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April 17, 2025April 17, 2025 Rashmee Karnad-Jani Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education

Why Does Anything Matter?

Hello Fellow Travellers,

Much in the news. A lot of fluctuations that put the current weather patterns in the Greater Toronto Area to shame. I am not even looking elsewhere as I am busy with my own life. Therefore the question “why does anything matter?” became my title this time.

It is human nature perhaps to reassure ourselves that we are okay.

We’re not that other country.

We’re here, we’re okay, we are safe, we are well.

We say this to ourselves and to people in our lives especially children in our families or students in our classrooms.

But the events around the world – both near and far, send ripples into the calm waters that flow past us here in Ontario.

Publicly funded education does not operate in a vacuum and the decisions made in one country, one sector, one industry, one policy impact the guiding decisions made in another. This we know.

ETFO’s Response to Tariffs

As always, after my work day, before the evening takes over with meals and other chores, I read my non-Board emails. On April 9th, ETFO released this statement.

The section that stands out for me :

“Public education will not be immune to the ripple effects of this economic downturn. As government revenues come under pressure, there is an increased risk that funding for vital publicly funded services and institutions, including public education, will be scaled back. At the same time, Ontario families, many of whom are already struggling, will face even greater financial strain. For students, this can mean heightened barriers to learning and well-being, including hunger and stress, which compromise their ability to learn and thrive.”

How can I and we be mindful of this in our everyday work?

Mothering for Schooling

In the 1970s and 1980s, Canadian sociologist Dorothy Smith and her research partner, Alison Griffith began to notice the everyday ways in which their lives as mothers were interconnected with the regulation of the schooling practices that surrounded their children. They began referring to the gendered labour that gets done in homes as Mothering for Schooling (Griffith and Smith, 2005).

Over many decades, until their last collaboration published in 2022, Griffith and Smith spoke about how work that is done in one location impacts and influences the work that is done in another. They referred to this as translocal work processes. Educational work is filled with interconnected tasks and processes. This we know.

Amidst all this, our students and their families are as impacted as everyone else by these global and translocal changes that regulate their everyday lives.

Every fund raiser, every field trip, every bake sale will impact families in ways that are invisibilized in the everyday busyness in work spaces. Let’s pause and think about that.

The Impact of Courageous Colleagueship

Let’s say I’m co-teaching with you, my colleague in your classroom and I have chosen a book or a topic that reflects my lived reality. I am excited to be teaching with you. You introduce me to your students and I begin to speak.

As a middle-class, professionally trained and gainfully employed cis-het woman with a confident manner and excellent fluency in the language of instruction, I may not be aware that the lived realities of the families in the classrooms don’t necessarily mirror mine.

After all, when I drove down the street to the school many times, I may have seen homes that are well constructed with sleek facades on ample lots. This led me to believe that all is well here. You, on the other hand, may know it is not the case. Especially now, in many places.

As I am busy with many aspects of my work, I make it through the work day with no time to spare for anything more than the absolutely essential pieces, so I haven’t read up about the neighbourhood in which your school is located. I may live far away from this neighbourhood, so I do not know what I do not know.

Steady Me & Guide Me

If I don’t step out of my bubble, I may continue the conversation in your classroom, speaking of my summer plans to visit this place or that, or some aspect of my life because I’m trying to be have a conversation.

As you are the colleague who knows the community and students well, please feel free to step in. Please speak about alternative experiences. Guide me, please.

Stand With and Walk Beside Students and Their Families

When you stand with and walk beside your students by introducing a counter narrative, you show them that you able to make their learning space safe and pleasant.
When you hold up a mirror to my presence and actions in your classroom, you will have given me an opportunity to examine my ignorance and bias. I shall be ever grateful.
You will have invited me to revisit ETFO’s invitation to engage with my professional learning and improve my professional judgement, not just in subject knowledge but also in anti oppressive practices. I shall not say ” I have taught for 21 years” and I will never walk away. I shall learn and improve my practice. I promise.
If I begin to speak about a student in their presence, feel free to whisper “later” and I’ll follow your lead.

Don’t let me stumble when I get wobbly.

I thank you for your colleagueship because that’s the collective heartbeat of our work as ETFO members.

If I lose my way, even for a little while, please lead me back to the path of equity and disability justice.

