The thermometer in my classroom read 36 degrees at one point today... but we kept slogging away.  Our classrooms upstairs are being painted over the summer, and the asbestos floors removed and replaced.  So everyone was asked to pitch in.  In addition to the usual end-of-year clean up, we had to pack EVERYTHING in our rooms and haul it all out into the halls, along with chairs, student desks and any furniture that was deemed moveable.

To make matters worse, in my board we no longer have our end-of-year PD day, so all this (in addition to signing off OSRs and the rest of the year-end stuff that teachers do) had to be done on the last day of school with students present!!!

To make matters even worse, it's been over 30 celsius several days over the past few weeks.  Our classrooms are like bake ovens.

You can imagine the stellar programming that has been happening!

The teachers and support staff at my school are pretty awesome though, and everyone really pitched and helped each other out, AND maintained a positive attitude throughout most of it, miraculously.

Once all the writing implements and paper had been packed, and my students had moved all their chairs and most of their desks out of the classroom and into the halls, there really wasn’t much left to do, instructionally, especially given the heat.  A few of us got together and showed a movie in the gym.  Some folks also took their classes to the playground.  I had wisely pre-booked the computer lab for part of the afternoon, so I had my students play math and strategy games in the lab, which was only 31 degrees, slightly cooler than my classroom, since it was on the other side of the building.

As I stood staring at my empty classroom at the end of the day, hoping the painters would notice my clear instructional signs indicating that they should NOT paint over the bulletin boards which I and several helpers had spent several days painting last summer with premium paint purchased out of my own pocket, I pondered the summer ahead.  This will be the first year that I am not taking or teaching courses over the summer months!  And although I have planned to do some major studying for my PPL these next two weeks (I hope to write the exam by mid July, then return to the flight portion of my training in the fall), I will be spending the majority of my summer -- over a month -- in Prince Edward Island.

I must honestly say,  I can hardly wait!

After 17 years, it is high time I took advantage of the long summers off we teachers are accused of. Besides, finally spending some longer stretches of family time with Alex and Simon, who are suddenly 8 years old (how did THAT happen??!!), taking a summer off allows me the opportunity to do some professional reading and thinking/reflecting, which I find I rarely have time to really do properly in the day-to-day grind of the job.

On my list are two monographs, one about integrated curriculum, the other about rich questioning.  And I'm sure more will arise from there.  Also on my list of "must reads this summer" are various volumes of the Guide to Effective Instruction in Math, The Literacy Cafe (follow up to Daily Five book), and a book on learning, the brain, and implications for schooling, which a colleague lent me.

But first, sleep, sleep, glorious SLEEEEEPPPP!!!!  And Pride weekend. 

And then, the weeks of summer will stretch out before me to walk along the beaches of PEI, and to pray, reflect, read and think in peace... at least while the boys are occupied now and then.  :)

Second last day of school, and time for a little reflection on learning. 

This is the first year I have run my literacy program according to the Daily Five (well, loosely, anyway). During "Work on Writing" this morning, I had the tudents write me letters telling me what they liked most about how the literacy block was set up this year, an what they might suggest changing for next year, if possible.

Here are a few words from my Grade 3s:

It really is amazing how this way of structuring one's literacy block offers something for everyone.  This summer, I plan to read the next book in the series, "the Literacy Cafe". I am looking forward to refining the process for next year to make it even better!

Getting off the ferry at Wards fills me with a peculiar but not unwelcome sensation. I am linked, here, to a very specific part of my childhood.  Stepping off the ferry, city behind me, Wards Island café ahead, I feel very close to my Mother and Omi.  We spent a great many hours on the Islands, and although we sometimes started at Hanlan’s Point, or more rarely, at Centre, the vast majority of our Island adventures began on the Wards Island ferry.

The boardwalk, the beach, the Wards Island Café (in its many incarnations) are such dear, familiar places to me.  (Although I must say, now that I have experienced the vast ocean beaches of PEI, the little beach at Wards looms larger in my imagined memory than in real life, it seems!)

