Updating My Idioms

 I need to write about something a bit more academic this week. The Ottawa protests have unnerved me a bit, and my most recent Forest of Reading book has a scene all about fear, which is feeding my sense of unease. There are times where I have topics on the backburner that I can pull out if I have nothing to write about, I need to distract myself, or if the things I want to write about should be kept private. This is one of those "back burner" topics.

According to https://examples.yourdictionary.com/figure-of-speech-examples.html,  

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition. It can be a metaphor or simile designed to make a comparison. It can be the repetition of alliteration or the exaggeration of hyperbole to provide a dramatic effect.

I should more accurately refer to them as colloquialisms or idioms. (I changed this blog's title to reflect this more precise understanding.) English uses these quite often - heck, just look at my first paragraph for an example or two - but it isn't often that I reflect on where those turns of phrases originate. Some of them might need to be altered, especially when you consider what it actually means. Here are a few idioms I am trying to remove from my vocabulary (just like I've worked hard to stop calling groups of students "guys".) 

The image above comes from the Twitter account of @unlearn_com.

"low man on the totem pole"

idiom meaning = the person with the lowest rank, or the least important / powerful person

revision necessary = this denotes an interpretation of totem poles that is not correct and makes light of the sacred nature of totem poles to First Nations groups who create them

instead use = person with least seniority, most junior member, person of lower rank

"pow wow"

idiom meaning = to have a meeting

revision necessary = once again, the casual use of this term by non-natives is disrespectful to the complex and spiritual aspects of pow wows

instead use = chat, quick talk

"hold down the fort"

idiom meaning = to take care of business when the boss is away, being in charge while the leader is not present

revision necessary = this is a war reference, but more specifically, refers to settlers and soldiers building forts on native land and their attempt to fight off the unfriendly hoards around them

instead use = manage, handle things

"the blind leading the blind"

idiom meaning = a person who knows nothing getting advice from someone who also knows nothing

revision necessary = this idiom insinuates that blind people cannot lead or that only sighted people can lead/help blind people. People who are blind can be independent and this idiom uses it insultingly as a synonym for clueless.

instead use = misguided, confused

"g**ped" 

idiom meaning = swindled, cheated

revision necessary = this is a derogatory term for the Roma, originally called "gypsies", who were stereotypically described as thieves

instead use = cheated, conned, ripped off, defrauded

"spirit animal"

idiom meaning = something the speaker deeply loves or relates to

revision necessary = it's a casual use of a concept that is serious to some First Nations groups and it does not honour these groups; it makes light of the idea

instead use = alter ego, soul mate, 

"lame"

idiom meaning = boring or unexciting

revision necessary = just because you cannot walk does not mean you are useless

instead use = dull, no good

 The first one and the last one on my list are the terms I've heard myself use more often than I'd care to admit. I've actually stopped myself mid-sentence when I catch myself saying "lame". The famous Maya Angelou quote says, "when you know better, do better", so that is what I am trying to do.

The bigger question is, what do you do if you hear someone at school say an idiom that has offensive origins? It's not always simple. Is it a person much more powerful than you saying it? What is the relationship like between you and the speaker? When I've heard things said by colleagues or students, I've replied with comments like "Ooooh, doesn't that phrase mean xxxxxx?". It is my hope that the idiom is being used because it's habitual, rather than spiteful. Maybe offering an alternate phrase would soften the criticism. I'll end with a tweet from Unlearn, the organization that shared the image with which I began this blog post.

Consider the true meanings of these words. Even if unintended, words can offend others, we should always consider the impact of the words we are using.#saywhatyoumean #wordsmatter pic.twitter.com/2QDTLlDaHp

— unlearn. (@unlearn_com) October 23, 2021

Return to the Forest of Reading

 I spent a good chunk of this weekend rapidly reading. I consumed nearly four novels in two days. It's not exactly pleasure reading, but it IS a pleasure. I was reading books so that I'd be prepared to properly run the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading.

Last year, I didn't run the Forest of Reading like I usually do. There was nothing "usual" about the last school year. I was a classroom teacher and I was too busy planning and marking to be able to devote time to it. My Grade 5-6 students and I read the Blue Spruce nominees for "I Read Canadian Day", but we couldn't do our typical school-wide program.

Our school-wide program, as it was run in the past, was an incredible sight to behold. In fact, it was featured in ETFO Voice magazine back in 2014. 

I'm back in the library for the 2021-22 school year, but it can't be "business as usual". We've had to make some serious adjustments.

Book Acquisition

In the past, students would swarm the library at whatever opportunity they could seize to search the "silver box" and "red box" for titles they had not yet read. Now, they can only peruse the physical copies during their scheduled library times (or when I arrange specific swap times with classroom teachers). Thankfully, people are working very hard to obtain legal online copies for students to borrow. I'm also not quarantining the books for a week like I do with the regular library books. (I put the books in a bin partly to assuage the concerns of the community, but also to give me a chance to keep up with doing all the shelving on my own.) 

