Day 47 (of 2025/26) Some thoughts and 3 news stories this week that make me hope/worry about school change…
Highlight: At least two schools in our district are taking time today to acknowledge Indigenous Veterans Day – more in the news items at the bottom:
My over-thinking wonder of the week:
Do schools really want to change… we know they don’t… nobody wants to ‘own’ the redesign of the formula —> I blame coke trying out new coke for that <— workshopping this as I expand on education entering its Blockbuster/Netflix era
How to build capacity to design shift – to own change – to give/grant credit for an opening to ‘graduate’ without checking all the boxes! To do different(dated)
My story/share:
My local colleagues weren’t happy a couple meetings ago when I said that I hope we are all still employed when retirement rolls around… I worry/hope that school as we know it has a 5-10 year lifespan… AI collaboration is powerful as it highlights how important relational learning is…and if our ‘response’ is to ban things like personal screens (the single greatest equalizer for students) then we are just further alienating the environment of school from the environment of… everything else… and change is hard, but unlike Coca Cola in the late 80s, we will get the new recipe right(er)
How do we reduce/remove the constraints of our system… the tracking, the budget, the procedures – microdosing possible solutions <— want that on a T-shirt! Ministry of the future <— I got some candidates I’d vote for
Uncomfortable hope about the future! <— my current mindset
Onto some news items from this week:
- Saskatchewan and banning names: https://apple.news/ApPc0WnooRhWuUZpoE_-GvQ Parent approval for name/gender identity approval… sigh. At least this means educators can’t use shortened names or nicknames to identify kids – if they can’t give themselves a name, nobody else ought to as well… only the parents – and yes, I would be the parent calling 3x a day to change the name my kids go by… Supreme Court knows the future reflections are gonna go: really?? If they go the wrong way… let kids explore who they are in a safe, inclusionary space … if the parents “don’t know” there are reasons…
- Oooh Iceland is making me want to check things out with their declaration of doing something I’ve been suggestions – leaning into the future WITH AI… “Collaborate on complex problems “ – welcome to education, Claude.ai https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-and-iceland-announce-one-of-the-world-s-first-national-ai-education-pilots (hmmm, dusting off resume and checking realtor.iceland)
- Indigenous Veterans Day is tomorrow – November 8th… and it is fabulous to see more schools and communities honouring our Indigenous Veterans in ways that are in addition to our annual Remembrance Day ceremonies. On Texada Island, the school community shifted to celebrate the day today (Friday) instead of Monday WITH the Legion’s support and leadership! It is fabulous to see and share events like this to show that traditions can evolve and look different! Also still strange that some provinces don’t take the day off for Remembrance Day… but as a resident there shared; for them there was great meaning in taking part of the time in the school community to honour our veterans. Different isn’t always bad… and one day we might even acknowledge November 8th as a day of reflection more broadly than it is currently…
Technolandy 
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