iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This Wednesday is National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. If you would like to learn more about how to identify and confront Residential School denialism, check out this article by @seancarleton.bsky.social and Daniel Heath Justice. theconversation.com/truth-before...

theconversation.com

Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism

Residential school denialism is the rejection or misrepresentation of basic facts about residential schools to undermine truth and reconciliation efforts.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I'm reading Truth Before Reconciliation. The last few years our school has focused on exploring the concept or reconciliation and acts of reconciliation we can do. I'm thinking this year our focus will be centered on truth to better understand the impact of residential schools.

Cover of the book Truth Before Reconciliation: Confronting Residential School Denialism edited by Sean Carleton and Niigaan Sinclair. A photo of many people in orange shirts marching.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I adore this book that tells myths from many cultures that focus on queer gods, demigods, heroes, and supernatural beings. Such a great read to show that 2SLGBTQIA+ people in society have a long history. teacherbees.ca/queer-mythol...

teacherbees.ca

Queer Mythology

I love Greek mythology. When I was a kid, I spent countless hours reading myths and legends. As a teacher, I have kept up this love with lots of mythology books in my classroom library, and expanding ...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The Living Prairie Museum offers free guided tours at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM on Saturdays and it was enjoyable and informative. Highly recommended even in the heat!

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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

slate.com

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Just sent an email to my MLA to persuade her that YouTube can be a great resource for teachers. I should tell my students next week that the persuasive writing unit we just finished is pretty useful.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

This is misguided. Carefully selected videos can be invaluable teaching tools. The concern about autoplay and algorithm recommendations in the classroom are minimal and honestly students need some practice to learn how to engage in a healthy way. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

cbc.ca

Manitoba's social media ban could bar teachers using YouTube in the classroom, says Kinew | CBC News

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says his province's ban on social media and AI chatbots for kids will likely bar teachers using YouTube in the classroom — a move that comes as the federal government contin...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

While everyone is talking about banning AI chatbots for young people, perhaps it is also a good time to teach young people to think critically about artificial intelligence too. Giving students information about ethical and environmental considerations is important. teacherbees.ca/ai-part-1/

teacherbees.ca

Teaching to Think Critically About Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being sold by tech companies as a solution to many problems and a way to make life easier. This is especially true in the world of education, where teachers are...

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Jenn Allen @jenn-allen.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

A letter from me in today's Winnipeg Free Press. As a teacher friend said: What are kids going to do, go outside and get hit by cars?

Black text on a white background reads:

On a social media ban
The idea of banning social media for youth might sound like a quick fix. Social media does have real harms, and those concerns shouldn’t be dismissed.

But taking social media away from young people isn’t going to suddenly send them outside to play with their friends, because there’s really nowhere for them to go.

Black text on a white background reads:

Not that long ago, young people could spend evenings in school fields hanging out, ride their bikes after dark, and just exist in public without much interference. As a millennial, these experiences defined much of my adolescence. Now, between CCTV, neighbourhood camera systems (subsidized by the government) and location sharing, kids can’t be out in public without the risk of being tracked, reported, confronted, or labelled suspicious simply for existing in public.

Black text on a white background reads:

possible. Community centres, youth programming, and shared spaces have taken a back seat to spending on roads, cars, policing, and private development. The amount of time kids spend on their phones is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.

A social media ban for youth would also hit some young people harder than others. Queer and disabled youth, in particular, often rely on online spaces to find connection, support, and community. These connections are essential to their well-being.

It is unfortunately not uncommon for youth, of all walks of life, to lack safe and supportive people in their offline lives. Online spaces are often the only place where they can access information, find understanding, and feel less alone. Limiting youth access to social media is, in practice, limiting their access to information and to ways of understanding the world around them.

Black text on a white background reads:

A blanket ban shifts the burden onto young people without changing the conditions that pushed them online in the first place. If we actually want young people to spend less time online, we must invest in the conditions that make offline life safe, accessible, and worth showing up for.

Jenn Allen
Winnipeg

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Pretty frustrating when really useful teaching resources or materials are removed from US government websites.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

I like geeking out about all the cool photos from Artemis II this week. So neat!

A photo called A Setting Earth. Two thirds of the photo show a moon covered in big and small craters, with a crescent Earth peeking out from the horizon.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

The kids section of my local library has a colouring corner with a dollhouse that kids can colour, which is the most adorable thing ever.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

The second post in my series on teaching students about how to think critically about AI. We learned about why AI hallucinates, how AI can demonstrate bias and why using reliable sources is important. teacherbees.ca/ai-part-3/

teacherbees.ca

Artificial Intelligence, Hallucinations, and Bias

In order to make decisions about artificial intelligence, it is important that students learn how generative AI affects us and our world. Previously, I discussed teaching students about how AI affects...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

I've been spending a bit of time writing about how to help students understand AI and think critically about it. The first step below is helping them understand what it is and how it is developed, with a focus on some of the ethical issues surrounding its training. teacherbees.ca/ai-part-1/

teacherbees.ca

What is Artificial Intelligence?

