I'm so happy that my kids love music. It's like.. almost heaven...
Fam Jam
28 September 2017
26 September 2017
A coworker of mine whispered over to me in the middle of another mindless staff meeting yesterday: "Did you watch the Patriot's highlights?" "No" I murmured back. "I can't stand the NFL right now." He nodded his head in agreement, and we both looked up at whoever was talking during the meeting. Something about staff encouraging each other with notes. That's what's lacking in our school system folks. Teachers need to encourage each other more with sticky notes.
Speaking of sticky situations (not my best segue), let's return to this NFL, or really a pro-sports in general problem that I can't stand. I mean, I can't stand it metaphorically. If I couldn't stand literally then I'd be lost. What I mean is... why the heck are all these athletes suddenly feeling a need to protest the national anthem before a game by kneeling instead of standing? In a spirit of unity, no less, they refuse to stand with the other 80,000 people in the stadium. The issue, I'm told, is one I will never understand. Racial inequality. Though let's be honest, they don't like Donald Trump and used his comments as an excuse to bring a little attention to themselves. Basketball superstar LeBron James and his 12th grade education can educate me on the subject later. Or maybe he can buy a professor to educate me. Or maybe he can buy an entire university by now and educate me. The point is this: "Just as religion is a protestation of faith, hope and charity, whereby man is primarily directed to God, so again piety is a protestation of the charity we bear towards our parents and country." Yes. I just switched from ranting to quoting St. Thomas and the Summa. II-II, Q. 101. Art. 3.
You see, piety, how we direct our love and devotion to God, logically flows down to how we treat our parents and country also. The pious person not only worships God, but also gives due reverence to those he is indebted to. Now Aquinas distinguishes by saying that one cannot be pious to parent or nation if this is contrary to piety towards God. Can these pro athletes truly say that standing for their national anthem is contrary to piety towards God? Of course not. They can raise serious objections to the state of life in America. They can work towards improving the struggles of society. And let's be honest, can anything in America be worse then the slaughter of so many babies by abortion? This is not mentioned. But to claim that the state of America is so awful at the moment that to honour the country is essentially to slap God in the face? I don't believe so.
However, I only speak all of this to raise a further objection. That is, what about the message being sent to children? I teach children all day. I'm sure I think about the impact events and circumstances have on children more than most people. What about the children? You see, the teacher I was whispering with during the staff meeting... the one who nodded in agreement with me... he had a new student move in last week. An aboriginal boy who has shown great disrespect to the staff, students and school in general. Well, the boy has refused to stand for our morning O Canada. He says Canada offends his culture. He says he has nothing to be proud of. He accuses the school of racism. Never mind the food he eats every day and the clothes he wears are provided by the school. Maybe we should just write him sticky notes filled with affirming words and kindness? Regardless, he refuses to stand for our anthem. Undoubtedly he has learned this from somewhere. And guess what? We are forcing him to. Not because we're mean. Not because we're racist. Not because we're sick of pro-athlete protests. No. We are forcing him to because it's the right thing to do. Whether or not this child realizes it, or LeBron James for that matter, we are indebted first and foremost to God, but also to our family and nation. And as long as these debts do not contradict each other, and I pray they never do, then we owe fitting piety.
A day might come when our nations no longer can illicit the virtue of piety. And one could argue that the day is closer than we think. But I argue that we are not there yet. And hopefully never will be. And thus I take a stand on the matter.
