I've blogged in the past about some of my favourite apps and online tools, and a consistent favourite for me over the past 12 months has been Thinglink, a virtual annotation tool that allows the user to create interactive images. I've used this tool for a variety of purposes, from havingstudents record and share their thinking in a simple math lesson, to creating interactive picture dictionaries, to introducing myself and my students to a teacher and her class in Australia and vice versa during the first stages of a cross-cultural digital collaboration.

As I've moved from a classroom to a provincial position in education, I continue to value the wide applications of this digital tool.  Most recently, I used Thinglink to annotate a graphic which a colleague and I had co-designed, to share information about descriptive feedback in a more interactive way for an online session we were facilitating together...
​

​While seeing this graphic at another session was co-facilitating today, one of the participants caught the Thinglink bug, and we brainstormed ideas about how this tool could be used to enhance not only student/classroom experiences, but also professional ones.  For example, to support self assessment during the TPA process, we wondered aloud at how powerful it might be for a teacher to submit to his principal a photograph of the former's classroom, annotated by the teacher to show how his chosen classroom set-up supports equity and inclusion, assessment for learning, and other important elements of learning space design.

Thinglink is a tool which I will not soon lose interest in, I think.  The possibilities are endless. I should have bought shares or something when I first discovered it!!

After a month of not riding due to my idiotic insistence on pouring hot water onto my leg at work, and the resulting second-degree burns that significantly impacted my mobility for an extended period of time, I enjoyed my first ride in to work again this morning.

Despite the crisp air (Brrr -- when did winter suddenly hit?!) and the mild discomfort from the rubbing on my still-present leg scars as I rode, it felt very good to be on my bike again.  

My month of sitting around with my unclothed leg elevated and airing out or covered in various creams had not done much for my physique, and I chugged along at rather a lethargic pace.  Nevertheless, I managed to make it to the top of the Sunnyside bridge without having to do the walk of shame, and even stopped to snap a few photos of Kermit overlooking the tracks, expressway and hospital where I was born before continuing on for the second leg of my hour-long ride.

Further downtown, I managed to avoid the temptious Krispy Kreme at the corner of Bathurst and Harbord by engaging in some fancy side-street cycling to get myself to Queens Park, Wellesly, and eventually, my office building, where I locked Kermit up safely and dragged my sorry ass along with my pannier upstairs to wipe down and change clothes, and eat my morning oatmeal (Confession: Four fifths of a bag of gummy hearts preceded that meal -- they had real fruit in them, though, along with the carnuba wax, pig guts and whatever other horrid ingredients make them slide so smoothly and flavourfully down my gullet and into my eager belly!)

Another advantage of riding my bike over taking public transit or even Uber pool this morning was the control I had over how I began the receptive auditory part of my day: Instead of listening to some moron's horrific electro-pop leaking imposingly out of his headphones and into my sensitive ears on the bus, or suffering through the ubiquitous pop music that the vast majority of Uber drivers insist on playing while driving, I enjoyed my newly downloaded Bach violin sonatas and partitas while pedaling, as performed by the illustrious Lara St. John.

The logistical importance of my return to biking was confirmed for me at the end of the day, when -- after having finally managed to escape the office on time so that I could get home in time to cook dinner for my kids and help one of them practise his instrument as promised -- I found myself on the westbound platform of the Bloor line, waiting while yet another train pulled slowly into the station, pausing briefly to open its doors more as an exercise than anything else (since the subway cars were so packed that not even the most aggressive riders could elbow their way in), and pull s-l-o-w-l-y back out of the station, leaving a miserable crowd that included me on the platform, wondering when, precisely, our $3.25 mission might be fulfilled.

I soooo have to increase the number of rides I make!!  (I had left Kermit locked up because I plan to ride home from work another day this week, having wanted to ease back into the cycling routine.  Stupid move, as I soon discovered.)

Riding in today reaffirmed for me my belief in cycling as a single solution for multiple problems: Riding increases physical and mental health, reducing a society's collective obesity, depression and stress, and therefore, heart attack risks.  It also reduces our carbon footprint by eliminating the need for cars in the daily commuting sense.  And plus it's just kick-ass to bike commute, especially in winter.

Really, why wouldn't everyone just get on their bike and RIDE?! Do it -- I challenge you.  Ditch the car, and ride your bike.  Seriously, it will change your life!

​One advantage of being a public servant is that unlike when I was a classroom teacher, I get Remembrance Day off work.  In an effort to keep it real, I decided to spend the morning at my old school, and asked my former principal if it would be okay for me to attend the Remembrance Day assembly there.

