Parties, pyres and pharoahs: Africa's top shots
A selection of the week's best photos from across the African continent and beyond:
The women at the centre of Somalia's construction boom
'No-bra, no-exam' rule at Nigerian university sparks outrage
Why the death of a blogger has put Kenya's police on trial
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Your Spice Jar Lids Have a Not-So-Secret Feature That Everyone Is Just Finding Out About — And It's Totally Brilliant
I have a spice rack in my kitchen that I am very, very proud of. All of the little jars are the same size and shape, with matching labels on the lids that make it easy to spot and grab whatever spice or seasoning I need. While this certainly is aesthetically pleasing, the real reason I set up this rack is because I truly hate the plastic bottles that your seasonings come in. They don't make for a pleasant user experience, and when you go to shake them while you cook, nothing really comes out — or you end up with a huge mess. So I quit the battle and made my own setup. Yet now, after finding out this clever spice jar trick, I'm wondering if all my work to make the perfect spice rack has gone to waste. Here's the hack: Instead of shaking that seasoning or spice jar on top of your plate, pot, or pan, twist the lid back and forth. Yes, just like you would with a pepper mill or a salt grinder; you pinch the plastic perforated top with your thumb and pointer finger, gently twist, and the seasoning will come out effortlessly and evenly. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aaron Turk (@fatsdabarber) This tip was shared on Instagram by Aaron Turk from @fatsdabarber, who hilariously seasons an empty plate with dried herbs and spices and continues to repeat, 'I just learned this today,' as he twists different jars with wide, exasperated eyes. 'You could have been twisting the top this whole time,' he says, his voice full of shock and joy. Fellow home cooks are sharing how 'mind-blown' they are in the comments of Turk's post. 'You mean to tell me all that splashing I've been doing all these years of cooking, I could have saved myself all the cleaning around the stovetop counter? Oh crap, it works, just tested it,' writes one follower. 'I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said to my spice jars,' jokes to say, if you've been getting arm cramps every time you shake your seasonings and spices — and end up with a messy countertop because of it — we apologize that you only just had to learn this post originally ran on The Kitchn. See it there: Your Spice Jar Lids Have a Not-So-Secret Feature That Everyone Is Just Finding Out About — And It's Totally Brilliant We Tested (and Rated!) All the Living Room Seating at Burrow to Determine the Best for Every Space and Need I Just Discovered the Smartest Way to Store Paper Towels in Your Kitchen (It's a Game-Changer!) We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here's What They Said
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Decoding your kid's report card: What it says and what it really means
Sarah Jane had just finished writing report cards for her Grade 7 students when she called her principal and declared she was done with teaching. 'It was the tipping point,' says the Niagara-area teacher who retired in 2021, marking the end of a 35-year career. 'I thought I just don't want to do another set of report cards and be all stressed out. It's so much work. 'I loved the kids, and I loved teaching. But I felt like report cards are too sugar-coated and sometimes even dishonest because we always have to say what the child does well … You want to find a child's strength, but we're always trying to phrase everything so positively that I think parents don't always know where their child is' academically. Jane is the creator of Ontario Report Card Comments , a Facebook group with nearly 15,000 members where educators share tips and support to get through one of the most nuanced, high-stakes and emotionally charged tasks facing teachers. Report card flashback: What teachers said to a future Nobel prize winner, a prolific author and a future premier The results of which are imminent: final report cards are about to land in the hands of students across the province. For families, it's a nerve-wracking moment that can bring great pride or crushing disappointment. Reviewing anyone's performance can be stressful and intimidating, says Brampton high school teacher Jason Bradshaw, but 'imagine speaking of somebody's child, that takes it to another level. People are going to be all the more emotionally invested. So teachers have a responsibility to be constructive and transparent.' But report cards don't always successfully reflect that. Vague, standardized language and a lack of personalization can leave families unsure of how their child is progressing. To help decode this familiar yet at times cryptic document, the Star spoke with educators who shared how challenging it is to capture a student's story in just a few chosen lines. That homework causing family tension every night? It doesn't count. While homework is important for reinforcing learning, Growing Success , Ontario's education policy on reporting student achievement, makes it clear assignments done at home shouldn't be factored into final marks. Still, skipping homework isn't without consequence — it can show up under learning skills, a key part of assessment for all students in grades 1 to 12. 'In the age of ChatGPT, a lot of educators are moving to the position where we simply do not evaluate work that isn't done in front of us,' says Bradshaw. 