Thoughts on Education

Thoughts on Education from an elected trustee/commissioner who has kids going through the public system

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How Much Should You Spend on SEO Service

How Much Should You Spend on SEO Service

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Bullying is a horrible thing.

Read this teacher’s approach – it’s a pretty good strategy.

http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/stop-bullying-strategy

In school, I was both a bully and a victim of bullying – I think this happens a lot.  I would do anything to take back my bullying. And I suspect it would be the same with those who picked on me.

Wouldn’t it be great if we found a way to speed this process up.  It *is* a process –…

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School boards have to make budget choice, says Yves Bolduc

School boards have to make budget choice, says Yves Bolduc

It makes for a good headline, I guess.

But let’s get real for a second here.  We have to “make budget choices”, says our Minister.

At what point do we say, sorry, but there are no more choices to make? We cannot do it?

Don’t we all wish we could say, “yes, let’s cut our family budget by 50%”, and miraculously, we could do so without absolutely destroying our capacity to live?

Come on – it’s…

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What's the role of a school board for "unschoolers"?

What’s the role of a school board for “unschoolers”?

As most of you probably know, I view Home Schooling as not only an absolutely legal alternative, but one that deserves support from the school board itself.  Our mandate given to us in the Education Act is very clear:

207.1.The mission of a school board is to organize, for the benefit of the persons who come under its jurisdiction, the educational services provided for by this Act and by the…

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My Facebook reply to a discussion on bullying.

My Facebook reply to a discussion on bullying.

A couple of days ago, I posted a link to a Quebec Gov website consultation on bullying.  In response to a comment suggesting that our schools had the power and tools they need and that this was perhaps simply a distraction. I expanded greatly on why I think this is worth responding to and I spoke to some of the problems we face in dealing with the issue.

Here is my reply:

See, there’s more to it…

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"My wife is a lazy-liar" post.

As we near the end of this K-11 school year, as a Commissioners, I would send out a special thanks along with this tidbit of humour.

I first saw this post on a friend’s FB timeline – she is a teacher and she posted it on her husband’s timeline. I found it to be very funny, but so much I know resonates.  My own wife has returned to early childhood education, and I get to say things at 9pm in the…

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Peel board's "STAR" committee

Peel board’s “STAR” committee

Am I just being too cynical, or is this as silly a statement as it is sound to me right now:

The committee is composed of trustees, senior administrators, communications staff and principals.

Their research has identified safety, uniforms, sports, academics, school proximity and busing, and values as key reasons for the enrolment migration or failure to attract students.

The StAR committee has…

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Wouldn't it be nice...

Wouldn’t it be nice…

… if elected leadership spent its time reflecting on articles like this instead of wasting so much time on … balderdash.

Truly,

Steve

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Transparency in government

It must be four, maybe five years ago now, where I first called for Commissioner expense accounts to be posted online for all to see. “Why not?”, I asked…  I certainly don’t feel I have anything to hide. And I don’t really think anyone else in our Council does either.

But no – we still don’t post them.

A glimmer of hope now – maybe a real shift in the culture of governance in Quebec:

“People want…

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The common core

The words “common core” and being somewhat villainized in educational circles these days. And sadly, I think it’s justifiable.

Wikipedia defines the common core as:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is an education initiative in the United States that details what K-12 students should know in English language arts and mathematics at the end of each grade. The initiative is sponsored by…

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7 Ways to Transform Education by 2030

7 Ways to Transform Education by 2030

I don ‘t think any of what is in this article is “new”, but I am also not sure that we have made much progress in getting there, so, I thought it would be good to look at these real simple point-form goals.

Change the focus from rote learning – the memorization of specific facts and figures – to the development of lifelong learners who are able to think critically and solve problems.

Encourage…

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[jonathanemile-blog]

1. When we criticize Québecois politicians… we are not bashing Québec.

Québec is our home. We love our home. Imagine you hire a property manager to take care of your house. All of the a sudden this property manager is stealing money, letting the leak in the roof turn into water damage in...

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This guy is *spot* on. 

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Bah.

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Preparing students for jobs that have not yet been created?

From the Action Canada website:

Education systems in most industrial societies have historically focused on the direct instruction of facts and methods. However, this model of information delivery has changed substantially as a result of new technologies…

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Virtual Field Trips

Google has been amazing with its offers for Education. The fact that they have given so much has also pushed others to up their game – Microsoft now has Office 365 free for students, in order to compete with Google Apps for Education.

But with Google+,…

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The state of this province

On Tous le Monde en Parle last night, PQ Minister Réjean Hébert showed his great concern that patients in hospitals should be free from the worry of their Doctor or Nurse wearing a hijab.

The idea that *this* is his priority, when Quebec hospitals and…

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