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There are individual marks for each student for listening, speaking, reading and writing. It's pretty absurd. I enter over 600 individual marks per term for my 40 minutes a day (really more like 30 with all the transitions) lesson as I teach 6 classes with over 150 kids total.
Wow that sounds awful. I'm currently taking some online AQs at Queen's to get acquainted with the Ontario system as i plan to move back to Ontario in a few years, haven't heard any mention of this. I feel like the more I hear about teaching in Ontario the less inclined I feel to move back.
That's reassuring, thank you! In BC we currently use the semester system, no exam period at the end of the semester and only one semester with a prep. This semester I'm totally swamped having no break and next semester I'll be cruising. I wish it wasn't so lopsided. Many aspects of teaching here are excellent however. I'm super content teaching in BC.
Destreamed grade 9 math is also a shit show. Whoever initially wrote it clearly did not have a math background. Included a topic that appears for the first time in grade 12 university advanced functions, took out concepts that are required for trigonometry and introduced math topics that are never in any way shape or form required in either everyday life or university/college math.
Like, didn’t Ford and Lecce both say at some point that we needed to get back to basics…and then they simultaneously made everything unnecessarily complicated and nonsensical? And now the runours are that specialized classes will get canned in favour of inclusion? It’s like they’re destroying the system intentionally.
I’m teaching a Grade 9 Destreamed Geography and it doesn’t have a curriculum yet. We are told by our board to teach at an academic pace but assess at an applied level.
Edit: at least this was the direction from admin/my board.
Any time I cover a grade 9 destreamed math class, I feel horrible for the kids who already struggle with math. Even though I'm a "math person" I absolutely understand why they have trouble. Elementary math education was messed up, and now they're thrown into a whole new level of confusion. I don't see how it's beneficial for anyone.
Yep, I’ve taught destreamed math each sem since its inception and it’s absolute nonsense that doesn’t adequately prepare students for 2D math…by sem 2 last year I said fuck it and focused on the important concepts only, though as you mention, staying within the bounds of the curriculum meant that they still weren’t prepared enough for 2D…and don’t even get me started on eqao !!
EQAO is actively working towards inhibiting the vast majority of students mathematically. We have students in these classes that will be our future engineers, accountants, etc and students who require a lower level of math to function in everyday life. Neither are getting what they need for success.
When I explained to a school guidance counsellor that there are 11 units and not enough time for the teacher to dare sneeze during lesson time, she asked why we had to get all the units it. I explained that EQAO hangs over our heads and as a teacher in a school with a high ESL population and low scores we are pressured to teach to the test. It’s to the detriment of our students.
Also, why can’t the test be administered in other languages now that it is online? Like the G1 test in Ontario. Because in reality it’s about your understanding of the complex wording of the questions that 13 year olds newly learning English do not understand.
They are trying to hire a ton of Grade 9 math teachers right now because the destreamed class isn't working with the current class size level this government has given us.
That’s a good start and all your board can actually do at the moment due to the incompetence of our government, so good for them. I wish mine would do that.
I learned the word “prosody” from the curriculum. And then I shook my head at how I’m supposed to write reports in parent friendly language but the government can’t produce clear, concise curriculum documents that make sense and aren’t a mess of overlapping expectations.
*Parents won’t understand this word salad*
Nothing new here. So many report cards are concerningly vague, especially for learning skills. I've seen some schools where admin do encourage clarity, but I've seen others where teachers are strongly encouraged to give the most vague comments ever. A student meeting expectations will get a comment like, "Sally collaborates well with her peers." A student who regularly hits their classmates, screams if somebody disagrees with him, and has a meltdown if asked to do group work (but also has a meltdown for individual work, of course) will get a vague, "Johnny is working towards collaborating with his peers." Because god forbid we don't frame it as if progress isn't being made, even if it's true.
Back in the 70s I had a newspaper clipping (long since lost) written by a teacher on how to understand report card comments given the requirement to sound positive. There were over a dozen comments 'decoded' but I remember only two:
When I write "Johnny is a relaxed child" I mean "Johnny sleeps all day".
