Today was our 2nd of 3 PED days (like PD days in Ontario), not including our stat holiday on Monday! So needless to say I am getting a lot of work done in organizing my classroom and prepping materials for the coming months.
Our training for the GVC (I can't remember what that stands for at the moment... really professional teacher right here!) has been moved from Val d'Or to Montreal which is pretty awesome! I'll be spending the 10th-14th in a great city with some fantastic people! Of course the training will take place all day but when the clock strikes 4:30 the magical citronouille turns into a Montreal cab and we are going out in style aww yea. That and I am going to drop mad cheddar at the dollar store. Oh god I can't wait!
Anyways this post was old and I forgot to post it so I figured I'd bring you all up to date with the training logistics and my excitement at possibly being able to eat the delicious weird bun thing they give you on Air Creebec!!
Friday 31 August 2012
Monday 27 August 2012
Pictures of my Classroom!!
Here is the finished product of a about a week's worth of work - turning a multi-purpose room (a small auditorium complete with stage) into a full-functioning classroom! (The word wall, math word wall and weather charts were added to later.)
Saturday 25 August 2012
Lightening in Wemindji
Well my first week of school is done!! I am EXHAUSTED but still happy. My class is a chatty bunch with tons of energy, you can guess what that translates into!! I love them all already and we have built a fantastic community in the classroom using Tribes energizers and concepts I learned from Melanie at my first placement at Brock. My kids ask me hourly if we can "fill our buckets", a community building exercise where we pull names from our "bucket" as students volunteer to say nice things about one another. It's really sweet and you can see the relationships within the classroom being strengthened and friendships bonding (although half my kids are cousins so the hard work is already half done!)
The mornings are usually quite successful, we have a great community circle/calendar time routine nailed down and to build their phonics skills we are doing the Jolly Phonics program as a review. This is the first year my kids are experiencing schooling in a dominant English language setting (it was ESL up until this year, now it's 80% English language instruction, 20% Cree language and culture). These kids are smart and wise but it's easy to forget that they are perfectly capable students, just learning all these concepts again in English. I have my work cut out for me bringing them up to level for grade 3 next year but these students are enthusiastic and are ready to learn. I just have to work very hard on alternative classroom management techniques since they just LOVE TO TALK. It could be worse! One of the objectives for the school this year is to encourage the students to speak more in academic settings and I will have no problems achieving that goal! Now if only I could get them to stop talking about their trampolines and start talking about the story we just read!!! The afternoons have been rough, with the kids being tired and sometimes hungry it can be quite a effort to maintain control of the classroom. I am working hard at establishing routines and expectations that the kids respect and adhere to but it's going to be hard going for the first few weeks until I can put the fear of god into them. I already had to revoke one recess and I'm not afraid to do it again!!!!
I have been going in to work everyday for 7:30 which is about an hour early so I can prep and plan. I stay late too but with the sudden change in grades I am pretty unprepared so it's a must. I have a great workspace though and when the Internet works at school, I have access to great resources too! Stacy, of course, has been an amazing help and is always there to answer my questions, I lucked out in teaching partners!! (HI STACY!!)
Aside from school life has been pretty good! I got some things fixed around the house and had all the new teachers over for a potluck last night which was a success! It was great to get to know everyone a little better and also vent in a way only new teachers can around each other. I look forward to many more nights like that in the future!
Today was a warm day in Wemindji and rather than stay all day in the classroom preparing like I had planned (I only stayed 3 hours), Karen and I had brunch, walked Teddy (the dog I am looking after for one of our resource teachers at the school) met a very friendly puppy, and went for another long walk with Brandi and her dog Jersey to the infamous "Penis Tree". It is literally exactly like its name! A tree that looks an awful lot like a phallic symbol of sorts and it was hilarious! After our walk we hung out with a couple of new teachers in the high school and then were invited to another couple's house for a bonfire and roasting marshmallows!! AMAZING! It was such an awesome night and the company was great. The thunder started and lightening soon after and Teddy got scared so we trekked home not long ago.
Blueberry season is pretty much upon us up here and lots of people are going out into the bush to collect teeny tiny blueberries (none of these genetically modified monsters here!). As a rule I don't generally like blueberries but I'll go picking anyways! I want to take full advantage of this gorgeous weather and wilderness while I can before the cold weather arrives!
Anyways the lightening here is quite spectacular and it lights up the whole sky! But Teddy is quite freaked out so I should go comfort him :( oh and I still don't have Internet, apparently the men who in install the internet have a broken truck which according to them means no Internet for an unspecified amount of time. Sooo that's just peachy!! Please forgive any typos because I am typing this from my iPhone!
