Single Rainbow! 1/4 of the way across the sky...Woahh

It's not a Double Rainbow but maybe if I post two pictures of it...


Today was a pretty good day. This morning INAC (Indian Affairs) came to visit the community for a meeting, so the kids rallied together and made signs with things like 'We need an arena' and 'We need a youth centre.' They seemed to enjoy their mini protest but lost interest quickly once the people started the real meeting (aka boring business talk). Also I happened to notice that all the members of Indian Affairs happen to be old white people...hmm...

I did laundry, cleaned, did all my dishes and drank the last of my milk so I'm all set to come home! Except for packing which I can only assume I will do tomorrow..
When I come back it will seem like I'm coming back to a real adult's clean house...imagine.

It's good I'm going home tomorrow because I am out of peanut butter cups and sunflower seeds. Also tomorrow I am meeting my lovely sis for SWISS CHALET! They have some sort of fest going on with pumpkin pie! Mmm. Can't wait!

For now I am off to bed, I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Pathetic..

I am going to bed now...and it's 8:10pm. Teenagers are tiring. Goodnight Moon.

Superhappyfunlucky teaching moment

Today was one of those days that shows me why it's important to work hard as a teacher every day even when the kids seem disengaged. In my grade 12 class I told them we were reading a one act play called "Toronto at Dreamer's Rock" and gave the option to read silently, listen to a lame recording of me reading it (which is particularly bad since part of the play is in Ojibway...), or to read aloud. They chose to read aloud! That blew me away to start with, since this is one of the classes that didn't even have the confidence to answer 'yes' or 'no' aloud during class.

So we started reading and they got right into it, changing their intonation depending on the characters, laughing at the jokes in the play and gesturing while they spoke. At 3:45 (usual quittin' time for the students) we still had 15 pages to go, so I told them we could finish up tomorrow if they wanted and every single student elected to stay an extra 25 minutes to finish reading it!! I cheered for them at the end (and maybe a little bit for myself) because this has never happened before! This is one of those heartwarming teaching moments they showed us in lame videos in teacher's college. So I guess it has taken them a month to care enough, a month to feel comfortable enough in class and a month to trust me enough to want to really learn. And I think...just maybe...(but don't tell anyone I said this or it'll jinx me...) that I might have made learning fun...

So I am sitting in my portable now, on my teaching high, smelling sweet smells of a bonfire nearby (either it's that or the elementary kids have set the main school building on fire..I technically can't see it from my window...) and what is more is that I have one more day of teaching tomorrow and then I'm home! Woo!

I can say now honestly, will full conviction, that I think I really do belong teaching up here this year, and that it is going to be worth it, even with all the difficulties of living in the North.

On an entirely unrelated, yet awesome note, I won YET ANOTHER studentawards.com award through facebook..this time for $250! It's the third time I've won with them, they are so awesome. I'm technically still an Ottawa U student...so it's all good there and I can also use it to pay for one of my many expensive flights home :) Everything's coming up Karen..

I think that's all my news for right now, stay cool bloggies

Slacker

It's been a long week already! I have had to do extra planning to leave for the teacher who is filling in for me this Friday and Monday so I have been slacking on blog posts. Just a note to prove I'm still alive (there has been recent speculation I was taken hostage by wildlife) and I will update later this evening again. Home in 3 Days!! :D

*Yawn*

Monday morning came too soon...Karen so sleepy....

Good thing I have first period prep!

Cotton Candy skies and Couscous

Well folks that's another weekend rounded off. Today I did a lot of planning, as is my now routine sunday and I should be pretty good for this coming week. We all went to another teacher's house for a potluck dinner with our community guests that are leaving tomorrow and that was nice.

I made roasted potatoes and jello. We also had roast beef, couscous, hummus, glazed carrots, macaroni and cheese, homemade bread and apple crumble and muffins for dessert. It's amazing how much you can appreciate a random mash up of food up here when you don't have to cook it all!

