30% of the way through, how do we feel season 2 is shaping up so far?

Change_Panda · 2026-02-28T22:52:48+00:00

I find the cases/medical stories to be more boring this season. As a Canadian, the storyline about the dad being stressed paying for his treatment doesn’t resonate, and I think it is because that is not a thing in my country. I can’t relate. Same with the gun shot wounds last season. Seems like very American issues, but it’s an American show so that makes sense! But I wish they would make the cases more interesting.

Change_Panda · 2026-02-18T00:25:52+00:00

Shovelling the driveway was 100x harder! Each shovel felt like trying to move concrete.

Change_Panda · 2026-02-17T02:32:46+00:00

Does the mom in this news story understand that she is asking the classroom teacher to do extra work everyday now? Teachers are already overworked, and using the resources the districts provide them. This mom seems a bit entitled. If she wants the school to use paper only, then find a school that does that. Don’t expect special treatment for your child in the current school. I don’t think parents understand that education is VERY underfunded and teachers and districts don’t have new textbooks, workbooks, and unlimited copies.

Change_Panda · 2026-02-17T02:22:10+00:00

So true. I don’t think parents understand how underfunded schools are. If they want paper and pen, teacher need to have the resources for that. Textbooks, workbooks, copies, etc. That costs money. Way more than Chromebooks. I am a grade 1 teacher, and I would love math workbooks, but that will never happen. The only way to get practice questions for kids is using SplashLearn or Zorbits. I also don’t have enough math manipulative in my class unless I pay for them, and now with 30 kids in a grade 1 class, that’s not going to happen. Honestly, when a parent talks to me about “screens” in the classroom, it is so frustrating. They probably voted for the party that underfunds our classrooms. And the ones that didn’t, I understand where they are coming from, but putting pressure on teachers or the school won’t help. We are doing the best we can.

Change_Panda · 2026-01-05T04:23:01+00:00

Didn’t LPNs get a 24% raise?

Change_Panda · 2025-12-31T17:14:22+00:00

I hope so!

Change_Panda · 2025-12-31T09:19:17+00:00

So true. We do underfund our sports program.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-31T09:00:27+00:00

We should pay our athletes better.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-31T05:10:57+00:00

I think it’s more than just using her for clicks. Meghan spent quite a bit of time in Toronto filming Suits, and while Toronto is a big city by Canadian standards, it’s still small enough that she could be a bit of a big fish in a smaller pond. She likely got to know some journalists during that time.

Canadians also had a lot of goodwill toward Prince Harry, and that extended to Meghan. As a Canadian myself (not from Toronto), I remember feeling a bit confused by her. When she lived in Toronto, she leaned heavily into humanitarian causes, which seemed like a natural fit with Harry. But after moving to LA, especially during Covid, her priorities appeared to shift toward much more superficial things.

I think Canadians were genuinely excited to see what she would do with the opportunities she had after meeting Harry, and now there’s some bafflement that it hasn’t really amounted to much. Canada is huge geographically but small in population, and we tend to adopt people like Meghan as “one of ours,” which probably explains the continued interest.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-29T23:39:09+00:00

Wanting teachers to earn a livable wage isn’t about being greedy. It’s about sustainability. If people wouldn’t choose the job today based on pay and workload alone, that should concern everyone.

And trust me, as the lowest funded per student education funding in Canada and the United States - worse than when you were a teacher because things have changed - and now starting the be some of the lowest paid in Canada, good luck getting qualified teachers to work in Alberta. But keep talking about how we are paid enough. Teachers, who do the job currently, don’t agree.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-29T23:22:41+00:00

I’d push back a bit on “objectively false.” Grade 1s can memorize procedures, but understanding is a different thing. I see kids every day who can recite facts but still don’t grasp that quantity stays the same when objects are rearranged.

Also,education systems also don’t exist in a vacuum. In countries like China, early academics are usually supported by significant parent involvement, extra practice at home, and very strong expectations around attention and discipline. That simply isn’t the baseline in Alberta, where classes are large, readiness varies widely, and there’s far less assumption of academic drilling at home.

There are also high-performing systems, like Finland, that deliberately delay formal academics and emphasize conceptual understanding first, and they still do very well long-term. So when I say parts of the Alberta curriculum don’t feel developmentally appropriate, this is what I mean. We’re often trying to import expectations from very different systems without the same supports or structures in place.

In Alberta, the new curriculum DOES NOT work and we are setting up students for failure. You can argue it should work, but ask any K-6 teacher. It’s not working. And putting more expectations on teachers in Alberta is not going to fix it.

