Last Day of School

It is hard to believe that my first year of teaching is almost over (tomorrow!!)!  I never thought I would be where I am, doing what I am doing this time almost a year ago.  So much has happened and I have learned so many things about myself, teaching and life it is difficult to put into words.

This time last year I was on a tiny plane, headed to the northern wilderness for an interview at Maquatua Eeyou School in Wemindji, QC.  It was there that I met Carmen, a friend for life, and Brandi, who showed us the ins and outs of the town and gave us some great advice, and where I saw the school I would soon be spending my days and nights in.  It certainly doesn't feel like only a short year has passed, it feels like I have been here for a decade - in both good and not-so-good ways, but overall this experience has been incredible. 

I can't begin to describe the friendships and bonds I have created while here.  I have made best friends for life with whom I share such a special link, I am sure I will never find the same anywhere else.  We laugh, we cry and we gossip, its the perfect relationship! We annoy each other, we help each other, we are each others family in the North and I couldn't imagine sharing my time with a better bunch of people up here. I am so lucky to have met my friends here and know that no matter what, they support me, they have my back and they would do anything for me.  That is something truly special and I try not to take it for granted!

Some things I have learned living and teaching in isolation is how special and precious the little things we take for granted daily become.  I was explaining this to my mother once on a short trip home a few weeks back. Rather than see the things I miss out on as being deprived of due to my location, I choose to consider them special and a treat when I am finally able to get my hands on them.  For example, sushi - not exactly common fare in Wemindji.  When I get home and get to treat myself to a delicious all-you-can-eat-sushi lunch with friends, it is that much more special than it would be any old day of the week living in the GTA.  Things like a grocery store, a library, MCDONALDS, oil filters, salad dressings, fresh veg and fruit, pad thai, kitchen ware, Dollarama, a movie theatre, Costco, sunlight and warmth - all become fun treats I can experience when I am home for my short visits.  Of course I complain non stop about being "deprived" but its really all jokes.  I love to shop and if it means shopping and stocking up so I can access these things in my pantry at any time then I am game!

Family is also another thing that becomes more precious the more you are away, and I am sure many will agree.  The time you spend when you come home is special and the conversations you hold are more meaningful and deep.  My family has been and endless source of support in every sense and I am very grateful for this.

My friends back home have also been amazing.  Never have I felt more loved and appreciated by my friends who make time to see me in the business of the few weeks I am down south in the year.  This is something I truly appreciate and value. 

Now, I am not going to sit here and act like this year wasn't hard. It was INCREDIBLY hard.  I worked my butt off with a difficult class and there were many, many bumps along the way.  Everything I learned in teacher's college was pretty much immediately thrown out the window and I had to be resourceful and learn a lot on the go.  The kids up here are different.  Special, incredible, spontaneous, smart, funny, inquisitive, crazy individuals.  They make me laugh, they also make me cry!  I has given a smart but needy class but I feel like I tried my hardest and did my best.  I feel prepared to take on any educational situation now that I have spent one year teaching in my class haha. I couldn't have done any of it without the constant support of my amazing teaching partner Stacy and my incredible Cycle team Marsha, Carmen and Monika (honorary Cycle 1 member).  I can truly say I couldn't have made it through without their shoulders to lean on and their sound and valuable advice.  I hope that I provided the same for them!

I can't believe a year is over.  I have spent this year learning about myself as a person, what I need, what I want, what I can offer and what makes me tick.  I have learned about relationships, how to get into and out of trouble, how to be a professional and how to teach.  I have learned what things work in a classroom and what doesn't.  I have learned that I need to be more creative next year, that I need to step waaaaay outside my comfort zone and try new things!  I have learned that I can withstand much more than I ever anticipated and that this life agrees with me.  If only Wemindji wasn't a $2000 plane trip or 18 hour car ride away.  Anyways, there is always an open invitation to anyone willing to make the trek, its a beautiful drive! I can't wait to take a second crack at Grade 2 next year and work to improve on the things I tried this year. 

