Month: August 2016

An Open Letter to the Canadian Women’s Soccer Team in Rio, Brazil.

Dear Canadian Women’s Soccer Team,

Today we watched with an ache in our hearts as we were defeated by Germany. It felt like 4 years ago at the London Olympics, when we came so very close, only to have the glory STOLEN from us. That was a devastating loss when the win SHOULD have been ours. It was a hard pill to swallow then, and remains a bitter memory even 4 years later. Still, you came back from that loss, and you were victorious for the most well-deserved Bronze ever.

We were hoping we could take back what we lost then, but that was not to be this time. And no, we are not disappointed. We are proud. Because, like then, today, you fought. You fought with your hearts, and you fought with your dignity intact. And you were brave. Oh so brave.

Captain Sinclair, as the captain of our team, you have always upheld the integrity of your players and the integrity of your country as a whole. You have battled on with courage, with determination and with compassion, even when battling with all those three was a superhuman feat. You have been the rock that your team leaned on when their sinew fell apart. You have been the boat that buoyed them to the shore. You have remained a model captain. A true star. The stuff of champions.

Coach John Herdman, you held our women together and galvanized them to come back for a Bronze that was their consolation prize 4 years ago. You brought them back this year for another fight on the world stage. We know they are in good hands with you.

Players on the team, we watched today as a nation, as your tears fell after you fought so hard. We cried with you, our tears mixing in with yours. But, we remain unwavering in our belief that you are a GREAT team. Not only in your talent and perseverance, but in your heart, where the real star lies.

And today, as the minutes collapsed into seconds and we as a nation watched hopes for that Gold Medal slip out of our hands, we remembered one thing, we remembered that, “With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free!”. So, with your ENTIRE country backing you, with the weight of our collective hopes pinned onto your very capable shoulders, we bid you the best as you take on the game for the Bronze Medal. And whether you come out with a back-to-back podium finish, or not, know this much, WE ARE PROUD OF YOU, because no matter how many times you get beaten down, you ALWAYS find a way to rise up and fight again. And in the words of Shane Koyczan, we know you have “what it takes”.

All the best, ladies. Your country stands behind you.

 

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Verse 2 of #WhatItTakes Olympic Manifesto by Shane Koyczan and Sport Chek

Verse 2 of the Olympic Manifesto by Shane Koyczan dropped on Sunday, August 14th. Here is the video, and below it, the transcription.

You have to ask yourself, is your prime ahead of you? Or behind you?

Will your worst days remind you that your best are still to come?

Is the drum in your chest loud enough to keep your challengers up at night?

Do you have what it takes when the fight goes into extra rounds?

Will the surplus of pounds you lifted be enough to prepare you for the more that is required when what comes next finally arrives?

 Are you committed to the grace it takes to turn your falls into dives to cut through the surface of the water?

Will you have what it takes when there’s no spotter to save you, and no net to catch you?

When your mind asks for more, will your body match you?

– Shane Koyczan

I realize too that I missed the Opening of this Manifesto (this would go before my post on August 13th, 2016), so here is the video for that, and the transcription below it.

We hope every seat is full

We hope you hear them cheer for everyone but you

We hope defeat is in your cards

We hope your hope splinters into shards

that you must handpick from the bleeding wound of your defeat

We hope that every athlete you meet

is better, more determined than you

But you need to be tested the same way wrong needs right

The same way ROAR needs FIGHT

You must fight to be here

You must pay with sacrifice

You must disregard the price of admission

If you want in, it’ll cost you. It’ill cost you broken bones and blood

We hope for a flashflood of fear and uncertainty

We wish this misery upon you

because it gives birth to brilliance

There will be a moment in which everything you want becomes a singular goal

A moment of debt when every heartbeat you own can’t pay for every breath you stole

You must pay with the whole of you

Because this is the price and these are the stakes

you must pay for all the hurts and all the aches

you must open your heart like a vault and pay for your pain

because THIS is what it takes.

-Shane Koyczan

With Verse 3 dropping on Thursday, the 18th, and Verse 4 (or the closing) on Sunday, the 21st, I shall be here, to post videos and the transcriptions. Monday, the 22nd, will feature the entire poem. All the best, Team Canada. We stand behind you.