Chat Organization

Before the pandemic, the students would take the initiative to go to a classroom teacher's room to see what books that adult has read and/or sign up for a time to chat. We can't mix the cohorts, or have students wandering the halls in areas they aren't supposed to go. Instead, we have three large displays in three different areas of the school (the main downstairs hall, the library, and the upstairs hall) listing the books read by different school staff members. 

Conversation Locations

Chats would happen all over the school prior to 2020 but this is unadvisable now. We figured out ten spots (many outside) that students could agree to meet teachers and talk. These locations and the teachers associated with them are posted in the main downstairs Forest of Reading display.

Virtual Students

We did not want to leave out our virtual students. I'm still in the process of setting up a Zoom link that students and staff can access so they can use a breakout room and have an online discussion. In the meantime, I've been jumping onto their regular Zoom link and the classroom teacher has created a breakout room for us to use. 

Final Celebration

Every year, we'd look forward to participating in the Forest of Reading Festival. (It used to be called the Festival of Trees, but it wasn't clear what it was all about, so it got renamed.) Our teachers and students adored going down to Harbourfront to meet the authors, attend workshops and hear the announcement of the award winners. We also loved participating in the Silver Birch Quiz Bowl and Red Maple Marketing Campaign, two local events organized and planned by Scarborough teacher-librarians. Harbourfront is on pause until COVID is more under control; the winners are announced virtually. We may be able to do Quiz Bowl and Marketing Campaign online; I just have to see how many other schools are interested. 

What hasn't changed is the support for the Forest of Reading by my colleagues. When I mention how almost every single educator signs up to read at least one, if not more, books, other teacher-librarians react with awe and envy. For some schools, it's all up to the teacher-librarian. Technically, as the school program coordinator, I am required to read all of the books (50 in total), but it helps so much that I have other adults who have read the books and are available to chat with students.

I wondered how well the program would be received, especially by some of our students who have never had the experience of strutting around the halls with their passports hung on home-made lanyards, collecting signatures like some kids collect Pokemon cards. I had nothing to fear. Teacher enthusiasm was contagious. When I promoted the program (which is not a club but is optional), one of the Grade 5s (J) said, "My older sister told me I should sign up. She did it when she went to this school and she said it was a lot of fun."

Another Grade 5 boy (E) obtained his book on Thursday and by Friday arranged a chat with me and gathered his first signature! His teacher reported that he was so excited and has even started to arrange a group chat involving him and two other classmates for next week. 

There is nothing quite like the experience of sitting with a student and having a genuine conversation about a book that both of you have read. Even if one of the speakers hated the book, it can be such an enriching, engaging talk. I love the moments when people are finishing each other's sentences, or grabbing the book to flip to the section they remember. 

It's so nice to be "back in the forest".

My Complex Relationship with My Computer

 As someone with a lot of economic privilege, my home is filled with technology. In addition to reliable wi-fi, I personally have my own desktop computer, an old laptop for giving presentations at conferences or when travelling, and my cell phone. Everyone else in the family has their own device (desktops for two others, powerful laptop for one other) plus various hand-held entertainment systems (3DS) and entertainment consoles (Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii). 

This is my daughter. Don't worry; she doesn't always use her computer like this. She has a desk with an ergonomic chair that she uses. By the way, yesterday was her 22nd birthday!

This is my son. He's in the Game Arts program in college, although this is him playing, not working. Thanks to both my son and daughter for giving their consent to having their photos on today's blog.

As for me, I have a rather complex relationship lately with my desktop computer. 

Since we've been home (January 5 - 13, 2022), I am required to attend all my classes virtually, not just a few mixed with in-person instruction like I did in the fall. I log onto my various Google Meets and Zoom calls and conduct my classes to the best of my abilities. The issue is, as soon as class is over, my impulse is to run away as far from my computer as possible.

This is challenging because much of my planning for classes has to be completed on the computer - the same computer that I want to distance myself from. Friday, January 14 was a Professional Activity Day for educators to work on their report cards. All my assessments (from marking the tasks, to recording the results on spreadsheets, to creating a comment bank that I'll alter and then add to the report cards) all require my computer. I dislike spending so much time with/on my computer, but I need to be on it. I haven't even factored in all the online learning I'll be doing when the TL AQs I'll be supporting (for York U and Queen's U) begin. 

The other issue is: where can I run? I am trying not to leave the house unless it is absolutely necessary. (That usually involves food.) It's really cold out, so walking outside is not an option that fills me with joy. Even when I attend meetings or socialize with friends, I'm using technology to do it. 