Speaking of sticky situations (not my best segue), let's return to this NFL, or really a pro-sports in general problem that I can't stand. I mean, I can't stand it metaphorically. If I couldn't stand literally then I'd be lost. What I mean is... why the heck are all these athletes suddenly feeling a need to protest the national anthem before a game by kneeling instead of standing? In a spirit of unity, no less, they refuse to stand with the other 80,000 people in the stadium. The issue, I'm told, is one I will never understand. Racial inequality. Though let's be honest, they don't like Donald Trump and used his comments as an excuse to bring a little attention to themselves. Basketball superstar LeBron James and his 12th grade education can educate me on the subject later. Or maybe he can buy a professor to educate me. Or maybe he can buy an entire university by now and educate me. The point is this: "Just as religion is a protestation of faith, hope and charity, whereby man is primarily directed to God, so again piety is a protestation of the charity we bear towards our parents and country." Yes. I just switched from ranting to quoting St. Thomas and the Summa. II-II, Q. 101. Art. 3. You see, piety, how we direct our love and devotion to God, logically flows down to how we treat our parents and country also. The pious person not only worships God, but also gives due reverence to those he is indebted to. Now Aquinas distinguishes by saying that one cannot be pious to parent or nation if this is contrary to piety towards God. Can these pro athletes truly say that standing for their national anthem is contrary to piety towards God? Of course not. They can raise serious objections to the state of life in America. They can work towards improving the struggles of society. And let's be honest, can anything in America be worse then the slaughter of so many babies by abortion? This is not mentioned. But to claim that the state of America is so awful at the moment that to honour the country is essentially to slap God in the face? I don't believe so.
However, I only speak all of this to raise a further objection. That is, what about the message being sent to children? I teach children all day. I'm sure I think about the impact events and circumstances have on children more than most people. What about the children? You see, the teacher I was whispering with during the staff meeting... the one who nodded in agreement with me... he had a new student move in last week. An aboriginal boy who has shown great disrespect to the staff, students and school in general. Well, the boy has refused to stand for our morning O Canada. He says Canada offends his culture. He says he has nothing to be proud of. He accuses the school of racism. Never mind the food he eats every day and the clothes he wears are provided by the school. Maybe we should just write him sticky notes filled with affirming words and kindness? Regardless, he refuses to stand for our anthem. Undoubtedly he has learned this from somewhere. And guess what? We are forcing him to. Not because we're mean. Not because we're racist. Not because we're sick of pro-athlete protests. No. We are forcing him to because it's the right thing to do. Whether or not this child realizes it, or LeBron James for that matter, we are indebted first and foremost to God, but also to our family and nation. And as long as these debts do not contradict each other, and I pray they never do, then we owe fitting piety.
A day might come when our nations no longer can illicit the virtue of piety. And one could argue that the day is closer than we think. But I argue that we are not there yet. And hopefully never will be. And thus I take a stand on the matter.
Canadian Martyrs and a Question
I have a question for anyone out there. Why was the Canadian feast day for our martyrs set for Sept. 26, while in the US it is on Oct 19 (corresponding wiht St. Isaac Jogues' death)?
Either way, happy feast day. If you wish, the following is from the CCCB website:
Their Lives
Eight French missionaries became martyrs in North America in the 17th century, six Jesuits and two “donnés”, laymen who served the Jesuits. Three were killed at Ossernenon, today’s Auriesville, near Albany, New York. Five were killed in Huron territory, about 150 km north of Toronto.
The layman René Goupil had come to New France in 1640 as a donné (he was not bound to the Society of Jesus by religious vows, but by a contract to help the missionaries). He was with Father Isaac Jogues and about 40 Hurons when the group was attacked on Lake St-Pierre in the St. Lawrence River by Iroquois.
Father Jogues was taken prisoner and tortured in Iroquois territory. René Goupil was killed at Ossernenon on September 29, 1642. Father Jogues was eventually held prisoner in Manhattan. With the help of the Dutch, he escaped and made his way to France and back to New France. On September 24, 1646, with the lay donné Jean de la Lande he left Trois-Rivières on a mission to evangelize the Iroquois. They were met with hostility when they arrived at Ossernenon because the Iroquois blamed the Blackrobes for the epidemic that had killed many people in their village. Father Jogues was killed by a hatchet blow on the head, on October 18, 1646. They next day, Jean de la Lande met with the same fate.
