Lost in translation
“But goodies, what is a ‘but goodie’?” I asked the cashier at the local pharmacy where Olive, Hazel, and I attempted to fill a Christmas...
Find the ‘right’ place
Certain places have the ability to bring out the best in us. The people, energy, layout, lighting etc, all come together to make us...
OpenAI… Google on steroids
I just spent the last ten minutes trying to stump the OpenAI chat bot, or more specifically seeking solutions to the most relevant...
Task Saturation
One of my pilot heroes, Dick Ruttan, shared a concept that has stuck with me for life, the ‘task saturation box’. As humans we have the...
Because he first loved us
I love the keepsake we bought at the fundraising auction for the Catholic School where Olive attended grade one. A group craft consisting...
Nothing beats FUN
Adult life has an unsavoury tendency to always resort back to serious. Humans created paper deadlines, layer upon layer of bureaucratic...
Redundancy
It took a furnace failure on a -20 Celsius Sunday to remind me of the importance of building redundancy into our lives. As soon as the...
The solution may be closer than you think
My Filson water bottle was taken out of rotation months previous due to a damaged handle that was making it hard to carry around. I had...
What could go right?
Parent teacher interviews tend to be a stressful time for teachers and parents. Both sides feel that they are being judged. One side for...
There is always an opportunity cost
I pointedly avoided a meeting recently where ten teachers deliberated around a table for over half of an hour regarding one student and...
Connect before Content
As part of our onboarding with a new school board, we engaged in some Indigenous learning. The Indigenous leader took us through a...
YouTube Education
I noticed a grade 9 student crocheting in the hallway at school and was immediately brought back to my youth where my granny would be...
Throw a High Five
My most successful eras of teaching always coincided with the most ‘high fives’ thrown. I recall a period of time where I would high five...
Putting the first things first
“When I hear you talk about your daughters it makes me feel like crying… I wish I had a dad like you.” were the words a student told me...
Teaching and weightlifting, close cousins
I’ve been noticing lately that joy from the most meaningful things is often only felt in the afterglow. It was a challenging week of...
On the horizon
Karina booked our summer Vacation for 2023 a couple weeks ago. A sweet VRBO on Vancouver Island, followed by a reunion in Salt Spring....
Lost in bureaucracy
I felt like smashing the computer as I failed my third attempt at the OH&S (occupational health and safety) quiz teaching me how to lift...
Paraverbal
During a ‘Non-violent’ crisis intervention training this week (basically how to diffuse tense student situations without hurting anyone),...
Generosity, the anxiety antidote
My anxiety was running high this week as I tried to prioritize the plethora of tasks required to get my new teaching assignment ready to...
Feedback please
I was impressed with the instantaneous feedback buttons on the hand dryer in the washroom at the Vancouver airport. “Satisfied with the...