'We now have to build in time for students to complete that work entirely in class, to know it's authentic.' In high school, marks are given as percentages and accumulate over a semester. In grades 1 to 6, letters reflect progress since the last report — not from the start of the year. 'The kind of writing a student is doing in September isn't going to be the same as the writing they are doing in December,' says Angela Simone, a Grade 3 teacher with the York Catholic school board. 'It's not really fair to go back; you want to focus on their most recent work.' Teachers mark tests, presentations and assignments according a four-level rubric, which is translated into percentages or letter grades for report cards: Level 4 equals A- to A+ and 80-100 per cent; Level 3 is B- to B+ and 70-79; Level 2 is C- to C+ and 60-69; Level 1 is D- to D+ and 50-59 per cent. 'There's a lot of pressure to see those Level 4 or those As,' says Simone. 'But it's important that people recognize that a Level 3 means they're at the provincial expectations. So there's nothing wrong with a B.' Grades are based on numeric data. Learning skills rely on something else entirely — observation, interpretation and a fair amount of subjectivity. All children in Ontario grades 1 to 12 are evaluated on six competencies: responsibility, organization, independent work, collaboration, initiative and self-regulation. 'You really have to know the child and be able to back up anything you say with proof,' says Jane, who found evaluating these skills the most challenging and time-consuming part of assessment duties, likening it to having to write three separate essays on each student — one for every report card. Simone agrees it can be tedious. 'You don't want to be repetitive, and every child is their own and you want to speak to that child's individuality, but how many times can you say, 'Your desk is messy?' ' The subjectivity required also makes them possibly problematic. A 2018 study using Toronto District School Board data found that students with identical scores on standardized math tests may have different evaluations of their learning skills — differences that correlated with race and gender. Educators often discuss skill expectations with students, and in some cases, have them evaluate their strengths and weaknesses so, as Jane says, they 'take ownership for some of it.' Joanne Sallay, president of tutoring company Teachers on Call , notes that when students struggle, it's often not the curriculum — it's motivation: 'It's handing in work on time — organization, planning skills and how to study effectively. These are really important for the future of work — skills that as adults determine our success.' It's perhaps why on report cards, learning skills are given prime position. That doesn't stop students and parents from skipping over them to check out subject grades. 'We are hardwired to do that,' says Christopher DeLuca, a Queen's University professor of educational assessment . 'And yet, if we understand learning a little bit more deeply, we understand that how we learn impacts what we learn.' DeLuca adds that of all the skills measured on the report card, strong self-regulation is the most critical. The province's Growing Success policy states that all parents should receive 'standard, clear, detailed and straightforward information' about their child's progress based on the Ontario curriculum. That may explain why teacher comments can sound like they've been lifted from a jargon-filled curriculum manual — sometimes they are. 'It's hard when you have 30 students to write an authentic communication of each student's learning,' says Toronto public elementary teacher Andrew Delost. 'Sometimes it's going to sound robotic because a teacher might just be copying and pasting.' Delost recently developed Curricumate , an AI-based assistant to support Ontario educators as they navigate through 'pain points,' including writing report cards. Filling out a report card can take 20 minutes to four hours per student, plus months of tracking grades and recording observations. While professional development days are dedicated to the task, the work usually spills into evenings and weekends. Curricumate, which has 4,000 users, integrates the Ontario curriculum so teachers can select relevant comments and personalize them while maintaining student confidentiality. Teachers have relied on some form of comment banks for decades — whether self-made, shared by colleagues or provided by school boards. More recently, many have turned to tools like ChatGPT. Still, most agree: AI can support feedback, but it shouldn't replace it. Direct communication with parents, they say, remains the most effective way to support student growth. Even as generalized and vague as report comments might seem, clues lie within. 'Qualifiers are so important because that's going to give you a little hint,' says Simone. For example, if a comment on a science unit notes that 'Angela understands plants with a high degree of effectiveness,' she's at a Level 4; if with a considerable degree, she's at Level 3. (Level 2 would use some and limited for Level 1.) Simone says teachers rely on qualifiers particularly when measuring learning skills: If a teacher was to say, 'Sally usually listens well to lesson,' usually means she's not doing it all the time, that she could be chatty, says Simone. 'So even though it doesn't sound like there's an issue, the qualifier lets you know there might be one.' Growing Success advises teachers, when writing anecdotal comments, to 'focus on what students have learned, describe significant strengths, and identify next steps for improvement.' This asset-based reporting emphasizes positive attributes. 'It strengthens and bolsters student confidence,' says DeLuca. But some teachers call it a disservice. 