Turning over a new leaf

Out with the old, in with the new... is that how that saying goes?

Well I'm officially finished my maternity leave replacement contract with my grade ones (that's right, I'm reverting back to my canadian-isms). Friday was a fun day full of love, cards, popcorn, cake, dancing to BEP and gifts (including a panini grill - coolest teacher gift ever!).

The weekend was spent apartment hunting. It seems like it's all I think about these days. So I don't want to talk about it on here. It gets pretty tedious. Wish us luck!

As of tomorrow, I'll be replacing a teacher who needs surgery (I hope she'll be OK). It's elementary school ESL, which will be fun and different.

Other than that, we have lots of fun crazy rugby friends visiting for Easter weekend, so I will surely have updates about our shenanigans up sometime next week!

developing a sense of smell

one of my cutie patooties at work today was walking around by herself at recess with an odd look on her face. 'Wathca doing?' I asked. 'I'm smelling my friends' was her answer. BEST MOMENT OF MY DAY! This is why I teach!

I've been having lots of ups and downs lately, as my class has been somewhat *cough cough* (OK extremely) misbehaved. But I have great friends and a supportive husband who remind me that what I do and what I need to focus on is being there for that child and helping them to discover the world.

On a sort-of related note, one of my friends sent me an article on TCKs (Third Culture Kids) that I found super interesting. I definitely am a TCK and relate well to other TCKs, I guess it has to do with sharing a similar experience and upbringing. Here is a book and brief summary about Third Culture Kids. Have a great day!

If that was an April Fool's joke, it was NOT FUNNY!

I had the most awful teaching day today. I really hope my students weren't trying to be funny, because they really weren't. The day started OK, but they were noisy and obnoxious from the get-go. Then they had English class with another teacher who was almost in tears afterwards. She had to have them do an exam and they were silly and loud and when she asked for their agendas to write notes to the parents they THREW them at her! I was enraged! There was a student against teachers hockey game at lunch-time recess that I didn't allow them to watch - they had to sit with their heads on the desk and reflect about what it means to be a good student. Then they were quiet and did their work and were well-behaved for an hour. Then they went to afternoon recess and came back to activity time (I was worried because they have more freedom and they can talk, but I figured they could handle it). They were pretty good, I had to remind them about their indoor voices a few times, but nothing too crazy. The end of the day rolled around and they had to pack their backpacks and became so rambunctious! They were running, screaming, throwing each other things... I was speechless! I let them know how awful their behaviour was and told them if I were in their shoes I would be ashamed of myself! I've reflected and thought about it for the past little while and I know I haven't done anything differently. I have the same rules, routines and procedures in the class. I am applying the rewards and consequences the same way I have been since day one. I know everyone has bad days, but this was like all 29 of them having a hay-day at the same time! I am leaving in two weeks though, and they know this, so I think they might be reacting to that, but I hate making up excuses for them. They were just misbehaving. I guess it happens to the best of us.

On a more positive note, I signed a contract for the next school year. I'm back in Kindergarten at a school that is super close to where I currently live! I'll be teaching in French. The school is opening Kindergarten classes for the first time ever so I can help plan the program and set everything up and there is a possibility of long-term at this school, which is very exciting! We'll see if I like it, it seems pretty strict, but I might find I have enough freedom in my own classroom.

I hope you had a better April fool's than I did.

Things kids say (part 2)

You may remember a while back I posted about some awesome student questions. Well these aren't questions, but they sure are worth blogging about.

1. A student is wandering the school looking for her left shoe. 

First teacher runs into her: "Hey how come you only have one shoe on?" 

Student: "Oh it got lost in space, so I'm looking for it."

Second teacher runs into her: "Hey, where's your other shoe?"

Student: "Oh it's still on vacation in Cuba." (this was just after we got back from Spring Break)

2. We have a green-yellow-red behaviour system at school, so when students misbehave they're in the 'yellow' and eventually in the 'red.

Student: "Miss, if I'm in the yellow one day and I bring you lots of money, can I be in the green again?"

Me: "Well, what do you think?"

Student: "Um.... ya?"

Me: "No! No, no, no, the world does not work this way!" 

(all the while thinking how sad it is that he's already figured it all out)

That's all I can remember right now... I might post some more later if I remember them!

A (very long) day in the life...

Today I feel like sharing what it's like to be me. So here is what a day in my shoes looks like. Most of it happens every weekday (give or take a few details) and the after school stuff was a one-time thing, but it makes the story more exciting (at least I think it does).

