Baby its Cold Outside!

Here we are, Tuesday....we're making the attempt at having school this afternoon after the school has been closed all day yesterday and this morning due to less than acceptable temperatures....brrrrrrr... is about all I could say.....even though my truck was plugged in, it still growled and me with great disdain this morning when I turned her key and begged her to start and warm up....great disdain....(did I already mention that?!?) So, thought I'd take a quick second (which has now turned into 5 minutes) to drop a blog entry in...there you be! Stay warm my prairie friends, stay warm!

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream...

hmmm...strange it was...but I've been having some pretty freaky dreams lately, and no, I haven't been drinking obscene amounts of caffeine prior to bed...not sure...maybe this brain of mine is just on overload...its been a busy couple of weeks and now its starting to slow down and I find myself sitting and thinking "hmmmm....what to do...." LOL...but, I have made a promise to you (if there actually is anyone reading these entries) to continue with updates...not much exciting to update but I did finally upload the pictures of our New Year's trip to Dipper Lake...thought I'd share those with you. I came home from Saskatoon early and went to Dipper Lake with Lisa, Barry, Duane, Norma and their kids...we stayed out there for four days...it was really cold to do much but it was relaxing and we had a blast...see for yourself!

Me, Lisa and Norma...the three amigos...or something
like that...LOL

All dressed up and nowhere to go...LOL

Me and Norma

Camping...with movies?!? LOL
Lisa chopping up the neckbones!
I look like a thug! Hmmm...
Dana and Shaniya making snow angels...

Notice the bright blue stitches on the end of what

used to be a fairly cute nose....but I'm not bitter

She's Here! She's Here!

Welcome to baby! Sheri had a baby girl at 12:30pm on Tuesday January 15th -- she weighed 5 lbs and 1/2 an ounce and was 18 1/2 inches in length... I'm pretty sure they're going to stick with the name Jaslynn...she's healthy, Mom's healthy...yeah! Put them in your prayers!

The Modern Man....Shakespeare the true Hollywood A-lister...

This is the last week of classes for the fall semester, exams are next week, I'm busier than ever trying to mark all assignments, calculate marks, create exams, create course outlines for next semester, get ready for next semester, use my spark of creativity to create some new bulletin boards...oh yeah, and sometimes I need to sleep! LOL...I am probably making it sound so much more dramatic than it needs to be...perhaps it is my inner Drama Queen emerging! LOL









Although I am exhausted, it is an extremely amazing exhaustion -- it kind of feels like I'm back in University -- and I'm loving it...I'm getting "stoked" for next semester...it should be fun. I'll be teaching grade 10 English, grade 12 English, Communications (a grade 11 elective) and Drama (a grade 11 elective). Now, I've complained about teaching drama before (I taught it last year) because its very difficult to get the kids motivated to participate -- they kind of like to sitting there and being sponges...but this year is different -- rather than active drama (like acting and theatre sports) we are doing an entire semester of....hold on, wait for it.....

Shakespeare and film --- woo hoo! I'm anxious...it's definitely one class that I'm excited to prepare for...less reading and writing and more connections and projects! YIPEE! So, I guess that is all of the news I have as of yet...oh no! There's more, but that news definitely deserves its own post...I'll get back to that one this afternoon! Later Shakespeare lovers (I hope!)

Everybody's working for the weekend....

well, hopefully there were some other unfortunate souls, other than myself, who were working this weekend...I attended the first 2 days of the Accreditation seminar and it was...interesting. I was asked last night if I learned anything and I reluctantly admitted that the answer was no; however, I was enlightened and certain issues certainly had me pondering. I think as a teacher you often just are so engulfed within your own world and classroom that you forget to stop and think about the pedagogical aspect of what you're doing. Teaching can become robotic in a way - and that is not necessarily a bad thing...not at all....For me, teaching high school English has become robotic -- I have my methods and I stick to what I know works for the kids, and with what works for me. Yet, there is this looming expectation (maybe expectation isn't the right word because it is a necessary obligation) to meet established learning outcomes and objectives. I'm not sure how often I sit down with the curriculum and highlight or check off the ones we've achieved as a class -- which technically I should be doing. But, when I'm forced to think about the objectives, I know that I'm covering them. Throughout the 2 day seminar (one of these days was Saturday, hence the title for this post) some good discussions were created about alot of interesting "teacher" topics. A lot of digressions also occurred (of the two, I must admit I tend to enjoy the digressions more! Even though I try to steer my English students on topic...how ironic is that...I guess its true that teachers make the worst students...LOL) Anyways.. all of these discussions and digressions had me questioning my own teaching style and pedagogy --- with a new semester coming up, this is the perfect opportunity for me to try out a couple of things that were discussed and if they don't work? What the hell...gave it a shot! So, we have one more 2 day session to attend and then I will be accredited....this will make the lives of my students a bit less stressful... a good thing.... I guess the true joy of teaching is that you never stop learning....quite profound...and for a Monday morning to top it off! Hope you all had enjoyable weekends..until next time...take it easy!

The First "Ah Ha" Moment of 2008

And hopefully there will be many more to come. Hopefully. My Grade 10 English class is in the midst of reading the above novel, and they are finally getting the knack of studying literature -- realizing the power of words and other people's stories....wow....the grade 12's had a powerful ah ha moment last year that made me realize truly why I love doing this ...but today there were tears involved...yes, the words on the page (accompanied by my somewhat powerful voice I may add...LOL) brought them to tears...not sobbing tears...but like the tears that run quietly down your face while you see a moving commercial (what about the Pampers commercial which is accompanied by Rod Stewart's song Forever Young) Yes...the first Ah ha moment -- finally! If you haven't read this novel, give it a go -- hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we are! Later!

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Then we'll begin....I know, I know, it's been over 6 months since the last post (insert negative comments about mass forms of communication here) but I've been busy (yes, you're busy too) but really....


Well, here we are in 2008...I'm not sure exactly why the time is passing by so quickly (but at the same time I'm not complaining) We're in the midst of wrapping up this semester and the second semester is quickly approaching...phew.


The year(well, the school year that is) has been going really well....as usual, I was really busy with volleyball and with getting myself organized, trying to get the students to appreciate literature (quite a big task some days)


And yes, the guilt regarding the lack of blogging has been tugging at me for quite awhile (but obviously not enough that I've ever done anything about it) so although I definitely don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, I thought to myself that I ought to make a better effort to keep up this blog thing... and maybe you're complaints (you know who you are) will slow down, maybe even stop (hey, a girl can dream)

So, it would take way to much space and energy to fill you in on all of the events since the last post (I know, my own fault) so I won't even try...but I will try to update this on a more regular basis...pictures, digressions, ponderings....whatever...oh! I guess that is the title of this thing! LOL


So, here's to a new year and new thoughts! Hope somebody out there is reading this...or I'll be forever pondering why the heck I even bother....LOL....

Below are some random pictures from the past 6 months just to gawk at...enjoy!

Liz in her palace, I mean tent, at Key Lake

Darryl and Dominic....camping @ Key Lake

Just hangin' around @ Key Lake (Sept '07)

Barry, Duane, Lisa and I pulling up the Moose they shot....oh, great hunters!

The Senior Girls VBall team - with their silver medals!
Lots of fun with these girls, as always!

Norma, Me, Lisa at Primeau Lake in July
Went to Dipper Lake with them by boat for summer holidays - had a blast, made some unforgettable memories

Dana (Norma's daughter) and me at Key Lake for culture week in September... it rained for the entire week but it was a lot of fun nonetheless

Me and Maryann at Key Lake....apparently I haven't "washed up" yet...LOL...YUCK!