These are the events that were worth the price of admission during my vocation.
Semester 1, 2001 - Meet two different teachers who become my mentors. One retired from the profession with in a few years. The other one threatens to retire as long as I've known him. He retired in 2015. I begin teaching as the last OAC students exit Ontario high schools. My grade 12 computer science is DSC4A1 (old curriculum) and my grade 10's are being taught TIK2O, which eventually in this time line becomes ICS2O. There was also a section of DPS4A1 (old curriculum) which had been coopted into a HTML course. The senior classes were taught computer science with a mix of C / C++. The juniors were taught using Visual Basic. I moved to Java for both age groups within a short time. Then came along (a) Python. In the first 2 years or so I would commandeer a dying PC and install Slackware linux. That 1st Generating Pentium was a workhorse. It could handle a class of students learning C, Linux and everything in-between. Then the bell would ring and there'd be a new set of students learning HTML and Linux. RIP "Socrates".
Semester 2, 2002 - I am witness to a short lived coup / revolt / protest. I see the power that one man can have in one instance. Veteran teachers, students and administrators are dumbfounded.
In hindsight, when I speak to other teachers about their first year, it sounds a lot like my second year. It made me consider myself.
I spend a year becoming a professional by putting my past teaching practice under the focus of theory. I remember how much I loved University and learning.
No date, 2004 - 2005 - An acronym in Robertson Davies' Fifth Business dumbfounds my students, my colleagues, Coles Notes, the Internet, various texts and essays based on Fifth Business. To prove a point to my students, I began tracking down Dr. Patricia Monk, a renowned Davies / Fifth Business scholar. The dean of English at her last university teaching appointment was also lost with the the meaning of the acronym. He passed my email along to her, and I eventually got back an answer from her. Like with most things, it wasn't the answer that was important, it was the process that was entirely more gratifying.
Semester 2, 2005 - An audio copy of the original 1962 broadcast of The Educated Imagination was tracked down in a Canadian university. The tracking took most of semester 1 and some of semester 2. The pay-off was priceless.
Early Semester 2, 2005 - Letter writing campaign to CBC's The Hour. My two grade 10 classes discover the power of a letter. Show producers contact us and offer a limited studio audience visit. This was in the early days of the show in the original (read, small) studio. 2 teachers, 1 school van and 15 or so students went to the studio. After the show, George Stroumboulopoulos was kind enough to speak frankly with all the students. During the show, the class was shown twice, and 2 students were chosen to do a segment live during the middle of the broadcast. The show aired live across Canada, and was rebroadcast later that night. This was several seasons before the show developed a studio audience.
Semester 2, 2005 - SchoolReach / Reach for the Top teams. This begins with 2 new (read, green) teachers getting a crazy idea off the ground with financial support from the administration. Both a Junior and a senior team are established.
September 27, 2005 - Hamlet at Soulpepper in Toronto. 1 Bus, 2 teachers, 40 or so students. Brilliant. Organizing the trip was worth it.
May 19, 2005 - Feedin' Eden / Battle of the Bands at OLMC. First rock show in a few years. Line-up: Six Gun Seduction, Common Ground, Untested, Of All Things, Beauregard, Broken Promise, White Pandas of Fury, Just Classy. Graciously at the end of the night OLMC alumni Billy Talent, who were judging the bands with other alumni, played 'The River Below' and blew the roof off of the cafeteria. 2000 some odd dollars and non-perishable foodstuffs were donated to the Eden Food Bank.
Late Semester 2, 2005 - Salutatorian speech was a typical example of teenage irreverence - interesting.
December 21, 2005 - A Rock Night Before Christmas at OLMC. On the longest night of the year OLMC rocked the night away. Line-up: Common Ground, All Out, Monroe, Apophenia, Abbie Chase, Of All Things, Cain and Able, White Pandas of Fury, The Vulcan Dub Squad. This time around, professional working bands Cain and Able and The Vulcan Dub Squad were added to the lineup. In typical high school fashion, some of the school bands were reconfigurations of bands that appeared a year earlier at Feedin' Eden. 2000 some odd dollars were donated to the Credit Valley Hospital Oncology Unit. Student and teacher volunteers were responsible for the success of the show. The PA system was used to promote the show with an interesting mix of radio spots reminiscent of The Edge 102.1 FM (CFNY).
