make students unsafe.
A number of concerned parents have shared with me photos and screenshots of clearly inappropriate material that was presented recently in at least four New Brunswick high schools.
To say I am furious would be a gross understatement.
This presentation was not part of the New
Whenever you hear someone mention "back to basics" it is important to ask them to describe just what they mean.
What are "the basics"?
Have we really not been teaching them?
What (if anything) are we being asked to stop teaching?
#OntEd
Under
@fordnation
, we are delivering on our commitment to Ontario parents by going
#BackToBasics
- strengthening reading, writing & math in the classroom.
Remember that
@fordnation
acted faster to remove anti-racist language from the math curriculum than he did to prevent anti-vax and anti-science protests at hospitals.
#OntEd
#OnPoli
Breaking: Ministry of Ed cancels funding for an innovative, STEM focused, online, experiential co-op program. Please, PLEASE, write/call the Ministry contact at the end of this letter, and ask how cancelling (mid-year!) this funding lines up with their stated priorities.
#onted
Until I see meaningful demands from OSSTF for the Government to walk back this dangerous language I will be voting no binding arbitration.
Don’t shake hands with the devil.
#OntEd
First image is the original document. Second image is the recently revised curriculum.
Notice what is missing.
Why *don't* we want students to use math to address social and environmental issues, to uncover inequity and discrimination?
At grad last night a student said to me
“Mr Mitchell I just wanted to thank you”
“No prob, but I never taught you”
“I know, but you always took the time to talk to me in the hall and that meant a lot to me”
Evidence that it’s important to talk to as many Ss as possible, everyday.
And those are the changes to the front matter.
What is the agenda of this government when they say they are for equity...but they remove all of the really good equity pieces from this document.
It's been whitewashed.
Who is this serving? Who is this harming?
Canadians have the right to strike protected in the charter of rights and freedoms.
What does it mean when a government moves against that right?
And how will we respond?
#OntEd
#BREAKING
- The Ford government will table legislation Monday to prevent CUPE education workers from striking. CUPE had issued a 5 day notice of a strike.
This should be the last tweet from
#OntEd
Minister of Education.
Asking for a free Palestine does not make one anti-Semitic.
You can demand the state of Israel stop force evicting Palestine citizens while also recognizing that citizens of both states deserve to live in peace.
I stand with Israel against Hamas’ indiscriminate attacks on civilians — committing a double war crime of firing missiles from civilian centres.
I reject moral equivalency between a democratic nation and a listed terrorist front whose aim is the annihilation of Jews. 1/2
My family is considering cancelling our
@TorontoStar
subscription because of this.
If a group approached the Star seeking to run a similar series of ads about why “Climate Science is a Hoax” would their work hit my door step.
Do better.
Deeply disappointed tonight in the
#OSSTF
vote.
Y'all said you were doing it for the students.
But 77.5% of you just sold them out.
Our union had a chance to take a real stand in defense of public education.
We failed.
#OntEd
I’m trying to figure out the value in our
#OntEd
Minister of Education
@Sflecce
following Faith Goldy...an individual who has appeared on new-nazi websites and has been banned from Facebook because of her association with white nationalism and other hate groups.
#OnPoli
We're troubled by
@HaltonDSB
Guidance Counselor likening a student to a terrorist for wearing a keffiyah-a cultural piece of clothing. We've alerted
@HaltonDSB
administration. More updates coming soon.
#noroomforhate
I had to see the statement myself.
Here
@fordnation
seems to advocate for child abuse as a way to foster respect for teachers? Clarity would help.
This is some school to prison pipeline bullshit.
#OntEd