The Friend Ship

Well, I may have taken on a little more than I anticipated when I began to write this blog. It's actually difficult nowadays to find the time to get anything written down! I guess the main thing I should stress is that I am still alive and kicking!

I have taught my year 5 class for 17 days now, and do they ever make me want to pull my hair out! I cannot even begin to describe the trials and tribulations that us as teachers face in the days we spend at school. This week has all of a sudden found me learning that I am not only supposed to be the one who teaches the lessons, but I am also someone the children look to when they have friendship problems. As such, I have spent the week waving my magic wand and telling them that everything will be fine if they continue to play with each other and let an adult know if their friends are being mean to them. In this last week, I have seen tears, bruises, bumps, smiles and laughter all at the same time. In my head I cannot help but think about how I can barely decide what to have for lunch let alone be able to help the kids solve their problems. Yet, while I may be annoyed that a bunch of 10 year olds cannot decide who they want to play with, I find myself listening to their problems and hearing a cry for help; they want someone to listen to them and understand THEIR concerns and not simply be told that nothing can be done about it. I've made it my mission that friendship is something we need to work on in my classroom, and if that works, we will carry that on through the rest of year 5. I remember being told by many of my education professors that we will take the children home with us in our heads, and we will continue to think about what we can do for the better of the kids, and boy is that ever true!

So how do teachers take some time for themselves? I often spend my weeknights at the school until 7 or 8 because I end up sitting to reflect upon the day and ponder what we can do the next day to change the way we run things. I have made numerous seat changes, and as of right now, I kind of of like it! The kids are in 3 rows of 6 facing the front, and a row is on either side of that facing the middle with 4 kids in each. This way, I have all the hecklers, or as I more lovingly call them the peanut gallery, in the front where I can (attempt to) redirect their behaviour. I think the front row is starting to realize why they are there and some of them are making small steps towards getting back onto the right track. Even now, it's the weekend and I am thinking about what sort of a classroom I will walk into on Monday. I think it's best I put that to bed for the evening though!

As a staff, we all get along great! Last night we arranged to meet up and go bowling, which was conveniently located right around the corner from my house. All I can say is what a blast! We had some food, a drink or two, and played a couple rounds of bowling and it definitely allowed for us to have a few laughs and interact outside of the school walls. I am going to push for it to become a monthly thing that we get out to do something fun because otherwise we will be caught in the trap of work all the time. In case anyone is wondering, I came in second! I don't even remember the last time I was bowling so it was certainly great fun to show up some of my colleagues. Ultimately, I believe that if the staff can show the kids in their classes that they can work together, then the children will follow suit.... even if it doesn't happen right away! As I continue to live each day here I am starting to learn that it doesn't matter the size of the ship, as long as it is a friend ship! Whether you have 1 friend or 10, just make the most of it with them!

I have to ship out now because I'm meeting some Canadian friends tonight in London! So I'll leave you with a promise that I will make a better effort to blog as we go through the next few weeks!

All that you know is about to change...

All I can say is WOW. 

It was a day of many firsts. I was early for work for once. Two hours early actually. It was the first day back to school for the kids. For many it was the first day of school at all! But for me, it was the first first day of school to kick start my teaching career! There is something to be said about writing this post.... I have survived!

The day has been an absolute whirlwind bcause everything I was taught in teachers college was tested by a new country, school, and 25 sets of eyes staring back at me. In a funny way, not being told what to expect kept the adventure exciting and new. I would say that it's because of this that I am even more driven forward into the unknown. This experience is all about becoming a professional. How do the pros get to be better? It's by starting brand new and making mistakes. Oh boy were a lot of mistakes made today. 

In the morning they walked in and we talked about Canada. The kids were SO taken in by everything I said, and many asked some VERY brilliant questions. My teacher-y heart leapt for joy to learn that I had a class of inquisitive children. Oh, and they were rather well behaved for the most part. Moving into morning assembly time, I was very impressed with the school overall. Moving on with the day things slowly seemed to go downhill behaviour wise, but I still wasn't worse for the wear. Thankfully, each teacher has an assistant working with them, and the woman who works with me is Karen.  The TA's job is to aid in the classroom in and what a life saver she is! Canada could definitely learn a thing or two with this system. The rest of the day was tough slugging. It became more of a question of survival than anything else. 

That's what brings me to where I am now. I learned in teachers college that it's not about surviving, but it's about thriving. When adversity comes your way, you don't run from it, but instead you look it in the eyes and say "thanks for dropping by". Today may have questioned my pedagogy and values in the teaching profession, but it certainly didn't squash my spirit. If anything, I have learned more in one day of teaching than I ever thought I would. So what if it wasn't the best day! There's only the rest of my career to figure it out. 

