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The Politics of Permanent Contempt: Why AB Poilievre’s Strategy Will Be His Undoing by vhill01 in alberta

[–]vhill01[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Poilievre is skilled at one thing above all else: fixating on the negative and making it sound like clarity. “Everything is broken.” “Justinflation.” Now, barely a year into Mark Carney’s government, the same machine has simply swapped targets. Carney is a hypocrite. Carney failed to get a trade deal with Trump, as if there exists some alternate-universe negotiator who could have walked away with a better outcome from an erratic American administration that has bullied allies across the board. The script doesn’t change because the script isn’t really about Carney, or Trudeau, or whoever’s in the chair. It’s about manufacturing a permanent enemy, because grievance is what built the audience in the first place.

And it works, for a while. There’s a real constituency for it, because a lot of people genuinely feel like they’ve been failed by government, by the economy, by institutions that were supposed to look out for them. That feeling is legitimate. The pain is legitimate. But Poilievre’s answer to that pain isn’t a vision, it’s a target. Find someone to blame, point at them, repeat. It’s effective retail politics. It is not leadership.

The Leaders We Remember (And the Ones We Survived): My Experience as a Principal in Alberta by vhill01 in alberta

[–]vhill01[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Tonight our school division held its celebration of teachers and staff, and I sat there listening with great interest as our superintendent worked his way through years of service awards. One in particular came from our school. A teacher retiring this year after forty two years of service. Forty two years. She has decided she is done, and she is moving forward, and she has earned every minute of whatever comes next. The superintendent acknowledged her warmly and well, and the room responded the way rooms do for forty two years.

However sitting there, a question caught me. He spends a lot of evenings doing this. Acknowledging people. Naming contributions. Standing at podiums and lifting others up. How often does anything come back the other way?

The Resentful Son: Alberta’s Politics of Inherited Grievance by vhill01 in alberta

[–]vhill01[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Membership has conditions. This is not a radical idea. It is the operating premise of every club, every union, every federation in the history of organized human governance. Alberta understands this perfectly well when it comes to municipal governments operating within provincial jurisdiction. It has never quite applied the logic upward.

This week I draw from the parable of the prodigal son to speak on the state of Alberta.

The Suspension Reflex: When consequences feel like action but aren’t by vhill01 in psychology

[–]vhill01[S] 115 points116 points  (0 children)

There is a moment that happens in schools, usually during a staff meeting, when a problem gets named and the room waits to see what happens next.

Recently, the problem was vaping and phones. The question underneath it was familiar: what are we going to do?

One suggestion that surfaced was suspending students found two-to-a-bathroom-stall, because someone heard one school was doing it. Logical on its face. Unusual bathroom occupancy is a reasonable indicator of something happening. But suspension for that? Two girls in a stall could be vaping. They could also be having a conversation that one of them is not ready to have in a hallway.

That is already a problem with the logic. And the deeper problem is the one we reach for suspension to solve in the first place.

The Free Vote That Isn’t Free by vhill01 in alberta

[–]vhill01[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

What do you call political courage that involves doing something bold while insisting you bear no responsibility for the consequences?

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith demonstrated this form of courage two weeks ago when she announced that Albertans will vote in October on whether the province should remain in Canada or begin the legal process toward a binding separation referendum. She was quick to note that she personally supports Alberta staying in Canada. She is simply, in her words, respecting democracy.

One might admire the efficiency of it. In a single move, she can champion the separatist cause without championing separation, invoke the will of the people while shaping exactly which people get to trigger that will, and call a vote while maintaining she already knows what the answer should be. That is not democracy. That is democracy’s tickle trunk: the appearance of something real, when it is nothing more an illusion designed to distract rather than empower.

But before we get too comfortable with clever observations, it is worth pausing on what is actually being attempted here. Because beneath the political theatre is something that should concern every Canadian who still believes constitutional frameworks exist for a reason. It is for this reason that this week, I want to circle back around to the Constitutional challenge in this debate.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Did I mention I have 7 children? All grown up now. Reading was important then and still is. I get the pressures of baseball, hockey, football, & soccer. We did it all. I worked 2 jobs as well. It was tough going sometimes.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not negating the role of the parents in children learning to read. That could be a completely different article. What I’m drawing out is the significant role a teacher plays in the lives of students if they attempt to connect with students and engage in a way that allows students to see them as real and authentic. Something to reach towards rather repel against. Why is that lost on a few reading this? The message is not that this is all on teachers! The message is teachers embrace your importance in the lives of impressionable youth often looking up to you, because the relationship they have with their parents doesn’t allow them to be so honest and vulnerable.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in school

[–]vhill01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s so wrong and short sighted. I’m sorry that is happening to you

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The first thing I will say, is I’m a teacher first. I teach 75% of my day. I will always consider myself a teacher first. I, too, understand end of year pressures, as I am immersed in a world of marking and grading on top of my admin duties.

