Friday Two Cents: The Big 50

‘Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.’ Benjamin Franklin

Since the beginning of my teaching career, I have kept track of how many different schools and classrooms I have been in.  Partly to help me with taking additional qualification course requirements.  But mostly because several teachers asked me, “How many different classes I have taught in.”  My response was, ‘I was not sure.’  

Since then I have kept track of all the different classes I taught.  I classify a different or new class as a group of students I have not taught that school year.  In some cases I have been in 10 – 18 different classes in a single school.  I even have had the good fortune to supply in several French immersion classes. 

This past week I hit a tremendous milestone.  For this school year 2023-24, I worked in 50 different classes.  You may think, no big deal. However, in a single school year with 194 teaching days, 50 different classes is a big deal.  

My previous record was 42 different classes in a school year.  Reaching this  milestone mark is like a hockey player scoring 50 goals, or a baseball player hitting 50 homers in one season.  Something to be proud of. 

Additionally, when you add up the total number of different classes I taught over my seven years as a supply teacher, they total 240 classes in over 30 different schools.  Just saying it out loud makes me think about what I have seen and experienced in all those schools and classes.  Things like, learning new ways of doing lessons.  Thinking of different ways of organizing your daily routine, or learning what strategies work and what failed miserably, is of immense value to me.  

Yet the one thing I have observed are the students themselves.  They are a host of different personalities and insights. I have learned new ways of communicating with them or more importantly, how to listen to them.  Each has their own unique perspective on the world, and it is glorious when they learn something new and wonderful to add to that uniqueness.  

With about a month and a half left to go in the school year, I am booked on an almost daily basis.  During these last few weeks I know that I will probably get a few more opportunities to increase my totals past the 50 mark.  But  there is one thing I do know for certain; that no matter what new classroom I go into, the experience and knowledge I learn from those new classes, will only enhance my abilities to become a better teacher.   

Friday Two Cents: Versions

‘Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.’ Albert Einstein

‘The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.’

Albert Einstein

Growing up I enjoyed reading comic books. I cannot tell you how many times I had teachers and adults tell me that I was not really reading, and that my brain would rot away with that garbage.  Yet I thought they were the ones whose minds were rotting by not opening their minds to new and imaginative possibilities.  

Many did not think I would amount to anything, but they were wrong.  I became a teacher and now I meet many different people and students on a daily bases.  On one occasion while I was teaching a group of students, the subject matter went towards comics and the movies based on them.  

One such movie was about the possibility of different dimensions or universes; they called it the Multiverse.  The theory goes that there are an infinite number of universes and in each one, a different version of You.  Yet in each universe the You would be slightly different than who You are, or maybe even a totally different version of You.  

As I reflected on this notion, it occurred to me that there may be different versions of Me that exist in other peoples minds.  A different universe than the one I am familiar with.  To some, many may know Me as the quiet person that doesn’t talk much. Some may know Me as the annoying person that won’t stop talking.  Some may see Me as cold and mean.  Others find Me kind and caring.  

At the heart of it, the person I think of as Myself, exists only for Me and even I don’t know who that really is from time to time.  Everyone person I meet, have a relationship with, or make eye contact on the street with, creates a version of Me in their heads.  I’m not the same person to My mom, My dad, My sibling, My family members then I am to My co-workers, My neighbours or My friends.  There are a thousand different versions of Me out there in people’s minds, and I exist in each version, just like the Multiverse.  

Yet I, Myself, isn’t really a someone at all to them.  I’m not responsible for the version of Me that exists in other people’s minds. There are versions of Me that only exist because other people give them life, and I am not obliged to keep those other versions alive to make other people happy.  Good or bad.

The only true version of Me will be the one I choose to be.  

Just like the people who thought I would not amount to anything, I ignored them and became a person I can be proud of.  I need to ignore the versions of Me that others create.  Choosing only the one that I connect with. My real self.  

It has been a long journey but I had to first find happiness within, before I could seek it in the outside world.  I didn’t and won’t let outside versions of Me define who My true self is inside.  Because I AM Me.  

Friday Two Cents: Grateful Message

‘Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.’ Marcus Tullius Cicero

This week I saw a message on one of the social media platforms with such a profound message, it made me stop and think.  It was about being grateful for the blessings we have in this life. Instead of telling you about the article, I thought it best to let you read it for yourselves.  