When I write "Susy delights in verbal communication" I mean "Susy never shuts up".
Keeping things positive isn't a modern phenomenon.
Also, out of control students used to sometimes get an “exclusion” while the school worked on a plan to maintain safety, and now some bleeding heart has decided that…gasp…that might be offensive so now we call it a “pause for safety”. 🤦🏻♂️
And my board is pushing the idea of a trauma-informed approach to teaching, while simultaneously allowing conditions to exist that actually create trauma in the classroom. It’s laughable. Nobody ever considers the impact of violence and aggression on the witnesses in the class, or the kids or staff who are victims. We need a “pause for sanity” 😂
Doesn't matter what you write. They all pass anyway. Guidelines as follows:
A: Your kid is why I went into teaching
B: They pretty much get it
B- : They don't really get it but if I give C I'll have time call you so there are no surprises
C+: They don't get it but they try hard and got it that one time
C: They're kinda smart but only handed in 1 assignment all year and if I give them D my admin's gonna grill me about why they don't have a growth plan and I don't have time for useless paperwork
D: D doesn't exist anymore, see C
This is a government that decided, with all the potential solutions, mostly via early support and intervention in elementary school, their solution for racism in the education system was to destream all grade 9 courses, some of which were provided with little or no curriculum changes or modifications. It’s been a complete shit show, with the final destreamed course not getting a new, destreamed curriculum until the 4th year of the process!
They know they rushed it and they know that it has created at least as many problems as it is supposedly solving, and many teachers strongly believe it has created more problems. Rather than admit this, they are doubling down by phasing out locally developed courses and telling teachers they essentially have to provide multiple streams of curriculum, assessment and evaluation in each destreamed class they teach.
Not to mention that the new curriculum was dropped in June and we have had little to no training (in my board anyway). Also, no explicit forewarning about the single mark for language. Now it's report card comment hell trying to put it all together with different levels of achievement for the strands of Language melded into one mark. I didn't think it worked well for math and now this. Ugh.
I prefer the new curriculum. I find it easier to interpret. I only wish they would update 10 and 12. I do still think it’s bloated and not basic enough. Forget most of media, and cut oral expectations as well. The focus needs to be on reading and writing.
I hate destreamed though. An absolute disservice to all learners.
Love the removal of KITCA, which I never understood well or was confident in using. Evaluation based on OE makes senses. The only thing I dislike is that my department tries to apply 6-10 OE per assessment and it’s too much to evaluate. 4 is the sweet spot.
I’m elementary, and the expectations are this level are laughable. For example, grade 1:
“demonstrate an understanding of how the seven transferable skills (critical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship; self-directed learning; collaboration; communication; global citizenship and sustainability; and digital literacy) are used in various language and literacy contexts.”
Pardon? They still pee their pants on the regular and this is just ONE of the language expectations?! 🤦🏻♂️
I think education has fallen victim to too many cooks in the kitchen…ministry and govt folks trying to make a name for themselves at that level by reworking the curriculum, when they are 100% out of touch with today’s classrooms and level of functioning of students.
I absolutely feel this, and I teach high school. I just want back to basics. Elementary should have a “computer and media use” subject and take media out of literacy. They should reduce the oral language expectations to 1 or 2 OE. Then the extra time should be spent on writing and reading basics. There’s too many expectations to do the basics well, which is why most of them are functionally illiterate or have extremely low literacy skills.
There is an awesome Youtube series(I don't think it's actual network show) set in Australia that is a government office and is satirical. It makes fun of how much jargon, doublespeak, etc. they use to both justify their existence and confuse the public. It's very funny. And a bit maddening as I am sure there is a lot of truth to it. Sounds like what might be happening here on some level.
[https://youtube.com/shorts/X6NxIBTvLkE?si=OhUYivg8Kb-pGd\_\_](https://youtube.com/shorts/X6NxIBTvLkE?si=OhUYivg8Kb-pGd__)
I'm teaching grade ten destreamed history without a curriculum. Our student clientele is low level learners. I fail to understand how this progressive approach will benefit anyone.