I shall do the same for you. I promise.

With You, In Solidarity

Rashmee Karnad-Jani

November 2, 2024November 4, 2024 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

December 31, 2019 Tammy Axt General

Grinch Day

Taking time to celebrate and do something out of the ordinary is a great way to create community within your classroom and school. We had a very joyous day in December connecting with our grade 8 buddies and celebrating the story of the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.

If you are going to have a Grinch Day, you need to embrace your green coloured clothes!

To start the day, we read an interactive book where my students pushed the buttons for the sounds of the Whos, The Grinch and Max. It gave some of my students who were not familiar with the Grinch story some foundational knowledge about the story.

Next, we spent some time on our life skills. We prepared Grinch fruit skewers for all of our grade 8 buddies. We washed, cut and skewed strawberries, bananas, grapes and marshmallows.

With all of our Grinchy food ready to go, it was time to invite our grade 8 buddies over for some relay races. We used green cups and green ornaments and divided our two classes into teams. We took over our hallway and made it into a relay course passing the green ornament between green cups.

Finally, we gathered, ate some yummy green food and watched the Grinch movie. It was such a fun and joyous day.

From my class to yours, we are wishing you a wonderful break and a fantastic 2020!

December 30, 2019 Will Gourley Advocacy for public education, Celebrating Success, Making a Difference Through Education, solidarity, Teacher Appreciation, Teacher Working Conditions, Teachers Classroom Spending, Teaching as a public profession, Why unions matter

Celebrating us

We did it.

We brought another amazing decade of learning to a succesful close with passion, creativity, and purpose. For ETFO it has been 21 impactful years in the service of public education, students, and educators.

It’s my 11th year as an ETFO member, and I am looking back at the past decade with some mixed feelings. Perhaps it is a function of the time of year when all of the best and worst lists are being shared in the media? Regardless, I am thankful to be an educator who works with wonderful students and amazing staff at a great school.

On the other hand, I am also intrepid about what is continuing to widening gap between student needs and the resources with which to support them. What will the future look like if government cuts and policies changes go unchallenged? This got me thinking about how instrumental the work of ETFO is to supporting us and I found myself browsing through pages of resources, messages, and initiatives via etfo.ca

Whether you are newer to the profession or a veteran educator, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at the positive impacts made by our union that have helped us get us here, and as we prepare to for 2020.

Let’s take a moment to break down some of the numbers from 21 years of ETFO:

Membership ~ Let’s use 75 000 as the mean number of teachers from past to present.
Days of Instruction ~ 21 years x 190 days = 3990 days
Minutes (days x 300 minutes of instructional time x membership) ~ 8.9775 x 10 ^10 minutes

For the sake of my own brain, I am going to say a lot of learning has occured as a direct result of tens of thousands of past and present caring ETFO educators. Millions of moments curated that have culminated and contributed to millions of positive impacts in and out of classrooms. Millions of moments where struggles turned into opportunities and hard work paid off. Millions of students who have gone on to do amazing things. Millions of lessons learned with millions more still to come.

Without becoming too nostalgic, I think it’s a great time to take stock of all the amazing things that have happened that have ensured the voices of elementary educators will be heard. 21 years on the shoulders of giants who have stood tall in the face of adversity to prepare a way for future teachers to succeed. To all of those who have taught before and alongside me, I am grateful.

Grateful for:

21 years of lessons learned in and out of the classroom.
21 years of remaining on the cutting edge of technology and ongoing teacher training
21 years of inclusivity and equity
21 years of looking out for the safety, mental health, and wellbeing of our membership
21 years of dispelling myths with facts
21 years of commitment to something bigger than themselves
21 years of standing up for students, their families, and to make public education better/stronger
21 years of fighting against the malicious mandates of socially and fiscally tyrannical governments
21 years of solidarity

Such success is something to celebrate. Especially, with a strike mandate of 98% in favour this past Fall. Our collective voices and our profoundly positive professional impact will not be dismissed or ignored.

While certain media factions seek to villify our profession, we know that we possess the power to light the way for public education well into the coming decades. When elected officials undermine our collective good in the short term, we remain focused on the future by standing together now. Side by side, ours are the shoulders to stand on.

