OLA SuperConference 2019 Abridged Reflections Part 1 - "The Quiet Day"

I have attended the Ontario Library SuperConference for a very long time. I first presented there in 2000 and if the records in my photo albums, on my wiki and my blog are correct, the only times I have not attended the #OLASC after that date were in 2002, 2006, and last year, 2018. (Technically, last year I was present at the Super Conference Planners meeting but spent too much money at AASL to be able to afford going to both AASL and OLA.)

My favourite photo taken of me at OLASC
Credit to photographer Anita Brooks-Kirkland
Me and my partner in crime, Alanna King

It is traditional for me to write my reflections on my blog, summarizing sessions, highlighting key points and revealing my "so what" next steps. I don't think I can give my "report" in quite the same way for 2019. Experiencing the conference from the point of view of a planner, like some of my wonderful OSLA planners before me (Alanna King, Jess Longthorne, Sarah Oesch, Joel Krentz, Lauren Flattery, and many others) is a completely different experience. It is both more and less - more altruistic, less self-centered; more sessions to check in on and ensure things are going smoothly for all attendees, less workshops to personally attend for a significant length of time. Some observations should only be shared with our SuperConference Planning Team, as they are behind-the-scenes deliberations that are not meant to be negative but serve to improve next year's conference. I think that this year, instead of my regular structure, I'll provide "snapshots" and some abridged reflections of the event.

ETA: As I began to write, I realized that there was NO way it would all fit into one post. Therefore, I'm creating three separate blog posts. Day 1 is subtitled "The Quiet Day" because I was told that Wednesday, the first day, is the quietest of the three days of SuperConference. You may disagree after reading about what took place.


Tuesday, January 29, 2019
4:00 pm
After trying unsuccessfully to carry all my luggage to the bus stop, I gave up and drove downtown. Driving downtown was a dream! I was parked and in my hotel room before 5:00 pm!
It's very important to like and work well with your division co-planner. My co-planner was the incomparable Alanna King. Tuesday evening prior to the 6:00 pm on-site All-Planners meeting was the first of many times that Alanna and I sat down to ensure we were organized and prepared. We also did wellness checks on each other. Dinner in "The Vault" at The Loose Moose was lovely! (Alanna, that was Tuesday, right?)



Wednesday, January 30, 2019
8:00 am
We were lucky to have Stephen Hurley from VoicEd Radio come to the conference to live stream and record for later broadcast several of the sessions. We met early in the morning to give him a tour of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and guarantee that he knew where to find the first presentation he was scheduled to record, a 9:00 am talk called Diversity at Your Library: Effective Strategies, Best Practices, and Lessons Learnt by Nadia Caiki, Andrea Cecchetta, and Louise Reimer. I worked the front desk, helping wonderful people like the 2018 OLBA President Mariam Hamou alongside library school volunteers assembling lanyards.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019
10:30 am
Jess Longthorne and Jacquie Raycraft from the Simcoe County District School Board gave a great talk called Using the Outdoors to Power Up Your Library Learning Commons. It was well attended (43 people squeezed into the room) and I know my next step is to learn from Jess how to do an outdoor story walk (and get access to her slide deck). That would be a perfect fit for my Platinum Eco-School!

Alanna took care of two other OSLA sponsored sessions at this time: Finding Your Voice:Engaging with the OLA Advocacy Toolkit (Dawn Telfer and Jesse Carliner) and Phenomenal Learning for Young Learners and Activists (Greg Harris, Stephanie Tosh, Jamie Taylor and Alicia Dart Shaw). I got some great photos from Sarah Oesch's session, called EmPowering Our Youngest People: Storytime Sessions as a Transitional Tool for Pre-JK Students and Their Families. Our friend Jennifer Casa-Todd did a great job with her session, Virtual Reality and Your Library Learning Commons that started at 11:20 am.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019
1:00 pm

We could really use one of Hermione Granger's time-turners during the SuperConference. Thanks to Alanna's simple but sufficient lunch she pre-packed and stored in her room, we were able to claw back some time that eating would, pardon the pun, eat up. Still, there's never enough time in the day. I would have loved to been a fly on the wall at the OLITA Technology spotlight to hear Dr. Safiya Noble speak. (She wrote the book that my AML friends have frequently referenced, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism.) Alanna was able to squeeze in some time to see the Careers Spotlight speaker, Melissa Nightingale (author of How F*cked Up Is Your Management? An Uncomfortable Conversation About Modern Leadership) at 9:00 am and she liked it. I needed to be at my friend Lisa Noble's talk called Organizing Your Digital Closet: The What, Why and How of Curation. Heavens knows I need some better curation systems for my personal life. Lisa's introductory activity taught me that I'm not a totally lost cause; I do have some curator tendencies, but choosing the right tool will help keep, sort, and organize information more effectively. I plan on trying out Diigo, Symbaloo, and/or Wakelet. Lisa's URL for her talk is bit.ly/OLAcloset. Simultaneously, Alanna took care of the needs of the popular talk by Jennifer Thiessen, Colleen MacKinnon, and Amanda Pemberton, Beyond CRAAP: Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019
 2:30 pm