Father Antoine Daniel grew up in Dieppe, France, and arrived in Quebec City in 1633 where, for seven years, he was the director of a school for young Hurons. Then he went to Huronia with Father Jean de Brébeuf. On July 4, 1648, the Iroquois attacked their residence at Ste-Marieamong-the-Hurons (near today’s Midland, Ontario) just as Father Daniel was celebrating Mass. They riddled him with arrows and bullets and threw his body into the flaming chapel.
Father Jean de Brébeuf came from Normandy. He arrived in Quebec in 1625 and spent his first winter in the bush with Montagnais hunters in order to study their way of life. He was in Huronia from 1626 to 1629 and again from 1634 until his death. He and his fellow Jesuit Father Gabriel Lalement were caught in a surprise attack in a village they had named St. Louis, and taken to another one they called St. Ignace, where they were tortured for several hours and died, Brébeuf on March 16, 1649. Father Lalement had arrived in Quebec in 1646. He had been in Huronia six months when he was tortured alongside Brébeuf. His agony last 15 hours; he died on March 17, 1649.
Charles Garnier was born in 1605 or 1606 in Paris. He came to Quebec in 1636 and went immediately to Huronia, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1647, he was sent to live on the edge of Huron territory; in a village the Jesuits had named St. John. It was attacked by Iroquois raiders in March 1649. During another attack, on December 7 the same year, while he was helping the wounded, Father Garnier was hit by two bullets and killed with a hatchet blow. His companion, Father Noël Chabanel, had arrived in Quebec in 1643. While he was en route to safety on Christian Island after the December 7 attack, he stopped in exhaustion and was killed by a Huron apostate who threw his body into a river on December 8.
The Canadian martyrs were canonized on June 29, 1930, by Pope Pius XI. In 1940, Pope Pius XII declared them to be secondary patrons of Canada, after St. Joseph.
Their Spirituality
Some of the Canadian martyrs were inspired by published accounts written by earlier missionaries. They asked their superiors to send them to New France to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the indigenous nations of Canada. They were aware of the risks of being present to people who were themselves in danger of being attacked by their enemies. Several among them had consciously embraced the perspective of martyrdom. They wanted to bring Christian faith to life within Huron culture. They lived with the Hurons, learned their language, and shared their risks without hesitation.
Jean de Brébeuf had actually made a vow not to shrink back from martyrdom. His brother Jesuits said of him, “He seemed to have been born for this country. His nature was such that he mastered the ways of the Indigenous people, doing everything possible to touch their hearts and win them for Jesus Christ.” He was a man gifted in prayer who aspired to join Christ in his sufferings and cross. He wanted, like Our Lady with her pierced heart, to submit perfectly to “the will of God, though his heart had been filled with sorrow.”
A teacher, Antoine Daniel had made a musical adaptation of the Our Father and founded a school for young Hurons. Like the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, he refused to leave the mission because he wanted to bring consolation to the dying.
Noël Chabanel had asked to be sent among the Hurons. Although he found it difficult to adapt to their way of life and had trouble learning their language, he had promised to spend his life in the mission. He confided to another Jesuit, “I don’t know what God wants to do with me, but I feel that I have changed in one way: I am by nature apprehensive, but now that I face grave danger and death is perhaps not far off, I no longer feel fear. May good come of my offering of myself to God.May I be wholly his.”
Such was Isaac Jogues’ zeal and strength of spirit that he was nicknamed the “Bird of Prey”. In his prayer, he begged God to let him suffer. When he was taken prisoner, he refused to try to escape. After he was tortured and escaped, he did so in order to return to the mission, which he called “His Spouse by Blood”. His companion Jean de la Lande said that his “desire to serve God drew him to a country where he expected to die.”
