What We Say

I have been practicing Narrative Elaboration with the kids for as long as I can remember. Knowing how imperative early meaningful discourse is for babies and toddlers to their cognitive development (especially non-present discourse) it has been important to us that we foster these skills early on.

Interestingly, both kids seem to enjoy non-present discourse the most out of the types of communication we carry out throughout a typical day. Since the first three years of life is the most intensive period for acquiring speech and language skills, we had to make the most of the time we had. And did we ever!

Each night, as I tuck little Pea into bed, I lie face to face with him while he recounts the day (with my help). We start with what we had for breakfast then move through the day's events chronologically (an example of non-present discourse). At the end, he tells me what part of the day was his favourite. Lately, and in keeping with the next stage of communication, he makes sure to ask me to tell him what part of the day was my favourite. This exchange of communication, the taking on of my perspective, is indicative of another key milestone in his own language development.

One of the most important language processing tips I learned was from teaching. I once read an almost unbelievable statistic that the time between a question posed by a teacher and the selection of a student to answer that question was a mere 9/10 of a SECOND. Crazy! Since that time, I made a conscious effort to count to 10 before selecting a student to answer a question. Interestingly, the longer I gave the students to think about an answer, the more hands went up to respond. We all need time to process. Some of us need a little longer. So, in keeping with this tactic, I try to give the twins a lot of time to process a question before answering it for them or giving them a consequence for not adjusting behaviour accordingly.

The science of language is fascinating to me and it is staggering to imagine all those neurons firing off in the twins' brains day in and day out. I love this age of emergent reading and language development. It makes me so happy!

Last Day Of Nursery School

Since February, the twins have been attending nursery school on Mondays and Wednesday for a couple of hours each day and today marked the kids' last day.  Over the past few weeks, I scoured the web looking for ideas for teachers' gifts (you'd think I'd have a handle on this given my profession) and decided to make some yummy vegan fare for each of their four teachers.  Two teachers received vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (see yesterday's post for pictures) and the other two teachers received vegan chocolate zucchini loaves.  I ran with M3's idea for the gift, so THANKS!

Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Loaves

Our card read, "We 'loafed' being in your class!"

The cookie card read, "Thank you for making us smart 'cookies'!"

These four women are the BEST!

From left to right: Miss Cindy, Miss Joy, Miss Susan, and Miss Holly.

Montessori

It is a well-known fact that my goal was to stay home with our children until they were old enough to be enrolled in JK (which meant staying home until September of 2013).  However, when I applied for a third leave of absence, my employer denied it stating that there were too many people waiting in line for my job (true) and that the was a precedence set in the board to only allow two years LOA for any employee.  I didn't like this, but I accepted it after some time.

I gave the twins three full years of being home with me, learning from me, receiving valuable skills and security from me (not to mention all the love, cuddles, hugs and kisses I could give them) and I feel pretty good about where they are in their development.  They are ready, even if I am not, to enter the world of school.

We did some research into the possible care facilities in our area (three that were recommended to us, at least) and tried to keep an open mind with all of them.

The first was a daycare facility just down the road from the high school where I teach.  A few of my current colleagues have their children there and they each raved about how much their children enjoyed it.  I made an appointment to tour the facility and was somewhat disappointed in both the staff and in the facility itself.  Sure there would be catered lunches and I wouldn't have to worry about preparing lunch for the kids, but the room in which they would be all day was small, the windows were above their heads and a college student was singing songs with the toddler group when we visited.  It just didn't seem to "fit" the twins' personalities.

The second was a convent my parents wanted me to check out.  My parents work closely with this particular church and raved about the daycare the nuns ran.  So, my mom and I (and the twins) dropped in one day to see what this care facility was like. As warm and caring as the nuns were, I was disappointed to see that the toddler group was sitting on the floor watching a movie.  The baby group (18-24 month old children) were in a room playing on their own while a nun washed the floor.  The room in which the twins would be all day was bright, but small and had very simple toys.  Again, not a good fit for our kids.

