Going home for 2nd part of Block!!

Yes!!!! I am probably the last one in our group to find out ...but.....I finally got my out of region placement with the TCDSB (Toronto Catholic) ...what a relief i can finally breathe a little easier!!! ....oh ya and I'm at my old elementary school!!! haven't been down those halls in a while!!!...i guess i have symbollically come full circle with my education!!!

Can you believe all this snow!?!?

I can't remember the last time we had this much snow!!! Personally I don't like snow much! But cheers to those who do, because you got an excess of it this year!!!

Enjoy.....I can't wait till summer!!!

Block II

With observation days done, the official start of the final practicum experience is only days away!! A new school, a new grade, a new staff- a chance to make new memories and experience a little more of the real world of teaching. I have to say that I am quite excited about teaching grade fives. They are so different than the intermediate grades, but I'm sure will as much of a joy to work with. I have to say that I will miss the rest of my SVP crew (**tear**), but I am sure they will do amazing in their own practicum placements. I will certainly miss the early morning drives to Timmy's with my partner in coffee obsession, but I am also looking forward to working with new individuals and getting to know them better! My new school is such a big change from my last one; the school is smaller, the classrooms are smaller, and there is a different atmosphere that surrounds the staff and students. I look forward to dusting off the rust and getting back into the swing of things. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE IN THEIR PLACEMENTS!.....and I really HOPE I get my TORONTO CATHOLIC out of region placement!!!

Lions quest Workshop

Bright and early on a weekend in the month of February, twelve curious souls braved the cold and snow of Fenwick to part-take in the Lions quest workshop. I have to say that I wasn't sure what to expect before coming to this workshop, since I had never before heard of lions quest until our counselling group, where we encouraged to attend a workshop. I figured could only help me in my career, and I decided to sign up. We were all surprised to see Rosemary Hunter there as our 'instructor' (she was the lady who came and talked to us about our portfolios). We shared ideas and experiences, participated in various activities and even got a chance to teach a lesson from the lions quest resource. Overall we shared some great laughs, learned some valuable information and ...were well fed....all in all it was great experience!

Professional Issues Day

"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining, in love when i'm alone, and in God even when he is silent."

(inscription found scratched in a wall in germany by someone hiding from Nazi concentration camps)

War is something that in our society we have to read about/watch on tv/listen about, on a daily basis. Sadly this is the world our children are growing up in. As a child, I was exposed to the idea of war quite early on. My family is from Croatia, which was involved in a bitter war for our freedom in the early ninties. This effected our family quite a bit since most of my mothers family still lives in Croatia, I remember quite vividly watching or listening to the news and wondering if my young cousins were safe. This is why this professional issues day was so moving for me. It brought me back to a reality that I seem to sometimes forget. The speech that the Holocaust survivor was heart breaking to say the least.It reiterated the fact that we must learn from our past mistakes and hope not to repeat them. This session made me think back to the recent movie 'Freedom Writers', where at trouble youth were taken with the story of Anne Frank and invited the Woman who hid her family to their school. Giving students a link to a story such as a first hand experience gives them a more realistic view to the issue. I would like to applaud those that organized this event because it was by far the most rewarding workshop/session thus far.

Social Issues day I

I know it has been a while since we had our first social issues day in December, but it was so moving that the memories of that day still linger with me today. the day started off with a plenary session with an aboriginal group from the Niagara Falls area. We were told about the specific needs of aboriginal students and how as teachers we can help them succeed. The wonderful display of tradition with the drum was a great experience, it had the entire group's attention. It was also great that they got the group involved with a circle dance, which was something I was familiar with since most cultures have some kind of circle dance, which of course symbolizes a never ending bond. The thing that touched me was what they left us with 'please do not forget our children'. This was a very strong statement that I feel is something every parent wants from their child's teacher. It is something I hope I will never do. The rest of the day was spend in small workshops. The two that i attended where
1- children and grieving and 2-the workshop about mental health, both were very informative and touched on issues that as teachers we could encounter in the classroom.

Its been way TOO LONG!!...I know!!

It has been way too long since i have posted on my blog, I guess I have just been caught up in all the happenings of school. A little update about block 1, it ended quite well acutally!! I know that i was a little hesitant about teaching the intermediate grades in the beginning but those fears were quickly dashed by the end of my first block! All I can say is that '7K u rock!'. It was very easy to get comfortable in the routine of coming to school everyday and actually being proactive! What I loved about my stay at SVP was not only the wonderful SVP crew I had with me (shout out!), but the fact that we all worked so well together and helped each other out all the time. I feel we all easily fell in with the routine of the school and managed to organize a few activities for the students! I can honestly say that I was quite sad to leave SVP, I almost teared up in front of my class; as I wondered to myself how I could be so emotional after one month, I could only imagine what I would feel if I had taught these students for an entire school year! all in all this was a great experience that I will carry with me for a long time! (the picture is a fun math project that the students did, where they were asked to create their own cereal boxes)