September
We started the month of September in a 100m dash.
Any teacher will tell you that the first week of school is one of the busiest and stressful time of the year. This was particularly true this year as I have an intern (who is lovely and great) and Hugh's school was overstaffed so they had to lose a teacher.
On top of this, Hugh and I are billeting a girl who is attending the softball academy at my school (she is also lovely). The softball academy takes place during the school day, but she also made the senior volleyball team, so we have been managing her practice and game schedule as she doesn't have her license yet.
On top of this, Hugh is the vice president of our local hockey association which means that he had to attend every ice session of every age group's tiering.
On top of this, the boys were in swimming lessons twice a week in the city. Calder started piano lessons (which he is really enjoying) and Calder also started hockey.
On top of this, Hugh took off for 3 days at the end of the month to some division professional development. Hugh and I are a team and it is A LOT more work on my own!
On top of this, I was coaching a junior girls' volleyball team at my school.
So, we were busy. . . . But there were so many great things about it.
I am learning lots with my intern. It is great having professional conversations on a daily basis about how to best meet students' needs or about different ways to deliver content. In the summer, I totally revamped my math 9. I created a Mathematician's Workshop. I think it is amazing :-)
Boone got to participate in his first activity when we started swimming lessons. The instructor was a tiny bit surprised at the skill Boone came to the class with. He has no fear to jump in off the side and can swim underwater. Lake.Bum. Boone needed to be reminded to stay in front of the instructor in the first couple lessons. He was so excited in the water, bouncing around and swimming when it wasn't his turn. By about the third lesson he got it and was a great student after that. He even made a buddy with whom he did a bit of wrestling with between turns!
Calder participated in his first hockey tiering this fall. He was excited and we had a few chats with him before discussing the fact that it didn't matter what tier he was in as long as he worked hard during the evaluations. After the first evaluation Hugh and I were worried. We wanted him to be placed in the appropriate tier, but both felt he didn't work that hard during the session. We had a talk about skating as fast as he could and attacking the puck and the following 3 sessions got progressively better. After the 3rd session the top 4 tier 1 players were removed and after the 4th session the next 10 tier 1 players. Calder was removed in the second group. When I told him he didn't have to go to the 5th skate Calder asked if we knew what tier he was in. I told him that the first groups removed were traditionally tier 1 or tier 3. Calder immediately let out a big puff of air and said, "There is no way I'd be tier 3". I giggled. He wasn't at all bragging and probably wouldn't have had a clue which tier he was in if the choices had been 1 or 2, but he could self-assess well enough to know that he was in the top 2/3s!
Lawson got back in the grove at daycare and has begun to say more words. One of her favorite words is "baby". She calls any stuffed animal her babies and loves to haul them and her blankets around. This reminds us of Calder when he was younger! Boone has gotten into carrying around his blanket the last year, but Calder loved "Ella" his stuffed elephant from the get-go!
Hugh has been in absolute heaven since the beginning of the month. The cement pad in the back of our yard got poured and that day it happened was better than Christmas for him. Actually, it might be #5 on his all time best day list. Right between the births of our kids and meeing me :-) If you stop by, prepare yourself, because it is a guarantee he will haul you out on the deck and show you his pride and joy!
Megan, our billet, is absolutely fantastic. Boone took an immediate shine to her and Lawson's typically reaction to her is a stink eye! Megan has been really busy with volleyball and heading home on the weekends she doesn't have volleyball. I am looking forward to her spending more time with the kids when that ends at the start of November. I am fortunate to get to drive her to and from school most days, so I have really gotten to know this competitive, Blue Jay lovin' girl.
All said and done, September was busy, but of the good variety.
Any teacher will tell you that the first week of school is one of the busiest and stressful time of the year. This was particularly true this year as I have an intern (who is lovely and great) and Hugh's school was overstaffed so they had to lose a teacher.
On top of this, Hugh and I are billeting a girl who is attending the softball academy at my school (she is also lovely). The softball academy takes place during the school day, but she also made the senior volleyball team, so we have been managing her practice and game schedule as she doesn't have her license yet.
On top of this, Hugh is the vice president of our local hockey association which means that he had to attend every ice session of every age group's tiering.
On top of this, the boys were in swimming lessons twice a week in the city. Calder started piano lessons (which he is really enjoying) and Calder also started hockey.
On top of this, Hugh took off for 3 days at the end of the month to some division professional development. Hugh and I are a team and it is A LOT more work on my own!
On top of this, I was coaching a junior girls' volleyball team at my school.
So, we were busy. . . . But there were so many great things about it.
I am learning lots with my intern. It is great having professional conversations on a daily basis about how to best meet students' needs or about different ways to deliver content. In the summer, I totally revamped my math 9. I created a Mathematician's Workshop. I think it is amazing :-)
Boone got to participate in his first activity when we started swimming lessons. The instructor was a tiny bit surprised at the skill Boone came to the class with. He has no fear to jump in off the side and can swim underwater. Lake.Bum. Boone needed to be reminded to stay in front of the instructor in the first couple lessons. He was so excited in the water, bouncing around and swimming when it wasn't his turn. By about the third lesson he got it and was a great student after that. He even made a buddy with whom he did a bit of wrestling with between turns!
Calder participated in his first hockey tiering this fall. He was excited and we had a few chats with him before discussing the fact that it didn't matter what tier he was in as long as he worked hard during the evaluations. After the first evaluation Hugh and I were worried. We wanted him to be placed in the appropriate tier, but both felt he didn't work that hard during the session. We had a talk about skating as fast as he could and attacking the puck and the following 3 sessions got progressively better. After the 3rd session the top 4 tier 1 players were removed and after the 4th session the next 10 tier 1 players. Calder was removed in the second group. When I told him he didn't have to go to the 5th skate Calder asked if we knew what tier he was in. I told him that the first groups removed were traditionally tier 1 or tier 3. Calder immediately let out a big puff of air and said, "There is no way I'd be tier 3". I giggled. He wasn't at all bragging and probably wouldn't have had a clue which tier he was in if the choices had been 1 or 2, but he could self-assess well enough to know that he was in the top 2/3s!
Lawson got back in the grove at daycare and has begun to say more words. One of her favorite words is "baby". She calls any stuffed animal her babies and loves to haul them and her blankets around. This reminds us of Calder when he was younger! Boone has gotten into carrying around his blanket the last year, but Calder loved "Ella" his stuffed elephant from the get-go!
Hugh has been in absolute heaven since the beginning of the month. The cement pad in the back of our yard got poured and that day it happened was better than Christmas for him. Actually, it might be #5 on his all time best day list. Right between the births of our kids and meeing me :-) If you stop by, prepare yourself, because it is a guarantee he will haul you out on the deck and show you his pride and joy!
All said and done, September was busy, but of the good variety.
YAY, glad to have your voice back. Also, I had September. But report card time isn't much better.
ReplyDeleteI saw something on Facebook about the hours Alberta teacher spend per week. It said that something like 9/11 of the busiest weeks of the year occur in Sept - November. Yikes.
DeleteEek! Just reading about the busyness of September overwhelmes me. You two are incredible parents and apparently multi-taskers. It's really nice to read up on your kids; it sounds like everyone is adjusting to the new school year. Next time I see Hugh, I will have to ask him about his cement pad. Lol.
ReplyDeleteYes! Definitely ask him. You will make his day!
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