All OLA conference sessions are assigned a convenor that is meant to assist the presenters with whatever needs they might have prior to their session. Convenors introduce the presenters, read scripted announcements that are required to be shared, and other duties. My friend Ruth Gretsinger convened this very well-attended talk by David Zambrano, Christopher Su, and Kate Wetmore (employees of the Markham Public Library) called Transforming Your Library into a STEAM Learning Hub Through Camps. I was glad to be around, because this dynamic crew had a lot of things they brought for their participants to explore. These photos are just a small portion of the shots I took - and these are just ones with no faces included. At the same time, Alanna was supporting the talk Mind the Gap! Information Literacy Challenges, Needs and Opportunities for Students' Transition from High School to University / College  by Kate Johnson-McGregor, Sarah Shujah, Sophie Bury, Samhita Gupta and Christopher Tomansini. The Indigenous Spotlight speaker, Tanya Talaga, was also sharing.


Wednesday, January 30, 2019
4:00 pm

Keynotes are sessions that are deemed to be of interest to all OLA conference attendees. As such, nothing is scheduled at the same time as the keynotes, and there are only three keynotes, one per day. Our Wednesday keynote, at 4:00 pm was Micah White, activist, educator, author and the co-creator of the Occupy Wall Street movement. It was a good talk and it challenged some of our assumptions about activism. He provided an illuminating allegory about pigeons in a research study. One received food every time it pecked a lever. The second received food every second time. The third received food at random intervals. At some point, the researchers disabled the lever's connection to food. The first and second pigeons stopped pecking the lever after a try or two. The third pigeon never stopped pecking. Micah said we have to stop acting like the third pigeon, using the same strategy in the vain hope that things will change. He said that despite all the environmental activism of the past 30 years, we are in dire straits and we need to change our approach.

The interesting part of being a planner is that we are actually scheduled to attend socials and our job is to have a good time and make sure others are having a good time. Our All-Conference Welcome Party started at 5:30 pm. The theme was "Dragged Out of the 90s" to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the OLA SuperConference. As such, we had many things that linked to the past. (I got to see my friend Jessica who had some Rubik Cubes for people to play.) The centerpiece was a performance by two talented drag queens, who lip-synched to some 1990s classic stars, like Britney Spears, old-school Beyonce, and the Spice Girls.

Is teaching devalued in 2019?

Sometimes I wish no one read my blog.

My blog is a place where I consider the significant events of the past or upcoming week and reflect on the educational implications. Some of the things that are swirling in my head this week are thoughts that disturb and distress me. The way I try and make sense of them might accidentally insult some people if they read it the wrong way, which is why part of me hopes no one will see it and take offence. However, these are topics that should not be hidden. This week, there were four events that made me ask myself if teaching is devalued.

Hubby sent me flowers to keep my spirits up!

1) Grade 11 Math and Terrific Tutors

My son is in Grade 11 and he is taking the final math course of his high school career (Grade 11 Functions). He has been struggling with some of the content and earning marks below what he'd like to receive. We met with his teacher on Parent Teacher Interview night, and I'll be honest, we didn't feel very reassured after the conversation. My son needed help, especially since his final exam is scheduled for Tuesday, January 29. Thank goodness I know some amazing educators. I called up a close friend that I've known since we were together in the Faculty of Education at York University and he agreed to tutor my son. After the first session, my teen boy was smiling, feeling more positive, and said that he finally understood certain concepts. After the second session, I could see his confidence growing. The name of this amazing math teacher is Robin McCabe. (More on Robin in a bit.)

Robin, Diana and Angela, Dec. 30/17

The funny thing is that my daughter was in a similar situation a few years back. She was not doing well academically in her Grade 11 Math class. Her math teacher (a different one from my son's current instructor) said to me during Parent Teacher Interviews that she had no clue why my daughter was not achieving success. The teacher reported that my eldest paid attention in class, completed homework, and asked questions but that she just could not understand why this did not equal improved performance. The teacher did not have any strategies or suggestions for us. Back then, I reached out to a teacher on my staff with an extensive math background and strong teaching techniques to tutor my daughter. With only three short meetings, Brenda Kim helped my child go from a failing grade to a 75% final mark. (I would have asked her again to help my youngest, but she is currently on maternity leave.)

Ms Kim & my girl, circa July 2017 at MakerEdTO

I asked Robin why Grade 11 Functions was such a minefield of challenges. He explained that the course design is flawed and that there is a lot of pressure to give a surface overview of many different topics (e.g. trigonometry, functions, etc) instead of going deeper. He also admitted that many teachers just aren't sure how to explain or teach some of these concepts, especially to students who don't understand the first time or way an idea is introduced. He says that sometimes a different approach or explanation will help a student comprehend easier. Doesn't that sound like good teaching?

Now, before the argument can be made that tutoring is a one-on-one situation and it's easier to help a student when they are the only body to worry about, I should point out that Robin is a high school math teacher. He teaches Grade 11 Functions. His class average is usually 10 percentage points above the other math sections and he covers all the required content. What is different is how Robin teaches the material. Teaching matters and if teaching (and teachers) matter, then you can understand why I might be a bit unsettled about the next three areas.