OH yeah. The post office is receiving mail now so please send your packages if I told you to wait! I think I can send outgoing mail too. Still no bank but an ATM was installed in the temporary grocery store! There was a mix up with the fresh produce order this week so nothing fresh until Tuesday so I've been rationing my apples wah!
Ps if anyone is feeling generous I need a bathtub plug 1 1/4 - 2" plug PLEASE!!!!!!!!! Hahahaha! Oh boy.
Okay well until next time! Pss when the school Internet works again I will post pictures of my finished classroom and my home :)
The mornings are usually quite successful, we have a great community circle/calendar time routine nailed down and to build their phonics skills we are doing the Jolly Phonics program as a review. This is the first year my kids are experiencing schooling in a dominant English language setting (it was ESL up until this year, now it's 80% English language instruction, 20% Cree language and culture). These kids are smart and wise but it's easy to forget that they are perfectly capable students, just learning all these concepts again in English. I have my work cut out for me bringing them up to level for grade 3 next year but these students are enthusiastic and are ready to learn. I just have to work very hard on alternative classroom management techniques since they just LOVE TO TALK. It could be worse! One of the objectives for the school this year is to encourage the students to speak more in academic settings and I will have no problems achieving that goal! Now if only I could get them to stop talking about their trampolines and start talking about the story we just read!!! The afternoons have been rough, with the kids being tired and sometimes hungry it can be quite a effort to maintain control of the classroom. I am working hard at establishing routines and expectations that the kids respect and adhere to but it's going to be hard going for the first few weeks until I can put the fear of god into them. I already had to revoke one recess and I'm not afraid to do it again!!!!
I have been going in to work everyday for 7:30 which is about an hour early so I can prep and plan. I stay late too but with the sudden change in grades I am pretty unprepared so it's a must. I have a great workspace though and when the Internet works at school, I have access to great resources too! Stacy, of course, has been an amazing help and is always there to answer my questions, I lucked out in teaching partners!! (HI STACY!!)
Aside from school life has been pretty good! I got some things fixed around the house and had all the new teachers over for a potluck last night which was a success! It was great to get to know everyone a little better and also vent in a way only new teachers can around each other. I look forward to many more nights like that in the future!
Today was a warm day in Wemindji and rather than stay all day in the classroom preparing like I had planned (I only stayed 3 hours), Karen and I had brunch, walked Teddy (the dog I am looking after for one of our resource teachers at the school) met a very friendly puppy, and went for another long walk with Brandi and her dog Jersey to the infamous "Penis Tree". It is literally exactly like its name! A tree that looks an awful lot like a phallic symbol of sorts and it was hilarious! After our walk we hung out with a couple of new teachers in the high school and then were invited to another couple's house for a bonfire and roasting marshmallows!! AMAZING! It was such an awesome night and the company was great. The thunder started and lightening soon after and Teddy got scared so we trekked home not long ago.
Blueberry season is pretty much upon us up here and lots of people are going out into the bush to collect teeny tiny blueberries (none of these genetically modified monsters here!). As a rule I don't generally like blueberries but I'll go picking anyways! I want to take full advantage of this gorgeous weather and wilderness while I can before the cold weather arrives!
Anyways the lightening here is quite spectacular and it lights up the whole sky! But Teddy is quite freaked out so I should go comfort him :( oh and I still don't have Internet, apparently the men who in install the internet have a broken truck which according to them means no Internet for an unspecified amount of time. Sooo that's just peachy!! Please forgive any typos because I am typing this from my iPhone!
OH yeah. The post office is receiving mail now so please send your packages if I told you to wait! I think I can send outgoing mail too. Still no bank but an ATM was installed in the temporary grocery store! There was a mix up with the fresh produce order this week so nothing fresh until Tuesday so I've been rationing my apples wah!
Ps if anyone is feeling generous I need a bathtub plug 1 1/4 - 2" plug PLEASE!!!!!!!!! Hahahaha! Oh boy.
Okay well until next time! Pss when the school Internet works again I will post pictures of my finished classroom and my home :)
Monday 20 August 2012
FIRST DAY! - update
YAY! Today was my first day of teaching. It was incredible. It went by so fast and I am exhausted!
My class is really fun, they are rambunctious, energetic, excitable and eager. I am going to have to work hard with them to establish a classroom rules that they will begin to follow instrinsically with key attention paid to classroom management and acceptable classroom behavior. Understandably, the first day was a little boisterous but after observing the students and drawing some conclusions, I now know how I am going to approach the classroom management and maintain order while ensuring my students still actually want to come to school. LAY DOWN THE LAW!
