Maybe the Fresh Prince was RIGHT ... Sort of.

When it comes to the cost of educating future generations of Canadians, to coin a phrase from Will Smith's famous rap song, "... parents just don't understand." Truthfully, he should consider changing it to add the word "some". Having said that, let's agree that it is a generalization, and there are a large part that DO understand, but it sure feels like the percentages are skewed the wrong way. What I'm talking about is the general malaise toward the profession of teaching and its value to maintaining our future successes as a country and a civilization. Even the Minister of Education has jumped on the "bash the teachers" bandwagon of late, devaluing the process of collective bargaining by choosing to tell thinly veiled fabrications in place of actually meeting at the bargaining table. I recently viewed an infomercial, paid for with our tax dollars, that left me so frustrated with its fear-mongering and inaccuracies that I stewed on the couch for a good 40 minutes.

If the government succeeds in making the sweeping changes to the Education System through the modifications they put in place, the result will be drastic. The costs of a weak or poor educational system are incredibly large and encompassing (see the photo to the right) so, the question begs, are we committed to ensuring that future generations will be well prepared to lead? Are we motivated to support the system that does teaches them how to do that? Based on my interactions with Joe Public recently, there is no consensus.

Let me open up the flood gates of argument by stating that I acknowledge the cost of education is high, that teachers are well paid, and that there are issues with efficiency in the system. As a 29 year veteran of the system, I feel that I am justified in having an opinion ... an informed opinion ... on how efficiencies can be found, but those that have the power to effect change rarely ask those that are immersed in the day to day grind. Whole Language, anyone? EQAO, anyone? The proposed e-learning, anyone? Multiple school Boards, anyone? That's problem #1.

Joe Public's opinion that teachers are the crux of the problem and indoctrinate their children with the same opinion, IMHO, need to spend some time attempting to better understand how today's system is fundamentally different than when they went to school before they venomously attack. Just because one has spent time inside a classroom as a student does not entitle one to attack the character of teachers. It's a ridiculous argument, but you don't hear people calling out the character of dentists, do you? We've all sat in the chair so doesn't that mean we completely understand how to be a dentist? That's problem #2.

The current strife between the present Ontario government and the education sector is a lose-lose-lose situation, no matter what side you are on. I hear the voices (or rather, read the voices because very few will approach me face to face) of parents who get very animated when they hear that the strife could very likely impact their day to day lives with some sort of work to rule or full out strike action. "You teachers are holding our children hostage!" I completely empathize with their frustration! What many choose not to understand is the way collective bargaining goes these days, especially with a government that is Uber comfortable re-writing the law ("Not Withstanding" if you recall?) to suit their needs. Since that same government will not actually negotiate choosing instead to dictate what will happen, even when it will seriously jeopardize the quality of education, SOMEONE has to stand up and shout NO! That same government has not listened to the general public on many other issues and cuts so there has to be a method of making them stop and pay attention. And, while we're being honest, we all need to remember that the government is quite okay with prompting a strike since it will lead to a huge mound of money saved and they'll simply legislate teachers back to work once they've saved what they think they need. I'm not living in the clouds ... look at the details of previous strikes. That's problem #3.

Look, let's get something straight, my non-educational-worker readers, teachers DO NOT wish to stop offering all of the extras (or even worse to strike) because however you cut it, they lose ... they lose credibility with the kids, credibility with parents, credibility with the media, credibility with the government ... heck, even credibility with each other since not everyone votes to support strike action! Some teachers are very pro-union; some teachers are anti-union; most, like me, fall somewhere in the middle. I have written in previous posts about coaching all of those years because I felt strongly about the need to "pay it forward" but it also because it allowed me to better understand my students, what made them tick, what was important to them. It's WAAAAY easier to teach a student that you have a bond with. I made the sacrifice of all of those hours outside of the classroom work, at the expense of my own family, because I knew it made my students better young men or young women. Why in the Lord's name would I choose to stop doing that unless I was "painted into a corner"? Take time to ponder that one, please.