2) Doug Ford and the Primary Cap

I know that the current provincial government is not exactly a "friend" to teachers. Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Education Lisa Thompson, and their team have cancelled indigenous curriculum writing sessions that had already been scheduled, established a "snitch line" to tattle on teachers who dared to teach the 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum (since teachers were told to go back to the 1998 version), and made serious negative changes to OSAP (post-secondary student loans). The current government loudly touted "the largest public consultation in Ontario education history" but then downplayed the results when the response did not align with what they hoped would occur. The latest move is the possible removal of the "primary cap"by no longer limiting Grade 1-3 classes to a maximum of 20 students.

Please read and retweet: Removing caps on class sizes is a failure of both education and economics /via @globeandmail https://t.co/JgzrfmeaSl

— Charles E Pascal (@CEPascal) January 25, 2019

This is bad news on so many levels. Part of my job this year is a SERT (Special Education Resource Teacher) for the primary classes in my school. Even with two trained adults in the room, it can be a challenge to help all the students in the class. I have to admit I was in awe last Friday watching how much patience Tina Voltsinis had with a resistant writer in her Grade 3 class. She used so many tricks from her "teaching tool-bag", from offering to scribe for him to altering the assignment to make it more appealing to him, to addressing his social and emotional needs as he ranted and acted out. He took a huge chunk of her time, energy and attention - and this is in a "capped" class of 20. It makes me feel like the current government doesn't appreciate true teaching. They'd prefer the cheapest method of supervising children, even if it means their education might be compromised. Don't they care about the quality of teaching?

3) Marriage Prep Facilitation and a New Direction

Last Thursday, we had a meeting of our parish's marriage preparation class facilitators. I thought the meeting was mostly just going to be a quick review of the number of participants that have registered, our class location, and other logistics. Turns out, our parish priest would like us to consider using a new resource and a new approach. If I understand it correctly, the sessions would consist of a 30 minute video, followed by small groups answering questions in the participant book and then having the couple complete further book questions together as a pair. My husband and my priest could see the obvious concern and resistance on my face. I wasn't happy with this proposed change. It took some time, distance, and observations made by my husband (who sometimes knows me better than I know myself) to understand my strong negative reaction. In this new approach, the facilitator doesn't matter, because there's no actual teaching involved. This has the "benefit" of being a more "effective" way of disseminating information and ideas because it isn't dependent on the skills or talents of those leading the sessions. If anyone can do it, then why should I do it? I'm worried that this makes me sound like a "teacher snob". I volunteered for this ministry because I thought I could use my teacher training to help others with this important sacrament. Is this what the Khan Academy is like? If this is what is involved, then I am uncertain that I want to devote my time to it anymore. My dear friend and comfort Lisa Noble reminded me that for some of us, teaching is a vocation and it is okay to walk away from something if what they require is not what I was prepared to offer. I'll be seriously contemplating my two focus words for 2019 ("enough" and "labour") as I decide my next steps.

4) Changes to the OSLA

Since this information is time-sensitive (i.e. I am not allowed to talk about it until a notification has been released to members) I will communicate this section in the meantime only using emojis.

💔📖📅📢🙋✋🚫🎓👨👩

💩😢😠😟🙅💣🏫👎💥💀⏳✂📵🔕📕

I am dismayed because of an upcoming meeting at what should be a wonderful, celebratory event. At the upcoming OLA SuperConference, on Thursday, January 31, at the OLA AGM, a proposal to alter the OSLA by-laws is on the table. The suggestion is to remove all mention of teaching and teacher-librarians. The reason for this change is supposedly to be more inclusive of other school library personnel.

As you can imagine, I strongly disagree with this course of action. It has taken years of advocacy and effort to try and ensure that school libraries are adequately staffed by qualified people and I suspect that the removal of descriptive terms would allow school boards to fill these positions in ways that will not necessarily benefit the students, but act as cheaper alternatives. It is often said that the school library is the heart of the school and the largest, best-equipped classroom. Why would we want to remove teachers from the classroom? Staffing should not be seen as an either/or situation. As the OLA page on School Library Issues states, “Effective school library programs include teacher-librarians with library qualifications, library technicians and support staff” (citation - http://www.accessola.org/web/OLA/ADVOCACY/Ongoing_Library_Issues/School_Library_Issues/OLA/Issues_Advocacy/School_Library_Issues.aspx?hkey=9a19f680-eff7-41d7-962f-b5e19ca1ac50)

Many research studies, including local investigations such as the ones conducted by People For Education, indicate there is a correlation between the presence of teacher-librarians in schools and reading enjoyment and academic achievement (see http://www.accessola.org/web/Documents/OLA/issues/Reading-for-Joy.pdf )

I fear that the loss of specific language geared to teacher-librarians in the guidelines of our biggest subject-association representative would be detrimental to advocacy efforts and deadly to the profession, opening the door to cuts. The way this change to the wording is being suggested feels poorly thought out and potentially rushed through. If we want inclusion, why not include? Don’t cross out any and all references to teaching; instead, take the time to craft a statement that mentions and protects other trained school library staff members.

This proposal will be voted on at the OLA AGM on Thursday, January 31 at 9:00 a.m. - if you are a teacher-librarian who is attending SuperConference 2019, please try to attend this meeting, as this suggestion will be put to a vote. Please show that teaching (even, or especially in the school library) is still valued.

