One of my biggest smiles last week was caused by a problem one of my students had with his Halloween costume. He came to school dressed as a piece of Lego (a toy which he enjoys playing with). Within the first half hour in class, he experienced a few problems. The first problem came when he realised he could not sit on his chair properly to do his Math Problem of the Day.
After completing his problem, my student followed the class routine and fetched his book box to begin some silent reading. He then realised he could not sit on the carpet!
He came up to me a few moments later and asked for help to take his costume off. He preferred to be costume-free until our school’s parade. Until that moment, though, the children in the class and I could not help but smile when we saw his struggles. He did find some solutions to his problems though. š
Have you experienced costume problems? What were they?
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am not enjoying the dreary weather that we have been having this week. Grey skies and rain has been in the forecast. Mid-week, we had a break with some costume fun (and luckily the rain stopped for a while for the kids to go out trick or treating).
Speaking about Halloween. Did you dress up? I did, of course, as it is a fun event to participate in – and the kids love it. No-one really got my costume but that is okay – my family enjoyed the memories it brought back of our time in Paris. If you want to see what I looked like dressed as a server at an upscale restaurant in Paris, visit my Halloween post here.
On the night of Halloween I came home exhausted. Not only did I have excited kids in my classroom, but I also had an Open Classroom so that the parents could come in and have a look at their children’s work. It was an enjoyable time and it was good to chat to have the chance to chat to them. The children also enjoyed showing their moms and dads what they had done in class.
The day after Halloween was just as tiring for me. The children were cranky from their late night and also running high on sugar. The sugar rush seems to have continued over into Friday. Hopefully by Monday they will have calmed down – until they get all excited about Christmas! š
I almost forgot to tell you. Last weekend, my cousin and I attended two more events at the Toronto International Festival of Authors. On Friday we listened to a panel featuring Linward Barclay, Joy Fielding, and Shari Lapena. The discussion was so interesting that I did not want it to stop. One hour is definitely not enough! On Saturday we went to listen to Esi Edugyan and Meg Wolitzer. This was also an interesting discussion. Esi Edugyan read a piece from her novel. What a beautiful voice! She should be reading her own audio books!
This weekend I do not have any plans to go out anywhere. Instead I am doing the usual: housework, laundry, exercise dance classes, and reading. This afternoon I found a TV show on Netflix that I am enjoying –Ā Lethal Weapon. I have been trying a few recently that haven’t kept my attention but this one will as it has some humour in it.
Have you seen the show? The pilot was really well done. I will watch a little more and see how it goes.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you to have a wonderful week. It is almost time for supper, and time to head into the kitchen.
For the last four years on Halloween I have dressed up as a Renaissance princess (including the blonde wig). This year I decided to change my costume and dress up as something that reminded me of my summer holiday in Paris.
What I wore is the uniform of the servers at an upscale restaurant in Paris calledĀ Au Pied de Cochon. As expected, not many people caught the reference – but my family did and they loved the memories the costume invoked.
We ate at the restaurant for lunch on a Sunday. I loved the ambience of the place and knew when we entered that I would enjoy the experience. The servers treated us like kings – even though we were dressed in typical touristy gear.
My meal was delicious – the tastes of butter and cream perfectly blended. The dessert was extravagant and, because we knew the server, we received a few extra pig meringues. š
Halloween this year brought back some memories – and made me think we need to visit this restaurant again.
In preparation for the school’s fundraiser, each class created a pumpkin to celebrate Halloween. The children loved participating in this activity – and enjoyed looking at the contributions even more. This year the pumpkins were a lot better than what was created last year (this is the second year we are doing this).
A happy pumpkin.
Confused?
Penguin pride
Spooky.
Boo!
Evil eyes!
Created by my class.
Mummy!
Winner of most creative.
Scarecrow.
The pumpkins have now been bought by families so they are no longer gracing the front foyer of our school and are instead being enjoyed in homes or on porches.
Halloween is drawing near and the children at school are beginning to show their excitement. Discussions centre around costumes, trick-or-treating, and candy. There are two songs that the children enjoy singing and dancing along to. The first isĀ The Monster Mash:
And an all-time favourite isĀ C’est l’Halloween by Matt Maxwell. Halloween at our school wouldn’t be the same without singing this š
Only a few more days and the children will be dressed up in costumes and eating too much candy. And then we will move onto different songs in class.
With Halloween coming closer, I decided to decorate my classroom door to get into the spirit of the day. Taking down my boxes, I took out some webbing which I thought could hide a spider. The “Do Not Enter” tape was perfect to add to an aura of spookiness. An inspiring thought led me to getting the children to make ghosts containing their own faces.
The children and I love our door. I will be sorry to take down the door decorations next week after 31 October.
