A few months ago my 4 year old said to me the words that every mother dreads, “I can’t draw.”

(Okay, maybe the words that every Mom with a background in fine arts who secretly dreams of their kids becoming artists dreads.)

My 4YO was entering the stage where he had very clear ideas of what he wanted to create — rocket ships, rainbows, houses, and train stations — but he didn’t know how to translate that to the page.

So he entered the silent period.

The silent period is a term coined by language researcher, Stephen D. Krashen.

It…

The New Alberta Social Studies Curriculum has a seemingly random and illogical scope and sequence of learning, developmentally inappropriate material, overt emphasis on capitalism, and is based on a scarcity model. Those are the least of our worries.

Here are the things we should be deeply concerned about:

1. Revering systems of oppression and war.

In the New Alberta Social Studies Curriculum, we are teaching children — at the age of 6 — to honour systems of oppression and war.

In Grade 1, students learn about hereditary rulers. They must understand “societies had ruling elites who governed the rest of…

The average Canadian woman works 17.5 additional hours of unpaid work related to household tasks and childrearing than the average man each week. To be clear—that’s additional hours. Every week. That’s a s***load of work.

This unpaid work has significant implications on all aspects of women’s lives — our mental health, our career potential, our earning potential, and our overall physical wellbeing. So, in honour of next week’s International Women’s Day, I’d like to challenge you to speak to your partner about the number 17.5.

Creating a household that runs on the principles of equity and mutual respect is —…

I — like many of us — would like to leave the past year firmly behind in a drawer, never to be opened again.

However, in education, we know that the most durable learning — that is, learning that is long lasting and easily applied to new situations — is often the learning that comes with challenges.

An element of frustration is involved. It is just enough to challenge the students without overwhelming them.

2020 was a year of deep learning for many of us. Mostly out of force. For some of us, out of tragedy. …

My first year of teaching in the public school system, I was 23 years old, living in the Old Fourth Ward neighbourhood of Atlanta, GA in a one bedroom apartment. I was relatively new to a city of 4.6 million people.

I received a position as a middle school art teacher in a community that was experiencing systemic challenges such as poverty and underfunding of schools.

Instead of providing the necessary supports, the government passed the responsibility over to the public school system. In other worlds, to us, the teachers.

In my youthful naivety, I wholeheartedly immersed myself into my…

“The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist.’… One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist.” Ibram X Kendi

Following this past spring and the #BlackLivesMatter protests, marches, and vigils honouring those killed by police brutality, I’ve come to the obvious conclusion about myself and those who look like me: White folks, we have some work to do. And the work starts with ourselves.

1. Education:

We cannot speak about systematic racism, we cannot hold an intelligent conversation about racism, we cannot…

Let’s talk for a moment about my daughter’s kindergarten teacher, Ms. X.

No, that is not her real name, but I would like to protect her identity and “X” has a cool, mysterious sound to it. And Ms. X is very cool. She wears fun shoes and sings. During this remote learning journey, Ms. X has everything done perfectly. PERFECTLY.

She follows the Alberta Education Guidelines. She focuses on basic literacy and numeracy skills. She provides open-ended assignments that follow a clear pattern every week. She assigns a small number of assignments that are fun, hands-on, age appropriate, easily adaptable…

Last week, I was speaking with a friend on the phone. I love her dearly and would do anything for her.

Almost.

She asked me for wellness advice. My response was a hard and fast, “No.”

You see, now is not the time.

I have watched with fascination as people online have reacted to the Global Pandemic in various ways.

• Some of us turn to humour.
• Some of us are consumed by grief.
• Some of us look for joy.
• Some of us are filled with anger.
• Some of us follow strict daily routines.
• Some of us struggle to get out…