Yeah, yeah...

I got a rather nasty email from Sean earlier today saying that I should update. Here's the deal - I'll update if you comment. And don't pretend you're not out there reading this! I have a site tracker and I see that lots of people read this thing. I better get a few comments from this post and the next ones.

Today I applied for NINE positions. Go me! Most of them are special ed positions and a few are elementary. One in particular caught my eye because it's almost exactly the same thing I'm doing now - 50% special ed and 50% kindergarten. I think I might have a shot at that one. I'll be really disappointed if I don't even get an interview out of one of these jobs. I mean, REALLY. This job hunt thing is getting ridiculous.

I discovered the joys of facebook. What a terrible invention. Thankfully I was only addicted for just under a week and now I'm back to checking it once a day just to see what other people are up to. I figure that if I didn't keep in contact with my "friends" before, why should I now just because I have a facebook account? I must admit that it was kind of nice reconnecting with some old childhood friends but I'm not going to suddenly become buddy-buddy with everyone again just because we're "friends" online. Not to be cynical or anything.

On a more serious note, I'm absolutely in love with the textbook for my new class, Overview of Learning Disabilities. I can't remember the last time I could hardly put a textbook down; seriously, it's fascinating. The book is called "A Mind at a Time" and it's by Mel Levine. He talks about the 8 neurodevelopmental systems that enable people to acquire certain abilities (attention control, social thinking, higher thinking, motor, sequential ordering, spatial ordering, language and memory). Everyone has better skills in certain systems, just as everyone lacks skills in other systems.

Levine's perspective on K-12 education made me realize how tough school is for some kids. He points out that when we choose a career/vocation, our decisions usually reflect our strengths rather than our deficits. For instance, my motor system is much weaker than my language skills, so I would never choose to become a professional athlete. Yet in our schools we expect students to master every neurodevelopmental system. Is this fair? I don't think so. Why should a student who struggles in attention control be made to feel like he/she is a failure or a "bad" child just because his/her brain hasn't developed in such a way that success is possible in that area?

I'm not saying that we shouldn't expect students to sit reasonably quietly in class or give their best efforts in all areas of their life. Now that we have this information on how the brain works, we don't have any excuse to not use this information to teach to each student's needs. If we know that a student lacks appropriate memory skills, we should be teaching specific memory techniques that will enable that student to be more successful. This isn't to say that they will be able to memorize a phone book or suddenly develop an amazing memory, but educators should at least give the students the experiences necessary to develop each system to their maximum potential.

Having this information shouldn't provide us with excuses as to why a student isn't succeeding - it should enable us to help that student to gain the best skills he/she can. I've never wanted to read ahead in a class more than I have in this one; I'm glad, because if I feel so passionate about a topic like this then it obviously means I'm on the right track by working on my special ed certificate.

Creepy!

So Sean and I were walking out of the Walmart in Yorkton this afternoon as this little kid, maybe 2 or 3 years old, was walking in. The kid looked at me, pointed at me and said "Mommy."

Isn't that creepy? (No Mom, I'm not pregnant.)

Keener, keener, keener!

Did I mention that I passed my first special ed class? Yay me! I'm being a keener because I've already started doing the readings for the next class, but it's all going to even out in the end because May and June are going to be insane months at school. Now that I almost have a social life here (well, two friends) I figure I might as well get started early.

I'm actually really excited about this next course. Here's the gist of it:
EDPSE 520.3 Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities in the Classroom
[Prerequisite(s): EDPSE 390.3, 414.3]
Designed to facilitate a broad understanding of issues in LD as well as research-based knowledge about several important elements in the field. Course topics include definitional issues in LD, a language-oriented view to reading disability, memory processing problems, reading, writing, and arithmetic instruction, metacognition, social issues, inclusion, and assessment issues of LD.

I wish I could have taken this class back in January. I think it would have been a lot more applicable to my current job than the "History and Philosophy of Special Ed" class that I took. I just finished reading an article about students with LD and self-concept. Aside from all of the statistical junk in it, it made me "reflect" (what a university word) on how I work with my resource room students.

I noticed at the beginning of the year that some of my students would mutter negative things under their breath as they were working and it really bothered me. Our Ed Psych suggested that I end the session with something they're good at, and it's amazing how well it's worked. One of my students is really good at multiplying so after we work on reading (which is really difficult for him) we finish up by doing some multiplication questions on the whiteboard. I've even taught him the BEDMAS thing and he thinks it's cool that he can do that when the other kids in his class can't yet. Seeing the improvement in his self-concept is one of those instances where you remember why you became a teacher in the first place. (Not to get all sappy and crap.)

I'm also really pumped to learn that the textbook for this class is $23.00. The $140 textbook from last semester was definitely not a highlight of the class. I get quite upset when I have to buy a textbook that is written for Americans. The $140 textbook was full of American statistics and policies, which I know I should still read about, but it was awfully hard to get through that info when it doesn't directly pertain to me at this point in time. I'm really hoping this next text is a little more useful.

Anyway, I'm off to read about emotional intelligence! How thrilling!

Oh, and thank you for redoing my blog Sean! It looks great!

New Blog Template, yay me...

Do you like the purple? Sean isn't too sure about it....let me know...

Look at that killer header!

Back to the ol' grind!

Well, the Easter break flew by. I surprisingly accomplished a lot, almost everything on my to-do list. I hope this week is as productive as last week was.

I left Stoon at about 1:30 and when I got home I went to the school to clean my classroom a bit. Then I came home and started doing laundry (it's amazing what laundry accumulates over the course of almost a week and a half!). Since then I've been cutting and gluing stuff to be laminated at school tomorrow. I can't wait until these first few years of teaching have passed - I absolutely hate colouring and making things, but that's the life of an elementary teacher.

I quite enjoyed my drive home today. It rained from Quill Lake to my house so my car got a nice little rinse. I love driving in rain or light snow - for some reason I find it relaxing. When I got home it smelled so fresh and the birds were chirping. I love spring!

I'd say my big accomplishment for the week was driving Sean's car. Yup, I said DRIVING Sean's car, not stalling it. I haven't stalled it the last two times we've gone driving! I even drove on Spadina to the Mendel Art Gallery! Next goal: driving in actual traffic!

The to-do list from hell...