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Hitchcock’s Psycho: A Masterpiece

Like I have said in an earlier post, I am a Hitchcock fan. I think he is a genius, but this movie made me think again about the magnitude of his genius. Truly, this man was light years ahead of his time with the way he put together the masterpiece of a psychological thriller, Psycho.

This movie opens with a couple in a hotel. Right off the bat there is a woman on full display in her underclothes. Now, this is not a stretch in movies today with completely scantily-clad women and full-on nudity, but for a film in 1960, I can imagine this might have turned quite a few heads. And this is just the start. Hitchcock pushes boundaries throughout this movie.

Said woman, Marion Crane is a secretary for a real estate company. That afternoon, after a clandestine meeting with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, and when she returns to the office, a client drops off a large amount of money in cash. Marion seems cool enough about this huge sum of money when her boss tells her to deposit it into the bank right away because he feels nervous about having it around the office. Our lead lady, instead of going to the bank, decides she is going to steal the money to have a future with her indebted boyfriend. So begins a chain of events expertly captured by Hitchcock’s trained eye. The movie is titled Psycho, and this theme of the mind plays in right from the start with Marion role-playing scenarios replete with conversations spoken out by different players. Suspense is threaded into the very fabric of this movie in layers that keep you rooted to your seat (I didn’t move positions even once during the almost 2 hours!). Marion manages a treacherous journey to almost being with her boyfriend. However, a rainy night brings her to the Bates’ Motel. Here she spends a night, and that is where the psychosis kicks in. The owner of the hotel, Mr. Norman Bates, is not all he seems. And Marion might just be in a lot of danger.

Hitchcock marches right into the mind of a deranged killer. Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder) is the premise of this movie, and while research around this area was being compiled, and various print and media were tackling this subject at the time, Hitchcock (in  my mind) does the best work of portraying and analyzing the condition. Mr. Norman Bates has this condition. How does it play out?

Hitchcock’s angles, as always, are a cinematic technique to be studied, repeated and revered. He has the talent to create fear and anxiety and despair and utter suspense with the way he films his scenes. You get an overview shot of Mr. Norman Bates removing his mother from her room and carrying her downstairs to the cellar. Not too close, but just close enough to get you thinking about what this means and what will happen next. When Lila Crane goes looking for her sister, Marion, in the dark cellar, the shadows and the eye’s view with which she approaches the person she sees leave you immobile with fear. How does a director manage to achieve such a reaction in his viewers? Psychological thrillers these days don’t make you think as much! They don’t respect the intellect of their audience to put things together and create fear where those gaps are being filled. Hitchcock does that! He trusts that his audience is smart. He gives you just enough to create in your own imagination the diabolic scene that is unfolding in front of you, before it does! And then he adds a twist. Just when you thought you knew…

The motif of birds, these ones stuffed, is a recurring one in this movie, and sets the stage for Hitchcock’s later movie, The Birds (1963). Perhaps this was a horror theme he wanted to explore in more detail.

The actors are perfectly suited for their roles. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates is the lanky and scared son who smiles inappropriately after something morbid is said. Janet Leigh as Marion Crane carries her heart and fear with sass and cleverness. She makes mistakes, but she is aware of them. Vera Miles as Lila Crane is picked for her likeness to Marion as a sister, but with just a bit more grit to make her probe the mystery and uncover the truth.

If you have a 2-hour window and are looking for a REAL psychological thriller, this would be it. Not one of those movies that delights in blood and gore to make you sick to your stomach. Not one of those that constantly has mangled figures hiding in the dark awaiting a “dumb” character’s entrance. No. This one is clever, and gives you as the viewer the satisfaction of putting the events together, before they are fully revealed, with your own cleverness.

So what say you, will you watch Psycho?

 

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Meghan Trainor: My Workout Playlist

For a lot of us, working out is not the easiest of tasks. Let’s face it. As young adults, we have HECTIC lives. Taking some time for yourself and your body, is not always front and centre of mind. That is why, it is more important to make exercise a priority. For me, working out is not just about the results, it is about the process. The journey I take to get there. I have been pseudo-athletic for most of my life: high school soccer, field hockey, track, cross country. However, keeping with a routine regiment is a task that is at best, quite daunting. I mean, I am a teacher. There are lesson plans, and plans for lesson plans that need to be done. And then there is just life in between.