I try to explain to Joe Public why I stand up in protest of a radical restructuring of the system. I want to shed light on HOW the proposed changes will effect the quality of every child's education, but people often choose not to listen. They'll engage in an argument with me but they won't listen. For all of those reading this who are not in the education field, here's how the largest hurdle in education breaks down ... The government wants to change the Pupil-Teacher-Ratio (PTR) in high school from 22:1 to 25:1. This is the AVERAGE and includes all students with all teachers. I read (or hear) so many people confuse class SIZE with class AVERAGE. If schools are staffed using a PTR of 25:1 that means that any class that, usually by law, has less than 25 students per teacher means that some other class(es) have to make up the difference. ASD classes, by law, cannot have more than 6 students which means that some other class(es) has to make up the difference of 19 students. The Education System now has many different Special Education classes, all with lower numbers mandated by law, and all below that magic ratio. Auto Mechanics class, by law, cannot have more than 20 students per teacher, for safety reasons. That means some other class(es) has to make up those 5 students. What this means to the entire school is that the number of classes that the law dictates have to be smaller numbers results in other classes having to be exceedingly large numbers like the 35-40 students OSSTF has been pointing at. This becomes an even larger problem when the physical size of the classroom influences the number of students because of the fire code and how much furniture and how many people can be in the room at the same time. The easy fix? Don't count special classes in the formula ... but that would mean listening to the front line workers ... See problem #2 again.

Many of the detractors label the same issues ... teachers get summers off; teachers make too much money; teacher's benefits are too costly; teacher's pensions are too cushy; teachers are lazy ... I'm not going to argue with anyone about this stuff, mostly because it's always an argument that shows that one side isn't interested in listening, they just wish to make a point. Okay, point heard and understood, but when my neighbours, friends, or family go down this road ... it does happen ... my reply is always, "I understand your frustrations and I acknowledge your anger, but if teaching is such a great gig, why didn't you choose it?" Almost invariably, it's Option A, "I couldn't do that job!" or Option B "You're one of the good ones so I'm not talking about you."
On option A ... then stop cutting us down for choosing to help you raise society's children!
On option B ... over 95% of the colleagues I have worked with in 4 different schools work as hard, care as much and offer as much as I do so what you're complaining about is the 5%.
Fine, then say you're angry with that 5% and stop painting ALL teachers with the same brush.

I am not alone in this thinking ... the CBC's Peter Mansbridge on teachers:

“Anyone familiar with my educational background will know that my relationship with teachers was cool. Not cool as in hip and trendy. But cool as in frigid and icy. The fact that I didn't finish high school is my fault. I had teachers who tried to get through to me. Mr. Bank, Ms. Bruce and Mr. Westinghouse were among those who tried, oh how they tried. But some challenges, like me, were just too much.

I put that on the record to make it clear that although a lot of people trace their success to a teacher who provided a spark, I don't. Still, I cringe when I hear and read all the teacher-bashing that's out there. I live in Ontario where the provincial government and the teacher unions have been locked in serious battle for several months. I'm not taking sides in the dispute. Not at all. But my goodness, the things some people say about teachers. Based on what I hear on radio talk shows, and comments on the internet, there are way too many people who truly believe that teachers are grossly overpaid and under-worked. What a strange attitude. Never mind that teachers are grooming the next generation of Canadians, the ones who will grow up to support our pensions in our old age. Maybe we can't think big-picture. The little-picture is pretty simple. Teachers are grooming our children. Yours and mine. Do we really want to trust the most precious parts of our lives to underpaid and overworked drones?

I keep seeing comparisons to what teachers make to the average industrial wage. And guess what? Teachers make more than the average. Of course they do. They've gone to school for at least four years of post-secondary education. The average teacher has been working for 11 years. They should be making reasonably good money. They're raising families too.

Then there's the under-worked part. That argument usually starts with July and August. Teachers get the whole summer off. No doubt about it; that's nice. But they need the break. I know there are lazy teachers. Just as there are lazy bankers, letter carriers, doctors, and yes, lazy journalists. But overwhelmingly, teachers are not lazy. In Ontario, the teachers stopped participating in extracurricular activities as part of their fight with the government. What an uproar that caused. School plays, sports teams, newspapers, chess clubs, fashion shows, and on and on. None of them possible without teachers freely giving their time. Critics are anxious to count the summer against the teachers, but they never count all those extra hours in their favour.

And sure, classes go from about 7:45 am to 2:45 pm, but anyone who thinks a teacher works six and a half hours a day, doesn't know many teachers. Preparing for class takes time. Talking to kids after school takes time. Meeting with parents takes time. Marking takes time. I can't imagine reading through 60 essays on why Hamlet is so sad and writing helpful comments in the margins.

We send teachers children from broken homes, from abusive homes, from negligent homes. We send teachers children from homes where both parents work, or where the only parent works, or where no parent works. We send teachers children who leave home without breakfast and whose grasp of mathematics is grounded in the reality that welfare money sometimes runs out in 28 days or 29 days, and can't be stretched to cover 30 or 31. We send teachers children who are new to Canada, children who stare blankly ahead unable to understand a single word that is being spoken. And we ask that those teachers turn each of those children, each of our children, into productive little citizens. We ask that even though there are 28 or 29 other students in the classroom, even though there are students misbehaving, even though some parents don't support teachers by re-enforcing lessons or by making sure homework is done, or even by insisting that the student listen to or respect the teacher.

