Goodness... before I blink two weeks have gone by and I've not written in my blog. This past week was very refreshing as it was professional development week. Ten teachers and I journeyed to Winnipeg for the Kekeenamawkayo 2006 "Closing the Gaps" conference. One of our keynote speakers was the honourable J.K.Bartleman (here he was visiting in one of our classrooms) who was very locuatious as usual on the cause for literacy for children in the northern communities. We stayed at the Radisson, and felt pampered and entertained. It didn't hurt to have restaurants to go to, malls to lose oneself in and cinemas to choose from. Ah! the things we take for granted when in a town.....

This is a satellite picture of the city, obviously not in the winter as it's not white. It was bitterly cold, -40 celcius for most of the days we were there. Fortunately they have heated walkways between buildings on the second floor so you get to avoid being outside once you find your way around these mazes. We even found a hairdresser in one of them, and got our hair done. What a pampering occasion! We all returned energized and with good ideas to implement in the classrooms.
Fortunately the cold snap has eased up and we are sitting at reasonable temperatures (-10 for highs and -25 for lows). School resumed two days ago, and continues to run quite smoothly. We are now planning to implement an anti-bullying program to promote a safe atmosphere.
Ricardo, Moopy and I are looking forward to the March Break, when we plan to go to St. Catharines to enjoy the grandson (who is now walking! and talking baby language). Some family time is in the plans too...

More about the school.....
This week was tough on the community, as two members passed away. One was sudden, a 40 year old suspected of a heart attack while the second was sixty five and battling cancer. This brought up the issue of school closings: death seems to warrant closing for a couple of days in the eyes of the students. Yesterday, a group of students from the sixth grade came to my office to find out why the school was open. I pointed out that the elders would rather have them being in school and expressing their grief, than at home playing videos and watching tv. That seemed to make sense, and the tacit acceptance was felt in the halls. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday will find the school closed as the bodies are being mourned in the school's gymnasium.
This is one of the causes for the academic lag in many of these students, as they are mostly very smart but only lack the 'learning time' or as we in the teacher talk call instructional days. Apparently it is quite common to severely lack the amount prescribed for the academic year, many causes compound over here: frozen pipes, mould, lack of power, lack of water, death observances....Another cause is tardiness. Many students come in only in the afternoon, and miss their morning lessons. For this we've come up with the concept of 'Literacy Club' which finds the pm'rs completing the work they missed in the morning. It's amazing how many of them suddenly have begun to appear at nine am!
We also began an Adult Literacy Program for the adults in the community who want to improve their English and Math skills. Added to this program is the Concentrated Grade 8 course for students 15 and over who want to finish their elementary level and are out of school. These have just begun, and is a pilot project of mine....After assessing them in English and Math, the teacher and I will develop a tailored curriculum for each one to reach the Ontario Grade 8 standard in the remaining months of the school year (end of June).
Our art high school students have done a superb job on one of the walls in the hall, and have added to the 'inviting' atmosphere as displayed.... This is just one section, and represents the hockey teams of the community. Next week there will be tournaments and lots of excitement. I can see that the whole has become far more than the sum of the parts....