Appreciation & Kindness

So administration. I must say, I raise my hands to people in admin - principals, vice principals, secretaries, regional principals, special education coordinators, all of the FNSA/FNESC team - it is an extremely challenging and difficult job. You have to be ready for the unexpected, prepared for whatever comes your way. Much like teachers, however instead of dealing with only five year olds, the age range is limitless. Something which I thought I was prepared for. I am a people person, a social butterfly if you will, and I genuinely enjoy communicating and interacting with the public. In high school I got the Miss Congeniality Award and the Most Talkative Award - something back then I was freakishly proud of. Not so significant now, ha! However, I was not prepared for the different personalities you open yourself up to in a job like this. I am so used to working with five and six year olds who love me. If I have learned anything from the last three months, it is just that. This role has made me appreciate my students that much more. I adore my little ones. I love their spirit, passion for learning and their innocent character.  Everything we do in this line of work is to help ignite passion, create, shelter and prepare these innocent characters for some of the joys and hardships that the world will throw at them. We want to keep them little forever, and completely safe from harm. We want them to truly, deeply, believe in the fact that the world is theirs - they can do whatever they want to do, if they work hard and believe in themselves. We want to shelter them from the negative, toxic people and situations that could potentially cause harm to their identities or feelings. We want them to be prepared, to develop positive work habits at an early age that will help them to be successful at any age throughout their lives. 

All that said, we both want that. Principals, teachers, education assistants, all of us. We want to help. It is in our blood. I recently was told, "I'm trying too hard to help people." At first I was pretty upset, after all, this person was trying to cause harm to my reputation, and trying to hurt me. Then I thought about it - I'm trying to hard to help others? Is that really a fault? If that is the worst that someone can say about me, I think I am doing a pretty gosh darn good job. It takes a special type of person to work with kids, some days I don't think I'm up for it. My patience isn't always there, or I might be struggling to find alternative ways to teach a concept...but, at the end of the day- I want to help. I want to make peoples lives better. I want them to have every opportunity in the world to be successful, whatever 'successful' may mean to them. I want them to be happy. So as I was saying, it takes a special kind of person to teach. That said, it takes an equally special kind of person to lead and guide a school. It takes someone who has a giant heart, a kind soul, and the ability to see three steps ahead, planning appropriately for any and all situations. I'm not claiming to be these things, but I aspire to be. I have learned so much from my mentor, former principal, and friend RC that I want to believe I am ready for this. I want to believe that I have encompassed his teachings combining them with my beliefs and practice to prepare me for the next the next three months. He has shown me what it means to be committed, giving your everything for a cause, and to never give up on the kids (even if some parents may want you to throw in the towel). Kids are kids. They deserve the best from us, all of us, all the time. They cannot control who they are born with as parents, just like they cannot control what socioeconomic class or race they are born into. So, we do everything in our power to help, to give children the chance to be children. To pause their games on their iPads and to play. To learn fearlessly. To take chances. All of it. 

The countless lessons I have learned in the last three months have given me a new out look on education. One thing stays true - true as a teacher, true as an 'acting principal', true as a human - appreciation goes a long way. I appreciate my little ones and their minds. I appreciate the opportunity to learn from them daily. I appreciate this crazy, beautiful journey in this crazy, beautiful life. 


All my Love, 

Miss C

Failure and a puppy.

Failure. Why are we so afraid of it? What does it even mean? My boyfriend and I just got back from Mexico, where I FAILED to workout everyday. I still enjoyed every second of my time there, and wouldn't change it for the world. I also FAILED to post a blog in over a year. ONE YEAR. My goal was to spend more time reflecting, more time perfecting my practice and recording my anecdotal observations - what has been working, what hasn't, what I did, what I should have done. But again, I FAILED. You get so caught up in life, you forget to stop and make time to just be. To just reflect. I'm sure I've said those words before, but here they are again. To be honest, I thought I was busy back last year - I had no idea what I was in for. So I will recollect myself, rebuild, and keep pushing. Keep dreaming big and aiming high. Failure is a terrible word, but it is only as bad as the meaning you associate with it. 

I'm going to start back in September of 2015 and do a quick recap of what we've been up to. This year my theme for my classroom is "Miss C's Big Top Learning - Step right up to the greatest class ever!" Let me tell you, it has been just that. A circus. Of course, one of those animal free, circuses. We do not support animal captivity in the slightest. In fact that is where I will start... Check out our room, complete with a circus tent reading corner!

