Grounded

Fog is a fact of life here in Bella Bella, it rolls in and out with regularity and produces stunning sunrises and sunsets across our surrounding mountains. Rarely does it impact our life but every now and then it throws a wrench in the works. There are five or six teachers and support workers at our school who had expected to fly out to Vancouver today in order to attend a professional development day tomorrow. For the past three days planes have not been landing in Bella Bella due to fog. Today was no exception. Sadly the teachers were/are stuck here for the foreseeable future. Most of them are circumspect but one had planned to celebrate her birthday with her brother in his new restaurant and she is understandably bummed. Being here is no hardship, we have fun. Still seeing family and other loved ones is such a high point in our lives that when it is taken away, it really just sucks.

My class continues to keep me on my toes. I had ordered several items in June of last school year for my classroom this September. On Monday four brightly coloured large throw cushions arrived, and yesterday the rug finally arrived. I had to confiscate the pillows today and loan them to another class because my kids were using them to skid across the classroom -kind of like wake boarding.  Fun but not productive.

Our entire school celebrated Take Me Outside Day by creating art out of found objects by the seaside. My class, as usual, made an interesting spectacle of themselves. One of my little extroverts found two large logs and planted them vertically side by side on the beach. The other students thought this was great fun and joined in stacking rocks around the base of each log to ensure they stayed upright. I stood close by with a watchful eye, hemming and hawing over whether or not to step in. I walked an interesting line that day between being a paranoid teacher *visions of logs falling and students going splat danced in my head*  and trying to let the kids learn through experience and experimentation. Thankfully the latter won out and the kids had a great time and created some memorable art. Also of note was my other little extrovert who found some rusted barbed wire that he wrapped around a large piece of wood that he used proudly as a walking stick for most of the afternoon. I saw a few adults look at this student and then me with a raised eyebrow but I didn't think it was a real threat to anyone's safety.