There was cotton candy skies at sunset today, so I thought I'd share:



Looks good enough to eat at a carnival!

My wonderful roommate for the week also did all my personal nasty dishes for me this morning, so that was a most excellent surprise. As of about 30 minutes from now, it is only FIVE days till I come home for the weekend...which means I only have FOUR days of work this week! Woo! I also get paid on Thursday so it's gonna be a good day! I might even consider paying off my rogers bill I've had since last April...if they're lucky...

I think that's all the excitement i've got for ya today..it's been a slow day in Webequie (I think that should be on the sign when you enter the town)

Fire!!!!

Tonight I was invited to an impromptu bonfire that was happening in my backyard that i didn't know about. There is a whole fire pit back there, RIGHT behind my house that I have never seen before...seems like I need to do some extra exploring 'round these parts!






The kids were singing their respect song that they wrote this week with the visiting arts program which was very sweet, as well as telling us badly pieced together ghost stories. Always good times :)

Poll results and a Surprise!

Poll has closed and it was a close race!

When asked which treat they would have at the haunted coffee shop for Halloween:

36% (4 of you) though they would have Chocolate Escares!

36% (4 of you) thought they would have Bagels with Scream Cheese!

27% (3 of you) thought they would have Boo-berry pie!

And muffin bottoms, bear-y filled donuts, dastardly danishes and cruel crullers had 0 votes...I would eat a cruel cruller!

***

In other, terrifying news, I LOOKED IN THE HOLE!! That's right, the trapdoor, the scary hole, whatever you want to call it. On a whim I was feeling brave and I did it.

Let me take you through the process...

First we have my true look of apprehension and fear whilst standing in the furnace room.

Then...trapdoor, my arch nemesis..

Holding my breath, hand on the handle...I have gotten this far before and chickened out.

THEN! THE HOLE ITSELF! For the record, I turned my head and took the picture and then looked at my camera before looking in the actual hole in case it was really scary.

Seeing it was mostly just dirty, I took another picture. If you are thinking "Did she go down that ladder and into the hole?" Then you very clearly do not know me at all...No, no I did not. And I will not, unless forced to.

So there you have it, fear conquered...mostly...unless they stacked the bodies on the other side. I'm also afraid of the possible GIANT spiders and centipedes that may exist down there.

So she is closed back up until further notice and I am watching the Magic School Bus in my safe, non-dirty basement living room :)

Bingo!

So I did not win radio Bingo, but we did have fun drinking smoothies and intensely concentrating in order to play...it's actually a lot of work to keep track!

As requested by Mom, here are some of my fellow teachers/friends...






Today I'm going to watch a play put on by the kids at the school, then some planning and maybe a bit o' laundry. Fast times in Webequie..

Radio Bingo and Big Buckets

You: Hey Karen, what are you doing tonight?
Karen: Not much, just drinking mocktails and playing Radio Bingo.
You: Radio waaahhh??
Karen: Radio Bingo. It's where they call Bingo...over the radio.
You: But.......why?
Karen: People don't want to leave their houses? Or set up tables in the gym? They really like the radio?
You: Makes sense..I guess. What can you win?
Karen: $1000.
You: Really?
Karen: Yes.
You: REALLY?!
Karen: Yes!
You:..............Can I borrow $1000?
Karen: *walks away from the conversation*

Since we just had that conversation you are well aware of my rockin' friday night plans. As you can imagine when I was invited to radio bingo/mocktails night I skipped my way excitedly down to the radio station (fell in a pothole on the way...well actually that's not true THIS time but I do fall SO much here!) and got my cards. Apparently it starts at 10pm and takes an excruciatingly long time to finish up (or so I have heard) but I am looking forward to the gathering nonetheless.

Today I had my students working on laptops in the classroom writing cover letters and UNFORTUNATELY for me, the school has an open wireless signal. So needless to say there was a whole lot a facebookin' going on. Also, when I opened one of the computers (which are used by many students at various times) the first two things in the history when I started typing the letter 'B' were: "Big Boobs" and "Big bucket sex position". I don't even know what that is? Do you?

