Currently...June 2015

I am pretty sure that, in 1386, when Geoffrey Chaucer first penned what has become the phrase "better late than never" , he wasn't thinking about being late in writing blog posts!!!

However, I am going to avail myself of that phrase today and do the Currently for June!!!!

listening...I've been hunting songs to use in my year end slide show. I think this one has made the cut!

loving...I am so ready for summer. This year has been a long and difficult one for me with many challenges in all areas of my life. Not to mention, that it started with a strike for most of September (oops! wasn't going to mention that!) I am ready for summer. 14 days to go....

thinking...I really need to get going on my report cards but I somehow managed to leave my flash drive at school on Thursday (I didn't go in on Friday. I slept all day. Literally, ALL day!!! The bug going around the school finally caught me. Sneaky germs!!!!) They are due on Friday this week so I am sensing some long nights ahead of me. Sigh....

wanting...I know, I know, I'm about to be on summer holidays for 10 weeks. Isn't that a vacation? Well, I would just love to go on a real honest to goodness vacay where I physically leave my hometown. It isn't going to happen this summer but I want it to!!!

needing...I've been working on this for a few weeks now. Just downloaded 642 pictures I've taken lately. Yikes! I need to do some major editing or it is going to turn into my year end documentary!!!

summer lovin...
...sleeping in is the best. Doncha think? I am not a morning person AT ALL and love the days of rolling out of bed around 10 to enjoy my coffee on the back patio.
...organizing my classroom. OMG, I am looking forward to doing this SO, SO, SO much. If you aren't a teacher you probably won't get this but the time I spend in my classroom over the summer is crucial to my sanity from September thru June. Losing the time last summer and not being able to clean, purge, sort and reorganize (because of the strike) was horrible!!!!! It made my year so much more difficult. I NEED those summer days to get my room set up. I know that technically I am not expected to work in the summer and that coming in is my choice (and unpaid) but if I don't put the time in on my physical space, it is so hard to get my head on straight and feel ready to go in September. It makes the time given to work in the summer so worth it when my stress level is lower for the other ten months.
...lazy days. What's there to add to that?!?!

Cheers!

Olwyn

p.s. I hit 20,000 views today. Woot! Woot! That isn't much by blog world standards but it is A LOT by mine! So, thanks for stopping by and I hope you come on back to see me soon!

Sunday Scoop - May 31, 2015

I am linking up again with the Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop. Here's mine....

I am happy to say that I have already done one of my "have to's" and have repotted and planted all but two of the plants I bought yesterday. (I bought around 16 so there was a lot of gardening going on early this morning!) I am about to go for a walk to finish the other two. Go me!!!

As to the hopes, I have a bit of hand sewing to finish on the top. Just wish my fingers wouldn't go numb while I am sewing. It is very frustrating!! If it gets done, I am wearing it tomorrow!

And, I'll see how I do today with blog posts. If you read here regularly you'll know that I haven't exactly been prolific in my posting lately. I'll do my best to write a couple of posts but don't hold your breath!!!

On that note...I am off to do my happy...puttering about the house!

Happy Sunday!

Cheers!

Olwyn 

Sunday Scoop May 24, 2015

Hey everyone!

 I am linking up today with Teaching Trio for their weekly Sunday Scoop. It has been forever since I wrote (sorry, about that but I do have a good reason this time!)

Here goes!

Most of the above is pretty self-explanatory. And a lot of the things are things I didn't get done or stopped doing this month when my husband had a stroke. Yep, a stroke. At the age of 47. Let me tell you, May was a scary, worrisome time for me and I am very glad that it is going, going, gone!

My life has gotten a bit out of whack as a result of being away from work for a week when the stroke first happened and then just not having my head in the game since I went back to work two weeks ago. But, I am happy to say, life is settling into our new normal and I am more than ready to get my head back on straight! 

So, there will be more posts, more often (I promise!) in the coming weeks. Only 24 teaching days left! Wowzer! Where has this year gone? There is still so much to get done and the time is ticking away faster than I want. I know I probably won't get everything done that I want to but I am going to give it my very best try!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Currently....May

It's that time again! I am linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this month's Currently...

listening...I went a little nuts on iTunes the other night. Bought a bunch of new songs (including a few of Meghan Trainor's) but my fave purchase is the new album from The Script (one of my favourite, favourite bands ever!!!). I am loving their song called "It's Not Right For You" all about going after what you love in your life. Great song!

loving...I have been to four church rummage sales in the last two weeks! And found great stuff. I must admit that I mostly bought for my classroom (board games, writing paper and more) but I did find a few things for home. I love this time of year when there are rummage sales and the garage sales start up again. I love thrifting and hunting for treasures!

thinking...we had a death in my husband's family this weekend and it has just brought forth to me, yet again, how important it is to show my husband and daughter how important they are to me. This life is uncertain and I don't want to ever let a day go by without them knowing how much they mean to me. 

wanting...this one goes with the rummage sales above! As I bring more stuff home, I need to start sending some stuff out!!!! Luckily, my neighbour wants to do a yard sale this month so I'm going to start culling soon.

needing...I haven't been eating right, sleeping enough or working out lately. And I can tell in my moods both at work and at school. If I am going to be at my best in all areas of my life then I need to make myself a priority and take care of me. I know I have said this before. It is an ongoing theme in my life. Ironically, I wrote the same exact thing for my needing in April. Clearly, I didn't follow through very well...Maybe this month I'll get it together and do better at taking care of me. Fingers crossed!!!! 

summer...
yes...Well, we are putting my mother into care this June. She doesn't really know (we tell her but, of course, with her Alzheimer's, she forgets) and it is not going to be pretty. I expect I'll spend much of the summer emptying out her house and getting it ready for sale.
hope...I keep having ideas for clothing I'd like to make but never have the time. Hopefully, this summer I can get in some serious sewing.
dream...I really, really want to go away with my hubby for a long weekend at least. It is unlikely that we'll manage it this summer but I'm not giving up on the dream!

