One Teacher's Adventures

My feet are sore, I'm exhausted, and I already have a cold, but I made it through the first week back! Tuesday was our first day back with the kids.  I am teaching Math, Science, and French to two groups of Grade 8's this year and both classes seem like great kids.  One group is much more active and energetic than the other, but the kids seem really nice and respectful towards each other and to the adults in the school, which is a huge relief! Our school is a 6-8 Middle School, so my kids this year are the oldest.  I have been reminding them daily that they are setting the example to the 6's and 7's of how to behave at school, and they are rising to the challenge of being leaders already. I wanted to start the year off with my homeroom group with expectations for the year.  I really like the My Job/Your Job model of establishing classroom rules and expectations.  Students write down what the teacher's job is and what the teacher's job isn't, and ...

While my first day back to school with the kids is tomorrow, the staff had our official start day last Thursday.  In our district, we have a School Planning Day built into the calendar, usually in the second or third week of classes.  This year, it falls on September 21.  Most schools, however, decide to do the planning day before classes start - which makes a lot more sense! I'm switching schools (again) this year, and my new school decided to hold our planning day off site at a salmon enhancement centre.  Although the majority of the day was spent in grade group meetings, part of the day was dedicated to touring the facility and taking in the beauty of the surroundings.  We took a walk through some of the trails and breathtaking doesn't begin to describe the beauty.  These pictures do not do it justice! This is a salmon ladder.  It has run dry because our summer was so dry.  Hopefully, we will have more rain and the stream will connec...