*Intermission while Karen Googles it, please hum A Whole New World from Aladdin whilst you wait*

Alright, so since I'm not a Librarian (shout out to the Librarians, what what!) I couldn't find a 'big bucket sex position.' What I will assume, until further notice (or upon correction by one of my readers) is that one uses the 'big bucket' as a prop to contort in various ways? Or you just get in the big bucket? Gotta give it to the teens up here for being creative with limited resources :)

I must leave you for now with that snippet of my day so I can go make cookies, so my neighbour will let me in to play Radio Bingo :P

I can canoe, can you? (well..I sorta can)

Today we spent the afternoon canoeing and it was a lot of fun. The kids are totally different outside of the classroom, they really opened up and I was able to get to know them better.

We canoed from the bank near my house, around the island, towards what is known as Bullshit Creek...not sure why but that's what everyone calls it. I sat in the middle of the canoe on the floor while two of the kids rowed us around...they were awesome. I took tons of pictures but here's a few to give you the idea..


The Canoers Themselves (minus me, because I took it)


In Action...

I think I got pretty sunburned on my face, it didn't occur to me that being in the middle of a lake all afternoon in the sun might be an issue for me. The kids just laughed at me and said they'd get slightly darker.

Tonight is Grey's Anatomy night (woo!) so I am going to watch it with some of the other girls. Tomorrow I am running cover letter writing workshops in class because the mining company up here gives away scholarships to the high school students...so I am going to get all my students to apply.

Now I need to get me some dinner and gear up for my show!

Pictures!

Couldn't resist to post these gorgeous shots from my walk tonight with my temporary roommate who is staying with me this week...

Back to the Future...of Karen!

Today was awesome!! This morning I had the grade 10's out of their seats, doing group work activities, responding to questions and laughing. And when they left a few of them said "Have a good lunch"! That is a huge leap from the first day when they just starred at me!

The grade 9's were also cooperative because I gave them a writing activity about their community and we also played a game. They are really coming around (except for the kid who went and hung out in the bathroom and played an electronic keyboard while we learned about puns...but ya can't win 'em all) so it gets easier every day.

The grade 12 class was less exciting but that's my fault for teaching them the expository essay model...they needed to learn it eventually. One student stayed after class to work on a project and really opened up about his future goals for college and asked for help applying, so I was really happy to see that.

***

Last night I was trying to fall asleep and I was thinking about the past few years of my life and how quickly things can change.

So, I give you, Back to the Future...The Karen of 10 years

September 22, 2010: Teacher, in Webequie, Blogger extraordinare

September 22, 2009: Just moved to Ottawa, started Master in Education at Ottawa U, living alone for the first time and working for Pizza Pizza

September 22, 2008: Just graduated from Teacher's college, moved back to Hamilton, sitting on butt "looking" for a teaching job, soon to be working at Pizza Pizza

September 22, 2007: Just starting Teacher's College at UofT in Toronto, living with roommate Andrew in North York, jobless for a time

September 22, 2006: Starting fourth year University at Laurier, living with Devra, Jen and Nikki in Waterloo, working at Wilf's Bar and Grill

Septmber 22, 2005: Starting third year University at Laurier, same living situation as 2006, also working at Wilf's

September 22, 2004 Starting second year University at Laurier, living in our 7 room, craptacular house with Devra, Jen, Nikki, Jane, Amber and Lydia, not working

September 22, 2003: Starting first year University at Laurier, having just moved to Waterloo, living in residence and about to meet all my amazing friends

September 22, 2002: Just starting grade 12, living with the 'rents in Hamilton, working at Fortinos (BAH!), praying my marks would be high enough to get into University

September 22, 2001: Just starting grade 11, living with the 'rents in Hamilton, soon to be working at Fortinos *grumbles*, spending a lot of time at Tim Horton's

September 22, 2000: Just starting grade 10, living with the parents, and not yet working...