'Only telling students what they're doing well gives them a false impression about what their strengths and weaknesses are, and unfortunately that can catch up to them,' says Bradshaw. 'I can understand how that might be frustrating for parents because we are essentially asking them to read between the lines.' Comments are limited by strict word counts, giving teachers little space to focus on more than one key message. This is especially challenging in math and language, where recent curriculum changes eliminated separate grades for individual strands. Instead of seeing distinct marks for oral communication, writing, reading and media literacy, for example, parents now get just one overall language grade. Check the attendance field. Teachers say missed classes and lateness are often overlooked by parents who may be unaware of their child's habits. Absences can explain why achievements are below expectations. Yes, but not easily. How failing grades are reported varies by board. (One board, for example, will round up a 46 per cent to 50 for a pass.) Up to Grade 8, a decision to hold back a child is made in consultation with parents; in high school, students who receive below 50 may repeat materials related only to expectations not achieved. But a failing mark should not come as a surprise to students or parents. 'Failures are used very judiciously, for a reason,' says DeLuca, 'A failure academically is not just about holding a student from progressing to the next grade, it has social consequences for life and career progression.' Assessment is important, says Bradshaw, but it shouldn't be the only priority. 'When we hyper-focus on marks and evaluations, it gives the impression that day-to-day learning doesn't matter.' Progress reports offer an early opportunity to flag concerns without assigning grades, but they come with their own challenges — especially since they come so early that some teachers, particularly itinerant ones, may have seen a student only a handful of times. More effort typically goes into the first provincial report card when there's still time for students to respond to feedback. Final report cards feel high-stakes, but by June, they should contain no surprises. That said, Sallay emphasizes even these reports should include clear next steps. 'I know that it seems final, but a report card shouldn't define your future success,' she says. 'Look at the recommendations and work on them; it doesn't mean you need to give up. 'It's the end of June, but next year is a whole new year.'
Hamilton Spectator
7 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Six Nations care home evacuated by ‘severe flooding'
Residents at a new long-term-care home in Delhi woke up to a surprise on Thursday morning: dozens of new friends around the breakfast tables. The 128-bed peopleCare Delhi long-term-care home, which opened its redeveloped building to 40 permanent residents on Monday, welcomed another 40 older adults from Iroquois Lodge after it was evacuated due to flooding. Having just opened, the Dalton Road home had beds to spare. Residents arrived starting at 9 p.m., on Wednesday and kept coming into the early-morning hours. Staff at the Delhi home were 'rolling out tea carts and snacks' while their team performed shortened intakes and settled residents in their rooms with help from familiar Iroquois Lodge caregivers, said Sheena Campbell, vice-president of communications and engagement for peopleCare, the owner of several homes in Ontario. It's a 'massive undertaking,' one that normally takes months to plan. But staff from both homes 'pulled together,' she said. 'There was a spirit of positivity,' she said. 'Neighbours helping neighbours.' Iroquois Lodge is one of two Ohsweken care homes evacuated following 'severe flooding,' Six Nations of the Grand River said in a release on Thursday. Residents of Home and Community Care, which provides supportive housing, palliative care and other services to older and disabled adults, were also relocated, the Ontario First Nation said in the release. Six Nations' central administration building and area homes have also been affected. 'Homes connected to the wastewater system have experienced wastewater backups, which have affected basements and property,' the June 19 release reads. Six Nations didn't respond to Spectator requests for information on Friday. Parts of Chiefswood Road and 3rd Line close Thursday due to flooding on Six Nations of the Grand River. The flooding, the release said, is a result of 'intense rainfall' earlier this week. Six Nations received an estimated 100 millimetres of rain in a 12-hour period on Wednesday, 'significantly more' than surrounding areas, Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said. Neighbouring area Brantford had 43 millimetres and Hamilton had 36 mm. This can occur when 'multiple storms are crossing the same area multiple times' and happen to hit one area harder and longer, he said. 'It really is a luck of the draw,' Flisfeder said. 'It's storm dependent, day dependent how the ingredients for the storm develop and progress.' Six Nations fire and emergency services said in Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon they were 'experiencing extremely high call volumes.' Six Nations is assessing damage to government buildings and 'gathering information from community members who have been affected,' the release reads. Residents with property damage can contact central administration, which continues to monitor calls, at 519-445-2201 , or the 24-hour crisis line at 519-445-2204 . As of Thursday, Chiefswood Road between 5th and 6th lines and 3rd Line between Tuscarora and Chiefswood roads were closed. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