I find my salvation really in a good motivating workout playlist. And this week, Meghan Trainor did that for me. I LOVE this woman. Her songs are sassy and full of a variety of rhythms, and her voice? Her voice is just boom. Magic. So, when I tapped her into my workout playlist, my motivation went through the roof. I am now revving my uphill treadmill and pumping weights listening to Mr. Almost, and Woman Up and Credit. Trainor does a fantastic job of marrying clever lyrics with really well-thought-out music. There are beats to keep your body bouncing and your mind working, that not a lot of artists can lay claim to. Workouts are simply fun now. The process is about me feeling good about myself and my new personal bests. I am not watching the clock as I labour on the treadmill, or do 60 reps of 10lbs. No. Now I am dancing to Trainor’s sass as I ENJOY giving my body what it needs to feel energized and ready for more.

So, Meghan Trainor, you do more than drop a good track. Thank you.

 

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Shane Koyczan and Sport Chek: A Powerhouse Team for the Canadian Spirit

So, I was almost out the door to enjoy a Friday evening last night when this came on the telly. I had to stay until its 60 seconds was up. I was riveted. Go ahead, see why.

This is the transcribed version for Verse 1 of the Olympic Manifesto created by Sport Chek with Shane Koyczan, a renowned Canadian spoken-word poet, at their helm:

What will you do when your lungs burn and your body shakes?

When the disaster in your muscles go from tremors to earthquakes?

How will you hold on when every rung you reach for shatters in your grasp and there are more ways to fall than there are to climb?

How will you keep going when the hands on the clock refuse to applaud you until your best time is a broken record that skips over your next heartbeat?

How will you move forward when your feet feel like anchors you must drag across the finish line?

How will you sharpen into an ! the curled up ? of your spine?

What will it take to keep you from doubting yourself THIS time?

 – Shane Koyczan

First let me digress to just say that Shane Koyczan is a genius when it comes to Poetry. I have heard some of his work, mostly to do with his anti-bullying campaign and the To This Day Project, but this man truly has a way with words. They bend at his bidding. Here is a blow-you-away video from Shane Koyczan and the To This Day Project

The images, the music, and Koyczan’s poetry in this video come together for a devastatingly moving emphasis. The result leaves you speechless.

Returning to Verse 1 of the Manifesto though. There are a few more verses like this to land in the next week (fear not, all have Koyczan pounding out his incredible poetry), according to online newsfeeds, on August 14th, 18th and the 21st. Koyczan’s words are short but pack a punch that gets you right off that floor where you may lay beaten. His words reach out to drive into action not just Olympians competing for titles they have worked for most of their lives, but his words (as is usually the case with Koyczan) reach out to you and I, people carrying our own crosses on a daily basis. Koyczan drives his hand into your chest and lifts up your heart and you can feel it rise as you start to feel stronger. Such is the power of words to inspire, to galvanize toward something bigger. Such is Koyczan’s gift. For their part, the Sport Chek media team hand pick the best moments of the games and then slap on a crescendo of a soundtrack to perfectly unite with Koyczan’s spoken word. The result is a Carpe Diem moment. A YOLO effect. A fight-until-the-death philosophy that keeps you pushing.

I have the utmost respect for the talent powerhouse that Koyczan is, and then he goes and teams up with a Canadian sports retailer like Sport Check to really make a difference for the Canadian Spirit. That deserves a standing ovation.

So here’s to Koyczan, and here’s to our Canadian athletes competing in Rio, and here is to all the athletes and their families and their fans, and to you and I. In the words of Koyczan, “What will it take to keep you from doubting yourself THIS time?”

 

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The Olympic Games: Galvanizing toward Unity

So, I have been thinking about this since the Olympics began last week. I always seem to be particularly moved by the stories and the struggles of the athletes when they start, and specifically patriotic towards my Canada. I realized the Olympics are a great way to unite the people of a country, and even strangers from other lands through the shared experience of watching an athlete through his/her journey. From watching that person struggle and then achieve their greatest dream, or not. There is a common journey that the viewer and the athlete go through at specific moments of these games, and this is what seeks to unite us as fans of the Olympics.

