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I Won't Back Down (thanks Tom Petty!)

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 This is a picture taken of me yesterday. The backstory: We have been working on connecting students with math beyond school, in our Thames Valley District School Board community.  Each month, our team is on location around the valley highlighting the mathematics and creating additional problems for students to work through back in the classroom. Yesterday was significant for so many reasons. The thoughts in my head are still swirling around, and I know writing is cathartic for me as I am working through all of this. So, how did we get here exactly? Well, through the power of social media, I reached out to a London pilot named Dave that had popped up on my feed. I explained the project and the intentions behind it, and asked him to reach out to me if he was interested. A very short time later, we were communicating via e-mail and he very kindly offered to fly us around and actually talk about the math as it was happening. He felt that would be more engaging than the ground int...
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A Winter's Night

      There is something to be said for the solitude and solace that can be found on a cold winter's night. This turbulent, emotional year has me appreciating this time outside more than any other.     While working from home, I have noticed that the day is filled with noise. It is constant, and there seems to be no reprieve.  The never ending to-do list that merges both work and home is on repeat in my head. Google Meet conversations on three separate devices can be heard from our childrens' closed doors throughout the day. While my personal office noise in the kitchen competes with the multitude of Zoom meetings my husband engages with in our actual home office.     I am grateful for the noise. I am. It would be selfish and unappreciative to not recognize how fortunate we are to be able to continue our jobs safely and virtually from the comfort of our home.  I am so thankful for our children's amazing educators who keep them engaged in the ...
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The Octopus Effect

 Do you remember the first time you saw a picture of a real octopus?  Throughout our childhood, we are exposed to the cutest artistic renderings of octopuses.  Often pink or purple, with rounded, cartoon like eyes and adorable smiles. We later discover that we have been duped, and these are not realistic representations of octopuses, not even close. Let's now throw it back to my teenage years; before we had internet or cell phones, before selfies and social media.  Inspiration and beauty expectations were found in images in magazines.  As a tall, freckled, somewhat shy and awkward teen, I struggled immensely.  I could never get my skin or body to achieve a perfect match to the models and cover girls I desperately tried to emulate.  Turns out those models and cover girls  could not meet the impossible beauty standards promoted by the media and our society either.  Fast forward to today.  As a 40-something woman, I still grapple with the i...
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