Food for Thought

There were a lot of potential topics for today's blog, so I combined a few of them into one general theme.

Famous Food

I am not particular aware of award-winning restaurants. I'm easy to please and not a big spender. (I think the most expensive meal I've ever eaten was at the CN Tower for my 20th wedding anniversary.) These renowned places exist but it's unlikely you'll see me in them. This changed recently. It came to my attention that a few Canadian eateries had earned recognition from Michelin. You can see the list of Toronto recommendations here. A significant entry was the inclusion of Sumilicious. Sumilicious is a smoked meat and deli restaurant close to my school. This spot received a "Bib Gourmand" recommendation - this means that it has "good quality and good value", so it won't break the bank to dine there. I've eaten at Sumilicious prior to its inclusion on the Michelin list, on the advice of a former student of mine who lived in Montreal and knew about its existence. I myself am a big fan of their smoked meat poutine with the Cotts black cherry cola. Our school staff love food and so our resident foodie, Jen Cadavez, suggested we order there and pick it up for a Friday lunch delight. She was not at school on Friday so I took over her duties. Ten people on staff placed orders. I was blown away by the line-ups. Jen placed the order the day before and I went right when it opened at 11:00 am. The restaurant staff were working quickly and I was able to obtain the food by 11:40 am. There was a slight error (which was understandable considering how many things were on our list) and it was tricky to reconnect with the deli because the phone was so busy, but they were able to rectify the mistake. 

My "I wonder" thoughts: I wonder if the new notoriety is a blessing or a curse for Sumilicious. Are they happy to have more customers, or exhausted from the increased work load? How many people just went there because of the award? Do awards in the restaurant world and the education world mean that much? 

Surprise Food

We are debating whether or not to reinstate "kitchen duties" and "treat day sign-up" at my school. The employees used to sign up and share the responsibility of cleaning the staff room on a weekly basis and on the week that someone was assigned, they would bring in some kind of a treat for the rest of the staff members. Not everyone uses the staff room anymore since COVID came around. Other communal areas (gym cupboard, stockroom, guided reading room) have small committees that maintain the spaces and we could make the kitchen another option like this. We haven't decided how to handle the staff room duty yet. We don't want to force anyone to enter a room they aren't comfortable in but we also don't want the kitchen to become dirty or an onerous job for just a few when others might be using it indirectly.

This pause has not stopped individuals from bringing treats unexpectedly. Food items are now left in the teacher workroom for others to find. On Thursday, I held my Library Helper orientation and training session at lunch. As an unexpected benefit of membership, I bought Krispy Kreme donuts for my newly minted student library helpers and for my staff. It was a big morale boost and I received a lot of thanks. The next day, my colleague bought Tim Hortons Smile cookies for everyone. There's something quite delightful in discovering a little sweet treat you didn't know was coming. 

My "I wonder" thoughts: I wonder how we can continue the unexpected appreciations beyond food. Should it be a requirement to provide treats for others or should it be something that an individual is just inspired to do, even if it is not reciprocated? Should food remain in the kitchen or be present elsewhere, even if people are actively avoiding the kitchen/staff room?

Connecting over Food

This year, I re-established a tradition of arranging a luncheon for the admin team, hosted by me as the teacher-librarian, so that we could examine the library annual report and the photo scrapbook I put together highlighting the events of the past school year. Jen Cadavez helped me by picking up the dinners from Mr. Greek so that I could have the full lunch period to spend with the admin team. It was a wonderful time together. It's a shame we didn't have longer. Thanks to the addition of dining as a group, this "meeting" had a completely different vibe - yes, there was an agenda and purpose, but it didn't feel like a meeting. We chatted about other topics and when we were discussing library issues, there was such a comfortable atmosphere and everyone was receptive and relaxed. 

My "I wonder" thoughts: I wonder how influential this lunch gathering might be for future decisions related to the SLLC. Do the numbers matter - is having just 3 for an intimate lunch more effective than say feeding the entire staff? Does the type of food matter for this kind of gathering? Do the parties involved need to already be on good terms for this kind of lunch meeting to be successful?

Photographic Food

To avoid breaking copyright, I try to only use photos I've taken myself on my blog whenever possible. I was searching for images to use with this blog post - I ate my smoked meat poutine too quickly to take a picture, and I didn't take photos during my admin lunch or library training - and I found an interesting mix of images from the summer. Some pictures were of me with the food. Other pictures were of just the food. I'll place a mixture of both types and let readers decide about the impact.

(Me with my crème brulé and husband at the Keg, July 2022)

(Me with my salmon pastry at Aux Anciens Canadiens, July 2022)

(Quite possibly the best poutine I've ever tasted at La Croquée in St. Raymond, QB, July 2022)

(Cheeses I brought back from Fromagerie Alexis de Pontneuf, July 2022)

My "I wonder" thoughts: I wonder about how it's possible to capture the scent and taste experience of a meal just visually. Which is more influential - seeing a close-up of the food or seeing someone enjoying the food? I know official food photographers manipulate and alter the food to make it look more appealing; how important is it to do that as an amateur, vs preserving the moment?

Thanks for reading and I hope this didn't make you unnecessarily hungry!

God Save The Queen('s Lessons)

 This weekend, I split my time between enjoying a wonderful outing with some of my colleagues in the region of Port Perry and working on creating a timely resource to help educators in Ontario.

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch in British history, died on September 8, 2022. She is the Queen of Canada, unlike the fake Romana Didulo (you can read about Didulo in this article by the Vancounver Sun - I never thought my lesson on "Queen Folly of Canada" would have a real-life equivalent).

