Technolandy

Day 81 (of 2025/26) some education connected news stories for the new calendar year! Civility Rules in Quebec; chew more gum in school!; and too many babies are watching @MsRachelforlittles @MsRachelSongs !

1. “Civility” – Well, in Quebec, students must now address teachers as “Mr” and “Ms” under new civility rule… https://apple.news/AY7TITJc5TlyZcJEkVsJ2ZQ – a big difference from the school I’m part of where many call me by my first name (not all – some worked with me in an in-person school and struggle with the change..) admittedly I used to love teasing my students once upon a time by saying my first name was actually Mister, because my parents just knew I’d be an educator… mainly as a way to see if they could take on the not-difficult-job of figuring out my first name… But does forcing formal language actually to authentic respect? And as for the sanctions, ranging from warnings to expulsions… does that include when the accidental mom/dad salutation slips in?

2. Maybe the benefits of gum chewing should have more gum chewers… https://apple.news/AeWVYOABxRKaQ7FKVNJOkHw (my favourite gum chewing memory was supporting a school rule of ‘no gum’ by having kids spit it out until they shared that they got through an entire class chewing gum, which I celebrated – at the time, it was more about the sound than the actual gum chewing (which was more of a game…) That was a couple of decades ago… mindsets have shifted more towards helping support student learning how to chew gum politely more directly…

3. Climate change… nothing to see here folks. Not worth talking about… https://apple.news/ADDpzufTyTISB6I5VeDmL1w move along…

4. Who’s watching YouTube? Ms Rachel is awesome, but even I’m not a fan of the too young watching too much screentime… still a bias towards paper tablets as part of neuro development… but babies are watching a lot of YouTube: https://www.msn.com/en-us/family-and-relationships/parenting/ar-AA1TSNb2