Technolandy

Day 96 (of 2025/26) news stories from #literacyweek: getting ready for kindy! Basic wage = u/dystopia; no more suspensions; and best of all:#JusticeForJediPadMaster 

1. Most kindergarten registrations are open – the @vancouversun recently shared some hints for kindergarten readiness https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bc-education-kindergarten-prep-registration-what-to-know – the ‘relax’ message I have always provided is that we want kids who know their name; can use the bathroom by themselves; can eat lunch without help; put on coats and shoes on their own; and then know there are these things we call  letters and numbers and (circling back) can spell their name – by the end of kindergarten… but those are the key skills to practice while getting ready to be in a building with a lot of other people… different sounds… and different rules than are often at home (unless you are working with a Provincial Online Learning School such as where I am…) Biggest reminder is that there is a wide range of physical, emotional, mental, and academic abilities and readiness at just 5 years (or 4, as I was when I started kindy with a December Birthday…)   Welcome to the graduation class of 2039!
2. Dystopia or Utopia – it might be a matter of perspective… but it really makes us need to pause and consider if we, in education, have done the right teaching – and the kids the right learning – for what comes after they cross the graduation stage… education: to what end as we enter the second quartile of the 21st century… https://www.the-independent.com/tech/universal-basic-income-benefits-ai-b2886415.html universal basic income is the pathway to the utopia of Star Trek/The Orville where people work in the field they want because they can, not do a job because they have to… as a educator mentor has pondered: Are we preparing students for their real futures, or for a world that no longer exists? 
3. The future of suspensions? In-school with fewer “stay at home” consequences: https://apple.news/ARoUvYxhkQ_iUlKFp-5RaOQ a little surprised (happily) that the direction looks similar so what I have done for awhile: in school suspension but not in class with all the key work to get done… though I also like the alert that “the move could place extra pressure on teachers by depriving them of decades-old tools to punish poor behaviour. Time at home for me means work is being done to have a different plan ready for when the learner returns. 

Highlight feature: I did a reading of “I Need A New Butt” to wind up #literacyweek because of the great news that the superior court has found in favour of Assistant Principal who was improperly (my opinion) dismissed because of his reading of the funny (and top selling) picture book. Butts and farts are funny. https://pen.org/press-release/justice-for-school-principal-in-mississippi/