We all have one, we teachers… a space filled with boxes of stuff we absolutely “need” for our classrooms.  Some of us have an attic, others a garage, or a shed.  Me, since moving into an apartment last year, I have storage locker.

I envy the teacher whose “stuff” is well labeled.  My husband (also a teacher) and I invested in 30 sturdy plastic bins about 7 years ago.  Stupidly, they were not clear bins.  The first year we packed them to move classrooms (it was the year I was moving from ESL/Music to Primary ELC, I think), I took pains to neatly label each bin:  “Intermediate novel studies”, “Vera’s desk”, “Medieval Times Unit”, “Poetry Overheads” and so on.  In subsequent years, moves became sometimes hectic, last minute affairs, punctuated by the arrival of twins at times, and at others, clouded by the uncertainty of a return to this or that particular classroom or grade.  Many treasures were given away in haste, at the time, a deceptively simple solution to cleaning out one’s classroom when time was at a premium at the end of June.  Over time, other mismatched and unlabled bins were added to the increasingly ecclectic collection.

In September 2011, I return to a classroom.  Grade 3 is on the roster.  I need my dayplan magnets, several early settler novels and a bunch of organizational stuff.  But the “novels” bin seems to now be housing a bunch of science equipment, and my Pioneers unit seems to have been mysteriously replaced with an unmarked bin (at the bottom of a pile of several back-breakingly heavy boxes) containing a bunch of outdated math workbooks and two recorders!

Happily, I did find a few other treasures in the storage locker to appease me:  Some picturebooks I thought had been lost, a few binders from my teachers’ college days, a set of cuisinaire rods…. And best of all, the seat to the drum throne I had started to unpack on my last trip to the music cabin in PEI appeared, and is now safely sitting atop the “PEI” pile in the closet.

The teacher's storage locker (garage/shed/attic).  It can be full of frustration, but contains many, many treasures!

The staff room of your average school is a dangerous place, especially at the end of June.  Leftovers and various other treats abound, and for the tired, run-down, weary and heavy-laden teacher passing by, the table beckons, "come to me, and I will give you rest". 

But don't be fooled -- it's a LIE!!!  I got sucked in today, and downed a 1/4 tub of delcious, creamy, ice cold Breyer's cookie ice cream.  Bad, bad news for my belly and my blood sugar levels!!!  After the temporary sugar rush, I was dragging once again, and barely made it to the end of the day!

Tomorrow will be filled with healthy foods.  I hope.

I had lunch with an agnostic friend and some Christian colleagues the other day.  An interesting exploratory conversation about the possibilities of faith/non-faith ensued, as various participants presented their ideas, and considered the ideas of others around the table.

One question that arose was this (from one believer at the table to the agnostic):  "What constitutes 'evidence' in your mind?  What would you consider satisfactory proof for the existence of God?"

First staff meeting at my new school this afternoon, and I am pumped!!!

Although the amount of paper and information was somewhat overwhelming, and made me realise my skills have moved in other directions over the past year and a half that I've been "out", overall, I am pretty optimistic about next year.  My new colleagues seem very welcoming and committed to teaching, and there are several new hires, so that I will not be the only "new guy".  Also, my new principal really seems on the ball.

I am reminded of my first year of teaching.  Fresh out of teachers' college, I was keen and eager to launch my career.  In a lucky, lucky twist of fate, I ended up in a school with a brilliant principal.  Thelma was passionate about teaching and learning, she was well organized, and held high expectations for her students and staff.  All of this came across to me as a new teacher in a very obvious and positive way at the first staff meeting I attended at her (my) school that June to prep for September.  I remember walking away from that staff meeting 13 years ago overwhelmed, and very, very excited.  I knew it was going to be an excellent year.  And it was!  (Well, except maybe for the Grade 8 Band class with 7 drummers I had to teach twice a week in addition to my Grade 7 Core package, lol!)

I am not naiive enough to think this transition back to the classroom full time will not be without its challenges, but I am for sure looking forward to a year of growing, learning and celebrating.
 
Can't wait to meet the kids and their families!!!

