Letters to the Editor

Re: Disabled or Enabled? Turning challenges into an asset (December 2010)

Thanks so much for focusing on disabilities in the last VOICE magazine. I was honoured to have had an article written about me, which really turned out to be about so much more! I want to clarify a comment I made about PLCs and prep time: I don’t believe that my board treated me differently based on my disability, but rather on the fact that after it became known that I have a disability, I was given an opportunity to explain why I took my prep time. Although I don’t think teachers should be required to justify why they need to use their prep time for professional activities, in this case, it was helpful to me. My superintendent understood that I wasn’t leaving a worthwhile professional learning opportunity for something that may have been considered unimportant at the time: preparing classroom materials often requires additional time because of my disability. PLCs are valuable, but sometimes any teacher, disabled or not, needs to determine what takes priority in her/ his unique situation and with the best interest of the students in mind. Through ongoing discussions between our board and local released officers, the scheduling of PLCs has become much more accommodating and respectful of most teachers’ prep time. When we listen to each other, we learn!

Kari Buie, Algoma Teacher Local