A former colleague who lives nearby was kind enough to drive me in, and even invited me into his classroom to do a little math lesson with his Grade sixes.

It was nice to see -- as I passed my old classroom -- that the new teacher there had left up my safe space sign and rainbow flag, and had even added a welcoming sign of her own just outside the classroom door.  Definitely gave me a much needed boost after the discouraging world events earlier in the week!

I felt a little bit like a rock star as old friends greeted me with big smiles and open arms.  It was so nice to see everyone again, and catch up -- I admired many reorganized classrooms and launched into excited conversations with teachers about their observations about the impact on their students of adopting a more democratic process around setting up the learning space, where the students themselves had had a say in how things evolved.  

One teacher in particular had spent a great deal of time on this, and I wished I had thought to take photos in her classroom.

Not having classroom responsibilities of my own made visiting a unique experience indeed, and I joyfully cut paper squares in preparation for one teacher's lesson and offered to make some last-minute photocopies for another.  And still I had time to spare to say hello to some old friends before the bell rang!

Paper Folding Math

Soon, though, it was time to get down to business, and my morning host and I did a brief run-through of the lesson we had planned, one of my favorite low floor - high ceiling tasks, courtesy of Jo Boaler's You Cubed site.

The learning goal they'd begun working on, he explained, was communication.  More specifically, communicating thinking effectively in math.  We brainstormed what this might look like, and together with the students, posted a few possible success criteria (later in the lesson, we added another, and were I coming back to this class another time, I might facilitate a conversation with the students around what a makes an answer "complete", ie how to craft a fulsome response, and add something like that to the list, too).  

And then it was time for the lesson -- students worked in small groups to meet as many of the five challenges as they could, and one recorder in each group documented her peers' thinking on Edmodo, using a personal device or one of the class chrome books.

As the students worked on the tasks, my former colleague and I circulated, asking provoking questions ("What did you mean when you said, 'it's the same'?", and "How do you know 'all rectangles are squares'? Where could we check if that fact is true?") and providing descriptive feedback based on the criteria we had co-constructed.

Afterwards, I was able to check in and respond to some of the work students had posted online...

​It was a pleasure to see how engaged they were with the task, and I was also excited to continue working on the math and with their communication about the math with them later, on Edmodo.

Impromptu Music Lesson

Afterwards, I was invited to join another friend and former colleague to do some co-teaching in music, as the teacher there was working with the choirs in the gym.  As we were unable to locate the lesson plan after a cursory look around the room, we decided to facilitate an impromptu conversation about hip hop in different parts of the world.

We asked students to identify their favourite musical artists; perhaps not surprisingly for middle school aged kids, North American hip hop artists topped the list.  Then I asked whether any of the students had seen the recently released film, Queen of Katwe, chronicling the rise of Ugandan chess contender Fiona Mutesi.  Disappointingly few had seen it, or even heard about it, but I did not let that deter me.

Thank goodness for the Internet; my friend quickly pulled up the video on Youtube, and the students actually seemed to really like the song, engaging with the beat, and being drawn to the colourful local language the performers sing mainly in.

Spurred on by a comment during our subsequent discussion of some similarities and differences between #1 Spice and the type of hip hop they usually listen to, we got into a bit of a conversation of colonialism, and the effects on the arts and local culture in a colonized place.  We were able to draw comparisons between those effects, and effects like the ones students had discussed previously in social studies, with the impact of the residential school system, for example, on the cultures of Indigenous people in Canada.

I loved where the students moved us with their interests and knowledge in our short 40 minutes together, and it make me miss working with Grade 7s!

Effective Classroom Management

I was reminded during my morning in the classroom, how critical a role classroom management plays in effective teaching and learning, and also how complex elementary school classroom teaching really is.

Whether you prefer to call it "creating a safe and inviting learning space" or "fostering an effective learning climate" or whatever, it's important, and without considerable time spent there before, during and after the students arrive on the scene, the rest of the package just falls apart. Having the luxury of contemplating and discussing in great detail one facet of education (such as assessment, for example) in relative isolation, or even two or three or seven factors, is a completely different reality than the 11 000 factors that come into play all at the same time in a real life classroom setting!

I know this of course in theory, but it was good to have a concrete reminder once again.

Lest we Forget

Next it was off to the gym, where the second of two multi-media Remembrance Day assemblies were in full swing.  Although I have mixed personal feelings about the value of such observances, it was nevertheless comforting to be altogether in one place like that, with more or less a common goal for an hour.

