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...