Semester 2, 2006 - Hamlet at the Hart House Theater (U of T). 1 Bus, 2 teachers, 30 or so students. Fun was had by all. Helping to organize the trip was worth it.
Semester 2, 2006 - Both SchoolReach teams continue to improve. Stronger seasons were had by both teams.
April, 2006 - I start a blog for my ENG4U class. This experiment allows me to stretch my teaching in new directions.
Semester 2, 2006 - A particularly energy filled and inspirational ENG4U classes are the catalyst for painting the ceiling tiles with quotes from Northrop Frye's The Educated Imagination in our classroom. I've never had that room again, but I do drop in to check on the five ceiling tiles every once in a while. Here's what it looks like.
Semester 1, 2006 (2007?) - Started teaching ICS4M using Java, running on a custom DSL Linux live CD.
Semester 2, 2007 - Senior School Reach Team becomes OLMC's first Reach for the Top team. Team moves past regionals to provincials. Tournament standings 2 wins 2 ties 3 losses - the ties become losses by 1 question. Final standing: 2 and 5 which gives a ranking of 26th place from 40 teams. New coach replaces one of the founding coaches.
No Date, 2007 - A website is started for my senior ENG4U class. The original intention was to house documents and a calendar for the students. The site was under utilized and became more of a testing area. A redesign is in the works...
Late Semester 2, 2007 - Linh's Valedictorian speech. Interesting.
Semester 1, 2007 - My website is expanded to house materials for programming courses ICS3 and ICS4.
Semester 2, 2008 - Our Senior Schoolreach team looses one game the entire season. We advance to the regional playoffs - we are defeated soundly.
Semester 2, 2008 - I recruit a four student senior programming team for the ECOO contest. We do well at the school board level, and advance to the regional play-offs at York University.
Semester 1, 2008 - googlepages.com begins to wind down its existence, and I migrate my site to googlesites.com - an awkward but oddly rewarding experience. Most of the work was accomplished with only hours before the first day of school.
Semester 2, 2009 - New office!
Semester 2, 2009 - I take 3 programming teams of 4 to the board level ECOO contest. No one makes it...
Semester 2, 2009 - I joined a DPCDSB writing team for ICS4U, and got swamped...
Semester 1, 2009 - Course names and descriptions have changed in ICS courses. I begin to decipher my new curriculum.
Semester 2, 2010 - Begin YouTube tutorials
Semester 2. 2010 - I recruit a four student senior programming team for the ECOO contest. We finish second at the school board level, and advance to the regional playoffs at York University. Did I mention they finished second?
Semester 2, 2010 - Student Generated Python Tutorials go online. During the second semester of 2010, Brandon L., David P., James C. and Nolan P. built Python 2.x tutorials.
Semester 2, 2010 - Alternative Education sends me back to school.
Semester 2, 2010 - I say goodbye to 113.
Semester 1, 2010 - ENG1P1-02 Boy's Lit. - We set the AR bar high at 20 points.
Semester 1, 2010 - Old office!
Semester 1, 2010 - All Kinds of Minds - Teaching All Kinds of Minds
Semester 2, 2011 - Good programming team goes to ECOO and does well, and they don't advance.
Semester 2, 2011 - OCT and ECOO both weigh in over the use of Social Media and teachers in Ontario.
Semester 2, 2011 - Google + U of T + High School Teachers = ?
Semester 2, 2011 - Taking the Boy's Literacy class to the book store!
Semester 1, 2011 - Boy's Lit group becomes smaller. Students achieve 50 AR points, independently.
Semester 1, 2011 - ICS2O - It was called TIK2O a decade ago.... I begin my Python experiment.
Semester 1, 2011 - EasyGUI Module installation video for Python
Semester 1, 2011 - Metacognition and Big Ideas take hold in my English class
Semester 1, 2011 - CS4HS ends.
