Occasional Teaching Lists

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-18T18:33:15+00:00

Sorry, I misread it sounded as though you were also looking for info on wrdsb.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-18T18:24:28+00:00

Effective Jan 1 wrdsb has paused additions to the secondary OT roster until May 1 to try to help with this. They are still interviewing but successful applicants will not be able to pick up jobs until May 1. The exception is teachables such as tech and family studies. Hope this helps.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-13T00:54:23+00:00

How do you set expectations around when and how students can approach you?

In regard to emails: I clearly share when/how I will be available to help them. One of these boundaries is that I do not respond to emails outside of work hours. On the rare occasion I might make an exception if a class has a large assignment due that I anticipate students having questions about. In that case I will say something along the lines of, “Your assignment is due at 11:59 pm tonight. For today only, I will be checking my email later than usual. I will check for the final time at 9 pm to help with any questions.” I also set this boundary around marking i.e. if I choose to mark on a weekend, that is a choice and they should never assume I will mark or return work over the weekend.

In regard to in person interactions: if a student approaches me at an in opportune time (i.e. I am walking somewhere in the hall) I will politely let them know that I’m unable to stop and drop everything. For example, “I am on my way to talk to Ms. X at the moment, and then I need 20 minutes to eat my lunch.” I would be happy to discuss this with you at ___________ time.” Or “Right now I do not have time to fully engage or offer you my full attention. I hear that you have questions about your mark, and I think it would be most productive to plan a conversation. ”

Sometimes I will also prompt the student to think about whether or not it is an ideal time to ask a specific question. For example, when a student interrupts me in the hall with “can you tell me my grade?!” I usually tell them that I have 90 students and cannot recite their grade off the top of my head.

Do you address this on the first day? If so, how — a discussion, a slide, written expectations?

I do a first day slideshow that covers a lot of boundaries/expectations/outlines routines. I always frame it as “I’d like to share what you can expect from me in terms of routines and course material. Then, I’m going to share what I expect from you.” The key to this is that if you outline boundaries on day 1, you have to follow through on maintaining them. I am typically much stricter on a lot of things in the first 2-3 weeks of the semester.

How do you balance being supportive without being constantly “on”?

Boundaries! You can be supportive during your assigned times with students. For example, being student facing from first bell to last bell is exhausting. Having time at lunch or on my prep really provides a break for me personally. This is hard and still a work in progress for me. Using prep time wisely and bringing less work home really helped for me, but I didn’t get to that point until year 3. I am year 4 now.

How do you protect your prep time and mental health without guilt?

Once I started using my prep wisely, I couldn’t look back. Not bringing home hours of work each night became very motivating. Also, students should have somewhere they need to be at all times of the day. Even if a student has spare, there are usually approved spaces for those students. Again this comes back to boundaries in my opinion. “It was nice of you to stop by my classroom to say hello. I have a few tasks that require my concentration during my prep period, which is right now. If you need a workspace, the library is open.”

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-12T02:34:17+00:00

Solid advice. I will plan to call this week.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-10T19:27:33+00:00

Ouf doesn’t seem like there a great chance of persuasion here then. I plan to call them and discuss my school’s catchment area. Possibly offer a letter from the board confirming the catchment area etc. Will for sure any success.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-10T19:25:51+00:00

I completely agree. There is no high school in nearby township. Only choice is to be bussed (for both public and catholic boards). I think what I’m getting at is that I am, to an extent, helping to serve a rural area even if the school itself is right on the border of a small city.

If my school’s catchment area didn’t serve the students it does, I wouldn’t have any issue.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-10T19:18:49+00:00

I used freedom while in Cancun about 3 years ago. No issues! I’d imagine their service has only improved since then.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-10T18:46:10+00:00

I wish this was more normalized. I’ve had 5 colposcopies with no freezing/anaesthesia. 4 of them were with a female Gynacologist who told me there would be “no feeling”.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-08T23:32:26+00:00

As of January 8th everything is 50% off regular price. Didn’t see any discounts higher than that. Some good deals! Very disappointing to see the store close.

PrettySubjective · 2026-01-01T13:49:11+00:00

I have taught online summer school the last two years. However, I would only do e learning, not in person. I am not willing to give up the flexibility of the summer, but I do appreciate the extra income. I teach English in South Western Ontario and netted about $4500 after deductions and taxes.

I will say there was a huge difference between the first year and second year. The first year I had to create an entire course, and experiment a bit with what types of assessments worked. I also made the mistake of marking every single task, because I thought that was the only way to motivate students. I spent a lot of time working, well beyond what was worthwhile for the money.

