Time Out!

I was very pleased to read that our education Minister, David Eggen, is about to ban school seclusion rooms or timeout rooms! In my more than 30 years in the classroom I found these timeout areas to be a necessary evil.

Unruly students or students with behavioral difficulties had to be placed in some kind of a isolated area to avoid their injuring themselves or others. In most cases isolation could be accomplished by erecting a cardboard screen around the student's desk on three sides. The teacher could see the student but the student could not see others in the classroom. I found this worked extremely well for elementary students, especially those who were distracted easily by the usual goings-on in the classroom. However some students required more aggressive means of isolation.

Isolation rooms were created for these few students. They were enclosed areas often locked from the outside and usually containing very little visual stimulation. Unruly students were placed in their for a brief time until they cooled down. Because of staff shortages in the classrooms supervision of these isolation rooms was often lacking, however these isolation areas must be supervised constantly while in use! 

I am pleased that the Minister of Education is banning these rooms because that means he is increasing the number of support staff in the schools to deal with these unruly children. There used to be some provincial money available to hire support staff to deal with specific children with behavioral issues however most children did not qualify for this funding. A teacher with 30 or more students in his or her classroom must have the tools to manage an unruly student!  One unruly student should not be able to affect the learning of the rest of his or her classmates!

What will be done with these students if supervisors are unavailable and isolation rooms are gone?  Teachers can't send them out to the hallway.  I know these students, without supervision might destroy any displays or art work on bulletin boards.  Many older schools still have coats on coat racks in hallways which could be vandalized.  Sending them to the office isn't always a good thing.  Most schools with a staff of around 18 teachers is only given one full teacher equivalent for administration split between the administrators.  There might be an administrator in the office but what if both administrators are teaching or in a meeting?  Unruly students do not misbehave on a schedule!  Do we expect the school secretary to manage these students' behavior?

I taught in classrooms for more than thirty years and I never met a bad kid!  I did meet a few students over the years who, for one reason or another needed help with modifying their behavior in school.  I look forward to reading the Minister's report on how he expects schools and classroom teachers to deal with these few unruly students now that isolation rooms are banned.

Why?

Why are Eastern Canadians content on using oil products shipped to them across our fragile oceans from unstable countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, when Canadian oil is readily available and relatively easy to get to them?

Why are British Columbians dead set against moving Alberta oil through their province yet at the same time demanding that Alberta send them more oil to heat their homes during this current cold snap?

Why are the oil sands companies being fined huge amounts because a couple of dozen ducks died in their settling ponds, while the thousands of song birds and bats killed by the blades of those huge wind turbines are ignored?

Why do Canadians expect those wonderful men and women in our armed forces to carry on dangerous operations around the world, using obsolete or worn out equipment?

Why are Albertans, who have been making huge equalization payments to the "have not provinces" are now expected to go it on their own when they need help?

Why is the international community wrestling over this refugee crisis while nobody is trying to figure out why these people are risking their lives trying to get out of their homelands?  Wouldn't it be better to make sure their homelands are safe than setting up tent city refugee camps and arguing over who takes them?

Just asking!

Grocery Woes

I understand that operating a grocery store is a lot of work and hardship, with a fairly low return on the investment, but the store in our village appears to be in more desperate strife!   Since their takeover a few years ago, prices rose significantly and the selection started to drop.  Prices have now lowered somewhat, but are still higher than what I think they should be.  Selection is still continually dropping!  The meat counter is almost empty, the chicken rotisserie machine is gone, and fresh bread is in limited supply and selection. 

More and more shelves are empty or single stacked every time I go in there.  Like most seniors, I would prefer shopping for groceries here than having to drive to a neighboring community, but I can't!  Either it is too expensive here, or it's not available. 

Shopping in Airdrie or at Costco is another option, but not a good one for us.  First we have to drive there - and then we usually we overspend!  And then there's the problem of storing 300 rolls of toilet tissue, or six gallons of ketchup!

I don't have a solution!  Some small food stores in other communities in the area appear to be doing much better than ours.  Why is that?  I hope the folks who own our store will figure it out soon!  I will continue to support them where and when I can, but that is becoming increasingly difficult!