Snow Pass

I found a brochure about this in a classroom last year sometime (I'm assuming it's still hopefully a program that is going on). Basically, you pay just under $30 and your child (who has to be in either grade 4 or 5) can snowboard at any of the listed places up to 3 times in a 2 year span (assuming they are in grade 4 the year you purchase the pass - once your child hits grade 6 it looks like the pass will no longer be valid).

You can apply on line here and it should list the places where your snowpass would be valid. Manitoba (which is where I live) only offers 3 places so it's only 9 trips to the ski hills total here but if you lived in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, or Quebec there are over 20 qualifying places (in 2017) to ski in each province (which if you do some quick math - 20x2=60 trips to go skiing for just under $30... I don't know how much lift tickets cost but this seems like a really great deal).

Nursing Homes

I had one grade 6 student ask me 

“If you’re an old lady and homeless couldn’t you just live in one of those old folks homes?” 

“Those places aren’t free” I responded. 

“Oh well, that’s where I’m putting my mom” was his response. 

Uh… good to be thinking ahead… I guess?

This Week At School

This week at school I was in a couple of new to me classes

One of them I walked in and saw this....

For those of us that aren't aware... this is in Spanish

I do not speak Spanish

So I did my very first day of Spanish immersion!

Luckily it was grade 1 and 2 and there were only 12 students... so we spoke in English this day.

This isn't my first time "teaching" something that I don't know.  I've been a French music teacher, high school computer teacher, guitar teacher, and violin instructor.

Later in the week I was also a nursery/kindergarten teacher at a school I haven't been at this year yet.

I went back to my old school from last year and taught grade 8 as well.  The kids were not the greatest and I'll often use this as a reason not to come back to that particular class.  BUT, in this case (and likely only a handful of others) I did tell the teacher I would come back.  Why?  Because I've been the one with a class that no one would want to teach that likely would have been nearly impossible to find a sub for (luckily, I never needed one) and so I decided to offer my services again (so long as I'm not already booked elsewhere)... plus I know a lot of those students from last year and I do think they are capable of improving their behaviour.

But to finish things off... I finally was in a classroom with class pets again!

It's been a looong time since I've seen some class pets in a classroom!

Teacher Ranking

A student told me a while ago that in his ranking of teachers I was his third favourite.

I asked who came before me and it was his homeroom teacher and band teacher.

My only question now is... should I be happy with being third place because at least I ranked?

Do I assume whenever a student doesn't tell me their ranking it's because I don't make the cut?

50% OCD

Students were doing an All About Me project and filling a section out about what they want to be when they group. One girl said she wanted to be an interior designer when she grows up.

That's when another student responded with "You'd be perfect for that because you are like 50% OCD!"

.... so what does that say about what this student thinks of interior designers?

This Week At School

This week at school I was at a couple of new schools for this school year.

I started off the week teaching kindergarten where we celebrated one of the students birthdays with chocolate cupcakes!

I took some students to gym and gym in the city (formally known as swim and gym but the pool flooded so now they get double gym instead).  My car of students were well behaved so we stopped off at Subway on the way back to school because apparently if they bring money and we have time to make the stop they can run in and get something.  I think they came back to the car with about 2 dozen cookies.

I sat in on a grade 12 pre calculus class.  That took me back (and I didn't even take pre calculus in grade 12!). I wasn't much help in that class but thankfully I wasn't the one teaching it.

I was at a colony school and they sent me home with some chicken noodle soup!

Book Orders

Scholastic Book Orders

Am I the only one who loves to peruse the Scholastic Book orders?

Just dreaming of my one day classroom.

Dungeons and Dragons

I was teaching in a grade 7 classroom the other week where I happened to have a student teacher (huzzah!). When I asked him what the students call him he told me his name and then continued to say that some students call him “Mr. Cool” because he is starting up a Dungeons and Dragons lunchtime club.

Uh… k. To be honest never in my wildest of dreams would I have thought that “Dungeons and Dragons” would be related to a name such as “Mr. Cool” but different strokes for different folks… right?

Anyways, he continued to tell me that he was very excited for the group and was expecting it to be quite popular.

Uh… k. Never in my wildest of dreams would I have thought a Dungeons and Dragons club to be really popular. Am I really that out of touch of what these middle school kids are into… is Fort Nite not the “in” thing anymore… have we already moved on to Dungeons and Dragons?

I went back to the room over the lunch hour at some point to grab something when I noticed this club consisted of the student teacher and just 2 other students. At this point I felt a little bad… I mean he was genuinely excited for the group. But this did not get him down… he was quite certain that the low attendance was due to him not putting a message in the announcements.