Before I go there first we must acknowledge the elephant in the room (yes you can expect a lot of circus, animal puns - and you're welcome). This year was full of changes. We had a new principal start at our school, a new teacher, and a new EA. I must be honest, our new additions were wonderful people with great ideas that would help our students. They came optimistic and excited for the near year and willing to take on some challenges right out of the gate. But the thing is, these brave new souls were replacing two of my very dearest friends. Ouch. Something that I had become accustomed to over the last three years was about to change drastically and I didn't really know how to cope with that.

So anyway, back to the animal thing... We started our year off with our annual whale watching trip to Telegraph Cove. While we didn't manage to see any killer whales, we did witness a beautiful performance by the humpback whales. The waters were rough, the weather was wet. But we had an amazing day. 

My class this year has a very unique set of dynamics. We have three PreKs, four Ks and seven Grade 1s. This year I was privileged to have a very young group of students. You know, the ones who still possess the magic of being a kid? The ones who genuinely see the good, and the fun in any situation. The ones who love to learn, play, sing, dance, and be silly. The ones who are not obsessed with technology and enjoy playing creatively outside with their friends, digging to China! Anyway, they are a wonderful group and I adore their spirits. 

This year we spent a lot of time focusing on the four seasons. Where we live, we only really have two seasons - rain and non rain - so teaching concepts to students who cannot experience them daily is difficult. With the help of technology, songs, books and a few field trips we came out with a concrete understanding of ALL seasons. One of my very favourite days was when we took a field trip to Pumpkin Fest at Coastal Black Estate (three hours on a bus each way, but totally worth it!). If you live in the Comox Valley area and haven't been - you MUST check it out www.coastalblack.ca ! The girls there were FANTASTIC, and the whole day was a dream. The kids got to pick pumpkins after having some serious fun in the hay maze, pumpkin ring toss, seeing the animals, feeding goats and having some apple cider. 

The rest of 2015 was some what of a blur.... a happy blur. But a blur.

So the academic side - I know, I know what you're thinking. But how are they performing Court? What is the data telling us? 

Well my friends - are you ready for it? 

At the beginning of the year my Kinders were 25% grade level, and 75% well below. These numbers haven't moved too much - except for the fact that their Phoneme Segmentation Fluency shows 50% are performing at grade level. Their NWF Correct Letter Sounds shows growth as well with 25% at grade level, 50% approaching and only 25% below. 

As far as my Grade 1s - At the beginning of the year 67% were performing below grade level, 17% approaching grade level and 17% were at grade level. I am happy to report that their middle of the year benchmark showed dramatic improvements with 60% performing at grade level and 40% approaching!  I am so proud of how hard working these little ones are. They take such pride in their work and get so excited when they beat their previous scores. 

I know, wow. There is one more thing I forgot to mention. Alex and myself have become the Acting Principals of our school.  Our principal left at Christmas to further her career with the school district, and we had completed interviews offering someone the position, who unfortunately turned it down. We also lost our new teacher and our new EA, making for a crazy amount of changes for our kids. So Alex and myself stepped up, we split the position, decided to come in earlier, stay later, and rearrange schedules so that we had a little bit (I mean thirty minutes a day) of administration time. All while teaching full time. That my friends, is a whirlwind and a whole other blog entry in itself. I will speak to it soon, right now I need to take Ollie for a walk. 

Did I mention I got a puppy?! Oliver (aka Ollie, OliveOil, Olliebear, Olster) is a 7 month old Labradoodle whom I am completely in love with. He got neutered this week, and now is supposed to be laying low, which is killing both of us because it is my last few days of Spring Break and all we want to do is go run at the beach or find some hiking adventures. Anyway, again I'll save that for next time. 

For now, be kind to one another. 

All my love, 

Miss C

88

Oh hi there! Guess what? 88...We have been at school for 88 days already, over half of the year is gone, vanished, just a faint (but wonderful) memory. Also, it happened to be the year I was born, I know NBD right? To mess with your mind (and every 5 year old in the world), it is not only the number that has eight groups of ten, but also eight ones – go figure! An 8 also "looks like an S, and closes the gate", or a "headless snowman"... The things that amuse the mind of a Kindergarten teacher... or at least this one...Anywho! We last chatted (or I typed, and you read) in November, so lets reflect since then, shall we?