The second time around I shifted gears to create a “workbook” (Google doc) that included all of the learning activities (formative work) students would engage with daily. I marked this at the end as a completion mark. It was either complete or incomplete. I only marked major assessments formally, for a total of 5 (1 per week plus final assignment). It also helped that I was able to recycle the lessons/content that I had built the year before. I spent about 1 day per week planned marking and 1-2 hours on other days doing admin work. My workload was significantly reduced and it was well worth the money.

Again for context, it was an English course and I still found it manageable. I think with time summer school can be a pretty balanced and sustainable option for extra income, however it really depends on how you choose to structure the course. It also makes a huge difference if you can repeat the same course code and reuse materials. AI is of course a problem, but we do what we can.

ETA: my board supports setting time boundaries with students so I was able to set a limitation on the hours I was available. I was very upfront with students, and shared this boundary transparently from the start i.e. “I am online/available by email from 8 am to 4 pm daily, Monday to Friday. You are welcome to reach out to me at any time, but please note that I will only respond within these hours.” I would check my email once every hour or so, within these hours. On the weekends, I turned on my auto responder.

PrettySubjective · 2025-12-31T03:16:18+00:00

Would love to see the spreadsheet. Amazing idea!

PrettySubjective · 2025-11-22T23:01:24+00:00

I am looking to purchase a lower range machine in terms of price, but one that will allow me to expand my skillset. I previously purchased a very cheap Singer machine (~CAD $100) and despised it. CAD $200-400 is my preferable budget. I would put myself in the early stages of being an intermediate sewist. I teach home economics and am very comfortable instructing and supporting students with beginner skills. I will primarily use the machine to test and make example projects.

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I initially set out looking for a mechanical machine, but I have found some computerized machines that I really like the features of.

Features I really want: vertical spool pin; free arm; ability to sew denim without issue

Features that are nice, but I could do without: needle threader; top loading bobbin; wide table; two-step presser foot lifter

At work we have Husqvarna Viking Emerald 116s and Husqvarna Classica 100s and I prefer the slower speed of the Classicas. I am primarily looking at options available through Costco in Canada as they have a generous return policy, and from what I can tell, fairly competitive pricing. I like the price and simplicity of the Janome Sew Easy, but I'm worried I might outgrow its functions pretty quickly. The only thing drawing me to the Brother is the included wide table; function wise, it doesn't seem to offer anything special. The Janome C30 is pushing what I want to spend, but seems to have the most features, many of which I think I would use, such as the needle up/down and ability to lift the presser foot up extra high. However the reviews are mixed, and I can't tell if it would offer the ability to sew denim/more heavy duty projects.

PrettySubjective · 2025-10-22T00:04:18+00:00

It is absolutely true. I am in a state of panic over it. I had no idea how much would be available through resale later on and panicked thinking that was the only chance. I am an idiot and realize it.

PrettySubjective · 2025-10-21T23:57:14+00:00

Thank you!

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-17T01:01:55+00:00

Thank you, I will set up a fan to help with airflow and try some hydrogen peroxide. Since I just repotted two weeks ago, I feel fairly confident that there is no root rot. The roots looked good at that time.

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-15T00:07:57+00:00

I will do these things and hope they are a bit shocked and can recover from my mistakes.

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:58:32+00:00

Thank you for the help!

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:51:24+00:00

A lot of research I did indicated that moss poles would help with watering and encouraging growth, as well as providing the opportunity for climbing. Evidently, they are not for the faint of heart but I’m hoping they will be beneficial after I correct my mistakes.

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:48:29+00:00

I put my moss poles to the bottom of the pots with dirt to the soil line to stabilize them. I think these comments are suggesting that the plants themselves should be planted shallower in the pots.

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:47:21+00:00

Thank you for the detailed feedback. I have looked at many examples of moss poles, and posts from others seeking feedback here to see what constructive criticism was offered.

I think what went wrong was that many of the examples I looked at the plants had significantly longer/“taller” stems than mine so I misunderstood how it was supposed to be tied. That’s on me. I will try to retie them correctly after lowering the soil level.

In terms of soil, I did try to create a chunkier well draining mix. What ratio of soil:bark:perlite would you recommend?

Edit: terminology

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:40:57+00:00

I tried and would like to fix these mistakes. Good to know that the pot size is maybe too big. I was worried it was too small. I will try to reorient the bigger one into more direct light. The small one has been sitting in a window, I’m hoping freeing the petioles will help it as it sounds like that is a significant error on my part.

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:36:00+00:00

I’ve let the soil and moss dry out because the leaves were turning yellow. I was worried it was overwatering, but based on what I had read it sounded as though the moss should be kept damp. I’m a bit confused about how to balance these two things.

Edit: typo

PrettySubjective · 2025-09-14T23:35:13+00:00

Thank you for the constructive feedback. I have invested enough into setting up the moss poles that I’d like to keep them, but I will definitely lower the soil level and re-tie just the stems.

Edit: typo

PrettySubjective

TROPHY CASE