TEACH Magazine

Let’s begin with the realization that what we all inherently understand is indeed true: kids are different today than they were when we were younger. You hear this stated by colleagues and, if you’re like me, from your own mouth quite frequently. The fact is, they are.

Teaching is a great responsibility. I teach English and believe that the ability to communicate, at a personal and societal level, is what builds strong communities and ensures ownership over one’s future. Thus, it’s important that we teachers spend a lot of time on our craft—deliberating the best ways to teach and make lessons fun, interactive, and relatable to students. Professional development thrives on discipline pedagogy and school departments meet to align goals and assignments and to discuss data assessment.

When I reflect on my years working in classrooms with students, I think about how much time it took to access and use essential technology B.G. (before Google). I compare it with what it must have been like for people before electricity and after electricity. B.G.

Sure, haiku can be an exercise in syllable counting, but if this were the only benefit, why teach it? Here are several other positive returns from composing haiku.

Help nurture your students’ fertile minds—literally. Many farms across Canada are open for school tours during the harvest months.

As students transition from elementary to high school, teachers have an opportunity to practice gradually releasing control. Restroom privileges are a good place to start.

When summer vacation rolls around, you—just like your students—are ready for a break. Here are some resources to help you travel safely and securely.

My journey began in Vancouver 30 years ago, as an aid with Trainable Mentally Handicapped students. Designated as ‘uneducable,’ these students were relegated to gaining work experience. Noticing they easily recounted movie plots and the artists and lyrics Top 40 songs, it occurred to me that the real handicap might be a teaching methodology that was incompatible with their learning styles.