Important events from today: The first snow of the season fell and stayed for a short while on the ground in Lennoxville, Quebec. I learned that Bridget Jones is based off Pride and Prejudice. And I watched One Direction's new music video for the first time.
Pretty exciting life, hmm? Unfortunately, my life has not been much more interesting than that this week but I will do my best to make it sound like it was. So good evening everyone! This comes to you from the kitchen of William-Paige on a dark and rainy November night. November has arrived here and with it, the cold weather is creeping up on us and for some, winter sicknesses are starting to make appearances. So hopefully, the age old saying of in like a lion, out like a lamb will apply this month (even though I realize that this is usually associated only with March) and the final month of regular classes will pick up a bit! As usual, my time here is flying by and I am spending every minute I have just trying to keep up!
Monday was a fairly average day, with going to class, for a swim and then to more classes. My friends and I got together to work on an assignment for a bit, following which I went to Provigo and then made meatball soup for dinner. Making meatball soup again unfortunately earned me the title of "Meal Repeater" as it was the first meal repeat we have had here (cue Lizzie McGuire clip of Kate Saunders telling Lizze that she is an outfit repeater at grade 8 graduation). But it was delicious and provided me with leftovers for lunch for the next two days, so, as Cinderella and my high school music teacher would say, oh well.
Tuesday, I had my practicum which was exciting as always. My grade 3/4s were performing plays that afternoon for their parents, so I got to see all the different ones during the class and give them feedback, There was a play with puppets, one about pumpkins, one about an old lady and a bear and one about a singing grasshopper. They were all so cute! They told me that they would videotape each other so that I could see them this week. I also got to teach a lesson and taught them about the difference between describing someone's outward appearance and their inner qualities, which is something that I will apply in my lesson this week. My evaluator is coming in this week and I will be making autobiographical story cubes with my students (see below). They will be using the worksheets we have been doing over the past two weeks to make the cubes. I originally wanted to make online storybooks but could not find a good website, so I had to find something else to do. But I did find some cool electronic resources to use in weeks to come! Anyway, wish me luck as I undergo my first evaluation!
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| These are the cubes that I will be making with my 3/4s on Tuesdays! The one on the left is the one that I made and the one on the right Hannah made for me! |
I then went to astronomy where I got my midterm back - I got 98/100! Not too bad for an amateur astronomer. After class, Vicki filled me in on everything going on in rez life and let's just say I am glad that I chose to live off campus and not be an RA. Due to the loss of a team member, all of the RAs on her team have to take on extra shifts so she is so overworked right now. Poor thing. In other exciting news, I came home to a large package from my mom and inside was my winter coat!! I could not have been more excited. She also included some leftover Halloween candy and my sister's school picture (which I didn't find out was in the box until I had to go dig through the recycling to find it). But I am happy to have my coat and a new picture for my wallet to show off to my friends so thank you Mom!!
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| Yay mail! Especially when it has candy and a coat! |
Wednesday was fairly average as well, though I did have a Students' Alumni Association Meeting and the girl in charge bought Tim Horton's drinks for us which as a nice treat. On Friday of this week it is National Philanthropy Day so we will be involved in prepping for that on Wednesday night. As well, we did some planning for next semester and are looking into potentially taking a lead role with Career Day and starting up some mentorship programs for students and alumni. We are looking at having one-to-one mentoring and also a "Lunch and Learn" series where alumni and students can socialize and discuss the future. I hope that we bring in a teacher grad, and it would be really interesting to have an elementary education grad who went to teach in Ontario or another province and hear how they adapted to another province's curriculum. I then came home, had a quiet dinner for one and did some homework. I did some research for my exchange year, looking at potential schools and areas to live in France. The Winter timetable was posted so I really have to get serious about picking a school and looking at course equivalencies - I am on a very tight time schedule!
