All Community Read: Teaching Rolling Warrior and Being Heumann

Posted by Facing History and Ourselves Canada on November 16, 2022

  • Looking for resources to weave disability representation into your literature equity and inclusion work?
  • Interested in receiving a free class set of books by disability justice warrior, Judith Heumann?  (first come first serve, read below to find out more!)
  • Are you a middle and/or high school teacher of English Language Arts, humanities, social studies, civics and/or Special Education?

Facing History & Ourselves’ 2022-23 All Community Read will be a collective journey of transformation supported by an educator workshop and author event. We will engage in conversation around the young adult and adult versions of Judith Heumann’s memoirs:

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Topics: Books, English Language Arts, Professional Development, Online Workshop, ELA, Community, English Classroom, English, Disability education, book club

Upcoming Professional Development Events Throughout Canada

Posted by Alysha Groff on June 21, 2019

Facing History and Ourselves Canada will be running some amazing professional development seminars throughout Canada this summer. Below is the information for all of the upcoming seminars, as well as the link to find out even more information on each seminar.

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Topics: Professional Development, Summer Seminar, Holocaust and Human Behaviour, stolen lives

Facing History reads Canada Reads: 5 Books that Challenge Stereotypes and Change Perspectives

Posted by Gillian Aitken on March 12, 2015

CBC's battle of the books - Canada Reads 2015 - is taking place from March 16-19th. Canada Reads involves five prominent Canadians debating which book all of Canada should read.

Each year the theme for the event relates closely to our work at Facing History and this year’s theme, One Book to Break Barriers, is no exception. The panel must decide the one book out of the five chosen that best "challenges stereotypes and changes perspectives." The debate over which book to pick takes place over four days beginning March 16, and is live streamed on CBC.ca at 10am EST and broadcast on radio and television each day.

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Topics: Professional Development, Canada, English Classroom, Literature

Nine Books That Everyone Must Read

Posted by Jamie on December 19, 2014

We've compiled a list of the nine books that we feel every teacher (and student) must read. Each of these books tackles an important event/issue in history. Each of these books is engaging, well-written, and powerful.

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Topics: Professional Development, Holocaust, Holocaust Education, English Classroom, Literature, Personal history

Facing History and Ourselves Canada Honours Holocaust Survivor and Educator Nate Leipciger

Posted by Jasmine Wong on November 1, 2014

On October 26, Facing History and Ourselves Canada awarded Holocaust survivor, educator, and long-time board member Nate Leipciger with the inaugural Upstander Award in front of a room of 400 friends, family, and supporters.

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Topics: Professional Development, Events, Facing History Resources, Facing History Together, Holocaust, Canada, Holocaust Education

Toronto Holocaust Education Week Speaker Dr. James Waller on Understanding Evil

Posted by Michael Grover on October 26, 2014

On November 6, 2014 Facing History and Ourselves co-presented an evening with Professor Dr. James Waller, discussing the role of Nazi doctors in the persecution of gay men during the Holocaust.

Explore the culture, psychological, and social factors that drove Nazi policy against gay men and justified, in the minds of Nazi doctors, their perpetration of such atrocities.

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Topics: Professional Development, Antisemitism, Events, Facing History Resources, History, Upstander, Waller, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanities Course

6 Ways I Am Bringing my Transformative Learning to My New Facing History Classroom

Posted by Jonathan Temporal on August 25, 2014

Last week I had the honour of participating in the Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behaviour summer seminar at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

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Topics: Professional Development, Facing History Resources, Identity, Middle School, Strategies

The Bear That Wasn't: Exploring Identity in Middle School

Posted by Ariel Vente on July 29, 2014

Earlier this year I had the honour of presenting a workshop at the Elementary Teachers of Toronto LGBTQI Teacher Conference at Ryerson University. I described the workshop as:

An interactive, participatory drama and movement workshop using the text “The Bear That Wasn’t” to explore our struggles with identity, how our identities are shaped by others and societal expectations and our battle to find our true selves.

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Topics: Professional Development, Identity, Middle School, Strategies, Lesson Ideas

What are we reading?

Posted by Ben Gross on March 25, 2014

Here at Facing History and Ourselves, we are always reading! As the 8th Commandment of teaching Genocide says "Thou shalt read in order to understand how much more you need to read." As you readjust to being back from March Break feeling wonderfully refreshed, or are restlessly waiting for spring to arrive, and looking for something to pick up for a good read, here are some options, from us to you!

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Topics: Books, Professional Development, Events, History, current events, We and They, genocide, In the news

Voice, Reward, and Expectations: Reflections on a Middle School Classroom

Posted by Ariel Vente on March 20, 2014

As elementary schools have just passed the mid-point of the school year, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the first half of the year. Schools are part of a larger educational system. However, our classrooms are also a microcosm of society; a community of members with jobs to do, and rules, norms and expectations, which members are expected to follow. But, as we are too well aware, within the larger society, we encounter issues of unfairness and injustice. I’ve been questioning my practice and asking myself: Does my classroom parallel the oppressions of our society? Am I reinforcing and reproducing what is happening in the larger society in my classroom?

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Topics: Professional Development, Identity, Urban Education, Regent Park, Middle School, Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy, Social Justice, Deficit Thinking, reflection

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This is where Canadian Facing History and Ourselves teachers and community members meet to share reflections, scholarship and teaching practices that will inspire, challenge and improve teaching and student learning. Our stories provide a window into diverse Facing History classrooms in Canada, and invite you into the discussion.

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