On the Edges

My job title is Graduation Coach. In addition to being a teacher & student support services teacher, my role requires that I support the students assigned to my program to get across the finish line.  I find the title problematic. And the mandate.  All that we do is much more than credits and credit tracking.  It’s square peg and round… (read more)

The Experience – All Night Read

Last Thursday nine students and I read one of my favourite books. Our task: to read from start to finish, without stopping. I had learned of such an idea from Alan, who shared stories of his friend Gardner reading Paradise Lost in one sitting with his university class. Gardner writes that reading Milton’s work in such a way is to… (read more)

A Place for Resilience

I teach at the University. Perhaps because my work is with first year Education students, but every semester I find myself thinking deeply about my educational journey. A few years ago, I spent a great deal of time thinking about the children who I have lived alongside who have been affected by a suicide experience. Though I can recall every… (read more)

For Home

Last year, Jessy Lee, Alan, and I spent Christmas at the cabin. We were there for Christmas Eve, Jessy Lee setting out cookies for Santa, watching Jess open her stocking, sharing a turkey dinner with Mom and Dad, and leaving early on the morning of December 26th. We returned to the calm of our home,  and that holiday later met… (read more)

Showing Up

There are three Graduation Coaches in our division. We are fiercely deliberate about collaborating on our common course. We are heading into a unit on Resiliency. The concept is big. We are pulling in families, planning alongside parents, cousins, and grandparents. But first, we are having some needed conversations about Showing Up. Tonight we three Grad Coaches drafted three personal… (read more)

Black-Eyed Girl

I adore an untrimmed tree. Bushes that are ragged and messy. Nature at play. Like we do every second Sunday, Labor Day Sunday Alan and I had brunch with my mom and dad. That weekend though, Alan, my parents, and I had several messy items to discuss. We met at mom’s condo before heading out to breakfast. The discussion, though… (read more)

Weave: a Language of Why

In mid-July, I attended a multi-day workshop focused on basic counselling skills. We were a small group: the educator, the school counsellor, the doctor, the mental health worker, the social worker, the community support person, the psychologist, the bus driver, the insurance company support person. Each of us front line workers. Our conversations were rich, meaningful, and helped to drive… (read more)

Light & 2018 Photo Story

As many know I have been diligent about capturing a photo a day for a long while. However, five years ago with dad’s stroke my practice shifted. What once had been a project, became personal. A way of being in the world. Photography became a way for me to calm the universe, to slow time, and to attend to my… (read more)

Weighing Somedays

Awhile back I had the chance to get to know Chris. He came to work alongside me in the afternoons of his grade nine year. It was spring. He had, bluntly, told his Physical Education teacher what he thought of him and his teaching. We finished things up through my program, working on more than PE outcomes. I remember that… (read more)

Our Longest Game

~ Mid November I received a message from Mike, Football Mike. He wanted to let me know that he was not renewing the Saskatchewan Roughriders season tickets this year, and would I like them back. “Give me a few weeks.” ~ This March marks five years since Dad suffered the hemorrhagic stroke that changed his life and our family. That… (read more)
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