I left the boyfriends out of this timeline since they were MOSTLY stupid anyways :)

***

Tomorrow we are supposed to go canoeing as long as the weather holds out, so i will be sure to update about that soon. Also tomorrow, GREY'S ANATOMY PREMIERE! You may not care, but I sure do! I am going to invite some of the girls over here so we can all watch...Grey's is better with people :)

9 days till I am home for the weekend! Woo!

STTTTTEEEEEEVVVVEEEE

I forgot this in my earlier post. You know what is on everyday when I come home for lunch?

-Two lame children's shows (and this does not include Arthur, Magic School Bus or Franklin because those are Awesome)
-4 channels with News (from Thunder Bay, New York, and Calgary)

Annnddd....the one that I watch....wait for it...

THE STEVE WILKOS SHOW!

For anyone who doesn't know good old Steve, he is the bald guy who used to be a security stage guy on the Jerry Springer show. Since then, Steve brings his own brand of justice to me every single day, by administering lie detector tests to the scum of the earth. And every time he says something awesome, the audience goes "STEEEEEEEEEEVVVVEEEEEEEEE!" and there is usually one guy whose late on the uptake and is all "STEVE!" after the "Time to yell out STEEEEEVVVEEEE and applaud" sign has long gone off (I can only assume such a sign exists).

Today's topic was: Are you still beating our kids?

It was good clean fun, as you can imagine. If you'd like to learn more about this almost Emmy award winning show, take an internet jaunt over to http://www.stevewilkos.com/

Enjoy!

Ps. Don't you dare try to judge me for watching this! For one, because i only get 9 channels and also because I know you totally watched...(Jerry Springer, Ricky Lake, Maury Povich, Montel Williams, Tyra....)

Strawberry Fields Forever

Something that amazes me, is how it can take teenagers SO long to do something. Like for example today I assigned an acrostic poem to my grade 9s. That's the type where you spell a word down the side of the page and write about that theme...

Karen is super awesome.
Always writes stupendous blogs.
Reallllllly funny. Yup.
Everyone loves to read her examples of poetry.
Not only will you read this, but you'll be back again tomorrow!

Anyways, they worked on it for 30 minutes yesterday and then needed another 50 minutes today. And still only FOUR of them handed it in. FOUR! What the hell? Seriously! So hopefully they will hand it in tomorrow. If I assign it for homework, they won't do it (homework doesn't happen up here) so I figure if I want any of them to pass I have to give them class time.

In other news...I have started eating strawberries! You are probably thinking "Mmm strawberries" but I have never liked them, I find them far too tart. Anyways, a lady who is a guest of the education authority is staying with me and she brought strawberries. She gave me some to eat and because my body is starved for nutrients (because I eat chicken fingers and pasta everyday) I totally ate them! Things up here are changing me already. I also take vitamins, so don't worry about scurvy :)

Last night the elderly ladies knocked on my door again "YOU WANNA SEE CRAFTS?!" and since I said no last time having no cash last time, I didn't want to disappoint this time. They had some really beautiful homemade stuff, one of which I bought for a family member so I can't share yet what it is! At least now the craft lady is on my good side.

I went shopping again today, and i thought it might amuse you to know some more prices at the store..since it still amazes me EVERY TIME:

-Spool of thread $6.45
-Box of mini wheats $9.50
-24 rolls of toilet paper $15.99
-3 stuffed chicken breasts $14.99
-tub of margarine $7.45

BUT! They had tubs of Gatorade powder mix on for $1, and while I don't often drink Gatorade, I still bought it because it was $1 and nothing ever is!

I think that's all the awesomeness I can muster for one evening.

'Til tomorrow Bloggies

What is your dream job?

On Friday I asked my grade 10's to respond to the question "What is your dream job?" in their response journals where they are allowed to express themselves in any way they wish. I wanted to share with you my favourite:



Gave me a good laugh!

