Beyond the Shirt

 This past week, it was both our Terry Fox walk and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Thing is, September 30 is also called Orange Shirt Day - which is both poignant and problematic.

The reason it is called Orange Shirt Day is because of the experience of a particular person on her first day at a residential school. Phyllis Webstad was only six years old and initially excited about going to school. She was wearing an orange shirt, a gift from her family, which was taken away immediately from her when she entered the school. That shirt is symbolic of the experience of many Indigenous people at residential schools in Canada. When the magnitude of a tragedy is so large and impacts so many people, it helps to personalize it and focus on an individual's experience so that it can be grasped and understood.

I was very fortunate to have met Phyllis Webstad at OLA SuperConference in 2020. She was so sweet, soft-spoken and gracious. I couldn't help but say how sorry I was that those horrible experiences happened to her. 

Phyllis' experience is something tangible and concrete for young children especially to comprehend. What concerns me lately is the commercialization and corporatization of this idea. When I did a Google search for Orange Shirt Day, the first things that popped up were shopping options.

This isn't what the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is supposed to be about. Some of these vendors aren't even Indigenous. Companies are profiting from this somber event. It isn't just about wearing a t-shirt. Here are some tweets that elaborate on the problem with making it "about the orange t-shirt".

Seeing Minister of Education Lecce doing photo ops in his orange shirt today (when I know full well that the first thing his government did was to cancel the indigenous curriculum writing team) is performative allyship at its finest. https://t.co/8lgc5nWN6W

— Kimiko Shibata 🇨🇦 🦄 (@ESL_fairy) October 1, 2022

Lol pic.twitter.com/u1nbJVfbg9

— tanya tagaq (@tagaq) September 30, 2022

#TenThingsIHate about Reconciliation without Truth Day: https://t.co/cGF1WhRfdb

— 🔥 daanis 🧡 (@gindaanis) September 30, 2022

My lessons this week were an attempt to begin with the joy rather than the tragedy, like Dr. Nicole West-Burns taught her audience back in 2016 and which is also part of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad's message in her book, Cultivating Genius. Instead of reading books aloud to classes that focused on the horrors of residential schools (like I did in 2019 and I knew that the classroom teachers would do with their homeroom students this year), I actually re-read "When We Are Kind" by Monique Grey Smith. I also hit upon a way to absorb the core message for the students in my school, many of whom are from one particular culture. After they told me what they knew about Orange Shirt Day (which was mostly about phrases like "Every Child Matters" or "the school took an orange shirt away from a girl"), I asked them if they knew who [or what groups of children] were sent to residential schools. Then we talked about this question: "What does it mean to be Chinese?" (Don't worry - I didn't just focus on students of Chinese background/ethnicity.) They said things like their language, their food, their clothes, their holidays, their music ... and some even said things like "how we act" or "what's important to our family". I was able to say that these are important things in a culture or community, and that residential schools (and actions by the government and other institutions) try to take those important things away or make people feel that those things from a specific community are "bad". I hope that this was a helpful step in grasping the main idea of this particular day. It's not supposed to be all about the shirt.

Speaking about "the shirt", the same is partly true for our Terry Fox day. I have a large number of Terry Fox t-shirts I've bought over the years so I could support the Terry Fox Foundation and raising funds for cancer research. Our school has raised a lot of money over the years for the Terry Fox Foundation, but I think the years with our biggest donations came when we sold the most amount of shirts. This issue is slightly different than the Orange Shirt situation, because at least the shirt sales funds go to cancer research - or at least a good part of it. The page on Canada Helps reports that the Terry Fox Foundation gives 78 cents of every dollar raised to cancer research. It's also quite visually striking to see a large group of people, especially young people, running with matching t-shirts on to commemorate one of the few examples of a "Canadian hero". Still, it's not supposed to be all about the shirt. 

Even though it's hard, let's try to get beyond the shirt.

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

Fan Expo Canada 2022: If You Give Someone A Costume ...

One of my favourite events that signified the end of the summer was Fan Expo Canada. It's a convention I've attended on-and-off since 2009 with my daughter. The last time we went was in 2019. The pandemic disrupted this pattern for two years but it returned this year and I went. These are some of my reflections (and photos, of course)!

Cosplay & Purchases

I love to dress up. This year, I wore two different costumes. I reused my Recovery Girl outfit from the manga/anime My Hero Academia and I was Tom Nook from the video game Animal Crossing New Horizons. 

I've written before about the benefits of cosplay. I love the sense of community that it creates. When you "recognize" someone based on their costume, something a bit magical happens. I attended a talk for older cosplayers and I really liked one of the slides they had displayed. (If you can't read it, it says "Next time someone tells you you're too old for superhero dress-up" with photos of some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe actors and their ages.)

I wasn't able to attend all the scheduled cosplay meetups at the convention but I was delighted to see and take photos with a fellow Animal Crossing New Horizons "character" - Isabelle. 