Ahhhh, the break. I needed this break very badly. It's a good time for me to regroup my thoughts and catch up on some unit planning. On Sunday night I decided to make a to-do list for the week. I must say, it's an impressive list. If I can accomplish everything on it this week, I will be a happy camper.

Some highlights:
- plan my farm unit
- send out letters requesting sponsorship for the ECEC conference (I got suckered into being the corporate person)
- send out wedding invitations
- buy a spring jacket
- pick out bridesmaids' dresses
- apply for my passport (no, I don't have a passport, leave me alone)
- sew my pants
- doctor on Tuesday
- spa appointment on Tuesday
- dentist on Wednesday
- eye doctor on Wednesday
- go to Sarcan

That's not including the work I have to do to prepare my farm unit, the TA schedules I have to tweak and the learning resource games I want to make. Sean is at work during the day so it's good that I can be kept busy. I'm also hoping to meet up with Syd, Brea, Stacey and Clarice at some point this week. Go me!

So apparently Highway 15, arguably one of the worst highways in Saskatchewan, is washed out west of Nokomis, my hometown. This morning they interviewed Willard Beeler and Shaun Thompson, two local guys, on CBC radio. I understand there's nothing the Department of Highways can do about it until the water has gone down and the ground has dried up a bit, but this shouldn't have happened in the first place.

That road has always been a disaster. This one time? On the way to band practice? We were driving down Highway 15? And the potholes (or rather, craters) were so bad we actually drove in the ditch for a stretch. That's not right. That's not right at all. But I bet you if government people had to drive on that road on a regular basis it would have been fixed a long time ago. So now those people who drive from Nokomis to Watrous for work, school, etc have to go far out of their way to travel on a decent road. Boy, I'm glad I don't live around there anymore.

3 sleeps until the break!

I can't believe how quickly the school year has gone by. It's almost Easter, for Pete's sake. In some ways, I feel like I haven't taught my kindies anything, yet sometimes I look at them and want to burst with pride because most of them have come a long way from the beginning of the year.

They all entered school not knowing numbers and letters, and now some of them know every letter and almost every sound. Some are learning basic sight words and some have become little math geniuses.

It doesn't seem that long ago that we went swimming at the Gallagher Centre for their first field trip ever. Or that we were all dressed up for Halloween and the kids were climbing the walls because they were so excited to go trick-or-treating after school.

I can't get all sappy about leaving yet. I have to save that for June. Right now I need to focus on the fact that there are only 3 more sleeps until the Easter break! Woohoo!

Good intentions, poor results

I'm sure our school had great intentions when it purchased the Accelerated Reader program several years ago. Many educators swear by this program but the more I become familiar with how it works, the more disgusted I am by it.

The gist of this program is that kids can read a book, answer some comprehension questions on the computer and then receive points based on the number of questions answered correctly. The kids set a goal at the beginning of the year based on how many points they think they can get over the year, and everything is then tracked on the computer. The books are generally books that can be found in any library, so it's not like a school would have to purchase a particular series of books.

In theory, this is a wonderful idea. Teachers can easily track their students' reading to see how often they are reading and how well they're understanding the text. Kids get to see their progress as well, and have some control over their learning. Maybe it's just how our school is running it, but I have some real problems with relying on this program as heavily as our school does.

As a learning resource teacher, I have encountered some kids who get quite upset when the books I want them to read with me are not AR books. As soon as I introduce a new book, I can almost guarantee the first question out of some students' mouths are, "Will I get points for this?" If they can't, they almost instantly lose interest in the book. It's then tough for me to get these students interested in reading the book at all.

What bothers me even more, though, is that all of these points can be redeemed for insanely incredible prizes at the end of the year. I realize it sounds quite harsh, but I'm not sure that the prizes we give out are appropriate. I think a smaller prize where everyone who has hit a certain percentage of their goal is fine, but the expensive prizes given out are a little extreme. Thankfully the kindergartens don't have anything to do with AR (they begin in grade 1) so I don't either.

To me, it perpetuates the attitude that everything they read should be for AR points so they can get a prize. Whatever happened to intrinsic motivation? Nowadays it seems like kids need to be rewarded for everything in order for them to do what their responsibility as children and students is anyway.

I'm not completely bashing the AR program. It does have its benefits, but our school (and I'm sure a lot more) should reevaluate how it uses this program. I really believe the kids are reading for all the wrong purposes.

On a different note, check out "my boyfriend's" (his words, not mine) blog. George Strombolopolous is my new favourite tv personality. I try to go to bed so early every night, but that damn show "The Hour" is on at 11:00 every night on CBC and it sucks me in every time. Anyway, just wanted to recommend the show to you.

My personal challenge

Last weekend Judith, a friend from town here, came with me to Toon Town. I enjoy traveling with her because we always have some thought-provoking discussions. The big debate this time was on the environment.

We agreed on most things so it wasn't much of a debate I guess. The only thing we disagreed on was whether or not to let vehicles run without anyone sitting in them. It angers me when I drive into a mall parking lot in the winter and see a big truck running with no one in it. Judith argued that it's worse to start your truck over and over again; I say it's worse to leave it running, especially when the truck has been running for over 20 minutes. In fact, why do people really need big trucks like that anyway? I support farmers in driving these vehicles for work-related purposes but that's about it.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post. Judith was telling me about these people who limited themselves to one bag of garbage a month. I'm not sure I have the energy or discipline to challenge myself like this, but I decided that I can start off small. I decided that I was going to limit myself to one shopping bag of garbage a week.

I know it doesn't seem like a lot and I'm sure lots of people only generate that much garbage anyway, but I generally bring work home with me and I can create a lot of garbage from that. I'm also constantly throwing out stuff that I don't need/want anymore. I figured my challenge would be a lot more difficult than it actually was.

It's Wednesday night and my garbage bag is 2/3 full. (Notice I didn't say 1/3 empty, haha.) It's mostly food scraps, actually, and I'm realizing how much I could compost if I was set up for it. I'm already a decent recycler - I recycle absolutely everything I can, right down to empty granola bar and kleenex boxes. Considering I have one night left until I'm heading back to Stoon, I think I'm doing really well.

