It is Never too Late to Post...I guess

Apparently it was since 2013, since the last time I made a blog post.  I was an eager student teacher ready to get out and make my mark on the world, and what better way to talk about my experiences via a blog? 

Lots has changed in the four years since I have posted:

• Subbed on and off for that time
• Had two wonderful boys: Jacob (Jake, now 3) and Jamison (Jamie/Tuffy, now 1)
• Went to Cuba
• Worked at the lake in the summer and added odd job within there
• Worked on our house: basement, lawn, etc.

So a new thing has happened.  It took four years, but I received a position last Friday.  This is my first position ever!  Where am I at, you ask?  Well I am now a 0.5 FTE teacher for a Hutterite Colony in the BRSD.  Yay!  I started on this past Monday and it has been a whirlwind, but I am not giving up yet!  I only have two subject to teach in the morning: ELA and Math.  Granted, I have four grade to teach in my room: Grade 5 to 8.  This colony school has had a rough got the last couple years so now it is catch-up time for the 1.0 FTE teacher and myself.  I was hired to help the existing teacher out.  Pretty cool, but I feel so unprepared!  I only had the weekend to wrap my head around it all, but it was not enough since I had no clue where all the students were in their learning.  This week has been a challenge, especially in Math.  Trying to see where everyone is, trying to find materials to help teach, and of course, different learning levels.  It is exhausting.  I am happy for the ELA structure of Spelling, Phonics, Reading Comprehension, etc. have their own days.  I will be working in novel studies and descriptive writing within the year too. 

My mantra: Next week will be better.

Yes it will be!  I will know my students more personally and educationally!  I will start to have more time to plan because I know where everyone is standing!  I am not scared of my new journey.  If anything, the new journey is challenging me!  I have not been challenged in a long while so I am itching to get going!

Now I shall do my nightly routine and get my butt to bed!

My Experience Subbing at a Hutterite Colony

This is being blogged by the request of @KirbyFecho since she replied to me on Twitter saying I should blog about it.  I never thought of writing about it, but it might enlighten others on my experience.  So here we go!!

Earlier in the week I received a phone call from a lovely lady who teaches on a Hutterite colony.  Ok so it's just a Hutterite colony to me, but the one that is near my hometown (Byemoor/Endiang area...Go ahead a Google where those places are because I am pretty sure no one is familiar with the hamlets) where I grew up, so in a sense I am no "stranger" of knowing who Hutterites are.  Anyways, the teacher (I will call her Dana) noticed I am on the sub-list for Clearview and even though I did not check off the colony school to sub at, she figured she would ask me anyways, hence the phone call.  Dana stated that she needed a sub on September 27th because she was going to use one of her nine prep days that she is allowed a year (so about one a month, and this helps her catch up, plan, etc. for her school) and she wanted to try someone new and to see if I would be interested in taking over for her mat leave this Novmeber/December.  Even though the Byemoor Colony is just over an hour drive for me, I said I am not picky on the work I can be called for so I agreed.  Dana did ask me if I was familiar with the Hutterite culture, and I said I know some things but it has been a long time since I have been around a colony.  That was good enough and she instructed me that class started at 9am so come there for 8:45am, which was just fine for me.

I just wanted to take a moment and explain who Hutterites are and my experiences.  For anyone who is not sure who they are, Hutterites are communal people who live on colonies around North America whom live and work together normally in an agriculture setting---they work together for the common good of the group.  They have common beliefs with Mennonites (Amish as well, since the Amish stem from Mennonites) which goes in a religious category of "Anabaptists".  Historically they are an immigrant population that moved from Germany in search of freedom and came to Canada in around World War I.  At the colonies, you will notice that their first language is not English, but it is a type of German.  When the children are young they go to "English school" to learn English, but at home and on the colony, they mostly speak German.   

Unlike the Amish, Hutterites do you some technology, especially in the farming industry: tractors, combines, milking machines for their dairies, the use electricity.  But sometimes (depending on the Elders and the rules), they do not have radios, TVs, Internet, computers---things that are not needed for day-to-day life. Of course as I said, colonies differ from each other depending on if the Elders allow for such amenities.  Some will allow and some will be very strict.


