Monday

Five days left in Waswanipi.

Then I am off to Rouyn on Saturday, Waskaganish for a few days to do a workshop and then I fly up to Great Whale for 4 weeks.


School - I finally did the pH lab with the English Sec 4s. I marked the labs for the French Sec 4s but am still missing conclusions for two students. Another two students did not write the test from last week. Marks for Term 2 are due on Friday.

Generally feeling frustrated with myself for not having accomplished more in 3 weeks. I know I did as much as I could, despite all the stupid interruptions and being new on the job. Was a little bit grumpy towards the end. It was -25 degrees outside and was cold by the time I was leaving. When I went home I ate HUGE big plate of vegetables - peas, water chestnuts, carrots, ginger and tofu - with some quinoa, took a shower and listened to CBC's Wire Tap. Jonathan Goldstein always makes me feel better.

Sitting here writing a lab handout about l’électricité statique. Demain, je vais leur enseigner:

1) Frottement
2) Conduction
3) Induction

Mac and Cheese

Sunday night dinner!

Sunday Rest

Uneventful day, just recharging after skiing. A bit sore.

Did another workout from the Gorilla Workout app as I have not in the past two days. I did 2 sets of 15 Supermans and 15 Dead Bugs. Read my book Shantaram for 3 hours. Took a 2.5 hour nap in an armchair. Worked out where I wanted to put my tax returns, including giving $100 to Yan Yan and Gramma.

Skiing!

We went skiing in Chibougamou. It's probably been more than 10 years since I've skied but I had an amazing time!

Fresh snow when we arrived at 10:30 am. Perfect powder, no sun and the just the right temperature. It snowed the whole day and I loved it. I regret not taking photos up at the top, it was so peaceful and just very beautiful sitting quietly in the snow, overlooking the lake. My knees were starting to feel a bit of pain halfway through but otherwise was okay. I stuck with the green runs and skied the whole day without poles.

Stopped in between for a grilled cheese and un chocolate chaude. There were also a group of 12 teachers from Mistissini. I could actually talk to the cafeteria ladies in French and they understood me! I'm starting to like the rural Quebecois accent and my listening/comprehension is better.

We probably left around 3:30 pm. Everyone had so much fun! There was a snowmobile rally in Chibougamou (see photo). After skiing, we ate at Cafe Brulot encore. J'ai mangé un sandwich végétarien avec le chevre et les legumes. Et j'ai ajouté les photos on my Yelp review.

My House

This is where I live with 3 other teachers - C., H. and L.

The black dog is our neighbour. The other guy hangs out with her.

Sniff sniff. Pet pet.

Friday Interruptions

I am so mad!!!

Just as lunch was finishing up, I went in to the science lab and set up everything. I had my lesson plan in bulletpoints on the board. I came out to the hallway to talk to another teacher and watched as two boys started to go into the washroom, only to back out again. Apparently, some idiot started a fire in a trash can. It looks as if it had happened over the lunch break, probably more than 10 minutes prior and the ashes were flitting in the air. I blocked off the doorway to prevent others from going in and sent the two boys downstairs. Unfortunately, I breathed in a little bit of smoke in the process.

One of the maintenance staff R. then turned the fire alarm bell and we all had to clear out. I chitchatted with some of the teachers, including S. the Greek math teacher. She is super nice and very well organized. C. the vice-principal came in to check with R.

The funny thing is that we stood around for 5 minutes before the firetruck came, despite the fact that the firestation is literally less than 100 meters across the street, on the opposite side of the school. It would have been faster for the firemen to run over! The VP said that the building will not be opened to anyone the rest of the day, not even the teaching staff.

Now it is 1:30 pm and sitting here, NOT DOING MY pH LAB!!!! And it's all set up on the counter!!! GRRRRRR!!! It's frustrating that I'm only here for another 5 days and there are so many interruptions. I want to do so much but there are always interruptions.

Sigh.

Indulge

It has been a long day, but one of the most productive ones in the last two weeks I have started this job.

The French Sec 4s - the ones that struggle the most - did a retest on the periodic table and unit conversion - both the teacher and I were helping them quite a bit. From the looks of it, I hope that everyone got at least 60%. It's unusual that I'd help students so much during a test, pointing out formulas and telling them when they are right or if they should try again, but these kids are special. They haven't been doing well and they are grade levels behind. They have no confidence in their own ability and need far more encouragement and handholding than other students I've ever worked with. They don't ask for help. Some of them don't know how to. Some of them don't believe they deserve help.

It's a different place up here. The same rules don't work and you have to understand that.

And guess what?

When they saw that both N. and I were willing to help them and encourage them, they worked. And they worked harder than they normally do. They knew what they were doing. But they didn't know that they knew what they were doing until we gave them praise. By the end of the hour, I was running from one desk to the next, having my name called out by multiple kids, being asked if I could check on what they were doing. I worked up doing a sweat, moving from one table, getting up and crouching down to talk to them at eye level.

I'm hoping that this would be a turning point for some. Maybe. Maybe not. I won't be around in Waswanipi to see how they turn out but I can only hope that in the next week or so, I can continue to motivate them to believe in themselves.

As a bit of a reward and in the spirit of the Quebecois, I decided to have vegan poutine for dinner.