Post-wedding Rundown

I know it is beginning to sound like a bad joke but it snowed again this week.  I wish I was joking.  Luckily the sun was out and it didn't stick but lets just say I had some complanin' to do!

Last weekend was my short trip back to Ontario to take part as a bridesmaid in my friends Clair and Ryan's wedding!  It was an extremely busy weekend but so much fun.  I got to catch up with Clair who I haven't seen in about a year and the rest of the old gang that are hard to round up in one single location.  It was a great night and I had a lot of fun!  I am really looking forward to spending the summer (not working!!!), relaxing at home and seeing friends and family.

I left Ontario on Sunday afternoon at 4 and arrived in Montreal just in time for a late room-service dinner.  I have never ordered room service before ($45 for pasta and a salad ay ay ay!) but I decided to splurge and go for it.  I relaxed, watched TV and enjoyed my last night before heading back to Wemindji.  I got on an early flight to Wemindji the next morning, arrived at school with 2 mnutes to spare until class and spent the rest of the day trying to return my class to a normal state after being with numerous substitutes for the last few days.  Needless to say they were pretty nuts and a year's worth of classroom management was almost undone but I got them back.. almost...

Cree School Board testing resumed this week with the standardized Mathematics assessments. It has been a very interesting experience for both teachers and students and I am taking note to plan better for next year so the tasks they test my students on won't seem so alien. There is a heavy focus on word problems and problem solving and while my students are more used to pencil and paper tasks as well as hands-on math, there needs to be a greater focus on problem solving next year. The difficulty with word problems and problem solving is the fact that many students still have a hard time reading and comprehending. While most of them are pretty good, especially by this point in the year, there is still a struggle to read, comprehend and transfer knowledge to solve problems. I now have a stronger focus for mathematics for next year and most likely a stronger class in terms of reading and writing so I think it will be successful!

On another note, I am proud to say that 53% of grade 2's this year are reading at grade level according to PM Benchmark statistics (a reading and comprehension assessment tool). While this number may sound low, keep in mind these students are essentially ESL students and this year was their first year in 80% English instruction AND only ONE grade 2 was reading at grade level in AUGUST, these numbers indicate is a major success!! Our students have worked so hard and pushed themselves to the max to learn as much as possible this year and have managed to blow me away on multiple occasions. I am so proud!

Anyways, I am really looking forward to this weekend as I have been promised by the Weather Network that there will be warm temperatures and sunny skies so I will be spending a lot of time outside. I will also be heading into the classroom to do a bit of year-end planning and organizing. IFAW (a non-profit veterinary service) will be visiting next week to do free vaccinations and spays/neuters and surprise surprise they are using the Triplex (now almost empty) to carry out their services! So we Triplex Girls are going to be moving furniture to make room in one unit for all the procedures.... Yep.

Enjoy!

 Bridal party! I look topless.

 The wedding party

 Room service!

 Love the Sheraton

 Cutting the cake

 First dance

 Bridesmaid's gift - my first Tiffany!

 Air Creebec food - never disappoints!

 Guess where I was seated..

 My hair.

 Gorg.

 My bouquet

 St. Jude's Church in Oakville

 Just like old timez.

 The beautiful Bride and I

 Seating chart!

The awesome letter box Clair's dad MADE