As I shared earlier in this post, the numbers show that the possibilities grow everyday an ETFO educators enters a classroom. Bring on 2020!

Cheering you on everyday and looking forward to celebrating an even better future in education. Thank you for reading.

November 5, 2019 Michelle Fenn 21st Century Learning, Behaviour Management, Building Inclusion, Classroom Layouts, Classroom Management, Combined Grade Classes, Constant Learning, Design, Diverse Learning Needs, Flexible Classroom, Inclusion, Inspiring Students, Learning About Your Students, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection, Wellness

Triggers and Habits in Teaching Part One

Dreaded Seating Arrangements

Almost every teacher I talk to says, “I have a really difficult class this year.” The difficulties identified are most often tied to “behaviour” issues. In my experience effective classroom “management” can be connected to dynamic programming and developing solid relationships with students. Many of us go to things like Class Dojo or incentive programs to “manage” behaviour and some have their merits. However, they might “manage” behaviour, but does it help student to learn to self-regulate? I understand that there are students who have behaviour safety plans that can provide challenges and I do not mean to downplay the effect that even one student’s behaviour can have on an entire class. However, there are ways in which we can have small tweaks in our triggers and habits in teaching that will have a positive outcome on developing a community of learners.

So what is a trigger? A trigger in psychological terms can used to describe sensations, images or experiences that re-visit a traumatic memory. It can also mean to make something happen very quickly; a reaction. It is also referred to as an event that kicks off the automatic urge to complete a habit.* Habits are seen as something that people do often or regularly. Habits can even be unconscious behaviours and sometimes difficult to stop. What do triggers and habits have to do with teaching?

Over the years I think I have become more self aware in the classroom about my own triggers and habits. It is easy to continue to do a routine in a classroom simply because it is something that we have always done. Even when we have sound pedagological reasoning, it can be difficult to change or cease a habit. For example, for many years I put names on the desks of students before they entered the classroom on the first day of school. I don’t really know why I began this habit. Besides a wedding, some kind of gala or a reservation at a restaurant, I get to choose where I sit every day. It is a fairly important life skill. I’m not going to find my name on a seat on the city bus. Once I recognized that this routine was purely out of habit and was “triggered” by the first day of school, I decided to change it up. On the first day of school with a grade 4-5 class, the students came into the room and sat wherever they wanted. I admit that this made the perfectionist in me who loves order, routine and habit rather uncomfortable. I had some students sit in groups, some in pairs and some on their own. Then we had a class meeting about how they had felt when they entered the room and had to make their seating choice. There was talk of anxiousness, sweaty palms, heart rate increase, fear of missing out and for some it was no big deal. I decided to create a google form to survey the students about where to sit in the classroom, how often we would change it up and who would decide. The results of the survey were fascinating. Some students wanted me to choose where they sat and wanted to have that same spot every day for 194 days. Some never wanted to “sit” in a group but wanted to be a part of it during group work time. We came up with a plan that each Monday the students would choose where to sit for the week and the students who wanted a regular spot would be able to keep it and the other students would respect their choices without question. We also had some extra choices for seating that students could go to if their choices for that week weren’t working out. The students gained incredible insight into self-regulation. I heard things like, “I sat with Gracie all week and we’re such good friends, I didn’t get my work done so I’m not going to sit with her next week.” or “I don’t hang out with Olivia but I know she is a serious student so I’d like to sit with her in a group.”

It isn’t easy to be self aware while we are trying to keep our head above water, collect permission forms, listen to announcements, adjust our day plan for the assembly that was announced, deal with a parent that wants to chat in the hallway AND teach curriculum. I GET that…however, being aware of triggers and habits and making small tweaks to our teaching behaviour can make a big difference in our classroom community.

*106:Triggers-The Key to Building and Breaking Habits, Chris Sparks, 2018

December 31, 2018 Tammy Axt General

Best December of Teaching

I just had the best December of teaching ever!! I left school on such a high note on December 21^st and have carried the joy right into my holidays. I have been trying to put my finger on what made this December so special and fantastic and I think it has to do with the amount of laughter in my class this month. The staff laughed a lot in our class this December. My students responded really well to our team’s approach and laughed and laughed right alongside with us. I know it is not always manageable to laugh when we have such a stressful job but it is sometimes the best medicine we have.

