The week of November 15 – 19, 2021

Good day –

It is raining and snowing and finely sleeting this afternoon as we send this blog to you. Good grief!

We are really looking forward to seeing you on Thursday. The meeting will be from 9 am to 11:15 am and will focus on getting you all together into groups to talk about some of the big issues you have been chewing on as you read Kendi, and what you have noticed and wondered about in your schools. We will be looking at the S4C project and giving as much time as we can to your upcoming practicum. It seems (actually, it is true) that we have had very little time with the H/HH cohort this term. Please, please always feel welcome to touch base with us with questions or concerns.

As your 3151 UCC instructors, we trust you are keeping up with your reflections and reading responses on Kendi, and absorbing all of the excellent resources in the UCC content regarding racism and inequality.

November 19th is the official deadline for filing your AEL two-week placement. If you are having trouble thinking of what to do, contact us!

Now is definitely the time to not only get ready for practicum but also get your S4C social inquiry research project started. It is not a big project – it is a rich project and your classroom is your ‘laboratory’. Your digital hub is your way to convey how teacher education, pedagogy and practical learning and experience are informing and shaping you as an educator. The first blog for the second year – which will be part of your digital hub – is due on November 25th. You have a lot to draw from as you reflect on being a teacher candidate in these evolving, chaotic times.

If you have any questions about your 3151 assignments and projects – just contact us. We like to talk to people and be busy.

We are persevering to stay positive during year XXXX of the pandemic. Paul, head down, is working through his first year of his Ph.D. and doing some consulting work. Heather is tutoring most days of the week and has started supply teaching, mostly in grades 2 and 3. It all contributes to the storytelling and our ongoing learning. Paul’s major issues have to do with critical theory; Heather’s with how to escort 23 youngins through the halls and not lose anyone.

See you at 9 am on Thursday, November 18th.

AGENDA FOR THURSDAY MEETING – anything to add? Let us know.

Check-ins and hellos 

9:10 – 9:55     UCC Book Club

          –        focus for today – small group discussions

          –        plenary – biggest learnings, how to apply

9:55                    s-t-r-e-t-c-h

10:00 – 10:20   Students For Change (S4C) Action Research

• project process and ideas outlined
• sharing ideas

10:20 – 11:10   Practicum Prep

– general information/timelines and sage advice!

– small groups based on subjects – exchange information, trade ideas

– Plenary

11:10 – 11:15     Upcoming, Questions, Farewell to 2021

We will stick around after class for questions/conversations.

SWAIL/MCGUIRE CONTRIBUTIONS

NOVEMBER 16TH IS LOUIS RIEL DAY marking the day of Riel’s 1885 execution. He was accused and found guilty of treason against the Canadian government, as one of the leaders of the Métis rebellions.  https://www.metisnation.org/culture-heritage/louis-riel-day-info/ 

Alice Ball, now credited with finding the first effective cure for leprosy.

LEARN ABOUT BLACK SCIENTISTS FROM THE PAST IN NORTH AMERICA

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/black-scientists-history-1.5918964

NOVEMBER 20TH IS INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY. Do you know of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? Check it out on the UNICEF website right here.

KATHERENA VERMETTE just won the first Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Literary Prize for Fiction. Katherena (she/her/hers) is a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis Nation. She has worked in poetry, novels, children’s literature, and film.

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