The last option was a Montessori School close to J.'s work and less than a 5 minute drive from our home.  Truthfully, I didn't think we would be able to afford Montessori, but the price difference between the first option and Montessori was a measly $10 a month.  I was shocked.  When the teachers at the Montessori School showed us the activities in which the kids would be engaged, I immediately knew that they would love it there.  The school's activities were very much in tune with those that I have been doing with the kids here at home.  The room was bright, large, full of floor to ceiling windows, and had interesting (and bilingual - which is very important to us) activities and posters around.  The play yard was beautifully landscaped and the toys were engaging as well.  We were shown the gymnasium on the upper level and it was HUGE. The twins didn't want to leave when our tour was over and this spoke volumes relevant to their comfort.  It was a no-brainer as it was the only place I visited in which I felt the kids would be happy and challenged (not to mention cared for in the best possible way).  Lunch is not provided (they serve a hot lunch twice a week for a small fee) but I was happy about this because of the nature of our kids' diets.  I would be able to provide them the proper nutrition I know they need and wouldn't worry about them being served processed junk.

So, come Fall, I will be back to teaching full time and the kids will be in school from 9am until 3:30pm every day.  They will be three years old by then and more than ready to start a new chapter in their lives.  Not sure if I feel the same about me.

Caring Enough To Be Involved

I spent the first 10+ years of my teaching career in the intermediate grades and primarily with grade eight students. Every Monday morning, we would spent quite a bit of time chatting about our weekends - what we did, who we spent time with, and anything interesting that happened along the way. It was a great opportunity for me to foster a relationship with the students, as I told them about my weekends as well. It was a great way to begin our weeks together.

On this one particular Monday, one of the students (a fairly popular kid notorious for his freedom - we'll call him K.) talked about a party he attended on Friday night. The ears of the other students in the class practically bent toward him as though his words were magnetic. Clearly, the other students were envious. This kid had no curfew, his parents were okay with him being around older kids they didn't know, and he was given money every day so that he could go to the plaza and buy whatever lunch he wished. Ensued was a discussion (more of a complaint session) about who had the worst curfew/worst PIU - Parental Interference Unit, and who were so completely controlled by their parents that freedom was only to be experienced vicariously though others.

When the discussion wound down, I asked the kids to continue to write about their weekends in their journals. For the next 15 minutes, they wrote. That night, I pulled out all of the journals and finally came to K's journal. I will paraphrase what he wrote as I cannot remember everything he said word for word, but the gist of it was this:

I know the class is jealous of my life and the freedom I have. But I'm jealous of them. I wish I had parents who cared enough about me to give me a curfew. I wish I had parents who cared enough about me to know who my friends were. I wish my parents cared enough to take the time to make me a lunch every day instead of giving me cash to go to a pizza place every day. I wish my parents cared enough.

Kids ache for structure and limits.  They require it for health (both mental and physical health).  They want to know that there are expectations for them and they want to know that there a consequences for those times (and there will be times) when those limits have been stretched.  It is their job to push the limits and it is our job to empower them by keeping communication open and allowing them to test the waters with our guidance.  If they can't handle the push and their safety is at risk, then it is our job as parents to pull them back a little.  They will hate us for "interfering" in their social lives now, but they will thank us later. 

Know their friends, their friends' parents, know where they are and have them call you to let you know they are safe.  They will hate this.  But, in the backs of their minds, they will be aware that there are people thinking about them at all times and have an investment in their safety that no one else can possibly understand.

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

We must read this book nearly 50 times a day. Seriously. It came to a point where J. and I had grown so weary of reading it, that we bought more in the series by the same author just to mix things up for ourselves. So, now we have Polar Bear Polar Bear and Baby Bear Baby Bear as well. The kids simply adore the pictures and the sing song melody of the words. The predictability is key for them.
The teacher in me decided to run with this interest and now we are fully into our first thematic unit. Last week, I downloaded a template for the animals, printed them out and laminated them. This week, I bought some teeny magnets*, affixed them to the laminated animals and now have them displayed on the fridge. There are so many activities that one can do with this book and my head is spinning with language development ideas. Today, though, all we did was play with the pictures (it was the twins' first time seeing them) and organize them as we read the story.
This section of our thematic unit cost under $5.  A cheap way to build upon the kids' interests!

*The twins are only allowed to play with the animals under supervision. Those magnets, although affixed with a glue gun, are not chew proof.  So, the animals stay higher up on the fridge when not supervised.