So argue the fine points of teacher contracts all you like. I'm not saying teacher unions are always right. I'm just saying running down teachers is wrong.”

In the end, I'd really like all participating parties to agree on ONE thing ... Educating the future generations to be life-long learners, logical problem solvers, effective team players, independent thinkers and upstanding citizens is an EXPENSIVE process but WORTH every penny. People who choose to take on the massive responsibility of helping society raise the next generation should not be vilified, chastised, slandered and attacked for doing so. Our success rate is pretty high ... we understand that there are some that we can't help ... but imagine if teachers were discussed around the dinner table with respect? Imagine if what goes on each day at school was supported at home every night? Would translate into a unified team trying to educate society's children? IMHO, our success rate would most assuredly be higher. If teacher-bashing continues for a couple more generations ... mark my aged, old words because I've see the steady decline ... it will make that success rate plummet and break my heart, piece by piece, student by student.

I offer my hopes and prayers that all parties involved in this can come to some agreement before the system becomes too far gone.

BONUS: Here’s an article that’s related to this click here for another teacher's perspective 

Laughter REALLY is the best medicine!

One of the things that we type-A personalities are not very good at is looking after ourselves emotionally. From my particular brand of type-A, I have had a habit of being pretty focused on things, sometimes forgetting to take some time to laugh and giggle. As I am nearing the end of my time in education, I now see the value of "blowing off some steam" so I decided that I needed to make a decision to deal with that. As previously alluded to, I won the marriage lottery and my darling Joyce whole-heartedly supported taking a few days away from her ... Hmmmmm, maybe she needed a break also?

I jumped in the Tacoma and ventured down the 400 series highways to spend some time with some of my best buds from my football days at Queen's University. It's not like we haven't seen each other ... we get together fairly often for reunions and the like ... but this one was special because it was a smaller group, comprised of the guys I spent a large amount of time with during those years. We all gathered at the the home of the most football-famous of us all, Mike Schad, who still holds the esteem of being drafted to the NFL as the highest pick of any Canadian-trained player in CIS history. If I wrong about that, he is definitely in the top 2. Mike now lives in New Jersey where he settled after retiring from the NFL with his last years playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. It ended up being 5 of us who came from a variety of places to get together to relive those fantastic years, argue about who did what best, and generally behave like 20-somethings all over again.

3 of us decided to drive down from Ontario ... all fellow O-linemen and packed into a pretty posh Toyota  Highlander ... I picked up Frank in Oshawa and together we met Steve in Gananoque to cross into the US since he came down from Arnprior. The last merry member of the horde, Sam, flew up to Philly from Atlanta. Despite the 6 hour drive together, we still had a ton of catching up to do so the adult beverages flowed freely, the reminiscing was in full exaggeration, the BBQ was happily consumed and the belly laughter was loud and hearty. It's truly amazing how quickly 50-somethings can slide back into 20-something mindsets.

The docket of activities was right full of sporting events ranging from Mike's son's flag football game, to a Flyers' hockey game, and culminated with an Eagles' football game. As I am sure you can imagine, the grins rarely faded from our faces as we found ourselves in a variety of situations where people expressed curiosity about our poorly-fitting gold Queen's football jackets and jerseys. One of of the pretty cool situations was at the tailgate party being hosted by a Philly chain of restaurants where Mike's notoriety gained us an invite. There was traditional tailgate fare with Philly cheesesteaks, burgers, wings, and hoagies washed down with a wide variety of adult-style liquids.

After leaving the tailgate and joining the HOARD of people trying to access the stadium, we enjoyed the hospitality of the Eagles VIP room (thanks again Schadillac) which also featured a variety of things to drink and eat. Even retired O-Line have a limited tank so we hauled our distended bellies up to our seats to enjoy a very well played first half with the Eagles taking a 10-9 lead into the break over the Patriots. Unfortunately, the excitement waned in the third as the Pats out-executed their way to a 17-10 lead. A group decision led to the final few minutes being enjoyed on-screen from the VIP lounge and its wonderful delights.

The research states that laughter is truly the best medicine and we enjoyed a healthy overdose all weekend long. We even found time to FaceTime one of our small group who couldn't make it down from Sudbury. John's face light up like the bonfire we had the night before as we shared the escapades of the previous 24 hours. Although the carrying on made for a fuzzy trip home, we all felt it that familiar tug of belonging as we made our way back to our loved ones.

