I am ending this year, 2018 looking back on one....

single day in an English Kindergarten class this fall.  I retired, officially, December 20th.  While I know that I will continue for the next six months, to supply a few days here and there, I will no longer be a (full-time supply) teacher.   When I say full time, I mean FULL TIME. There are no young teachers out there to fill in.  One district is taking anyone with a two year college diploma and putting them on their "Local Permit" list.  We are facing a teacher shortage, the same shortage we are seeing in nursing and other semi-professions in Canada.  The reasons?  That is perhaps another blog altogether, for another day.

 Having taught THROUGH SOME PART OF THE LAST FIVE DECADES, having taught THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS, having taught IN SEVENTEEN DIFFERENT SCHOOLS, TWO COLLEGES, ELEVEN GRADES, IN THREE DIFFERENT PROVINCES, and in THREE LANGUAGES, I have decided to share...

this ONE typical day full of glimpses into the hearts and minds of our children, glimpses into the glitches of any working day, and glimpses into snatches of conversations that form the hundreds of interactions that a teacher has with her/his students in any given day.

8:00 am until first recess at 10:15:

I am in the classroom, trying to get things up and running. I haven't been in this particular Kindergarten class this year.  The SmartBoard is NOT working; the batteries in the mouse are NO good. There are no batteries at the office; they are on back order.  I have a lesson plan that involves using that darn board.  I manage to frig around with it and get it working without the mouse, no mean feat for this less than TECHNIE SmartBoard user.  I remember thinking the Gestetner machine was the height of technology back in 1977.

In comes the teacher on duty, with one of my little ones by the hand. He was throwing rocks, so off he goes to the office to be dealt with by the administration.  Another little one runs in, makes a beeline for the bathroom, drops his drawers, baring all, and NOT bothering to CLOSE the door behind him.   The bell hasn't even rung yet!

Then the rest swoop in, one yelling across the room, "I like your shirt!", a sentiment which is prompty echoed by two more.  Real charmers these little ones!  I tell them we are going to the library, first period.   I ask them if they know they MUST go see the librarian to register the book before taking it home?  Maggie informs me that SHE knows she has to BUY the book!

Recess is indoors today, as it is raining too hard to go outside, so I do my duty in the hall, roaming back and forth between all the primary classes. I inform my littles ones of this supervision, but when I pop back in to check on them, Liam questions me with, "I thought you were in the hall?" Talk about keeping tabs on me.  Shouldn't it be the other way around?

AFTER recess to lunchtime 12:00:

The bell has rung so it is back to class.  I see one of my little ones in the K\Grade One combined class next door.  I ask her, "'Madison, what are you doing in this classroom?  You need to go back to our class." I am told very quickly THAT I am not talking to Madison, BUT her twin Aubrey. There I go again, NOT knowing I had one of a twin.  SUPPLY teachers are always the last to know!!

Back in my classroom after recess, I count heads. It is an EXTREMELY good idea to count heads in Kindergarten.  These little ones can disappear faster than Houdini.  I ask "Where's Maggie?  Liam, he who knows everything, puts me in the know.  "Caleb (he of the rock throwing earlier that morning!) threw some rocks and hit Maggie in the face." Obviously, going to the office didn't daunt Caleb in any way.  Liam very matter of factly adds,  'Maggie is probably at the office getting an ice pack!"

All morning, Emma calls her fellow classmate "Solo."  Trouble is, his name is Dolo.  I smile everytime I hear her call his name.

Little scamp Caleb, of the two rock throwing incidences so far today, is now working diligently on his math, under supervision by an EA.  I bend over the back of his chair, to check his work with my pen, and he very lovingly and gently grabs my hand and kisses it. So I lovingly and gently cup his sweet little face in my hands, and kiss his soft little cheek. No contact be damned!

