Since mass vaccinations against Covid-19 began this past spring, I’ve become aware of a small number of friends and family who remain unvaccinated by choice. Some I suspected would be, and some I was surprised about. At this point, I’m aware that the number of such folks might be considerably higher than I’d realized. Covid…
Tag: Covid-19
A Message to the Anti-Masker
To the anti-mask woman I encountered recently in Shoppers Drug Mart, You don’t know me. We haven’t had a conversation, even though I was tempted to start one. I simply witnessed you entering a busy Shoppers. I was right behind you as you came through the automatic doors, breezing past the hand sanitizer without slowing…
14 Nice Things I’ll Remember About Shutdown
School is upon us. Students, parents, and teachers are, I believe, universally unsettled about back-to-school. Whatever the normal preparations, uncertainties, anxieties, and excitements would be, they’re different and more intense this year. I’ll be honest: after three days of training last week, discussing with my colleagues ways to deal with all the million tiny details…
Here’s why Ontario teachers’ unions are still “fighting” Doug Ford
If you’re hearing Doug Ford saying he loves teachers in one breath and bashing teachers’ unions in the next, here is something you should know. He is an actor, telling his audience a made-up story. He’s working hard to get the Ontario public to believe in – and condemn – the faction he’s chosen to…
Back-to-School Thoughts from a Teacher/Parent
A week ago, as you know, it became official in Ontario: we’re going back to school this September. In the days since then, there has been an outcry from parents, staff, unions etc. who feel that the Covid-19 measures announced by the government do not go far enough to keep students and staff safe. I…
Dear Friends, it’s May and I miss you.
It’s May Day! (Or Beltane, to the Gaelic and Wiccan traditions.) It’s a day when folks in northern temperate time zones officially cast off the shackles of winter and get the heck outside. It’s that point when we’re supposed to receive the payoff for those April showers and surround ourselves with flowers. It’s time to…
Pandemic + Nova Scotia Shooter = nobody’s okay.
It’s Day 41 of pandemic distancing. I began an innocent little check-in post about two weeks ago. I wanted to ask how you are, and to write about what life is like during these “trying times” for posterity. It was difficult, though, because how one is doing keeps changing. The post has morphed several times…
Homeschooling Perspective from a Former Homeschooler
Lots of parents across the world have been trying their hand at homeschooling these past weeks, thanks to Covid-19. It looks different for everyone, of course, since everyone’s circumstances are different. It might look like my brilliant and overachieving colleague who expressed “glee” at finally getting to use her pedagogy on her own kids, or…