I am looking forward to a fun-filled and drama-filled year with the best of friends.  I hope you have enjoyed reading! Stay tuned for Part 2, When in Wemindji 2013/2014 ;)



Some highlights!

MY HOUSE HAS BEEN BROKEN INTO

Now that I have your attention, yes its true.  My house has been broken into. Allow me to explain.

I walk into my house at approximately 9pm.  I immediately notice little brown clusters on the floor.  Walking further into my house I see the lid to my Tupperware cereal container also lying on the floor.  I walk a little further, taking each step cautiously, my breath - bated.  I see more little brown clusters, I realize these clusters to be poop.  I pick up my phone and immediately text my friends, alerting them to the emergency and explaining that there must be an animal in my house and I am freaking out. I investigate my house,  checking all the screens and windows for signs of a furry intruder.  I find none.  I come back to the kitchen to find that chachkies have been knocked off my stove.  I hesitantly look up into the vent fan, hoping there is no bat waiting for me there.  There is not.  I peek behind my shower curtain - bat? bear? Neither. I pause by the now spoiled cereal container.  The lid is very hard to pry off without the use of thumbs or upper body strength, so my imagination runs wild.  Neighborhood child? Racoon? Northern Werewolf my kids swear exists?  I then see a tidy tear in my kitchen window screen.  SQUIRREL.

I am praying to every single god that this squirrel came, ate my cereal, took 6 poops and left.  I hope that he will not surprise me a) during my midnight bathroom trip, b) when I hop into bed, c) while I am writing this.  After a particularly stressful day at work, I am IN NO MOOD TO DEAL WITH A CEREAL STEALING RODENT. I will kill it.  I have an electric fly swatter with newly charged batteries. 

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

The Bridesmaid has landed.

After 7 hours of travel, 5 stops and 1 connection, 1 very turbulent ride (my butt left my seat 3 times), being seated beside the emergency exit (hold my purse, I got this) and in front of an amorous drunk man, and forgotten at the airport, I AM HOME. 

Air Creebec food didn't disappoint and I am planning on a late-night stop at McDonald's to feed this deprived beast.

Stay tuned for what I can only imagine will be a wicked weekend wedding celebration :) 

Sunny Weekend

I forgot to mention that the weather, when not snowing, has been beautiful up here lately.  By beautiful I mean that the sun is shining and of course, no snow is falling at that current time.  I take these rare opportunities to get outside, sit on some generous friend's back deck and soak in the rays (with SPF 50 of course).  My goal since Goose Break was to even out the weird arrangemet of color I get yearly from wearing tank tops.  I call it the "bib", where only the chest and arms get color and the rest stays white for the whole year.  So, I brave the temperatures for the sake of some even sun and hopefully I will be bibless by the wedding this weekend (strapless dress, not a pretty look with uneven skin colors all over this place).

This week the school has begun their annual Cree School Board testing.  Yesterday was an interesting experience and Monday morning is no time to try and conduct a standardized test but there you go.  Hopefully today will be mildly more successful, I have bribed them with bubblegum for good behavior so we'll see how that goes.  Otherwise the countdown is on, I will be flying out Thursday afternoon to Toronto and having a ball reconnecting with old friends, eating wedding cake and most likely making a fool out of myself.

I scrounged up a few more pictures for friends and family back home to see of my new place!  Enjoy.

The spare bedroom sans mattress.

My bedroom! Matching bedroom furniture for the first time in my life ha!

 Laundry/Utility room - every mother's dream.

 Yes, that would be floor to ceiling SHELVING

 Oh Lawd, this room could easily be a third bedroom for its size, imagine how quickly I am going to fill it up with my junk.

 Hallway with cupboards on the right wall/

 Kitchen/Dining area.

 Front door with "mudroom" type thing behind that door.  TONS of room for all my unnecessary and impractical shoes.

 My backyard

 My backyard!!!!!

 ...the treehouse... deathtrap

 The temperature on Sunday - perfect for sunbathing, a balmy 9 degrees :|

 Getting crispy.

 My bathroom! Storage galore! Ahh!