Having found an art activity online, my teaching staff and I decided we would recreate that unity with art for our students.We used the Olympic symbol of the 5 coloured and interlocked rings to teach our students the value of the unifying power of the games.

We painted students’ hands with one of each of the 5 colours of the rings (black, red, yellow, blue and green), and had them put their hand prints onto blank sheets of paper, as below:

Then, we collected our students hand prints in different colours and cut them out separately. This was done for ease of making out final product. We figured that we could have more control over the potential messes that would be caused, if each child did his/her hand print separately.

Then, the teaching staff got on our hands and knees and painted a large sheet of white paper, as below. Now, this can also be done on a white sheet, or a large white canvas.

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We decided, we, the teaching staff, would also include our hand prints, and since we were an odd number, one of our teachers made a hand print of 5 different colours that was included ahead of “Rio”, below.

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The final product came together when we glued all the coloured hand prints onto the respective coloured rings.

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This activity focused on not just the theme of the Olympic Games but a way to show our students the unity inherent in sharing common experiences. A shared experience like living in the same country, speaking the same language and living similar lifestyles despite, (as is the case in Canada) being a very multicultural fabric of people. Over the past week, our students have learned about the different countries participating in the games, and how to identify their respective flags. A tall feat for a lot of our 3 – 5 age range.

And that is the power of these games. Not just to go forth and be the best you can after you have trained and trained for years, but also to galvanize peoples toward a common experience where they can relate to each other, even if it is for a few weeks every 4th summer.

 

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Judging a Book by its Cover

Whoever said you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover obviously didn’t appreciate the beauty in the cover of a book.

As a book lover, I must confess that each time I am browsing through titles I would like to buy, my eye is always drawn to the prettiest, the most sophisticated or classic-looking, the one with the most character!

Sure, there is infinitely more in the textual material that is found within the book, but why should one not enjoy the prettiness of the cover?

I for one gravitate toward the hardcovers more than the paperbacks. Expense be damned. Book-collecting is an art. And having books on your shelf that you can be proud to look at or touch is something of a dream for a book lover. I dream of hardcovers bound by a trained hand, with gold embossing. I dream of books carefully fashioned in the early 1900s, with thoughtful cover art. I dream of leather-backed books with a texture that is the doorway to the wonder of what lies within. Yes, the stuff of today is modern and sleek and easy to carry around (unless you are lugging around an 800-pager), but am I the only one nostalgic for a more unique copy that avid readers before my time enjoyed?

Purple faux leather with textured embossing and foil-glossed flowers by World Cloud Classics
A simple, yet classic Reader’s Digest Edition
A gorgeous blue faux leather with hints of gold embossing also by World Cloud Classics

 

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Olympic-Themed Summer Art: Olympic Torches!

Now, whether you’re a teacher of students aged 3-8 at a camp this summer, or a mom of a couple of kids looking for something to get them in the Olympic spirit, why not try making an Olympic Torch?

This simple (I promise!) art activity is really fun to do, and your children/students can make as many as they like.They could even use them in an opening ceremony of your own Olympic Games! This was found while browsing the internet and is by no means an original concept.

Teachers, to begin, you might consider providing some context for this art activity by showing your students a short clip of the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron. I found a quick one on YouTube that does the trick quite well: Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron – Rio, 2016

Once students have viewed this video clip, you can have them share their ideas on what they saw, seguing into the Olympic Torch. You might even provide some background information for some of your older and more interested students. The official Olympic Games website provides this information: Olympic Torch Relay

The art activity, as I promised, is quite simple. You need only to cut flame shapes out of tissue paper (light or dark orange, yellow, red), as below:

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Next, pull a couple of each colour and twist into something of a “flower” as below. Use tape to secure the twisted bottom portion:

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Finally, roll a sheet of brown construction paper into a cone, securing with tape. Then, stick the flame into the cone and make sure to use a bit of tape to stick the bottom of the flame to the inside of the cone.