Hutterites wear tradition clothes, unlike us Westerners.  The women will wear their hair up in such a fashion, under a scarf, and they will usually somber colour dresses that they make themselves.  The men usually wear said colours as well, such as black pants and button-up shirts, which are usually sewn at home too. 

For working on the colony, the men do many of the outside labour such as working the land, cattle, dairy, etc. while the women do the domestic work such as tending to their large communal garden, cook, clean, and help sell their produce for others around the community.  I remember going to the Byemoor Colony with my Grandma and we would always find the one lady named Suzie and she would sell us eggs and produce.  You will now see many colonies participate in Farmers' Markets and sell the vegetables, eggs, meat, etc. that they have excess of to make a profit.  Also, they will sell quilts, gloves, socks, wood furniture, bedding, and the such, which are made of good quality. 

As for Education, children as young as the age of two go to preschool (normally "German School") and when they are allowed through the government is when they start "English School", which is around five-years-old.  The children go to school for Kindergarten to Grade 9 (or until they are 15-years-old).  When a child turns 15, the child leaves school and works on the colony.  Depending on the colonies again, some children do go on to high school and even college/university/trade school and with their education they can better their colony.  The school is funded by the colony but the staff is normally done by the local division. 

In German School, there is a German teacher whom is a Hutterite and teaches the students German, biblical texts, discipline, and traditional songs.  In my case at the Byemoor Colony, the students are at German School from around 7:30am 8:30am.  Then in English School, it is taught by a teacher appointed by the division from 9am to 3pm.  The teacher teaches all the grades (1-9) and sometimes has an aid to help part time.  Imagine a one-room school, with one teacher.  That is how I felt yesterday subbing at their school.  If the English teacher has any problem, she talks to the German teacher.  After English School during the day, they go back to German School for a few more hours(around 4pm-5:30pm).  Busy kids! 

If you are interested in more of learning about Hutterites, I took some of my info from www.hutterites.org which is a very helpful website!  I am told the book I am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby is an excellent read as well!

Anyways, back to my day at subbing at the colony!

I have not been on a colony since I was young.  At my school at Byemoor in Grade 6, we had a tour of the colony and when I was a bit older I might've come for produce with Grandma, so it has been a LONG time since I have been on a colony.  I was nervous to be going back.

When arrived I was very early (just after 8am when I rolled into the colony)!  I parked by the place I thought was the school (the playground gave it away) and I waited until closer to the time.  8:30am, the children left German School and all eyed me up on the way by. I definitely felt like more than an intruder/stranger more than I did coming into the colony.  I asked the man who walked out after the students if this was the school and he said it was and continued on...did not say anything else nor really greeted me.  At about 8:40am I tried one door and it was open but looked more as a church, so when I came out, a young boy on a home made truck scooter was playing and I asked him which door was the school and he told me which one.  I climbed the stairs and hesitantly went in.

When I first walked in, I was in the boot room/bathroom area and off to the left was a small hallways that lead to a closed door on each side and then an open area with desks for students and one for a teacher.  On the far back wall were instructions from Wednesday's class on an "old fashion" black board! On the walls there was some little posters on how to behave, student work, and one with their names on apples.  The desks are the old style green metal and wood seats and desks that I use to sit in when I was really young and the desks were of different sizes.  The smaller ones were off to the left of the teacher desk and the bigger ones off to the right.  I had a big, sneaky suspicion that I was going to be teaching everyone, which scared me because I am not prepared to teach that many grades.  I was taught from Grade 1-9 in split grades so I was trying to quickly remember how I was taught so it would help me later.

Thankfully Dana walked in.  On her prep days, she likes to be at the school and get work done, than other colony teachers whom will do their work from home. We greeted each other and she gave me the lesson plan and explained a few things to me.  Fridays are pretty "easy" days---they do art, some spelling/grammar, a little bit of math, story after lunch, and the last hour (if they behaved) the students could play games.  The teacher confirmed that she does teach Grade 1-9...thankfully there are only >20 students!  It is still really busy though.  She also said she will help me here and there so I would not be so overwhelmed (YAY!).