Race - the "bad" word we need to examine closer

I attached this Bitmoji to a recent email I sent, more as a reminder for me than the recipient.

I can feel my stress increasing, as I try to complete report card marks/comments, finish reading Forest of Reading books so I can chat with students, and handle the many loose ends associated with co-managing the OSLA strand of the Ontario Library Association's Super Conference which occurs in less than two weeks. (Thank you again to my wonderful co-chair, Alanna King, for forgiving me for my thoughtless words as well as your patience and guidance.) Another reason why my cortisol level was higher than normal was due to an event I read about on Twitter that upset me greatly - and made me realize how very important the new book club I joined is to me and my own development as an educator and as a human being.

I guess I should back up. Let me talk about my book club first, since our first meeting was on Friday, January 18, before all this stuff happened on the weekend. A fellow educator, Dr. Ken MacKinnon, put a call out on Twitter inviting people to join a book club. The book is called White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo.

I need this book. My own journey to being an anti-bias educator is a long one. As I told the other members of the book club, my pre-service teacher education program at York University had a strong anti-bias foundation. However, what good is a strong foundation if you don't build something stable on it? I've debated for years about sharing on this blog one of the worst teaching mistakes of my career so that I could bring my shame out in the open so I could learn more from the experience. However, decades later, it's still hard for me to discuss. My Mentor AQ course, led by Karen Murray and Jennifer Watt, has been another helpful guide on the journey. 

I'm making a concentrated effort to have these uncomfortable conversations more frequently with my students as part of their units of study. (Don't congratulate me on my "bravery"; really, I'm not doing enough [my 2019 One Word focus] in this area.) This time last year I examined the racist background of the term monkey. During our fashion show inquiry in 2017, I had to push students to even be willing to mention race at all in their observations. Term one's inquiry for the junior division students this school year was about power and we examined aspects of social identity to help us understand how power intersects with these identities. That was challenging to complete because the students hadn't had many opportunities to discuss these topics in this way before. Even I was at a loss for words at times. My friend Jen Apgar helped me immensely by pointing me in the direction of the Genderbread website (www.genderbread.org) and I found other resources to help me explain some terms, but I couldn't find and had a hard time explaining why in our society at this time, we use the words "white" and "black" but not "red" or "yellow" to describe certain races.

Our next media unit of study is about hair and we'll be combining our understanding of power and identity with our examination of hair. When we recently watched a disturbing video clip of the teen wrestler getting his hair unceremoniously and brutally chopped off because a referee said his hair was against the rules (even though he had competed earlier in the tournament), during the class discussion, one student got quite agitated and said, "We aren't black and I don't like it when people use that word. We are brown! We are caramel! We are not black!"

People share the importance of their hair after teen is forced to cut his dreads https://t.co/ouOyHFPkLs

— Kory Graham (@korytellers) December 22, 2018

I want to respect her wishes, but I'm also worried, because a lot of the materials we'll be accessing use the term "black". Just because it won't be easy doesn't mean we should shy away from discussing things. That's why I'm really grateful for this supportive book club. I have to confess that I was a little intimidated at first - there are a lot of principals in this group and I'm "just" a teacher. However, Ken made it clear that these distinctions mean nothing in our book club and that we are all learners. We discussed the first two chapters over breakfast. Here's a photo of the group as well as some key quotes from the first part of the book.

I was not taught to see myself in racial terms and certainly not to draw attention to my race or the behave as if it mattered in any way. Of course, I was made aware that somebody's race mattered, and if race was discussed, it would be theirs, not mine. ... the first challenge: naming our race. (page 7)

When we try to talk openly and honestly about race, white fragility quickly emerges as we are so often met with silence, defensiveness, argumentation, certitude and other forms of pushback. ... These [social forces that stop us from discussing race] include the ideologies of individualism and meritocracy, narrow and repetitive media representations of people of color, segregation in schools and neighborhoods, depiction of whiteness as the human ideal, truncated history, jokes an warning, taboos on opening talking about race, and white solidarity. (page 8)

If your definition of a racist is someone who holds conscious dislike of people because of race, then I agree that it is offensive for me to suggest that you are racist when I don't know you. ... I am not using this definition of racism, and I am not saying that you are immoral. (page 13)  

There are some great reflection questions on pages 14 and 35, and I'm going to need to explore them further (and not necessarily as publicly as on this blog).

The reason why I found our book club meeting so timely was because of some video footage shared on Twitter of some young, white, high school students who were mocking and intimidating a man, Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder, who was in Washington DC as part of a protest. (Search terms like #NathanPhillips or #CovingtonCatholic if you need more details. Be aware though that many of the mainstream news media's headlines minimize the race aspect of the incident.) I won't share the video or images here, because I find them quite unsettling to watch. There are a lot of contradictory messages that come out at a time like this, especially with regards to "how we should react".