Moving on..today was another good day. I even did some successful group work which shocked the hell outta me because they will almost never cooperate with that! Another teacher came in to visit during my grade 12 class and even he commented on how well it was going :D

Once again we were supposed to have meet the board/parents this evening but once again...wait for it...it was cancelled. Life is pretty much just cancelled up here all the time. But I think i'm starting to like it!

The leaves are already half changed up here...looks pretty. (Yeah, I'm talking about the weather on my blog...you're the one reading it lol)



Now it's time for din dins and more planning. Yesterday I planned THE WHOLE WEEK of lessons for my grade 9 class and the culminating task for the unit as well. I am pretty proud of that :D

MVP of the game?

Today I did some cleaning around the house and tried to wait out what seemsed like a mild hurricane outside. Eventually I had to go walk up to the store in said mild hurricane to buy pop and chicken fries. Has anyone ever had chicken fries? They are seriously amazing.

Anyways, on the way I was invited by another teacher to join into a game of volleyball this evening. I said I would go, although I don't think I have played volleyball since middle school and even then, I was picked last and just stood there in fear of the ball. But! they told me that they wouldn't banish me from the game even if I totally suck :)

That's my update for now. I also slept for 10 hours and feel like I could use a nap. Must be all the clean air?

5 by 5

Top 5 Things I Learned in 5 days of teaching:

1. The concept of time here is 30 minutes slower than what I have always known. Luckily for me, since I am always late, I am still early here!

2. You can and are expected to be as creative and flexible as you can with your plans. For example on Thursday afternoon we played baseball instead of learning poetry and today we watched movies. Next week at some point we will go on a canoe trip, whenever it's nice...sometime...maybe... What shocks me most is that no one gets stressed out over the lack of planning, something I am learning to come to terms with.

3. Everyone smokes. And they will get up, and randomly leave class without asking, to go have a smoke. I'm over it now. Usually they come back lol.

4. It is possible to plan and work on lessons, marking and prep every waking hour, and still not be fully prepared or organized.

5. I really really love the supply room. Notebooks, pens, highlighters, post-its galore. It is literally stationary heaven and I can use it all! Muhahahaha!

I found this quote online about teaching which I love and pretty much live by at the moment:

"The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you learned this afternoon." -Anonymous

So the first week has been a success and I had a celebratory nap this afternoon. This weekend will be full of lots of planning so I don't have to plan every night for the next day, it's far to exhausting.

Right now I'm kicking back and watching some Bedknobs and Broomsticks :)

Ps. Did anyone get the Buffy reference from my title of this post??

Stompfest

So tired............

I am very excited that tomorrow is friday. Tomorrow has also been declared international Karen's classes all watch movies day, in case you didn't know.

Today my grade 12 class played baseball instead of doing a lesson on poetry, was probably better for us all :P

I also got my first paycheque...woo! Then saw the deductions for taxes SNFUIA*INFK*@B!!! is what I thought, then I bought peanut butter cups and felt better.

The next picture to look forward to when I get around to walking over is the dilapidated police station that might be scarier looking than the coffee shop. So, watch for that.

Also booked my flight home for the beginning of October for my friends wedding (Shout out to Christine herself...what! what!) and I will also be purchasing and bringing back many heavy winter garments, boots and enough cold and flu medication to kill a bear. I have no exciting pictures for you today, so my wit will have to be enough (sorry...)

Cool thing of the day: I like that I can stomp around as much as i like in my house and it disturbs no one. Anyone who has lived with me knows I like to do me some good stomping and cupboard slamming.

:o)

To the North Point! That's North POINT not North Pole :P

Today was another good day! Even the grade 9's participated today which was freaking amazing. I gave them signs to hold up for answers instead of talking and they seemed to appreciate that.

After school I did my crapload of dishes and baked cookies..mmm. Then I went on a walk with the other teachers, dogs and some kids to the Northern Point of the island. It's gorgeous out there:





As requested I took a picture of the haunted house coffee shop, I thought it would be fitting to do it at dusk:


Also check out my Webequie facebook album for more pics (it uploads faster there).