When in Wemindji...: The Countdown Is On

Well it is officially December and that means that I can officially begin Christmas festivities in the classroom! I have lots planned (probably a little ambitious seeing as we only have 13.5 teaching days before the Christmas holidays start) and I spent a couple of hours in the classroom this weekend decorating and creating my new Christmas/Winter themed door! I kept the hamsters with the kid's faces on them for later as I feel the hamster theme is one I will stick with throughout the year.

With the Christmas concert, Staff Christmas dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange, Cycle 1 Christmas dinner, classroom parties and Christmas Tea, a trip to the pool for a Cycle 1 swim, Show and Tell AND all the curriculum I have to fit in, December is gearing up to be a busy but fun month. We will be writing letters to Santa tomorrow and starting a new Christmas-themed mini-unit on Positional Language as well as Christmas and Winter-themed unit on Data Management. These units are fun to play around with which is something I am looking forward to.

After another (glorious) afternoon power-out on Friday I am a little behind but will try my best to catch up. Friday night was a celebratory pot-luck recognizing the publication of an article (page 30) about MES's upcoming trip to Nicaragua. We had some great food, a lot of laughs and decompressed after a long week! On Saturday I enlisted the help of my good friends MoniKa, Carmen and Sam to help me seek out and chop down my second annual Wemindji Christmas Tree! We were successful and I am now in full Christmas mode! My tree leaves a lot to be desired but it is small, cute and just what my house needed.

I am STILL mother to 6 hamsters (if anyone knows someone who wants some hamsters I am rich in them). Not much has changed there. It seems Carmonika has taken the time to recover from what I can only assume was postpartum depression and she is back to her cute self. We hung out on the couch the other night and cuddled. It is what I have always wanted in a hamster. The others aren't so friendly, especially the blind ones. All of them are very jumpy still and pretty much hate me when I come near so I am just keeping my distance and trying to slowly win them over with treats. I will keep you updated.

Well there has been an exciting development! Stacy, my wonderful, generous, kind and did I mention beautiful? teaching partner is going on leave for a few months. This kind of absence usually presents a bit of a problem in the school since we have essentially ZERO substitutes. Well, we have a couple but they are working constantly with 2 parental-leaves happening at the school, a sick leave and daily teacher absences, so finding a long-term sub is near to impossible. SO, with a lack of reliable, consistent long-term substitute teachers, the possibility of Stacy's class being covered by many different people was becoming a reality. Then, as luck (for Stacy, not so much for my mom), my mother was laid off last week (Merry Christmas?!). I told my mom about the need for a long-term substitute teacher and she jumped at the chance to cover for Stacy while Stacy was off. I ran the idea past Stacy and she was QUITE excited let's say. The idea of having a consistent, reliable, competent substitute teacher take your class for 3 months is a highly attractive option. While my mother isn't a qualified teacher (or even a teacher at all) I am pretty confident in her ability to keep the ball rolling in Stacy's classroom. She is fair and firm but also compassionate and caring. Stacy has a nice small class of 12 with an educator for her student with Special Needs, tons of resources and a classroom that is already set up and ready to go. Luckily, we are already planned for the year so my mom really only has to show up, make sure she teaches what is set out, maintain the routine and take care of Stacy's teacherly duties. I will be in the room next door ready to help out at any time and help guide my mom along as we teach, assess, plan and coordinate. I am really excited at the prospect of working alongside my mummy in such a unique situation! My mother needed a change and she got one! My mom will also be living with me for the term of her contract and will be bringing... you guessed it... BOBO with her!! She will be driving back up with me after Christmas and starting the new year off with a bang! I am going to take my plans for the next 3 months home this Christmas and prep her for the kinds of things we will be covering in the curriculum, the upcoming assessments (PM Benchmarks, CAMS testing, CAT4) and give her a crash-course in teaching! Only having been a teacher for one year I can hardly call myself the expert, but I hope I can give her some tips and tools that will make the transition from Stacy to Philippa as smooth as possible.

So now my mother and I are talking daily, making plans, discussing expectations, getting the necessary paperwork in order and I am trying to think of everything she might need while up here. It is going to be a busy holiday but exciting as we prepare for a whole new adventure!