• Say something to condemn the action (immediately), otherwise it appears like you don't care, don't notice, or worry it will "hurt your brand"
• Don't shoot your mouth off, talking about stuff you don't know much about
• Let native people take the lead on the next steps
• Take the lead on next steps, don't leave it to those who are mocked
• Call for punishment, or forgiveness, or education, or next steps for those involved

I needed time to think, so I used some of Robin DiAngelo's book to help shape my thoughts. I won't share what it is I'll be doing on a local level, because I don't want to center myself or my experiences in this discussion. It's not about me, it's about so much more. Others, like Shana White, have been working at and thinking about this much longer than I have. Her blog post can be found at https://shanavwhite.com/2017/07/09/why-do-i-cause-you-discomfort/ 

Staff room: Sanctuary or source of stress? (PS Board games make it better)

This past week, I spent a great deal of time in the staff room. I eat lunch there daily but there were other reasons for an extended stay. On Friday, we had a union representative come to talk to the staff. On Thursday, a bunch of us played a board game called "Imagine". On Wednesday, I left my copy of "What Do You Meme" for teachers to explore. (Note: playing this game "as is" will probably get you written up in the OCT's blue pages, as it is similar to the game "Cards Against Humanity". I only use a few of the cards as examples of memes, and a wonderful new TDSB teacher, Ms Barriga-Viera,  used some selected cards with her Grade 7 students as a first-day activity.) We also had a former EA pop by to visit and she came to the staff room to chat with colleagues.

The "teachers playing board games during lunch" activity is a relatively recent development at our school. Jennifer Balido-Cadavez explained the history of it for me.

We actually started this waaay before the holidays when Tina [Voltsinis] was asking what games were good for her daughters for Christmas. I mentioned the game Spot It and it just so happened that [Diana] Hong has a few sets at school. Steve [Tong], Dean [Roberts] Farah [Wadia], Hong, Tina and I began playing them for fun and then from there it just became a weekly habit during lunch! ... It actually was all about Spot It and various versions Hong had in her class then we expanded to the games you offered to us ... The vibe lightens up when we play, a bunch of good laughs are heard, competitiveness is shown, new connections to others are made and overall we just have a lot of fun!

 How serendipitous that we had that visit by Board Game Bliss to our school - I know many of our staff members have ordered games from them and as Jen mentioned, we've started to try out some of these games during lunch. Many of us realize that, despite the demands on our time, especially with report cards looming, we need a mental health break just like the students.

Imagine for board game lunch! @MzMollyTL @tinavolt @wonderoom @AgnesMacphailPS pic.twitter.com/a2tvpKr0as

— Jen Balido-Cadavez (@jenabee_c) January 10, 2019

What reinforced this idea and pushed me to turn it into a blog post was Rolland Chidiac's question on Twitter. (Note for those using assistive technology to read this post: the embedded Twitter image says "Teachers: Do you eat in your staff room? If not, why? If so, why?" and my answer below says "I do eat in my staff room. Why? We have LEWIS (lunch every Wednesday is salad) where teachers bring items. Space is big enough. Good time to relax (lately teachers have been playing board games at lunch). We do have lunch clubs and need to mark but we go up briefly")

I do eat in my staff room. Why? We have LEWIS (lunch every Wednesday is salad) where Ts bring items. Space is big enough. Good time to relax (lately Ts have been playing board games at lunch). We do have lunch clubs & need to mark but we go up briefly

— Diana Maliszewski (@MzMollyTL) January 12, 2019

 I checked the responses to Rolland's thread, as there were many, and there were different answers and explanations, as you can imagine.

Those who replied YES said it was because
- it was a place to destress / decompress / unwind (Melinda) (Alisha) (John) (Lisa)
- it was a safe, positive space (Lisa)
- it offered time to connect (Sharon)
- for pot lucks and soup days (Jim) and other treats/food (Kelly) (Lynn)
- students are in the class for lunch so no time to prep in there (Laurel)
- it was a place for adult conversation (Claudia) (Elizabeth) (Karen)
- for consolidating friendships / relationships (Ken) and professional dialogue (Anne)
- it was a place to have fun and recharge (Amy) (Katherine)
- it was a place to share ideas / strategies / resources and learn about students / each other informally (Ray) (Spencer)
- it's a time where they don't talk about school (Sarah) (Leann)
- of the same reasons kids eat with their friends (Drew)

Those who replied NO said it was because
- it was a place of gossip (Melinda) (Ms. R), drama / negativity (Michele)
- use time instead to plan or offer student activities or allow students equitable digital access (Paolo) (Danesa) (Morgan)
- the need to be alone to get refreshed (Sharon) or find quiet (Peter)
- it was a place where teachers just complain about students (Claudia) ("the C")
- the time could be used to eat/work/bond with students (Jennifer) (Chelsea) (Jodi)
- it was a place where students and parents were trashed, and awkward excluding conversations happened (Matthew)
- it's part of school culture to sit with your students to eat (Nicholas)
- use time for work so can leave school at a decent time (Kim) (Melissa)
- the space is uncomfortable (Mr. T) or gross (Magistra)
- it's unproductive time (Dawn)
- the space is too small (Bridget), too far (Breanna), or non-existent (Karen)
- there's no time (Carol) (Meghan) (Julie) or too busy (Rosemarie)
- introvert nature (Tashia)
- too many people use the space (Christyn)

I had to stop scrolling through that long thread, so apologies if I didn't include people's ideas. Of course, Rolland did a better job of summarizing the results:

I hear you. It looks like time, work load, location, sanitation, students, etc are factors that are keeping people out of the room.

