When in Wemindji...: Friday Freedom!

Its the weekend people, hooray!

What does that mean for me? It means I will catch up on some much needed sleep, get some planning and prep done in the classroom, clean a little at home, possibly/maybe/probably not have some social time and dig out my snowblower. Yes my life is sometimes so exciting I have to slow down and catch my breath.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Report cards were due this week and I spent a few days catching some kids up, doing last minute assessments and making sure all my ducks were in a row before parent-teacher interviews took place this afternoon. Administration is trying a few different approaches to getting parents into the school for interviews and so far this was was the least successful attempt for my class. We've tried the evening meetings, late afternoon meetings and now after-lunch meetings. However, today with 2 out of town tournaments, Frozen on Ice in Montreal, various other events taking place and the interviews being held from 1-4:30, it appears turn out wasn't the best. But you have to try something different before giving up completely! I was happy to see some parents who I really wanted to talk to so that was a plus.

Last weekend my friend Shelby held a sort-of northern tax return clinic in my classroom. There are so many little nooks and crannies to consider when filing your taxes in another province and in a northern location, it becomes a very complicated process in my opinion. I literally had to have my hand held the entire time but came out very successful!! We even found a mistake from last years return which could potentially bring me more money when I fix it so fingers crossed!!!

This week was a 3 day teaching week since yesterday and today were PED days. Even though it was only 3 days in class, it felt like 3000 and someone definitely played a dirty joke by feeding all the students meth-laced lollipops. While I respect the timing of Goosebreak to honor tradition and that nature really dictates the scheduling of our break, I see the logic in a March Break. This applies to both teachers and students. The term "March Madness" really rings true around this time of year. The kids are loopy and the teachers even more so. To pass time and lighten the mood, my comrades and I resorted to practical jokes this week which more often than not left us laughing until we cried at the expense of our colleagues' sanity. It all began with an online ransom note generator and truly tailspun out from there. Soon we were kidnapping white boards and keyboards, demanding mini eggs in return for our friend's precious possessions. It was seriously hilarious and really helped us get through a few rough days.

To beat the winter blues I also highly recommend downloading this eerily accurate daily horoscope app. It has been giving us insight and entertainment the past few days although I have been more stressed out by the vagueness of mine than anything else.

The weather has been unpredictable and as usual, cold but improving! Snowing and windy, my driveway has all but disappeared. I have just enough space to pull in and not much more. Crazy winds this week literally buried my snowblower so I have to dig it out and get to work expanding my parking spot! I have been feeling a renewed sense of hope as now it is getting lighter earlier! No more "2 hours of daylight" business, now I get to school in the daylight and if I'm lucky, leave in the daylight too!! Soon enough we will be experiencing the freaky "sunlight from 4am-11pm" phenomenon and I'll need to dig out my sleep mask.