Rashmee Karnad-Jani Advocacy for change, agency, Building Inclusion, Feedback, Why unions matter, Women at Work

How Is Everything?

Keeping Pace with the Calendar

The school calendar marches on. As I write this post, progress reports are being read, revised and will be shared soon. Interviews with families will be coming up in a few weeks. Even as I remember those days and the rich discussions of those times, now I find joy by walking alongside colleagues.

I see how busy it right now in the work spaces where we spend our days. Hallways, classrooms, school yards… everywhere. Sometimes it feels as if Friday to Friday is one chunk of time and it’s as if on the last day of the work week, I am able to exhale when I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath.

This Friday, after work, I checked my phone before putting it away for the night. A friend was checking in.  This special person is a kind human being who in addition being a passionate and caring educator diligently shares spider plants with me regularly which in spite of my green thumb haven’t lived past the six month mark. I value this friendship greatly!

A blue text message bubble with the words "How is everything?"
A Friday-evening check-in from a friend

How Does One Respond?

We often ask each other this question, don’t we? “How is everything?” We ask because we care but is there time to share all the ups and downs of the day when you and I know the person who’s asked has their own load to carry?

Perhaps you’re thinking “Rashmee, three posts ago you’d said if you get wobbly reach out to someone.” Yes, I had and that’s possible but there’s a time to share and a time to say “all is well”. Also, in that moment at the end of the week, we need to set down the day and rest. Imagine if one truly took up the question “how’s everything?” and poured ones heart out to people who ask. What would one say?

So here’s something I do: I remember that everything is what I make of it really. Everyday a goal I set for myself is to leave each space just a little better than I found it, even if it’s through a five minute interaction or a one hour consult.  Then I let it go. This is a skill that I practice everyday, because without that I’d be less efficient and empathetic in my work.

Learning Together 

Especially when the school year goes from week to week, the importance of staying well informed cannot be stressed enough. More so, when it’s time for decision making, voting for important matters to move forward,  it is important that we as members know what has been going on around us even as we focus on what is going on within us and between us.

Whether you’re just getting started or have been working for a long time, please check Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – Home regularly.

Did you know about Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – Publications ?

Have you listened to  Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – Elementary: A podcast from ETFO where each podcast episode is introduced by students?

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – ETFO eNewsletters also have  lot of important information that is shared again by my local, so I get to notice it twice. This is how I signed up for The 2024 ETFO Listening Tour and am looking forward to attending on November 19th with colleagues at my local.

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – Labour Movement has a rich history and there is a book called “Class Action: How Ontario’s Elementary Teachers Became a Political Force”. I enjoyed reading it and wrote a review about it in ETFO’s Voice. Check it out. Who came before us? What did they fight for? What are we working towards for those who walk alongside now and what do we leave behind for those who come after us? These are key questions that I invite you to think about.

Another exciting resource I’ve discovered is Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – Welcome to ETFO Booklet and as a member of the New Members Committee at our local, I am looking forward to the conversations that ripple out from here.

Holding The Door Open

Many years ago, I think in 2011, I went looking for support from a released officer at our local, through a phone call after a long and heavy day. I recognize that moment as the turning point because since then, my participation in ETFO’s activities through reading, sharing, writing and volunteering increased exponentially. I also do something I call “holding the door open”: I invite others to connect with elected members within our local and build relationships so that they are not alone.

So, this week, while leaving many thoughts and wonderings behind on a Friday evening, I decided to do something as it was my pre-Winter commitment:  I connected four friends to the released officer of our local via email – with permission of course. They may not need anything right now but when they do, they know whom to contact. Small steps matter.

The Social Organization of Knowledge

The social organization of knowledge (how we share information through informal networks and make it relatable to our contexts) is critical because it strengthens us as individuals and as a collective.

When we are connected with one another in times of calm, it strengthens how we stay on the path of solidarity  in challenging times.

There is a saying in in Konkani, my mother-tongue “ One doesn’t dig a well when one gets thirsty”. So, let us dig a well before we need to.  Do check out the resources I have shared and let us find one another.

What next?

This is my fourth conversation with you. Thank you to all who have responded to the writings with your connections, memories, a single sentence – all of which are precious for me.

I’d love to hear from you about topics that interest you.

What are you thinking about?  What do you want to write about when you decide to step into this space? What do you want me to write about?

And above all: How is everything?