Semester 1, 2011 - The power of MIT's Scratch language
Semester 1, 2011 - TPA
Semester 2, 2012 - 4 semesters of Boy's Literacy ends with the OSSLT in March.
Semester 2, 2012 - 2 teams off to ECOO. This time, ECOO == DPCDSB + PDSB @ UTM. One team advances to the Regional level, the second team almost does!
Semester 2, 2012 - Taking the Boy's Literacy class to the book store!
Semester 1, 2012 - eLearn ETS4U
Semester 2, 2013 - Brush with Blueprint For Life / Share our Spirit: Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik (Wakeham Bay) will have to wait.
Semester 2, 2013 - FNIM (First Nations, Inuit, Metis) PD at Spirit Point
Semester 2, 2013 - I take the Python Challenge!
Semester 2, 2013 - 3 teams off to ECOO at UTM. Team 1 and the Ladies team advance to the Regional level!
Semester 1, 2013 - Code.org / Learnstreet / Codeacademy - introducing strong coders to python
Semester 1, 2013 - Computer Studies Subject Council Chair
Semester 1, 2013 - My first Korean Teacher exchange DPCDSB & Piea.
Semester 1, 2013 - SHSM - initial talks...
Semester 1, 2013 - Gamemaker contest. Two grade 12 coders + 1 grade 11 coder / graphic designer make a very solid shooter in a few weeks. We should have finished in the top 3, and did (3rd place). Eventually this contest becomes the DP Arcade Coding Contest.
Semester 1, 2013 - The impossible throw (Period 5).
Semester 2, 2014 - eLearn ETS4U
Semester 2, 2014 - 4 teams off to ECOO at Sheridan College. Team 3 and the Ladies team advance to the Regional level. The board-wide contest was challenging.
Semester 2, 2014 - My second Korean Teacher exchange DPCDSB & Piea.
Semester 1, 2014 - SHSM starts to get some traction.
Semester 1, 2014 - Processing experimentation is ICS4U. Gamification with python continues.
Semester 1, 2014 - Clean up the school's web site. Standardization, clean up orphaned pages, add weekly announcements to home page
Semester 2, 2015 - Alternative Education!
Semester 2, 2015 - CCC for the second time ... mixed results.
Semester 2, 2015 - Salesian Retreat - 3 days with students and teachers from across the board
Semester 2, 2015 - OFSAA Curling team needs a last minute supervisor. The ideas of commitment, coaching, leadership and grace under pressure are examined for 4 days in Brighton/ Trenton/ Stirling.
Semester 2, 2015 - Send 3 teams to ECOO. OLMC Ladies team advances to Regional level. They finish with 245 pts! Very proud of their achievement.
Semester 2, 2015 - Spirit Point with Alt. Ed. and Lacrosse class.
Semester 2, 2015 - Students get the Pygame club started.
Semester 2, 2015 - Python / Pygame PD session.
Semester 2, 2015 - Outward Bound Outdoor Education certificate.
Semester 2, 2015 - Exploring Digital Citizenship with the BYOD becoming a reality for students (BYOD Pilot).
Semester 2, 2015 - An Art / CS student makes 15 brilliant CS posters. Posters hosted on this site, and advertised to Subject Council and the Twitterverse.
Semester 2, 2015 - Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation and Six Nations PD. Cultural Competency Training Part 1.
Semester 2, 2015 - Making the belt.
Semester 2, 2015 - Students on Ice Arctic Expedition.
Semester 1, 2015 - Spirit Point with the Alternative Education students. Thanks to Mike French and everyone at Spirit Point. Good to meet George Couchie as well.
Semester 1, 2015 - Sofia N. makes this great short doc. that explains the Alt. Ed. Spirit Point trip. Film shown to the staff at OLMC.
Semester 1, 2015 - Rattlesnake Point with Matt Amon and the Alternative Education / GWL students.
Semester 1, 2015 - CPR-C \ Emergency First Aid, Snow Jam, Christmas meal activities in Alternative Education.
