Technolandy

Day 153 (of 2025/26) 3 education news stories you may have missed… and a #MothersDay poem! sports days; screen time; grade inflation and a bonus on bans not being cure-alls

#MothersDay 

Here’s to the moms.
The birth moms.
The step moms.
The moms who adopt, formally or otherwise.
The mothers-in-law.
The sisters who stepped in.
The best friends and old friends who showed up.
The godmothers, fairy or ceremonial.
The relatives and the unrelated.
The teachers who get accidentally called “Mom” and quietly wear it like a badge of honour.
And yes, the dads too.

Here’s to all of you who do the work traditionally called that of “mom.”

The ones who bandage scraped knees and bruised hearts.
Who answer late-night calls.
Who worry, cheer, guide, advocate, sacrifice, and somehow keep going.
The ones who love without requirement for title, biology, or recognition.

Today is for the people who mother.

The world turns a little steadier because of you.

3 News stories this week:

1. Bring back competitive sports days? https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/richmond-parents-push-back-against-gender-neutral-non-competitive-elementary-track-meets I have worked with many adults for whom memories of those “good old days” events were traumatic experiences. Even had a parent initiative try to bring it back and were likewise dismayed once they saw the effects of a few kids for whom it was the worst day of the year… I love sports competitions when it is a choice and everyone knows there is “one” winner and everyone else loses, otherwise we ought to celebrate the participation of students… the participation-action. Even made a meme about how the inclusive ribbons are the most colourful  PS – I did an ‘x’ post on this and people got quite angry about this one!

1. Sigh. I can’t even complain about the latest trend to curb screen time at school because too often tech isn’t being mindfully used… I continue to advocate for more time when we are creating content, but limited time when consuming… but also know that entertainment and distractions are also helpful in learning. So with articles like this: https://apple.news/AKoCgWwf8R6WmDDkrR7QPsQ or https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/05/07/states-limit-school-screen-time/ it reminds me that when we are pointing use of tech to merely do old things (essays quizzes) in different ways, we are missing some of the emerging (well couple decades now) opportunities for personalization and differentiation to help engage and accelerate learning. If we aren’t doing better, why use the screen? But if we aren’t using it right, the screen & AI combo is going to make what happens in schools feel even more disconnected from reality than it already does…
2. Grade inflation? Or confirming that letter grades are not understood nearly as much as people pretend they are (just check social medias for the wide range of grades to percentages…) or are students excelling because expectations are more clear and less opaque (or focused on how nice the learner is…) https://apple.news/AeR28pt_MReyTrXpQjKmNlw or https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/harvard-grade-inflation-gpa/687074/ prepare your discussion points!

Bonus: https://apple.news/AirlzxC33RAaRoCLsx1GBJQ or https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/05/mobile-phone-ban-schools-us-study this is why I want more education and less banning around the most disruptive tools to impact education: personal screens + AI + social medias. I’m not shocked that banning them has not magically led to more engagement, better overall health (esp anxiety), nor better achievement. Those were concerns over disengaged trends noted well before the first touchscreen became an everyday tool…