As we got ready, some students made their way in.  The one girl was asked to ring the bell (think of the old school hand bell for a bell...) and let the others know class will begin soon.  The little girl did as she was told and rang the bell.  The students came in quickly, removed their footwear, and came and sat in their desks.  Dana introduced me and I said a few things about myself---where I lived, animals I had, first year teaching, and all that stuff.    Dana started the timer since there is no bell system like we have in our modern schools.  The older ones worked on their spelling/grammar books and I went to help the Grade 2s with their math.  I had to read the instructions to the students and help them with counting tallies.  A few I checked their work and helped them correct their said work.  I had them count the "tick" marks and even used my fingers to help them out.  Some had some problems comprehending the English instructions so I helped them out.  I should add, that in English School they are only allowed to speak English, not German, so I had to be a English cop and tell the students (older ones especially) to talk in English.  Also, when they start at English School, the students hardly know English so that is a challenge for the English teachers to overcome.  I guess I can tie this back to ESL learners as I would have in a "normal" classroom...but all of the students are ESL learners.  Good thing I majored in a Second Language so I know some tricks to help.

When the timer went, the older ones went on to their handwriting books and I worked with the young ones again with their letters.  It seems that I spend more time with the young students than the older ones.  It is also a rule if anyone has a question, ask someone else to help (an older student usually), skip the question and go on and come back to it later, or wait until the teacher is not busy with the young ones.  I kind of felt like I was cheating on the time with the older students and not giving them a fair amount to instructions.

At 10:30am it was recess and I almost forgot about it because I am so use to a bell system in schools!  I did not realize until then that I am trained on a bell, not a timer/clock.  I got carried away with helping my grade 2's and almost lost track of the time.  So I promptly let them have recess, and instructed that they could NOT go home unless they asked. 

After recess at 10:50-ish, the students came back in after I rang the hand bell and students worked on math problem cards, and I marked the spelling/grammar books. I noticed that I did not record anything for marks and I asked my teacher about it and she said just make them do the corrections.  It was interesting experience for me. 

When students were done, they were allowed to have free time where most coloured the printed colouring sheets that the teacher printed off earlier or read a book.  Again I was the English Patrol..."English please."  I do not understand German so it is a bit rude, but I also understand (especially for the younger ones) that you just don't know the work in the second language and have to revert back to your first.  I get it!  I am a FSL teachers and I even have to search for words in my second language.  But to have a taste of their own medicine, I spoke in French.  The students thought that was kind of cool, so it kind of back fired on me, but it was not a big deal either. I had some students ask me where I learned French and the like.  So they were kind of interested.  Later a few girls asked me what a word in English was in French.  I had my oldest student Becky*(not her real name) say to me, "Comment allez-vous ?"  I replied in French that I was fine and you?  But what Becky said was all she knew, which was ok. 

As the day progressed, we had lunch where they wait until after the men eat until they were allowed to go to the meal hall and have their lunch.  Men, women, and children ate separately...that is just their culture.  So when the men left, Becky said it was time for lunch so they went for lunch and my teacher and I stayed and had our lunch at the school while we chit-chatted.

The afternoon was art where the students were beginning to make a large paper quilt that was in the theme of fall.  22 squares had to be done with traced out leaves, 10 were scarecrows, and 10 where trees in fall colours.  We made 10 groups, where some old the older ones were paired with a younger one and had to help.  This made for some tension.  You see.....man of the students were siblings with someone.  So I had to patrol for sibling rivalry and speaking English.  The older ones were always reverting back to German to talk to the younger students.  I told them to speak in English, and the one older boy Jeremy* said they don't understand.  Yeah, I get it, but the younger ones won't learn English if they speak in German all the time either.  So the older ones tried.  It was interesting to watch.  Some of the older girls, Jilly*, Hannah*, and Sarah* showed me their beautiful colouring job on their scarecrows.  This paper quilt was going to look great when they are all done their pieces.