Semester 1, 2015 - Helping with teacher sites.
Semester 1, 2015 - Moved ICS3U from Java to Python. It was good to get in the writing mode.
Semester 2, 2016 - First Nation Cultural Competency Training Part 2 and 3.
Semester 2, 2016 - ECOO contest
Semester 2, 2016 - ICS3C - An Introduction to Computer Science and Video Game Programming with Scratch. Will this fly?
Semester 2, 2016 - Peel District School Board 28th Annual Psychology Conference
Semester 2, 2016 - Carmela (Outdoors art festival) - leather bracelets (we sold out!).
Semester 1, 2016 - Flag Football begins!
Semester 1, 2016 - School rooms and telephone extensions get renumbered. A rolling stone don't gather no moss.
Semester 1, 2016 - ICS4U moves to Python.
Semester 1, 2016 - Flag Football season 1. 2016 - 2017 ROPSSAA CHAMPIONS. Final record including playoffs: 11 - 1. Semi-Finals at Mayfield Tournament. Clearly, the best kids in the world.
Semester 2, 2017 - Rewrite ICS20 to make it Python 3.x compliant.
Semester 2, 2017 - Write ICS3C using Scratch Python. I started with one language and changed it along the way.
Semester 2, 2017 - Coaching course?
Semester 2, 2017 - OFSAA Swim team needs a last minute supervisor. Off to Windsor!
Semester 2, 2017 - ECOO contest
Semester 2, 2017 - Spirit Point with the Alternative Education students. We are joined by the mainstream NVB class as well. Thanks to Mike French and everyone at Spirit Point.
Semester 2, 2017 - Carmela 2 (Outdoors art festival) - leather bookmarks and key chains (we sold out!).
Semester 1, 2017 - Move all school web content to new board server. Goodbye webauthor, hello webeditor.
Semester 1, 2017 - Flag Football season 2. Silver at Mayfield Tournament. 5 - 1 Regular season. Season ended in the quarterfinals. Clearly, the best kids in the world.
Semester 1, 2017 - Keep writing ICS3C in Python.
Semester 1, 2017 - Hackathon with SHSM and ICS students. Well, it was like a hackathon... almost.
Semester 2, 2018 - Finish writing ICS3C in Python.
Semester 2, 2018 - Start using Google Classroom. It works well.
Semester 2, 2018 - ICS3C offered for the first time!
Semester 2, 2018 - ECOO contest: didn't advance because of 4 points.
Semester 2, 2018 - Repl.it, Mozilla Thimble, GitHub
Semester 2, 2018 - Carmela 3 (Outdoor art festival) - Frezzies for sale
Semester 1, 2018 - Google Takeout.
Semester 1, 2018 - 4 Period Day.
Semester 1, 2018 - Flag Football season 3. Mayfield Tournament was cancelled. 4 - 4 Regular season. Season started strongly, ended quietly. Clearly, the best kids in the world.
Semester 1, 2018 - HTML & CSS with the help of GitHub hosting.
Semester 1, 2018 - OLMCCVGT is the OLMC Charity Video Game Tournament to support Covenant House Toronto. We host games on an old Wii (Smash Bros) for a good cause. Very good turnout.
Semester 1, 2018 - DP Arcade Coding Contest, we have 2 entries. I look back at 2013. Mineral Madness wins Best Use of Code Video Game 2018. This award is for traditional programming languages (no game development engine). They come close to winning Best Technical. They were also in the Most Creative category (considering the hundreds of drawings and the original soundtrack) and had to bow out because they could not run in 3 categories.
Semester 1, 2018 - Alt Ed Christmas show returns. 10 acts, the school band, Mr. Quinn and the MCTV students who set up, tore down and ran the sound board. Glad I did it.
Semester 2, 2019 - CCC Contest. Juniors do well, 4 of the writers finish in the top 25%. The seniors try hard.
Semester 2, 2019 - Rm 227 gets a cork board!
Semester 2, 2019 - Computer Puzzle of the Week
Semester 2, 2019 - Sophia F. makes excellent SDLC posters for the room.