It's easy for me to say because I live alone and I solely control what goes into the garbage. But even if you live with others, I recommend you challenge yourself for one week. [Insert touchy-feely, pump-you-up comments here.]

Random Thoughts

- They should put a disclaimer in all acceptance letters for B.Ed programs, warning how sick you will be in your first few years of teaching. I have the stomach flu for the 3rd time this school year.
- Did you know China still produces CFCs? It's probably common knowledge but I didn't know that so leave me alone. (Read The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery - awesome book.)
- When you drop food colouring and then dish soap into milk, the colours "explode", producing a really cool design in the milk.
- Spring is wonderful, but "wet kid" stinks.
- I believe that Sasktel's Jim ("it's like McGivor, cool!") would be a lonely, lonely man with no love life if he wasn't fictional.
- My words of wisdom for you today: Just because you can reproduce, doesn't mean you should.

I am slowly going crazy one two three four five six switch

Don't you hate it when you get a really annoying song in your head? I teach kindergarten and special education, but I'm also the K-5 music teacher at our school. Some of the songs we sing are great and others.. well, not so great.

My grade 4/5 group is quite creative and they enjoy "composing" and performing songs with actions. Today I introduced a song called Ko Ay E or something like that. It's a song from the Maori tribe in New Zealand and there's a stick dance that goes along with it. I taught the kids the song and then split them into groups, where they had to create their own stick dance to go along with the song.

The kids really liked it but the song itself is extremely annoying. Its melody is almost like a lullaby and very very catchy. Unfortunately, it got stuck in my head during that class and I can't seem to get it out. What's worse, I've played it over and over in my head to the point that I can't actually remember the words. It's something like Ko Ay E, Ah Ta O, something something something.

Argh!!! Thankfully I'm having a couple of girls over to paint Ukrainian easter eggs. They should be here any time now. I'm hoping they'll be able to distract my brain from this stupid song.

Stoopid, stoopid

I had Sean call Sasktel for me today to figure out my internet problem. When I do a speed test my upload rate sucks, and I think it's affecting all of my downloads and even streaming video.

Tonight, for instance, I was trying to do the Test the Nation special on CBC and the streaming video on the test froze up. It's a pretty long test and of COURSE I was almost finished.

Sasktel better fix this problem soon, I tell you. I'm paying good money for this internet stuff and I can't even get the most out of it. What really makes me mad is that I've called Sasktel twice to see if they could do anything and they've brushed me off, saying that the speed test is coming up fine so that's just as good as I'll get it. Sean calls today and he's on the phone 5 times longer than I am, doing all of these extra tests and being promised that they'll look into it in the next few days. I can't believe sexism still happens, but I really believe that's what happened here.

(No offense Lacy, I know you work for them, but I have many issues with them.)

Wedding Blog

It's an exciting weekend here in the metropolis I live in! This morning, Sean and I went out for breakfast, then drove half an hour to buy Ukrainian easter egg supplies. I was a little pissed off when I got all the way home and realized that one of the dye packages was MISSING the dye. Of course it was the black dye that had to be missing; to me that's the best colour. Oh well, somehow I'll survive.

When we got back, we headed to the school and photocopied our wedding invitations. We spent the rest of the afternoon addressing invitations (or trying to, since we still don't have all of the addresses we need).

This brings me to the actual point of this post. I'm sure most of you won't care, but in case you do, here is our new wedding blog! It's a way for our guests to RSVP and to read about the most recent wedding plans. Isn't that technological of us?

O'Doyle rules!

Actually, geeks rule. I am a geek. You know what I did tonight? I finished my term paper. I'm fairly proud of it, especially considering I haven't written a term paper since my second year of university (4 or 5 years ago). My undergrad education classes were so lame - no term papers, no finals. I thought it was great, until I get to these special ed classes and find that I have to write a final exam and a term paper. I always worry about it for nothing though. I'll check it over tomorrow, submit it, then forget about it. It feels so good to be done!

I really miss getting involved in community things. Back home, I was heavily involved in my church, in my school and in other community things that made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile. I joined the Kinettes group here but as a newcomer to a community it's difficult to contribute to certain things because you just don't know everyone. So I was thinking - when I move to Saskamatoon in July, what will I do?

Sean's involved in politics. That's not my thing. I could join the Kinettes group there, but I'd like to try something new. Sean had talked about getting involved with the city to develop better recycling programs and stuff, but it didn't really work out. I think that's something I'd be interested in.

Brea, do you remember that Kids' Environmental Club we tried to make when we were younger? My favourite book back then was "50 Ways Kids Can Save the Planet" and I had this bright idea that we would start a kids' club with monthly newsletters, complete with info on topics like global warming and tips on how to be more environmentally friendly. Again, I'm a geek. But what a good idea, eh?

Obviously that didn't work out. But I've always been into recycling and the whole bit and I used to get very upset when people would litter. I always thought that Stoon did a pretty good job of setting up recycling centres around the city until we went to Ontario last summer.

Hamilton, along with a lot of other cities, organize their trash according to specific criteria. They have a blue bin for this, another bin for that, and it's all picked up by the city. Last night the National on CBC featured Sudbury's environmental initiatives. I realized then that Saskatoon really sucks in this regard.

It doesn't matter that Saskatoon is much smaller than these cities and it doesn't matter how much curbside programs cost; what matters is that we need to do more. Not everyone has a car to take their recyclables to the blue bin depots that are scattered around the city. I see on the City of Saskatoon's site that not a lot is happening. They were taking applications for an advisory committee, but the deadline has passed and it doesn't seem that there is much else for people to get involved with.

Crappy. It's something I'm really interested in. Until another opportunity comes along, I'll nag my city counsellor repeatedly and hope that they get on the environmental bandwagon.

Road Rage

Over the past year or so, I have developed a bit of road rage. Driving two and a half hours every other week gives me a lot of time to witness stupid drivers in lots of close calls. Today was no exception.

I was just leaving Humboldt when I caught up to this junk bucket of a car going about 80 km/h. I sped up and passed them (safely, I might add), then continued on my merry way. The car sped up a bit but was still quite far behind me.

Five minutes later, the car sped up and sat right on my ass for a few minutes. I might add here that we had been the only cars around for awhile. THEN, as we FINALLY met a car, the car behind me decides to pull out and pass. The car coming at us was OBVIOUSLY way too close to pass, but the car still did it. If I hadn't swerved onto the shoulder, that car would have hit the oncoming car head on.