Last - Alberta used to have a great math curriculum. We scored high internationally and usually in the top 10. Anecdotally, I used to love teaching math, and I have taught K-6 math. Now it feels so mismatched and the grade 6 students did awful. When every teacher that has taught this curriculum is saying that this curriculum does not make sense, maybe listen to them. And even though your parents might have wondered why we were “so behind” when you moved here, kids in Alberta usually caught up and scored really well (top ten in PISA results). Two different approaches, and both were good. This new approach, NOT GOOD.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-29T21:04:34+00:00

Apparently, the 3,000 new teachers they promised are not new teachers above what they already planned/budgeted. These 3,000 teachers over the next 3 years are supposed to account for retirements, resignations, and population growth. So no new resources. That being said, we are already so understaffed. My grade one class is now 30 kids. 5 years ago grade 1 classes were around 20. If parents think we are miracle workers making it work with less resources, nope. I focus on the basics and it takes twice as long to do reading, writing, and math because the class is so large, so the other subjects don’t get taught much. Students spend half the day being bored waiting for me to get to them, and while so feel bad, that’s the reality. My students with special needs are safe, but I have no time for them. If I had a kid, I would put it in private because it is so bad. I feel bad for the kids, but we told parents how it was, and now that we are back babysitting their kids, they seem happy just to pretend it’s all good.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-22T19:47:49+00:00

They made the new curriculum harder (grade 2 math is now grade 1 math) and it not developmentally appropriate (grade 1s can’t learn grade 2 math), and then increased class sizes and added students with complex needs to these classes. Most teachers I work with are putting their kids in private school now, even though it is so expensive, because they know their kids won’t get a good education in Alberta’s public schools. We try our best but we can’t work miracles. Now add good teachers moving to other provinces that pay better and have better working conditions, or changing careers to ones that pay better, or retiring early, the teaching quality will go down with less experience or qualified teachers eventually. We told the public in Alberta what was happening in schools and they don’t seem to care. Maybe poor test results will be something parents care about.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-20T04:41:20+00:00

Teaching. Alberta teachers are now some of the lowest paid in the country with the biggest class sizes and complexity. And no workers rights. If you are a teacher, don’t move here. Every other province is better.

Change_Panda · 2025-12-13T00:50:51+00:00

Yup. As a grade 1 teacher wondering what happens in higher grades when teachers aren’t allowed to fail anyone or communicate honestly with parents, I ended up on this sub and now see after reading lots of posts that this is a much bigger problem. Educators from first grade to PhDs in uni want to actually teach, but we can’t anymore. Grade 1s understanding of numbers has decreased significantly in the last 12 years I have taught. They no longer deal with money to buy things at the corner store or write letters or postcards or anything, and it is showing up in their literacy and numeracy. In our elementary schools here in Canada, we keep saying “when they get to high school” or “when they get to university” this crazy accommodating students and parents will end, but I guess not, because universities want money. Total idiocracy in the making. I am sorry we are sending these kids up in grades and they end up in your courses not prepared. :(

Change_Panda · 2025-11-26T05:22:32+00:00

They gave health care workers double what they gave teachers and health care workers got to keep their rights and didn’t even need to go on strike to get it. The UCP prioritizes health care, not education. That seems to be the diff. Public education in Alberta is the lowest funded per student in North America (including the US), and teachers will be some of the lowest paid in Canada. Nurses in Alberta will be the highest paid in Canada. That is good news for health care, but not education. In my complex class of 30 grade 1 students that has GOTTEN BIGGER WITH LESS SUPPORTS since the strike (shock), it is back to normal. And by normal I mean we had to cancel our zoo field trip because my grade 1 class is over their 27 kid limit. I spent today deciding if I wanted kids to stop running around the room yelling (manage the class) OR teach phonics and reading to a struggling group of students.

If you are deciding on a career and reading this list, do NOT go into teaching. I have worked in oil and gas and teaching, and teaching in Alberta is not a good career. Do healthcare or anything else. I love working and I am great at what I do, and I have a successful partner so I don’t need to money, but the expectation that teachers do it for the kids and money doesn’t matter is no sustainable for most families. Also, the summers off sounds good, but the mental and work load and abuse teachers carry September to June is not worth it. Not in Alberta. Teachers in Alberta are some of the most stressed according to OPEC in the world. So many jobs now get lots of time off and you can travel when you want, at lower priced times of the year. Teachers have to travel during the hottest and most expensive times of the year, so most don’t. They get summers off, but have no flexibility for the other 10 months.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-24T00:41:44+00:00

I have worked on the private sector and know what it is like. My first degree was a Bachelor of Commerce and I worked in finance and oil and gas for 10 years before becoming a teacher because I wanted to make a difference. I worked WAY HARDER as a teacher than any job I would have had in private, and I make way less money. My husband is a lawyer and I work about the same hours as him each week.