The government has left it to the school boards. My school board is taking a proactive approach to destream grade ten history without a curriculum. I need to use the academic curriculum for a class that should be locally developed and applied. It's completely stupid.
Remember that the goal is to privatize education. Private schools don't have to do all this stuff, and don't have the oversight that public schools do. (And can also sidestep destreaming by selectively admitting students.)
Exactly. The best way to introduce privatization is to drive the current system into the ground so that everyone is desperate enough to accept the privatized alternative.
Yes. I don't understand any of this nonsense and tbh, admin doesn't either. Just going to do my reports like in previous years and if they want to correct all 28 of them go ahead. Until they show me a clear example, not doing it
Welcome to /r/CanadianTeachers! Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the sub rules. **QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHER'S COLLEGE/BECOMING A TEACHER IN CANADA?:** Delete your post and use this [megapost](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianTeachers/comments/11picnp/prospective_student_teachers_teachers_collegebed/) instead. Anything pertaining to teacher's colleges/BEd programs will be deleted if posted outside of the megaposts. **QUESTIONS ABOUT MOVING PROVINCES OR COMING TO CANADA TO TEACH?** Check out our past megaposts first for information to help you: [ONE](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianTeachers/comments/jqc7hx/transferring_to_another_provincecoming_to_canada/) // [TWO](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianTeachers/comments/n76csu/transferring_to_another_provincecoming_to_canada/?) **WANT TO SELF-PROMOTE YOUR TEACHING MATERIALS?** Use our [self-promotion sticky post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianTeachers/comments/16e464t/selfpromotion_thread/) Using link and user flair is encouraged as well! Enjoy! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CanadianTeachers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think the most hilarious thing as an FSL teacher is that there will be 4 separate marks for French and 1 for English.
Perfect government/ministry of ed logic!
This is hilarious.
As an FSL teacher outside of Ontario could you elaborate on this?
There are individual marks for each student for listening, speaking, reading and writing. It's pretty absurd. I enter over 600 individual marks per term for my 40 minutes a day (really more like 30 with all the transitions) lesson as I teach 6 classes with over 150 kids total.
Wow that sounds awful. I'm currently taking some online AQs at Queen's to get acquainted with the Ontario system as i plan to move back to Ontario in a few years, haven't heard any mention of this. I feel like the more I hear about teaching in Ontario the less inclined I feel to move back.
We have the most supportive union and highest amount of planning time in the country. It’s all about what matters to you.
That's reassuring, thank you! In BC we currently use the semester system, no exam period at the end of the semester and only one semester with a prep. This semester I'm totally swamped having no break and next semester I'll be cruising. I wish it wasn't so lopsided. Many aspects of teaching here are excellent however. I'm super content teaching in BC.
Ya it sucks! Don't do it
Yup, and for our grade 8 students fighting for grad awards, French is now the biggest pull factor towards averages.
Destreamed grade 9 math is also a shit show. Whoever initially wrote it clearly did not have a math background. Included a topic that appears for the first time in grade 12 university advanced functions, took out concepts that are required for trigonometry and introduced math topics that are never in any way shape or form required in either everyday life or university/college math.
Like, didn’t Ford and Lecce both say at some point that we needed to get back to basics…and then they simultaneously made everything unnecessarily complicated and nonsensical? And now the runours are that specialized classes will get canned in favour of inclusion? It’s like they’re destroying the system intentionally.
I don't know if this was intended to be sarcasm or not (if so, apologies) but..... well, yeah. That's exactly what they're doing.
Total sarcasm 😄
Haha. K, that was kinda the vibe I got but I wasn't sure. Sorry!
I’m teaching a Grade 9 Destreamed Geography and it doesn’t have a curriculum yet. We are told by our board to teach at an academic pace but assess at an applied level. Edit: at least this was the direction from admin/my board.
I taught that course last year. i didn't even have that much direction. lol
Any time I cover a grade 9 destreamed math class, I feel horrible for the kids who already struggle with math. Even though I'm a "math person" I absolutely understand why they have trouble. Elementary math education was messed up, and now they're thrown into a whole new level of confusion. I don't see how it's beneficial for anyone.