The following day I was back at the school in a new classroom. And guess what came up on the announcements?

“Do you like dungeons? Do you like Dragons?...” yes the Dungeons and Dragons group announcement had hit the airways… or at least the announcement sheet in the office. And do you know what the class I was in did when they heard about this new group? They cheered. And it wasn’t just like one or two of them in was about half the class that was pumped to play Dungeons and Dragons at lunch. So maybe this student teachers enthusiasm will pay off and he will get his quite popular Dungeons and Dragons group after all.

This Week At School

This week at school I attended 2 Remembrance Day assembly’s. This got me thinking, how many adults attend Remembrance Day ceremonies? Likely not too many. I on the other hand get to attend one every year and spend time remembering those that fought for my freedoms. 

At one of the assemblies they displayed a bunch of pictures of people that fought or are currently fighting or worked for the Canadian army in some fashion on the projector that were related to students and teachers that attended the school currently. I was surprised at the number of students and teachers that had a connection to the army. 

At the other assembly they showed us Charlie Brown Visits Flanders Field… it was pretty good for elementary aged students.

I’m not sure what everyone’s plans are this November 11th but I would highly encourage everyone to take a moment to think about those that have fought for the freedoms you currently enjoy.

Teacher Calendars

I found this huge desk calendar in one of the classrooms I was in recently 

And thought it was super adorable. 

But would I use one if I were a teacher? 

The nice thing about having a giant desk calendar would be it would hopefully keep your desk clutter free so that you could actually see your calendar! A day book is essential for myself as a teacher, even as a substitute teacher I keep an agenda book with me (what can I say, I’m sometimes an organized gal) and because I know I would use my day book just about every day a huge desk calendar, although adorable, may not be something that would really keep me all that more organized and so I don’t think I would spend my money on one.

Substitute Teacher Blog Spotlight

It's the beginning of November, what better time than for another substitute teacher blog spotlight!

This month we have the Substantial Blog. Not only is this a blog with information for substitute teachers; such as what to do when you have to teach gym and how to use substitute teaching as a stepping stone to getting that classroom of your very own but it is also aimed at districts and what they can do to help improve a substitute teacher's experience and how they can get subs to come back to their school/district. 

Last month I shared a bit about Sub Sidekick's blog and what their publishing to help fellow substitute teachers.

Want a shout out to your lovely blog on here? Contact me! I only do one a month but would love to acknowledge your blog one month soon!

This Week At School

Last week at school I was in a new school that I hadn’t yet been in this school year and this week at school I finally made it to the third division I sub in!... I actually ended up going back to the school I used to teach basic French at so a lot of my former students recognized me (they are now in grade 6!)

The rest of the week was kind of slower though… mostly because I developed a cold over the weekend and by Tuesday I was ready for a day off. But taking a day off is apparently a bit more difficult when you already are scheduled to work somewhere when you are a sub. You see I waited until the morning to decide if I thought I could handle the day… so around 6:40am (about 2 hours before the start of this particular school) I decided I likely couldn’t handle the day so I went online to cancel it. When I tried to cancel I got a message saying I couldn’t because the job started in less than 150 minutes. For those of you trying to quickly do the math 150 minutes is 2.5 hours… surely I’m not the only one that doesn’t need more than 2.5 hours in the morning and gets up later? Anyways, I couldn’t cancel the job on my own so I ended up texting the principal at the school asking if he knew anyone that would want the sub day (it was also We Day here so I already knew there wouldn’t be a lot of substitute teachers available) and if he knew a way around this 150 minute thing to cancel the job for me. In the end it all worked out… the principal found someone right away to cover for the class and cancelled the job online. Anyways, lesson learned… if I think I might not be well the day of a sub job cancel it the night before (or set an earlier alarm just for cancelling purposes).

I also ended up getting Halloween off as well… likely because it was Halloween and schools plan fun things for kids to do on days like that.

Later in the week I went back to the school of 9 where we did some pumpkin seed counting activities and some poppy making activities and on Friday I was at the school I used to teach at. At this school I was a SERT (special education resource teacher) so my job was fairly easy.

And today is Saturday and I’m feeling much better!

Campaigning

Campaigning for student council began a couple of weeks ago at one of the middle schools that I frequently sub at. Posters have gone up, announcements are being made and while walking through the hallway I heard one students excitedly announce that he did in fact have his own hashtag.

The following day I saw one student holding a paper in front of him and silently walking through the very busy halls hoping to garner some attention I guess? What was on the paper? His information and what position he is running for.