And, there you go! Another Currently completed!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Board Games Galore!!!!!

Do you like board games?

In my personal life, I am not a board game player. But, at school...now that is a different story.

I teach using games all of the time!

When it comes to board games, I think you either love them or hate them.

My class LOVES them. I mean, they really LOVE them!!!!

I have been going to all of the local church sales lately and stocking up on board games.

So far I have 2 of Battle Ship, 3 Chess sets, 2 cribbage boards, 3 Snakes and Ladders, and many more.

I have been slowly getting students, who know how to play the game, to take on the teacher role and teach their peers how to play.

Yesterday we had our first Board Games time. It was so much fun! Every single student in the room was on task, engaged and learning through play. How can it get better than that?!?!

Here's a bird's eye view!

It was such a great learning time. Lots of learning game strategies, improving listening skills, building relationship skills, I could go on. But my favourite part? There was not a single piece of 21st century technology on anywhere! No screens. Just good old fashioned games and a lot of love for learning going on. It was awesome!

I have decided that this is going to be a weekly event for the rest of the year.

I can hardly wait to hit the next church sale and see what I can find!!!!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! And moving on....

Ok...I confess...I have stopped doing the book study. Just not into it for some reason. Plus, I feel pretty good about the dendrites I am building in my classroom right now!

So, no more guilt about not posting my chapter responses (hence the long absence from posting since I figured I should be posting about the book study!!! Aaaah...shoulda, woulda, coulda...) and moving on to new things...

I have recently started reading the book The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton to the class. Have you ever read it?

click here to find it online

It is a true Canadian classic written in 1961. It is the story of four children who go on an adventure to rescue their baby brother who went through a trapdoor in the floor of their playhouse. The trapdoor leads to a secret underground world filled with mysterious little green people.

I am loving reading it again and am really enjoying watching the faces of the students as the adventure progresses. One of these days I am going to get them to draw what they are visualizing as I read since I know that their imaginations are in overdrive listening!

This book holds a special place in my childhood memory. In grade 5, I found myself  in a new school, that I really didn't like, with a teacher named Mrs. Gordon whom I didn't really like all that much either! I think she might be one of the reasons I went into teaching as I seem to recall the teachers I didn't like more than the ones I did. I guess I was inspired to NOT be like them!!!! But I digress....

One of my only positive memories of that year is of Mrs. Gordon sitting in the front of the class on a stool, reading to us from her copy of The Secret World of Og. Back then it had only been around for around 20 years (do the math and you can figure out how old I am!!!!) After she read us the book, we wrote letters to the author and Mrs. Gordon sent them off to his publisher. I will always remember the day the reply arrived. A letter for us! Written by Pierre Berton! On bright Og-green writing paper with a little drawing of a man from Og in the bottom corner. Oh! The excitement! 

The only other late elementary memory that comes close to topping my Og one is when Gordon Korman came to talk to our class about his book This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall. He was only about 18 years old and had already written a chapter book (at age 12!) and published it! Wow! But that is a story for another day....  

Anywho, if you have never read The Secret World of Og then what are you waiting for? Go read it!!! And, if you have read it, go read it again! You won't be sorry. I promise!

Cheers!

Olwyn

My bad....Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites Chapter 9 Mnemonic Devices & Chapter 10 Movement

Okay, clearly I was on some other planet when I thought I was almost caught up with these. They are on Chapter 11 today people!!!! Seems I might have been only 2 chapters behind when I wrote the post for Chapter 8 on the weekend but, in the meantime, two more chapters have been done! Yikes!!!

So, I am going to do a combo post about Chapters 9 & 10 (note - I just double checked the schedule and EVERYONE did chapters 9 & 10 together! Seriously, I think I need my brain examined. It seems to be on the fritz lately!!!) AND...I am going to remember to link up. I keep writing the posts and then forgetting to link up to the hosting blog. Double Yikes!(note - just tried to link up and the linking system isn't working! Isn't that just the way?!?)

This will be short and snappy. I'm not even going to fill in the cutesy form for these two chapters. Mostly because I pretty much don't know what I would put on it!

Hmmm...Mnemonic Devices....Can't really say I use these much. In fact, can't really say that I use these at all. See wasn't that an easy chapter to write about?

I'll have to hop over to some of the other blogs participating to see what kind of mnemonic devices they use in grades 1 & 2. Honestly, besides good old Roy G. Biv for teaching the colours of the rainbow, I am at a total loss on this one.

On to movement!!!!

I do incorporate movement a lot but know I could do more. Some of the things we do are things like brain breaks (I am still trying to incorporate Go Noodle more in my room. Still need to work on this!) You can check out a little of it here in this youtube video...

We also have impromptu stretching times (usually in the middle of a lesson when the class is super squirmy) and impromptu dance parties (usually during Community Centres on a Friday afternoon). I also do things like put on boppier music when kids are working on something that does not require vast amounts of concentration. Like today the grade 1's were doing a very simple cut and paste on the seasons. It didn't require as much brain energy as writing or reading would have so I popped on my marimba cd and the kids took dancing breaks when they needed one!

I do want to add more yoga into our routine. Especially the parts of yoga that will help with focus and calming down (things like breathing techniques). 

Anywho, there it is..short and sweet today. Now I'll do another chapter tomorrow and be all caught up. Yay me!!!!

Cheers!

Olwyn