— Rolland Chidiac (@rchids) January 13, 2019

So, how important is it for teachers to be in a staff room? Is it possible to change a toxic space? Is this just another version of my musings on staff parties? It's interesting that there seemed to be more "no" answers than "yes" answers. I hope Rolland writes his own lengthy analysis of the remarks.

What I've noticed is that incorporating board games has made the staff room more friendly and inclusive. In that quote I got from Jen Balido-Cadavez, she mentioned the names of nine staff members who have played one of the games at some point during lunch. We aren't a big staff, so to have that many people involved is very encouraging. Factor in that some teachers run clubs during lunch so they aren't there, and a group of teachers are part of a lunch walking group, and that makes the number more impressive.

First Day Back

Part of today's post was written on Sunday, January 6, 2019.
Part of today's post was written on Monday, January 7, 2019.

Why? Because a true reflection on the "first day back" needs to happen on the actual first day back from winter vacation.

Part One

On Twitter, there was a debate, as there often is, about how to respond to your students and about how to respond publicly, to approaching breaks and the end of breaks. I won't share the original message that Matthew Oldridge refers to in his tweet - it was a judgmental one from an "education thought leader" who criticized teachers who post "TGIF" or "hooray for snow days" messages. These two tweets I've embedded here were good reminders for me about perspective.

(In case you can't read them, the first says "We return to the schoolhouse on Monday. Some kids will be bursting to share their breaks with you. Some kids will be dying for a hug. Some kids will need to shake off the cobwebs. Allow for it all. Connection over curriculum on Monday". The second says "I will probably never get that blue check and guru/thoughtleader/keynote dolla dolla bills if I say this, but let me just say: it's okay to feel intensely sad at the end of a beautiful vacation with friends, family, your own thoughts, nice food, time to read, and so on.")

We return to the schoolhouse on Monday.

Some kids will be bursting to share their breaks with you.

Some kids will be dying for a hug.

Some kids will need to shake off the cobwebs.

Allow for it all.

Connection over curriculum on Monday. 💙 pic.twitter.com/W2YCFgQgGN

— Michael Courington (@MrCourington53) January 4, 2019

I will probably never get that blue check and guru/thought leader/keynote dolla dolla bills if I say this, but let me just say:

-It's okay to feel intensely sad at the end of a beautiful vacation with friends, family, your own thoughts, nice food, time to read, and so on.

— Matthew Oldridge (@MatthewOldridge) January 6, 2019

These posts, and ones from my friend Lisa Noble, made me consider: how should I approach the first day? This is not a new thought for me. I looked back and in 2012 I made a pro/con list about reserving time specifically for students to talk about their time away from school and I remember admiring how Kerri Commisso constructed time that respected both those that wanted to share and those that didn't. Andrew Campbell said, in part of his tweet on the matter,

Many of our students will also be feeling sad that vacation is over. Being in the same "place" as they are is a point of connection. It helps you to relate to your students, and they to you.

Another useful tweet came from Jeewan C. (Note that it says "Remember that the break isn't always a "holiday" and not all students / adults have / want to share what happened. Think about How are you? Did you have a chance to do something you liked / enjoyed while away?)

Remember that the break isnt always a "holiday" & not all Ss/adults have/want to share what happened. #LanguageisImportant #InclusiveDesign #InvitationalEnvironments. Think about, "How are you?", "Did you have a chance to do something you liked/enjoyed while away ?" more.. https://t.co/R7wyc63Crd

— Jeewan C (@jeewanc) January 6, 2019

Confession time: I actually don't have my lesson plans written for this upcoming week. I know what I want to do: provide time for students to do the final assignment in our communications / emoji unit, give time to play with some of the new items I'm bringing in to the school (my daughter purged her room and some of these things are just too good to give away) and plan with the students how to approach the Forest of Reading this year. But I need to play it by ear. Will I do the community circle topic of "use one word to describe your time away from school", or as I saw somewhere on Twitter, focus on the "who" of the break rather than the "what" or "where"?

Part Two

 So, how was the first day back? Good! It began in an odd way - I have 16 traffic lights between home and school, and today, I hit 12 red lights. What is the probability of that happening? (Where are you Matthew Oldridge to help me figure that out?)

My car was full of stuffed unicorns, a new sewing machine and a skinny pig.

View from the opened hatchback of my car

Like I do every morning, I stood at the main back entrance and greeted the students as they entered. The children had more to say about the current weather than they did about their time away from school. I had expected a full library during recess because the cold tends to drive up the number of recess visitors, but the student announcers accidentally read an old bulletin from December stating that the library was closed at recess, so it was much quieter than usual. I chatted briefly with some staff members (including ones that had been absent in December) to catch up on how they were doing, and had my usual SERT coverage time. The kindergarteners and other primary students really liked exploring the unicorns and the kindies tinkered during media with some "old technology" - Flip video cameras. We had our first Comics Club meeting at lunch for the Grade 7-8s, with a smaller group because many were understandably unprepared for a club meeting on the first day back. I was grateful that my adult library volunteer came in this afternoon to handle the back-to-back-to-back book exchange and the students were content to take turns working on their emoji names. My prep times were used to send a note with an extra fidget maze to someone and to get our Forest of Reading 2019 passports updated. I stayed late after school to set up a hall display.