The inevitable clean-up time came around, and I definitely noticed my culture to their own.  It was VERY hard to get the boys to pick of the paper or even sweep---"it was women's work!"  I had to bite my tongue a bit, but everyone cleaned up.  A couple boys washed the chalk boards, some boys and girls swept the floor (trying to explain not all the paper was garbage was a bit of a battle), and Becky washed the desks.

When the room was clean and the garbage changed, they had free time.  I unlocked the game cupboards (as I was told, if things are not locked up, they go walking) and the all chose what they got to so.  The stack cups became a favourite.  They raced each other on stacking and un-stacking cups.  Then at about 15 mins to home time, I had to shut them down because two brothers started to throw cups at each other.  I became firm and told them to clean up and put everything away.  I was balked at, but I explained that two boys ruined it for everyone---the cups are not meant to be thrown at each other.  When the games were locked away, they all sat in their desks.  I said again that we all sit here until 3pm.  I did not make them sit silently, but I also did not have them talk to their neighbours.  I had them ask me questions.  I really enjoyed answering how much land I had and what we did on our land because they understood my answers.  My husband and I own a 1/4 section of land and we rent 83 acres to the guy we bought from and he grew barley this year.  A girl asked me if my husband and I had children, and I said we just had our dogs and a cat right now.  I understood where she was coming from because once they are my age (28), the girls should be married already and have at least a couple kids by now.  Different culture we both live in.  3pm rolled in and I sent them home.  I gathered my belongings and my homemade buns that were given to me after lunch (and they were delicious!), and locked up the school and said my goodbyes to some of the older girls that stuck around.

I actually had a great day with the Hutterite students.  I do look forward to coming back next month and seeing them again.  I thought for most cases they were well mannered and they were still kids!  By some of the tween age, kids here are already thinking they are adults and don't play.  For them...they still play and act like kids.  And the attitude is different too.  It was definitely a good experience.  I became attached to them.  I have keys for their now, so I will be seeing more of my little Hutterite kids. 

Now off to a French Immersion school on Tuesday!  Teaching some grade 2s and 3s!  I don't think they can out talk me in French so I feel ok with that.  (ha!)

First Subbing Job Today!

Well I had my first subbing job today at the school which is less than 10 minutes away from my house, which is great!  It was just a afternoon sub job, but it was a great way for the teachers and students to check me out and them as well.  I am sure things went really well, so I hope to get many more subbing positions from the said school.  

So today I subbed split classes since the school is a small rural school, so my classes had at least twp grades in them and had as much as four grades in one block!  The classroom size was, of course, quite manageable so there was no worries there. Fridays they get out 1.25 hrs early than normal so it made for a short work day for me with only 2.5 hrs of subbing.  My classes were fun and "easy" since it was a computer class, and the next two were gym.  Gym was pretty good.  They have "game days" where the students get to do what they want to do, so Fridays are those days.  It's volleyball season so they practiced their techniques by being in a circle and trying to beat their count by how many passes they do (bump, set, etc.).  It was fun!  I even participated!  Helped some of the younger ones build on the technical stances for volleyball and challenged the older ones.  I particularly did this in my grade 3-6 gym class since they degree of ability varies quite a bit.  In my grade  8/9 gym class, they practiced serving then we played boys against girls, which is always fun!  The girls started off really strong (10-0!) but the boys soon caught up when the girls were getting sloppy in their rallies.  Final score ended up 28-24 for the girls.  It was pretty fun to watch them.  Both teams have lots of potential and I am sure they will do great this season.  

The staff who I had a chance to meet were great!  They welcomed me very warmly and such.  The students were great too!  There are a bunch of great kids!  I think my favourite moment was when I walked into my first class and kind of got a feel from them---name, grade, etc.  The one boy quickly came up to me and asked if I was a "seasoned teacher" or "fresh out of college."  I told him I was "fresh out of university" and so the boy proceeded to celebrate and say since I was new I did not know any rules so they could do what they want.  I laughed and said nice try but that was not going to happen.  It made me laugh.  