On another note, I am working hard to create a classroom with a firm stance on anti-bullying and care and respect for one another so today we filled each other's buckets (gave compliments and said nice things about one another) which was really nice to hear - a lot of offers to jump on one another's trampolines haha!
Anyways, tomorrow is another day and I am excited to try it again and hopefully establish some order at community circle. I will post pictures of my finished classroom once I get them on a USB yay!
Thanks for all the facebook messages of good luck and support!
My class is really fun, they are rambunctious, energetic, excitable and eager. I am going to have to work hard with them to establish a classroom rules that they will begin to follow instrinsically with key attention paid to classroom management and acceptable classroom behavior. Understandably, the first day was a little boisterous but after observing the students and drawing some conclusions, I now know how I am going to approach the classroom management and maintain order while ensuring my students still actually want to come to school. LAY DOWN THE LAW!
On another note, I am working hard to create a classroom with a firm stance on anti-bullying and care and respect for one another so today we filled each other's buckets (gave compliments and said nice things about one another) which was really nice to hear - a lot of offers to jump on one another's trampolines haha!
Anyways, tomorrow is another day and I am excited to try it again and hopefully establish some order at community circle. I will post pictures of my finished classroom once I get them on a USB yay!
Thanks for all the facebook messages of good luck and support!
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| My Welcome Door! If you look close you can see the terrible cutting and pasting job I did!! |
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| Welcome from Maquatua Eeyou School! I got a wolf!! |
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| Quite possibly the worst picture of me ever but I had to document my first day! |
FIRST DAY!
I'm so excited/nervous for my first day of teaching but mostly excited. I can't wait to meet my grade 2s today an start this exciting adventure together! Send me good vibes!
Love Aidan
Love Aidan
Saturday 18 August 2012
Last one for tonight I promise!
My school's name is Maquatua Eeyou School which means River People School (the community lies on the mouth of the Maquatua River which feeds into James Bay, and "Eeyou" means "people" in Cree)
It is pronounced: "Mo-gah-doe Ee-yew" - figure that one out!!
It is pronounced: "Mo-gah-doe Ee-yew" - figure that one out!!
Moooo....se
I ATE MOOSE.
I did. I ate moose stew tonight cooked by a fine French chef Víńćèńt (LOL sorry I tried to make his name ultra French. I need to get out more...). It was actually really good and was much like beef. I have never eaten moose before but I figured it was allowed a spot in my dietary repertoire since moose are not cute and therefore can be eaten without guilty conscience.
I did. I ate moose stew tonight cooked by a fine French chef Víńćèńt (LOL sorry I tried to make his name ultra French. I need to get out more...). It was actually really good and was much like beef. I have never eaten moose before but I figured it was allowed a spot in my dietary repertoire since moose are not cute and therefore can be eaten without guilty conscience.
Updates!
Hi!
SOOOOO much has been happening here since I last posted. I am still in my grade 2 position which is fantastic, my room is almost all set up, I just need to do my walls and bulletin boards and make labels for things and organize my book selection.
I met a few of my students yesterday at registration which was really exciting! They are all really sweet. The students here call teachers by their first names so that is going to be something to get used to! I actually kind of like the idea though, it makes me feel like there is a more personal bond between teacher and students which is very important in this school.
So since I was switched last minute, I don't have anything planned for grade 2 and was initially scrambling for resources and materials to fill my classroom. Luckily, teachers in this school have been incredibly generous in donating their materials and resources to me and I now have a pretty stocked classroom except for books (but there is a library in the school so I will be there often!). My new teaching partner Stacy has been AMAZING in sharing her resources with me and really helping me along in planning for the first few days. I know we are going to get along really well this year and be a good support and resource for each other.
I made my orders for resources and materials yesterday and I have to say it was quite a pleasure spending hundreds of dollars of the school's money on brand-new materials he he ha ha ho ho! I can't wait until they get here and I can open the boxes - Christmas in August!!
In September I will be heading to Val D'Or for curriculum retraining which is fantastic. Basically the curriculum is being revamped to be more user-friendly as far as I hear and we are being provided with new training as well as lesson plans and assessment tools for the entire year!!WOWWOWOWOWOWOW amazing. I am so happy because the Quebec curriculum is REDONK hard to understand coming from Ontario where the way the curriculum is presented is very easy to read and understand. I am also really looking forward to this road trip I will be taking to Val D'Or with Carmen, her teaching partner Marsha and Stacy, its going to be super fun and we get to visit THE DOLLAR STORE YAY! I definitely do not have enough bins. You can never have enough bins!