The martyrs were accused of casting spells on the Iroquois. They were blamed for spreading contagious diseases and other misfortunes. They were tortured and killed out of hatred for the Christian religion. Marie of the Incarnation, who knew them personally, wrote to her son in the autumn of 1649, “They were possessed by the Spirit of the Incarnate Word. It was that Spirit that drove them by land and sea to preach the Gospel and that made living martyrs of them even before the sword and fire consumed them. … We must feel the eight beatitudes deeply and despite the crosses we may encounter, we should practice complete self-negation so that not ourselves but God is glorified. This most precious gift was granted by God to the Holy Martyrs. … Never, my dear son, will you learn this through study but by humble prayer and in submission at the foot of the cross. The wonderful incarnate and crucified Word is the source of this disposition. It is he who grants it, sharing it with the souls he chooses and who are dearest to him, in order for them to follow and teach his divine precepts so that by this practice they are consumed to the end in imitating him.”
Either way, happy feast day. If you wish, the following is from the CCCB website:
The Canadian Martyrs:
Jesuits
Saint Isaac Jogues (1608-1646)
Saint Antoine Daniel (1600-1648)
Saint Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649)
Saint Gabriel Lalemant (1610-1649)
Saint Charles Garnier (1606-1649)
Saint Noël Chabanel (1613-1649)
Laymen
René Goupil (1608-1642)
Jean de la Lande (160?-1646)
Feast Day: September 26
Their Lives
Eight French missionaries became martyrs in North America in the 17th century, six Jesuits and two “donnés”, laymen who served the Jesuits. Three were killed at Ossernenon, today’s Auriesville, near Albany, New York. Five were killed in Huron territory, about 150 km north of Toronto.
The layman René Goupil had come to New France in 1640 as a donné (he was not bound to the Society of Jesus by religious vows, but by a contract to help the missionaries). He was with Father Isaac Jogues and about 40 Hurons when the group was attacked on Lake St-Pierre in the St. Lawrence River by Iroquois.
Father Jogues was taken prisoner and tortured in Iroquois territory. René Goupil was killed at Ossernenon on September 29, 1642. Father Jogues was eventually held prisoner in Manhattan. With the help of the Dutch, he escaped and made his way to France and back to New France. On September 24, 1646, with the lay donné Jean de la Lande he left Trois-Rivières on a mission to evangelize the Iroquois. They were met with hostility when they arrived at Ossernenon because the Iroquois blamed the Blackrobes for the epidemic that had killed many people in their village. Father Jogues was killed by a hatchet blow on the head, on October 18, 1646. They next day, Jean de la Lande met with the same fate.
Father Antoine Daniel grew up in Dieppe, France, and arrived in Quebec City in 1633 where, for seven years, he was the director of a school for young Hurons. Then he went to Huronia with Father Jean de Brébeuf. On July 4, 1648, the Iroquois attacked their residence at Ste-Marieamong-the-Hurons (near today’s Midland, Ontario) just as Father Daniel was celebrating Mass. They riddled him with arrows and bullets and threw his body into the flaming chapel.
Father Jean de Brébeuf came from Normandy. He arrived in Quebec in 1625 and spent his first winter in the bush with Montagnais hunters in order to study their way of life. He was in Huronia from 1626 to 1629 and again from 1634 until his death. He and his fellow Jesuit Father Gabriel Lalement were caught in a surprise attack in a village they had named St. Louis, and taken to another one they called St. Ignace, where they were tortured for several hours and died, Brébeuf on March 16, 1649. Father Lalement had arrived in Quebec in 1646. He had been in Huronia six months when he was tortured alongside Brébeuf. His agony last 15 hours; he died on March 17, 1649.
Charles Garnier was born in 1605 or 1606 in Paris. He came to Quebec in 1636 and went immediately to Huronia, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1647, he was sent to live on the edge of Huron territory; in a village the Jesuits had named St. John. It was attacked by Iroquois raiders in March 1649. During another attack, on December 7 the same year, while he was helping the wounded, Father Garnier was hit by two bullets and killed with a hatchet blow. His companion, Father Noël Chabanel, had arrived in Quebec in 1643. While he was en route to safety on Christian Island after the December 7 attack, he stopped in exhaustion and was killed by a Huron apostate who threw his body into a river on December 8.