Do yourself the favour of writing a prescription for an awesomely good time ... your body and mind will thank you. Cha Gheil!

Am I fully developed?

November 22nd, 2019, was a PD day ... A Professional Development day. No Big Deal, you say? Well, it was to me ... It was the LAST one of my educational career. I've always had a devilish side, one that I keep bottled up most of time because I'm wary that releasing it might bring strife, but I have often wondered about the term Professional Development. I get the Professional part ... That's a part of the whole educational system. But the Development part still gets me because I rarely have any say in what I'm developing.

For those not in the educational system, this is how it typically works:
We get notice at the beginning of the year which days in the school calendar will be PD and then the Board determines what each day will feature. Most days, the topic is chosen based on the Board Strategic Plan or Board Initiative and we all "develop" using that information. Some days they give us a choice of THIS or THAT and that, IMHO, is better, but more than half the time, the topic is decided for us.

Now, having explained that, there is opportunity for Professional Development at any time of the year on any subject I wish but it is usually self-funded with options to apply for some financial support from a PD fund ... It's a limited amount of cash and gets divided equally to all that apply. The issue I have with that is it requires me to miss instructional time, something that my coaching self does with all too often regularity, making it not a great choice. I have exercised that option a few times and really enjoyed the new information and/or skills I acquired.

I have to admit that there have been some PD days here and there that are either interesting or useful ... or both! The one that I just experienced had great potential and I definitely came away with a couple of gems that I can apply to my classrooms right away. My only reservation about this one was a lack of time to appropriately delve into the "meat and potatoes" of its information. The best thing about it, IMHO, was a single sheet that contained a lengthy list of strategies, tools, and resources based around planning, executing and evaluating lessons. Put a feather in your cap, PD planners!

Unfortunately, some of the PD I've sat through over 29 years was not quite the same success. Let me be clear, I totally understand that someone passionately organized the information and truly felt it was vital that teachers know its concepts and skills, but often it was a "buzz" topic ... one that was a long-held educational practice that someone had cleverly re-packaged in new terms and diagrams. For those sitting at the table who were relatively new to teaching, I would guess that it would be informational and interesting. For those sitting beside them with a few more years of experience, it was revisiting something that was already a well established routine. Adding to that, what an HPE teacher feels would be useful will likely not match up with what an English teacher or Biology teacher feels would be useful so trying to cover everyone off with the same concept is doomed right off the hop.

I've always had the character flaw of voicing my opinion, be it popular or not, so I imagine if someone in senior admin from the Board sees this post, they may be a little put off. Teachers are always cautioned that we are employees of the Board and we have to behave as such ... If I offended someone with these thoughts, I hope that they can get past it quickly, but I deeply believe that honest feedback will ALWAYS be better than passive sheep-like allegiance ... likely my coaching experience coming through.

Be that as it may, I would attest that, after 29 years, I am fully developed.

Teacher's College and the Holland Landing Experience

In a previous post, I confessed that I got side-tracked immediately after graduating from Queen’s, chasing a fun job rather than a career, and was denied the first time I applied to Teacher’s College because I lacked experience in an educational setting. The truth of the matter was that I had helped fund the cost of university by working in a waterfront restaurant/bar called Pumpers. That experience would eventually lead me to move across the City Hall courtyard to the Prince George Hotel when owner Paul Brown hired me to be assistant manager with promotions as a focus. That 2-year experience led to A LOT of late-night carousing, celebrity hobnobbing (it was Kingston … Kirk Muller & the NJ Devils, Dan Ackroyd & the cast of Ghostbusters, The Tragically Hip, etc. were a part of it), partying and schmoozing. It was awesome and lead to some incredible experiences, but I quickly figured out it was not a career.

I solved the lack of experience in education problem when I heard about, and successfully gained admittance to, a program in Kingston that allowed me to volunteer at Loyalist Collegiate (LCVI) as Jr Football and Sr Basketball coach. It was an interesting year that resulted in some friendships that have lasted through the years, but the details are a little sketchy because I was working at the PG which required a lot of late nights and my sleep-deprived brain just didn’t latch onto a lot of memories.

This post is about Teacher’s College and not LCVI so enough about my memory issues so I'll keep going. I was able, with a little help from an old friend of my father’s, to gain admittance to York University’s TC program and ended up at their satellite campus in Newmarket, being held at the old Town Hall. Being relatively young, I charged ahead without a lot of thought dedicated to the details. I accepted, paid and then thought, “I need a place to live!” Joyce and I were blissfully living in sin at the time and she thankfully agreed to make the move. I hopped in the truck one day, drove to Newmarket and found out quickly that (a) there weren’t a ton of places in there to rent and (b) we couldn’t afford the ones I found. As a fluke, I saw an ad for a place in Holland Landing … Where the heck is Holland Landing? It would turn out to be a small community north of Newmarket and the apartment was the bottom of a gargantuan home in a pricey subdivision that was recently built there. The owner, as it turned out, was the developer of the subdivision and the apartment was HUGE for not a lot of money. SOLD! Now to convince Joyce! Thankfully, I had been good enough of a partner that she trusted me sufficiently to agree.

