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Someone has to say it.
I became a teacher because I wanted to make sure as many children as possible could learn to read. And Elise Gravel’s books helped me in that mission. I relied on her books to support the learning in my French classroom. And whenever anyone asked me about what materials to use for French language learning…
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A note on recent events.
I’ve been numb this week. I’ve been angry. I’ve felt rage and sadness and alone. A few of you know this. You reached out, sent me words of love. That means more than I hope you will ever know.
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Supporting Student-Teachers
I have been a Field Supervisor for student-teachers at McGill since 2021. I love it, it keeps me connected to the classroom now that I am away from it. I also love that I get to see the classroom as a new teacher again – in all of its complexities and messiness and beauty. Also…
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Best PD ever?
Visiting each others classrooms. (Really, it’s that simple.) I’ve written about this a few times, so some of what I have written in the past will show up again here. It’s not a new concept and it is still as true! PD (Professional Development) can invoke strong reactions. How often have you been made to…
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Bridging the online / offline / simultaneous teaching gap
In Quebec, all students are expected to be in school under normal ratios, that means the same teacher:student ratio in effect at a given school as before Covid-19. (I still find it mind-boggling that the exact same directive goes for schools in Montreal with over 29 000 cases of the virus as schools in the…
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A back-to-school like no other
On Thursday morning, someone from CBC News contacted me for a live interview later that afternoon. It was to talk about back-to-school in Quebec and concerns from a teaching perspective. It ended up being cancelled, I think Rob Ford bumped me on Thursday and something else did on Friday. These things happen. Before they cancelled,…
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Day 1 – Trauma, Mental Health, & our Students
This week a friend of mine challenged me to do 25 pushups for 25 days as a way of raising awareness for mental wellness issues that can lead to suicide and it goes by the tag #matesofmatesformates. Yesterday was Day 1 and I questionned – what can we do beyond the challenge? How does doing 25…
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Checking ourselves. When good teachers are racist.
Close to 15 years ago, I became friends with a teacher in South Burlington, Vermont. She was a master at differentiation and I met her first through a webinar and then in person. She graciously allowed me to bring a group of teachers from Montreal to spend the day in her classroom. It was a…
by Tracy Rosen, teaching & consulting since 1996, blogging about it here since 2007. All views are my own and you should take them with a grain of salt, I do.