u/JamesFulton

On Tuesday nights, 915 Dupont hosts Kiku, a deep listening event where people sit more or less quietly and listen to a particular album. It's a very welcoming place, and there is little pressure to engage with people if you don't want to. The rest of this month is looking at soul records from 2000, and next month is all Radiohead.

Check on.rcrd on IG for details.

I would add that at IPRC or in any other discussions, you should make sure that if you turn down a gifted placement now, there would still be an option for a placement come high school. With destreaming and the inclusion model, she might need a golden parachute in a few years.

I use a fair amount of rap, but use rappers the kids aren't likely to know. Mineshaft II by Dessa is a great example of metaphor. The first verse of Asylum by billy woods is great at showing how a poem/song can be about two things at once (on the surface, it's about him thinking that an Ethiopian dictator has moved in next door - he grew up in Zimbabwe - but it's really about the problems in his home). Broken by Little Simz is a good entry into discussions around how tough life can be, and how to get through it.

I also often look at Saul Williams's Coded Language, and have them figure out who all the people are that he name drops in the poem.

I bought it in 2009, likely from hiphopsite.com. It doesn't look like I bought it used...

Ever since they banned Zanta, it's been downhill...

I would go, and know a few other people who likely would too.

Thanks!

Thanks. This is what I'm trying to figure out.

One thing that I do every June is have my students become student teachers. They (individually or in a pair) have to complete a lesson plan (that I approve/consult on) and then teach it to the class. They can pick anything they want (school appropriate), and have to have some sort of evaluation at the end (can just be an exit ticket).

In the past, I've had hands-on lessons (origami, a particular basketball skill that we went outside for, friendship bracelets, other crafts or drawing lessons), lecture-based lessons (on a genre of music, on South-Asian architecture, on samurai, on a video game), and sometimes fun games that are taught and played. The kids really like being put in charge, and it's a nice breather for me.

I did learn the hard way to put strict limits on science experiments and creating slime.

Thanks! I appreciate it.

The Weeknd used to be too shy to come into my classroom when his friends (my students from the year before) visited me after school. He was only at our school one year.

Another former student's stand-up career is blowing up right now (and he's on a show on Amazon Prime).

Another former student is part of the reason why Doug Ford is shutting down safe injection sites in Ontario. That story is not going to end as well as the others...

I also like to mark a lot. I do two things that might help you.

1. If a student is away the day I assign something, I don't expect them to do it (basically one-off things, not larger on-going assignments/projects). I make it optional for them, and keep a track of who was away when it was assigned (as simple as a post-it note in my mark book or on a copy of the assignment that goes in my marking bag). If someone does it, and it's good, I'll count it. If not, I don't. If they end up with not enough marks in that subject by reports, they get an I (and I've communicated multiple times with parents that their attendance makes it so I can't assess them).

2. When I collect an assignment, I leave a list of who still owes it on the blackboard where they can see it. I'll wait a while to mark it, but once I've marked it and returned it, it's a zero for anyone who didn't do it (I have Gr. 7 so can manage that a little better). Also, if your name is on the board, you're staying in at lunch to get your name off the board.

This is for my non-IEP students. IEP students, I do what I think might work.

Great! I'll send you a message when the issue comes out.

Great. Sending you a PM now.

I've taken my point and shoot into the Opera House many times. I never got my DSLR in there though (I love venues that let me take it with me).

Unless they are patting your down or wanding you, bury it in a pocket and don't even mention it.

"I chased my dog across the kitchen floor,

If the phone don't ring it's me."