Here are some ways we found the joy throughout December:

We visited our old class and had a great day with friends that we hadn’t seen in a while.

We hung out in the gym

We tried new things.

We did really fun science experiements!!

We made sandwiches and fruit and it was delicious.

We took time out for holiday memory

We built structures

We worked with our friends to complete puzzles

We had dance parties for DPA.

We made great math patterns.

$math puzzles$

We did holiday song karaoke

We visited another class to play some games

Santa came to bring us some cheer

The staff decorated a pair of ugly socks as part of our team’s special gathering.

We opened our selfie Christmas crackers and took some funny pictures

We enjoyed our new scarfs that I knit for my class

It was the best December ever!!

June 5, 2016 Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education

School Spirit

What is it? Where do you buy it? How much do you need? Who is responsible for it? Several weeks ago I was part of a re-opening ceremony for a former school that I had taught at in the 90’s. That once old, archaic building had been transformed into an architectural state of the art learning environment. As I watched special guests, children and their families and community members arrive you could hear the oohs and ahs as they entered and saw the amazing interior of the school. If you have ever bought a new home, a new car or anything new, you know the excitement that comes with it.

This is where my post shifts gears. It was not the shiny new building. It was not the posh interior that I was in. It was not the formality of the ceremony, nor the speeches, nor the prestigious opening ceremony that had impacted me. What struck me that night was the immediate feeling I had as I entered the building of being a ‘Wildcat’. It had been almost two decades since I was a part of that staff and community. Yet, that feeling of belonging, that feeling of loving to be there and that feeling of comraderie immediately overcame me. Of course the culminating event that cemented that feeling was when a friend and former colleague lead the entire crowd in the long-standing Wildcat cheer. The building erupted into an atmosphere that resembled a pro sporting event.

When I went home that night still on an emotional high I sat and pondered why I had not had that feeling in such a long time. What was it? What caused it to resurface? I have been in many school settings over my career and not every place created that kind of feeling. According to Wikipedia, school spirit is defined as the emotional support for one’s educational institution. There is no curriculum to create it. There is no instruction booklet on how to teach it. There is only the passion and commitment that the teachers bring to their classroom and school.

January 24, 2016 Beverly Papove Building Inclusion, Inquiry, Wellness

This is who I am

Through the winter inquiry my senior kindergarten students and I are involved in at the moment, I have recently been reminded of the importance of seizing opportunities for students that can spark a sense of self and place within the school setting.

In one of our classes, we have a five-year old Inuk girl who is from Pangnirtung (on Baffin Island), and who was adopted by a family from the south. When we began talking about how people stay warm in the winter, her mother spoke to me of an opportunity for her daughter to bring in and share some of the clothing she has received from her family in Pangnirtung; a spring amauti (anorak), sealskin slippers and mittens, and a pair of sealskin kamik (boots).

Elisapie (not her real name) is a quiet student who plays happily with her friends and who engages in a variety of activities and learning opportunities during her school day without making a big splash. However, since beginning this journey of exploring the wonders of the north with her classmates and her unique connection to it, Elisapie has become a bit of a superstar. She is definitely proud of her uniqueness and this inquiry seems to have offered her an opportunity to step up and claim a place which is her own within the school setting. We have all noticed how she has become more engaged in class – asking where her amauti is every morning and wanting to put it on to go visit other classrooms in the school to show and tell all about it. When one classmate came back to school after an absence, Elisapie said, “I have to show her my amauti and slippers. When can I do that?” I am finding I occasionally need to open a window to get some cool, fresh air in the classroom before her cheeks start to glow red (sealskin is very warm), because she likes to wear them during centre time now. According to her mother, Elisapie talks more about her school day when she goes home in the afternoon, and also mentioned that Elisapie is showing an interest in going to Inuktitut classes to begin learning her language again. In class the other day, Elisapie and two of her best friends took an Inuktitut early reader from the class library and used it to write a message in Inuktitut. It is a collection of words that no one can read at this point, but it is definitely an exercise in writing in Inuktitut.

Because of the nature of inquiry, you never know where it will take you and your students. While our winter inquiry is not quite finished, I am very inspired by the learning journey and where it has taken Elisapie in particular and the whole class in general.