The Canadian martyrs were canonized on June 29, 1930, by Pope Pius XI. In 1940, Pope Pius XII declared them to be secondary patrons of Canada, after St. Joseph.
Their Spirituality
Some of the Canadian martyrs were inspired by published accounts written by earlier missionaries. They asked their superiors to send them to New France to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the indigenous nations of Canada. They were aware of the risks of being present to people who were themselves in danger of being attacked by their enemies. Several among them had consciously embraced the perspective of martyrdom. They wanted to bring Christian faith to life within Huron culture. They lived with the Hurons, learned their language, and shared their risks without hesitation.
Jean de Brébeuf had actually made a vow not to shrink back from martyrdom. His brother Jesuits said of him, “He seemed to have been born for this country. His nature was such that he mastered the ways of the Indigenous people, doing everything possible to touch their hearts and win them for Jesus Christ.” He was a man gifted in prayer who aspired to join Christ in his sufferings and cross. He wanted, like Our Lady with her pierced heart, to submit perfectly to “the will of God, though his heart had been filled with sorrow.”
A teacher, Antoine Daniel had made a musical adaptation of the Our Father and founded a school for young Hurons. Like the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, he refused to leave the mission because he wanted to bring consolation to the dying.
Noël Chabanel had asked to be sent among the Hurons. Although he found it difficult to adapt to their way of life and had trouble learning their language, he had promised to spend his life in the mission. He confided to another Jesuit, “I don’t know what God wants to do with me, but I feel that I have changed in one way: I am by nature apprehensive, but now that I face grave danger and death is perhaps not far off, I no longer feel fear. May good come of my offering of myself to God.May I be wholly his.”
Such was Isaac Jogues’ zeal and strength of spirit that he was nicknamed the “Bird of Prey”. In his prayer, he begged God to let him suffer. When he was taken prisoner, he refused to try to escape. After he was tortured and escaped, he did so in order to return to the mission, which he called “His Spouse by Blood”. His companion Jean de la Lande said that his “desire to serve God drew him to a country where he expected to die.”
The martyrs were accused of casting spells on the Iroquois. They were blamed for spreading contagious diseases and other misfortunes. They were tortured and killed out of hatred for the Christian religion. Marie of the Incarnation, who knew them personally, wrote to her son in the autumn of 1649, “They were possessed by the Spirit of the Incarnate Word. It was that Spirit that drove them by land and sea to preach the Gospel and that made living martyrs of them even before the sword and fire consumed them. … We must feel the eight beatitudes deeply and despite the crosses we may encounter, we should practice complete self-negation so that not ourselves but God is glorified. This most precious gift was granted by God to the Holy Martyrs. … Never, my dear son, will you learn this through study but by humble prayer and in submission at the foot of the cross. The wonderful incarnate and crucified Word is the source of this disposition. It is he who grants it, sharing it with the souls he chooses and who are dearest to him, in order for them to follow and teach his divine precepts so that by this practice they are consumed to the end in imitating him.”
23 September 2017
September 24th is the feast day of Blessed Emilie Tavernier Gamelin. Blessed Emilie was the youngest of 15 children, and was born in Montreal in 1800. She was well acquainted with sorrows. Nine of her siblings died before reaching adulthood. After Blessed Emilie married she lost all of her three children within one year of each's birth, and her husband died less than five years after they married. Blessed Emilie, moved by contemplating Our Lady at the foot of the cross, went on to found the Sisters of Providence, an order dedicated to helping those in need such as orphans, physically and mentally challenged, elderly, and many others. Blessed Emilie died on September 23, 1851. Her last words to her fellow sisters were: "humility, simplicity, charity, above all charity."
