Things Teachers Love to Hear!

From Administrators…

Can l cover your class?

No duty!

What do you think?

From Students ….

I get it! 

Let me try again.

Miss  (Sir), I had a great day!

From Parents  …

How can I help?

My child is very happy this year.

Glad you called

From Anyone …                                                   

Thank you.

And of course...

 Snow Day!                                       

Walking Club

Our school has a program called Exploratories where children choose an activity they wish to pursue for four half days during the month of October.  Choices range from swimming, golfing, bracelet making, soapstone carving, babysitters course, cooking, baking, fall safety ,,, the list goes on. The children love it and teachers get a chance to engage them outside the regular classroom. 
I have a walking club.  With eleven Grade 5 and 6 boys, you can imagine the energy!  They walked or I should say gamboled, ran, jumped, zig-zagged, skipped and swaggered.  It was a glorious fall day in HV-GB.  We checked out where some of them lived,  the jumps they constructed for their bikes, the creek where they caught frogs last summer and every friendly pooch they could get close to. What a wonderful day! 

Seminar at Birch Brook

When a group of teachers get together for a workshop on a Saturday, you can bet it's something special!  We were quite fortunate to have George Tucker from NLTA's Professional Development Division in St. John's serve as facilitator. Our workshop on Respectful Workplace and an Orientation Session for New Teachers were quite informative.     We also took advantage of the  wonderful setting to take a walk together and enjoy the beautiful fall weather.  Thanks go to George for a great day, to the Birch Brook Nordic Ski Club for their outstanding facility and to the Lake Melville Branch for organizing the event. And kuddos as well to all the teachers who took time from their weekend to come out and participate. We look forward to other sessions throughout the year.

Welcome Back!

Here we are back in the thick of a new school year.  Two weeks in and it feels like we never left!  The planning, the meetings, the curriculum nights have all returned and we are off to the races... the mad dash until Christmas!  I hope your year is punctuated with some fun activities with your students.  Keeps you going when the pile of correcting starts to teeter.

For us teachers there are a lot of things to consider this fall.  Right off the bat, opening proposals have been exchanged and collective bargaining has begun.  Every teacher should check out their local branch meetings and be sure to attend,  if at all possible.  Come out  to find out!   

Next is the province-wide vote for NLTA President and Vice-President which is happening on December 4th.  With five candidates for Vice-President (yours truly being the one I want you to vote for)  we may be looking at a run-off vote two weeks later... December 18th.... WOW ... that is super close to Christmas!  I would  prefer a later date for elections, like March  or May; but hey, the Convention decided and that's that!

So here's to a wonderful fall in NL.  Welcome back ... to school, to work,  to hunting or yoga, to ballet or hockey,  to jogging or gymnastics - whatever you like to pursue.    January may technically be the New Year, but September is the new year for SO many things.  Good luck and be kind to each other. 

Summer Fun

What a great summer!  Very homey and family oriented.  After decompression (the week after school finished)  I spent some time digging in my garden and getting ready for a visit from my granddaughter and my sister.  We had a ball!  I haven’t giggled so much for a long time.  Felt really goodJ After Sis left, we went to Churchill Falls and visited the power plant – absolutely awesome tour!  Ninety stories below the surface inside rock that is billions of years old.  Makes you feel just a teensy bit teeny. Very interesting, though.

Had a quick visit in St. John’s with my step-daughter and her significant other.  I also connected with my good friend Tonya and took a hike around Signal Hill.  A great walk - except for the few places where you really shouldn’t look down if youhave ANY fear of heights what-so-ever…..  eeek! 

After that I was off to my other sister’s wedding in B.C.  where I was lucky enough to get in on the last minute preparations.  All that anticipation… I could barely contain myself.  Had marvelous food, frequent dog walks and even a visit to the beach and to the aquarium in Sydney. Got to hang out with my nieces, newphew and their families.  A wonderful time all around!

Just one more visit to make – my annual trek home to Corner Brook.  More about that towards the end of the month.

Bridget's Angels

Bridget Murphy will be off to Guatemala again this July (on her own dime I might add) to view the construction of her second school in Guatemala, in El Rumor de los Encantos.  She has raised more than $45,000 since 2006 to assist people in the mountainous region of that beautiful, but starkly poor country.  The area called Centro Chactelá has been the happy beneficiary of her many fundraising efforts. The building of their school depends not only on donations of money from outside, but just as importantly, on the many hours of free labour donated by local people.

We attended a dinner last Saturday which raised around $3000 to support the projects of Bridget’s non-profit organization, Guatemala - Children First Inc. which provides school supplies and scholarships to children who want to pursue schooling beyond Grade 6.  When we compare all we have in the classrooms of our country with the great need that exists in the areas surrounding Playa Grande in Guatemala, we have to count our blessings. 

Similarly, Bridget counts her blessings in the form of an ad hoc organizing committee whose tireless efforts has helped her enormously in this pursuit.  Janet Paine, Philomena Abbass, Pauline Edwards and Mary Abbass – all retired teachers like Bridget - are Bridget’s Angels… hands-on, hardworking, good-hearted angels who unreservedly put in the hours to make a dream come true in a far-away land.

If you would like to be an angel too and contribute to this worthwhile cause, go to www.futureswithschools.com. Everyone should have the chance to have an education.

It's been awhile

Wow!  Half a year has gone by since my last blog... unbelievable! While I really enjoyed blogging last summer, I would like to do a little less journaling and a little more reflecting about ideas and issues in education and in society in general.  But before I move on from the personal, I would like to share a poem I composed on November 30, 2011, the day after my Mom passed away.

Mother

You were my guardian angel

When I  was only small

You looked out for me and loved me

Helped me grow strong and tall

You taught me by example

Your presence kept me true

I relied on you and trusted in

The strength that came from you

Didn't always know the purpose

Couldn't always see the plan

But your faith, it never wavered

And now I know I can

Look back with pride and wonder

At how you did it all

Gave so much to all of us

To make us strong and tall