Hmmm…

“Let it go...some people are worth melting for...” If you have any young ladies in your life, or even know anyone under the age of thirteen – you will know this already classic song and line. Frozen, the tale of Anna and Elsa – the two sisters who’ve won over hearts all over the world - including this twenty-seven year smitten heart. Our Christmas concert this year (which COMPLETELY BLEW THE SOCKS OFF OF EVERYONE), focused on the tale of love and family. This was our FOURTH production in 2.5 years! Our cast was selected based on their audition, as well as behavior. Again, these kids were there before school, after school, during school - singing in the hallways, their classrooms and their homes.  Complete with blue spotlights (for the ice curse), an ice castle literally made for a Queen, ice stairs that the kids climbed on, and a ballroom, the set and props were incredible. The staff really out did themselves, with a few helping hands, we managed to host an incredible evening. The kids were superstars, the words “born naturals” were mumbled in the audience and everyone left a little jollier. I could not have been prouder. Our lead girls struggled through the idea of “resting their voices”, resorted to drinking lemon and honey water at home and lots of tea. They practiced day and night, they memorized lyrics, they found costumes, and they were still at school ready to go the very next morning. I could not have been prouder.

2015 has brought us so many adventures already, including two new students – one kinder and one grade one. They are adapting to life in our room quite nicely.

What else have we been up to? Well we received our Coho Salmon fish eggs last week and they are already hatching. The ladies at the Quatse Fish Hatchery have been extremely helpful and patient with me as we start taking care of our little friends. We watched a video on the eggs hatching. The kids loved the alevin fish wiggle so much that we’ve incorporated that into our brain breaks! They love to get up and shake all our wiggles out like the fish. They’ve also proceeded to name each and every one of our 75 eggs, with only minimal arguments over whose is whose (picture 75 different names – including Fluffy, Anna, Olaf, Elsa and Sish). We will be able to release them when they are close to 900ATU, which will be close to March Break! The two primary classes are going to top the semester off with a releasing ceremony into the Quatse River. We will be singing and dancing the Salmon Dance (with our culture teacher), and celebrating our twins – who bring good luck to the salmon. We will finish our celebration with a tour of the hatchery, and some time to play in the center. This is always a favourite of the year! The kids love Listen to the Ocean in the theatre – we have literally watched it about 6 times in my three years here. They love dressing up in the costumes, playing in the fish aquarium pop up tank, learning about the salmon by looking at all sorts of samples, and of course, my favourite, visiting the giant statue of an orca whale hanging from the ceiling.

Ahhh March Break! It is only a few short months away – not even if you think about it – less than two months! Wait, stop Court. We can’t think future; we need to think in the present. Be in the moment, and be there for our children every minute of everyday, in everyway.

All right, lets talk numbers…

I started benchmarking - I was nervous. I need to input my data still, but according to the DIBELS target sheets, three of the four Kinders I worked with today are performing at or above grade level. I also assessed one of my grade 1’s who is reading 72 words per minute (in Read Well he usually reads around 95WPM). I love helping these little ones reach their goals; I love it when they see their own success. They are so excited too! I love seeing that light click for them, or watching the “I got this” moment. Not only are they decoding, and reading faster and at an earlier age but also they are building the confidence that is necessary for future success. They have started developing healthy work habits in Kindergarten that I only pray continue into later grades, and in other aspects of their lives. They are returning homework, putting in effort and trying their best. Most days. 

Attention grabbers (my random TIDBIT of the night)!! We do the typical lights off and "When the lights go out, put your hand on your head - STOP, LOOK and LISTEN" Then we all yell STATUE at the end and they have to freeze like a statue... We also do: Teacher: "One, two, three, eyes on me" Students: "One, two, three, eyes on YOU"; "If you can hear me touch your nose, if you can hear me wiggle your toes. If you can hear me touch your ear, if you can hear me shake your rear" (They go crazy for the word rear haha!). BUT the other day, one of my students said to me, "Miss C, what if we do this really cool thing, where you say - READY TO ROCK, and we say - READY TO ROLL" ... my heart melted. They are coming up with their own way for me to manage behaviour and it is the cutest thing. We did this on a Friday (and the school was closed on Monday), so when Tuesday came around I thought I wonder if they will remember... and sure enough, they nailed it. Anyway, moral of the story - five years old and my kids LOVE to rock and roll! I suppose no matter what age, we all want to rock at something :) 

Take this last message with you...

All my love, 

Miss C 

March Ma..rvels

When you think of the word March what is the first word you associate with it? If you're a basketball fan, or work in a school chances are you are going to say madness! Well, it has been a tad bit crazy - we are going to spend the remainder of this post talking about the positives, the marvels, that the last few months have brought us.