Grateful message

1. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your body, a roof over your head & a place to sleep, then you are richer than 75% of the entire world.  
2. If your have money in your wallet to spend as you wished, to go anywhere you want, you are among the top 18% of the world’s wealthy people.  
3. If you are alive today with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week and die. 
4. If you can actually read this message and understand it, you are more fortunate than the 3 billion people in the world who cannot see, cannot read, or are mentally disabled. 

Life is not for complaining about pain and sorrows, it’s about prioritizing a thousand other reasons to be grateful and happy.    

I was not too happy before I read this passage.  I was thinking about an interview for a job I wanted but did not get.  I was feeling down in the dumps.  However, after reading the post, it truly made me reflect upon my life and the hardships I have faced.   Within seconds it made me realize my situation is not that bad.  I’m still working and enjoying what I do.  If another job comes up, I’ll try for it.  If I get it great if not, I still enjoy what I do and move on.  Life is truly too short to worry about what has been or what might come.   I’ll live in the present, that’s why it’s called a gift.   

Life is Journey of endless possibilities.

Friday Two Cents: Dark Truth Quotes

Ah September, the start of a new school year, full of new opportunities and experiences for students, parents and teachers alike.  Always around this time of year I like to send out a few inspirational quotes to help people do their best and motivate them for the year.  However, my positive spin on things is sometimes met with sarcasm or a dismissive glance.  Therefore I decided to provide some unique truths mixed with a little of my own dark humour on the side.  

To all the teachers, parents and students out there or whomever needs a dose of cold water dumped on them, here are a few dark truths offered to you from me with a wink and a devilish smile.  The first one is my favourite and I use it on regular basis.    

Friday Two Cents: We All Have Roles To Play

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.

These words were from the play As You Like It written by my favourite writer William Shakespeare. 

Shakespeare and Me.

I was watching Hamlet and these lines keep coming into my head over and over again.  Why? Why was I hearing these words? These lines don’t even come from this play.  Then it hit me; we are all acting.  You see everyone is acting, we are all playing many parts and Shakespeare knew this.  

You see we all have our parts we just call something else;  husband, wife, child, son, daughter, doctor, mechanic, teacher, student and these roles change depending on the moment.  

Follow my thinking for a moment; when you get dressed in the morning you don’t just put on clothes, you are putting on your costume.  During the school year I have specific clothes I wear at school when I am a teacher, yet once I get home I change out  of them and wear something else at home.  When I go out, the costume changes depending on the occasion.  Out to dinner with friends, one way, going to the coffee shop another.  We wear the clothes/costume to perform the role we are about to play.  

This revelation came to me during the play but I connected it to not having to dress up for my role as a teacher in the public.  I did not realize how much my public persona is affected by my role as a teacher, yet during the summer break I wear what I need for the moment and not worry about what others think of me.  I dress for me, not my audience (the public).  

I have always maintained that teachers need the full two months of summer to recharge and be fresh for the start of the new school year.  This realization only strengthens my thinking.  During the school year teachers have to act a specific way, to play their roles as it were.  But not until the summer can teachers be themselves, shed the chains of public restraints and truly play the part they were born to play. Themselves.  

Having a little fun at the exhibit

Friday Two cents: Did You Know June Was Men’s Mental Health Month?

June was Men’s Mental Health Month but I’m guessing nobody really knew or wanted to talk about this topic.  More and more I am noticing that boys and men are the forgotten demographic in our society.  

There are many different days and months dedicated to women, girls and LGBT2+; and rightly so, yet men’s mental health seems to be non-existent.  On several occasions when I commented on this fact to people, I usually get a snide comment like “Oh every other day is men’s day.”  Yet the evidence seems to show that boys and men are not fairing well in our society, specifically in our education system.  

With this being the end of the school year, I thought it appropriate to highlight a TED Talk on this very subject.  I am not going to tell you what is in the talk but let you experience it yourself.  As a man in the education system, I felt a personal connection, an enlightenment on my own teaching style and how I interact with the students.  

I’m hoping more people will recognize the need for change in the education system so that everyone will have the best education they deserve.  

Friday Two Cents: Perverse Inspirational Quotes

With less than a month to go to the end of the school year, many teachers and students find it difficult to make it to the finish line.  Many need a sympathetic ear, a pat on the back or some motivational words to help them see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.  However, whenever I try and listen to my colleagues or the students and provide a positive spin on these last few weeks of the school year, they are more interested in shooting me down. It’s almost as if they want to be miserable and find the negative in their situation.  