We may all have taken workshops on diversity and inclusion which remind us how representation in a school of every child’s culture and people can have a positive impact on their sense of self and place. As teachers, we understand that learning in a school and seeing people and images that, for a change, are familiar rather than largely representative of the dominant white culture, is not only important but imperative for a child’s well-being. None the less, seeing the world from the unique perspective of all of your students may be hard to consider. Furthermore, if you find that each of your students seems relatively well-integrated and engaged in school life, you may not seize on opportunities that may make their school experience even more worthwhile and personal. That is why I feel that workshops, books, and discussions which encourage you to make diversity and inclusion regular aspects of your teaching day are invaluable to individual students as well as the broader school community.

June 14, 2015June 15, 2015 Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Challenging Topics, Equity, Professional Learning and Growth, Wellness

Addressing Equity

The elementary school that I teach at is a K-8 school with approximately 540 students. It has grown over the century with new additions, since its original build in 1923. I have only known the school for the past three years that I have been teaching there. So I consider the school to be diverse with many new Canadians, mostly from Bangladesh. It is also higher needs in terms of the challenges students face for success, according to the Learning Opportunity Index. The family income has declined for families attending the school, as demonstrated by the data. Many of the parents work part-time, multiple jobs, and through the evenings, nights, or on weekends.

What I found interesting to note, is that teachers who have taught at the school for more than ten years, many for more than 15 years, have difficulty seeing the demographics of the school as they are. They continue with the same fund raising projects as they always have, yet lament that there is less participation or interest from the students. They continue to book trips that cost more that an hourly wage that most families would make, then are disappointed in the attendance. It is only in the past year that they have been questioned about the cost required for students to attend their own graduation celebration. The teacher response in regards to how they are accommodating a student population with a decrease in family income, is to encourage students to come forth if they don’t have the funds and the staff will address it or provide the funds, based on the individual situation.

Recently I was talking to a teacher from another school board about equity and teacher bias. She recommended the ETFO publication, Possibilities: Addressing Poverty in Elementary Schools to read. It is an excellent resource. It not only encourages a change in mindset by educators about assumptions and biases in regards to poverty, but it provides strategies and literature connections to address the real needs of students for academic success and well-being. It also provided information on how to engage parents and the community of a lower income status.

According to TDSB, “Educational research has demonstrated that children from lower income families face more significant barriers in achieving high educational outcomes.” It is essential that we as educators are aware of these facts and barriers, as well as the strategies and supports necessary for the students that are in our schools right now.

Link to ETFO publication: http://www.etfo.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment/ETFOsBookClubs/Lists/ETFO%20Book%20Club/DispForm.aspx?ID=37

June 6, 2015June 8, 2015 Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Building Inclusion, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Planning, Student Ownership

Service Learning Projects

Service learning projects are a form of project-based learning in which learning outcomes are accomplished through community service. It is a powerful approach to teaching that provides students with authentic learning experiences in real-life contexts. The outcomes of a quality service-learning project are endless (citizenship, responsibility, character, teamwork). Service learning projects are timeless and can be used at any time of the year.

I have used a service-learning component in my yearly plan for over two decades. In that time, my Junior students have worked with seniors, redesigned local parks, multiple environmental projects with the municipality, projects within our own school community, work at local outdoor education facilities, assisting local charities or community organizations and international projects with Sierra Leone. No matter what the project, the outcomes have been very consistent. First and foremost my students are able to start to look beyond their personal needs and develop a global awareness.

The goodness of all children just shines through like beacons when they know they are helping others. For my current teaching assignment I work with students who have reputations as aggressive, ego-centered individuals who do not care about the people around them. They rapidly lose that bravado when they know that they are making a difference for other people. Throughout this year we worked with our local education centre stacking wood for the upcoming maple syrup program, replanted trees and helped keep their site litter free. The experience of knowing they were making a difference for others created an outcome that was palpable. I am sure that I could see their self-esteem grow in front of my eyes.

My most memorable service-learning project occurred several years ago where my Grade 4 class worked with a group of seniors in a program called ‘Walk A Day In My Shoes’. The end result of our year-long work together was two fold. My students developed both respect and understanding for seniors and for many of the seniors, they found a new purpose in their life. As for me, I was reminded how much I love my profession and the difference teachers can make.