Halloween

Weekend Coffee Share: Two Months Already!

~ Colline ~ 18 Comments

If we were having coffee, I would greet you tiredly. As I was going through the day yesterday, I realised how tired I am – so tired that last night I went to bed at my usual time when it is my habit to stay up later on a Friday night. Today I am still awash with fatigue so I see myself hitting the hay early again tonight.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that this year I was not feeling Halloween. I did not think creatively on a costume and just grabbed a dress I wore a few years back with no intention to add the wig and makeup. Now that my own children are older, there is no vibe at home and, with the change of admin at the school, the vibe at the office and at school is also not there. I still decorated my door and classroom so my room still had the Halloweeny feel about it.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that even though my students were tired yesterday after their late night trick-or-treating, they worked calmly in class. I was so pleased to see that parents did not send them to school with loads of candy. If they did have any in their lunch box, it was only one.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that this past week I completed the first draft of my report cards and handed them in. I also worked on two modified IEPs (Individual Education Plans) which took so much time! Now that I am thinking about all that happened this week, I am not surprised that I am feeling tired! This afternoon I will definitely relax with a book. I have a couple of holds at the library which I will pick up after doing my grocery shopping later on in the day. I am in the mood for reading a relaxing romantic comedy.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the weather has turned. Halloween was a cold and rainy day which brought in the icy winds. When I was outside yesterday, I decided I needed to bring out my winter gear: I am sure I will need my boots, hat and scarf soon to protect myself from the cold. My least favourite season is almost upon us!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it is now time to go to my exercise class. Have a wonderful weekend – and may your week be a good one.

What would you tell me if we were having coffee?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to Eclectic Alli and the Weekend Coffee Share)

Happy Halloween!

~ Colline ~ 11 Comments

Today is a day filled with excitement for little people. Streets will be flooded with little phantoms, zombies, and princesses. Spidermen will be sighted, as well as some wizards and Jedi masters.

This year, I am not feeling the vibe for Halloween – instead of feeling the excitement, I cannot wait for it to be over. The reason may be that I am tired and would love to be able to sleep uninterrupted until refreshed. I know, however, that the children are excited for the day so I have done the usual preparations for the celebrations: I have decorated the classroom, prepared some activities, and co-created a Halloween door.

We do love our door and have been enjoying it for the past two weeks.

Tomorrow I will take down the decorations and prepare the space for our next festive celebration.

Do you enjoy Halloween?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to Becky’s Square Challenge for which we will be posting square photos featuring lines during the month of October; and Norm’s weekly challenge Thursday Doors. )

Pumpkin Task

~ Colline ~ 19 Comments

Today is the Fall Fair at our school – one of the major fundraisers that are organised by the parents. This week, teachers were tasked with helping students decorate a pumpkin for the silent auction. After a discussion with my students, I decided to work on my idea that would encourage all students to participate in the decoration.

I divided the pumpkin into 20 segments and asked each student to paint a segment with acrylic paint. As we are currently working on patterns, I asked them to use the colour that was next in the pattern. We used red, green, and blue as these colours show up nicely on the orange of the pumpkin (yellow definitely does not work).

Once the paint was dry, I asked each child to spell out a word that we would use during Halloween with foam letters. After I had checked the spelling, the child pasted their word onto the pumpkin.

The students were proud of their work; and I was happy that I had incorporated both literacy and math into the task.

Our pumpkin is currently sitting on a table in front of the office for the silent auction. I am interested to know who will finally take it home.

Do you decorate pumpkins for Halloween?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2019

(This post is linked to Becky’s Square Challenge for which we will be posting square photos featuring lines during the month of October)

A Costume Problem

~ Colline ~ 4 Comments

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. 🙂

Weekly Smile #WeeklySmileHave you experienced costume problems? What were they?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2017

(This post was inspired by Trent’s Weekly Smile, a challenge which focuses on sharing all things positive.)

Weekend Coffee Share: A Halloween Week

~ Colline ~ 19 Comments

Join us for some coffee time!

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! 😀

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 – 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.

What would you tell me if we were having coffee?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2018

(This post is linked to Eclectic Alli and the Weekend Coffee Share)

Dressed for Halloween

~ Colline ~ 4 Comments

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 called 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. 🙂

Halloween this year brought back some memories – and made me think we need to visit this restaurant again.

Did you dress up for Halloween?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2017

A Pumpkin Gallery

~ Colline ~ 9 Comments

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.

Which is your favourite?

Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile© Colline Kook-Chun, 2017

(This post was inspired by Trent’s Weekly Smile, a challenge which focuses on sharing all things positive.)

Music Monday: Halloween

~ Colline ~ 8 Comments

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 is The Monster Mash:

And an all-time favourite is C’est l’Halloween by Matt Maxwell. Halloween at our school wouldn’t be the same without singing this 🙂

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.

Do you have memories connected to these songs?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2018

Thursday Doors: Made Up For Halloween

~ Colline ~ 4 Comments

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.

Have you seen any Halloween doors?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2018

(This post is linked to Norm’s Thursday Doors challenge)

Weekend Coffee Share: It Has Been a While!

~ Colline ~ 32 Comments

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 🙂

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.

What would you tell me if we were having coffee?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2017