Therefore I decided to not help by providing positive inspirational quotes to people but instead I turned to my unique sense of humour and came up with some perverse/different types of inspirational quotes.  

Below are a few of the quotes I have offered to others with a wink and a devilish smile. 

P.S. The last quote is my favourite.  

Friday Two Cents: Violence In Schools On The Rise

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ Albert Einstein

Recently I saw some signs in the hospital that state any aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated.  The first question that came to me was; Why don’t we have these signs posted in schools?

I have been at schools where students have been violent against the other students and educators, yet nothing has been done to them.  Only after repeated incidents and months, sometimes years of meetings with parents did the students receive any repercussions for their actions; and usually it is a slap on the wrist.  

In a survey conducted in January of this year, over 1000 principals and vice-principals found that 74 percent of them reported difficulty “managing student behaviour post-pandemic.” 

It goes on to say that violent and inappropriate behaviour has risen nearly 40 percent.  Many of these include verbal abuse, fights and in some cases possession of a weapon.  Some administrators have indicated that they spend up to 90 percent of their day dealing with student behaviour, crisis management or student well being.  

However the most damning thing is that when seeking parental support when dealing with serious behavioural issues, administrators have been on the receiving end of harassment from parents or community members.  Nearly 40 percent say that there is a lack of support when dealing with aggressive, adversarial parents and workplace harassment.  

In my travels as a supply teacher, I have observed that parents are now becoming more violent to the point of physically accosting teachers, administrative staff and the other children in the school community.   There are policies in place to “protect” the students and educators in the school yet for some reason they are not being enforced.  There once was a zero tolerance policy for any violence at schools, but for reasons unknown it was removed and now we have these behavioural issues from parents and students.  

The more I observe and research this issue, the more questions come to mind.  Why are incidents of violence in school on the rise?  Why are parents becoming more violent?  Where are the social programs to help the parents and students?  Where is the support for administrators and educators? Why aren’t the boards and government enacting stricter rules and if there are, why aren’t they being enforced?

I do not know the answers to these questions, but hopefully they will spur on others to think and then, hopefully the beginnings of a solution.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-toronto-schools-see-rise-in-difficult-student-behaviour-report-says/

Friday Two Cents: Making a Difference

I was fortunate to work with a group of grade 4 and 5s for an entire week and at the end of my time with them, I received a wonderful surprise letter from a grade 4 student.  

I dismiss the classes I supply teach by telling them they had to give me an elbow bump (the student and I bump elbows) once their parent/guardian has arrived for them. As I dismissed the class on the last day, all the students thanked me and said goodbye as we elbow bumped.  This student came up to me for an elbow bump as the others but she gave me a letter as she walked over to her parent.  In no time all the students had left and I went over to the main door to let the teacher on duty know that everyone had left.  

I then pulled out the letter and read it on my way back to the classroom.  The letter so touched my soul that it stopped me in my tracks and I simply smiled as I read it.  

Instead of telling you what was in the letter I thought it best to show you.  

As I reread the letter, my thoughts went to the core of what motivates me to be the best person I can.  

I do not know what value I have in this universe, but I do know that I made some people happy.  Happier than they would have been if I had not touched their lives.  As long as I hold on to that thought, I know that I have made a difference.

Friday two cents I Appreciate You

This past week we celebrated International Women’s Day at the school.  We read stories, art activities and wrote about the special women in our lives.  Overall it was a good day and I hope the students took something away from the experiences. 

Yet that night I had a moment of reflection on the people/women in my life.  Yes I appreciate the women in my life, mother, sister, nieces, but I expanded that to my close friends and colleagues.  As I began to process this information, this profound thought hit me; I owe so much to my relationships with these people.  From helping me with lesson plans and professional activities to interpersonal support when I was feeling down.  They were the islands of tranquility in a sea of chaos.  

Therefore the next day I made it my mission to seek out these people and tell them about how much I appreciate them and what it means to me to have them in my life.  The reaction I got was overwhelming gratitude.  Some said stop because I was going to make them cry but they all truly thanked me for telling them about how much they meant to me. 

I have learned, through painful experience, that you should never leave things unsaid with people that you are close to.  For life is to short to not tell people how much you feel about them.