Multiples and More: Question of the Week

For the very first time, I am going to partake in this week's QOTW from the Multiples and More site.
This week's question:

• Is it appropriate to scold other people's children? If yes in what circumstances? If no, why not?

• How do you teach your children to deal with bullies?

 "Scolding" is a term with which I have a difficult time.  "Teaching" is an easier word for me.  Is it appropriate to "teach" children lessons?  Of course.  Does it matter that they are the children of others.  No.  I am a firm believer in the "It takes a village" mentality.  If my son or daughter behave inappropriately and I do not see it, I would hope that another kindhearted person would see an opportunity to teach them what is right and what is wrong.  By "right" and "wrong" I guess I'm speaking about universal "rights" and "wrongs"(especially those that have to do with safety):

• running into the street without looking for traffic
• bullying someone on the playground
• taking someone's toy away from them
• teasing someone
• stealing something

You get the idea.  Yes, I realize that every parent has their own idea(l)s about how children should behave, but I'm talking about specific things that put children at risk or which could put them at risk in the future.  Depending of the severity of the action, I would most times expect that whomever has redirected my child(ren) to tell me what was said so that I can speak with my children about it later.  Even if I don't agree with how the adult has redirected my children, it will provide an opportunity for me to discuss why the adult felt it necessary to do so.  I wonder if my teaching background has anything to do with my feelings on this.  I mean, parents essentially have trusted me for 13+ years to provide direction in their absence and I've never taken it lightly.  Not every parent has agreed with the way I have handled a particular situation and, to be quite honest, I have not handled all situations with the grace and gentleness I could have. 

Even outside of teaching, I have never held back (heh...people who really know me will know what not holding back essentially means) from redirecting or teaching someone when the opportunity arises. 

Last year, I was in our local pharmacy/drug mart when I saw a boy (about ten or eleven years of age) knock a bunch of things off of a shelf.  I saw that his mother was in the cash register aisle and when my eyes scanned back to the boy, he was about to walk away leaving the mess on the floor.  I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at him without an expression.  I wasn't scowling, but I wasn't friendly either.  In that moment, he stared back at me for maybe 5 seconds before slowly crouching down to pick up the items he knocked onto the floor.  Only when it was all back on the shelf did I avert my gaze and continue walking.  A gentle, but firm redirection. 

Additionally, I don't discriminate between adults and children.  In fact, what prompted me to answer this week's question was an experience I had this afternoon.  I was driving through town in the rain when a sports car cut me off and made me slam on my brakes, causing me to skid on the wet pavement.  Luckily the babies were home with J., but still.  I pulled into the parking lot of the shop I was heading toward and lo and behold the car that sped and cut me off, cut me off again in the parking lot.  I followed him to where he was parking and he pulled into a "Expectant Parents and Parents With Small Children" spot.  I parked and got out of my car and when I passed him (he was getting a stroller out of his trunk and his partner was getting the baby out of the backseat) I said,
"I can't believe you drive like that with a baby in the car!"
He quickly told me to "Eff Off" (using the full words)
I said, "Nice!"
His partner yelled, "Mind your own effing business!"
To which I turned and stated, "When children are involved, it's EVERYONE'S business."
The woman yelled more things to me, but I walked into the store and didn't listen. 

I rarely keep quiet when the safety of children is at stake.

The answer to the second question may seem contradictory after reading my thoughts on the above, but I don't strive to make sense.


How do you teach your children to deal with bullies?

My children will both be taught how to fight.  Yes, I said it.  I have seen a TON of bullying as a teacher and I know that schools do NOTHING to protect the victims.  Even the so-called "zero tolerance" school boards...pfffft!  School boards protect and fall all over themselves for the parents who are bullies, so I will definitely not expect the school to handle any bullying situation in which my child is the so-called victim. Chick and Pea will know how to protect themselves and we will fully support them when they get suspended from school for fighting with a bully.  Of course, we will ensure that they only use physical force if they have no other alternative, but nothing stops a bully faster than being stood up to.  I should know...I was one in high school.  In fact, my parents (remember that my father is a retired school principal) had to be called into a meeting with my principal because I (ahem) "didn't know the difference between being assertive and aggressive" when it came to my teachers.  Apparently, I was intimidating to some.  My parents read the blog, so they can attest to this fact as can Tanya since we went to the same high school. 

