1 Week Down!

Well the first week of school has come and gone and I would call it a success! My students really worked hard, harder than they have for 6 weeks at least (same goes for me) and it shows.  I got a good idea of their basic skills and what areas I need to focus on in the coming weeks to ensure a successful year.

It was nice knowing that I had the GVC starting pretty much from Day 1, rather than starting with it 6 weeks late, so there is a little less pressure than last year.  Being able to take my time and make sure the students grasp the skill before rushing on was a really nice feeling! The nice thing about the way the GVC is designed is that often you will revisit certain concepts later on in the year to deal with issues of retention.  While this is helpful for time purposes (you know you will visit the concept again so there it is not a huge deal if the students are a bit hazy and you have run out of GVC scheduled time to teach the concept, you will come back to it), it also makes it hard to plan units.  Some concepts like time or measurement are revisited more than once, adding new curriculum expectations with each visitation, so planning a tidy unit becomes difficult as you have to return to the concept, reteach and add new concepts.  A little disorganized but I understand the point.

I am very happy to report that my new group of students are very open to formal oral discussion.  We have delved into oral discussion at any chance and always at carpet time and often these "formal oral discussions" are cleverly disguised by yours truly as ice breakers! For example, "This is not a ______________" is a great way to students to be creative and think on their feet, responding loudly for others to hear.  It is a simple game but it helps students get comfortable speaking in front of others and work on their feelings of vulnerability in oral settings. Since again this year one of of the Cree School Board's focuses is oral language development, I am working hard to make oral language skill development a vital part of our daily routine. 

On another note I have injured myself yet again!  Today as I was climbing my stairs I rolled on my ankle and heard two loud pops! I am bruised and battered but I will survive.  Nothing a a few Oreos and a movie on my couch won't help.  Besides, what is starting the new school year without a grievous bodily injury?

Next week we have only 2 teaching days (yay!) and 3 PED days!  During these PED days the staff that isn't going for high school and Pre-K and K GVC training will be receiving TRIBES training!  TRIBES is an AWESOME program that helps teachers create a learning community within the classroom through fun, academically relevant activities and skill-building ice breakers.  I am so lucky to be receiving TRIBES training for the second time and I definitely feel like I will learn something new! It is going to be a great few days!

Next weekend (weather permitting) I am hoping to hop on a water taxi and take a boat trip to Old Factory (the previous site of Wemindji before moving to the present location roughly 50 years ago).  The Old Factory islands are going to be filled with residents of Wemindji as many are going to camp out and celebrate Wemindji and the Cree Nation's heritage! The only drawback is that if it gets too foggy (like it has been EVERYDAY since I arrived) the water taxis may not return to Wemindji, leaving those who are not prepared to camp (ME), stranded!! I am hoping for the best because it is getting cold fast this year and I would love to see the islands before it gets too cold to do so!

Have a great weekend!

Hail. In August.  No biggie.

HUGE HAIL

Supposed to show you how dark it is in the morning during this perma-storm we are experiencing up here.

Little patio set Monika and I built!!

First Day of School - Round 2

The first day of school at Maquatua Eeyou School has come and gone.  It was a total success and I am SO happy with my class so far.  They came ready and eager to learn and I could tell they have retained much of what they learned last year, both academically and socially.  I am confident now that this year will be very successful and we will get to do so many fun things together! 

It is clear that Marsha and Carmen did a fantastic job preparing these kids for Grade 2.  My students are used to routine, following directions and becoming active members of the classroom.  I have a helper in each student and enthusiasm will not run dry in this room I can tell you that!


Today we made our desk groups by passing everyone a plain white ball of playdoh in a ziploc bag. In each ball I made a slight hole with my finger and deposited a different color of food coloring and then sealed up the ball to hide the color. The kids had to mix the playdoh until the secret color was revealed and then they joined their desk groups. (Awesome idea care of Monika!) I was going to do puzzle pieces where they had to complete their puzzle with the kids in their desk groups but this was way cooler.

We played "This is not a _____________" (I used a scarf) after reading the book "Not a Stick" as another ice breaker.  This icebreaker helps the kids be creative and use their imaginations.  Instead of a scarf, it was a blanket, a pillow, a ball, an umbrella! At the end of the day we read "Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?" which is about filling each others "buckets" with kind words or good deeds. We went around the circle and asked each other if our buckets were full or empty and then gave compliments or said nice things about each other, filling each others buckets, and our own.  It was really sweet and it helped set the tone for a positive and loving classroom environment (Thank you to Melanie for the awesome part of my daily routine and my very own copy of the book!!)

I also have a bunch of "back to school" activities they worked on/will work on such as coloring in portfolios (white cardboard stand-up file portfolios) for their best work to show at Parent Interview Night. We also read a David book (David Goes to School) which helped us think about classroom rules and consequences and rewards which was really fun.

This week we will be doing a classroom scavenger hunt (how many doors do we have? where is the school flag?, a classmate scavenger hunt (like find out who has a pet, who has 3 brothers etc.), a "Get to Know You" mini booklet and some other fun activities to do while I get testing taken care of.

Anyways I am in a super good mood and can't wait for the rest of the school year to unfold and see what we can get up to! 

Eve of a New School Year

Well, after what feels like one hundred hours of unpacking, setting up, decorating and planning, my classroom is finally (almost) ready to welcome my new batch of grade 2 students this year! 

I am so excited for my new class as I have heard so many wonderful things about them.  I met a few today at registration however I know them from seeing them in the hallways and visiting their grade 1 classes last year.  Their cubbies are labelled, their homework folders ready, posters on the walls, books on shelves in the library and first-day ice breakers and "get to know you" activities ready to go! 