THEN, to make matters WORSE, two minutes later he passes a pokey car that we had caught up to. Did he learn from his mistake and wait until the coast was clear? Nope.

The schmuck decides to pull out and pass when there's another oncoming car, only this car is MUCH too close for him to safely pass. I gasped and almost covered my eyes, but then realized I was still driving, so I watched in horror as the oncoming car swerved onto the shoulder and the car that the idiot was passing stayed in his/her own lane.

I was tempted to pin on it so I could pass him and give him the finger, but I didn't do it for two reasons:
1) I'm a pansy
2) I live alone. If this psycho decided to follow me home, I wouldn't have a big strong man there to protect me.

I wish I could say that natural selection almost took its course, but it didn't. The victims of this idiocy would be the innocent drivers he was trying to pass. I'm getting angry all over again. Honestly, how can people be so stupid?

Faulty internet?

If you're looking for something to do (you must be pretty desperate if you're reading my blog) would you do me a favour? Go to TSN and click on a broadband game on the right-hand side of the screen. How long does it take for the game to start? It takes almost 10 minutes for a game to load up. The Sasktel guy told me (in a very unconfident voice) that it's probably the TSN site. No matter how many times I told him that ANYTHING I download takes a long time, he assured me that my download rate was fine.

Stupid Sasktel. I hate their monopoly on the Internet services here. It really limits you, especially if you live in rural SK. If you could check out TSN for me I would really really appreciate it. Thanks!

sdkjel;hnslkjei;n,

Yep, that's what I felt like yesterday. I had Educational Consultants up the wazoo all day. The Occupational Therapist and the Ed Psych were in all day, we had a team meeting for a designated student (so the Student Services Coordinator, parent and new social worker were in for that), the counselor was there all day, PLUS I had kindergarten. Right after school - meeting with the OT and some parents (which always goes way too long). Off to Wadena early to get groceries and gas. Then curling at 6:00. Curl 6 ends because it's a ladies' league and 8-end games are rare. Come home to plow through all of the SK Learning documents I have to read and somehow make a term paper out of. I feel asleep on the couch at 10:30 so I dragged my butt to bed and slept like a rock until 7:07 this morning.

At the end of the curling game I felt like running. Even now, at 7:53 am, I feel quite wound up. I hope this energy will be put to good use when I'm trying to work on my term paper tonight.

Curling coachdom

My brief but rewarding career as a curling coach will be over in T-minus 5 hours. Yesterday we went to districts and had a ton of fun. We didn't win our games, but the kids still curled pretty well considering this is the first time some have curled on artificial ice.

In other news, Telemiracle is on tonight!! I'll get to stay up as late as I want to watch it tonight because Sean is stuck in Madison, WI. Can these airlines ever be consistent? He has had such crappy luck with flying lately. Last night he checked his flight before leaving the university and realized that his flight had been cancelled due to mechanical trouble. He was supposed to get into Stoon at 12:30ish and then drive out here to see moi, but now he'll have to come out tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I was talking about Telemiracle. It's always been a tradition in my family to stay up late, watch the show and eat a bunch of junk food, then camp out in front of the tv. This is the second year in a row that things haven't worked out. Last year Brea came over for a sleepover because Mom was working or something, and this year I'll be all by my lonesome. I think I might invite one of the other teachers over to watch it with me. If she doesn't come, more junk food to myself!

Deafblind Documentary

Naturally, there's an awesome Dr. Phil episode on the day I decide to stay later at school. I caught the last 15 minutes of his episode on deafblindness, which I would have LOVED to have seen.

A year ago, I was working in a group home for the Canadian Deafblind and Rubella Association. If you want to renew your appreciation for how good your life is compared to some, try working with deafblind individuals. I can't imagine trying to live with this disability.

There were four men living in the group home I worked at. One of them was completely blind and deaf and the others were hearing and vision impaired. When I first started working there, I didn't know if I would be able to handle it. As an "intervenor", I was responsible for being the eyes and ears of these men. Not only is it an incredible responsibility, it can also be a very difficult job.

As part of training, we were required to become deafblind for a day. It was honestly one of the most terrifying things I've ever done. We were blindfolded and given earplugs and heavy duty earmuffs and then given things to do. We had to sew, cook and go shopping while deafblind. The worst part was going out in public this way. My intervenor left me in the middle of the store and helped another temporary deafblind person. I felt very alone and scared - I couldn't see or hear if anyone was near me and I didn't even really know where I was. It certainly changed how I worked with the men after that.

Since I worked there, I've wanted to learn more about deafblind children. Most people know nothing about deafblindness (other than Helen Keller, I didn't really know how prevalent it is) and I think it's great that Dr. Phil chose to do an episode on it.

The guests on his show were parents of deafblind triplets. Can you imagine?! If done well, it's a lot of work to intervene for one deafblind person, let alone three. Of course, Dr. Phil showered them with gifts and arranged for special services at no charge.

Now I'm anxiously waiting to download it. I'm not sure if I can emotionally handle watching the whole thing - it was a real tear-jerker in the last 15 minutes alone. Maybe I'm biased because I have experience with this disability, but it sure made me miss my "guys". Anyway, check out his website...

I'm the smartest person in the world!

I'm feeling pretty darn proud of myself right now. You know what I did? I conquered... the snow blower.

I'm sure for most people this would be an easy task but since I have allergies I've never really run a piece of equipment like a lawn mower, so I never made an attempt to use the snow blower. I've actually found it easier to just shovel (it's quieter and I can do it after dark, when the neighbours won't watch me the whole time), but when I got home yesterday there was no way I was getting into the driveway. I had to park on the street all night, which isn't a huge deal since this isn't a huge metropolis with steady traffic.

I was secretly hoping that some neighbour taking pity on the single woman in town would do it while I was at school, but I wasn't that lucky. I went home a little early and arranged it so one of my fellow staff members would come to help me start it (that's how little I know about these things!).

I figured it out though!! I'm SO proud of myself! I was so proud that I didn't care that the neighbours watched me the whole time. I was a tad embarrassed when I was doing the sidewalk right in front of my house and the thing backfired and stalled. I think it was burning oil and I couldn't get it to run long enough to drive it back into the garage. So I dragged it in and did some shoveling.