I've come a long way, but I still have some of that fire in me (okay, a lot of that fire, but I do harness it well) and will surely pass it on to Chick and Pea.  The goal will be to teach them to harness it to use it in the appropriate circumstances. 

Living Simply

J. and I have always lived quite simply.  However, since I am now on an extended leave of absence from teaching, we have to find ways to make every dollar stretch as creatively as possible.  In the past month we have made some changes to our lifestyle which, instead of feeling like sacrifices, have felt liberating and exciting. 
We have cut our television channels to the most basic package offered and have done the same with our telephone.  We no longer have a long distance plan (who are we kidding...I never called anyone anyway) and no longer use the air conditioning.  We shop at stores that price match other stores and never buy anything unless it's on sale.  And don't even get me started on my coupon filing system.  It's awesome.
Almost all of the clothes the babies wear have been graciously given to us or lent to us by dear friends and they are well clad until they are three or four.  Anything else they need we buy at consignment shops (we have great ones around here). 
See this picture?  I took it today.  It's of the babies' clothing drying on our brand new clothesline!  We have a gas dryer that is fairly economical, but certainly not as economical as using free wind.  And, really...how long will the government allow wind to remain free?  I kid. Kinda. 

Still, we search for ways to save, yet still enjoy a casual and fun-filled life.  Any other ideas are more than welcome.  What do you do to make your dollar stretch?

First Day Of School

Today is only the second time in 33 years that I have not headed off to school. Am I sad about it? Not one little bit. Not even an OUNCE of sadness or nostalgia. I am living my dream and I am passionate about motherhood. I've never known a passion like this in my life and I plan to soak up every ounce of their babyhood as long as possible. Yes, we'll miss the income and we will be making some pretty big sacrifices in order for me to stay home, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Last year on this day, I was knee deep in "Holy-cow-what-have-we-gotten-ourselves-into-with-these-three-week-old-energy-suckers?". I didn't spend a great deal time really discussing how difficult raising infant twins was because I was just so grateful to have them and to finally be a mother. I never wanted to come across as ungrateful or whiny. But those first few months...sometimes we're not sure how we survived.
This morning, on this first day of school, I really wanted to be out in the neighbourhood soaking up the energy of the parents and children on their way to school. So, I loaded the babies up in their cars and off we went. I loved the crisp morning air and the sun shining warmly on us.

A welcomed sight for many parents.

This is the school in which Chick and Pea be registered in a few years.

I loved seeing this police officer across the street from the school with his radar gun.  The babies and I went over to thank him for being there. 

We hoped that he wouldn't give us a ticket.

We then went to the park to play.

I hope the babies will always be this happy on the first day of school.

Sometimes I Forget

This past week, my dad (a retired principal) and I were asked to judge presentations made by groups of high school students representing local grassroots charities. The winning group would win a $5000 grant for their charity. I saw some of my colleagues and many past students who asked questions about the babies. Driving home, I told my dad that I didn't miss it one bit (teaching). I was more anxious to get home to Chick and Pea than to stay and chat with everyone after the presentations.
Until I saw this tonight and it made me miss it...just a little.

Is It Really A Surprise?

I am a teacher and since education is in my blood it won't come as a shock to anyone the importance I place on strategic stimulation.  Literacy is particularly important to me and since the babies' brains are developing at warp speed, it is important to take advantage of their pliability. 
There is a wonderful teacher's store in Canada that also doubles as a parent's dream.  There are many, many early literacy books, manipulatives and games that empower parents in their quest for meaningful play. 
Yesterday, I headed out in search of a manipulative that would act as a learning tool in a variety of ways.  I easily could have spent hundreds of dollars and the better part of my evening in the store, but with a twin budget I had to hold back.  I settled on a very cool ABCs line.  The cool thing about this line is that the letters are clings!  Instead of putting them on our walls with sticky tack, they cling to ANY surface and can be peeled off and reclung (?) again!  Cool, right?  The other reason I chose these particular clings is that I can teach them colors (since each letter has its own color), I can teach them numbers (some letters have two objects or more on them) and I can sign the objects (and eventually they will sign back) that are representative of the letters. 
I know...I get too excited about stuff like this.
Here are the babies' reactions to the new "toy".  We are only starting out with A, B and C for now (these letters are on our fridge since the babies like to spend a lot of time around it).