SIDENOTE: The owner was an interesting fellow who was bespectacled tinkerer, and who’s glasses kept sliding off his face. He solved the problem by creating these soft rubber things that slid onto the arms of the glasses. He called them “Grabbers” and gave me some to try … I still have them! Well, if developing a subdivision didn’t line his pockets enough, selling 3 million Grabbers (not a typo) to the military didn’t hurt either. He was definitely an interesting dude!

Although I didn't consider myself "old", I quickly found out that I was older than most of the teacher candidates, so a group of us formed a merry band of Old Farts and set about dealing with the youngsters. We had a lead instructor that was definitely primary focused as she confessed that she and her hubby’s favourite activity was to lie in bed and read, out loud, to each other. Let’s just say that my varsity athlete experience prepared me a little differently, resulting in a look of incredulous wonderment becoming permanently etched on my face.

In the end, the Old Farts survived and the decisions about teaching placements rolled around. As it turned out, this satellite campus was closely linked with the York Region Catholic DSB so my placement was at one of their elementary schools called St Elizabeth Seaton in a Gr 6 classroom. Although religion was present in my childhood home, it was not a major component, and I was raised United since my father was raised Catholic and my mother was raised Anglican. They figured it was a good compromise. I had been the dutiful son who attended Sunday School up to, and no further, than the time I was permitted to make the choice on whether or not to attend. I had stuff to do on Sunday! Teaching was easy but teaching religion, especially Catholic religion? Well, that was harder. I had to get some help. I found that help in the form of Father Stephen at St Christopher’s in Newmarket. Through the school, I approached Father Stephen about adult catechism, and he was most gracious in accepting my sad case, once I explained what was going on. I admit that I started out with getting some help to teach plus getting my papal reference in case I wanted to stay with the Catholic Board, but I was surprised to find that my interactions with Father Stephen were creating a sense of belonging. I should point out that Father Stephen thought it best that we do the catechism one on one … Not sure why since it was usually done as a group, but I didn’t complain because it meant that I met him at the rectory every Tuesday and we generally just chatted about the history of Catholicism, other sects that split off and what place religion would play in my life. I would learn that Father Stephen was a unicorn … He was one of, if not only, married priests with children. His story was that he was raised Jesuit and at some time in his early adult life, left for the Anglican church where he married and had kids. A change of heart resulted in a return to the Jesuits and, somehow with his family in tow, he became the Father with a wife and kids. Through it all, it meant that I could teach my students about religious topics like the Beatitudes with some sense of competency. In the end, as you already know, I decided on the Simcoe County DSB which, of course, was not Catholic. I will be forever grateful to Father Stephen for helping!

When it was all said and done, I lived up to the old saying my father used to share. He would often preach to his four boys that the key to anything worthwhile was not to be number one (although that was tolerated in athletics … Ha Ha) but to finish what you start. He would say, “You know what they call the student who graduates last in his med class? Doctor!” I was that through and through … I received my teaching certificate standing firmly in the bottom third of my class. Any who cares? I was hired the next month and the beginning of 29 years of education bliss began.

An open letter to all of my former team members ...

Dear former team member,

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that I will no longer be involved in your development. I coached my last session recently and I am sitting on my couch, keyboard in my lap, quietly reminiscing about the millions of fond memories created over the past 30 years. Where there was once boundless energy and passion, there is now satisfaction and contentment with the knowledge that I have passed the torch to the next set of like-minded youth in a "Circle of Life" transition.

I want you to know that you made my life a wonderful experience! You allowed me into your lives, tentatively at first, and slowly opened your hearts and minds to the messages I was trying so hard to convey. For that trust, I am forever grateful. Through our shared energies, we achieved things that neither of us could have dreamed of solo. Through our shared vision, we molded ourselves into a unified force that literally "moved mountains" in our dogged pursuit of the goals we co-scripted. I want you to be aware how deep my gratitude extends for sharing those incredible situations with my own children since I was "that dad" who willingly tested those tortured waters of extending parenting past the walls of home to the pool, court, pitch or what have you. You didn't know it at the time, but your acceptance of them, trusting that I would treat everyone the same, was the greatest gift you could have given.