If we were having coffee, I would hang my head in shame as it has been a while. Days have slipped by and, even thought I have thought of blogging, I have not been able to place my fingers on the keyboard to write a post. This time of the year is always so busy for me – and this year it seems to be even busier. My days have been filled with getting to know the new children in my class, planning lessons, mentoring new teachers, and working hard to create a balance in my life. I have managed to keep going to my Zumba classes, and that I am thankful for.
This year in addition to the usual home and work responsibilities, I added another. The school board I work for has run a day conference each year for the past 5 years on using the Google applications in our teaching. This year I presented with a colleague. It was an added responsibility but I decided to take on the challenge.Yesterday was the day. that I presented. Google Camp, as it is called, began early at 8:30 am and lasted the entire day until 4 pm. Presenting did make me a little nervous but it was a positive experience and I was glad I did it. I was also able to attend other sessions and learned about different applications that have been added to the Google Suite. I now have something new that I want to try out in my classroom. I have heard about it and now need to try it out. It is only by trying it out that I will be able to fully learn how the application works.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the last week was not all work but fun too. Halloween was on Tuesday and it was great seeing all of my students in their costumes. As the parents had come out for the annual Halloween parade, I took the opportunity to invite them to the classroom. The children sang for them and showed them their work portfolio. We had a good day – though not much academic tasks were done.
I did enjoy the day as a blonde – and getting a double-take reaction from people who did not recognise me at first š
If we were having coffee, I would have to say a quick good-bye. We started daylight savings today but the extra hour does not seem to be enough. Enjoy your week and speak to you soon.
If we were having coffee, I would greet you with a huge smile. The week has been fruitful and I hope yours has been as well.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that October ended pleasantly. As you all know, Halloween was on Monday and I went to school dressed up as a Renaissance princess. This year I had no other princesses in my room – though I did have a queen: Cleopatra. The day was mild and when we went on our parade in the school neighbourhood, the children were able to show off their costumes in all their glory. When we look at the photos that run on our TV in the school hallway, we see smiles and many bright colours showing off in the sunlight. A bonus was that my class was well behaved on the day. I think it helped that the class parents organised healthy snacks for their class party. š
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I spent the rest of the week preparing my students’ report cards. The grade 1/2 team worked on potential comments last week so it was a lot easier to input the relevant information into each individual report. My colleague showed me how to use the reporting system, and itĀ decreased the amount of time I spent on the work. So much easier than when I was doing reporting for kindergarten!
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I completed my report cards late yesterday afternoon. I will let them sit for the weekend and then read them through before I submit them tomorrow. Now I can catch up on the documentation of my student’s learning.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that student documentation is the topic for the next PD session the PORs at my school are presenting to the teachers. My partner and I have been working on our presentation this week as well as the take-away for the teachers. But more about that next week ….
If we were having coffee, I would tell you to enjoy next week. Rest well this weekend, and may the forthcoming weekĀ be a positive one.
Many of the sights in my classroom during October were Halloween inspired. Before the Halloween-themed activities were explored, however, we spoke of Thanksgiving and thought a little about what we were grateful for.
We also discussed what we ate for the meal we sharedĀ with our family. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to learn relevant vocabulary in French.
What do we eat?
Searching for vocabulary.
Even though the classroom had still not been painted, I put up a few Halloween decorations in the room.
Skeleton wall.
Learning to brainstorm.
Monster Spider.
Spooktacular reading centre.
Many activities were Halloween inspired.
Vocabulary Games.
Using the rekenrek.
Making skeletons.
The activities, however, were driven by our inquiries on Fall and about ourselves, as well as our daily activities.
Documenting leaves.
Creating art.
Labelling our bodies.
Journal writing.
October ended with the classroom filled with excited children wearing their costumes. We got a little work done – but not too much.
October has been a good month filled with learning. I now look forward to the month of November and the changes Room 1 will experience.
What changes has October brought for you?
(This post is inspired byĀ Cardinal Guzmanās Monthly Challenge:Ā The Changing SeasonsĀ in which bloggers post pictures of the same location throughout the year. The location I have chosen to focus on is my classroom.)
Halloween is such a fun time for kids. They have a chance to dress up, to show off their costumes to people, to have some fun. The day can be a little crazy at schools but I have learned to go with the flow and not expect the children to get too much done.
At the school where I work, we have a costume parade: we walk around the field and then around the block in our community. The parents, and those walking the street in our area, get to see the children in their outfits. Monday was a mild, sunny day so passersby were able to see perfectly what the children were wearing. After the parade, I invited my parents back to the room where the children sang for them. Afterwards, while the children were eating their snacks, the parents looked at the children’s portfolios.
This week I am grateful for Halloween. Not only because I had the chance to see all the wonderful costumes, but also because I had a chance to meet parents and connect with them.
Have you experienced costume problems? What were they?
Ā© Colline Kook-Chun, 2017
If we were having coffee, I would greet you with a huge smile. The week has been fruitful and I hope yours has been as well.
Last week: