Watching him grow up…..

Jeremy is turning out to be quite a nice young man.

I know, I shouldn’t sound surprised, but really I am…….

He can be such a doorknob sometimes…… and the person who is guiding him in this world is me….so really, the odds were stacked against him from the beginning.  :)

Jeremy wants to pursue a career in Education.  I think this would be really good for him.  He loves to “explain”, to “be correct” about information and facts.  He can be quite entertaining when he is excited about a topic.

He applied to York University, Faculty of Ed– and had an interview on Saturday. Jeremy worked hard on his responses, and even had a mock interview to prepare, and he feels it went well.  ***FINGERS CROSSED

For the rest of the school year he is doing an unofficial “placement” with me at my school.  I am grateful to my friends, who are welcoming him into their classes, and I hope he understands how lucky he is to have the opportunity to try out ideas and lessons with a real class.  I wish him well, and hope he discovers that this is a career path he wants to follow.  Let him take direction and criticism with the love and support it is offered.  I know he will be wonderful!

The Start of a Brand New Year

I know what you are thinking– its September, not New Years.  But to me, its NEW YEARS, because we are back in school.

Its much nicer time to have new years, because the weather is nicer.  In Crappy wet January– who wants to start new routines and try new resolutions.  But this time of year, when the temperature and the leaves are changing– its nice to change too.

My goals are to be more organized at school– never super clean, but more on the ball!!! 

I will go to bed earlier.  I have realized “What am I staying up for????”  When I’m tired–I will go to bed, even if its 8:30

I will try to do everything with joy.  Even if its dishes, homework or rehearsal.  I am so lucky to have a job, home, family and friends that I can’t let the mundane details of life weigh me down. 

I will write more.  Its a nice quiet time to centre yourself and find some peace.  Also I can hear my own “inner Wisdom” more, when I stop talking   (Imagine that!!!)

I will stop hurting myself.  (now I’m not cutting or a drug addict or anything) But I do eat crappy, I don’t always wear sunscreen or moisturizer, I don’t exercise.  So I will begin to treat myself better.  Because if I don’t do it???? Who will???????

Cinderella….or Spiderella, or Cheetahrella

My students have been writing (FOR A MONTH) a fairy tale story.  We read a number of fairy tales.  (you’d be surprised–if its not a Disney movie–they don’t know it–like Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk or Rapunzel)

Now we are writing Cinderella stories.  I have a collection of Cinderella’s –like Dinorella, or Cinderella Penguin.  SO they chose an animal set and they got to it!!  Each day or two, I would lay out the foundation of the next set of details.  (First introduce Cinderella…lovely, beautiful…. had to live with SS and SM.  They make her do all the chores….give details.)  then the next day:  Now do the invitation…what is the prince’s name, what kind of ball (that matches the types of animals there are)  and then the SSisters say “You can’t come to the ball… you are too dirty…etc)  It took them over 2 weeks to write the story.  But they have never written so much!!!!  I have pages and pages from each student.

Now its taken 2 weeks.  I will edit a chunk at a time and tell them when to stop on each page.  Like a picture book, some pages only have one sentence, and some have a lot more.  But, each page will have a coloured picture with it.

The stories are so funny!!!!  Snakearella lost her tiara (and the picture of the snakes dancing is a little rude), Pigerella fell in love with a Chicken Prince, Cheetahs, tigers, dogs and cats are all going to the ball!!!!  Each completed book is between 12-25 pages with illustrations and everything.  I am going to use the spiral binder to make the books last a long time.

I hope mom’s and Dad’s like the stories and will keep them.  I ‘ve had a great time helping them write!!!

Back to the Blog

I haven’t felt like writing a lot lately.  I don’t know if it is because of my Grandmother’s death bumming me out, or the change of seasons, or the mess in my class and house, but I just feel BLAHHHHH.

Well, nothing changes a grumpy mood like doing something about it!!!!  I am going to be back to blogging, here on my personal blog, and on my school website.  If you would like to see what my class is doing  check out www.teacherweb.com

Once you get there, click– find a teacher, scroll down to Ontario, Canada, then pick a school, we are Brother Andre (the first of the two listed), and last pick ME, from the list of teachers that have set up sites.  Its a lot of fun, and the parents who are checking the homework lists and the calendar really like it.  I have also added a “Student Blog” section.  Every couple of days, a student gets to sit at my desk and write what is happening in school.  It gets posted to the website and parents and friends can read it.

Hopefully turning around and facing my crappy mood will help me beat it!!!  If you are reading it, send me a shout out and say hi.  I could really use it!

Drama Class

I’m teaching a drama class tonight for the Town of Whitby.  Even though I spend my day with 7 and 8 year olds, its very different to spend time in the evening with them.
First, they  aren’t MINE.  I know you think your kids are your own, but if they are in my class, I think of them as MINE as well.  I get to know them really well, highs and lows.  I can tell when they are happy, sick, lying, bored etc.  These kids in the drama class I only have them for an hour and 15 min once a week, so we don’t really bond the same way.

Also I find it weird when they call me Amanda.  Not that I mind, it is a less formal situation than at school.  It’s just weird after so many classes at 3 different schools.

Oh well, off I go,  we will bark like dogs and build “clay” sculptures with our partners.  FUN!!!

Back to School

Well, now its official– we are back to school.

I’m really glad to be back.  I mean, really, I’d still love to be on the beach.  But vacation wouldn’t be special if that’s where you lived all the time.  So I need school to “earn” my vacation.

Plus, I like routine and the fun that my job brings.  Sure, some days I want to scream.  Teaching primary brings some unique challenges.  (like my friend yesterday who had to mediate a fight about which stuffed animal was “The Queen” and which were “just Princesses”)  Yup, this is my life.  But I really like it.  This is a great group of students and I’m already having a ball with them!!!!

Well, I’d better get back to work!!!

Back to school

Its back to school time.  Although I had 5 weeks in florida and had a wonderful time, in about 3 hours at school, it was like summer never happened.  I felt back in routine, and I’m starting to get excited for the upcoming year.  There are a lot of changes at the school, and I’m not sure what is going to happen this year.  But I’m feeling rested and ready to go.

I am having wedding photography nightmares, rather than school nightmares……..  more on that soon!

Its so hot!!!!

I have a river of sweat down my back.  The students know its the last couple of days of the year and they have turned to puddles of mush.

I am very lucky because I am not moving schools or moving classrooms, but still I have a lot of crap to dig through.  Its hard to get rid of anything (because  you MIGHT need it), but how many strawberry baskets or egg cartons can you keep????  I know if I throw it out, I will be looking for it in September.  Plus its stuff I bought at the Dollar Store or mom bought, and I hate wasting money.

Well, most of their desks are cleaned out.  (But I pull the unused paper from the middle of the notebooks to save for scrap next year—- I hate knowing that they are going to throw away good, clean paper.)  I have the walls cleaned off and most of the shelves organized. 

But there is still so much to do (like the top of my desk and the file cabinet)  and the heat in the upstairs is making me feel sick.  Blahhhhhhhhhhh

Almost Summer

I can’t believe that the school year is almost over, and that summer vacation is right around the corner.  I am ready for a break, but without the opressive heat, the year doesn’t seem nearing an end, yet.  Usually by now, the students are melted puddles of goo, and unable to learn anything.

We, are actually still working.  I have them convinced that “Learning is not for report cards, Learning is for Life!!!” and so far, they are buying it!!!  We are starting our third Shakespeare story : Twelfth Night!  They are really happy about it and fighting  over the parts.  (You got to be Oberon, you can’t be Orsino now)  But they are fighting over Shakespeare!!!  I love it!!! 

I also want summer break to be here soon, because working is interfering with my other plans– I need to be out in the garden, out for bike rides (but my bike is broken, and riding too long hurts my “special places”) and doing exciting things.  We have planned: BBQ’s, going to Centre Island and riding around (anybody know how to fix a bike?), going to the big Toronto art show, marking EQAO, picnic’s and then going to FLORIDA!!!

why would anyone want to stay here in school????  Blah

worried about next year…..already

I have so many things going through my mind, I don’t know what to write about today.  I have the normal rants about the cool, un-summer like weather.  I have the “hurry up-end of school year” rant.  But even that is tempered by the fact that there are big changes at work coming for next year.  (Not for me personally– I will still teach the 2/3, and though I thought about asking for a change the risks (portables, weird kids, iep’s) out way the benefits (pretty good class, same room–’cause its full of crap, and a comfort level with the material).  But the school is changing.  We are losing 9 full time staff members, due to a redundancy bull-crap restructuring thing the board is doing.  I don’t understand everything, but I know that friends and co-workers are being treated unfairly–and not getting any communication about the process.  Some of these staff members were original teachers that were there on the Labour Day weekend, putting desks together and worring about if we could actually open Tuesday morning.   Others have joined in later years, but the impact of losing so many personalities all at once will be hard to understand and get used to at first.

But I am a generally “up” person, and I trust that my friends will learn to love another school in time.  Things are always changing, it just takes some time to re-adjust.  And I find I do adjust to things pretty quickly. 

Within my school, people are moving grades, and then there are the nine new faces that will join us.  Maybe good, maybe weird, you just never know! (I do know and have worked with 2 of the 9 and they are absolutely good AND weird!!!).  Also we have ANOTHER administration shift.  (I’m beginning to feel like the Defense Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts)  A quick re-cap of the admin:

• Year One  : Principal 1,  at Christmas Principal 1 becomes Superintendent, enter Principal 2
• Year 2:    Principal 2, Vice Principal 1
• Year 3: Principal 3 (First time principal) , Vice Principal 1
• Year 4(current year) Principal 3, Vice Principal 2 (brand new Vice Principal)
• SO, heading into year 5, we will be at Principal 3, VP 3

Wouldn’t you feel cursed???????

Ah well, perhaps I should get the Choir Concert ready for the end of THIS year, before I panic too much about NEXT year.