To my teaching colleagues and friends, I sincerely hope your new school year starts off in the best way possible – without too much overly confusing oversight from the Ministry of Education! In all seriousness, even with all the changes and potential storms ahead, always remember that teaching is an incredible career full of hope and possibility.
To my former students who may check out this website, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you are happy and preparing well for the future.
To those new to my website: I hope the resources are helpful.
I am looking forward to being able to sleep tonight, not worrying about a thousand things. Okay, let’s be honest; I’m still going to worry.
Late last August I decided – rather, I relented – that it was time to get a smart phone. My dumb phone (text and calls only) was limiting my ability to navigate the TTC during a stoppage. And sometimes I could not get a phone call to go through to Val to get an update. Oh, woe is me. Obviously not. I willingly, if begrudingly, took the step I said I would never do.
I will be the first to admit that I took to the having a camera on my phone immediately. Already a person who loves to take photos, this was not a big step for me. Though I do find it annoying to see what my Google Pixel considers to be my highlights?? I also feel very badly that I have not taken many photos with regular cameras since getting this phone.
One of the first photos I took with the smart phone.
What was key for me was having access to the internet and email. I very wisely did not add my school (work) email to my phone. I figured I already answered my work email more than enough at the most inconvenient times for me.
Previous to getting a smart phone, I was already a regular YouTube user (almost exclusively for content related to figure skating, acrylic painting, and gardening) so that was not new to me. By contrast, previously, I was not a social media user. I had only reluctantly added Instagram on my laptop so I could follow one of my nephews on his world travels and ocasionally check up on my cousin in Vancouver. That’s it! Using Instagram on the computer entailed logging on, and then selecting whose account I wanted to look at. Very different from the phone.
Well, on my new phone, about five months ago, I accidentally installed Instagram by clicking on one of those annoying Instragram emails – see what’s new! It is so addictive on a phone. So immediate. It just pops up and sends you things (yes, I know I sound like a troglodlyte here). Its algorithm changes SO quickly if you aren’t careful. I could easily see how quickly one could get addicted. So I deleted Instagram last week. Ah, sigh of relief. Sign of autonomy!
Reflecting on my phone experience- keeping in mind that I have been a high school teacher whose clientele changed extensively because of the phone – I am very glad that I am an adult who grew up in the time before computers or smart were prevalent. I have the ability to make my own decisions, to be self-aware about what is being offered to me by media, to survive through times of boredom, and to use a technology rather than let it use me. Perhaps most crucially, I am a true believer in asking this question: “just because we can, does it mean we should?” We meaning society, of course. Or, perhaps more correctly and expansively in these troubled times, humanity.
Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness had a crucial impact on me. It’s not that I was unaware of the topic – it was the daily bread of my life as a teacher; it’s that he helped me connect a lot of dots. As a high school History teacher and Student Success teacher who worked outside the classroom, I spent a lot of time counselling students, parents, and some teachers about the significance of phones being away during class, the impact of the phone on learning and attention.
Everyone who interacts with kids should read this book. Supplemental materials for each chapter are available at thislink.
I knew the kids (not all, of course) were addicted; it was plain to see. What I didn’t know is what that felt like. Now that I’ve experienced the tingle the phone gives you and the way it blocks out the world, I never want to feel it again.
Soon I’ll write a post about kids and phones in the classroom based on my experiences, particularly with my amazing last ever class in semester two of 2025-26.
Canada anemone seedhead, August 2026 (edited on Gimp on my computer for a little irony).
Lastly, I will note that Shadow and Richard make up the bulk of pics I take on my new phone. What a surprise!
Richard continues to entertain himself and others by going under things in the weirdest ways.He’s a cat’s cat.Shadow does not want to be outdone by Richard! So she can go under things, too, especially when she thinks no one is looking.
Way to go City of Toronto (correction: Waterfront Toronto)! The new section of the park is even nicer than the first part! There’s even a set of public washrooms.
It’s lovely to see so many people out in the park – many waiting for the sunset. We gave up and backtracked to take more pics and make our way home.
Ducks on a log in the Don
Yellow coneflower? Maybe a future painting
Skyline view
Monarchs
Red Admiral on Boneset (possibly)
The native plantings are incredible
Public washrooms, oh my
The Atlas Crane from the former Marine Terminal 35 (first in operation in 1961) – read more about the crane
Val has pics of this crane (on film) from 30 years ago
This park is the perfect combination of nature and industry that Val loves
Here’s a brief slightly unsettling thought on retirement so far; retirement is AWESOME. Don’t get me wrong – I am very lucky and privileged to be able to retire. However, it’s a somewhat daunting mental transition to go from constant support of kids to doing whatever I want to do.
This monarch butterfly feeding on milkweed on our front lawn got me reflecting: ” it’s nice to be helpful.”
Monarch butterfly, August 2026
That’s probably why I started up a new research project (with SP from the Champlain Society Educational Committee) so quickly. The focus will be Canadian nurses in World War One. Fascinating so far.
Second…
I’ve looked at a lot of WWI-era photos lately. This one struck me the most. The power of the camera is inestimable. The camera below belonged to Clare Gass, a Canadian nurse who, like many others , served in multiple locations in Europe during the war, almost always taking photos of her colleagues, patients, surroundings, locals, etc.
What I love about history is the evidence it provides of life in the past. In most of my work as a teacher of world history, the subjects I taught were pre-camera. It is interesting to jump into a camera-enabled time period. The images complement the documents.
Clare Gass’s camera. Photos from a book (ironically I didn’t get my photos of sources straight when I was at the library) at Toronto Reference Library. Additional photos by Clare Gass can be found at this Source
It has not yet been one year since I got a smart phone. Without a doubt my favourite feature (other than the time – yes, something so simple) is the camera, to record life as it is.
Well, 28 years and done. I will have a lot more to say in the coming weeks; for now, I’m just feeling gratitude and a good sense of relief. It has been a difficult year; having set the goal of being as helpful as possible, I think I did a pretty good job. So for now, the sun sets on a career. It’s a really weird feeling.