The music teachers had worked hard with other staff on the assembly team, and the choirs sounded truly lovely. A highlight was listening to one Grade 7 girl sing -- I'd known her since Grade 3, and she had been an elective mute!  What a beautiful, clear voice she had.  My belief in the far-reaching benefits of music (and the importance of highly qualified music teachers!!) were affirmed.

The assembly also afforded me to opportunity to see some of my former students -- several of them rushed me when I walked into the gym, and I had to temper my own exuberance to see them, too, with a professional response that was appropriate for the occasion.

It was so encouraging to see so many happy, hopeful faces. ​ I've had many classes and students near and dear to my hear, but my time at my last school was special in that it was a middle school that several lower elementary schools I had previously taught at fed into, and so some of the students I worked with last year had been known to me in some capacity or other since Grade One!

Shopping Mall Dates and Challenge Winners

Too soon my morning at school drew to a close -- after catching up with some colleagues and new Syrian arrivals in the ESL room over lunch, I signed out in the office and Uber Pooled to the mall, where I started in on a little Christmas shopping and met my partner so that we could buy her some decent winter boots.

After finding suitable footwear, we enjoyed an eclectic dinner together at the food court, complete with Japanese dessert and bubble tea.

Then we happened across a Metro, which I grabbed, eager to see whether my submission to their recent Arts Challenge had been published.  What a pleasant surprise I had when I discovered that my "emoji epic", chronicling my burn, had not only been published, but also chosen as the contest winner!

Tired but happy from a long, full day, my girlfriend and I headed home with her boots, our bags, and the page from the local newspaper confirming my status as a winner!

I haven't flown as much as I'd like to since earning my PPL a few years back, largely due to financial restrictions (it's not a cheap hobby, flying, especially in Toronto!), but recently an old friend was bringing his new beau into town, and wanted us to take them flying.

Someone else footing the bill is the kind of flight that works for me, so off we went for a local east and city tour.

The beau, it turned out, wanted a chance to try his hands at the controls, so he rode left seat while Tats played PIC, and I squished into the back seat of the old 172 we had rented, along with our friend.  

Although I enjoy flying, it is also nice to just sit back and enjoy the flight, especially when one hasn't flown in a while.  Flying hands off the controls also afforded me a rare opportunity to take some actual photos while flying, rather than having to focus on maneuvering the plane.

One of the many things I love about flying out of CYTZ is that the airport is shared with mid-size commercial operations.  Seeing Porter's Dash 8s up close is always exciting, and this time I got to photograph an aircraft taxiing pretty much right in beside us as it came of Taxiway Foxtrot after landing on Runway 26, the same runway we were preparing to take off from....

As we completed our pre take-off checks and approached the hold short line for 26, another Cessna was just coming in for a landing.  Again, having no flight responsibilities myself this flight allowed me to snag a rare close-up from my perch in the back seat of our own aircraft, of the company traffic on short, short final, just before that aircraft's flare!

Soon we ourselves were on the roll, and our new pilot-in-training (under the guidance and watchful eye of our PIC) did the take-off while that familiar feeling of "wow, I'm actually flying" hit me.

As we turned crosswind, I pointed out the naked beach (which -- with the sudden arrival of the crisp fall weather -- was itself now naked), and then we turned downwind to enjoy a breathtaking view of the fall foliage on the island, with the spectacular Toronto skyline as its backdrop.

As the boys wanted to fly out to the east end of the city a little and enjoy the areal view of the Bluffs and Frenchmens' Bay, we did that, and then returned for a touristy but-it-never-gets-tired city tour, circling the tower while the passengers snapped photo after photo from our vantage point in the sky.

An interesting thing that happened was when we opened the window so our friends' beau -- who had with him a very professional looking camera -- could take some photos without the glare... I stuck my iPhone out the window, too (holding on tight!!) and snapped a few shots.  The wind, however, distorted things a little, and all my "outside shots" ended up with the wonky-looking sort of effect below, on the right!

It had been several months since I had seen the city from on high, and I really enjoyed our flight, even from (or perhaps especially from) the back seat.

Despite a slightly heavy load (with the exception of Tats, we were all pretty "bulky" people, and Tats had insisted on a 1/2 tank fuel restriction!), we made it back onto the runway in one piece. Back on the apron, we took the obligatory "we did it" group snapshot in front of our plane, then headed out to Queen West for dinner at the Beaver.

P.S. About the election, I will say that I played Clinton's concession speech for my kids, because I want them to see what taking the high road looks like, even in the face of such a devastating loss.  We had an excellent, mostly child-driven conversation about inclusion vs. exclusion, misogyny, fear, love, Trudeau and the importance of being an ally, especially during challenging times like these, and I highly recommend facilitating a conversation like this -- if you haven't already -- with the children in your life!