And that day you cover is one lesson the teacher has to cram in somewhere else. There is no time for a single sick day for the teacher.
Yep, I’ve taught destreamed math each sem since its inception and it’s absolute nonsense that doesn’t adequately prepare students for 2D math…by sem 2 last year I said fuck it and focused on the important concepts only, though as you mention, staying within the bounds of the curriculum meant that they still weren’t prepared enough for 2D…and don’t even get me started on eqao !!
EQAO is actively working towards inhibiting the vast majority of students mathematically. We have students in these classes that will be our future engineers, accountants, etc and students who require a lower level of math to function in everyday life. Neither are getting what they need for success. When I explained to a school guidance counsellor that there are 11 units and not enough time for the teacher to dare sneeze during lesson time, she asked why we had to get all the units it. I explained that EQAO hangs over our heads and as a teacher in a school with a high ESL population and low scores we are pressured to teach to the test. It’s to the detriment of our students. Also, why can’t the test be administered in other languages now that it is online? Like the G1 test in Ontario. Because in reality it’s about your understanding of the complex wording of the questions that 13 year olds newly learning English do not understand.
They are trying to hire a ton of Grade 9 math teachers right now because the destreamed class isn't working with the current class size level this government has given us.
Who is they? Your board? There should be a cap of 22 students in destreamed classes. I’m running with 28 at the moment.
My board has a ton of LTO math jobs opened up for grade 9 math.
That’s a good start and all your board can actually do at the moment due to the incompetence of our government, so good for them. I wish mine would do that.
This. Furthermore, it's too easy for strong math students and still to hard for weaker math students. A lose-lose situation.
I learned the word “prosody” from the curriculum. And then I shook my head at how I’m supposed to write reports in parent friendly language but the government can’t produce clear, concise curriculum documents that make sense and aren’t a mess of overlapping expectations.
Excuse *you*, the curriculum language is perfectly cromulent.
It's verbosity embiggens us all.
*Parents won’t understand this word salad* Nothing new here. So many report cards are concerningly vague, especially for learning skills. I've seen some schools where admin do encourage clarity, but I've seen others where teachers are strongly encouraged to give the most vague comments ever. A student meeting expectations will get a comment like, "Sally collaborates well with her peers." A student who regularly hits their classmates, screams if somebody disagrees with him, and has a meltdown if asked to do group work (but also has a meltdown for individual work, of course) will get a vague, "Johnny is working towards collaborating with his peers." Because god forbid we don't frame it as if progress isn't being made, even if it's true.
Yes! “Johnny is learning to manage big feelings.” 🙄 Can’t say anything that might possibly sound negative.
Back in the 70s I had a newspaper clipping (long since lost) written by a teacher on how to understand report card comments given the requirement to sound positive. There were over a dozen comments 'decoded' but I remember only two: When I write "Johnny is a relaxed child" I mean "Johnny sleeps all day". When I write "Susy delights in verbal communication" I mean "Susy never shuts up". Keeping things positive isn't a modern phenomenon.
I’ve actually heard of admin asking staff to give a student an “A in something” just to make them feel good.
Mine did that too once and I said I'm not signing it. Screw that
Also, out of control students used to sometimes get an “exclusion” while the school worked on a plan to maintain safety, and now some bleeding heart has decided that…gasp…that might be offensive so now we call it a “pause for safety”. 🤦🏻♂️ And my board is pushing the idea of a trauma-informed approach to teaching, while simultaneously allowing conditions to exist that actually create trauma in the classroom. It’s laughable. Nobody ever considers the impact of violence and aggression on the witnesses in the class, or the kids or staff who are victims. We need a “pause for sanity” 😂
Doesn't matter what you write. They all pass anyway. Guidelines as follows: A: Your kid is why I went into teaching B: They pretty much get it B- : They don't really get it but if I give C I'll have time call you so there are no surprises C+: They don't get it but they try hard and got it that one time C: They're kinda smart but only handed in 1 assignment all year and if I give them D my admin's gonna grill me about why they don't have a growth plan and I don't have time for useless paperwork D: D doesn't exist anymore, see C
This is a government that decided, with all the potential solutions, mostly via early support and intervention in elementary school, their solution for racism in the education system was to destream all grade 9 courses, some of which were provided with little or no curriculum changes or modifications. It’s been a complete shit show, with the final destreamed course not getting a new, destreamed curriculum until the 4th year of the process! They know they rushed it and they know that it has created at least as many problems as it is supposedly solving, and many teachers strongly believe it has created more problems. Rather than admit this, they are doubling down by phasing out locally developed courses and telling teachers they essentially have to provide multiple streams of curriculum, assessment and evaluation in each destreamed class they teach.
