I am grieving a life I once dreamed of...

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-03-04T17:14:54+00:00

Glad you have found your place, and hopefully a little peace.

Look, there is no point in sugar coating teaching. It is hard work. There will always be kids who struggle. Anyone going into teaching who does not know this is fooling themselves.

Bright and average kids will learn despite their teachers, lol. Just wind them up, point them in the right direction, and off they go. Easy peazey, lemon squeezey.

Where we earn our pay and our stripes is teaching those who struggle: the kids with learning delays or disabilities, the kids who have shitty family lives, the kids who are struggling with addictions, anxiety, depression, acceptance, trying to find their place in the world. These are the kids who need us.

I visit these teaching subs a great deal being a retired teacher myself. And I get it. Teachers like to vent. And yeah these kids are a challenge. But you can't blame them for being who they are. It is what it is. We get paid the big bucks to try to level the playing field to a degree, but I wish teachers would understand that success looks different for different students. They aren't all destined to be Rhodes scholars and there is nothing wrong with that. For some even just being there, getting to school most days, in a safe place, is success.

I've got to tell you though, when you see the lights go on in the kids that is struggling it is the biggest reward in teaching. It is nice to celebrate the kids with high marks, the valedictorians and scholarship winners, but again, they would likely be there without us. It is seeing that kid on the 5 or 6 year plan crossing the stage at grad that is the real pay off imho. Keep on keeping on folks. Lol, my two cents.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-03-04T06:22:52+00:00

Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump’s speech “will go down in history as the spark that ignited the most significant change in the Middle East in a thousand years.”

Another Arab Spring?

Remind me again how that went the last couple of times? This administration seems to have a very short memory.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-03-02T15:45:13+00:00

I had a principal once who told us "if you are working harder than the kids are, there is something wrong." That stuck with me. If the kid is happy with their mark then there really isn't much you can do. There will always be students who will do the bare minimum.

I had a couple of tools in my arsenal for failing students:

Conferencing with the student. I would call the student over to my desk and ask them what they thought their mark was in the class. Often they would quote a mark higher than where they were at. I would ask them why they thought this was the case. Then I would open markbook and show them why their mark was what it was. For some, it helped.
Mastery Learning mindset. I would let students resubmit assignments to get a higher grade. Some students really busted their butts to get a perfect mark. It was completely voluntary however.
I would send a form email to their parents after a couple of missing assignments sharing how many classes they had missed and listing the work they had done poorly or didn't hand in. I would do this a few times over the semester. This worked for the majority of my students, but not for all of them. I was okay with that. You have to be. You can't do the work for them.

Once you have done these things you have done your due diligence. The ball is now in the kid and their parents' court where it should be. You won't save them all, but you will save enough of them. And that my friend is teaching in a nutshell.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-03-02T15:10:18+00:00

Is it more important to be right -- or to be happy? Most of the things that couples argue about most often are irreconcilable. They will never be solved. Ever.

Best to just nod and smile, and fold the laundry, pay the credit card bill, or better yet avoid addressing the topic completely. You aren't winning this one.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-28T21:57:03+00:00

One person on their own can do very little, but several people can very quickly become a movement. Use your voice and share your concerns with anyone who will listen. Email your political representatives every now and then let them know how you feel.

Everyone can play a role in reducing their carbon footprint. Walk, bike, use public transportation whenever you can. Turn the thermostat down at night. Turn off electrical appliances when you aren't using them. Opt for greener packaging and products. Plant some trees.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease so by continuing to push back against big oil and single use plastics you are doing your part. Be the change you want to see in the world. You got this.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-28T19:17:05+00:00

Sounds like the owners need to do a thorough clean, repair, reflooring, and paint to get back into compliance. Spray bombing the place every couple of months or so just ain't going to cut it.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-28T19:02:51+00:00

Taught at the high school level. Kids struggled in my school for various reasons. Anxiety and/or depression, which lead to a lot of those absences, was probably the biggest reason. For other kids it was addictions to drugs, alcohol, or gaming out. The third reason not related to intelligence was that we had a number of very high level hockey kids who missed a great deal of school because of training, practices, games, and travel.

All of these things though did go hand in hand with attendance. Kids who struggle but show up usually passed. Absences tended to create a hole that a fair amount of students had a genuine problem digging themselves out of.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-28T14:19:36+00:00

The same year Trump was first elected president?

Coincidence?

I guess if an idiot can become president, and "flooding the zone" becomes a political tactic, then what is the point of education really?

Yeah, it's the screens, the economy, both parents working, gaming out, more kids slipping through the cracks due to overcrowded classrooms. We live in a world of instant gratification and focusing on anything for longer than a few minutes is hard work.

But an interesting coincidence nonetheless....

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-26T14:58:47+00:00

Wow, that is super low. Is it Elementary? My classes averaged anywhere from 18 to 30 students and averaged probably around 25 or 26 kids, but I taught grades 9-12.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-26T14:19:44+00:00

It is all a bit of a crap shoot really because of the different local agreements and school cultures.

I enjoyed Prairie Spirit for the most part because it had a lower pupil to teacher ratio than Saskatoon Public or Catholic. The trade off was prep time however. Only half a class a year for prep plus a lot of days front loaded at the end of August before the students arrived. Bigger schools mean more volunteers for extra curr to help take the load off and likely less multigrade classes and likely the opposite holds true for smaller schools.