I want to escape my technology but it feels like there's no escape. I worry that I'm becoming a bit needy and dependent on my immediate family. I'm asking them more frequently about playing board games or spending time together, even though they have their own work to do. I'd love to scrapbook, as it is a very hands-on type of task that I love, but my photos (that I ordered on December 26) still haven't been processed, even though it was supposed to be next-day service. 

Noa Daniel mentioned online that she just recently heard of the 20-20-20 rule. 

Learned about this from a studet today: Every 20 minutes, look up from your screen and focus on an item approximately 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Focusing on an item in the distance allows our eye muscles to relax after being subjected to prolonged screen time. #202020 pic.twitter.com/qIl8rKjinN

— Noa Daniel (@iamnoadaniel) January 6, 2022

This is good advice, but it's really hard to follow when, like many of our students, my fun takes the form of a different kind of screen. I like to either scroll through my social media feeds or create new designs on Animal Crossing New Horizons - Paradise Planning. For instance, these are some of the designs I've done since I last posted photos on January 9.

Jan 10/22 = Anchovy's Hat Store

Jan 10/22 = Sheldon's Traffic Safety Hub

Jan 12/22 = Midge's Beauty Barn

Jan 12/22 = Roswell's Mystery Workshop

Jan 12/22 = Caroline's Dreamy Country Ranch Home

Jan 15/22 = Coco's Retro Living

Jan 16/22 = Hopkins' Bouncy Balloon Bungalow

Jan 16/22 = June's Pharmacy

Jan 16/22 = Lyman's Variety of Veggies

Jan 17/22 = Cesar and Boy'd Half-Done House

Jan 15/22 = Kitt's Home full of Appliances

So, what's the answer? I'm trying to find balance. For instance, I make promises to myself; work on two tasks on the computer, then take a break and walk around the house, eat a snack, and maybe do some squats. It's not working well, but I can't grow to hate my computer, since we are going to spend a lot of time together.

When Silver Friends Turn Gold

 Make new friends but keep the old

One is silver and the other is gold

When the pandemic first started gaining traction and schools closed, several teacher-librarians gathered together to provide board-wide "office hours". One of these volunteers was a person that I knew about vaguely because of a shared friend (Wendy Kaell) with the same first name. 

Wendy Burch-Jones and I shared some time online together both as part of these office hour shifts as well as via the amazing professional learning she and April deMelo ran in the spring of 2020. I wrote about my admiration for the two of them on my blog, not realizing that there was more in store for the two of us.

That summer, Jennifer Brown and I ran a Summer Academy session for teacher-librarians. We invited April and Wendy to bring their choice board workshop to a broader audience, and they accepted. 

Mentioning Jennifer and Wendy in the same paragraph is fortuitous. Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone and having a hunch that it's the start of a beautiful new friendship? This is what it was like interacting with Jenn (and Melanie Mulcaster) back in 2016 at MakerEdTO and lightning struck again for me in 2020 with Wendy. 

Wendy and I began to seek out opportunities to talk to each other and work together.  She gave me great advice for my first ever keynote and was extremely helpful when I revised the Teacher-Librarianship Additional Qualification courses for Queen's University. I gave Wendy a pep talk before she gave her CBC radio interview (where she was wonderful). Wendy was on the TDSB team of teacher-librarians that I led that updated the board Expected Practice document for TLs. Our latest project was co-authoring an article for ETFO Voice magazine called Losing Libraries. Now that the article has become public, I'm able to share some of the photos taken of the two of us from our photo shoot. (These weren't the ones used in the periodical - big thanks to Christine Cousins for the wonderful work capturing us; I highly recommend having a talented photographer take photos of you and your good friends because it's fun and produces fabulous pictures.) 

So what is it about this person, Wendy Burch-Jones, that has made us nearly instantaneous friends? I don't want to embarrass her, but there are so many great qualities about her.

• passion and compassion 

Wendy gets fired up! If situations are unjust, she feels compelled to say something. She cares about people and wants to take action to make schools, community, and (dare I say) the world a better place.

• energy and curiosity 

Wendy wants to learn more and seeks out answers by constantly reading, taking AQ courses, and having conversations that further her understanding. She is so hard-working and spends many hours after school on projects. 

• considerate and empathetic

During one of our library office sessions, I was almost brought to tears with the way that Wendy spoke to one of our visitors. She knew exactly what to say to demonstrate that she saw and heard the struggles this educator was experiencing and found the perfect words to provide comfort and reassurance. Wendy gave me hand-made Christmas gifts that were personally significant and meaningful.

• fun and funny

Wendy makes me smile. We have a ball together playing Animal Crossing New Horizons (is this post an excuse to share more ACNH snapshots? Only Wendy knows for sure!)