Semester 2, 2019 - OLMCCVGT is the OLMC Charity Video Game Tournament to support Covenant House Toronto. We host games on an old Wii (Mario Kart) for a good cause. Very small turnout.
Semester 2, 2019 - ECOO Contest. Brought a Junior team for the first time. They place above the 2 Senior Mixed and Ladies team. The Ladies were 6 pts from advancing to the Regionals. The Juniors (see the CCC event in Semester 2, 2019) were tied in last spot to advance. They don't advance. I ask for clarification on the rules.
Semester 2, 2019 - 22:1 becomes 24:1, result is 99-9 = 90. Their promise is 28:1.
Semester 2, 2019 - 5 years of Alt. Ed. ends.
Semester 1, 2019 - ENG4U, the return. These 2 large ENG4U classes will be the last English courses I teach at OLMC.
Semester 1, 2019 - Start using New Google sites. The first to move over is ENG4U1.
Semester 1, 2019 - Flag Football season 4. Former student returns as a teacher-coach, I feel my mortality. Mayfield Tournament champions. 6 - 1 Regular season. Snow storm during semifinal game. Clearly, the best kids in the world.
Semester 1, 2019 - Introduced to guizero. Looks promising. 2 ICS students build a game and rewrite most of the guizero documentation. I will host their notes in the second semester of this year. Between the pandemic, switching disciplines, and moving schools I put off hosting their work until the end of semester 2, 2020 - 2021.
Semester 1, 2019 - I watch a friend get ready for retirement, and then not. I watch as others begin their count down. I realize I have 10 to go. At some point I convince myself that I'll probably do 12 more.
Semester 2, 2020 - Student Generated Python Tutorials go offline. (2010-2020 RIP)
Semester 2, 2020 - liconti.ca. Bureaucratic avoidance measures are deployed. This is my counter. Because I don't trust the auto-port, I end up spending quite some time moving content and getting to learn how the product works. Always a silver lining.
Semester 2, 2020 - Work action starts to eat away at bump days. Calendar gets tight.
Semester 2, 2020 - CCC. Lots of juniors and seniors.
Semester 2, 2020 - ECOO. Boards split. I plan on taking 1 all-female, 1 junior mixed and 1 senior mixed teams. ECOO gets cancelled by COVID-19 Pandemic.
Semester 2, 2020 - COVID-19 Pandemic causes the closure of all Ontario schools starting the week after March break, for 2 weeks. By the very end of the March break, it becomes clear that this will not be enough time. Towards the end of the initial 2 week closure, Ontario schools are asked to remain closed until May 4. Schools are ordered to stay closed until May 31. On May 19, Ontario schools are ordered closed until September 2020.
Semester 2, 2020 - I experiment with being my own TV station. I use Google Meet, OBS and Youtube to stream the Grade 12 computer science project management assignments to the class.
Semester 2, 2020 - I delete all my grade 11 and 12 Java notes from the old site. I don't bother to move them to the new site(s). Most of my material has moved. Just making sure I have all the loose ends. ICS2O using Python has too many holes to fill, and it deserves a rewrite. I delete it as well. Old summer school notes for ENG3UN and ENG4UN are archived and deleted. sites.google.com/site/mrliconti is deleted.
Semester 2, 2020 - I try to keep teaching my classes and help my staff via email as much as I can. I send as many proactive How-To's as I can think of to support the staff during the first week. I build a few more How-To's during the second week and hope they help. Staff starts contributing to the sharing of ideas.
Semester 2, 2020 - My last semester at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I say goodbye, and think about the many memories across 16 years.
Semester 2, 2020 - Between fishing trips, I plan and prepare websites for next year. ENG3U, ENG3C and ENG4C. ENG4U gets spruced up.
Semester 2, 2020 - I'm looking at this list in the late summer of 2020, realizing there are 10 years between this moment and my first exit point.
Semester 1, 2020 - My first semester at Philip Pocock. A compliment of 6 English courses (2 ENG3U, 3 ENG4U, 1 ENG4C). Let's go!