It can be tricky to adequately address any topics of significance in school in September. Educators are still trying to establish routines, develop rapport with their students, and determine what levels the students are currently working at so they can adapt their lessons accordingly. I always found that my Orange Shirt Day efforts were insufficient because I was unable to properly introduce the joy and achievements that are part of various Indigenous cultures before launching into the atrocities committed against them when explaining residential schools.

Despite this reality, the current Minister of Education for Ontario, Stephen Lecce, released a letter on September 15 demanding that Ontario schools ensure that the day's learning on September 19 (the day of Queen Elizabeth's funeral) address the contributions and legacy of the British monarchy. This was, in my opinion, a bit of an unreasonable request. School boards processed this information and shared it with their site administrators on Friday, September 16, leaving just a weekend to come up with activities. It may be a federal holiday, but Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta schools are still open for business.

This is where I'm proud to be part of a responsive subject association. Members of the Association for Media Literacy started a Google document and brainstormed different suggestions for educators to use to attempt to recognize this event. I'm pleased to report that the finished product is available on the AML website, at https://aml.ca/monarchy-as-media-ideas-for-addressing-queen-elizabeth-iis-death/ We could have included a lot more entries into the subject matter - we didn't even touch on patriotic monarchy songs like God Save The Queen or oaths of Canadian citizenship that now sound different - but considering the limited time we had to compile this resource, it's a decent contribution. Hopefully there are many opportunities for critical examination, regardless of the age of the learners.

 

Photograph taken by Julian Calder for Governor-General of New Zealand, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 Media literacy is such an important knowledge and skill set, especially in today's climate. It's startling to see on the OCT website that there is currently only one provider of the Media Part 1 Additional Qualification course (and it is offered by AML). I highly recommend taking this course. This particular AQ is offered by a non-profit organization, not a university, so it needs a minimum amount of participants to enroll so that it is financially feasible to run. The fall 2022 session runs October 13 - December 15, 2022. More information can be found at https://aml.ca/professional-development/additional-qualifications/  I hope many people will consider taking the course.

Wishing Rome Was a Day Job

 I am typing this the day it get published - an unusual state of affairs for me - but the reason is solid; my sister is visiting from Calgary and I spent a lot of time with her.

I contemplated what to reflect on and write about and the common thread was about library care and maintenance. In the dying days of the summer, Wendy and I went to Jillian's library to help her set up after her school's massive renovation. This past week, I went to Farrah's school to give some advice about organizing the space. In the next couple of weeks, I plan on going to Michelle's library to offer an extra pair of eyes. My own library has had some furniture shifts and needs a good weeding. My friends Wendy and Jenn have moved to new school libraries and are busy touching every single book in their collection as they rearrange the shelves.

All of us are "chomping at the bit" - the pandemic has exacerbated the usual disarray of school library shelves and we are keen to improve things. The frustrating but realistic fact is that it takes a lot of time and effort to fix, especially if the school library was neglected, even for a bit. It's very hard to be patient but school library professionals need to pace themselves with the work of deselection and organization so they don't burn themselves out by the end of September. 

I'll add some photos here of my new set-up and messy shelves post-production, but hopefully this post will be a reminder, to me and to others, to be kind to themselves and be patient with the process.

Not Ready to Retire Yet

 On the weekend, I went to a concert. It's been ages since I attended an event like this. Big thanks to Jess Longthorne for writing about buying her own tickets on Facebook a while ago, because that was what inspired me to investigate and go. I went to Casino Rama to watch Boy George and Culture Club.

I had a great time and was just as impressed with the show as Jess.

Did you know that Boy George is 61 years old? He performed for two hours straight, with no opening act and no intermission, and rocked it!

Today is Labour Day and tomorrow will be my 26th year of permanent contract teaching. Several of my contemporaries are retiring this year and/or in the near future. I can officially retire with a full pension in 2026. For the longest time, I didn't even know my retirement date. Now I do. I've known for a long time that I didn't want to retire in 2026 but after some discussion with my husband, I think I've decided on a date I aim to retire by, finally. This is a flexible date, and can change as circumstances change, but it's interesting to realize that I actually have an "end date". (I'm not posting it here in case I change my mind or have to go earlier.)

The thing is, like Boy George, I'm not ready to retire yet. Boy George and Culture Club have been around since 1981. Based on what I saw at Casino Rama, the members of Culture Club still enjoy performing. If I still enjoy teaching as much as Boy George enjoys performing, AND if I'm still good at it, then why not continue? 

Having said that, there's no shame in retiring. In fact, it should be perceived, not as an ending, but as a new chapter in someone's life. Serena Williams, quite possibly the greatest tennis player of all time, recently announced her retirement from the sport. In her piece with Vogue magazine, she calls it a transition or evolution. It's natural to have conflicting emotions about the topic, especially when so much of one's identity is tied up with a job or role. I know that's true for me as a teacher-librarian. Like Serena, I need to have goals or projects waiting in the wings, so that I don't become bored. As I've said often, when I have too much free time on my hands, I get myself in trouble. (Remember when I volunteered to babysit twins?) I have a few ideas in mind (of the four-legged variety, which somewhat terrifies my husband who isn't a pet person, as well as continuing some of my partnerships with post-secondary institutions and volunteer organizations).

Happy Labour Day. To all those (in education or in other jobs) that are getting close to the end of their careers, may your final year(s) be happy ones, so that you can go out on a high note. To those for whom retirement seems very far away, hang in there, and may you be healthy and secure enough to be able to enjoy your retirement years