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About the Teacher

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I've been teaching at KCI since 1991, and I was also a student here in the 80's (with big hair and leg warmers).  I've worked with environmental clubs, social justice clubs, Me2We, GSA, multi-cultural clubs, a Gender Equity club from way back, and the Transformers.  My educational background is in philosophy, social sciences, art, and religion. (And here's my pet pics!)

Contact Info:  E-mail me at marie_snyder@wrdsb.ca,

Need to see me?
My schedule from Feb - June 2020:

Before School - I'm usually in 271 by 8:00, but sometimes as early as 7:30.  
A - PREP in room 271 - COME IN (8:20-9:20) - or find me in room 115
B - 
MSIP - please COME IN (9:25-10:25)
C - Philosophy - please don't disturb 
Lunch - room 271 - COME IN (11:30-12:30)  (Fridays I have library supervision)
      - I'm sometimes in 115 if I'm not in my classroom
D - Civics - please don't disturb
E - HSB4UI - please don't disturb
After School - I'm often in 271 until about 4:00 

Let me know if you need to meet at a different time.  Please don't hesitate to ask for help.  Your taxes pay my salary!

Club links:  Come see me if you want to start a club.  In the past few years I've supervised and helped facilitate Gender Equity, OneEarth, Fed/Prov, and KCI-PIRG.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
E-mail is fastest, easiest, and preferred:  marie_snyder@wrdsb.ca

I've summarized useful books, essays, and documentaries here.   

Some of my PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION posts are here:
On Classroom Discussion​
On Student Stress and Workloads​ 
On Time Limits on Work - Expectations and Due Dates 
On Incompetent Grads and "Counterfeit" Diplomas 
On Why We're Reading Primary Source Documents Even Though It's Hard 
On the Stickiness (and Necessity) of Repeated Information    
On the Perception that Hard Work is Bad for Mental Health 
On Finnish Schools and Why They Work  
On the Usefulness of Final Exams 
On Sex Ed and Double Standards   
On Lit Tests and Stifling Ability with Devices   
On Teaching the Differently-Abled   
On the Importance of Learning Your Limitations   
On the Usefulness of Boredom   
Book Clubs Across Schools   
Constructivism/Progressive Schooling (I'm not a fan):
​On Educational Reform 
On the New Math
On Schools Stifling Creativity 
On Education, Stress, and Success - and Letting Kids Fail 
On Teaching Through Video Games for Digital Natives  
Some backing here (study by Kirschner, Sweller & Clark)
On Teaching as a Profession (pro-union stance):
On Unions and Boycotts
On Evaluating Teachers: A Long Time isn't always a Good Time
On Teacher Accountability 
On Protesting Job Action 
On the Importance of Workers' Rights 

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Copy any of my assignments or handouts freely and without credit.  I'm not in it for the glory.

GENERAL WRITING:
I wrote a chapter on Sartre's existentialism in Louis C.K. and Philosophy
When I have time, I blog about the environment, movies, philosophy, and education.
Random Articles in the News (by or about me)
A Teacher's Guide for the HSB 4MI course
Writing By Tens, Vol 1 (edited a collection of our students' writing - 2011-12)

Some Favourite Links:
Ted Talks - my favourites
(Compare Ken Robinson's views with Steve Dutch's ideas)
illdoctrine
Hyperbole and a Half
Monbiot
Greg Palast
dustbury
Montreal Simon

Some Favourite Books:
How the World Works - Noam Chomsky
The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Status Anxiety - Alain de Botton
The Drunkard's Walk - Leonard Mlodinow
The Essays - Michel de Montaigne
Civilization and Its Discontents - Sigmund Freud
Heat - George Monbiot
The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
The Zoo Story - Edward Albee
The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
Armed Madhouse - Greg Palast
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

Charlie!

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Shhhhh