Actually, I did a terrible job. But I'd say it's not too terribly bad considering I've never done it before. Sean can fix it for me on Sunday if it's that bad!

it's official!

Today I went dress shopping with my mom, Brea, and my Auntie Darlene. Yesterday when Sean and I were in the mall waiting for our gift registry appointment I saw a dress in Bryan's that caught my eye. It was really busy though, so I didn't try it on.

Today we went back and I tried it on... I loved it! It's ivory, strapless and has sort of a flowery pattern in gold and silver all over it (sounds ugly, but the pattern is really subtle). Normally I HATE strapless dresses (God didn't bless me with a large chest so strapless dresses are uncomfortable and look weird) but this one feels so comfortable! There's also a sash that goes around the waist that I didn't like at first, but if you tie it in the back it looks really cute.

We checked out a few other stores in the mall (Fairweather, Mariposa and Le Chateau) and there were some really nice ones in those stores as well, but the seams on the front of the dresses I liked made them look really cheap. So I went back to Bryan's and ended up buying the dress.

We went to Tim Horton's for a late lunch and then to Brea's house to show my cousin Nicole. They dolled me up with a pearl necklace and earrings, plus white high-heeled shoes, and I decided that I absolutely love the dress.

Now the wedding seems real. It started feeling real after we set up our gift registry yesterday and after Sean bought his suit, but now it REALLY feels real. I have a wedding dress hanging in my closet!!

My only concern is the size of the dress. I bought a size 3 because that's what size I am now (it's a little snug right after I've eaten but I can handle it). I'm just wondering if I'm going to gain any weight/size between now and July. I guess I'll have to take up running to keep my size, then I can focus on gaining some weight after the wedding. After all, isn't it my job to get fat and ugly after I'm married? :)

I need to destress...

Wow, I really feel like a tool right now. On Andrew Coyne's website, he linked to an article that made me reallllly mad. I actually read it with my jaw dropped and my blood beginning to boil.

The gist of the article is that children's imaginations have to be suppressed because it's dangerous to their health, according to the "Department of Health and Human Services". The first half of the article sounds like a super-radical version of what some "experts" believe is best for kids (I'm sure you've heard the debate over whether or not kids should wear helmets while sledding - but that's a topic for another day).

It wasn't until the article stated "The HHS also discourages aimless playtime activities that lack a rigid, repetitive structure: 'Opt instead for safe activities like untying knots, sticking and unsticking two pieces of Velcro, drawing straight lines of successively longer lengths, and quietly humming a single note for two to three hours'" that I realized I had been had. Apparently when you decide to skim an article it's possible to miss the fact that it says "The Onion" at the very top of the page.

If I had taken my time and seen that, I would have realized what I was reading. The Onion is a really funny website that posts ridiculous articles on a whole whack of topics. (Check out their Education section - maybe I just find it humorous because that's the field I work in, I'm not sure.) They have articles entitled "Last Month Apparently Women's History Month", "Study: Depression Hits Losers Hardest" and "Aliens Demand More Positive Portrayal In The Media".

I get frustrated with people who don't evaluate websites for legitimacy and accept everything they read. Apparently now I'm one of them. Why am I posting my stupidity on my blog? I'm really not sure. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

I'm on the bandwagon!!

Tonight I jumped on the Josh Groban bandwagon. Lately I've really been into Michael Buble and someone suggested that I listen to Josh Groban. They're not quite the same genre but I downloaded a couple of his albums and I'm impressed so far.

I also downloaded two Death Cab for Cutie albums tonight. Sean and Brea both like this band and I saw them on TV last night, so what the heck. What else does my small but oh-so-important population of readers recommend I download? I'm looking for Celine Dion's album "Unison" but I haven't been able to find it. Pity... it was the first cd I ever owned and I still really enjoy listening to it.

I'm open to suggestions - I like pretty much anything except that twangy country crap.

Scotties update

I know the few people who read my blog could care less about curling but that's just too bad! Curling is the one sport I follow closely and know something about.

Today was Day 2 of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (formerly the Scott Tournament of Hearts). I haven't enjoyed watching this tournament during the past few years as much as I have the Brier because I've realized how boring women's curling can be. Nevertheless, I will still watch it because there are a few women's teams I really enjoy watching.

Take Jennifer Jones, for instance. She won the Scott a couple of years ago and since then she's been one of my favourites. She's very serious about the sport and she's young, which I find inspirational. She can make some great shots, such as the in-off to win the tournament (Schmirler-style). I was disappointed the other night, however, when she had a terrible game against Jan Betker - I expected much more from her.

Jan Betker is another curler I really like. As the TSN commentators have mentioned, she seems very comfortable skipping this year and I appreciate how much she makes the sport look like fun by actually smiling when she curls. I hope she does well with her new team (Joanie-less). Besides, she's from SK so I'm somewhat biased. A random and useless fact: I curled two sheets down from her when I curled in the University league. I was pretty star-struck.

There are some teams I really don't like or have mixed feelings towards. My teeth have been on edge lately when I watch Kelly Scott. I will admit she is a great curler and very classy on the ice, but she's so... nice. Her syrupy-sweet voice makes me want to vomit, to be perfectly honest. I guess I shouldn't complain; she's refreshing compared to Colleen Jones. I just want to hear her swear or fart or something, so I know she's human.

Anyhoo, tomorrow I'll be taking a break from working in my classroom to watch the game in the afternoon. Since I have Poverty Vision I don't actually get TSN, so I have to watch it on the website. Honestly, I would be so depressed this week if I couldn't watch it. Thank you, TSN Broadband!

Girl's Weekend!!

I'm in Regina right now, visiting my friend Stacey for the weekend. I decided it was high time I visited some friends for my sanity's sake, so here I am. It's nice to be back in Regina spending time with Stacey.

