The Night Before School

Twas the night before school and all through the house

Not a teacher was sleeping, not me nor my spouse.

The lessons were all planned, classrooms cleaned with much care

In hopes that our students would soon venture there.

I have no hopes of sleeping anytime soon. Too much excitement, and nerves. Strange to be nervous the first day of school still after so many years. I am glad that I am still nervous because I think it helps me remember how students usually feel.

I have an extra case of nerves tonight because I have so many people on my mind for whom I have great hopes of success;

• my Sprouts, one of whom is starting JK


• my dad who is leading his first shop class in this setting


• my spouse who is meeting a new group of students


• my colleagues who are new to the profession


• my colleagues who are new to the school and community


• my students


• myself

So, with all that spinning round in my head (rather than visions of sugarplums) I imagine that sleep will be a few hours off yet. I might as well make good use of the time getting lunches organized and finish setting up my gradebook.

See y'all at school!

It's A Small World

In the spring we had an adventure on a hike that took us to the train tracks and we got to meet a pair of OPP officers (who kindly informed us that the train tracks are private property). Well, this week I discovered that there is an amazing second part to the story. For the first part check back here.

We were sitting in the staff room, having lunch (a luxury of the week before school starts, that helps us all get to know one another before we dive into the trenches together). The Boss is sitting beside me and shares that our new teacher, Glee Girl, has family in K-town and that they know Laurens and I. The brother is an OPP officer. We looked at each other, a bit confused. The Boss mentions that they know us from Lakeside Church perhaps. More confusion and we wonder if it is a Treaty 3 officer because we don't know any OPP...

When we were sitting at home eating dinner that evening it struck me. The only OPP officers we have met were the ones who taught us not to play on the tracks in the spring. In fact, I thought that one of them mentioned he had a sister who was a high school English teacher in northern Quebec.

My response to his comment back in April was, "Oh, she should apply at Grassy. We are always looking for good teachers. And we will be hiring high school teachers for September as several of ours are leaving."

As it turns out, she had done so a month prior to our meeting her brother. After our meeting over the tracks he told her that there was a nice couple who lived in Grassy. And now she is our colleague.

And, as you can probably tell by her nickname, she is a huge Glee fan. I think this is a great start to a great year.

What a small world!

Pow Wow

It is pow wow weekend in Grassy. The drums started after dinner last night and were the music we all fell asleep to. They will continue for most of the weekend, and we will hang out at the pow wow grounds watching dancing, participating when we feel brave, and reconnecting with community members that we haven;t seen over the summer.

Last night Fi and I went over to watch the pageant for Princesses and Braves. She spent the evening running around reconnecting with her friends from school, many of whom she hasn't seen for most of the summer. I was delighted to see many students participating in the pageant and rooted for those who have been a part of my classes.

It was wonderful to watch so many students and note how they have grown a little or changed their haircuts. Every summer on pow wow weekend more of a coming home; to the community that is growing roots into us a little bit at a time.

Gearing Up

Another summer is coming to a close as teachers arrive back (or for their first time) here and start setting up classrooms. Many of the teachers in the elementary wing are already at work in their classrooms, and there are almost two weeks until school starts. That is an encouraging sign to me.

I went in this morning with the intent of getting some more puttering done. I didn't have a to do list or any specific project to get done, just moving forward towards being prepped for the first day.

I ended up spending the whole morning catching up with Running Goddess. You remember her; she was my running partner two years ago. Well, she had an amazing AQ experience this summer and was literally bubbling over with things she was excited about sharing from it. I know this marks me as a complete teacher-geek, but I was so thrilled about her excitement and ideas that I was a bit teary. It was also amazing to get caught up on her life and what she had been doing with herself for the summer (other than lots of learning about teaching). She is in a really good place in her life and her joy shows.

After that the rest of the day was spent puttering, connecting with other teachers and walking a few inches above the floor. The tone in the elementary wing is really positive. I am so hopeful that we will have an amazing year. I would so much appreciate prayer that this will be such a positive growing year for each of the teachers and for each of our students. We are poised on the edge of something incredible (I believe) and the possibilities are mind boggling.

The whole community is gearing up for the pow wow this weekend. There is a buzz of excitement in the air. I know that it may only be the teachers who feel that excitement in connection with the start of a new school year, but it is almost tangible.

So, to all my teacher friends out there, blessings as you gear up for a fresh new year. I hope that it will be filled to overflowing with growth and delight in the privilege of your job.

Wandering on Water

Over the past four weeks the water levels in our lakes have dropped so fast that you can almost watch it happen. It has been a dry summer, but I don't think that is the only reason the water levels are so low. Whatever the reason, there are all sorts of new things to see along the edges of the lake. The new shoreline has revealed a plethora of interesting objects such as sunken boats and the bases of beaver lodges.

We have been making the most of the lovely evenings this week by taking the canoe out after supper. The Sprouts are becoming better boat passengers, although Jo still can't remember that we stay sitting in a canoe. At some point we will tip due to his wiggling and then he will remember.

Earlier this week we had a huge list of wildlife that we had seen when we arrived home from our paddle. A beaver that lurked around the canoe while we took a close look at his dam; whose entrances were almost a foot above water level. Two families of loons with babies who dove at their parents' warning as we floated close. A mother duck with too many ducklings to keep track of, who scattered as we came closer. She did everything short of stand on her head to distract us from her flock of little ones. And great blue herons who love our lake; we see several every time we are on the water.

Last night there were a few distant loons and a beaver that we heard, but couldn't see. LK brought his camera and sat in the front of the boat trying to take pictures of all the animals that we didn't see; a somewhat frustrating endeavour. Plus he had a pairs of wiggling little ones of our own in the middle of the boat who kept the noise level high enough that critters had lots of warning to get away before he could shoot them.

Perhaps we will leave the Sprouts behind on the next trip so LK can get some good shots of the critters.