Author: bee

Commercials that Make Me Proud to be Canadian

Being Canadian is woven into the fabric of my being. When I leave my country for an adventure abroad, I wear my flag proudly. It is my identity. A BIG part of who I am. When people ask where I am from, I skip not a beat as I say, “Canada”, and then I smile, and then they smile. They know us the world over. They know us for our kindness and our friendliness. They know us because we care, because we are daring and because we are humble.

While we watch the Olympic coverage, and the media is abuzz with patriotic adverts to rally the Canadian Spirit around our athletes in Rio, these two commercials are the ones that make me so very proud to be Canadian.

Tim Hortons’ Commercial: Nothing says “I am Canadian” better than a Cup of Joe from our beloved Tim’s. No matter what your day is like, a drive to Tim’s can turn it around. So, when Tim Hortons came up with #WhyWeBrew, I knew it was an important moment. True to the Canadian Spirit, this commercial believes “Because greatness is not what you have, it’s what you give”. Yes, we are a nation of givers.

 

Air Canada Commercial: This one is an exceptionally clever marketing campaign to galvanize Canadians to travel, especially with the summer coming to a close. However, it is more than just a smart marketing venture, it is a snapshot of what it means to be Canadian; a look at our adventurous side.

“You’ll love your home, but its border will not be able to hold you…Maybe to prove yourself, maybe because you’re needed, maybe to show off your big bad superpower brain. That’ll be you flying the flag, that when you leave, they’ll remember that smart, helpful, confident, tough, CANADIAN.”

 

Long Live the True North Strong and Free.

 

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Getting Ready for a Field Trip: What You Need to Remember

So, a field trip is coming up and you want everything to go without a hitch. Chances are, it won’t be perfect. There will be problems, but how do you manage the problems to minimize damage?

Organization is key to preparedness. Here are some things worth keeping in mind.

Before the Trip:

  • Emergency Information: Compile all emergency information into one convenient notebook or travel agenda. This can be one you use throughout the year for all field trips. Make sure to take this with you on your trip.
  • Allergies: If you are going somewhere where food is being served, or just outside where the elements might cause triggers for students with allergies, it is important that organizers of the event know which children in your group have allergies, and to what. All the staff in your party should also be aware of the students with allergies. Compile a list with detailed information and give each accompanying staff member a copy.
  • Lunches & Snacks: Make sure students and their parents know this is a trip. Encourage them to pack foods that are easier to carry: light sandwiches and light snacks with easily disposable wrappers are great options. Students should also be encouraged to carry bottled water, especially if trips take place during the hot summer months.
  • Media Release Forms and Waivers: Whatever liability documentation needs to be filled out, make sure it is done prior to the trip.Consider giving out information letters to parents with these forms at least a week in advance of the trip. Make the due date for all forms a couple of days before the trip, to allow for those students who might overshoot the due date.
  • Information for Support Staff: Are all your support staff informed of where you are going? Make sure that all pertinent information is available to each member. Consider compiling a package for each staff member with a map of the place, address and phone number of those in charge, student allergy information or other health concerns, schedule for the day, and any other information that would ensure a smooth and safe field trip. Remember, communicating with those who are helping you on the trip is key.
  • First Aid Kit: This should be prepared ahead of time and one person should be put in charge of it. Perhaps the person who has more experience handling emergency situations should be made responsible. Your usual suspects should feature here: Bandaids, gauze, alcohol wipes, Epipens for students who are too young to carry their own.
  • Identifying Attire: Consider having your students wear T-shirts that identify them all as part of a group. Perhaps your school has a uniform. If this is the case, make sure to remind students to dress to the proper uniform code prior to the day of the trip. If there is no uniform, consider having them wear school mascot T-shirts if these are available, or perhaps contact wristbands or chains.
  • The Safety Talk: Make sure you talk to your students about safety on a trip. Ask them questions about what it means to be safe. Alert them to different situations they might face on this trip, and then how they can protect themselves or a buddy from harm. A Buddy System is a good idea. Establish this ahead of time, with room for accommodations on the day of the trip, should attendance change.

On the Day of the Trip:

  • Supervision Groups: Depending on the students who are attending, establish a staff supervisor for each small group of students. If you have parent volunteers, they should receive the same information as all staff. Typically between 5-8 students per adult is a good number.
  • A Quick Check: Do a quick check before you leave. Do you have the First Aid Kit? Do you have the Emergency Information Notebook? Are all your students accounted for? Do each of them have their backpacks and lunches?
  • Buddy System: In addition to having supervisory groups and counting them all the time, and observing them all the time, making more responsible or older students, in charge of younger ones just means one more pair of eyes is looking out for each student. And that is always a good thing.
  • Cell Phones: Your cell phone should be fully charged for the day, and on Ringer Mode. In case of an emergency, you want to be able to pick up that call right away.
  • Count-count-count: Establish the total number of students attending the trip. Count before you board the bus, count while on the bus, count when you get off the bus. Count your students every chance you get. It only takes a second to lose one of your students, so staying on the ball about this one can be crucial.
  • Observe-observe-observe: Just like counting all the time, watching your students at every turn of the trip is important. You can heave a sigh of relief when they are all safely back at school and in their parents’/guardians’ possession. Until then, they are your responsibility.
  • Washroom Supervision: Always have an adult accompany groups of students to the washroom. The adult can remain outside to monitor students.

Now, while there are many more things you could do to ensure a smooth field trip, these ones are a really good place to start. Remember to stay calm in the event of an emergency. Cooler heads always prevail.

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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.

image

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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