LUNCHTIME:  I have duty again, right in the middle of lunch recess, which gives me basically no time to eat.  I find out I can't warm up my lunch I brought from home,  because of the shrimp in my rice.  Someone in the school has an allergy.  I have no time to run to Subway to get something decent, so I spend $6.00 in the cafeteria for soup and a grilled cheese, a quarter of a cup of Goldfish crackers, one slice of apple and two grapes. How do like them apples?   I have less than twenty minutes to gobble up my luscious lunch, but ten minutes is spent trying to sort out a mix up of lunches with my little ones. One little sweetie pie didn't get the lunch he had ordered, and sat there quietly with tears rolling down his cheeks, until we got to the bottom of the problem and he received his proper lunch order.  Pauvre petit coeur. They can't always express themselves well when they are only four or five years old. 

OUTSIDE LUNCH DUTY:  12:20

I am walking around outside supervising.  "I love your snowsuit", I tell one little girl, who retorts, "I like yours too!"

Another student has lost her poppy and asks me to pin it back on.  Well, I am such a klutz when it comes to things like that, so I struggle to pin it back on her coat. After what seems like an eternity of her waiting patiently, she says so sweetly, "How about I JUST put it in my pocket?"

The light rain has now turned to teeming rain. There is no other teacher in sight, only Educational Assistants and an Intervention Worker.  I am told it is MY CALL, as to whether the children go back inside to finish their recess. Hey, I am just the supply teacher. I am not making an executive decision like that.  From my lips to the principal's ear. He calls the children back inside through the intercom system. Whew!!

1:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon and dismissal:

I can't remember everything that happened the rest of the day, but I do know that I managed to do reading, writing and math with them, enjoy myself and earn my keep, so to speak.

I chose to end my teaching career as a supply teacher for the last four years, and it was the B*E*S*T decision I ever made!  I was able to more fully enjoy my days with many different children, in different schools, in different languages, every day.  I was able to laugh and learn with these children, and have none of the stress associated with being a "real" teacher.  (i.e. report cards, preparation, planning, meetings, parents, administration, workshops, etc., etc. etc. ).  Thank you for having taken some of that journey with me here, through my blogs, and especially THIS L*A*S*T, LONG swan song.  

HASTE MAKES WASTE!

You would think I would have learned that by now, at my advanced age? However, this old lady hasn't.

I spent Thursday with a Grade One class of THE most adorable children on this earth.  I was tired from lack of sleep, which is my same, one and only health issue, but I had "une journée MAGNIFIQUE!"  I had no duty at lunch time, so I was able to catnap on the couch in the classroom (Yes, some classrooms have a couch!) for a few minutes.

I knew I needed a short nap, because I almost passed out when I stood up, after having crouched down to the floor during math centred activities earlier in the morning. So FORGET about going to a Hot Yoga class with my friend and neighbour in late afternoon. Doing various yoga poses in a 40 degree Celsius studio, would be an invitation to keel right over SMACK in the middle of a downward dog, the way I was feeling.

I had to stay later at school, to make sure one little sweetie caught the later bus with the older students.  Already running late, I decided to run a few errands before going home.  Once home, I could walk Vimy,  then have the rest of the evening to rest and relax! HA!!

I made a withdrawal at the ATM machine at our local gas bar and dropped off a donation of a board game to the library.  It was only when I got home and was getting Vimy ready, that I realized I didn't have my DEBIT CARD.  We jumped in the car and dashed off to the gas bar.  It has been SO long since I forgot my debit card in a machine, that I also forgot that the machine EATS your card if you don't remove it PDQ! Off I dashed to my bank, thankfully only two minutes away, and because I was able to rattle off my number by heart, got a replacement card in two minutes.  I have had that card since the days where you had to input your number every time you logged into to your bank account. Sometimes it pays you in TIME, to be old!!

Speaking of time, the sun is getting ready to set and I have to take Vimy for a walk during daylight.  To save time, I don't put his Muttluks on him. Doing that takes longer than dressing a toddler in his/her snowsuit!  I figure my favourite walking trail is beaten down enough, and he should be fine.  I also don't put him on his leash, because there isn't a soul around.

Vimy is in his glory! After having been at home alone for almost eight hours, he is ready to take off. Which he does, and promptly finds something really good to eat somewhere off the path, and far enough ahead of me, that I can't stop him from having a wonderful snack on whatever.