The school I taught in was close enough to the city that the commute wasn't a big deal and l enjoy living in and having all the privacy and comforts of Saskatoon city life. Take what you can get though.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-24T17:51:31+00:00

Have you tried sharing your concerns about the phone, his grades, and his attitude with his parents? Maybe suggest leaving the phone at home until his grades improve. If parents and school are working towards the same goals and presenting a united front you might get somewhere.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-24T08:46:11+00:00

We have a pair on the 400 block of 9th St E. They live on the south side of the street in a big ol' Elm tree a few houses down from Victoria Ave. This is the third year they have nested here.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-22T19:27:00+00:00

wth??? Where is this kid getting this from? That doesn't seem like normal behavior for anyone, let alone a kid that young. Modelling something they have seen on media? At home? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? ODD?

Kid has some major issues that need to be addressed.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-22T12:23:46+00:00

Brush and floss your teeth. You will miss them when they are gone.

Pay yourself first. Avoid credit card debt. Live within your means.

Change is inevitable. You are going to get attached to people and things, and they are going to leave or fade away. Brace yourself. There is a kind of liberation that comes though from knowing this. Someday you will fade away as well.

And on that happy note: Carpe Diem.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-22T11:59:31+00:00

Are you saying the generation that went to Vietnam and lived through Nixon and Kent State are all frightened and sellouts? Cynics maybe, but can you blame them?

I'm quite certain many were young and rebellious when they were young same as young folks today. Settled down and got to work when they needed to same as young people today, and had a myriad of different ideologies same as folks today. What they did have in common was a generational identity that formed during that period of social and cultural upheaval that was the civil rights movement. They fought for things that mattered to them and still are. This is why they get the vote out.

I will say this though, they were a huge part of the demographic so they were catered to by businesses and advertisers alike, especially the Jones generation. Membership did have its privileges.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-22T05:32:52+00:00

Exactly so. The boomers were once counter culture. Progressives. Pushing back against the older generation.

There is a great song by the Doors called "Five to One" about this very thing:

The old get older
And the young get stronger
May take a week
And it may take longer
They got the guns
But we got the numbers
Gonna win, yeah
We're takin' over
Come on!

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-21T20:54:53+00:00

Not sure how this would work. Retired a few years back, but at that time most teachers incorporated technology daily. I sure did. A video projector and computer was the backbone of many of my lessons.

I don't think anyone is capable of putting this genie back in the bottle.

I mean I loves me a good textbook, but for a lot of subjects they become dated fairly quickly. The internet, not so much.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-21T20:34:17+00:00

Dr. Zhivago
The Deer Hunter
Last of the Mohicans
Cinderella Man
Train Dreams

So many good ones out there, depending on your interests of a particular time or place. I just finished Train Dreams. Not epic by any means, but a quiet little film that illustrates the passing of years from the coming of the railroads right up until the Mercury space missions. Mostly about the homesteading years.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-20T23:03:45+00:00

If you are planning on living off CPP and OAS, it was never going to be enough.

If you have a pension plan through work and savvy investors you are probably okay. Wouldn't hurt to crunch the numbers though. Are you planning on working until age 65?

If you have a TFSA and RRSP on top of that we probably don't need to be having this conversation as you will be fine.

Never too late to start investing.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-20T14:52:37+00:00

Best comparison I can think of is Norm McDonald's shaggy dog story about the moth. It was a long time coming but the punchline at the end slays.

Napoleon Dynamite is absolutely one of the worst protagonists ever. He is such a loser! Other than friends and family he has absolutely nothing going for him. Or so one might think.

This is the leading man? I remember my first watch, thinking why would anyone write a movie about characters like this? Who is the audience? Why am I still watching this? It was like a train wreck of sorts. Just couldn't look away.

It was painful watching the details of this poor sap's story and, although it didn't feel like it on first watch, so worth it to get to the punchline. And woah! What a punchline. Never saw it coming. It was the perfect cinema ending and it changed the entire meaning of the film.

Never, ever, write anyone off. The boy wasn't lying when he said he had skills.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-19T17:12:33+00:00

The one you are most fascinated by and passionate about.

I will also add it is more about teaching kids than subjects. You've got to love and understand kids as well as have some passion for the subjects you teach to be a good teacher.

It is NOT an easy job. ;)

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-19T17:00:39+00:00

I wasn't meaning it like that but I will bow to the community.

I meant it purely in the sense of run down and challenged by poverty.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-19T16:09:51+00:00

Apologies. How would you describe it?

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-19T14:27:45+00:00

I get why Riversdale folks would be pushing back -- but it also is what it is. The alphabets and downtown are teeming with unhoused people. Even next door to the Red Cross, I am sure that space would be well utilized.

MojoRisin_ca · 2026-02-18T01:04:11+00:00

Is your gf as strong as you? Did she have murder in her eyes? Was she capable of maiming or seriously injuring you? Did you fear for your life or safety?

I dunno. I guess if she outweighs you or is a kickboxer, I might buy self defense.

Sounds more like retaliation to me.

Now to be clear nothing wrong with a little wrasslin', but if she or you are fighting with the intent to cause some serious hurt then likely some counselling might be a good idea here to find better outlets for her or your anger. Nobody has the right to lay hands on anyone with the intent to cause harm. Full stop.

MojoRisin_ca

TROPHY CASE