As for an update on the fire - not much has happened since the fire on Tuesday. A temporary grocery store with the staples has been set up in the community centre, the post office is distributing mail that was in the building before the fire and the new arrivals are being held at the warehouse until a system can be established. The bank is still closed which sucks because I still don't have any cash but I don't actually need anything so that's okay for now.
Yesterday there was a BBQ thrown by one of the construction companies that does a lot of work in the community so we went down to grab some free burgers and steaks and brought them to Danielle's house since it was pretty cold and rainy yesterday (and today). I got to know some other teachers ("old" and new) at a gathering yesterday which was fantastic, everyone here is so nice and friendly, its amazing that so many great people managed to all be in one community. Wemindji is truly amazing and I am so lucky to be here honestly. I can't imagine a better school to be at in my first year of teaching. There is so much support and camaraderie, not to mention resources coming out the wazoo, a healthy classroom budget and tiny class sizes! Wemindji is beautiful and I can't believe I open my door every morning to a gorgeous landscape, it is really something to be grateful for!
Anyways enough sappy rambling. I miss you all and really appreciate you reading and following along. Here are some pictures I have taken on my trip up as well as over the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!!
PS I am posting only "before" pictures of my house and classroom because they are both messy and I need to clean up before you are allowed to see the "after" pictures :P
SOOOOO much has been happening here since I last posted. I am still in my grade 2 position which is fantastic, my room is almost all set up, I just need to do my walls and bulletin boards and make labels for things and organize my book selection.
I met a few of my students yesterday at registration which was really exciting! They are all really sweet. The students here call teachers by their first names so that is going to be something to get used to! I actually kind of like the idea though, it makes me feel like there is a more personal bond between teacher and students which is very important in this school.
So since I was switched last minute, I don't have anything planned for grade 2 and was initially scrambling for resources and materials to fill my classroom. Luckily, teachers in this school have been incredibly generous in donating their materials and resources to me and I now have a pretty stocked classroom except for books (but there is a library in the school so I will be there often!). My new teaching partner Stacy has been AMAZING in sharing her resources with me and really helping me along in planning for the first few days. I know we are going to get along really well this year and be a good support and resource for each other.
I made my orders for resources and materials yesterday and I have to say it was quite a pleasure spending hundreds of dollars of the school's money on brand-new materials he he ha ha ho ho! I can't wait until they get here and I can open the boxes - Christmas in August!!
In September I will be heading to Val D'Or for curriculum retraining which is fantastic. Basically the curriculum is being revamped to be more user-friendly as far as I hear and we are being provided with new training as well as lesson plans and assessment tools for the entire year!!WOWWOWOWOWOWOW amazing. I am so happy because the Quebec curriculum is REDONK hard to understand coming from Ontario where the way the curriculum is presented is very easy to read and understand. I am also really looking forward to this road trip I will be taking to Val D'Or with Carmen, her teaching partner Marsha and Stacy, its going to be super fun and we get to visit THE DOLLAR STORE YAY! I definitely do not have enough bins. You can never have enough bins!
As for an update on the fire - not much has happened since the fire on Tuesday. A temporary grocery store with the staples has been set up in the community centre, the post office is distributing mail that was in the building before the fire and the new arrivals are being held at the warehouse until a system can be established. The bank is still closed which sucks because I still don't have any cash but I don't actually need anything so that's okay for now.
Yesterday there was a BBQ thrown by one of the construction companies that does a lot of work in the community so we went down to grab some free burgers and steaks and brought them to Danielle's house since it was pretty cold and rainy yesterday (and today). I got to know some other teachers ("old" and new) at a gathering yesterday which was fantastic, everyone here is so nice and friendly, its amazing that so many great people managed to all be in one community. Wemindji is truly amazing and I am so lucky to be here honestly. I can't imagine a better school to be at in my first year of teaching. There is so much support and camaraderie, not to mention resources coming out the wazoo, a healthy classroom budget and tiny class sizes! Wemindji is beautiful and I can't believe I open my door every morning to a gorgeous landscape, it is really something to be grateful for!
Anyways enough sappy rambling. I miss you all and really appreciate you reading and following along. Here are some pictures I have taken on my trip up as well as over the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!!
PS I am posting only "before" pictures of my house and classroom because they are both messy and I need to clean up before you are allowed to see the "after" pictures :P
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| One of the reasons why my muffler fell off.. |
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