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Transgender and nonbinary young people have a lower risk of suicide attempts when their pronouns are respected. Respecting pronouns can save a life. www.parents.com/respecting-p...

parents.com

Respecting a Young Person’s Pronouns Can Be Life-Saving, New Survey Shows

New data from The Trevor Project shows that less than half say their pronouns are respected by the people closest to them.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 14/12/2025

This paper contains some good arguments about an issue that concerns me a lot when I hear my colleagues talking about LLM use in developing their research: Whose ideas are you presenting as your own? (Though the fatalist argument the authors make at the end of paper is disappointing/bizarre.)

Screenshot (with final two sentences highlighted): “Academic authorship functions not only to communicate knowledge but also to allocate credit for the labour that produced it.
This credit affects hiring, promotion, funding and broader scholarly standing. To plagiarize is to distort the attribution of insight, misleading readers about origin and credit.
The provenance problem introduced by LLMs is troubling for a similar reason.”

Screenshot: “Humans, too, can commit what is sometimes called 'cryptomnesia', in which they reproduce ideas that they have encountered previously but mistakenly believe to be origi-nal. However, what was once an idiosyncratic risk of interpersonal exchange is now a systemic feature of our knowledge infrastructure.
As scholars increasingly use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for writing assistance, those whose work is absorbed into training datasets may shape scholarship without ever being cited, while Al-proficient scholars may enjoy reputational gains built partly on others' uncredited ideas.”

(The sentence about “a systemic feature” is highlighted)

Screenshot, with second sentence highlighted: “Nevertheless, Al developers bear obligations to improve attribution capabilities: efforts to trace and cite training data sources could help to preserve intellectual credit chains. But because many models rely on copyrighted or unlicensed material, developers face disincentives to improve provenance, even though traceability is crucial for legal and ethical accountability.”

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C. L. Curole - Vexed by a smorgasbord of petty bullsh-- @curole.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

This Is Just To Say I have thwarted the LLM that was in your algorithm with which you were probably planning world domination Forgive me it was delicious so banal and so stupid

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

This term I collaborated with another teacher to make this middle school unit about generative AI, how it works and how it is impacting us, the environment and society, with the aim to help students make more informed decisions. Feel free to share! www.canva.com/design/DAGyC...

canva.com

Understanding AI

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

This term, we learned about AI and its impacts. We learned about data centres and how in communities elsewhere they are putting stress on the energy grid and water supplies. Looks like that lesson is becoming increasingly relevant here. www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews...

winnipegfreepress.com

’Intangible assets’ of big data come with costs thanks to ever-expanding energy, water needs

Premier Wab Kinew has been dropping hints the province could soon look to position itself as a leader in what some commentators are calling the “fourth industrial revolution.” Speaking on a politics a...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

This term, my students and I focused on thinking more critically about generative AI, how it works and its consequences for the environment, communities, artists, our mental health and our thinking. I’m assessing their thinking in a summative assignment and I’m appreciating how thoughtful they are.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Happy November 1st everyone!

A squirrel sitting in a tree nibbling a red sucker it found somewhere.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Today at MTS PD Day, I presented about online media literacy in the social studies context. Here is some of what I covered, including how to teach about misinformation, lateral reading, and evaluating sources. teacherbees.ca/online-media...

teacherbees.ca

Online Media Literacy and Social Studies

Online media literacy is vital to help students assess the reliability of online information and think critically about what they see online. Being able to identify misinformation, fact check informat...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Sharing a highlight from MTS PD Day, where I learned about the Canadian Pride Historical Society. This team of volunteers is researching the history of Pride in communities across Canada. The website includes lesson plans and their YouTube channel has lots of educational videos. cphs.ca

cphs.ca

Canadian Pride Historical Society

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Maggie Macintosh @maggiemacintosh.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Teachers, if you can check off any of the boxes below (!) then you should clear your calendar for Friday (Oct. 24). @winnipegfreepress.com media literacy teachers are unveiling the beta version of our free K-12 #mbed platform at MTS PD Day!

