Posts Tagged ‘Ottawa’
I may be here tomorrow, but….
Monday, April 22nd, 2013Awesome coach training session tonight! Loved it!
CRUSHED IT!
Some notes:
1) The other coaches were at least 5 yrs younger than me. The majority were 25-35. I guess most guys don’t father a child at 44. Testosterone-challenged woosies.
2) Being one step above sedentary for a year and then, well, doing wind sprints for 2 hours? Feels great. But I was consciously checking for signs of a heart attack. “No numbness in left arm? Gooood…”
3) oops. Spoke too soon.
4) nope. Just indigestion.
5) I love the Beautiful Game. While my heart is with hockey, the poetry of soccer? Sorry. There is no equivalent.
6) Finally, I’m going to be really, really, really sore tomorrow. Really sore.
7) Really. (14)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
Whew, I’m glad our OCDSB Trustee is safe and sound…
Thursday, February 21st, 2013Tuesday…
Friday, January 25th, 2013A plea to the OCDSB…
Thursday, January 10th, 2013… even if the teacher’s action tomorrow is declared illegal, do NOT reverse yesterday’s decision to close all elementary schools. And here is why:
- Student safety – if told to go to work as usual or face consequences, many teachers will NOT and there is no way to anticipate how many, where and in which grades. How can a school’s senior staff plan for this? They can’t. And student safety may be put at risk… not at all intentionally by the teachers, but as an indirect consequence of choosing to keep the schools open under unsure staffing levels. The TDSB is keeping their schools closed regardless of the outcome of today’s OLB decision:
Meanwhile, the 474 elementary and junior-high schools run by the Toronto District School Board will be closed Friday even if the government is able to a prevent the walkout by teachers.
Even if teachers are forced back to work, there is no way to know exactly how many staff members will be able to come to work, according to a TDSB spokeswoman.
“We can’t ensure that there’s enough adult supervision at the school to make it a safe environment,” said Shari Schwartz-Maltz.
- I cannot picture a more poisoned workplace than an Ontario elementary school tomorrow if the teachers are forced to abandon their one-day strike action. Strong union supporters will clash with those who are lukewarm. Many will be very angry and I don’t want my kids to walk into a hornet nest!
- Opening the schools will make an already bad situation even worse for some families. It is bad enough that little notice was given of this action and many parents were forced to scramble. But if families do not find out until 8 pm tonight (as we have been told by the OCDSB), then there be even MORE scrambling to contact alternate care providers. And what about those providers? How can they staff their operations with this uncertainty! I know that many parents are not as fortunate as my wife and I who can take (our quickly dwindling) annual leave to cover off things like these, but many are not as lucky.
Ya know, folks, in my life I have seldom seen such a sequence of utterly stupid decisions-making. Both the Ontario government and the teachers unions have shown such awful judgement on each step of this trek into Stupidville! It truly boggles the mind. (54)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
OCDSB elementary school closure
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013The Director of Education has just announced that all OCDSB elementary schools will be closed on Friday.
All Ottawa peeps in the English public system should plan accordingly. (40)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
School bus cancellations…
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012… are serious decisions that impact thousands of familites. The decision to cancel should not be made lightly and should keep the chidrens’ safety first and foremost. BUT, erring on the side of caution can be taken a bit too far.
Take the last two Mondays, for example, last Monday was most definitely an over reaction. The buses needn’t have been cancelled. Yesterday, maybe.
And then there’s this morning. I’m writing this on the bus. A bus that is slipping and sliding all over Albert Street!
If any day should have been a snow day, it should have been today. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of consistency in the decision-making process at the OSTA.
