End of the first week back

 September 17, 2022

Hello, everyone

Another week, and another dollar.  And, I literally mean that!!  By the time I about 1200 dollars in provincial and federal taxes to Quebec, and another huge amount to income tax, I am working pretty much for free!  But, it is not the money that draws me here!!  

We are totally engaged in learning now, and it is an uphill battle.  Students still are operating on summer time clocks, and by the time they get to school, they are really not well rested, so by the end of the day, they have had it.  Unfortunately for me, the time table puts all of their academic time with me in the afternoon, so it is really hard work.

Fortunately for me, we now have a learning assistance person.  She did the Literacy camp last summer, and is known in the community.  Her background is social work, nevertheless, she is terribly sweet, and a worker, so she is catching on quickly in the education realm.   She comes last period everyday, and we are working as a tag team on the phonics program.  I was awake most of the night trying to put some order into what needs to be done, and how to do it while making it fun, practical and effective.  Our lesson yesterday afternoon was less then perfect shall we say, and by the end of 20 minutes of reviewing short a, and doing blending, I was pretty much over heated.  Time of day is bad, attention span is bad, and it was Friday.   Having said that, there are no options--if I do not push, it will not happen because there is no other time for me.

For grade 3 and 4, we are operating on a secondary timetable of 6 blocks of 45 minutes every day.  The timetable was built by the principal according to time requirements of instruction by the collective agreement.  Last year the timetable was built according to student needs.  Although I was teaching more minutes then the contract set out, it was more effective for learning.  Oh well, such is life.  I must do what I can, and as a colleague said, we are not magicians.

On the home front, I am engaged in a battle with the cable company.  Over 3 weeks ago, after about 10 trips to the coop, I finally got my cable box, and got the box hooked to the tv.  The cable people told me that they had switched on the cable.  It did not work.  I played around with the tv and then finally got the principal, who lives next door, to come over to see what he could do.  He found that I had not plugged the cables in properly, and he corrected it.  Another trip to the coop to explain that I had messed up.  Another 5 trips to the coop to explain that.  Another 10 phone calls to Montreal to get the thing hooked up.  Finally, the Montreal lady told me that a tech would have to come up to check what was wrong.  When I tried suggesting that a tech probably was not needed, because I had messed up, she totally ignored me, talked over me, shouted at me, and said that a tech would come--when there was enough work here.  I even had the principal call on my behalf, and he got the same rude conversation.  So, no tv.  I am trying to watch the news on the computer, but because of the poor internet connection, it is pretty slow, and often does not work.  Oh well, if this is my only problem, it is pretty small!  It is what it is.  I watch too much tv anyway!!

Time is flying by.  I have been here a month, and the way I am looking at is how much there is to do in the limited time we have.  So far, we have not missed any days because of sickness or weather.  I am happy to report that I have even had 100 percent attendance for many days--what a big step from last year.

Each day is a gift, and I am really trying to give those kids something that will ensure their success in life.  The other day, Hautsiak came in first in the morning.  He was putting his stickers in his sticker book, and then he put one under his nose.  He asked if I knew who he was.  I hesitated, and then he said it is a person who lived in 1940.  I had to say was it Hitler.  He said yes, and then went on to tell me what he knew of Hitler, which was a fair amount.  This child is 9 years old, ADHD, but very, very smart and articulate.  This also is a child whose brother committed suicide 2 years ago, and whose first cousin committed suicide this past summer.  So the conversation lead to death, dying, and feelings.  This all occurred in the span of 5 minutes while he was settling in with his breakfast and morning work--makes everything worth being here.  The statement, "every child matters" crossed my mind when we finished chatting.

I also have a new shadow person for my autistic boy.  She is the elder sister of two of my students.  I think she is about 20 years old.  She is very quiet, very sweet, very gentle, and a perfect help for Ahoyak.  She has had grade 12, and has worked in the village as a cashier, and a hunter.  Each day she reports in, asks a lot of questions, and is like a little girl in so many ways.  You should see her face when we do action poems and games.  You should see her face when someone tells her what a great job she is doing.  Another reason to be here.

Thanks for your continued prayers and supports.  I need to remember that each encounter with the people here is precious, and has an expiration date..so no matter how tough it is, or how frustrated I feel, I must think big picture, think humility, think selflessness.

This is Hautsiak helping another student.  We are working on team building and it is proving to be a very effective learning strategy.