Last week our entire staff spent 24 hours together on a retreat where we were enriched by the music and stories of Steve Bell. Steve is a Christian singer/songwriter who recently completed an album called Pilgrimage. It’s a great album and shows off his incredible musical abilities. He has found a passion and a gift that [...]
To the educational assistant who shares this classroom with me: I know you've heard me say thank-you to the students in the class, maybe for excellent behaviour or for doing great work, for sharing their thoughts on a topic or helping out a peer, perhaps for all the pictures, cards, paintings, and notes that cover [...]
Some days I wonder why I bother. Like with those parenting ideas I have that seem very smart at the time. Most of my boys weren't interested in crafts, colouring, cutting, drawing, etc. I didn't push it. But when Owen went to kindergarten and the poor kid couldn't cut a straight line, I realized that [...]
by Karlena Koot I wasn’t prepared to eat boiled octopus. Even after months of preparation, language classes, cultural lessons, packing, watching anime online, and praying, nothing could have prepared me for that. We were, however, warned about the copious amounts of rice and seafood. We were told that the language would be a barrier, that [...]
I couldn’t believe he belched in my class—and it was on purpose. This was my first year as a teacher, teaching grade 7. This guy was full of energy, and a bit of a stinker too, so I had my hands full. Being so new to the profession, I hadn't developed the instincts for dealing [...]
If you give a middle school teacher a minute, She might want to grab a fresh cup of coffee. As she’s heading out to the staff room, A student might beg her to stay and supervise while he microwaves his popcorn. While they are waiting, they’ll get into a conversation about his castle design and [...]
Every time our school gets hit with vandalism, my response and, that of the students is, “it was probably teenagers.” Sad, but, most likely true. No doubt much could be said about why that is and what could be done about it. I’ll leave that for another article by someone who knows more about it [...]
Sadly, one of the most enjoyable, meaningful and challenging learning opportunities I had did not take place in a classroom. It took place in my backyard, during summer break, when I finally responded in the positive, to enough prodding from my wife and begging from my then three young girls to build the girls a [...]
The memory of our first visit to Abbotsford comes back to me at this time of year. It's open enrolment time right now and the principals (especially Roy Van Eerden) are spending large amounts of time touring families through our school. They are walking new and prospective families through our hallways into the classrooms and [...]
"How are you today? What did you do this weekend?" "Who are you playing with today? What are you playing?" "So, what's new in school today? What are you learning about?" Those are the questions I usually have to ask to get one of them talking. Small repertoire on my part. After all, my job wasn’t that big—it [...]