I really hope I get more subbing positions within the three divisions I applied at. I would love to be busy doing subbing until a position opened up for me.  I did have a call from a French Immersion school in Camrose today and they asked on my background of my French since they saw that information on their sub list.  I was honest and said it is not at the level for French immersion and more for FSL.  The VP asked me this because they have a mat leave coming up for French immersion for English and Social Studies.  I said I would not be the best candidate but I would love to sub to help get my feet wet and such and improve on my oral production skills.  So that was my interesting phone call to be woken up to this morning!  haha.

I do hope everyone has a great weekend!

Cheers!

It's not sinking in!

Oh my....I have been finished my degree since last July and the whole thing is not sinking in.  I do not have to go back to the city for any more class....It feels very surreal and "weird" since I have been in classes since 2010.  Crazy!  But I am excited for my new chapter in my life.  I have applied for substitute teaching in the two school divisions near me and both are just waiting for my teaching certificate from Alberta so that I am allowed to teach in this province.  I sure hope I receive it soon so I can quickly substitute at the beginning of this year!  I sent my Criminal Record Check to the Gov't yesterday with expedited post (almost $11 to send a little letter in one day!) and it was successfully received today.  So I hope my certification does not take much longer!

A previous teacher of mine contacted me yesterday and told me to get my butt on the sub list for this division because at her teacher meeting my name came up and they can't use me if I am not on the list.  So I told her the story and I would keep her posted.  She said she would have a day for me in September if I wanted it.  So here's to hoping I get this magical piece of paper soon!  I also emailed my practicum teachers to let them know that I am in the process to get on the sub lists for their future needs too.

I am not too bummed with not having a position because I know I can stay pretty busy on the sub list and it at least gets my foot in the door!  Although, I have some cool ideas that I would love to try out in my own classroom such as "Remind101" which is a free service for teachers to send free and SAFE messages to our students and parents---You do not know their numbers nor do they know yours since you are given a phone number.  All they have to do is text a # and they are subscribed to your feed.  Students and parents cannot reply back, all messages are recorded, and since almost everyone has a cellphone, it's a good way to remind them of future assignments, quizzes, tests, and even give them encouraging messages.  I think it would be a cool way to keep up with the students and involving the parents.  There is also an app for it as well which you can also send messages from your own phone. 

I am excited for my future in teaching, but right now it feels that I am not a teacher yet because I am possibly still in the student/teacher limbo.  Maybe it will sink in when I start my job and have my certificate! 

Big Day Tomorrow!

Oh my!  Tomorrow is my first interview (and I hope my only one) for a teaching position!  I'm going to make this short and sweet since I should get my rest.

I had some great advice from friends and some people on my PLN.  I'm just going to share a couple:

- @KirbyFecho: know the ins and outs of the school and the division it's in and how it fits with your goals as an educator

- @jwporteous: Know the school and the division and thier plans. Be confident in your abilities. Sell yourself!

- my friend Amber: Dress for the job you want not what they are interviewing you for. (So dress as a teacher like I did for my practicums. Lol.)

- my friend AJ: It's always better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. (be over prepared.)

- an acquaintance from my elementary school who is now a teacher: Be sure to communicate how much you care about kids! And that all your answers should come down to what is most important or best for them. (Very true.)

And numerous friends and family said these which are just as important:

- be myself

- relax

- believe in myself

- be honest

- be positive

All the advice has been helpful and makes me realize I have to have confidence in myself, knowing I can do this, and I am a great person for the job.  

I feel confident in where I could be teaching. I am familiar with the assessment in the division and what I have researched, I like what the school is striving for and seems to fit as who I am as a teacher.

Anyways!  I said I would keep this short!  I hope the advice given to me can be helpful to others.

No-Name Assessment

This may sound bad because it sounds like students are "just numbers" but I really like the idea of marking that I learned from the VP at Daysland School, Pat Whittleton.  During my APT, I was able to observe a couple of Mr. Whittleton's Social Studies 30-1/30-2 class.  In one class he handed back an assignment and he called out numbers.  He also had copies of the mark and feedback so he can be accounted for his marks and that he could just write their name down when they got their hard copy and record the marks later.  