Students from Rm 117 trying out the unicorns

Fans in Rm 114 bonding with the new equine additions

So, any great insights? One might be that I sometimes overthink things! Another may be that it's nice to have a bit of time at the start of the day to get reacquainted with each other, but it doesn't take long and can be determined by those involved - it can be nice to "hit the ground running" and quickly get back into the swing of things. We've got the ball hockey tournament coming up, and assessments to conclude so we can write report cards, and new clubs, and Forest of Reading books to read. It was the first day back but the routine still fits and the rest made me ready for more.

Early Reveal! - My #onewordONT #oneword2019

Being sick during the holidays STINKS! I was able to complete my 9-day, 5:30 am Christmas Novena but after I returned home after my final early morning Mass on December 24, I didn't feel well. I rapidly degenerated, so much so that I couldn't attend Christmas Eve Mass that night with my family. Swollen glands, sore throat, high fever, depleted energy levels, persistent headache and violent chills made for a very unpleasant couple of days. My poor husband even contemplated taking me to the hospital when labored breathing during the night Santa works was added to my mix of ailments. Thankfully, a combination of rest, copious (but sadly non-alcoholic) liquids, pills, home remedies and more rest have helped me regain my health.

Which leads me to my choice for my #onewordONT - and no, it's not the word "healthy", although that would have been a suitable pick. Like Julie Balen, the educator who curates and encourages the #onewordONT collection, this is a process that involves examining last year's word.

Have you chosen your #onewordONT 2019 word yet? I haven’t. First, I need to reflect on #OneWordOnt 18 “Enable”. The process often leads me to the new word. Hope to have the post up later this week. #onted #ontedleaders pic.twitter.com/X44JwPVW1K

— Julie Balen (@jacbalen) December 27, 2018

Unlike Julie, my word choice has other conditions and stipulations. This is why, for my 2019 word, I consulted with my wise daughter for help. For instance, I don't like selecting a word that is common. That's why I loved my friend Jen Apgar's 2018 choice, because she invented the word: Re-Co-Cogitaction

Let me allow you in a bit on my decision making process.

1) I re-read all my blog posts that dealt with my One Word choices. In 2016, it was continue. In 2017, it was forgive. In 2018, it was seek.

2) Then, I reflected on how successful I was at approaching the spirit of this word.

3) During this last week of December, I kept a sticky note near my computer desk, and if a word popped into my head, I'd write it down.

4) I think about what the upcoming year might have in store - what challenges do I know are coming? What might happen that I need to deal with?

5) I try to examine the personal selection criteria in my head (unique word that others won't also use, something that can apply to my personal and professional life, a word that is open-ended enough for wide interpretation, etc.)

This year, I combined steps 4 and 5 with a conversation with my daughter as consultant.

Words I had on my list but were rejected included ...

• change = change for change's sake isn't a good thing, and all my goals do not necessarily involve me changing things
• respond = this was almost too open; how I respond to things is just as important as whether or not I do (and sometimes I shouldn't respond at all)
• consider = I already spend a lot of time reflecting as it is, so how would this be a big challenge or a new focus?

So, before revealing what my new word will be, how did I do on my 2018 word?

Did I seek answers and understanding? I certainly tried. There was a young Year 1 student who came to our school in September 2018 and challenged a lot of notions I had about behaviour. I sought out a lot of experts and had a lot of conversations to try and figure out the best course of action to take. I never got to take that MEHRIT Centre course on self-regulation in the summer of 2018, but that was because of another "seek".

Did I seek the good in people and situations? I think I improved in this area. I complained less about people who can drive me bonkers, and I took an active role in trying to help others.

Did I seek serenity and peace? Yes, although I didn't always find it. That trip to Calgary was restful but peace of mind could elude me if I wasn't careful.

Did I seek opportunities and help when needed? Yes, and sometimes opportunities sought me out! After "retiring" as the editor-in-chief of The Teaching Librarian (a decision I have never regretted, because Caroline Freibauer is AMAZING in the role), I both joined the Association of Media Literacy on their executive board and became the OSLA SuperConference co-planner with my incredible friend Alanna King. What I didn't expect was that I'd get the chance to teach the Librarianship Additional Qualification course for York University in July, a great honour! I met an-8-year-in-the-making goal and actually got a research paper I co-wrote published in a peer-reviewed academic journal (thanks to the talented Terry Soleas). I presented at some new conferences at the prompting of some friends (Unleashing Learning because of Denise Colby and ECOO Camp Owen Sound because of Doug Peterson).

But ... stop the press ... something that happened on December 30 made me alter my word and add another! I'll continue with this blog post as written and then add a huge section near the end. There are actually two words. 

And so, my 2019 One Word this year is ... [insert drum roll here]

enough

Enough is an adjective. It means adequate for the want or need; sufficient for the purpose or to satisfy desire: (according to https://www.dictionary.com/browse/enough)

Enough is the first time I haven't chosen a verb. This made me a bit anxious. Will this give me enough to do? 