Meanwhile there's our "little" Emilie. Sorry Em, I'll lay off the fat jokes. Here she is all ready for Mass.
Emilie is a great blessing for us. But she's also a typical one year old. She puts up a fight with most things. Lately that fight has been Mass. Some Masses she lasts until the Gospel before getting the walk of shame out to the back of the church. Once she didn't even make it to the start of Mass. Today she lasted until the Lord have mercy. How fitting. You might think we just don't know how to parent her (true). However, she's starting to discover her voice. Not cute little "goo goo" noises. Not even loud yells. Nope. It's screams. "SCRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!" So off she goes to the back of the church. Oh well. One year olds will be one year olds.
Yet she show a remarkable intelligence too. Why, tonight she wouldn't go to sleep. She needed to poop. So there we found her, in the bathroom, on John Paul's potty, pooping. Remarkable intelligence.
We look forward to seeing how Blessed Emilie helps our little Emilie along through life. Blessed Emilie was acquainted with sorrow, but she filled this sorrow with great charity. Life is not going to be easy on our kids when they get older. Not the way things are going. May Blessed Emilie, in her charity, help our little Emilie to know and love God always.
Prayer to Blessed Emilie Gamelin
O merciful Heart of Jesus who, in your infinite tenderness for suffering humanity, have filled the Blessed Emilie Gamelin with a tender compassion for human miseries, and have raised her for the accomplishment of the designs of your Providence on the community of which she became the foundress, deign to grant us the grace we solicit through her prayers that she may be glorified on earth and that, in imitating her virtues, we may glorify you in heaven. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
17 September 2017
Following last weekend's shenanigans where we dealt with a sickness, this past weekend we took to Nipawin for a much needed break. One of our favourite places is the Nipawin Regional Park. Grandma tagged along with us for some recreation time.
Emilie checks out the goat.
She was very touched.
The boys duck down to see, well..
This little fella is confused about his identity. Thankfully he has a safe space.
Emilie just loved the animals. She made sure to tell them all the sounds they make.
Here I bravely jumped in the pen with the animals. That or I reached in with the ipod.
A little trip to the swings. Becca hopelessly caught in a tangled mess in the background.
Never mind. She's ok.
The view from the top.
Emilie going on a slide.
Who are these silly kids?
And here I attempted to record a trip on the zip line. One handed and all.
It turned out to be a beautiful day.
Swinging bridge.
We of course spent a long time by the water.
But being by the water means we have to take "the stairs" up. Yes, a great and much anticipated work out every time. I tried recording the climb. A little bumpy I know. But just play some Rocky theme music in your mind as you watch.
All in all it was a much needed break.
God knew what He was doing when He made Sunday a day of rest.
10 September 2017
It's been a wild weekend here. Becca's been quite ill. I make a terrible house wife. Anyway, before I completely forgot I just wanted to make sure everyone read a couple of stories posted by Father Z. They are found here.
Please give it a read. There's an old saying that goes something like: "There's nothing deader than a dead priest," meaning priests that die are often long forgotten in people's prayers. It turns out that Our Lady never forgets our priests. Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, pray for priests.
Please give it a read. There's an old saying that goes something like: "There's nothing deader than a dead priest," meaning priests that die are often long forgotten in people's prayers. It turns out that Our Lady never forgets our priests. Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, pray for priests.
4 September 2017
Before every school year our division pays for teachers to be in for three full days of work leading up to the first day of school. You might think that this leads to optimal preparedness to the school year, thereby ensuring a perfect and seamless institution of the new academic year. You might also think that the earth is flat, CBC is neutral to Trudeau, and Taylor Swift is capable of a long-term relationship.
So we spend day one talking about rules and meetings. Actually, we even spend time talking about rules of meetings. Like meetings we don't even know exist. For instance, we were split into grade-alike groups and given two and a half hours to plan our meetings for the year. I mean, who will take minutes? Who will time things? Or will meetings be timed? What will we do when there's conflict? How will our personalities affect our meetings? What are our personalities (followed by mandatory personality quizzes)? Will these meetings be confidential? Are guests allowed at these meetings? And we were left thinking... what meetings? We don't need meetings! So we did our best to answer these questions the way they needed to be answered (wink wink).