There were so many wonderful things related to costumes that were available to purchase while at Fan Expo. I am proud of myself for resisting the urge to buy a set of fox ears and tails (and cat paws). I liked them but I didn't need them, although that hasn't always stopped me in the past. The craftsmanship on display at Fan Expo Canada is astonishing. This is probably why my own kids spend so much time while there in Artists Alley. This is where local and regional makers come to sell the things they create. My own children in the past have purchased buttons, pins, posters, stickers, stuffed animals, costume accessories, comic books and so much more.

Spending money is a big component of Fan Expo Canada. It's very easy to go overboard. I made a rather large purchase this year, but I think it's going to be worth it. After all, to parody the "if you gave a man a fish, you feed him for a day" saying, if you give someone a costume, you dress them for a day; if you teach someone how to make a costume, you dress them (and get them into the hobby) for a lifetime! I bought an amazing kit from Cosplay Skilltree that will teach me how to make costumes and props out of foam. The kit comes with tutorial videos, almost all the materials needed to make several items, and access to their cosplay creation community. (Thank you Autumn, Clark, and everyone else at the booth!) I can't wait to try things out. 

Scheduling & Technology

My eldest now has a full-time job, so she was unable to attend all four days of the convention like she usually does. My own demophobia is no longer as debilitating as it used to be, but I still avoid the busiest days. Therefore, it was tricky to coordinate. I went with my two kids on Thursday evening and went by myself on Friday. I was super fortunate to be able to meet up with Jennifer Cadavez and her family as well as Beth Lyons and her girls at the convention, so even when I was by myself, I wasn't alone. My eldest girl went Thursday evening with me, worked Friday, attended Saturday and part of Sunday, allowing herself enough time to travel back and fill a Sunday evening shift. Phone texts made a lot of this coordination possible.

Fan Expo Canada now has an app that you can use to browse and select panels and sessions you might be interested in attending while at the con. Even though I didn't want to be indebted to technology (my Quebec City debacle was still fresh in my mind), I did find using the app convenient. You can definitely tell what my interests are based on my bookmarks! 

Technology plays a bigger role now in the convention. Even if you print off your eTickets, volunteers scan your QR code, hand you a badge, and you have to log online to activate the badge to enter. Like the ArriveCan requirements that presume everyone has a cell phone and/or a good data plan (my husband called my attention to this article about a Vermont librarian helping stranded travelers), I'm unsure what alternatives are available for those not "logged in". 

Masking & Media Representation

Fan Expo Canada attracts a lot of people. School is about to start and I can't afford to get sick. I really wanted to go so I wore a mask while I was there. I was in the minority but that was okay. I was not shamed for my choice and I didn't shame anyone else for their choice. Fan Expo Canada made it clear on their website that they were not checking vaccination status or enforcing the use of masks indoors. I hope that it doesn't result in a surge of new cases or any illness for me.

I wanted to end the post with several of my favourite photos taken of some of the most impressive examples of cosplay my eldest and I saw while there. We asked for people's permission to take their photos and all shown here were happy to oblige. I thought I'd contrast it a bit with this CBC clip I found online of Fan Expo Canada - it's interesting how the news clip situates the Fan Expo Canada participants as "different" from the "regular population" (whereas in my own house, I try hard to distance myself from "normies" [what you call non-fans] even though I must confess I've mixed up Star Wars and Star Trek in the past and currently I can't name any characters from Genshin Impact despite watching my son play it [and other games like Monster Hunter] frequently). 

Photo Gallery

Hawkes from My Hero Academia

Raphael and April O'Neil from TMNT

All Might, Bakugo & Todoroki from My Hero Academia

Doc Ock from Spiderman Comics

On a Reading-Writing Roll

 I hope I'm not jinxing it by saying it aloud.

Lately, I've been very productive when it comes to undertaking writing projects and reading books.

I had been in a reading slump for a long time (since COVID hit) and was only able to force myself out of it by participating in the 2022 Forest of Reading program. 

This summer, despite being quite busy with facilitating the York University TL AQs, I've had some time to tackle some other writing projects. They've actually invigorated me and I've been motivated to work consistently on them, even though the deadlines are far in the future. Many of these writing projects are case studies and papers for peer reviewed academic journals. I described this odd phenomenon to Carol and Neil from AML and one of them said that I'm enjoying the discoveries that come with recording and re-conceptualizing these past learning experiences into a cohesive narrative. This might be true because as the TDSB Professional Library folks continue to find helpful, relevant articles related to my topics, I find myself interested in how these previously published works connect, support, or challenge some of my thoughts and ideas. I'm not talking about fiction works, but scholarly books about game based learning and algorithms. (I was so enamored of one of the books - Serious Play - that I bought it for myself - and I must say, those kind of books don't come cheap!)

My writing has flowed even in my blog posts and other tasks, such as abstracts and proposals. I'm trying to figure out what's causing the creativity and the renewed ability to read deeply. Is is the more-leisurely timeline? Is it because it has a concrete purpose? Is it because I like a challenge? 

How does this apply to students in school? They don't have the same degree of time and choice. There are certain things they must read for a course and they must complete it by a prescribed time. How can you get students on a reading-roll or writing-roll? How can I keep myself on this roll?