WELL... after walking for fifteen minutes, we turn around. ALL I really need is to get in, is thirty minutes of physical activity and my 12K steps will be done for today.  WELL... it took us double that time to get back to the car.  Vimy kept stopping to gag, but nothing would come up.  I got tired of stopping every two minutes, so I took off my mitts and shoved my hand down his "GUEULE" a few times. Eventually, something came up and he stopped gagging.  Meanwhile, his paws had started to ice up, poor thing.  I am NOT above shoving MY hand in his mouth, but NOT his paw in MY mouth!  So off came my mitts, and I held his paws, at various times, to melt the ice clumped there so that we could continue on our merry way.  Mind you, my dog drool covered hands are now FROZEN!

 We do finally make it back to the car, the sun setting in our backs, and a quasi full moon risen above us. Blogging and laughing about life's little ups and downs is MY  way of  letting go.

La vie est toujours belle.

I hope your Christmas is full of  SLOW, precious moments resplendent with love, tenderness, kindness and acceptance.

Que vos Fêtes soient comblées de moments saupaudrés doucement d'amour, de tendresse, de gentillesse et d'accueil. 

💓💓💓💓💓

Whatever happened to thank you?

We bemoan the fact that children are less polite nowadays; they don't say please and thank you.  We tend to notice the few who are polite, as they seem to be such an aberration.

However, children learn what they live.  How will children learn to say please and thank you, if they seldom hear those words spoken?  Have you noticed less civility in the world we live in?  I most certainly have.  I notice it every day, and it isn't children who are responsible for our RUDE AND UNKIND world.

Have a listen around you.  Have you noticed how seldom we hear thank you from an adult, unless it is a prefunctory one from that bored, underpaid clerk in a store, who is mandated to be polite?

When you say "thank you", you are showing G-R-A-T-I-T-U-D-E. Gratitude is a proven factor in people's happiness.  So why not first and foremost say"thank you", when you are the recipient of a kind gesture, or some small gift.  Why not acknowledge the giver, instead of just nodding, asking a question, or commenting on the gift.   Why not say "thank you" when someone does something for you, instead of saying "Oh, you shouldn't have done that."  We should not be telling someone what to do.  We can suggest, but when you use that comment, you are depriving the giver of an important feeling... that feeling which makes them feel good as well!

In conclusion, I believe that this time of year is a perfect time to express gratitude, on a daily basis.  You can do it in such a simple, heartfelt way by simply saying "Thank you!"  "Merci!" "Gracias!" "Danke!" "Obrigado!" "Grazie!" ... and accompanying it with a hug makes it even BETTER!

Don't even get me started on P-L-E-A-S-E!

ONE LINE WONDERS!

I have spent most of this fall teaching four, five, six and seven year olds. They provide me with a plethora of chuckles every day, or simply fill my heart.💓💓💓 Here are a few of the more memorable words uttered, that I remember, OR had time to write down.

When I told Brady to hurry up putting away his duotang, he looked up smiling, "I only have two hands."

Moi: Qui est-ce qui chante?
Élève en immersion: Someone!

Are you allowed to give us money for The Book Fair?

One Grade Two student wrote the number 4 backward on the Smart Board. Another "Smart" child remarked, "If we were on the OTHER side of the Smart Board, it wouldn't BE backward!"

Me: Why did you push Logan down?
Jackson:  He touched my coat.
Me:  Excuse me?
Jackson: But it's NEW. (He said this tearfully!)

Student:  You can say women are beautiful, but you can't say that about men!
Another student:  They can be "PERDY!"

Outside at recess:
James: To no one in particular, but miming this animal, yelled out, "I am a penguin!"
Another student running by: NO you are NOT!You're a kid.

Explaining to a class about saying "Excuse me", when passing in front of other people, the teacher asked for other words you could say in the same situation. Ben offered the following:  Please get out of my way?

Kindergartner: If you aren't here tomorrow, Madame, I will miss you!

Kindergartner: Madame, the bell actually just RANGDED!

Kindergartner:  Madame, I go to the After School Podium in the library, every day. 

Me: Julian, is Harry your brother?
Julian:  Patting his little hands all over his face, informs me "YES, but he doesn't have the SAME face as me!"

Me:  Do you want to hold the door?
Kindergartner:  SURE!

Me:  Why were you absent yesterday?
Kindergartner:  I was at home throwing up.