While I was recuperating from my holiday illness, my husband repeated a line he says often: don't do too much. He likes to claim that the P in my name (Diana P Maliszewski) stands for "push it", and in a metaphorical sense, he's right. (In a literal sense, he's wrong; my middle name is Patricia.). So, I don't want to do less. I don't want to cut down on the number of projects I'm involved with, because I enjoy doing them. But, I don't want to do more. I don't want to overwhelm myself and leave myself with no free time. I want to do enough - for me.

I looked up some visuals for "enough" and found a few (all licensed for reuse according to Google) that will serve as useful reminders for me.

Do enough for me - know my limits, and don't feel like I need to prove anything to anyone (thanks Maya).

Having said that - consider whether or not I've done enough (marking, reading, praying) to make changes that I want to see. If I see injustice, do I speak out enough? Don't shy away from a challenge (like the ones I may face during my Cross Fit classes) but decide if it's enough because I'll hurt myself if I do more, or if I'm just saying it's enough because I'm tired or scared to try.

I've seen Angela Maiers on Twitter plenty. Without falling into excessive pride or hubris, I will remind myself that I matter.

This vonGoethe quote (which I'll have to look up to ensure that it is properly cited - after all, anyone can stick some words on a pretty background and claim someone said it) is my prompt to say that enough also means knowing when it's NOT enough. Take action. Like the earlier definition suggested, has the desire been satisfied adequately? Is my action sufficient based on what I can do?

This leads to "enough is enough". I need to know when to stop. I need to know there are times to tolerate certain conditions or conduct but there are times when I shouldn't because enough is enough.

"Enough" is a bit of a risk, but I'm willing to try it for 2019.



Note: Edited on December 30, 2018 to include the following:

Blame my priest.

Father Hansoo Park gave the homily during the Feast of the Holy Family and it's his "fault" that I must add in another word to my one word. Father Hansoo talked about the idea of the need to labour gratefully - to be thankful for sickness as it can bring you closer to the suffering of Jesus, or to be appreciative of the person that irritates you, for it teaches patience. Fr. Hansoo also said that's it's not easy. That's when I realized I must have this word as part of my #oneword2019 #onewordONT.

labour

For something to be "enough", I need to have tried, or worked at it.

I still need to labour - (not too much, not too little, but enough) - labour on being a better teacher, Catholic, mother, and wife. I need to put in the effort, like in my Sweat 60 / Cross Fit exercises. I want to labour on making the Association for Media Literacy an even better organization. If I want to see a better (aka more equitable, happier,) world, then I need to put in the labour to make it happen.

I guess like I really needed a verb to go along with my single word of "enough". Therefore, let it be "labour" as well as "enough".

Perils and Pleasures of Holiday Staff Parties

Hooray, it's the holidays! We're on break from school right now and my household is preparing for Christmas. There are many traditions and activities linked to this time of year, some of which I like and some I don't. One particular event that I've had mixed feelings about for a while is the annual holiday staff party.

I've got to confess that I have never been a big fan of work socials in general, and Christmas staff parties specifically. Why? My reluctance can be attributed to a combination of my own personality and past experiences.

• December is a hectic time of year and a staff social feels like just *another* expectation on a kilometer-long list of things to do.
• At previous schools, we had a lot of "enforced socialization", which chafed me; there can be a difference between work colleagues and friends. I've been a teacher for a long time and I can't say that every fellow teacher I've shared a school with qualified as a friend.
• There are a lot of "social minefields" to navigate when at a festive gathering with people you work with: How are you expected to behave? What can/can't you discuss? To what extent should you mingle? Should you or others imbibe (if alcohol is something you partake in at parties)?
• Cliques sometimes rise to the surface in uncomfortable ways. I remember going to a pre-winter-break party (not with my current staff) at a restaurant, arriving early and being told "sorry, these seats are saved" for other teachers and their spouses. 
• Gift games are just not my thing, especially the ones where gifts get "traded" or "stolen". Buying and giving gifts are a personal process to me and I feel uncomfortable with the commodification that characterizes some of these fun gift exchanges. (Even Secret Santa can become awkward, as a recent news story involving a text exchange between co-workers can attest.) 

Having said that, I attended my staff Christmas party this year and had an enjoyable time. What made the difference? Why did I have fun?

• A lot of choice was built into the evening, and this is thanks to the social committee. The start time was flexible. (Thank goodness, because I got lost and was the last to arrive.) The end time was flexible. (I'm grateful for that, too, because I was the last to leave because I was busy playing a board game with the daughters of our host.) We didn't have to participate in the gift exchange if we didn't want to. A small amount of money was collected towards the dinner and there was plenty of food (and lots of options for those on staff with different food allergies and intolerances). It was BYOB for those who wanted a stronger drink (and no one got drunk).
• The location of the party (a teacher's house) was big enough that flexible groups could form and re-form throughout the evening for different conversations.
• My current staff consists of a lot of pleasant people that are welcoming and considerate.
• I've worked at the same school since 2004, so I'm comfortable and familiar with many of my coworkers. There are new staff members every year, but I try to connect with them starting in September so that we aren't strangers.
• No one brings their spouse to this party. This may be a deal-breaker to some, but I find that there's additional stress if I have to worry if my husband and I are both enjoying ourselves.

Now comes the family gatherings, with their own unique dynamics and protocol. May everyone enjoy the break. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and enjoy the final days of 2018.