September Tidbits

As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been a very busy month. This year, I have a total of 35 students in three classes. The lowest level I teach is called 9 Preperatory. The lowest level of English speakers are enrolled in this class and I teach it like a modified English 8. The next level is 9 Transitional. These students are at an intermediate level, and I teach my ESL version of English 9 parallel to the English Department at PA. Grade 10 Transitional is the highest level. My English 10 students must write the English 10 Provincial in June, so I teach it as a modified English 10. The kids need all the skills to do well on the exam, but I use materials that are appropriate to their level of English.

I have students from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Ethiopia this year. They have done exceptionally well abiding by the "English-only" rule, and there are many cross-cultural friendships being developed.

My favourite part of the week is marking student journals. There are always wonderful mistakes that are sometimes just a product of phrasing, but other times simply a matter of writing the word the way they hear it. I will end this blog with a few student quotes, although I will not name the authors to protect their privacy. I'll add more from school later.

One student has introduced me to a new genre of music. He had been learning to play the Bob Dylan tune, "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and expressed how much he enjoys "fork rock."

Another student went shopping for school supplies, which included "blinders."

One student who is in Canada for the first time stated, "I was shocked that they have Asian restaurants."

One of the girls talked about the "pester" of her church. I thought that one was a bit of a Freudian slip.

There are more, but the file in which I keep the "bloopers" is not on my home computer.

Rock Ridge Canyon

Well, September has come to a close. The school year began with a rush right out of the gate. Rather than begin the year with a week of special events, the High School administration made the decision that we should move right into the academic schedule for the year. Although this has made the beginning of the school year busy, it has been wonderful to actually feel like things have been accomplished by the end of the first month of the school year.

As we do every year, the International Department took the students to Rock Ridge Canyon near Penticton, BC. We left September 16 and returned September 18. After a cool summer, we were pleasantly surprised by sunshine and reasonably warm daytime temperatures.

I was able to travel to Penticton with other staff members, rather than in the buses with the students. Believe me when I say this was a blessing! Not only did we share a lot of girl talk, but we also shared fellowship and laughter. It made the trip pass very quickly.



Once we arrived at the camp, my teaching duties kicked in. I shared a room with half of the teenage girls in our program. Because I was more ready for sleep than they were, I improvised a "tent" around my bunk. This kept out the light, if not the chatter.

Our first activity this next morning was the zip line. It proports to be the longest zip line in Canada, if not North America. To get to the platform, we made our way up a staircase, then a trail that wound up the side of the mountain.

Once at the top, we were waited patiently to fly down the mountain two-by-two. I was signed up for near the end, and like last year was paired with the most terrified student there. His nervousness increased as he watched his peers fly down, some upside down. When our turn came, we stood patiently while the harnesses were belted around us. We then walked up to the blocks to be hung to the zip line by hooks attached to rope. Last year, I went down frontwards, so this time I opted for the superman version, with the harness hooked at the back.

It was exhilerating to feel the wind and see the beautiful scenery. The zip line ends just past the lake, where there is a rope to grab and helpers lower each person down to be unhitched and unharnessed. Victor, the student who flew down with me was thrilled by the experience. He was terrified, put so happy he had enjoyed the experience, and was eager to try it again.

So the first field trip of the year was an overwhelming success!

Summer's End

Summer school ended with a fun week of going to the fair (PNE), shopping and swimming. Part of our time swimming was spent playing water rugby with a beach ball. It was lots of fun, and we all survived! The students did a fantastic presentation for their parents and home-stay parents on the last day using Power Point and posters they had created. All in all, it was a successful four weeks, and I have a fairly good idea of how my new students will fit in with my returning students. I've even created seating plans for first term keeping in mind individual personalities.

Summer school ended on a Thursday, and on Friday morning (August 24) I took Paul to the airport. He spent a week in Ontario helping Mom M sort and pack different things. While there, they celebrated Richard's 60th birthday, Mom M's birthday (I won't say how many...), and Brian & Joanne were able to down for supper one evening.

While Paul was "vacationing", I was back at work for "call in week". On Monday, all the teachers met at the Zajac Ranch, on Stave Lake near Mission, BC. The afternoon was spent doing various outdoor adventure activities. I went kayaking. We kayaked (and some canoed) out to a small island near the end of Stave Lake. We beached the boats, and several of us jumped off a cliff into the water. The first time I jumped, the cold of the water knocked the breath out of me. I took a minute to get used to the water, then climbed out for a few more jumps. It was very exhilerating! When it was time to paddle back to the ranch, a few of us swam from the bottom of the cliff around the island to where we had left our boats. At points, the water felt quite warm, then we'd swim through very cold patches. I wondered if there might be underwater springs or something. The scenery - we were surrounded by mountains - was amazing! At one point, I kayaked behind a loon until it realized I was so close and dove beneath the surface. I never did see it resurface, so it obviously found a "safer" place to swim than near my boat.

Tuesday was a day of meetings, which are a necessary evil. It is amazing how long it takes a room full of teachers to settle down and be quiet for a speaker. Perhaps that is why we are now teachers: we were talkative students.

I took a first aid/CPR/AED course on Wednesday. Any first aid qualifications I had previously elapsed sometime during in my leukemia/bone marrow transplant years, and I had never taken the time to certify again. Since we go on so many field trips, I thought it was prudent to at least get certified in the basics.

The latter part of the week was spent arranging my classroom, prepping for the coming week, and continuing the curriculum development for two of the classes I teach that aren't English. I'm developing some grammar materials for my lowest level English class, as I haven't found anything in print that meets my objectives. I figured that since I couldn't find it, I might as well create it. Maybe one day, if it works well, I'll publish it.

Today is our wedding anniversary. We are spending the evening with friends - two of whom share our anniversary. Eric & Margie have been married for well over 50 years though!!

After Labour Day, the rat race of the 2007-2008 school year will begin in earnest. I was thinking about it, and came up with a paddling metaphor for the school year.

All teams in a heat paddle 500 m out to the start line. The horn sounds to begin the race. To get the boat moving, our team paddles 6 deep, strong strokes. We then move into 16 short, fast strokes to gain momentum.. The team transitions into regular, steady strokes to race to the finish.. At the 300 m mark, the team hears "Finish it now!" and makes strong, deep strokes to win the race.. Only when the steersperson shouts "Let her run!" do we stop paddling, knowing that the finish line has been crossed.

Call in week is sort of like the paddle out to the start line, or a warm up. The horn sounds at 8:10 Tuesday morning, and we get off to a strong start. We gain momentum as first term nears an end and are up to speed by Christmas. It is then a steady paddle through the end of first semester and into third term. By fourth term we are in the "Finish it now!" phase, and "Let her run!" is the day in June on which all our exams are marked and final grades submitted.

Like the feeling I experience at the beginning of a dragon boat race, I am full of excitement and anticipation for what the school year holds in store. I am sure it will be an adventure!