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

I'm in the process of developing a unit about Generative AI to help students develop a more critical understanding about it. It's going well so far! I found an article that perfectly rounds out my lesson about AI and bias and I'm quite pleased. www.snexplores.org/article/ai-i...

snexplores.org

AI image generators tend to exaggerate stereotypes

The racism, sexism, ableism and other biases common in bot-made images may lead to harm and discrimination in the real world.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

One of the most common arguments you hear from fans of generative ‘AI’ is that it’s not plagiarizing people’s work, it’s just learning like a human learns. So I’m going to break down why that’s just not true, and why it can never be true, with the existing systems. 1/

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Chanea Bond @heymrsbond.com · 03/08/2025

“I’m extremely concerned that reliance on AI will hinder those who need the most support, ultimately putting a Band-Aid over their education rather than addressing the root issues.” Let’s discuss: how do you use AI so students don’t miss skill acquisition? www.edutopia.org/article/bann...

edutopia.org

What Happened the Year I Banned AI

The choice to keep artificial intelligence tools out of my class has been the most impactful decision that I have made as a teacher.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

This spring, I used parts of We Are Not Free, by Traci Chee, as a read aloud for our human rights literature circle. Learning about Japanese incarceration camps and making connections to current events is chilling, but important.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Check out the Free Press Kid's Book Club! A great list of books, a book giveaway contest and the chance for kids to publish book reviews! www.winnipegfreepress.com/kids-book-club?

winnipegfreepress.com

Free Press Kid’s Book Club – Winnipeg Free Press

Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

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RT @ryankturnbull.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Applies to his and hers.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I present to you one of Eurovision’s top entries this year, an entire song about saunas. youtu.be/WK3HOMhAeQY?...

youtu.be

KAJ - Bara Bada Bastu | Sweden 🇸🇪 | Official Music Video | #Eurovision2025

YouTube video by Eurovision Song Contest

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

I enjoy that the legend on the Science Rendezvous map at the U of M comes with this warning.

A picture of a goose with the text “Please be cautious! Observe geese from a distance”

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Today is Red Dress Day. With my grade seven classes, we'll be reading an article from Niigaan Sinclair about MMIWG2S+ and the need for action, plus talking about the Calls for Justice. #RedDressDay teacherbees.ca/books-for-re...

teacherbees.ca

Books for Red Dress Day

May 5th is Red Dress Day, a day that brings awareness to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People. In Canada, Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are m...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I took students on a field trip to the library today and it was fun showing them all that the library has to offer. Books! Magazines! Board games! Video games! Teen paint nights and other programming! It has everything!

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Andrew Kohan @akohan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

This, from Nathan Martindale, is really meeting the moment

The Manitoba Teachers' Society, representing 16,600 public school teachers across the province, has taken vocal and steadfast positions in opposition to the banning of books from libraries, wresting control of hiring practices from school divisions and the spewing of hate-fuelled rhetoric at school trustee meetings. We do so recognizing that efforts to undermine public education through bodies such as our school boards create a portal to a much larger prize: that of destroying systems of democracy, law, and human rights.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Bill 43 represents a victory for all - Glad to see my union president speaking out about this. www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

winnipegfreepress.com

Opinion: Bill 43 represents a victory for all

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Wonder how much of a nail biter my local riding results will be tonight.

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Jen Zoratti @jenzoratti.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Disinformation is getting harder and harder to avoid, and generative AI is like the final boss in a game no one wants to be playing. Before you head to the polls on Monday, I hope you read my piece. www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews...

winnipegfreepress.com

Increasingly sophisticated deepfake AI-generated political ads threaten to unravel Canada’s social order

Increasingly sophisticated deepfake AI-generated internet political ads threaten to unravel Canada’s social order, experts warn, pointing to the successful war on truth U.S. President Donald Trump is ...

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

This article was completed before presentations were finished. It misses that the last two hours of speakers were in support of the bill and that more speakers will present on April 30. The stories that were shared in support of protecting gender expression were important to hear.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Listening to Karen Sharma of the Manitoba Human Rights Commission talk about the importance of adding gender expression to the Human Rights code in Manitoba. Very informative and correcting lots of misconceptions about how the commission works.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Watching the first episode of Andor, while only having the fuzziest memory of what happened during Season 1 two years ago.

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Ellen Bees @ellenbees.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

This would be a good activity to do with a class to show them how AI will make up meaning. The example I used was a French idiom "Faire rire aux poissons," which means to tell lies. Google's AI had other ideas.

"Make the fish laugh" is an expression with the literal meaning of causing a fish to laugh, which of course is impossible. The expression is often used in the context of Indian Fairy Tales: Why the Fish Laughed to describe an event or situation where something unusual or unexpected happens, and the fish's laughter symbolizes the humourous or ironic nature of the events.
In the fairy tale "Why the Fish Laughed," the fish's laughter isn't literal. It's a way of expressing surprise or amusement at the unexpected events unfolding, such as the discovery of a disguised man posing as a woman or a secret about the king's safety. The fish's laughter serves as a warning or a signal that something is amiss."

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