Why do the students have these numbers, you ask?  That's a good question and it lead to having fair and unbiased marks towards a student while marking their work.  Of course, even with a student's name on their work, a teacher should not mark on the student but assess their work, but it can be tough to be unbiased/neutral.  If you know a student is a high achiever you may mark a little more leniently.  If you know a student struggles or, dare I say, pushes your buttons a bit, you may mark the student harder.  Removing the student's name from the equation makes truer marks.

I really liked Mr. Whittelton's method---it may take a bit longer to record because I have to wait to record the mark when I give back the assignment, but it really benefits everyone.  When I have my own class, I think I will assign numbers to them (5 digit numbers).  I would make a list, just out the numbers, and give the numbers to the students for them to keep and use when they hand in their work.  I could record their number with their name in my mark book because I found when I marked, I marked everything, graded and gave feedback, then recorded the mark.  The student would still stay anonymous up until I recorded that mark, and it would skip the step of finding who is who when I hand out the assignment.

Having students make their own numbers would be good though, but I could run into the issue of student accidentally or purposely using the same numbers.  That would not help and confuse everyone. 

Oh so much to think about!  I get all excited for ideas that I would implement in my own classroom.  Can't wait until that day!

Today's post is brought to you by my iPhone.

So as I am sitting in the truck while my hubby is fixing his new-to-him swather so we can get it home to do some major mowing of some grass and buck brush, I was checking my Twitter and seeing what was all new.  Well the ATA have a weekend long conference for their Annual  Representative Assembly and they have been actively tweeting all this May long weekend!  I thought it was very cool that the ATA were letting all their followers know what was all happening, being voted on, what was being said, etc.  The one tweet today that caught my attention was about second language being required in grade 4-9 (an idea that has been approximately around since I graduated high school in '04).  

Of course, learning a second language (L2) is near and dear to my heart.  My first language is English and by grade 10 when I went to a high school that had many options, I took French as a Second Language (FSL).  I took French 13, 10, 30, and 31A (I was able to skip 20 since since my Fr. 10 mark was over 80%) and loved every second of it.  In grade 11 I participated in the Alberta-Québec Exchange and spent 3 months in Barraute, QC with a great host family.  My teacher, Grace Fix, was an amazing woman and teacher.  She gave me the inspiration to be a FSL teacher.  Grace did not just teach the language, but she taught a mindset and engaging the students to want to learn more.  

So obviously I went I to teaching with a major in French so I can share the wealth of the experiences, knowledge, and opportunities that a second language can give to a students who is willing to learn and open their mind.  

I know for me knowing French can make it easier for me to find a job, but what I really like is that I can communicate with other French speakers when I travel.  I also love the culture of the French and their quirky differences (a , instead of a . for prices, how they eat later for supper, shoes instead of stockings at Christmas, etc.).  It's just a lot of fun to learn another language!  I know I stressed this to my students during my APT because I don't think the students realized what a L2 can do for them.  

I am a huge advocate for students learning a L2 or more.  I think the European countries have it right to have their students know at least three different languages before they graduate high school. Just think whom they all can make connections with through knowing other languages other than your mother tongue.  So by having students learn a L2 starting at grade 4 here, why not??  It would be beneficial to them and their futures!  My APT school (Daysland) enforced the idea a while back and have continued on.  By high school they can go on a class trip to either Québec or France (every three years they do this trip), and this year was their trip year and they went all over France for 10 days!  How lucky at 15-18 yrs old you get to go on a cool trip. 

I am happy that the ATA is in favour of a mandatory 9Y L2 program for grades 4-9 and I really hope the schools and government will push to follow through.  The ATA last tweet is as followed on the subject: 

@albertateachers: Teachers urge #AbGov to institute and support required additional language learning for students in Gr 4-9. #ARA2013 #abed

Lets hope that  they understand the importance of the L2...