Kindergartner:  (Who was wearing a pair of pants that unzip at the knee, so they become shorts, and one leg had become unzipped.)  I look like a WEIRDO!!

Same Kindergartner: Madame, I need to TELL you a question.

Me: What do you have in your hair?  (He had a BIG green gob of something, stuck just above his ear.)
Kindergartner: I got into trouble at home, and I got SLIMED!

Me: What makes you sad? (We were discussing feelings.)
Kindergartner: When people TATTLE on me!!

🤣🤣🤣

BONNE SEMAINE À TOUS!

If this made you laugh, please feel free to share on FB, or follow my blog. The more the MERRIER!!!

Why is it that...?

Since I have gone paperless with Bell Mobility, I have been late paying my bill THREE times, something which never even occurred ONCE, when I received my bill by mail.  Their "system" error and NOT forgetfullness on my part, caused this last late payment. What REALLY irks me in all this?  I will probably be dinged late charges, which I have no intention of paying. Imagine ALL the other people who are not penny conscious like I am, who will pay their late bill charges even though they never received their bill by email either.  They will just think they were forgetful, MAUDIT!

I can never find a nail file when I need one? I keep one in my night table, another in my purse, another in my TV basket, one in the bathroom, one in my study... yet they have ALL miraculously disappeared into thin air when I go looking for ONE. Where did I finally lay my hands on one? In my traveling toiletries case.  FRANCHEMENT!

Why is that it takes me MORE time to get Vimy's MUTTLUK bootees on him, to go out walking, than it does to help dress nineteen, four and five year olds to go out at recess? PATIENCE!!!

Why is it that a four year old will argue black and blue with you, insisting that he/she is NOT wearing their snowpants to go home, when they have ABSOLUTELY no chance of winning that argument? 

Why is that on blue bin recycling day, when it happens to have snowed ALL day while you were at work, that the cover doesn't fall back into place, so that when you get home, you have to SHOVEL out your blue box, and not just your driveway?

Why is it January in November?  I got locked out of my house, and had to go fetch my spare key I had hidden outside. Where was it?  B+U+R+I+E+D  under over a foot of snow, in a sea of white in my back yard.  Did December fly by me, and I TOTALLY missed it?  PAS POSSIBLE!!   

Tis the season to be JOLLY.. I know.  Bah humbug!!😉😉

PS: Thanks to mon amie LC for the great poster quote :)

Get your PRIORITIES straight!!

We all need to prioritize in life. It is a fact. If you don't, things can go awry very quickly and can even blow up in your face BIG TIME!

IT was a dark and windy night (sounds like the beginning of a novel!)...  my cousine and I had gone for a lovely, long walk down by the beach, on a walking path.  Of course Vimy had to do his usual daily deposit, which I had to scoop. I can just hear my other cousine Annie say, "Only you can blog about poop and I will read about it!"   My little flashlight on my keychain decided to die right there, but I managed to fumble around and pick up what I thought was his little bomb. I then stopped to fiddle repeatedly with the flashllight, trying to get it to light up, but it was a goner.

WELL, all the way back I kept focusing on NOT dropping Vimy's poop bag.  So much so that I only noticed twenty minutes later, that my keys WERE NOT in my pocket.  People - N*E*V*E*R focus on dog poop, to the detriment of your keys.

I was in a TOTAL panic, because I only have one key for Jiminy.   My cousine continued on alone to go get her car, while I quickly retraced our steps.  I hadn't heard them drop, so I figured they would be, HOPEFULLY, right near where Vimy had started this whole mess. Of course, it is PITCH DARK, and I can't see a thing, even with the flashlight on my phone. I keep walking up and down that path, looking for my keys, but to no avail. I meet two other dog walkers. They haven't seen any keys. How could they? It's dark and they don't have flashlights.   All the while I am thinking... HOW do I get home, HOW do I get another set of keys made for my car, HOW could I be so STUPID ... you get the idea!

The second walker tells me he walks this way every day, so if he finds them tomorrow, he will put a notice on FB. Off he goes.  I continue to search d-e-s-p-e-r-a-t-e-l-y, when I hear him yell back at me.  Lo and behold! Yo my cousine had driven up, and where she stopped to park her car, her headlights had shone right ON MY KEYS!  I was estatic, to say the least!