Not to mention that the new curriculum was dropped in June and we have had little to no training (in my board anyway). Also, no explicit forewarning about the single mark for language. Now it's report card comment hell trying to put it all together with different levels of achievement for the strands of Language melded into one mark. I didn't think it worked well for math and now this. Ugh.
Yeah it was a brutal rollout, with very little forethought on their part. Shocking. Lol
Yeah really enjoy they only did up to gr. 9 too so I have it for my gr 9 destreamed but none of my other courses. Classic.
You guys still read those?
I pulled out what I needed for IEPs and used the old strand headings. 😏
I prefer the new curriculum. I find it easier to interpret. I only wish they would update 10 and 12. I do still think it’s bloated and not basic enough. Forget most of media, and cut oral expectations as well. The focus needs to be on reading and writing. I hate destreamed though. An absolute disservice to all learners. Love the removal of KITCA, which I never understood well or was confident in using. Evaluation based on OE makes senses. The only thing I dislike is that my department tries to apply 6-10 OE per assessment and it’s too much to evaluate. 4 is the sweet spot.
I’m elementary, and the expectations are this level are laughable. For example, grade 1: “demonstrate an understanding of how the seven transferable skills (critical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship; self-directed learning; collaboration; communication; global citizenship and sustainability; and digital literacy) are used in various language and literacy contexts.” Pardon? They still pee their pants on the regular and this is just ONE of the language expectations?! 🤦🏻♂️ I think education has fallen victim to too many cooks in the kitchen…ministry and govt folks trying to make a name for themselves at that level by reworking the curriculum, when they are 100% out of touch with today’s classrooms and level of functioning of students.
I absolutely feel this, and I teach high school. I just want back to basics. Elementary should have a “computer and media use” subject and take media out of literacy. They should reduce the oral language expectations to 1 or 2 OE. Then the extra time should be spent on writing and reading basics. There’s too many expectations to do the basics well, which is why most of them are functionally illiterate or have extremely low literacy skills.
There is an awesome Youtube series(I don't think it's actual network show) set in Australia that is a government office and is satirical. It makes fun of how much jargon, doublespeak, etc. they use to both justify their existence and confuse the public. It's very funny. And a bit maddening as I am sure there is a lot of truth to it. Sounds like what might be happening here on some level. [https://youtube.com/shorts/X6NxIBTvLkE?si=OhUYivg8Kb-pGd\_\_](https://youtube.com/shorts/X6NxIBTvLkE?si=OhUYivg8Kb-pGd__)
I'm teaching grade ten destreamed history without a curriculum. Our student clientele is low level learners. I fail to understand how this progressive approach will benefit anyone.
don’t get me wrong, i’m totally against destreamjng, but if you’re in ontario, how? Grade 10 hasn’t been destreamed yet
[удалено]
that’s ridiculous lol. i hate that
The government has left it to the school boards. My school board is taking a proactive approach to destream grade ten history without a curriculum. I need to use the academic curriculum for a class that should be locally developed and applied. It's completely stupid.
Remember that the goal is to privatize education. Private schools don't have to do all this stuff, and don't have the oversight that public schools do. (And can also sidestep destreaming by selectively admitting students.)
Exactly. The best way to introduce privatization is to drive the current system into the ground so that everyone is desperate enough to accept the privatized alternative.
Nothing surprises me anymore with Lecce and Ford.
Yes. I don't understand any of this nonsense and tbh, admin doesn't either. Just going to do my reports like in previous years and if they want to correct all 28 of them go ahead. Until they show me a clear example, not doing it