I got here yesterday at about noon. We had lunch, then went wedding dress shopping. I had envisioned a long, flowing summer dress, just something simple. Well, the stores don't have their summer stock in yet I guess, because we didn't find anything in the mall. We checked out 4 bridal shops and I tried on some basic dresses and some huge poofy ones that stood up on their own from the hundreds of layers of material. It's looking like I'm going to have to compromise my dream of a summer dress and go for a really basic wedding dress, because I can't find anything I really like. There was one dress in the last shop that is really nice, but it's only in Regina here and I have to order it within the next two weeks or so because it takes 4 months to come in. Apparently I'll be going dress shopping in Saskatoon next weekend. Are you up for that, Brea? Saturday, say 1:00?

I'm eagerly awaiting 3:00 today. That's when the Scotties Tournament of Hearts starts!! Since I don't have cable at home I'll be limited in which games I can watch, but I think I can watch some of the games live on TSN. It should be a pretty good tournament this year. Kelley Law is back, Jan Betker is representing SK and Suzanne Goudet is back with PEI! Should be interesting to see who wins this year. I'll keep you posted on the standings!

It's been a week?!

Sorry about the lack of posting. Last week was kind of crazy because it was the last week before our break, so I had a ton of stuff to do at school. Then we moved this weekend, so I haven't had a chance. Don't get mad at me!!

Anyway... we're pretty much settled into the new place now. Most of the boxes are unpacked; now it's little piles of miscellaneous stuff that need to be put away. It's kind of empty in here though. Sean's old place was so much smaller than this one. Sean's friends gave us a leather couch and loveseat, which was really nice of them, and they fill the living room up quite nicely. The fireplace limits us in how we arrange the furniture, and I'm not much of an interior designer to begin with, so we have to deal with the way we have everything right now. I can't wait to move my stuff in - then it'll REALLY feel like home. Tonight we're painting our own art to go on the walls. Neither of us are exactly Van Gogh but I think it'll provide a homey touch.

This week I'm going to take it pretty easy. I'm starting to eagerly await the end of the school year - not because I hate my job, but because I'm SO SICK OF BEING SICK! I had that horrible stomach flu, then a cold, then as we were moving on Saturday morning I developed a fever and terrible chills. And now my cold is back, but even worse. I hate being a whiner but this is ridiculous. I wash my hands all the time and use hand sanitizer (which is supposed to work, unlike antibacterial soap) - what more can I do?!

Anyway.. this afternoon I'm off to the doctor, going to pick up a few groceries and clean up Sean's old place a bit while there are some daylight hours left (power was shut off today). On the menu tonight is chicken parmesan, rice and salad. Is that bad when the highlight of your day is food?

Whaddayaknow?!

Did you know that you can email the premier? Or any MLA or other head honcho? You politically-aware people can stop laughing at me - I didn't know this and I've generally been one of the people in my circle of friends who somewhat follows politics and all that stuff.

In my defense, why would I assume that I could email any of those people? I guess it's 2007 and it makes sense, but it's really not a form of communication that I thought was available to me to have a voice. Hee hee, I'm going to send Lorne Calvert dirty forwards!

Seriously though, I had a discussion with Sean tonight about money and stuff, and I realized that I spend a fair amount on things for my classroom and my students - out of my own pocket. This is something that most teachers do because that's just how it goes, but it's really not fair. Thinking about it, I'm actually being really frugal with my money and I could spend a LOT more than I do.

Is this really fair for beginning teachers? I don't think so. I'm trying to manage a classroom that didn't have a lot of kindergarten resources to begin with; there's no way that my part of the school budget would come close to being enough to fill my classroom with enough (and adequate) resources and materials. Have you ever been in a teacher's store? The stuff in there is bloody expensive. Yet there is a ton of pressure on me to plan super-creative crafts and activities, and if I didn't spend that money to do these activities parents would probably run me out of town.

In five years I'll be in a much better situation. I'll have a better collection of activities, games and resources that I won't have to worry about accumulating just to stay afloat. In the meantime though, I'll continue paying out of my own pocket but I won't be happy about it. I'm SO Canadian.

I'm also really Canadian because, going back to the whole emailing the government thing, I'm working on a letter to some of those people about this issue that affects almost every beginning teacher, especially elementary teachers. If you're a beginning teacher and you're experiencing this same thing, you should follow my lead and email some of these people. Email addresses can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan's website.

My first dancing nightmare...

First off, I should mention that I have a phobia of dancing. It's irrational, I know, but that's why it's a phobia. I don't know how it got started but it sure makes things that should be fun for someone my age to not be so much fun (like going to the bar - I haven't been to a bar in a year).

I had my first wedding dance nightmare last night. Sean and I had just gotten married and he made me get onto the dance floor for the first dance. I was crying because I didn't want to do it but he insisted. The DJ announced that it was time for the dance (which is funny because we're not having a DJ) and Sean started dancing with another girl. To make matters worse, the dance was really dorky. So I danced with my dad and cried on his shoulder.

Then I confronted Sean because I was really mad at him and he wouldn't take me seriously. I started punching him as hard as I could and he was punching me back (just as hard!) but he laughed the whole time, which made it even worse. Jerk!

So that was my first wedding nightmare. I figured I'd have at least one nightmare about dancing. Apparently I have pent-up anger too, which I don't understand because I think everything is great right now. Ahh, the mysteries of the subconscious.

On a different note, I just started reading Tim Flannery's "The Weathermakers". It's a book on climate change and he explains the science (and I'm sure much more) in easy-to-understand terms. I'll keep you posted on it. Anyone else read any good books lately?

Isolated and lonely?

This morning while I was getting ready for work, I watched an interview on Canada AM that made me laugh. They were interviewing a U of C professor named Michael Keren, who has written a book on bloggers. (The Canada AM website also has an accompanying article here.)

I got a kick out of his comment that "individuals who bare their souls in blogs are isolated and lonely, living in a virtual reality instead of forming real relationships or helping to change the world." Now, I'm sure this is true to some extent, but I just can't see how this applies to most bloggers. Almost every blog I've ever read was written by people who have perfectly normal social lives.

Isolated and lonely? That's kind of harsh. Alright, maybe I am lonely, but I don't blog because I'm lonely.

As a matter of fact, I met my best friend and fiance through my blog. Hah! Take that, Michael Keren!

Scratch that...

The highlight of my day WAS that I drove around in Sean's car all by myself (see previous post), but Sean just got a call with some exciting news.

We officially have our first place together!