For the month of February we had been primarily focusing on compassion. We had numerous lesson plans, crafts, and stories devoted to teaching our little ones the importance of being a good friend. Every day we started off creating an anonymous heart which we hung from our ceiling - we actually had 100 hearts by 100's day. The kids created the following sentence on a red/pink heart: "I like ______ because ______". They had to pick a new friend everyday and say one nice thing about them, something deep about the person they are - not necessarily that they like Hello Kitty. It was really sweet some of the things they said, 

Spelling wasn't a part of the grade ;) 

We also had Ready, Set, Learn come to the school for a Family Fun Night. We made homemade pizzas, after of course making our chef hats, and then listened to Mother Goose read some stories and sing a few songs with us. 

Some very exciting news! All my kindergarten students are READING. Yes, that is right, they are decoding, blending and sounding out words on their own! Thanks to Read Well K, Whole Group AND Small Group - these kids LOVE our time together before lunch. The program allows for songs, dancing, white board work, pocket charts, colouring, writing, and of course reading. Switching it up keeps the kids on their toes and stops them from getting bored. We started I can statements before the break - this adorable little snow boarder came up with this on her own… 

For 100s Day we did the regular 100 Physical Activities Challenge. We also teamed up with the older students in the 2, 3, and 4 class and counted 100 objects, and then with their help, shaped it into the number 100. 

What else, you ask? Well, we celebrated the amazingly talented, one-and-only Dr. Theodore Seuss  with our SEUSS-A-PALOOZA. 

I'm sure there is so much more to tell, but my brain is sleepy. Sleep well. 

All my love, 

Miss C

a new year, a new blog ;)

November 2, 2014. Seriously? I promised to stop and smell the roses, to reflect on my practice, my kids and life more frequently and somewhere down the road I seem to get too caught up in living it all to actually stop. Last year I wrote three blogs. THREE. I vow to make a conscious effort to do this more. I’m setting a reminder on my iPhone as we speak.

September started out completely differently this year.  I was in my class during the summer so the final stressful push before school started was much more relaxed, sort of. After attending another Read Well training this summer I felt prepared and ready to take on the year! It also could have been my visit home, my trip to Hawaii (where I caught up with my favourite Aussies in the most incredible place), or the road trip to Alberta with my boyfriend, my brother and his girlfriend who came for a visit this summer. Needless to say, it was a good summer…

Exploring the mountains around Emerald Lake 

Much needed R&R in Hawaii :)

Back to business….

My theme this year is “Miss C’s Magical Kingdom” or “Once Upon a Class”, emphasizing pretend play, fairy tales and believing in all that is magic.  It’s funny, as a new kindergarten teacher you come in so hot out of the gate – you focus on all academics and all you want is those little ones to leave you reading (which we did with kinders reading 58 words a minute at the end of last year). You get so caught up on the lesson number, getting through the assessments, sticking to the timetable and all the programs you forget to give them time to be kids, at least I did. I didn’t completely forget, but it definitely took the back burner. I never claimed to know it all, but I thought I was doing a pretty darn good job. The amount I learn from my colleges (both near and far), my kids, and from simple trial and error – I can feel myself doing a better job day by day. I will only be as good if I continue to learn, to grow, to allow for constructive criticism, for being open to change and embracing technology. I learned this year a powerful lesson. Being present and in the moment is the best gift you could give your kids. This year I feel more confident with a healthier balance, a better understanding, and a stronger grip on this whole teaching thing…

 Some snaps from around our room :)

So anyway, back to September. It was filled with a castle entrance, princesses and pirates and a lot of imagination. We went whale watching again – which we were completely spoiled to see many porpoises (who used the boat as a toy, creating one of my hands down favourite memories), humpback whales, dolphins, sea lions and SO MANY ORCAS. I’m talking about two pods with at least a dozen killer whales…if you know me; you know that I’ve fallen in love with this ocean and those magnificent animals. So needless to say, I was crazy happy. We also spent a lot of time focusing on rules and routines, celebrated Grandparents Day, had Smokey the Bear visit, learned about pictographs, had Crazy Hair Day and finished off our senses unit with Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do you See and Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do you Hear.

Whale Watching :)

Getting outside, enjoying the raw natural beauty 

We started making Learning Goals and Success Criteria (Thank you Damian Cooper!) on a daily basis.  We set CLEAR EXPECTATIONS - each students exit card is reflecting on this, showing us their understanding.