5:50am - wake up, go to the bathroom, get dressed, wash face, brush teeth (I hate the icky morning breath taste in my mouth so yes I brush my teeth before I eat breakfast), do hair (ponytail or mousse), do makeup
6:15am - take lunch out of the fridge and place it near my bag (I make my lunch the night before), pour coffee and cereal, add milk (2% for cereal, 3.85% for coffee), drink & eat while checking mail, facebook and blogs on my iPhone (yesterday also included BBC news because of many statuses along the lines of 'my prayers are with Japan')
6:30am - transfer coffee from normal to traveller's mug, go to the bathroom, say goodbye to Paul, get dressed and leave the house (the walk to the metro was treacherous because of ice hiding under big puddles)
6:45am - take the metro
7:00am - meet my friend G for a ride to school
7:30am - arrive at school, say hi to people, go by the staff room
7:35am - get to my classroom, change the schedule of the day, write the morning message
7:40am - I was on supervision duty this week so I supervised students' arrival
7:55am - bell rings, kids start coming into the classroom - they start in gym though, so I worked away on report cards
9:35am - pick the students up from gym class, stop for bathroom and water, have them eat a snack and do the spelling test right away
10:35am - English class - more report card time for me (and correcting the spelling tests and planning for next week)
11:25am - lunch time = eat and laugh with colleagues who say inappropriate things
12:25pm - students come in from lunch recess and we have 10 mins relaxation time (yesterday we listened to 'Hey Jude' by the Beatles)
12:35pm - morning routine (which is usually at 8 or so, but since our Friday schedule is different, we do it the afternoon) Morning routine includes reading the morning message, checking the weather and filling out the graph, putting a shape on the calendar on today's date, and counting - yesterday we counted even numbers to 100
1:00pm - calligraphy homework - the students are really quiet while they do this, I feel it's a bit like doing a mandala, they are super concentrated
1:30pm - the students leave for recess, I don't have to supervise so I stay in with the ones who need extra help or time to finish up work
2:00pm - relaxation time ('Nous aurons' de Richard Desjardin) and deal with recess conflicts, I had one student come in absolutely bawling her eyes out, but she calmed down
2:10pm - finish up the homework
2:30pm - prepare backpacks - I give out the work I corrected for the students to take home and get signed, important notices from the office, etc.
3:00pm - finish reading 'Puss in Boots' which they absolutely LOVED!
3:20pm - get dressed and ready to go
3:30pm - bell rings, I take the students outside and say hi to a few parents, and supervise for a bit
3:40pm - back inside, prepare things for Monday
4:00pm - leave school with a different ride since I'm not going straight home
4:30pm - arrive at a community center in Anjou where I had to meet a friend. I'll be starting a new job soon (leading motor skills activities with 1 to 4 year olds on Saturday mornings) so I needed to fill out some paperwork. It turns out I was in the wrong building, so a few phone calls later, I arrived where I was supposed to be.
4:45pm - get a T-shirt and the program for the activities I'll be leading, fill out the appropriate paperwork (call my brother and my sister because I forget my social insurance number and ours are very similar since my parents asked for them at the same time)
5:20pm - leave with my friend and her colleague, get a phone call from my parents saying they'll be eating downtown and do I want to join them? I'm pretty far from downtown so I tell them I'll meet them for desert
6:00pm - a bus and metro ride later, I arrive at Berri-Uqam (downtown) and eat a sub at Quizno's (I was super hungry - remember the last time I ate was at 11:25am!). Walk towards L'Académie (the restaurant my parent's are at) and talk to my brother
6:30pm - arrive at the restaurant at the same time dinner arrives for my parents (they had taken forever with their starters in case I wanted to join them for dinner, how sweet!), eat a bit of my mom's calamari. Order three crème brulées for desert. The fire alarm starts to ring so my first instinct is to evacuate, but nobody seems to care about the deafening noise. Our waiter tells us a steak was burned in the kitchen but everything is OK. Our desert comes and the fire alarm rings again and again and again, until the owner comes to tell us dinner is free and we should leave. So my parents go a LOT of food for free!
8:00pm - My parents drive me home and I see the snow plow go by and think of all of my friends who have never seen a snow plow.
8:15pm - I come home to this:

Can we say Best Husband EVER?????  I think so! He arrived shortly after I got home.
We watched the news on TV - the images from Japan are truly terrifying! I hope they are able to recover quickly.
9:30pm - completely crash on the couch. Get up, brush my teeth, wash my face and fall into a deep and glorious sleep.

Spring Break 2011

Not at all as glamourous as Spring Break 2009 (Cancun) or as busy as Spring Break 2010 (knee operation & wedding stuff in Montreal), but great none-the-less.

I'll describe each event day by day because I'm linear and organised like that.

Saturday, February 26th - you already read about my morning fishy pedicure and brunch. During the afternoon, Paul and I headed to a friend's house for her son's second birthday. It was really fun to see all of her family again, some people I hadn't seen in years. Her son was a delight! He is obsessed with Mickey Mouse and seemed a little traumatized when he had to cut his cake, since it was shaped like Mickey's face. He also loved playing with our iPhones - he knows how to work them better than some adults I know! Afterwards, Paul & I decided to check out La Nuit Blanche that occurs during the Festival of Lights in Montreal. Other than some great improv, we had already been to all of the other activities offered at the Old Port and were just met by huge crowds. Next year we'll have to go to a concert or another event of some sort to truly experience it.

Sunday, February 27th - Oscar Night! My sister came over to watch with us and we enjoyed critiquing the dresses. Isn't that always the best part of the Oscars? I think my favourite this year was Mila Kunis (picture from http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/2011/02/2011_oscars_mil.html). Also, yay for Colin Firth and Natalie Portman's wins!!! I definitely agree they were this year's best acting performances.