Semester 1, 2020 - Quad 1 - The new cohort schedule in quadmester 1 is difficult to work with. On the bright side, my Google Calendar skills are improving! The initial schedule is riddled with errors and revisions. I am fortunate to have my prep and a small ENG3U class this quad. The rotation between the cohorts and sections is overly complicated.
Semester 1, 2020 - Quad 1 - At the very beginning of quad 1 and the start of quad 2 the members of English Department delivers PD to staff. People are eager to learn.
Semester 1, 2020 - Quad 2 - Ah, the quadmester. The board changed the quadmester model between quad 1 and 2. The model we used for quad 2, and the foreseeable future works much better than the first one. I see 1/3 in class while simultaneously teaching 2/3 at home. That lasts for 2.5 hours. In the afternoon, I teach my other section for an hour, they're all at home and I'm teaching from school. 2 full sections of ENG4U. This rotates for 9 weeks or so.
Semester 1, 2020 - Quad 2- The board green-lights the new features of Google Meet - Breakout rooms, Q&A, Polls, Backgrounds... lots to add to the Google Classroom toolkit.
Semester 1, 2020 - Quad 2 - Provincial lockdown. We move to remote teaching following the Christmas break. That initial lockdown is extended into the quad 3 (February). That lockdown is extended further into February. ENG4U and ENG3U allow me some time to refine those courses.
Semester 2, 2021 - Quads 2 and 3 - Student exit surveys indicate my marking cycle needs to speed up. With classes at 30 ?
Semester 2, 2021 - Quads 3 and 4 - March break is postponed until April. The next lockdown extends indefinitely into early June. Eventually the indefinite lockdown extends to the end of the school year.
Semester 2, 2021 - Quad 4 - My last quad ends the way my first quad began. ENG4C and one prep. I take the time to learn how to use WeVideo. Marking cycle speed up is working, perhaps because I have 1 prep? Quads are tough when you are on a double. Endless marking time when you are on a single.
Semester 2, 2021 - Quad 4 - Teachers were told at the very end of the school year that schools would be open for the 2021-22 school year. The Quadmester model will continue, without cohorts. The timing of the day has been altered to accommodate for 110 minute morning class plus a 40 minute student engagement session, and a 110 minute afternoon class plus a 40 minute student engagement session. Teachers will rotate during the SESs, so sometimes you are with your students for 150 minutes, and sometimes you are not.
Summer 2021 - No, that's not a typo. I taught ENG4UN and ENG3UN in the DPCDSB summer school program for almost 10 consecutive summers. The summer of 2016 was my last, or so I thought. ICS3U4 (new course code) was offered and I took it. I worked with 2 other great teachers. It was a good opportunity to run my ICS3U course with other eyes watching. I think the summer school adage 'one day is a week, one week is a month and one month is a year( semester)' still holds true. What became abundantly clear while teaching Computer Science is that the time constraints don't allow for synthesis of ideas. I would argue that this is less noticeable in a summer school English class where the concepts are understood quickly because of the format of the day. Transversely, English students tend not to have enough time to develop as a stronger writer, reader or critical thinker. With the presumption that all the students have had no previous experience and that the instructor attempts to cover all curriculum expectations (overall and specific), the student's mettle is tested.
Summer 2021 - I jump into Replit. See the above entry for further details.
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 1 - The Quadmester model will continue, without cohorts. See Semester 2, 2021 - Quad 4 for more details. My second year at Philip Pocock consists of a compliment of 6 English courses (2 ENG3U, 3 ENG4U, 1 ENG4C).
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 1 - Teaching 1 with 1 prep allows me to focus on updating every department's webpage, a TPA, returning to a mode where 90% of my students are in class, the Poetry In Voice competition, and 600/825 minutes of supervision.
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 2 - 331 gets a make-over. I master the art of lamination.
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 2 - OSSLT is virtual and involves both grade 10 and 11 students. I had forgotten what it felt like to proctor your own students during an exam.