; (275)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
Job action by the elementary school teacher’s union…
Thursday, November 29th, 2012==================================================================================
ETFO Work To Rule Strategy
NOT participate in any school-based or system-level meetings including staff meetings, committee meetings, division meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings, and School Improvement Plan (SIP) meetings, student of concern meetings, team meetings, etc.;
NOT attend any board sponsored professional development workshops/activities/events;
NOT conduct any reading, writing, or mathematics diagnostic assessments i.e., CASI, ELOT, EDI, DRA etc., other than those that the teacher deems necessary;
NOT fulfill any administrative duties such as filing, sorting of documents for OSRs, completing or verifying attendance registers, data entry, computer site administrator; collecting of monies. (Note: collecting monies is permitted for activities initiated by the teacher);
NOT act as admin. designate or teacher in charge where the role is voluntary, i.e., without pay; this does not apply to the normal admin designates who receive a stipend for this role;
NOT participate in any EQAO related activities or testing;
NOT participate in any Ministry initiatives connected to the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat/Student Success/Learning to 18 (e.g., Schools In the Middle (SIM), Teacher Learning Critical Pathways (TLCP));
NOT participate in parent interviews outside the instructional day;
NOT participate in field trips, play days, or class excursions as of December 10, 2012;
NOT attend attendance management meetings;
NOT participate in voluntary/extra-curricular activities;
NOT distribute for management any board or ministry memos about the union’s work to rule or labour negotiations to students or parents.
OCETF members will:
CONTINUE to teach and provide extra help to students during the instructional day;
CONTINUE to take attendance;
CONTINUE to maintain contact with parents regarding students during the instructional day;
CONTINUE to provide scheduled supervisory duties.
(426)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
Mystery power outage in Ottawa…
Saturday, November 24th, 2012… the fault of the Liberals, claims the CPC.
Several areas of downtown Ottawa were left without electricity for a brief time yesterday.
Conservative Party spokesman, Pierre Polievre, released the following statement to the media this morning:
Clearly, this attack on the power grid was due to irresponsible and corrupt Liberal MPs mismanaging the small appliances in their Parliamentary kitchen. Our research has clearly indicated that 2 MPs, including Alberta-hating Justin Trudeau, plugged in a kettle, ran a microwave AND turned on the hot plate of the coffee maker AT THE SAME TIME!
This is the type of kitchen mismanagement that your strong Conservative majority government has been warning Canadians about since 2006.
Furthermore, we have obtained a 1997 interview with Mr. Trudeau in which he actually PRAISES kitchen appliance mismanagement!
Canada’s strong and stable Conservative majority government’s Parliamentary kitchens have clear rules posted in both languages that explain approved kitchen appliance procedures. And our MPs abide by them 100% of the time.
Make no mistake that if Canadians ever elect another Liberal government, they will be risking widespread power outages from coast to coast.
When reached for a reaction to Polievre’s remarks, Mr. Trudeau had the following to say:
WTF?
(66)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
École Marie-Curie…
Thursday, November 15th, 2012…is a small school in Ottawa (close to my ‘hood) that desperately needs a new playground. Well, any playground for that matter, cuz right now it ain’t got nuthin’ except for an small aging play structure, a sandbox and asphalt… lots of asphalt.
No trees. No shade of any kind, in fact.
When I think that the playground at my school – a zillion years back – had way more equipment, trees, shade, places to sit than this school has, I am gob-smacked! That was in the Middle Ages, people!
But hey, don’t take MY word for it!, here’s a screen shot of the school. The play area is to the left and yup, lots of asphalt, eh?
But what École Marie-Curie DOES have is a very concerned, active and motivated school Council and they have launched a drive to fund a new playground through the AVIVA Community Project funding competition. There are a number of rounds of public voting and the top 10 from each round go onto the next until winners are chosen – by votes – in each of the project categories (large, medium, small).
All you have to do is register and vote each day for the project. Everyone can vote once in a 24 hour period and we are now at day 4 of the 2 week-long round.
Yes, you give them your email, but I registered during last year’s campaign and didn’t receive a single soliciting email… so they don’t spam you!
Please consider doing this. School Boards don’t fund these things anymore. Fundraising by parents and the help of generous corps like AVIVA are the ONLY ways to pay for what the kids need. (76)
Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario
Chilling on a bench...
Pope cartoon in the Globe and Mail this morning
Friday miscellany...
The zéro represents the chance of the Sens making it to the playoffs !