Working on our pictographs! #KSchool style!

Mr. Potato Head is GREAT for kinaesthetic learners! 

October was a busy month too! We started our small groups with Read Well and focused on finger tracking and first sound fluency. We introduced and mastered the words: I, I’m, a, see. We counted to 100 by ones, and by tens (forwards and backwards), and fully grasped the days of the week order. We had a two-week Careers Week this year with trips to the grocery store, the post office, the police station, the fire hall, and the library. We talked about what it means to be thankful, and how we should be appreciative all the time, not just on one day. But it is nice to sit down with your family and share a meal.

Our trip to the PHFD

October also means Benchmarking time. This year I was anxious to assess our kindergartens. Last year we structured their PreK program to be mostly academic based, but in a fun hands on way. They followed the Alphabet knowledge portion of the Read Well K program giving them a strong understanding of letter names and sounds. Our results proved that an academic pre school program makes the biggest difference! We would have the kids build the letter with their bodies, use playdough to make letters, and make animals out of bubble letters (turning the letter S into a snake). Our beginning of the year DIBELS benchmarks showed the following data. Based on 9 students, we had four students performing at grade level (green), three approaching (yellow), and two below (red). This is an incredibly strong start, one we are so proud of.

Next up – Halloween! We really do have a lot of spirit at K’ak’ot’lats’I School; every single student and staff member was fully decked out in their creepiest, crawliest, most Elsa-like dress ready for a fun day. We talked about how to stay safe while trick or treating with our liaison officer, we carved a class pumpkin, went cosmic bowling as a school and had a class party. Complete with a cakewalk, James and the Giant Peach, creepy crawly guessing bins and rice crispy shaped/coloured pumpkin treats – it was a great day.

Cleaning out Pumpkins! 

We were also incredibly lucky to gain a new member to our staff this year. Our culture teacher has taken Quatsino and really strengthened our community spirit and unity. He started hosting culture nights with dancing and singing with all members of the community including our respected elders, youth and young learners. He worked with our students to prepare them for a Cultural Welcoming Night where they blew us all away with their dedication and talent for dancing. Quatsino is allowing a TV show to use their land for a project, so to welcome them there was a traditional seafood feast followed by a night of dancing. I feel so blessed to be a part of such a rich culture. The emotion that is demonstrated, the stories that are told – it is all so incredibly powerful – needless to say I was holding back some happy tears. The amount of knowledge we have gained from this teacher is incredible. In such a short time I have learned to count to ten, colours, animals, emotions, and many myths and legends. We have learned so many dances and songs too. It is definitely a highlight of my year so far!

This year has been so full of learning, laughing and energy already. With Christmas sneaking up around the corner, I can't wait to see what magic we have in store for us.

Stay tuned. 

All my love, 

Miss C

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

The end of January already?! It seems all my posts start the same… it's incredible how fast the time goes, even if most weeks do start with the dreaded, long Monday. Happy New Year friends! Or Gung Hay Fat Choy! As we were reflecting on 2013, we realized there were a lot of really good moments for us! 

To the left, we have Sarah and I (yes in somewhat matching toques) after a stressful drive down island to get to the airport. It was quite the debacle getting down with all the snow, but with Sarah's stealthy driving we made it. Nothing was stopping us from getting home!

But before I get a head of myself, let me take you back...

Arts and Crafts! So many Christmas presents went home this year, including some pretty cute MistleToes in homemade frames :)

I must really love these kids! Here I am baking the cookies they made from scratch (for those of you who know me, know this is a RARE occasion!)

Our "Christmas Carol" set starting to come together! Sarah did a great job - she is so crafty! Check out the stained glass window effect she created! All of our students (specifically the 5/6/7's) did a FANTASTIC job with memorizing their lines, singing and all in all putting on an entertaining evening! We were all so incredibly proud of them.

My Grade 1's were the cutest "snow people" you ever did see!! 

The PreKs & K's were colourful, unique snow flakes, and together we put on a short skit, and sang "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow". During an instrumental break the kids were surprised with a fake snow machine, and "snow" falling from the ceiling. It was an amazing moment, watching their faces light up was one of the best feelings. 

Even Santa made it to our show! Now, spot the teachers ;)

Christmas break was just what I needed to relax and regroup. Not to dive too much into my personal life, but it was an incredible two weeks. Being home, in the house you grew up in, with the people you love, with the snow and the Christmas lights… it's magical. Spending time with my brothers, parents, cousins, friends and friends babies didn't leave me too much time to relax, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. 

