Storytelling

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 in Quebec, I’d shout her name from the rooftops. But I can’t trust her stories anymore.

Make Me Care

Andrew Stanton’s line, “The greatest story commandment is: Make me care.” stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it almost a year ago. I was on my way to working with a couple of teachers in another area of Quebec and had a long drive ahead of me, so I plugged in my Make Me Care

Why blog? (and it’s not about making learning fun.)

Blogging is not about making journaling fun for students. It’s not about trying to find a reason for students to spell correctly. It’s not even about connecting them to global others. I can think of no more horrible an exercise than forcing all of the students in my class to create a blog for the Why blog? (and it’s not about making learning fun.)

Truth about stories

Two very different stories about the same events. Story #1 Five police cruisers torched, 40 protesters arrested as native anti-fracking rally turns violent. The National Post Police. Torched. Protesters Arrested. Native. Violent. Story #2 New Brunswick fracking protests are the frontline of a democratic fight. The Guardian New Brunswick. Protests. Frontline. Democratic. A number of Truth about stories

Flashback: seeking to understand

This post was originally written in 2009 and is still very relevant to me. I hope you think so as well. — A norm that I aspire to, however difficult it can be at times is this one: Seek to understand before being understood. I just read a story about an administrator who practices this Flashback: seeking to understand