We are all treaty people, and it is important that we understand the role and significance of treaties and our responsibility to these important agreements. Across Canada, treaty days offer opportunities for celebration, teaching and improving our understanding of treaties. In Ontario, this takes place during the week of November 1-5.
In preparation for this week, we have worked with educator Andrew McConnell (Anishinaabe/English, member of Nipissing First Nation) to publish a list of resources to support you with your learning and planning.
Read More
Topics:
Canada,
Indigenous History,
Indigenous,
Treaty,
Decolonizing Schools,
Treaties Recognition Week
A Response to: Leading Disruption & Decolonizing Our Institutions: Facing History & Ourselves
Read More
Topics:
Truth and Reconciliation,
Indigenous History,
Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy,
Indigenous,
difficult conversations,
trc,
stolen lives,
settler eucators,
Treaty,
Sacred Circle Teachings,
Decolonizing Schools,
Facing Canada
A Mindful Classroom: Establishing A Safe Space for Sensitive Topics
Many of us have seen the importance of mindfulness in our classrooms and personal lives. Being present and aware are integral to truly absorbing what is around you. How mindful are we of exactly what is around us in the classroom? The physical space we build for our students is often an afterthought to efficiency and more intangible metrics of behaviour and dynamics. This year, I made it my goal to be mindful of the materials within my classroom and how well they represent the values I hope we exercise within these walls.
Read More
Topics:
Art,
Student Work,
Indigenous History,
Social and Emotional Learning,
Middle School,
Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy,
facing history pedagogy,
Treaty,
Facing Canada,
cross curricular teaching and learning
Why Cross Curricular?
We know that time with students is limited, so taking advantage of repeated themes which exist between courses to help build bridges between knowledge gaps is an effective strategy. We also know that in the hecticness of a regular school day, these great concepts are often just that- concepts- because we don’t have time to take on anything more between teaching, marking, meetings, that varsity game you promised to attend, and the play you are helping find props for. Here are a few ideas with ready-to-use resources so that, if one speaks to you, you can easily use it within your classroom sooner rather than later. Remember, trying out one of these ideas on your own first and then looking to next year to work collaboratively can be a starting point, if finding an interested colleague to collaborate with proves difficult.
Read More
Topics:
Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy,
facing history pedagogy,
Treaty,
Facing Canada,
cross curricular teaching and learning
Dr. Pamela Rose Toulouse, associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Laurentian University, 3M National Teaching Excellence Fellow and author of Achieving Indigenous Student Success, and Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Schools frames the role educators can play as allies to Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) students and shares with us several key resources for how to do so.
Read More
Topics:
Teaching Strategies,
Residential Schools,
HSB,
CHC,
difficult conversations,
trc,
stolen lives,
facing history pedagogy,
settler educators,
Treaty,
Sacred Circle Teachings