With You, In Solidarity,

Rashmee Karnad-Jani

Rashmee Karnad-Jani Professional Judgement, Professional Learning and Growth

You Deserve The Best of Me

My photograph of the sunrise in Markham, Ontario from 2015 Winter

Sunrise Thoughts

It is still early Fall in Ontario. Recently, my day was spent in a Grade 1 classroom at an early start school from 7:30 where I set down my bag and took a deep breath as I got out of the car.  I especially love working at early-start schools because I started my career at one in 2004 in Markham, Ontario. A new building, then in its second year that still had its new-building aroma and shiny science lab that became my classroom for some years as I taught Grade 7 and 8 science before I moved on to other assignments. I worked there for 14 years and carry this place in my heart. 

This school has a protected forest tract behind it towards the east and because I would reach early, I always stayed a while and enjoyed the view, Fall to Summer. The sunrise always showed up and the view was always beautiful. I often refer to this special space as “the school with the beautiful sunrise” and write or speak of it this way. 

Back in 2004, this school was set amidst new houses and some construction spaces. There were no other built structures there. No park yet, as that came much later.  Now, years later, there is a cricket field with a well planned walking track, cement risers with a beautiful red roof over them and batting nets for cricketers to practise. In the summer when I walk there, some evenings the stands are full with community members watching the practice and jubilant cries of “Howzzat!!!” bring a smile to my face. 

Keeping Time 

We keep time in many ways and cricket nets can also be one. Every Fall, the tall poles that hold up the nets around the cricket pitch (a cricket ball is hard, no kidding) are attended to by the City of Markham, the nets folded up and tied back neatly. Every Spring, they unfurl, bringing the promise of warm weather and the familiar thwack. A dear colleague who works in this classroom that we set up together with two other colleagues messages me and sends a picture: “The nets are going up”.  

I know that for all of us who remain deeply connected to colleagues and spaces and fond memories it is possible for heartstrings to stretch across time and space. We become fellow travellers.

Learning Together

When there is authentic mutual respect, a shared goal to support learning outcomes of all students, and we strive to work together towards student well-being, we can support one another in our everyday work in meaningful, respectful and sustainable ways.  

I am currently in the role of centrally assigned teacher in my school district. In this role I work in schools alongside colleagues to provide professional guidance to support their students by co-planning, co-teaching, co-debriefing and co-reflecting.

In this capacity, I remind myself that colleagues in the classrooms I visit deserve the best of me. So how do I ensure that?

ETFO defines Professional Judgement as highlighted below.

“Professional judgement is defined, in part, as “judgement that is informed by professional knowledge of curriculum expectations, context, evidence of learning, methods of instruction and assessment, and the criteria and standards that indicate success in student learning.”

This definition is what I hold up before me as I enter the spaces where colleagues and their students spend their school day. I ask myself daily: Is my judgement in this interaction informed by the following?

  • Professional knowledge of curriculum expectations
  • Context (school, classroom and communities)
  • Evidence of learning
  • Methods of instruction 
  • Methods of assessment
  • Criteria and standards that indicate success in student learning

I also regularly check these ETFO Guidelines for Professional Judgement to understand what my strengths are in the outlined areas and what are my professional learning needs. And I seek support so I can support you and through you, your students. That is the path.

Like you, I do not use the term Professional Judgement lightly. When I speak with my colleagues and administrators who have invited me to work alongside in schools, I want you to be able to trust that I have the professional knowledge and skills from which my recommendations come.

I understand deeply that this word is not intended to hinder professional dialogue or to protect my privilege.  When my professional judgement meets the criteria that ETFO continues to share regularly, I am confident that you  have the collaborative partnership you deserve through which you can in turn support your students.  I am sharing an article “Exercising Your Professional Judgement” featured in ETFO Voice

So when I meet you or see you again, please trust that I bring with me my Professional Judgement to the spaces where you welcome your special sunrise.

I continue to add to my knowledge and practice my skills because you, your students, your families and communities deserve the best of me. 

With you, in solidarity.

Rashmee Karnad-Jani

 

 

 

Rashmee Karnad-Jani First Nations, Learning About Your Students, Mentorship, wellness

Sometimes We Feel Wobbly

Ever since I heard last June that I was going to be able to connect with all of you, as my colleagues and readers of Heart and Art Blog, my first thought was about  what I would like to say to you first. How shall I begin? Then I thought the new-ness of this connection is very similar to the feelings before each new school year: “I can’t wait to meet you”

As I went about July and August, there was excitement in the air: I was receiving news from friends and colleagues as well as reading on social media, posts from people I have not met, about how happy they are to be hired for a contract or for a Long Term Occasional position at a school. This was usually followed by a request for connection: to people, resources, and all the other things we know we are going to need to do our jobs and support our students. People were getting together to prepare for school. 