Monday, February 28th - Had a boring TV day which was very welcome and needed! We watched a lot of episodes from the Tudors. My brother came over that evening to chit chat. The guys were very disappointed that I made them watch The Bachelor with me. I really hope Chantal O wins! I'll find out in 2 weeks!

Tuesday, March 1st - Had coffee with a good friend of mine who helped me zero in on my goal for my Africa Project Idea.

Wednesday, March 2nd - Went for an X-ray of my sinuses and then to the otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist). She told me there is nothing wrong with my sinuses, but I have severe chronic rhinitis, which explains my constant nose congestion. Potentially, I could get surgery, but for the time being I'll continue taking my Flonase and using my Neti Pot to clean out my sinuses. She said that's the best I can do without surgery. I also spend a long time at Tim Hortons between my appointments and played Roll up the Rim to Win for the 5th time and lost again! Supposedly there are 1 in 6 chances of winning, so next time I better win the car! My parents and I went to Ikea for lunch and also to look at the As-Is section where there are always great finds. Oh by the way, on Monday night, Paul & I found an awesome coffee table out on the street for the garbage men to pick up, so we now have a great new (to us) coffee table!

Thursday, March 3rd - Got my hair cut - finally! I have been talking about getting a hair cut since the beginning of the school year. I decided to go to a beauty school right around the corner from where I live in order to pay less, but that was a BAD idea. First of all, they were super disorganised about my appointment which was supposed to be Tuesday, but then the hair dresser was sick (really, you only have one hairdresser?) and then they lost my appointment. Needless to say, it did not bode well. I arrived to see a guy who looked like he was 18 years old and had no idea how to deal with clients, let alone cut hair. It kept getting worse from there - he washed my hair with super cold, then super hot water (I complained both times), he left me with my hair wet in a super uncomfortable position for about 5 minutes (I have no idea where he went), he did not massage my head when he washed. Then for the actual cut, I told him I'd love to have short hair and something really different because I was sick of wearing my hair in a ponytail. He told me he didn't want to go too short and that he wanted to add layers in order to add volume. BORING! So basically, my hair isn't that different than it was and I'll probably be wearing ponytails until I can get another cut in about a month or so. After that, I went to my fellow first grade teacher's apartment to plan out the rest of the school year basically. We are such keeners! We had a great time catching up and planning. It's great to work with someone you get along with. I've kind of lucked out that way so far in my teaching career! We went to the movies that night, along with another colleague and Paul. We saw Biutiful (the movie by Iñárritu with Javier Bardem). It was beautiful indeed, despite the fact that it was really sad. I felt like it ended on a very hopeful note. We went to discuss the movie over a few beers afterwards. We had the inevitable Quebec/Canada discussion, which was very interesting. I love talking with different people and hearing different points of view.

Friday, March 4th - I was holed up in my room all day since repairmen came to fix the ceiling. You can read about what happened to our ceiling on Paul's blog. I felt like a little kid in a fort with all of the furniture around the bed. It was kind of fun to be forced to have nothing to do. I also ... I hate that there isn't a perfect word in English for 'aprovechar' or 'profiter'... took advantage of always sounds like someone or something is being violated. Anyway, I took advantage of the free time to do an online training course for a part-time job I'll be starting soon. On Saturday mornings, I'll be teaching gross motor skills to 1 to 4 year olds (accompanied by their parents, of course). I taught gymnastics to 2 to 4 year olds before so I figure this wont be too different, and it'll be nice to have some extra money coming in.

Saturday, March 5th - Well, the repairmen had to come back, so Paul and I had a very lazy day. I went to the pharmacy and to the library, but other than that watching TV and surfing the internet were the only activities.

Sunday, March 6th (today) - Repairmen came back AGAIN (trust me, my landlord is one of my best friends and is definitely not happy about this situation). I didn't mind too much since I went out for coffee with a friend and am now getting ready for hot yoga with my mom and sister.

All in all, I'd say this Spring Break was a good combination of laziness, new projects and seeing friends I hadn't seen in a while.

Africa Project Idea

Africa Project Idea

Long-term Goal  (25 years from now):  help manage a school in Africa (ideally my own school in Monrovia, Liberia)

Medium-term Goal (5 years): volunteer with an NGO in an African country helping to:

·      Train teachers

·      Develop curriculum

·      Build schools

·      Set up reading programs, etc.

Short-term Goal (this summer - 2011): work in an NGO to help the development of education in Africa

            Steps I can take to make it happen:

·      Post on Facebook to see if any friends have contacts of where I could work or intern this summer

·      Do a needs analysis:

o   Which African country would I want to work in?

o   Is it French or English speaking?

o   What is the government like?

o   Is the situation stable?

o   Are all children expected to go to school?

o   Does the government help fund education?

o   What are the private schools like?

o   What NGOs are currently established in the country?

o   Do I have contact with anyone living, volunteering or teaching there?

o   Are there any Canadian NGOs there?

*If you are reading this and can help me achieve my dream in any way, shape or form, I'd be glad to hear from you!