It's hard to believe that I've know Wendy for less than two years, but I look forward to seeing what other mischief the two of us will get involved with in the future. In the meantime, take a peek at some of the latest ACNH builds I've created. ACNH is a hobby Wendy and I share and we can spend a long time visiting each other virtually or discussing our favourite villagers or renovation plans. (I have completed 59 projects as of January 9!)

Nov.30/21 = Mallory's place (didn't load last time)

Dec.24/21 = Benjamin's Rural Retreat

Dec.24/21 = Merry's Art Studio

Dec.24/21 = Deli's Restaurant

Dec.25/21 = Sherb's Playground

Dec.26/21 = Hans' Personal Ski Slope

Dec.27/21 = Coach's Gym

Dec.29/21 = Angus' Lighthouse

Dec.30/21 = Eugene's Place to Talk (Talk Show)

Dec.31/21 = Ursala's Flowery Bowery

Dec.31/21 = Boomer's Steampunk Coffee Café

Jan.1/22 = Reneigh's Fancy Party House

Jan.2/22 = Erik's Mountain Lodge

Jan.3/22 = Queenie's Contrast Courtyard

Jan.4/22 = Murphy's Factory

Jan.5/22 = Freya's Pro Kitchen

Jan.6/22 = Winnie's Yellow House

Jan.7/22 = Hornsby's Police HQ

Jan.9/22 = Pinky's Feng Shui Field

Jan.9/22 = T-Bone's Soul Afire Spa

My #OneWord2022 Choice

 I've been pretty satisfied with my One Word choices lately. For those keeping track, my words for each year have been ...

2016 = continue

2017 = forgive

2018 = seek

2019 = enough

2020 = push

2021 = well

Last year, I vowed to do well, be well and stay well. I did it. 

I was "free from illness" and lucky enough not to contract COVID; luck does have something to do with it. Too many people see it as a "moral failing" if they catch it or an indication that they "weren't cautious enough", but considering how easily the Omicron version spreads, I think that it may be inevitable that we all eventually catch a version of it. We still need to do our part and get vaccinated and behave in safe ways so that if we are unfortunate enough to have it, it will hopefully be a mild case.

I taught "in a good or satisfactory way" and covered the subjects "in a thorough manner".  In fact, I have to admit that I miss having my own class and that special, unique relationship with a small, exclusive group of students. (Not enough to return to class teaching unless it was required, mind you.) At various points in 2021, I was "surprised, angered, resigned and relieved". Well, I guess WELL a word that worked well for me. 

As we wait for possible changes - as I type, the Ontario provincial government's cabinet is meeting to decide whether to change their "just close schools to students for two days" plan - my chosen word for 2022 sounds like it will be another useful guide for me.

WATCH

This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. I must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. I have made no changes to the original image. The link is https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_popular_model_of_ELLIOT_FRANZ%C3%89N.jpg  and the creator is MG19992000 

Why watch? Like last year's word, I appreciate that it is both a noun and a verb with many meanings. The Oxford Languages dictionary online provided these definitions:

In case you cannot read the image, it says to "look at or observe attentively over a period of time" and "exercise care, caution, or restraint about". The noun explanations are "a small timepiece worn typically on a strap on one's wrist" and "an act or instance of carefully observing someone or something over a period of time". This feels more active than simply waiting. 

This word, as my #OneWord2022 focus, calls on me to pay attention. I need to be patient before jumping into action. Like a watch, this will involve time. 

The Merriam-Webster definition was even more in-depth. Definitions (13 verbs, 5 of 18 nouns) included: 

• keep vigil as a devotional exercise
• be awake during the night
• be attentive or vigilant
• keep guard
• keep someone/something under close observation
• observe as a spectator
• be expectant
• keep under guard
• observe closely in order to check on action or change
• look at or look on at
• take care of
• be careful of
• be on the alert for
• the act of keeping awake to guard, protect or attend
• a state of alert or continuous attention
• close observation
• a period of duty
• a term as holder, especially of an overseeing or managerial office 

At work, I can watch. I can observe my students to see their learning growth. I agreed to be a chairperson this year, so that "period of duty" section will be part of it. I will be vigilant about ensuring my teaching is grounded in anti-oppressive principles. I will take care of my colleagues and students and their well-being.

At home, I can watch. I can keep track of my progress at the gym. I can monitor and observe my AQ students without sacrificing too much of my own free time or happiness. I will keep my health under guard, even though it's easy to become cavalier about taking precautions. 

I was a bit concerned at first that my word was too abelist and focused on sight, but the various definitions eased my worries. Now, I look forward to watching what 2022 has to offer. I may need to borrow some stoicism from my husband, who has been reading a lot about the topic and has adapted many of the tenets of a stoic existence for his own use. Whatever the year holds, I will watch and be as ready as I can be.