I was so happy, so excited and so discombobulated by the whole affair, that I thought I had lost my phone as well, when I drove away from her place. I returned to check my entire car.  I asked Yo to check her car, which she did but she A=L=S=O had the presence of mind to call my line. My phone rang, from where I had tucked it...in the lefthand corner of my dash, totally invisible in the dark. WHEW! I HAD TO REMIND MYSELF right then and there... TO BREATHE!!!

Thank you God for younger cousins who look out for their ditzy older cousins.  I will no longer be overly focused on being "Écolo!" (Green!).  LOSING a bag of dog poop is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!   LOSING my keys would be close to it!

There IS good in the world!

You may NOT think it. The world we live in now seems to be a very dark, nasty, unkind, combative, divisive, and intolerant kind of place. We have always had conflict, but that conflict seems to be spreading like wildfire.  I feel that democracy, as we know it here in our beautiful and free western world, is very much threatened.

This blog is dedicated to my only grandchild, Sophie, who is five and one half months old. She is my hope for a better world!

I have therefore decided to put a real positive spin on my blog, and talk about GOOD, not EVIL!  We all want to have hope in humanity and we want to believe in the inherent goodness of ALL our fellow human beings. Well, my faith has been restored this week, because I met one of  these "good" people.

I will call him Mr. Elf, ( M. Lutin), because he does INDEED live up to that name.

Mr. Elf lives in my city.  He has a beautiful home, and by extension a large garage, and A HUGE spread of land in his backyard.  I mean acres and acres of land: beautiful land dotted with hardwooods, cedars, pines, birches, firs and spruce trees.  He has made a wide trail that wends its way all through his property.  His wood chipper chips all his dead wood, which he puts down on the trail. In some places you trod on leaves, or moss/lichen, or pine needles, all of which makes the trails soft on knees and feet.  Fresh wood chips emit a delightful scent too. On his trail you can catch a glimpse of our beautiful Baie des Chaleurs, as well as enjoy hiking a stretch that hugs a marsh, which meanders out to to the Baie.

What does Mr. Elf do with all that land?  Other than work at improving his trails?  Well, he used to work at the hospital.  People would ask him what he had been up too lately.  When he retired, he  always replied, "Pâpital!", which is a contraction of the following words, "Pas à l'hôpital!"  His passion? He has turned his beautiful, magical forest into a hiker's haven, for ANY and ALL who care to come stroll, walk, or run through his many beautiful trails.  These five kilometre plus trails are all named, and well posted throughout Sentier Pâpital.  You need never fear getting lost.

There are thoughtful additions to the various trails, all the way throughout his little woodsy paradise.  There are feeding stations for chickadees.  He EVEN provides the seeds. You have a dog and no poop bags?  He provides those, along with a gentle reminder sign. There are benches to sit on, and at the very end, when you turn around, he has built a fabulous gazebo overlooking the river and marsh.  Everything you see, Mr. Elf has put up at his own expense.  He obviously loves the outdoors and nature.  Everything is so well maintained.

On the "Traverse des Lutins" you will come upon an enchanted forest.  There is even an "elf" house.  You know elves live there because their clothing is drying on the line.  You notice the exquisite detail of an elf's tuque, carved into the window’s shutter. Mr. Elf built the elf house at his wife's suggestion, so that children who came to hike with their parents, would find the spot magical and captivating. I know I certainly did and I am an old woman. 

MISE À JOUR: UPDATE:  Cet endroit est enchanteur, féérique et romantique au bout!!  J'ai emmené ma petite fille Sophie ici, le 16 décembre. I hope that this visit to Enchanted Forest, is the beginning of an annual Christmas tradition. 

I know many wealthy people with beautiful homes and properties, but NONE who has so SELFLESSLY welcomed anyone to come enjoy what rightfully belongs to them alone.  We need more people like Mr. Elf.  That HE will go to heaven is a given, I think.  I, for my part, am sharing so that others may know of the beauty and goodness that shines in our community.  Beauty we find not only in our surroundings but the beauty found in the hearts of people like our Mr. Elf.

  

Sentiers des Pins

Wood chipped trail