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Et voila! Now gather your torches one and all, and parade around!

 

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Why Inquiry-Based Learning?

Inquiry-Based Learning is a BIG component of student learning. It begins in Kindergarten and then carries through as much as possible, all through a student’s life. The idea is that when a student is able to engage in activities where they themselves can begin thinking about the problems and solutions to the scenarios inherent in those activities, their learning is more effective.

inquiry based learning blog
Source: Google Images

The above model begins with the child asking him/herself or the teacher a question. An investigation is carried out whereby the child creates a product to explore that question. A discussion is held with a peer during imaginative play or with oneself as the child plays alone, to be able to answer that question. The reflective process then follows right away where the child begins to look at his/her design and refine it if necessary for added understanding.

As part of our classes this summer, my teaching partners and I make sure to provide our students with ample time to explore different manipulative toys, such as LEGO and other building materials, to help with our students’ inquiry-based learning. Below are some creations made by our students aged 4-8:

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Attack of the Cyborgs!
Simple City Structures
The Fortress of the King
Guarding the Castle

 

 

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Charlie Newton: Hitchcock’s Female pièce de résistance

On a Hitchcock roll here.

His 1943 Shadow of a Doubt was a psychological cocktail that I indulged in this weekend. I have watched  a handful  of movies from the 1940s, and not many of them showcase a particularly strong female. The leading ladies are abuzz with character (quite possibly just hysterics) in most cases, but tend toward the demure and genteel when push comes to shove.

Not so for Teresa Wright’s character of Charlotte “Charlie” Newton. The movie opens with a zoom-in of a window of a room in the neighbourhood of a town. A man is being chased by a pair of men. The scene cuts to a young girl on a bed, philosophizing about life and the sheer lack-lustre-ness of it all. This is  young Charlie who is named after her maternal Uncle, Charles “Charlie” Oakley. Charles Oakley is the man on the run, but from what? He sends a telegram to his sister saying he is coming for a visit. His sister, ever the naive and doting-on-all-she-loves woman, is thrilled to be reconnected with her brother.

Charles arrives and Charlie’s mood is lifted. Only briefly. She soon catches whiff of something sinister cooking within her uncle. As characters thither about in their roles of sister and husband and friend and detective, Charlie is paying the keenest of attention to her uncle and his odd behaviour. There is a murderer of widows on the run in her country. Is he her uncle?

This Film Noir is marked by moments of psychological twisting as Charlie is first painted as a potential love interest of Charles Oakley’s. The subliminal acts of holding her close and slipping a ring (which is a gift) on her finger border on the verge of incest. However, just when you become uncomfortable with the notion of an uncle being interested in his niece and vice-versa, a love interest for Charlie is introduced, and Charlie herself steps up her game.

She goes from doting niece to shrewd sleuth. She battles numerous dangerous situations and comes out alive. She is portrayed as protector of her mother and family, fiercely determined to venture into uncertainty just so she can uncover the truth. She threatens her uncle with death, and is quite adept at handling herself with grace and coy around men interested in her wit and charm and beauty. Charlie Newton is easily one of Hitchcock’s best leading characters. She has spunk, determination, smarts and grace. And all this packed into a classy slim-waisted dress on heels. It is important also to note the symbolism behind Charlie’s name. She is given the nickname of a boy, but she posses all the wherewithal of a respectable woman. She is portrayed as a character with many angles, all quite fascinating. Further, she is named after her uncle, but she is presented as an alternate “good” version of his character. All this, not bad for an early 1940s leading lady. Hitchcock has proven yet again that he was a master at making a movie that comprises varying levels of psychologically-acute layers, while injecting social issues of the times.

Teresa Wright, for her part, juxtaposes quite well her expressions of fear with grit and ability. Her character walks right into traps in the name of respect and obligation, but walks right back out when she is confronted with someone wanting to take advantage of her perceived vulnerability.

This movie utilizes dark and light to balance quite nicely the themes of crime committed by a man whose heart is ashen with his diabolical thoughts, and a young lady on the brink of womanhood who is bursting with life and wisdom and adventure.

Hats off Hitchcock, this one was spectacular.

 

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