Apps and App-Nots

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/thomas_suarez_a_12_year_old_app_developer.html

What a celebration of creativity and the way the lives of many have been touched by technology and innovative energy !

While I enjoyed the TED talk and smiled at the clarity of this young man's ideas and his authentic, candid and honest voice, I am also reminded of the chasm that exists between such stories and the realities that exist in our world, our Board, our communities and in homes. Kids with headphones tucked into their ears, that go into an empty pocket (note to self: just remind them to put it away safely, don't ask them to hand it over, there may not be one in that pocket).

Like laser eye surgery, once the lens of equity fits an eye, you don't miss a thing. Very exhausting work, and very, very necessary.

Night is ending....

The Quest Conference for Increased Student Achievement and Well Being: 3rd day of workshops began with a Markham school's presentation. Students and VP on the stage danced the bhangra. YR is growing up. And I'm lovin' it. Clapped till my hands were sore. And my heart is still soaring.

How do I know when the night is ending and the day is beginning? When I look at the hill in the distance and I recognise the two people there; one is my brother and the other is my sister. That's when I know that the night is ending and the day is beginning.

Rashmee, still here, still me, and walking... Except I am not alone..

Quest: The Cedarwood Way.

Yesterday the Quest came to us: we had a traveling and later structured Quest Corner. The iPad and L@S netbooks traveled to the community class where our students used Doodle Buddy to draw lovely pictures in their favorite colors. At recess, some grade 8 students responded to blogs and at lunch the Quest Corner travelled to the staff room where teachers could respond as well. It was very meaningful to see teachers read the Student Voice blogs of the students they had taught in kindergarten or grade 3. We later pulled out some photographs and saw the same shiny faces in kindergarten. Time flies, students grow up, we make memories.

At the Intermediate Literacy block, more students came in small groups. In the interest of time, some blogged in pairs, some in threes. Some asked me to scribe for them. If an iPod was taken by a more assertive peer, a student mustered up the courage to step up and ask for it. We chatted about equity, bullying prevention, activism in small steps, affordability with new toys that often causes the divide between haves and have-nots, gaps in wellness and cause rifts between hearts.

And that was the deeper learning: spaces will always be limited; we can't take all our students to a conference, we can't all take our students to a conference, many students have no access to basic items for survival. The step forward is to break barriers of exclusivity and elitism and open those doors: to rooms, to laptop carts, to iPod cases and above all to hearts that can connect and take the conversation forward. Many asked if they could go to Quest next year, some are looking at student voice projects at the Ministry level, others have their gaze on the student trustee opportunity to serve their communities.

Now that's a strong network.

No connectivity problems or any jostling for attention. the students show the way: this is how we do it at Cedarwood.

The courageous conversations continue. With one magic weaver on-site at the Quest and another magic-weaver on-site at Cedarwood, with many more magic weavers who complete the circle,so much was possible.

Our students will rise. They will shine, they will soar, they will write their names in the stars. I am a dreamer, but not the only one.

Our school, our students, our way.

ESSAH: A step forward

November 1st, 2011 was a very special day. It was the launch of Educators for Students of South Asian Heritage (ESSAH) at a Markham school. This group of committed educators had existed within our Board for many years and now has it's new avatar.

Inaugurated by our Superintendent of Schools, it was well attended by over 40 teachers, administrators, EAs and SOAs.

As discussed in many intellectual gatherings (including the forthcoming Quest conference), the achievement gap for our students from historically and currently marginalised communities are direct result of many factors such as:

• social and cultural capital (therefore my children have advantages that my students do not)
• socioeconomic status
• lack of equitable access to information and resources
• invisibility amidst mainstream populations that hold and withhold power

What happens to students is also happening to many teachers who reflect these communities. These are the silent voices. One needs to reflect about the working conditions of disenfranchised teachers who are unable to stand up for their students until they first stand up for themselves.

It is upto each one of us to strengthen our voices against discriminatory practices so that we can learn how to support one another and our students in more respectful ways. And how to educate others with empathy and insight.

I would like to invite you to my classs to learn with us sometime. Thanks to the Literacy@School initiative, we are able to afford technology that we can now embed into our learning framework as we become critical consumers of information.

 And we continue to push back the boundaries. I have been engaged in courageous conversations this week to pave the way for my own advocacy journey. The future is promising.