It’s not just Monday. It’s the Monday after Halloween, a few days off the full moon. The kids had a three-day weekend (Friday PA day). And we just changed the clocks. School was a bit wacko today. It would figure that – less than 24 hours after I’d mentioned how well the kids were sleeping…
Category: School Snippets
100 Happy Days – Day 4: Silence
There are two kinds of silence that made me happy on Day 4. One was in my 5/6 Core French class. They are a class that is, as a group, not great at self-regulation. Many of them have great difficulty stopping themselves from saying whatever they feel like saying, whenever they feel like saying it, in whatever language (i.e. English,…
How Far to Bend the Gender
As a girl born between two sisters, I was, in childhood, emphatically girly. I loved unicorns, ballet, pink things, dolls, My Little Ponies. The tendencies of our elder brother didn’t hold much sway with us back then – he was outnumbered – and he seemed happy enough to make his Lego projects and wooden models…
Those Greedy, Lazy Teachers
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina. After that, I wanted to be a novelist. It didn’t occur to me to want to be a teacher until later. As a homeschooling kid, I didn’t even have teachers other…
What makes mothers?
It’s interesting, the things that kindergartners say about their mothers. I recently overheard a fragment of conversation at kindergarten snacktime, involving one of the kids I like to call “pop-up children” (teachers, you know the ones I’m talking about). This is what I heard: “…and then she punched me! In the face! My mom!” Wise…
Encouraging the love between boys
Imagine a 12-year-old boy with a chip on his shoulder. He moves from an inner-city school in a large metropolis to a well-to-do urban school in a much smaller city. He has been moved, for the most part, because his mom doesn’t have a clue how to control or improve his behaviour. The administration at…
Toddler Tracks in the Snow
Finally, there was snow! And now it’s melted. Sigh. We’ve only had little bits of snow this winter, and it’s UNSATISFYING. Not very much fun for my little guy – who is so ready with his red snowpants/coat/hat combo. I should probably admit two things: 1) On a visceral level, I do still love snow….
Mini-Di’s Kindergarten Moments (1983-84)
Today, I was whooshed back in time to my own kindergarten experience – twice. I was a homeschooling kid. I went to public kindergarten, but only a couple weeks of Grade 1 between that and Grade 9. My memories of kindergarten are few, but seminal. I often wonder which are the moments my students will…
School Snippets: Stuff that made me smile today
It’s December! I wasn’t planning to blog today. I was all like, whew. November’s over. Then when I got home, E was out gallivanting downtown with Auntie Em, so I went to pay the bills. Then I felt rather stressed, so I thought a blog post might do me some good. Just a little one….
Little bits of blue
Many times in the past couple weeks, for some reason, I’ve found myself thinking about Sebastian’s hair. People who didn’t know me as a kid are surprised when they see E’s platinum-blondness – but I never was. I figured he didn’t have a choice, since Sean and I were both blond as kids. I got…