So these things happened...

I haven't posted in awhile. I can't believe it is already mid-November. How did that happen? I feel like we just celebrated thanksgiving.

• The intermediate wing put on a haunted house. My class did a fantastic job!! We scared the pants off of people, some of my favorite reactions include; a terrified badass teenage girl screaming "DON'T TOUCH ME!!!!!!!!!!!" as two of my students jumped out at her, a little boy running through the haunted house screaming, and the 12-15 kids who didn't even get as far as our part of the project because they were so traumatized by the first one or two haunted houses. Our haunted house took about a day and a half to build and it was built into the art and drama grades for my class. We had several psychopaths with various weapons, a unanesthetized surgery, complete with screaming victim and guts (beans - surprisingly effective), a zombie fortune teller with a plasma ball and glowing orbs, and several massive spiders. A lot of community members turned out and they were all impressed by what the kids had accomplished. I was so proud of my little monsters!!!!!!!!

• Halloween: I was told to expect about 100 kids, I only got about 35. Still most of my students showed up and it was hilarious to see them hyped up on sugar, dragging their parents all over town. I didn't bring a costume with me so I made a gypsy outfit out of my various scarves and ethnic jewelry, I guess I must be a bit of a hippy/boho chick because a fellow teacher looked at me, laughed and said "I thought for sure of all the teachers you would dress up." By 9:00 the trick or treating had more or less crawled to a stop so we (myself and two other teachers) went for a walk through the village to see if we could spot some fire works. Hah. I've never seen anything like it. All we had to do was leave the house and fire works lit up the sky all around us. They weren't huge, massive commercial fireworks that you see in cities or towns, they were backyard displays, families lighting off their own fireworks. If you turned in one direction to watch an even larger display would go off behind you, and then if you turned to see those another bunch would go off in your peripheral vision!! 

• I was very excited this week. We have these little commendation cards that we get to send home with kids who are making a positive difference or are excelling or improving. Anyway I got to send home one of those cards with a student who I have been trying to get through to since I arrived last March. I posted about him a long time ago.  He is a much healthier and happier kid now, I am so happy, so very, very, very happy to say that at the moment he is doing great! He even has a very sweet blossoming friendship with a lovely young lady. He is a natural leader in my class and if it wouldn't embarrass him to death I would give him a great big hug and tell him he makes me as proud as can be.

• I'm still a little bit shaky on teaching elementary students but I am getting some help from a more senior teacher and it has already made a world of difference. Did you know there is a difference between sight words and vocabulary? I didn't. Oh, the things they don't teach you in the education programs!!!

• I'm teaching dance classes at the local youth center, which is an awesome place!! The center is a little house with a backyard, and it is filled to the brim with awesome things for the kids to do, and places for them to hang out and just be kids. Everytime I go there they have neat stuff going on in the kitchen, and by the time we leave there are dozens of kids hanging off of every surface.

• Yesterday was a friend's birthday so tonight a bunch of us are going over to Shearwater to celebrate. And by celebrate I'm told she means "get our drink on."

• Our last Pro D day was cancelled due to fog so our admin has paid for six of us to go and attend the seminar in Vancouver, they have also paid for our stay at a nice hotel-right in the middle of downtown- seriously we are right off of Robson. :) I'm flying in on Wednesday and will be around until Saturday morning, anyone want to meet up? Drop me a line friends!!! For those of you in my Ed program, you will appreciate this, I will be learning about the Big 8 Assessment strategies...hard to express my excitement.  Oh well, at least I can get some X-mas shopping done.