Fond Memories

In kindergarten I was never a good napper (I still never, ever nap) and when all of the other children in the class would be snuggled on their blankets, I would make my way over to Mrs. O's desk and sit with her. She was never frustrated by my lack of drowsiness and would sit with me and show me the "moons" in my fingernails. I loved her so much.

Imagine my surprise when my aunt emailed me this week to tell me that she had been doing a workshop in a class (four hours away) in which the supply teacher was Mrs. O. She gave me her contact information and I sent her an email describing how fond I had always been of her and thanking her for making my kindergarten experience so wonderful. I knew she had likely taught hundreds of children after 1977 (when I was in kindergarten) and didn't expect her to remember much about me. I was shocked when I heard back from her and read how much she had remembered. Here is a snippet of her email to me:

What a pleasant surprise to hear from you. First of all congratulations to you and J. on the birth of your beautiful twins. I like the names you have chosen. We have three grandchildren and our grandson’s name is the same as your son's. Thanks for the picture. You all look great.

I appreciate your sharing your fond memories of KG with me.  The thing I remember most about you in the class was your enthusiasm to learn to read. I used to do word families with the class and you excelled in the area.  You liked to go to the library for books so that you could to choose a book to read for me. I was as enthused as you were because you were so delighted with your being able to read.

I do remember many of the students in that class, like Rhella, Rhonda, Albert, Tim, Cathy, Roxanne and Sean B. who had a big crush on you. Actually you were an awesome class and I had fun with you all.

I am delighted to hear  that you have joined the teaching profession and I hope you enjoy many years in your dream job.

How amazing is that?  For her to remember such detail about a class she taught 33 years ago!!  Crazy!  You can understand why I loved her so much.

First Day of School...But Not For Me

Today marks the first time in 32 years that I am not heading off on the first day of school.  I started elementary school in the fall of 1977 when I was four years old.  From there, I traveled to high school, then to university, then to my first teaching gig right after I graduated.  The last time I stayed home on the first day of school, I was three years old. 

I have waited for this day for far too long.  It may be one of the happiest days of my life. 

I have dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom for as long as I can remember and, like everything else about the miracles we have brought into this world, not a moment will be wasted on me.  I will watch the yellow school buses drive past our house this morning, watch the neighborhood children walk past  with their backpacks almost as big as they, and will revel in the fact that I am doing the most important job of my life.  There is nothing that could make me happier.

Thoughts On The Last Day of School

Today marked the end of my 13th year of teaching.  Thirteen years.  Wow.
I graduated university in April of 1996, spent April, May and June of that year driving from school to school supply teaching for various teachers on leave.  I was offered my first full-time job in September and the rest is history.  One thing I can say for myself is that, throughout the years, I have never rested on my laurels.  Gaining experiences only moved me to strive for new ones.  I have taught grades one, two, six, seven, eight, eleven and twelve.  All by choice and some more enjoyable than others.  For example, after teaching grade seven for a couple of years, I opted to teach a one/two split class and thought I was going to die.  That year, I realized that I am much more comfortable with older students.  The young ones will hunt you down and make you suffer.  The snot, the never-ending stories, the unsolicited hugging...it was all just too much for me.  Yes, I'm definitely more comfortable in the upper grades.

Today also marks the end of my second year of teaching in high school.  Has it been difficult?  Yes.  Would I ever go back to teaching elementary.  No. I do like high school and have found my groove.  Other teachers are now coming to me for lesson plan advice and for resources and this tells me that I am in the right place for now.  That said, I can only sit back and wonder what my next move will be.  I don't like to stay in one place for too long.  Life moves too quickly and there are too many experiences to be had.

For tonight, though, I am happy to take a break from school, to unwind the stresses of the year and contemplate warm summer days spent doing anything I like.  It doesn't get much better than today.

Not That I'm Counting

There are 22 days left of school before exams begin on June 19th.  22 days, people.  I can't wait for summer to arrive, for the air to be consistently warm and for long evening walks in shorts and tees. 

Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed this semester and the students I have (all ninety of them) are really sweet and good natured.  For the most part, I think they think I'm insane, but that's okay.  Today, as a review for a unit test we have tomorrow on Islam, I created a Jeopardy game on PowerPoint.  I told them that there would be a prize for the winners.  When all was said and done, I offered the winning team a Granny Smith Apple that was left over from my lunch.  Would you believe that they actually wanted it?  I walked over to their desks, apple in hand, then proceeded to lick the entire apple and cough all over it before attempting to hand it to them. Needless to say, they opted for me to keep it.  Wonder why?

Last week, I was drinking from a bottle of water (in which I had poured lemonade crystals, so it was tinged with yellow).  At one point in the afternoon, I had made a mistake with something I was saying and I immediately looked at my yellow water and declared that I was no longer going to drink Margaritas in the afternoon. They would only be a morning drink from now on. 

Despite the insanity and my desperate attempts to make the days go by as quickly and as painless as possible, I'm ready for the year to end.  The students are ready too.  Time for beaches, sand, kayaking, and long, lingering evenings.  I'm ready.  22 days.

Prom

Do you remember yours?  Did you even go?  Who was your date?  Did you go solo?  Is it a night that you would want to remember?  Do you have pictures of the gawd awful dress or tuxedo you wore?

This past month, I (and two of my colleagues) have been feverishly organizing our school's prom and last night was the big night.  A prom in 2009 is certainly different than the prom I attended in 1991.  My first clue that things would be different was when I had to call our local police department to arrange for two officers to be present for the duration of the night.  I don't recall officers being present at my prom.  Another difference was that the banquet hall we rented was nicer than my wedding reception hall.  No joke.  I think, when it was all said and done, just the facility alone (not including the four course meal, drinks, DJ, and decorations) was something like $13 000.  If I remember correctly, my prom was in our school's gymnasium and our group of friends went out to dinner on our own beforehand.

The night was a beautiful one and all of the students had a great time.  No one seemed blatantly intoxicated or high and no one had to be thrown out.  A success.

I managed to drag my sorry butt through the door at about 1:00am last night and am still feeling the effects of a late Friday night this morning.  I guess I'm officially old.

One of the grade 12 teachers chaperoning the prom last night told me a funny story that I have to share.  She said that in her class this week, she drew a Value Line on the floor (a straight line across the middle of the class).  She had the students make up statements to agree or disagree on, then they had to move to the side of the line that best suited their opinion (similar to my Agree/Disagree activity from before).  She told me that one of the students wrote, "Mrs. (insert my last name here) could take Chuck Norris in a fight".  The entire class moved to the "Agree" side.  How funny is that?  What does this say about me??  Too funny.

Interesting Turn of Events

Or...why I have had to move my blog.

I had mentioned just this past week, that I suspected that someone at work had been tampering with my laptop there.  Each night, before I leave work to come home, I log out of my computer.  However, this past week, I came into work to find that my computer had been turned completely off.  I never turn it off and only log out each night.  The thing is, I don't typically log out of my gmail and forums.

I mentioned it to one of my co-workers (whom I trust), to my husband and to my brother the other night.  No one really believed that it could be happening and no one really thought that much about it.  Fast forward to Friday night when I was checking my stat counter (something I rarely do) and saw that someone from the sch.ool boa.rd had been going through my archives.  Our sch.ool boar.d has a very distinct server and there is no mistaking it on a stat counter.  So, it is now completely obvious that not only has my computer been broken into, but whomever has done it has accessed all of my personal information.  Nice, eh?  And I teach in a Cath*olic Sch*ool.  Do unto others?  Right.

An Interesting Experiment

I created an activity in my classes this week in which I taped the words "Agree", "Disagree", and "Neutral" on the walls of my classroom.  I had a list of controversial statements and each time I read one, the students would have to move to the section of the class that held the sign that corresponded with their view.  When all students were at their prospective spots, I would listen to the reasons why they chose to move there.  This was not about debating, but about listening and tolerance.

Some of the controversial statements I read were:
"Abor.tion should be made legal for all women everywhere."
"Murd.erers should be executed."
"Mari.juana should be legalized."

In the first two classes, the first statement I read was:
"Homose.xuals should be allowed to marry".

The classes were pretty well divided, with about a third on the "Agree" side, a third on the "Disagree" side and a third on the "Neutral" side.  We discussed why they each chose the position they did and then moved on to the next statements on my list.