Day two is always convention day. I got to drive to Melfort and spend the day with all the other teachers in the division. The day always begins with opening welcome remarks. From the NETA president. From the STF president. From the Director. From the mayor. Often from many others as well. Last year we had to endure a 40 minute sacred eagle feather passing on ceremony. And the goal of these opening remarks is, of course, to one up each other. It is mandatory to begin with something like: "Before we begin, I just want to acknowledge that we are on Treaty 6 land..." *pats self on back*. Other highlights include our provincial teacher union president walking up with a cockiness that would make McGregor and Mayweather blush, playing with his phone for thirty seconds (cause he's important and we're not), and then going all NDP yay yay, before walking off. But then we got to choose to attend various sessions on exciting topics such as metacognition in non-ELA subject areas. So that was okay...
Day three involves more sitting on one's butt. A whole day of lectures on formative assessment practices. Cause we all know how formative assessment shapes learning. And it's all about the kids, right? At 3:30pm teachers scramble out of the lecture hall. To the lake of course! Um, not so much. To their classrooms. They have to get work done. They have Professional Growth Plans due, as well as protocol reading assignments, pacing guides, emergency sub plans, newsletter blurbs, and other such exciting tasks to accomplish which were graciously handed out via email that afternoon.
But that's ok. Because it's Labour Day long weekend. The teachers get three whole days! Three days to spend on their classrooms and planning... because we had the burden of three "paid" days beforehand.
May it be a blessed school year. Grade 5! Woo hoo!
Now to work a little bit more on my classroom.
So we spend day one talking about rules and meetings. Actually, we even spend time talking about rules of meetings. Like meetings we don't even know exist. For instance, we were split into grade-alike groups and given two and a half hours to plan our meetings for the year. I mean, who will take minutes? Who will time things? Or will meetings be timed? What will we do when there's conflict? How will our personalities affect our meetings? What are our personalities (followed by mandatory personality quizzes)? Will these meetings be confidential? Are guests allowed at these meetings? And we were left thinking... what meetings? We don't need meetings! So we did our best to answer these questions the way they needed to be answered (wink wink).
Day two is always convention day. I got to drive to Melfort and spend the day with all the other teachers in the division. The day always begins with opening welcome remarks. From the NETA president. From the STF president. From the Director. From the mayor. Often from many others as well. Last year we had to endure a 40 minute sacred eagle feather passing on ceremony. And the goal of these opening remarks is, of course, to one up each other. It is mandatory to begin with something like: "Before we begin, I just want to acknowledge that we are on Treaty 6 land..." *pats self on back*. Other highlights include our provincial teacher union president walking up with a cockiness that would make McGregor and Mayweather blush, playing with his phone for thirty seconds (cause he's important and we're not), and then going all NDP yay yay, before walking off. But then we got to choose to attend various sessions on exciting topics such as metacognition in non-ELA subject areas. So that was okay...
Day three involves more sitting on one's butt. A whole day of lectures on formative assessment practices. Cause we all know how formative assessment shapes learning. And it's all about the kids, right? At 3:30pm teachers scramble out of the lecture hall. To the lake of course! Um, not so much. To their classrooms. They have to get work done. They have Professional Growth Plans due, as well as protocol reading assignments, pacing guides, emergency sub plans, newsletter blurbs, and other such exciting tasks to accomplish which were graciously handed out via email that afternoon.
But that's ok. Because it's Labour Day long weekend. The teachers get three whole days! Three days to spend on their classrooms and planning... because we had the burden of three "paid" days beforehand.
May it be a blessed school year. Grade 5! Woo hoo!
Now to work a little bit more on my classroom.
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