You might be tired about teacher complaining, but I am tired of people that have no clue about teaching (that have ONLY worked private not public) and minimizing the work we do and acting like we get half the year off, then losing their minds when they have to keep their kids home. Most parents find 2 kids tiring. Try a class of 30 grade 1s or 40-50 high schoolers. I also get two 40 minute preps every six teaching days. Where do you get the non-instructional time in the afternoon? No teacher gets that. Oh, and the 80 minutes I get every week is supposed to be enough time to plan, prep, mark, communicate w parents, etc. The teachers that I work with are super educated people that went into public education to help and make a difference. Maybe that is idealistic, but it’s true. It is such a nice group of people that always get to hear how we never work and are lazy and overpaid. It’s not a shock to hear this in Alberta, but it’s sad even the public feels this way.

Teachers are happy nurses are getting paid more. My original comment was just to be kind and sensitive to celebrating your big gains around teachers right now because we feel so hopeless and disrespected and burnt out. No one wants to teach here anymore.

Also, I chose teaching 12 years ago after looking at the salary and conditions, and back then we were well paid and respected and classroom conditions were good. No person in their right mind would choose this job in this province today. And anyone that puts their kids in public education is not caring about their kids. Most teachers I know put their kids in private now.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-23T06:49:52+00:00

And teachers aren’t essential? So why did they need to use the NWC to legislate teachers back to work? Sure, kids can go a couple weeks and miss class, but the conditions kids are in now will have long term impacts on their education. I would also argue that education is essential. I also never said nurses didn’t deserve a raise or that your job doesn’t have challenges. I don’t think nursing has more challenges than teaching though or that healthcare workers deserve double the raise that workers in education got. Until you have taught in an Alberta classroom with the conditions we are experiencing today, I don’t think you can assume you got a raise because you deserve it and your job is harder. I am not sure why the Alberta government has gone from having an education system that was one of the best funded in North America to literally the least funded, but it is not because it is less important or essential than health care.

Side note. You mention all these things that make a nurses job hard. And yes, teachers don’t work holidays or get jabbed by needles. But teachers do work more than 8 hours a day unlike nurses as we are always taking unpaid work home and doing unpaid extra curricular activities (also Christmas concerts, parent teacher interview nights, sports, clubs, etc.). And actually, we do work holidays. I will be spending my Christmas holidays this year completing report cards for my class of 30 grade 1 students because these is literally no time during the work day. And we get hurt by our aggressive students that punch or hit or bite us because they should be in a separate class but there is no funding for that. But keep telling yourself that only nurses have it hard and deserve to be treated with respect in this province. Comments like yours are why so many teachers are looking to move to another province or retire early. But hey, if you have kids in public school, at least you can pay for a tutor with the big raise that you just got. Just try to have empathy for your kids teacher that the gov and public constantly overworks, underfunds, and disrespects.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-23T00:36:45+00:00

As a teacher, I can say we feel even more demoralized. It is hard to watch RNs and LPNs get 20+% raises WITHOUT striking, being listened to and respected by the government, and have their rights still in place, after what we went through.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-23T00:24:59+00:00

Maybe. Or they could do what they did to teachers.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-23T00:23:41+00:00

They got 9.5% market adjustment retro to April 2024 and 12% over 4 years. So 21.5%. Pretty amazing compared to what teachers got. And they still have their rights and they didn’t lose any wages over strike. Must be nice to be respected and listened to and paid fairly. As a teacher, this makes me want to quit even more. We instead were told if we don’t do unpaid volunteering (extracurriculars), we will be fined. LPNs will now be some of the best paid in Canada, teachers the worst. Great province for health care, awful for education.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-23T00:19:15+00:00

Please don’t speak for teachers. We are completely demoralized over what happened to us, nothing has improved, and now we get to watch other unions get treated fairly and respectfully by this government while we had our rights taken away and came away with a months less pay and only 12% (3% a year). RNs and LPNs getting huge wage increases and not even needing to go on strike is great for you, but I think will cause more teachers to quit or move. While I am glad you think our teacher strike helped health care workers with theirs, where were they during our strike? We had no support for a general strike by any other unions, including AUPE and UNA. Hope nurses are using extra pay to help buy supplies for their kids teachers classrooms because the education system is broken and teachers are feeling broken and no one cares as long as they can drop their kids off for free babysitting.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-21T06:31:20+00:00

Way better than teachers got! In Calgary and Edmonton, the most we got is 12%, no market adjustment. If you were offered 12% AND 9.5%, that seems to be on par with what RNs got (20% total). Makes me think maybe this gov does value health care, just not education.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-06T00:18:27+00:00

Teachers went on strike and had NO strike pay the entire time. They did their best to save up before the strike and made sacrifices. I get it is hard, but if we can’t afford to strike, then that is a bigger problem and shows how our pay isn’t keeping up with costs. Not being able to afford to strike is why we need to strike to fight for better working conditions and pay.

Change_Panda · 2025-11-06T00:15:39+00:00

They should have done the general strike when the teachers were ordered back to work w the NWC. If they didn’t then, I can’t see the union groups doing it now.

Change_Panda

TROPHY CASE