In my very last class, I decided to change things up a bit and started with this statement: 
"All people are created equal."
The entire class moved to the "Agree" side without hesitation.
We talked about why they all chose to move to that side and then I moved on to this statement:
"Homos.exuals should be allowed to marry."

Every single one of the students stayed on the "Agree" side.  

Interesting, no?

A Good Day

Today has been a great day and I can't even believe that I am going to be typing the words I am about to type...
Semester two begins on Monday and I have three sections of World Religions University Prep.  Now, the classes are huge (30 in each) but that's okay because.....
I AM INSIDE THE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!  No more portable for me!!!!  They have placed me in a real classroom for the WHOLE day!  I can't tell you what a coveted position I am in. In fact, it is SO coveted, that I am keeping it on the down low so as not to arouse any complaints from other teachers who have to travel from class to class.  I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I am ecstatic!  No more putting on my winter coat and boots and trudging the length of a football field to get to my portable, no more climbing a million stairs, no more worrying about when I can use the washroom as there is one RIGHT across the hall from my class!
Sigh.  A good day.

They're Just Taller

Upon making the switch from elementary school to high school in the fall of 2007, many people asked me to describe the differences in experience.  For the most part, elementary teachers have to do much more with much less.  High school teachers work hard, but there is more time to prepare and to get one's bearings before classes begin.  At least, this is what I have observed in my particular board.  I, of course, don't speak for all teachers in all boards.

As for the kids, as daunting as their sizes and deep voices can seem, they are essentially just taller. Similar insecurities, similar senses of humor, similar thirsts for validation and acceptance and similar excuses for not completing work as their 13 year old counterparts.  Yes, 17 year olds are just taller. 

We began exams this week and this marks the end of one semester and the beginning of a brand new one on Monday.  I won't lie; I am thrilled to be rid of some of the students with whom I have shared a classroom since September and to welcome in 90 new ones come Monday.  Man, 90 new names to remember.  Yeesh.

Something that always surprises me about students (and isn't it a good thing that I am still being surprised by my sttudents after 13 years of teaching?) is the way some of them express their gratitude.  Not only the way in which they express it, but from whom the gratitude is coming.  Always a surprise. 

I was marking my first set of exams yesterday afternoon, when I came across this little note.  Now, the note is sweet and it certainly made my day, but it came from a girl who, although very popular and incredibly bright, likely said only a few sentences to me all semester and only when I forced her to speak to answer a question or to present information.  If you would have asked me to tell you what I thought she thought of me before the note, I would have said that she thought I was a hack.  Weird, huh?

 This second note revealed itself today while marking my second set of exams.  This note came from one of the students in my "open" class.  This is the class that is geared to students who typically reside just off school property smoking various substances and intimidating those who dare cross their territory.  Sure, the spelling and grammar is quite poor, but the gist is lovely.

 Lastly, one of the students in my class from today (the open class) completed his exam early and asked me if he could draw me a picture while he waited for the exam time to be over.  Reminder:  these are 17 year olds.  I gave him a piece of paper and told him that if it was nice enough, I would put it on my fridge.  This was the result.  I don't know what it all means, but it was a nice sentiment from a kid with a pretty shady reputation in our school.  I'll take it.

 

 

 I know that for each of these cute little bits of gratitude, there are a dozen (or more?) students who totally hated being in my class and who couldn't wait to get out.  I don't have a big head about it.  It's just nice to know that a few took something away that was meaningful. 

No Bearsicle

When K2 got home from work today, he found a house with power and a warm, fluffy Bear purring away in his box by the window.  My friend Terry made Bear a blanket for Christmas (no judgments, please) and I had carefully laid it in his box before I left today hoping that it would keep him warm.  How cute is he in his blanketed box?  Honestly, people...too cute for words, really.

 

Today was not a good day at work.  I got into a pretty heated confrontation with one of our VPs and was so angry about the exchange that it soaked through me all day.  By end of day, I confronted her in her office and told her just what I thought of her policies and her lack of judgment where a particular student was concerned.  She apologized, but I get the feeling that nothing will change. In my opinion, the rules of the school should apply to ALL kids, regardless of WHO their parents are or how integral the student is on a particular school team.  Sigh....  I've never been good with authority; especially when the authority in question is not treating all students equally.

I'm tired.  Probably should mediate before work tomorrow.