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 2 - Prepare for the first Pocock Poetry In Voice School Contest. I canvas the English and French (extended, emersion, core) classes. 40 students sign up. Of the 40, 15 continue with the preparation process. By Christmas Break, 11 are left. On the day of the contest, 9 participate ( 1 French, 4 Bilingual, 4 English). I switch our contest to an online format because of the uncertainty of school reopening. PiV already has ample instructions on how to proceed with this format. For the winning students, and for those that want to participate in the future, moving to an online school level contest is a good learning experience as the national qualifiers are always done through video submission. We submit videos in the 3 categories, and 1 (Bilingual) student advances to the National Semifinals! The same student wins the People's Choice Award! This could not have happened without the help of Mme. F!
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 2 - A new variant causes the province to switch to remote learning following the Christmas break for 2 weeks. Our first scheduled day to return is marked by a large snow storm, and the new reality that Snow Days have been replaced with synchronous remote learning. Information regarding the expectations of staff and students was fumbled at all levels. The snow fall causes the system shutdown to last 2 days.
Semester 1, 2021 - Quad 2 - Teaching 2 / 2 in the quadmester model makes timely assessment impossible. 60 students in 2 classes and no prep period.
Semester 2, 2022 - The system switches back to semesters. For some bureaucratic reason, semester 2 is being referred to as semester 3 for the remainder of the year.
Semester 2, 2022 - I experiment with Hamlet Manga in my 4C class.
Semester 2, 2022 - 825/825 (22* 37.5) minutes of supervision, a career first.
Summer 2022 - I watch both Hamlet and Richard III at Stratford.
Summer 2022 - Grade 9 English will be de-streamed starting next year. My summer to-do list is massive. I start preparing ENG4UQ asynchronous. That section is collapsed at the beginning of next year.
Semester 1, 2022 - Associate Teacher (shared) for a Teacher Candidate (good work Ms. S.). The TC adds a good "thinking about the future" unit to the 1L course. My ENG1L class benefits from my 1/3 share.
Semester 1, 2022 - ENG1L: Pilot Microsoft Reading Progress and Reading Coach, using Google Classroom as a stand alone LMS (all content, assignments and dates through the LMS, not my (this) external website). I prepare a new ENG1L novel, Salt.
Semester 1, 2022 - Associate Teacher for a Teacher Candidate (good work Ms. F.). The TC adds good Hamlet notes to the 4U course. My ENG4U and ENG1L classes benefit.
Semester 1, 2022 - Poetry In Voice Contest (2nd year!).
Semester 1, 2022 - A & E Committee. Organizational Template (Semester 2)! Our document (made possible by my amazing department head (Ms. D) from OLMC) was a product of collaboration. It was assembled after the creation of a short story list, a custom category weighting chart, and a fledgling non-fiction list. Good times.
Semester 1, 2022 - Professionally, working with ChatGPT begins after Christmas break.
Semester 1, 2022 - DALL·E 2 art experimentation begins during Christmas break. You Got This. ™ merch begins.
Semester 1, 2023 - Pocock Poetry In Voice School Contest. Second year, smaller turnout, but it is all LIVE! We submit videos in the 3 categories, and 1 (English) student (a winner from the previous year) advances to the National Semifinals! That student is nominated for the People's Choice Award! This could not have happened without the help of Mme. F!
Semester 2, 2023 - I watch King Lear at Stratford.
Semester 2, 2023 - I begin moving to all paper demand writing assignments and tests, in class—because of ChatGPT. I also started outlining plans and ideas more frequently—because of ChatCPT. The ability to take the spark and fan it with AI as an assistant is powerful. Having students loose the publishing step in their long form assessments is a tradeoff. My second semester ENG4U classes rose to the occasion. I will spend the summer reworking all assignments. Notable AI moments include: blindly stumbling with prompts, taking too many small steps when a larger stride would have sufficed, writing a collection of fodder poetry, an illustrated children's chapter book, a 68 slide deck in an hour, in class exam essay preparation, several detailed course proposals, rapping in a 4U biology class, and a debate where both AI and I learned something.