We're moving into an apartment building in the City Park area. It's an older building, with about 6 suites in it. It's the apartment that we checked out a couple of weeks ago, if you've been reading my blog regularly. I'm especially excited because we're allowed to move in around the 9th of February! The landlord is even giving us a bit of a deal.

Oooooh, now I'm excited. Anyone have any good ideas for creating cheap art to decorate the place?

So much for this weekend!

So I had psyched myself up to go to that Arts Ed workshop right? Well, it didn't exactly happen.

On Thursday I got home from curling practice and I was making myself some supper, when all of a sudden my stomach started burning. I managed to eat a sandwich and vacuum my house, then the stomach flu hit. It seems that ever since I got that Norwalk virus a few years ago I've been getting really nasty stomach flus. This one was almost as bad as the one I had at Thanksgiving, and that one was BAD.

I was so relieved when Sean showed up on Friday night. He called before he left to see if he could pick anything up. He brought me soup, crackers and ginger ale. He is such a sweetheart! He took care of me all weekend too, which is a pretty big deal because he generally doesn't have sympathy for people who get sick. Must be nice to get sick once every 3 years (although since he met me he's been sick quite a few times... sorry!).

We were going to drive in to the nearby "city" for something to do and for me to pick up some much needed groceries and supplies, but when I could hardly stand up in the shower for 2 minutes I decided it was probably not the best idea to go out shopping. Instead we spent a REALLY lazy weekend here in town.

This morning I woke up feeling pretty good. The highlight of my day is that I drove around town in Sean's manual car with him for awhile (stalling only once!) and then... I drove by MYSELF! He insisted that I go for a spin alone and I must admit, I do feel a lot more empowered now that I did it on my own. I just did a big loop around a couple of blocks but I forced myself to drive near the rink, where I knew there would be people, and to drive down Main Street.

This weekend, little crap town... next weekend, Saskamatoon! Watch out sidewalks, here I come!

I have the powah!

This has been the longest week I've had in a long time. I can't believe it was only 5 days ago that I was in Saskatoon. It's been an alright week, just a long one.

The kids were so wired today! They went skating in the afternoon (I don't teach them gym so I didn't absolutely have to go... aww shucks!) and every 15 minutes they would ask me how long until lunch. I told them first thing today that skating wasn't until after lunch. Argh. I wish kindergartens could tell time. And of course my principal came in today to watch me teach, and the kids were so giddy that they couldn't really concentrate.

If I don't get a teaching job next year it's going to be difficult to go back to a non-professional job atmosphere. It's nice how much I'm trusted to make decisions, although it's probably not a big deal to the seasoned teacher. Today, for instance, I got a call from another LRT in the division, wondering what my plans are for tomorrow. It's the "turn-around" day so the students aren't at school tomorrow, and some LRTs were planning on meeting to work on this stupid Alt Ed stuff. I had planned on not going because of an Arts Ed workshop scheduled for the elementary teachers, which I assumed I was required to go to.

So when the LRT called I thought I would check with my principal. To my surprise, she told me I could choose whichever one I wanted and felt would be the best. I didn't expect to be given an option, so I wasn't really sure what to do. So I called my superintendent and she also said it was up to me. How cool is that?!

In the end I decided to stick with the Arts Ed workshop. I think it will look better when I apply for jobs around Stoon this fall, since I am not eligible to apply for special ed positions until I'm certified.

Tonight I'm going to take it easy. I'll call Sean, who's in Calgary for a couple of days, vacuum my house, clean the bathroom, work on some homework and watch Grey's Anatomy. They could only find 3 curlers for tonight so they cancelled it. Fine by me!!

I'm so proud of her!

I graduated from high school with 12 other kids. I have known most of these people since I was 3 years old, so by the time we graduated, it felt like they were a huge part of me. Sometimes I loved them, sometimes I hated them. But inevitably we went our separate ways and now we talk once or twice a year, and sometimes not at all. I only talk to my best friends, Heather and Amanda, once a year if that.

Well the other night, I thought that I should call Heather and Amanda to see how they were doing, where they were and to tell them that I'm getting married this summer. I'm HORRIBLE at keeping track of phone numbers so I googled them.

I know that Heather has become a glass-blower, and I know she has won a lot of awards and stuff. But when I saw the sites that came up, I couldn't believe how professional her work is and how established she is as an artist.

So in a nutshell, I just want to brag about one of my best friends from my childhood. Check out these sites to see her work: pictures and info.

Where to start??

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders... we made a decision about the wedding!! Sean and I are getting married on July 21st, 2007. I'm so excited to be married.. and I'm starting to warm up to the whole idea of the wedding.

We want a simple wedding... immediate family at the ceremony and then relatives and friends can join us for a barbeque. Now we have the fun task of planning everything. The more I think about what we have to do, the more excited I am. Dammit, I'm such a girl...

Other points of excitement from the weekend:
- We checked out an apartment this morning. It's a beautiful character apartment building, and it's great because it doesn't smell like smoke. Poor Sean is going crazy in his current apartment because the guy in the basement smokes and it comes right up into his apartment. Hopefully he'll be moved in by March 1st.
- My car hit 300,000 km on the way home. I took a picture of my odometer.
- I bought this really cool fishbowl bulletin board display for my classroom. It has sets of different coloured fish (10 little fish and 1 big fish per colour) and it can be used for patterning (which my kindies love) and teaching about base 10.
- I still haven't screwed up my knitting. I actually managed to fix a few screw ups on my own.

That's all I know for now. If anyone knows of any good photographers in the central to northern Saskatchewan area, let me know!

A dishcloth with attitude...

Now that school is back into full swing, I decided it was high time to get back into my knitting. I've been exchanging piano lessons for knitting lessons from Angela (fellow staff member) but I haven't done anything since before Christmas.

Angela brought some yarn and I brought my knitting needles and we had a knitting hayday, if you will. She brought a pattern for a dishcloth, which was quite helpful. I'm not exactly good with straight knitting and pearling. When I first looked at the pattern, I saw "Knit 2, yo." Now, what the hell does that mean?! So I asked Angela and apparently it's common sense that "yo" means "yarn over". She laughed for a long time about that one. I say my dishcloth has attitude.