All Around London-town

On Friday I managed to get in touch with a friend from teacher's college. Caitlin is teaching over here too and so much like me, she has left Canada for the first time. We decided that this would be the weekend to explore Covent Garden, and so on Friday afternoon I set off to meet her at London Charing Cross Station and then we headed out into the streets of London. Charing Cross is conveniently located near Trafalgar square, and so you are almost instantly in central London after stepping foot onto the street. In order to get around, most Londoners take the Tube, however I am still refusing to venture down into the realm of the underground because there is SO much to explore above ground. As such, we headed off in the direction of Covent Garden passing by MANY billboards announcing the productions being put on at the theatres which are literally everywhere... being a lover of musicals this is VERY exciting! Now, the streets of London are small and many often don't allow cars to pass along them so the vibe is not like anything I have experienced before. 

Upon reaching Covent Garden, I quickly learned that it is nothing like a garden at all. At the core, there is a market square where you can find many restaurants and cafes, as well as several high end shops to fulfill all your shopping needs. If you head down any street you can find entertainers who are putting on magic shows, painting pictures, and of course we cannot forget about the mime. The picture below is from the show we stopped to watch. He often pulled people from the crowd so if you were not in good spirits to participate you had to hide or avoid eye contact! I'm not sure if he ever made a mistake to be honest because his entire show seemed very well choreographed. The boy in the picture was just someone from the audience!

As we carried on through the markets we found a lot of London, and more specifically British merchandise. I didn't buy these glasses, but I thought a selfie in them would be more than sufficient!

We also experienced the night life on both Friday and Saturday nights. I've discovered that London is a very special place at night because everything lights up and the normal buzz of the daytime tourists fades away into the darkness. The city sounds very different at night, and the best part is that it is very safe. The streets are well patrolled and everyone is just out to have a good time and not cause trouble. We discovered our favourite place this weekend: SoHo. The best way to describe SoHo is that it is a community in which there are many pubs, bars, and clubs that are frequented by all the cool kids. It was here that we met some crazy, but amazing people! We even exchanged some numbers to keep in touch to get together for another weekend. I still maintain that the people here are so friendly!

Moving into Saturday night we decided to seek out a bar called the Maple Leaf. It was everything that a Canadian could ever want! They even served poutine!

At the end of the night, we sat for a little while in Trafalgar Square. I cannot say it enough how humbling it was to look down the street and see Big Ben illuminated in the horizon. I couldn't help but wonder how I, a small town Canadian boy, had found myself there. My attitude has since then progressed and I am now looking towards the future of my classroom and what talents my students will have for me. We start tomorrow with an all morning staff meeting, and then are released to finalize the details of our classes.... This also means that the pay check starts tomorrow!!! Of course, this now means more responsibility and a steep learning curve, but that's why I came here and I'm certainly ready for it!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

At this moment in time two weeks ago (Ontario time), we were on our way to the airport to catch the flight over here to the UK. I can't even begin to think about how time has since flown by, and in about two days, I know it is only going to rush by me that much quicker. I know it has been since Wednesday that I last wrote a blog post and so many of you are probably wondering if I am still alive or not... well, I am! Thursday was a day where I had to head off into the world on my own and I must admit that I kept the training wheels on. In other words, I didn't venture far from the house aside from going to Asda (the British version of Walmart) so that I could stock up on some food. It was rather difficult to make grocery purchases knowing that all of the very same things would be on the shelves back home for the same price... but only in the Canadian dollar. I made a mental note that I need to be sure to eat EVERYTHING to be sure that nothing goes to waste and I get my money's worth. (I also need to stop converting the Pound over to the Canadian dollar because the prices often make me weak in the knees.)

It's funny how things go because I found myself quickly forgetting where I was because many things seemed rather familiar to me. There is a chip brand over here called Walkers, and they have the exact same logo as Lays! Except it's the Walkers name on the bag of course. Walk down the cereal aisle and plenty of the same types of cereal can be found there too! I opted for "Honey Cheerios" which I must say aren't as good as "Honey Nut Cheerios" back home, but they'll be a fine substitute. Head on over to the fruits and veggies and, hey, imagine that! They all look the same! I think you get the point; I am starting to familiarize myself with my surroundings and get used to the idea that I am starting a new way of life over here and while it's different in many ways, it is also the same.

My adventures over the last few days have already taught me a lot about how it pays off to be strong and vigilant with life. It doesn't pay off if we take the easy road because then that means we aren't challenging ourselves enough to mature and grow as individuals of society. To be honest, I've stopped thinking about what I would be doing at home at this very moment because that way of thinking can only take you backwards and often prevent you from experiencing new things. In a matter of two weeks I've discovered that home is where the heart is, and that while we might not be physically present in the places we love and hold dear to us, that doesn't mean that we let go of what makes those places special.

Don't worry, I haven't been staying in the house for the last 4 days. I won't say more than that though because I'd rather make a few separate posts about my adventures because, well, I'm a little OCD about categorizing my adventures according to the title of the post. Anyone who knows me well should not be surprised by this one bit. So now that I've babbled a little bit about home, I will leave you with the much promised and anticipated pictures of my place!

Bedroom!

 

View from my bedroom!

The Garden out back from the kitchen

Living room!

Kitchen!