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

One of the reasons why my muffler fell off..