I feel so lucky to be starting my second year of teaching in such an amazing school.  Of course its not perfect, but its pretty close!  We have a fantastic staff this year and you see nothing but smiles in the hallway as we all prepare for the upcoming year.  I could not imagine a better work environment to become the best teacher I can be.  I have tons of valuable resources at my fingertips and help and insight and tips from wise and knowledgeable teachers.  Even though I have only been teaching for one year, I feel that year gave me so much that I can share with others, so I am excited to be that source of information for someone else too, it is a nice feeling!

After working for 6 days straight for at least 9 hours a day, I left work before 6pm tonight!!  I had a tasty dinner with Monika and Carmen joined us afterwards.  We made homemade play-doh for our classes and decompressed and mentally prepared for the days ahead!  Carmen is heading to high school to teach this year and Monika is teaching grade 1, both are amazing teachers and I know will definitely impact their student's lives.

Wish me luck as I embark on my second year of teaching second grade!

Day 1 - Ugh

Day 2 - ...Ugh

Day 3

Day 4

Special appearance by Monika

Day 5

Thanks Carmen!

My "Welcome" door!

Arriving and Unpacking

I will be happy if I never see another cardboard box again!! I have spent the last 4 days unpacking my home and classroom and lets say I am more than a little tired.

Let me start from the beginning though.  After postponing my departure from Ontario by a day, Monika, Carmen and I started the long drive back to Wemindji to start the new school year on Sunday.  The first day was uneventful and the drive was pretty nice!  I was ASTOUNDED by my highway fuel economy and made it all the way to Amos on one tank!  Pretty nice, especially since that trip would have seen me stopping every few hours to fuel up in the old Tercel.  We got to Amos around 8, had a late dinner at - you guessed it - Mike's and then crashed.  After spending a really lovely evening with my mom at a delish Thai restaurant the night before, I felt a little homesick and missed my mama so I spent a good hour on the phone with her which put me at ease and I had a decent sleep at the reliable ol' Amosphere.

The next day we took off early and made our last stop for gas before 381KM at Matagami.  Once we hit the James Bay Highway, the weather alternated between sunny skies and lotsa rain which really helped wash all the disgusting bugs off the windshield (a dragonfly got stuck in my wipers and I swear made eye contact with me before being swiped off to its death...).  I had some good ghostly podcasts playing and of course my favorite tunes to keep me company.  The van was SO COMFY and felt like luxury driving over all those crazy bumps.  I was born to drive a big vehicle.  Love it.

I had forgotten that forest fires had ravaged the landscape during the summer until I saw parts of the wilderness completely leveled and crazy burned up trees on either side of the highway.  I drove past a few burned down bush camps which was sad.  Fire had gotten so close to the road that even the guardrails had burned down, leaving behind twisted and melted metal lying on the side of the road.  Some of the damage was patchy and in other places it stretched for what seemed like miles.  Some green was starting to grow on the blackened earth but for the most part, the charred remains of birch and fir trees dotted the landscape.  It was beautiful and scary at the same time, but I could barely take my eyes off it!  It was interesting to see the size and extent of land affected by the fires and I was immediately grateful it hadn't reached Wemindji!

Anyways, we arrived home at about 5:30pm after about 9 hours of driving.  I was POOPED but somehow mustered up the energy to unpack my van (I have NO idea how I fit so much stuff in there honestly) AND unpack EVERYTHING! No, I don't know what is wrong with me either. I hit the sack and the next day headed into the school to assess the amount of work I was going to have to put into unpacking and setting up my classroom.  I made a good dent on Tuesday and Wednesday and today in between a short meeting, I finished unpacking and setting up!  Maintenance workers at the school have been fantastic and have worked really hard to help us get ready and settled and I was really happy to have a few odd jobs I needed done completed quickly! Tomorrow I will focus on organizing my resources, putting up my boards and decorating my door!  This weekend I will spend a good deal of time preparing for the student's first week and get some "Back to School" activities planned! With no black ink in my printer this might prove a little difficult however...

It has been great to catch up with my friends and colleagues and I have spent much more time socializing than unpacking I am sure!  Maquatua Eeyou School gained two brand new teachers this year who are great ladies and I can't wait to start working with them!  They have definitely landed jobs in a fantastic school with a lot of positive changes happening and I am happy to welcome them.  The school also saw a few returning teachers and educators who were previously taking time off or working other areas of the school board and it is nice to see them too!  I am very excited for this school year, I have to say.  I am teaching an adorable, awesome class of 12 (YES 12!) and have the most amazing staff to work with.  I think this is going to be a great year and definitely different from last year.  I am excited to try new things with this group and see how far we can go!

I will post pictures of my finished classroom as soon as I can, for now here are some shots from the drive and of my classroom in progress.  And yes you are not imagining things, those are WINDOWS and I have a SINK!

I miss this little feller!

A bunny I saved from the wilderness of Pinegrove Road

Packing in progress..

Almost finished product! I fit: a chair, a bookshelf, a patio set, a TV, a side table, 3 Rubbermaid containers, 1 bag of charcoal, a lamp, 3 mirrors, 1 diploma, 5 plants, 1 bag of potting soil, 1 million chachkies, 1 giant copper daisy and about 300 boxes.

My beautiful mother

My new view! No more silver Bug :(

Fancy security system at the Amosphere!

Hard to capture the damage of the forest fires!

Yah made it!

My favorite place to stop and take a picture, KM70

Strange arrangement I came home to...

Ugh.

ALL of that was in my van!?

My classroom.  Day 1

Its so cold! I love it!

Day 2

Day 3

Funny story behind this...