But you should have seen the work that I did when Angela was watching! It looked so professional! For some reason, though, I seem to have a knitting block when it comes to knitting at home. I literally did TWO stitches before I realized that I had messed up! Conveniently, I was going to see Angela later at aerobics (where she fixed my mistake for me).

Sigh. I don't know how I manage through these hardships.

At least I got mileage...

Do you ever have days where you don't feel like you accomplished anything at work? Today was one of those days.

We were asked to meet at the division office (LRTs, principals, ed psychs, administrators, etc) to talk about the new Alternative Ed policy. I'll try to explain what alt ed is. Most students are in the regular program (10, 20 and 30 classes) (the government has provincial curriculum guides for these programs). Some students, however, can't manage in the regular program, so they are placed in modified programs (11, 21 and 31 classes). In modified programs, the students aren't required to meet every objective set out in the regular program curriculums. I think they have to meet 50% of the regular objectives. Some students aren't successful in modified programs either, so they are placed in alternate programs (18, 28 and 38 classes). Alternate programs focus on basic life skills such as grocery shopping and doing laundry. You can actually go past this program and place students on functionally integrated programs, which is quite intensive. The one designated student in my school follows a functionally integrated program.

Anyhoo, Sask Learning came out with new policies and procedures for the alt ed program. So this morning we met and someone came out from Sask Learning to explain the program, help us "create dialogue" (puke, I hate that phrase) about what a student in an alternate program looks like, and to answer any questions we have. That part was fine; it was actually quite informative and it's laid out quite nicely in the fancy, paper-wasting documents they provided us. (Honestly, do they really need to use font size 80 with 2-inch margins? I'm exaggerating, but only slightly.)

The "fun" part was in the afternoon, when the LRTs were asked to begin developing the programs for Alt Ed. I think it's great that they're empowering us to develop these as a group since we will be the ones implementing and carrying out the programs, but we would have appreciated a better timeline to do this in. We started working on the programs today (there are 11 in total) and they all have to be done by May 1st and sent in to Sask Learning for approval at that time. Normally, curriculum developers are given time off to work but we are expected to do this on top of everything else. They're giving us release time from the classroom to work on this and meet in our little groups, but then that's less time we're actually in the classroom. Argh!

The majority of the group wanted to develop the ELA 18 program as a large group. I knew it was a disaster right from the beginning. There were a few people with strong opinions there, and they argued about every little decision. They had completely different philosophies and they weren't willing to budge from their point of view. Some amount of disagreement can be good, but this was downright unproductive. In the end, we decided to break up into smaller groups and work on it that way. At least I got mileage....

Surprise, surprise, I have a cold... that made sitting through this meeting and my Kinettes meeting this evening reeeeeeally fun. I think I need my tea and bedtime snack, then a good sleep. Wow, I'm lame.

A huge decision for me...

I suppose this blog is a perfectly good place for me to try to figure out my plans for the fall. Here's my situation:

I love what I'm teaching now, I love the kids I teach, I hate the place I'm in. There aren't many young people around here, and the young people who are here are all either married or dating someone, and they're all part of a "group" that I don't fit in with. They're nice enough, but I wouldn't say that I have any real friends here.

In fact, I don't have many real friends anymore. I still have my girls from university to some extent, but we've all moved away and have our own lives now. I came to this realization this weekend when Sean and I were discussing our friends (or lack thereof). I was really upset. I mean, Sean is my best friend but everyone needs other friends. I feel like I've been lacking something since I've moved to Saskatoon and then to my present location, and I think this is it.

So that's one part of it. Another issue I have to consider and decide on is my future plans, career-wise. I have two options: I can stay here for another year (my position isn't confirmed for next year yet, but it sounds like it will be), or I could move back to Saskatoon to find something there. There are pros and cons to each. I'm one of those "lists" people, so here's my pros and cons list (list items in no particular order).

Pros of staying here:
- work experience - my current position is the perfect combination of subject areas for me
- I do really like the kids here
- the money

Cons of staying here:
- no opportunity to make friends
- it would mean another year of driving back and forth to see Sean every other weekend
- I would be faced with the stress of looking for a job in a year since the longest I will stay here is for 1 year anyway
- some of my supervisors at work are changing and I'm not sure I'll have the support I'll need to do my job as well as I have been. I have no training in special ed and I depend on my current supervisor so much... and I'm not sure the person who replaces her will be as supportive

Pros of moving to Saskatoon:
- Sean - we could live together, get married this summer and basically start our life together
- the prospects of making some friends and finding a social place for myself
- less driving (my car isn't exactly new)
- I could take piano lessons
- hopefully gain new experiences in a different school setting to get my foot in the door in Stoon
- if I couldn't find a teaching or subbing job there, I could probably go back to work at the group home or at Cosmo Industries

Cons of moving to Saskatoon:
- there will be no guarantee of a job until at least May
- I may earn less money if I am subbing
- I may be missing out on valuable work experience in the field I want to eventually work in anyway

I think I know what my decision will be, but I want to be absolutely sure. I welcome any opinions and suggestions!!

On a different note, I think I'm getting the hang of driving a manual vehicle!! We cruised around town today and I only stalled twice. The REALLY exciting thing was that I drove when there were other vehicles around and I didn't even have a panic attack. I've had an interesting history with Sean's car (I thought I wrecked it in the parking lot of an Ontario mall, I freaked out in it driving home from Hamilton when I couldn't stop stalling it, and we generally have not gotten along), but I think I'm making peace with it. Sean's willing to trade it off on an automatic but I really want to try to figure this out since he did just buy it 5 months ago.

I'll finish this entry on a happy note. *big pat on back to myself for updating and for getting more comfortable with a standard*

My fifth blog in 5 months!!

Well it seems that way. I keep signing up for new blogs because I forgot my username, then I lose ambition. It's a vicious cycle.

I have nothing interesting to post about, but I'm taking a university class and I need to get back into the habit of writing stuff so I don't fail miserably. Check in if you'd like, but don't expect anything witty or exciting.

My amazing, incredible fiance Sean is here for the weekend. Since there's nothing to do around here, we drove to a nearby, "larger" centre for groceries. At the last minute, I decided to buy some grapes. I sure didn't notice how expensive they were. When I get home, half an hour later, I looked at my receipt and realized that I had paid $9.00 for a stupid bag of grapes. Boy, do I feel dumb.