I want you to understand that I have lived a blessed life through sport. I was blessed with incredible coaches during my playing days, people that I now know were in it for the pure love of sport and the betterment of youth. It left such an indelible mark that it was hard wired into me to "pay it forward" to you. I was blessed with so many opportunities so how could I not do the same for those that came after me? The greatest thing you could do to honour those years would be to "step up to the plate" and  pay it forward yourself.

I want you to know that while you were mostly self-motivated to improve, I also know that you did so because I was so passionately imploring you to. I know that there was a little bit of all the sweat and discomfort shouldered for my sake. I pray that one day, it will dawn on you that altruism was the thing that made all the difference, and that it will spur you to replace me as the "Giver" to the new band of "Getters".

I sometimes go to my personal Wall of Fame to mentally relive the memories enshrined in the photos, medals and trophies and I smile reflexively as I ponder what you're all doing, how your lives have progressed, with whom are you sharing it with. Social media helps keep those memories in the readily accessible files of my brain but it pales in comparison to the times we actually get to talk, face to face, smile to smile, eye to eye and feel those precious bonds of humanity. You made it all possible and the only gift I have is my most treasured ... I gift myself, my friendship, my bond for as long as we both can remember each other.

To those like-minded co-coaches whom I shared these amazing times, I am not a smart enough man to verbalize my gratitude effectively. You have allowed me to speak when you saw that I needed to; you listened to me when I felt I had something to contribute; I learned so, so many things while I watched you ply your trade from the "best seat in the house". The saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." and I now know the sheer truth at the core of that wisdom ... We are all children to somebody and the village never really stops trying to teach us, regardless of our age.

I don't wish any of you to allow sadness to creep its way into your heart. These are not sad times ... quite the opposite, really. Much like the mixed emotions of high school graduation, or post-secondary graduation, or leaving a familiar situation, I am filled to the brim with the bitter sweet emotions of leaving something behind while looking longingly towards a destination. Even the smallest chick must eventually leave the nest ... I'm more of an ostrich, mind you, but it's the same thing. I will still be there to support all that you do, but this time, it will be from the fan side of the court/pitch/pool, with my trusty camera in tow, ready to cheer till I'm hoarse in support of your new challenges, memories and accomplishments. To be brutally honest, I really can't wait.

With gratitude from the bottom of my heart,
Coach P

Note to Parents: How to read EDU-Lingo

I just pressed SEND on an email to my admin team, submitting the mark verifications signalling that my last set of mid-term report cards are complete, leaving me to contemplate if parents understand what those mini-paragraphs contained in the report cards really mean. Are they be able to see past the carefully worded passage and see the underlying message, and better yet, attempt to encourage their child to embrace the issue(s) identified?

Please understand that I'm not talking about "baffling someone with my BS". Teachers are given multiple sessions of PD about how to deliver a message in manner that is professional, empathetic, and informational while still conveying the necessary information of "strengths", "work-ons" and 'next steps". Are there times when a teacher yearns to include a comment that is both blunt and to the point? Sure there are, but it rarely happens. Teaching is the business of building up not tearing down so, despite primal instincts, teachers ponder long and hard about how to convey the message. Please understand that we come a LOOONG way from the bubbled comments of the past ...
#54: "A pleasure to teach" or #83: "Significant progress achieved".

The language used in comments these days is sometimes called EDU-lingo because it seems to be a unique set of buzzwords and catch phrases. Here are some examples:

Message: Johnny has not completed the work assigned.
EDU-lingo: Johnny has displayed a curious mind in class activities. Assignment completion has materialized as growth area that requires additional time and strategies to develop into a consistent skill that will manifest as long-term knowledge. He is encouraged to prioritize his focus on learning that will best represent the thoroughness of his understanding.

Message: Johnny's behaviours means the teacher doesn't get to teach.
EDU-lingo: Johnny is unafraid to voice his opinion on a wide variety of topics. His regular outbursts of impulsive language victimize Johnny's understanding of presented concepts, requiring consistent reminders about on-task behaviour and the learning needs of others. Greater awareness of appropriate inter-personal behaviour will result in a more complete understanding of presented concepts.

Message: Johnny has a potty mouth.
EDU-lingo: Johnny has demonstrated a wide vocabulary but, at times, Johnny demonstrates an internal struggle with personal challenges in expressive language, opting instead for inappropriate emotional triggers. He is encouraged to expand his verbal repertoire to include more expressive, colourful verbiage.

Message: Johnny skips class regularly and is failing because of it.
EDU-lingo: Johnny has demonstrated interests in a variety of extracurricular activities. Significant challenges with consistent attendance have created obstacles to learning that have resulted in slowed progress in a variety of areas. Increased attention to the routines and practices of an educational environment is encouraged.