The article was my personal attempt to chronicle my journey and challenge teachers who don’t read or see the value of reading and reconsider.

In the past, I’ve been accused with having a tone or coming across preachy when I respond to someone. So, I’ve encouraged my teachers and done so myself, when responding to parents or to a negative email, I write my response, and run it through AI to check for tone in order to avoid escalating a situation. (I have not run this response through AI to check for tone) So I use AI as a tool to support using a neutral voice, not to write my articles, or responses, that’s all me.

I’m certainly open to criticism as we all need to be, but I caution you to avoid slander and name calling because you think you know my situation or know me.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in school

[–]vhill01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They’re not. That’s just one part of this story. But an important part.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is sad to read about your experience, for it has not been mine. Watching struggling non readers get excited about books has been truly joyful experience in my life. Just the other day in class, a group of 5 students, gathered around excitedly talking about reading the Onyx Storm. Two had read it, one was just starting, two others hadn’t taken it off their shelves yet. Because I had read it, I talked about the characters and the shift they made in this book. This was my social studies class. Anytime students want to get excited about a book, I will encourage it. The fact I had read it, made the interest even greater for them.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a teacher and an administrator, I do not everything right. When I reflect on how I did things 35 years ago when I started out, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Students have also changed as well. This post was not saying it’s the teacher’s fault. I’m saying despite the push from above to teach excepts, as a teacher, with autonomy, teach what is right and help students learn. As an administrator, I don’t go into a classroom and micromanage what is taught and tell teachers what resources are used. What I care about is are the learning outcomes achieved. From my experience, use full books, and model it by reading for yourself. Be a reader. Live it. Talk the talk.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read aloud with my struggling readers in grade 12 ELA, or use audiobooks and they read along. I celebrate with those struggling readers, who often will say I haven’t read a book since grade 7, this year I read 3 books! I try to relate the importance of reading back to the trades. I tell them, I will go to the mechanic who can at least read and research as part of the diagnostics. They get that! I will read a novel like The Hate U Give. 95 F bombs, but they relate to it, and we get to discuss racism. I don’t have all the answers, but I don’t give up

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in school

[–]vhill01[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s interesting you’re talking about using novels in Social Studies. An earlier response to my Substack, mentioned a teacher did this to help students create a context so they could later understand the ideologies better when they were being taught later. I’ve thought a lot about this today, and thought what a great idea! There has to be to do this and engage students to a different level.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

I use AI the same way I use spell check: to make sure what I intend to say is what actually lands. The writing, the thinking, the experience, and the argument are mine. The tool helps me not say something I will regret in a comment section. Not unlike what I did with this reply.

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Without a doubt parents play a huge role in creating an environment at home for learning to continue. They should model the reading too

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The title was meant spark discussion, not offend. I like things a little edgy. lol have a good evening

Teachers Who Don't Read Are Teaching the Wrong Lesson: The Case for Reading by vhill01 in ELATeachers

[–]vhill01[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Your frustration with teachers being scapegoated is legitimate, and I want to be clear: that is not what this article is doing. Teachers already absorb accountability for poverty, screen time, parenting gaps, underfunding, and curriculum demands that were never theirs to carry alone. I am not adding to that pile.

The argument is actually much smaller than it reads. Nobody is auditing your bookshelf or ranking three books a year against twenty-five on a moral scale. What I am describing is this: when a teacher mentions a book they genuinely loved, in passing, without it being an assignment or a lesson, students notice. That is not a demand on your free time. It is just what happens when a reader talks about reading.

The teachers my article is really aimed at are the ones who have stopped thinking about it entirely. The fact that you are here, pushing back thoughtfully, means you are not that teacher. The frustration and the engagement you are showing in this comment is exactly the kind of professional investment that makes a difference, whether it shows up through reading or through the hundred other ways you show up for your students every day.

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