I remember the excitement with which I discovered that the island did not end at the soccer field next to the ice cream bar, but went on for several more “blocks”, covered in the neatest little houses, many now in delightful arts and crafts style.  “People LIVE here?!” I asked my mom in awe.  (I am still intrigued by the homes... I can spend hours wandering the streets of Algonquin and Wards, lost in the artistry of the communities there.)

One time when I was about 8 or 9 years old, my mom ambitiously tried to have us bike to the island from our home in New Toronto.  We got about two thirds of the way to the ferry docks before she realized it was time to just buy me an ice cream from a street vender and head home.

Now my own kids are discovering the joys of this boundless parkland across the water from the city, thanks to my obsession with the Island.  Like my mother, I insist we spend some time there each summer.  Unlike my mother, though, I have booked rooms on the island, and the boys and I have often stayed overnight on summer weekends, enjoying the beach when it is peaceful in early morning or later evening, after most of the visitors have gone back to the city.  I wonder if she knew one could do that, stay on her beloved island overnight…  I bet she would have liked it!

My blog readers know how I feel about McGuinty's insistence that we all (i.e. teachers) need to tighten our financial belts, but keep doing an increasingly complex job well with more demands and fewer practical resources.  I'm curious, though, when big corporations will be called on to do their part?!

As pointed out by Colin MacKay, in his opinion piece in yesterday's Belleville Intelligencer, "financial institutions and bailing-out companies have helped create the deficit."

As he goes on to write,

Why, then, should teachers and students have to pay for a mess that is largely the fault of the private sector?!

Click here to read the full editorial by Colin MacKay, Intelligencer Writers Group.

(Subsequent to yesterday's blog post....)

Click here to see more photos,
and read my reflection of the experience....

Alex and Simon were rather disillusioned last summer, after they had saved up their money, when they played this game at Centreville until all their money was used up, but still did not win the prize they had hoped for. They had conspired to play only against each other, effectively ensuring they would win every time.  However, they had miscalculated the number of times they would have to play in order to win the "choice" prize they wanted!

My plan is to turn this story into a math problem for my grade threes.  I believe it would be very motivating, and would provide a great opportunity for me to practise my "Bansho" for the project a colleage and I were working on.

I am thinking something like this:

A more complex question might be,

I will try to do this before the end of the school year, and will report about it on my Smart Bansho blog.  Stay tuned!

Far Enough Farm, one of so many fun, educational and valuable places on Rob Ford's merciless chopping block, is -- in our opinion -- worth keeping open!

The boys and I visited the farm while on the island this weekend, and threw a few bucks into the donation box.  We also signed the petition, and visited some of the many animals who may find themselves homeless and in danger of slaughter if efforts to save the farm from privatization or closure are not successful.

Due to extreme dizziness, nausea and spinning of rooms, I recently visited the hospital.  The good people there were kind enough to give me a CD with copies of my head CT, so I could show my students images of "Ms Teschow's Brain"...

This vertigo is apparently caused by some sort of virus; we suspect labrynthitus, an inflammation of the inner ear.

I've been working on drafting an introductory set of oral language lessons.  My colleague and I want to help our students become strong, articulate, respectful contributers in a group.  To do this, we realise we need to first teach them some very specific oral language skills, both speaking and listening.

As I've been researching more, I'm again reminded of the complex nature of teaching:  One can't effectively teach and assess oral language without integrating instructional organizers like Placemat, Inside/Outside Circles or Think-Pair-Share, really.  Furthermore, questioning becomes a huge focus if one wants to move the rich conversation forward.

My capacity with instructional organizers is fairly strong, but my skills in effective questioning are quite weak.  I started this venture trying to figure out how best to integrate Bansho into my mathematical instructional repertoire.  That led me to the need for an effective Oral Language program, intensified by my high ESL population.  But now I am recognizing the need to develop more effective questioning techniques.

I'm amazed, really, by how complex this job is!

I'm confused about these recurring articles claiming that Ontario's elementary teachers have "walked away from the table."  (Here's one: Elementary Teachers Vote on Day of Protest, TorStar, June 14... but there are others.)

I am an elementary school teacher, and my colleagues and I are under the
impression that as members of a collective bargaining unit (ETFO), we have the right to - get this - collectively bargain!  My understanding is that the collective