Had the opportunity to read the paper today in relative peace... and quite enjoyed it.  My commentary on a few selected highlights follows, with links to the relevant articles:

Some People are Good, and That’s a Surprise!
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1008304--porter-who-are-you-kind-stranger
I was delighted to read of the gentleman who could have stolen money, an iPad and various other personal effects from the purse left by a tired woman on the TTC the other day, but who elected instead to return it.  I did reflect, though, that such decent behaviour is considered "news".  Seriously?  People can actually live with themselves if they take advantage of some poor soul who--after working all day--out of sheer exhaustion, leaves her bag on the bus?  Terrible, terrible people!  I suppose there is some merit in the fact that he sought out her address and returned it, rather than simply handing it over to the TTC driver to put in lost and found... on the other hand, shouldn't we (wouldn't we) all do such a thing?  Sure, it's an inconvenience if I have to go out of my way to return something, but on the other hand, what about "do unto others..."?


University of Alberta Dean Plagiarises Speech
This I thought was kind of interesting… http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1007465--university-dean-apologizes-for-poaching-parts-of-convocation-speech  The Dean apparently gave a commencement speech which had been almost verbatim copied from another speech, and published in the New Yorker!  It’s unclear wether the copying was the issue, or the doing so without providing proper acknowledgement. The whole incident also begs the question:  Is copying like this a “bad” thing, ie. plagiarism, or a “good” thing, ie. flattery?

Fishing is Good, but Not for Sharks
Apparently it’s okay to stock a local swimming pool with poor, helpless fish and let people catch, kill and eat them, but it’s not okay to serve shark-fin soup.  Huh?  (Maybe shark are more worthy than trout, to live.  Wondering where, say, octopus or small children fit into the continuum….)

Let’s all Live Together in Harmony on the Water
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/1006776--innovator-patri-friedman-will-speak-of-his-concept-of-floating-colonies-on-the-ocean-at-ideacity-in-toronto
LOVING this idea of intentional communities… as Patri Friedman notes, “You have to try these things on a small scale because large systems inherently have inertia and are set in their ways.” (Is that why it takes so long for good ideas to be implemented so that children in classrooms can benefit?!  Ahhhh…. I finally get it.  It’s not the bad guys’ fault at the top, it’s just that darned, inert “system”, hehe.)

Stumbled across some neat rock creations while biking down by the lake...

The pastor at the church service I attended this morning talked about “in between” places; he spoke of those limbo times in our life when we’re not sure what comes next.

No doubt he was referring to things in the broader sense, but interestingly I find myself at just such an in between place this night. After rather a traumatic and chaotic scene at home involving my 7 year old having some sort of seizure, the response of 911 (including about 8 firefighters and paramedics Intermingled with

Yesterday Alex and Simon took us to their 7th annual TPOMBA picnic in High Park.  As I gazed around at the many families featuring sets of two and three same-aged children, I marvelled that our two were amongst the oldest there.

I remember our first TPOMBA picnic... the boys were 3 months old approximately, and we were totally overwhelmed.  It was all we could do to pack everything up and get to the picnic area.  And we didn't last long because the boys grew cranky and tired, and it seemed the easiest thing was to soon pack them back into their carseats and get them to sleep in the car!  But just being amongst others who also had twins and more seemed to help a little, as we saw how manageable the future looked. (Now we are that future, haha!  How ironic, I thought, as I chatted with other POMs carting and wheeling around the tiniest little 5-month-old babies yesterday, while my own two jumped merrily in the bouncy castle and stood in line for balloons, lol!)

It was nice, once again, to be surrounded by sets of two and three babies, toddlers and older children, and I marveled that good things come in 2s and 3s....  But as I sit here next to Simon at a local cafe, writing this blog while he enjoys his apple juice and a game on the iPod (Alex is at home, cleaning the apartment with Trevor!), I must say, nice things also come in singles.  :)

Here's to loving our multiples... in ALL their configurations!

Much has been written about mind and concept maps, and their effectiveness as both teaching and learning tools.  (See Buzan, Novak, or Bennett, etc.) 

In an attempt to model DI, I recently offered some Seminary students I work with the option of completing a comprehensive concept or mind map rather than a linear write-up for a book review they prepared for me as part of a Principles and Practices of Teaching class at Tyndale.  I was pleased that two of the students chose to complete the assignment in this format, and in fact, did rather a great job of it!!

For more on graphic organizers, click here!