Yesterday, I completed my eighth half marathon walking race. 3:05:31 to complete 21.1 kilometres. I’ve always said, I hate training but I love finish lines. I’m not usually a fan of the actual race either. I know, right? Why do it? I do it for my heart, my lungs, my muscles, my brain, and, to […]
Category Archives: writing
What are your values?
To the government of Ontario, What do you value in education? If recent actions are any indication, it is not students, nor educators. Ah, yes, the bottom line. The other day, the Minister of Education went on the CBC and when asked if he thought people in education were taking sick days when they were […]
Both sides now
Yesterday I was reminded of a day last November – Joni Mitchell’s 75th birthday and her music was everywhere. For me, it was a walk through childhood memories that I didn’t know were there. For me, it was back to 1972. I heard Joni’s songs and was reminded of putting on records when I babysat, […]
words
All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places […]
training/racing
My instagram profile states: I hate training, but I love finish lines. Today was a tough training walk. What was supposed to be 18 km turned into 19 for sure, but also 20 minutes (meaning several more kilometers) of lost in the woods. I got very hungry but my food then gave me indigestion. Which […]
there are no rules
“As long as you’re dancing, you can break the rules. Sometimes breaking the rules is just extending the rules. Sometimes there are no rules.” ― Mary Oliver (A Thousand Mornings) It’s something I’ve heard all my life age is just a number. I didn’t actually believe it until recently. Like the last seven or so years. No […]
Put up and shut up
There is a term – armchair anthropologist – which refers to scholars (think colonialists) who would sit in their comfy chairs and read books or examine artifacts and draw conclusions about ‘the other’ – the ‘exotic’ – think: non-white, non-European. This lead to real errors in teachings and entire belief systems were developed based on […]
prompted by reading
I’ve read a few (or many) books about writing and one theme that comes through is that you will learn a lot about yourself by writing. I think I learn as much, or maybe more, from reading. Not only the words, and the way people use them, but the memories and self reflections and subsequent […]
letter to Education Minister
Minister Lecce, As your government is in the midst of the beginning stages of negotiations with education groups across the province, I implore you to not take your fight to media. I implore you to research and get a thorough understanding the roles and realities of education in Ontario. By taking your fight to the […]
the long goodbye
April 1, 2003, I began my career in education with the Peel Board. My love of public education and being around small humans started sooner than that though. I began volunteering in 1994 when my oldest began kindergarten. I often brought my youngest into the school library and would help out teachers by preparing activities […]