Getting to see some of my favourite little girls <3

 Quality time with Addie, Ava and my wonderful cousins Danielle and Jeff and also Miss Izzee and of course her beautiful Mama Bear and Papa bear! 

  Being home really breaks my heart sometimes. However, it also makes me realize how lucky I am to have the people in my life that I do, and a town like Harrow to go home to. They say "Home is where your heart is". They also say "Home is where your story begins". As cliche, or corny as it sounds - they (whoever they are?) are right! Some days, I am so confused, and stressed on WHERE it is I want to be. I know WHAT I want to do, and am completely driven by passion and my enthusiasm for educating little ones…and I LOVE BC! It is beautiful here. But my home, will always be my home. It never gets easier saying the awful goodbye. So, what it all boils down to is this Lady Antebellum song: "So let your heart, sweet heart, be your compass when you're lost, and you should follow it wherever it may go. When it's all said and done, you can walk instead of run 'cause no matter what you'll never be alone".

That's my rant and rave about that. To summarize: Christmas - great, New Years - great, 26th Birthday (YIKES) - superb. All in all, it was a perfect break and I miss it dearly.

Since being back to school we have been vvvverrrrryyyyy busy. We started the year talking about New Years Resolutions and setting goals for ourselves. We even did some pretty cute self portraits with our goals (and noise makers) attached. 

 

YES MY FIVE AND SIX YEAR OLDS CREATED THESE THEMSELVES! I was so proud! I helped a bit with the hair, but the drawing was all them! 

We have been raising alevins in our class (for those of you back out east - baby salmon!). We were given about 50 salmon eggs at the beginning of January and last week they hatched! This is so exciting for the kids to witness, and ties perfectly in with our Life Cycles Unit! We also got to go to the Quatsino Fish Hatchery for a field trip, and will be going back before March Break (… yes I just said that!) to release our salmon! 

I could go on and on, but alas - - it is only Wednesday, and this is one tired teacher. On the bright side? Tomorrow is Thursdayyyy! 

Until next time!

All my Love, 

C

In a nutshell

The last three months, in a nutshell.

Well, it's the end of November… hmm. I have started about ten of these blogs and then held the backspace button down. We have been sooo busy! I have an AMAZING group of kids this year! Nine grade 1s, 4Ks, and 7 K4's (Ontario lingo - JK). K4 is INCREDIBLE, everything they do is adorable and they are such a bright group. We have a wonderful TA who has taken on the K4s, with the assistance of another fabulous TA, and together they are rocking the pants off these kids! So long "free play centre time", hello academics, printing and math! I must say, they LOVE IT! It is completely hands on (see below), while learning how to hold a pencil and are starting to print. They use play dough to make letters, turn letters into animals, and so much more. I cannot wait to see the data next year when I get to Benchmark them! I must say we have had the "UH-HU" moment.  If we give these kids the foundations for their reading - AND WE DO IT WELL - there is no excuse why all of our students can't be green… it all starts at the age of four (or younger at home!). All of our kids are working hard, and it is so exciting to think our K4s will be starting K with a solid foundation and understanding of letter names, sounds. If you want success, you work for it. We have high expectations for our kids, and in return they continue to surprise us.

Rooster on a Roof and rabbits! 

Halloween Season! From our own pumpkin carving, to decorating, to feeling the creepy crawly surprise bins, to Cosmic Bowling with "the best behaved group in Port Hardy" (thank you North Island Lanes!) - we have had a fantastic fall/autumn season! Between the Read Well, the DIBELS, the SAXON we made time for some good old fashion haunted fun! 

Ghost Bowling on top of the Cosmic Bowling! Instead of balls we used pumpkins :)

More Halloween pics to come when I upload the school camera! On another note, we have started getting ready for our Christmas Play - A Christmas Carol, K School Style. This will include some different songs (including One Direction, BSpears) and a little old fashion Let it Snow Let it Snow with some pretty cute, unique snowflakes! :) I have been working with the older class on their lines… I love drama! I love acting (GREASE 2006… ahhh I still miss it!), and I love getting to work with kids who enjoy it too. Its nice change of pace working with the older ones too. BIG NEWS. Dazzle is back!!! So many Christmas things I could post on… but another time, it's time for Criminal Minds/Report Car….d…s… eeew. I can't even say it. HA.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Pinky promise to post again soon! 

All my love, 

Miss C