Message: Johnny treats his teachers and classmates like human garbage.
EDU-lingo: Anecdotal observations of interpersonal relationships with peers and adults indicate underdeveloped senses of empathy, compassion and respect which result in terse, stress-filled interactions that carry charged emotional consequences. He is encouraged to alter his mindset to be inclusive of the needs of others in the learning environment.

Message: Johnny didn't learn what he was supposed to last year so he doesn't try.
EDU-lingo: Challenges in scaffolding of foundational concepts have left Johnny with significant gaps in his learning causing increased emotional stress that manifests in off-task behaviour counterproductive to his present educational goals. Remediation of challenging concepts is encouraged.

In the end, we are all here for little Johnny (or Susie, if that's the case) despite how many grey hairs we inherit from our interactions with him (or her) on a daily basis. I wouldn't be lying if I said that there are some kids that I just do not like but I genuinely like (almost) all of the students that I am charged with educating each semester. I find that time has permitted me a better understanding that not all who walk through my door are there for the same purpose. That difference in motivation will often lead to some clashes over behaviours that I feel are counterproductive to the task I've been charged with but that doesn't doom our potential relationship. Some of the most energy-taxing students end up being the ones that you develop clear understandings with and, as a result, develop stronger bonds with. That certainly doesn't change the fact that they have the potential to drive you crazy on a daily basis and you'd just like to "call a Spade a Spade". Alas, I must resign myself to the fact that I have one last set of reports to write - the final ones in January - and my intellect (head) wins out over my passion (heart) resulting in one last trip down the EDU-lingo highway.

Some thoughts on the twilight of my career ...

I am a MASSIVE rugby fan and have professed, more specifically, to be a New Zealand All Blacks fan. Dragging my sorry 56 year old butt out of bed at 3:50 am to be able to see my beloved ABs get their collective hind-ends handed to them by England is not a stellar memory. Having said that, listening and reading about what was said by the ABs following that loss, the word bandied around repeatedly was "PERSPECTIVE". Being able to make the decision to retire has been uplifting because it gives me perspective.

Life in education has changed quite a bit in the 30 years that I have been involved, partly due to my own evolution as a man+husband+father+educator, but also partly to the metamorphosis that society has undergone over those same 30 years. I vividly recall certain personalities early in my career that were quick to opine about "their kids" and I can still hear my thoughts back then, "If I get that crusty, I'll know to leave before it affects me." Sadly, I didn't know to leave and I've caught myself joining in on the water-cooler conversations, sharing my own consternated confusion about how things have changed. I think that if I honest with myself, I am not as bad as I make myself out to be but I am left to ponder what has produced this perceived decline.

WARNING: If you're reading this and you're still in the throws of exuberance about your classes, your kids and your career, you should just stop reading right now.

One of the biggest pet peeves I have about SOME of my kids these days is that too many are unwilling to do some work! I am teaching HPE and Photography this semester but regardless of the course, there are assignments and projects that are opportunities to do some learning that carry definitive limits to the amount of time I feel it should take to complete. I have confessed to my classes that I'm a little "old School" and am not willing to allow late submissions to slide by without some consequence. I feel strongly that not paying attention to dead lines is doing the students a disservice that could have grave consequences should they move on the post-secondary or land a lucrative position, so I carefully explain how my system works ... almost everyday! Despite those daily reminders, regular conferences, offers of opening the classroom at lunch and even the occasional call/note home, I have 1/3 of my classes that have multiple overdue assignments. It's their attitude towards it that causes me to itch all over ... "Meh, maybe later" ... WHAT? You can't be bothered? Seriously? Begin with the eye rolling, the head shaking, and the look of incredulous disbelief. I have my final set of mid-term report cards to complete over the next little bit and I venture a guess that there will be some disappointed families when they see the grade and read the comment ... IF they read the comment. I would LOVE to be blunt and say what I'm thinking but that really doesn't serve anyone well so I'll sharpen my vocabulary and say it nicely. I'll still say what they family needs to hear but it will be wrapped up nicely in "edu-lingo".

