Sunday, August 31, 2008

A few pictures...

Well, my classroom is all set up and organized. I have my first week of lesson plans mostly completed, my year overviews are being worked on, and I finally have a few minutes where I'm going to post some pictures! Granted, this wouldn't be happening this morning if I didn't have a staff meeting in an hour which I don't want to get ready for!

So, starting with the most miraculous transformations...from this
to this...


and that...

to that!



A few more pictures for your enjoyment...if you want to see more you can check my facebook page. Those pictures come complete with snarky comments!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Well...

Well...I think that it is safe to say that "tomorrow" was a little bit overly ambitious. It would also be safe to say that moving is not my favourite activity! Between cleaning up and setting up my classroom (not quite finished), writing up year overviews and units (nowhere near finished!), and taking care of exciting things such as insurance, telephone service, blah blah blah...there just isn't time to blog! Then, add in the Olympics...which manage to be interesting even when all that is on is basketball, and I'm just hooped (haha...I'm so punny that I crack myself up)!

I promise that there really will be some pictures and such in the near future. Watch for a "before and after" set of images from my classroom. Also, don't be surprised if you see some apartment/Port Hardy pics!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

I'm here!

Well, I made it! I'm in Port Hardy (with my parents, who will leave tomorrow morning), mostly unpacked and organized, and happy with my apartment! Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of the apartment.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Down to the Wire...

The big move is getting closer! 2.5 hours from now I will have bought school supplies at Staples (for all of my students), and 3 hours from now we will have picked up the rental truck! Hopefully not too many hours after that the truck will be loaded up. Ack! This moving thing is becoming a reality! Look for more updates in the next day or two...

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Next Great Adventure

One of my favourite books in the entire world is Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women"...it's such a classic story, full of all the good things I look for in a book. Each time I read it I find something new that I hadn't thought about before, or that I had somehow missed. As I get older I start to look at the characters in different ways, and this is exciting too. I love the section of chapter 13 where Jo March asks her sisters "Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true and we could live in them?" She is talking about dreams. We build up these dreams and goals for ourselves, many of which are so clearly out of reach, but fun to think about. Others are entirely attainable. Castles in the Air do not have to be impossible to reach!


One of my big castles is becoming a reality. I have my first real honest-to-goodness-actually-making-money teaching job! Not only that, but I am fortunate enough to be teaching grades one and two, which is my favourite group. I will be in Port Hardy, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, working with people I like in a system with which I am familiar.


A few years ago, upon returning home from teaching Kindergarten in Saipan, CNMI, I was heard to say that I would NEVER live on an island again. It was too nerve-wracking and confining. I'd like to amend that statement now! I don't know that I could handle another teeny tiny island, but this is entirely different. Call it my prerogative to change my mind, call it a change in priorities, call it whatever you'd like, but I'm off to another island.


I look forward to sharing my adventures...and misadventures...with you!