New Blog!

Hey there folks!

Just wanted to let you know that I started a blog with my kids in my class. If you want to check it out the address is mrwiniks.edublogs.org. Cheers!

Lee

Back to Life! Back to Reality!

Well, the first week of school is almost finished with already and I am feeling overwhelmed. Well its not all bad, but it seems Sharon and I have been on the go pretty constantly since we returned. We had a great time at the Edmonton Folk Fest with our friends Tom and Kathy. We watched Spam A Lot when it came to Edmonton. Good show to see if you get a chance! We also had some small projects at home to get completed which kept us busy as well.

Sharon and I decided though on the long weekend to have one last getaway to Jasper before we both became really busy. It was a great time to spend in the mountains at the Overlander Lodge. We had a cabin, and they always cook a superb meal. We had a chance to go canoeing on Maligne Lake, and it even snowed while we were out on the lake!

However, here I am back into teaching and we are already going full tilt. Testing has to be done, forms to signed etc. Ah well! So far the classes I have are pretty good. Can't wait to see what they are capable of! Signing off for now...

Last Day of School...And what ever happened to imagination?

Well today was the last day of school for me. I think the students and I were both relieved that the day had finally arrived. We did our last little bit of class clean up, and we were prepared to have a Wii tournament in class when poof! the power goes out! It must have done something to the projector because we had no audio. I laughed though because as soon as the power was out, out came the PSPs and Ipods in class. Normally these devices aren't allowed but as it was the last day, it really was a non-issue.

Thankfully, the outage only lasted an hour and we could continue on with the festivities. During the time the kids were using their own personal entertainment systems, I thought what would happen if they didn't have these toys. Some of my less fortunate students didn't have these games, so of course I get the remark "Teacher, I'm bored! What can I do?". So I had to teach them how to make up their own games or some I played as a kid. Once they learned they were quite entertained and more engaged than the kids playing their video games.

The kids who were playing their vid games and listening to music were suddenly more interested in what I was showing the others. Also, they were bored with those devices they had brought with them. We passed the time quickly in class today and the kids learned something new.

Yet, you wonder why can't these kids create games like this for themselves? What has happened to the imagination? Ah well.

End of Year Rush!

Its a crazy rush to get things done here around the Winik household. As some you know from the other blog we are off to Europe. However, that means getting all the other stuff that needs to get done for the trip and the end of the school year finished. Sometimes things work out for you and other times life in general does not want to cooperate with your plans.

Teachers and students are toughing out the final few days of school (only 3.5 days to be exact in my case) to get desk cleared out, bulletin boards pulled down and the classroom stored for the end of the year. However, this tends to make both the teacher and the student cranky as neither really wants to do this but it is necessary to get done.  I have been fortunate so far as my kids don't mind cleaning and helping out.

 Ah well, enough complaining! On to better news! I have a new job! Its at my old school, Elizabeth teaching a 7/8 LA/ Social Studies assignment. I had such a great experience at that school that I knew I wanted to apply if the opportunity arose. I have enjoyed my time at J.F. Dion and they have certainly made me feel welcome. I even felt a little guilty when I applied because my principal has been incredibly supportive this year with my class. However, she wished me well and sent me on with a hug!  I've been very lucky. 

Anyways that's the news for today.