 Another pet peeve is the sense of entitlement that a SIGNIFICANT chunk of students bring with them to school each day. Whether it's disregard for the learning of their class mates, their desire to call the shots on what they will and won't do, to use their devices whenever the muse moves them, or cuss like a group of drunken sailors, there's a number in each of my classes and they're driving me up the wall! TBH, I'm not sure at all why some of these kids come to school ... they're really and truly not interested in learning or anything else educational and, IMHO, they are wrecking it for so many of their peers. Don't get me wrong, there are still more "good" ones than "bad", but the percentages are changing. When I started in the high school panel, I would estimate that the high achievers were the top 10% and their counterparts at the other end an equal 10%. Just below the go-getting top 10%, there was a large 30% or so that were interested in doing well but consistency was not a strong point. Below that were another 30% that always seemed to perform well enough to achieve their credits ... most of the time. That leaves the final 20% that often professed to have too many things to do to consistently achieve, but by keeping in touch with some, many learned enough to go on to become successful despite all of that. I would have to say that the percentages have morphed significantly and, IMHO, not for the better. I see that there remains a 10% at the top that will achieve greatness despite of the system but the bottom 10% has increase to 30% and their pretty vocal about how crappy their teachers are, how they're treated unfairly because that they can't do what they want all the time, and they'll be fine as long as the government keeps paying them ... apparently they didn't pay close enough attention during civics to realize that the government is all the rest of us. Below the top 10%, that 30% of sort-of achievers has shrunk to 10-20% but they're upset that their teachers are always dealing with the issues of the bottom 30% and they aren't getting a fair shake. That leaves a really large chunk of 40% that could go either way, and from my perspective, are being influenced by that lot at the bottom. All of this results in what education has dubbed "Compassion Fatigue" ... that overwhelming feeling of caring about a group that could give a rat's bum whether of not you care. I will tell you that it's exhausting at times and I've had days where I simply choose to shrug and carry on.

SIDE NOTE: Maslow's hierarchy, that wonder-nut of Teacher's College wisdom, clearly outlines that students cannot achieve learning if their basic needs are not met. That bottom 30% come to school altered, sleep-deprived, pissed at parents, pissed at the world, and full of opposition so it makes perfect sense that learning is not on their To Do List. Look, I'm not pointing fingers at parents and asking them to "pull up the collective socks" but, let's call a spade a spade and agree that parenting these days is WAY harder than it was 30 years ago ... for a TON of valid reasons. It's not that they are incompetent, but rather, waaaaaay toooo busy to take a stand on the things that really, really matter.

On an alternate front, some readers are a part of my social media family and are aware that I chose to step away from coaching after what I estimate was 30 years of 3 seasons a year. Teaching in the absence of coaching has prompted some interesting conversations with colleagues as they scarf down some lunch before heading out the door to "face the hoard". The number one issue bantered about is a perceived lowering of commitment and investment by the student-athletes that is causing even the die-hards to question WHY. One particular conversation rattled around in my skull for a couple of days until it finally dawned on me why I had chosen to "retire" from high school coaching ... I had experienced that very issue for the past 2 years! I now see that I was way more committed emotionally + psychologically than a chunk of my teams which manifested in sporadic attendance at practice resulting in lowered development/enhancement of core skills and less success on the court/pitch. When the scales tipped toward a balance of players committed and invested, the success followed without exception, like North's first appearance at OFSAA Rugby in a very long time that culminated in a consolation championship.

The last, and potentially most explosive, change is societal. We're so fixated in preserving young people's self-esteem and self-image that we robbed a couple of generations of learning resilience, perseverance, and integrity. When the "everyone gets a trophy" movement started, we had scores of athletes who were pretty insulted that they had to accept something for failing because they had already begun their journey down the road to self-acceptance. Now we have a much large majority who are happy to "wear the jersey" rather than the fearful task of committing fully and failing to measure up. They have never spoken the words but I see them LOUDLY through their actions that they feel it's safer to not commit 100% so there's an excuse if they fail. Besides, a small but significant portion truly believe they are doing their coach a favour by showing up ... ask them ... They'll admit it. Honest!

I will be quite interested to see what transpires over the next few months regarding the results of the Rugby World Cup ... The All Blacks were not up to the questions England asked of them and, after the sting of defeat subsided, they collectively conceded full credit to England for besting them when the ABs gave their best. What a lesson to be learned! If enough young rugby players (and not just NZ youth) looked up from their phones long enough to watch, perhaps the trend toward resilience will have the seed planted? Who knows? To paraphrase Steve Hansen's words (head coach of the ABs), "Sport is never fair and sometimes you lose. All you can do is dust yourself off and try again." Will the youth of today be capable of this? 

Having said all of this, there are still some really awesome kids in high school these days and it is those faithful few that keep our teaching batteries charged up. Just the other day, I had two youngsters sincerely thank me for the discussions we had in health class surrounding drug abuse because they, "... learned so much about stuff we didn't realize." That funny looking facial expression you see is a big, proud smile for a job well done. Right hand over the left shoulder and pat twice.