Semester 2, 2023 - What started as a idea to have a class plant (an orchid from 2021-22) turned into: an unstoppable Swedish Ivy (Ms. B), a Spider plant which flowered, a content orchid, a spruce tree seedling, a Tradescantia (bubblegum or nanouk), a variegated Pothos that started climbing, a Gasteria disticha (L.) Haw. Bell Blossom Aloe, Ox Tongue that blossomed with 35 flowers, an aloe that is coming along, a Haworthia that keeps making pups, and a sauvage Hens and Chicks planted in a You Got This. ™ pot (thanks Emily!).
Summer 2023 - I watch Much Ado About Nothing at Stratford.
Summer 2023 - I delete my repl.it account(s) and my github account along with some content on the site in the late summer of 2023. Good-bye to the Artisan Bread Collective as well.
Semester 1, 2023 - Associate Teacher for a Teacher Candidate (good work Ms. D.). The TC adds a good play to the 4C course. My ENG4U and ENG4C classes benefit. A new play is added to 4C and a new short story unit fills in the gaps where the old CA work periods were. Accordingly, a new CA is put in. This year I'll have 2 4Cs which gives me the chance to run the CA back to back before making edits.
Semester 1, 2023 - Pocock Poetry In Voice School Contest. Third year. The initial participant size was like year 2. Notable differences include high attrition and acclaimed winners. We submit videos in the 3 categories, and our Bilingual student winner advances to the National Semifinals! That student is nominated for the People's Choice Award! This could not have happened without the help of Mme. F!
Semester 1, 2023 - The school transitions through 4 principals in one semester. I clean up the door and the right chalkboard because of the obvious dangers that paper on steel, slate and cinder block pose. I lose the Swedish Ivy and most of the orchid in particularly rough winter break, paradoxically all the other specimens grow. Thank you for the drawing Katherine F.—your art will hang in the room as long as I am there.
Semester 1, 2023 - Marking cycle ideas and implementations from semester 2 2021 are working. The bottom 80% of 4U and 100% of 4C assessments are done in class, post ChatGPT. The first units of 4U must be edited to deal with the obvious academic integrity challenges that AI poses.
Semester 2, 2024 - Associate Teacher for a Teacher Candidate (good work Ms. M.). The TC adds some perspective to the 4U course. My ENG4U classes benefit. 95% of the 4U course assessments are done in class. I don't think I will change the first assignment. AI writing becomes more prevalent. Marking cycle is working very well. ENG2D website created . . . I'll make the edits during the early summer.
Semester 2, 2024 - I watch Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night at Stratford.
Summer 2024 - I work on writing a ENG2D course. I decide on trying to use 'mentor texts' as my model. I chose 10 novels from the reading list. It's been a while since 2011-12.
Semester 1, 2024 - I watch Salesman in China at Stratford.
Semester 1, 2024 - ENG2D with a mentor texts approach. 9 novels and 1 play make the final list. Teacher Candidate Ms. D. is there from almost the beginning. The best part of 2D essentially hasn't changed (the students on the edge of becoming seniors), the worst part of 2D (standardized testing) is the same. What changes, is the teacher.
Semester 1, 2024 - Associate Teacher for a Teacher Candidate (good work Ms. D.). The TC works hard with two 2D classes. The custom stamps will be cherished.
Semester 2, 2025 - Associate Teacher for a Teacher Candidate (good work Ms. D.—for the second time!). The TC works well with a 4U and a 4C class.
Semester 2, 2025 - Mentor texts was a hit (For me, absolutely positive. Anecdotally positive for the students). Teacher Candidate Ms. D. and I talk about the possibility of extending this approach to ENG4U. Definitely an idea for the summer.
Semester 2, 2025 - Self-induced professional development: Authentic Assessment and Routines with WeVideo and Film Production and Storytelling with WeVideo
Summer 2025 - I will work on a Mentor Text version of ENG4U. This is going to be interesting.
Summer 2025 - I watch The Winter's Tale and Macbeth at Stratford.
Semester 2, 2030 - Exit Point #1 at the end of the year.
Semester 1, 2032 - Exit Point #2 at the end of the semester.