The excitement at such a time is palpable: whether it is a new job or a new grade one is teaching, whether it is a new school or one where one may have taught three children in a family in a long career. Although many ETFO members take Additional Qualification courses over the summer, engage in other self directed professional learning, there is also apprehension because you and I do not know what lies ahead. 

Perhaps you paused in those busy weeks before the start of school and wondered what it was going to be like that first day, first week back. After all, whether new or experienced, whether you have gained professional experience in Ontario or elsewhere, every September feels like the first September sometimes. 

What do we do when we feel wobbly?

A system leader once said to us in a large departmental meeting “Sometimes we get wobbly”. At the time of publication, it is almost the end of September. Some of us may be feeling wobbly with all that we carry on our long lists of things to do. I know I feel this way. So what do I do then? I think of people who have steadied me at such times and I try and reach within and reach over.

Self, Students, Families and Fellow-travellers

While there are many formal supports available in school districts within Ontario, some of us are either far away from accessing them or these supports may be hidden under links on a massive website and that takes time. 

I would therefore like to begin with the connections that are accessible and nearby. Although they have the potential to be fulfilling and frustrating before becoming fulfilling again, I am sharing below some key connections that have helped me during two decades of this work I have been privileged to do when I feel wobbly.

Self

While there are many ways to seek support, I find that for me and many (a term I use often as I hesitate to say “we” because it may not be so for all) it helps to sit with oneself and think about what matters to me in this job, who matters to me in this job and how can I use what I already know in this job? That often is a calming space because I then know that I have done The Work to get to this point. While I shall continue to learn, I also know that I am able to take the first steps I need. There, I feel better already.

Students 

Students have always been the guiding heartbeat for the work of educators. Our youngest learners whether they willingly enter a space or cry for a few minutes before joining their peers in a conversation or exploration show us what they like or dislike, how they want to be seen and spoken to and how they will engage with the carefully planned lessons and materials you or I have laid out.  In times when things didn’t go as I planned whether in a Grade 7 classroom or a kindergarten space, after the initial wave of “what now?” had passed, I learned that examining the “why” of that communication helped me and the student connect just a little better the next day. Or perhaps the day after. What was the student trying to tell me? Did I listen, notice, connect and understand? This helps. 

Families

One of the invisible aspects of a teacher’s work is to engage with families and to work in partnership with them. Families do not always fit into what is seen as the Standard North American Family, or a two-parent, heterosexual family where the father’s work allows the mother to attend to the children’s schooling and educational outcomes as I had shared in 2021 through ETFO’s Voice The school-family connection is mainly the connection between the primary caregiver of the student and you, their educator. However different from me the family of my student may be, when I relate to the humanity of the person in front of me and when I listen without taking things personally, I am able to see that there are ways that I can work towards positive partnership possibilities.  After all educational work unfolds in the murkiness of social problems and when we think through that, we can access resources that can help. Families are also rich sources of information and aspirations for our student and seeing that early on, helps.

Fellow Travellers

Although the formal word is colleague, I choose the word fellow traveller (or hum-suf-ur in Hindi and Urdu, two of the few languages that I speak). Our fellow travellers have walked this way before, either as educators through ethical practice and professional experience in the situation that is challenging me that day.  Talking to our colleagues helps us make meaning of the struggles and also reminds us to look forward to the sunshine.  I hope we all have that one person who listens without judgement and then asks, “How can I help? One cannot thank these mentors enough therefore one strives to pay it forward whenever the opportunity arises.

Learning Together

As we approach Orange Shirt Day, I recognize the deep responsibility to learn everyday so that I can continue to make a positive difference in the way I engage with the people and spaces around me. This month the youngest students in Ontario schools started their journey to and through our classrooms where they will spend a decade of their lives, either in one building or perhaps after Grade 5 going to another building to complete their middle school years.

As a gardener, I know that the tender seedlings must be nurtured carefully so that they thrive and grow stronger.  I am sharing “Healing Conversations: A collection of activities for the primary classroom”with you and I hope it leads to many rich discussions.

I wish you all the best in the weeks ahead.

With you, in solidarity

Rashmee Karnad-Jani