On a side note, I also called and caught up with my mom on Wednesday night in order to tell her about some of the schools I had found. As well, I talked to her about the ankle pains that I have been having and pretty much, her over-the-phone diagnosis was to stop running, take advil and ice it three times a day. Not running sucks!! I have been using the bike at the gym but it is so boring!!!! I just want my ankle to heel and to be able to run again!
Thursday I spent the entire morning in meetings, first with the Dean of Education, then with the chair of the French department and then with the Exchange coordinator. The first two meetings were very helpful, the second was not so much. I now know what courses I should probably take next semester as well as which ones I could potentially find an equivalency to in France. As well, the French chair gave me some good advice on picking courses based on my level of French. The Exchange coordinator on the other hand was very nice but not very helpful. I think that I will have to do some more research on my own before I go back to see her.
I then went to the gym and tried to make an appointment in the sports medicine centre for my ankle with no success. I will try again tomorrow. I went to class and then to the LES Outdoor Club. The kids were divided into three stations, two indoor and one outdoor. I helped out with the outdoor station where we took the kids on a walk around the neighbourhood. We went back to the school to rotate stations but the indoor kids did not want to come inside. So I took the same group outside and taught them how to play a Wenonah-favourite: Camouflage. They loved it (hence why it's a favourite) and eventually, all the other kids wanted to join in! After all the kids had gone home, I spent a half-hour talking with a girl in grade 6 who is the daughter of a teacher at LES. We bonded over our love for One Direction and I was invited to her 1D karaoke birthday party in June. I then went by the Jean-Coutu and picked up some photos that I had developed and went to the gym for an hour. I came home to what I thought was an empty house and found out half an hour later that Elizabeth was at home sleeping in her bed! I had another lonely dinner, as Hannah was at happy hour (aka Happy 5 hours) and Jocelyn and Sarah were working. Except for Hannah, we all stayed in on Thursday but Sarah left to go help at the hydration station. I skyped with my friend Hannah who I work at summer camp with but then her internet cut out and our conversation ended. All in all, it was a calm night at 27 William-Paige.
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| My update photo wall! |
Friday, I got up and trekked to campus for a workshop on ELA in the elementary classroom. I was expecting a large group of people but given that it was a Friday and early in the morning, there ended up being only 6 of us. But it made for a nice intimate group and I learned a lot about the ELA program. This will be really helpful with my practicum with teaching ELA to the grade 3/4s. My friend Vicki went to a workshop on the Quebec kindergarten program that was at the same time as mine so we then had lunch together and went to another workshop to prep for our teacher English exam. After that, we went to listen to a guest speaker who was a survivor from the Holocaust. He was born in Poland and was just 15 when the tragedy began. It was horrible to hear what he went through and very moving to listen to his stories. Vicki then took me to the Jewish club's shabbat dinner and the guest speaker was also invited so he shared some more of his story over dinner. On another note, the food was delicious - with a variety of salads, matzah soup and a chicken entree. After dinner, I met up with Jocelyn and Hannah at the rugby game, watched the boys team win their final game of the year and then went to the gym before heading home to bed.
Saturday. we had our third Big Buddies event so I spent the afternoon with my Little Buddy Hannah at the SUB. However, before Big Buddies, I had my shining moment of the day. I went to the gym and got all ready to go for a swim, took my shower and then went out on the pool deck, only to learn that the free swim did not start for another 45 minutes!! Talk about embarrassing, especially when all the kids in swimming lessons were not-so-secretly giggling at me. After this incident, I went to find Hannah and we had a lot of fun at the space-themed event - we made astronaut badges, played space tag and other games, did astronaut exercises and had space chips and juice. She is one of the cutest kids that I know and I had a blast (no pun intended) playing with her. We even played some soccer outside and she's got quite the kick to her! I think that half of the Big Buddies club is related to Hannah - she has two stepbrothers, one real brother, three stepsisters and multiple cousins in the club, but that's just Lennoxville for you.
I then spent the afternoon with Vicki working on our astronomy poster and watched MasterChef in the Mackinnon common room (to use their free internet) while she went to dinner. After watching 13 year old Alexander prepare a meal that no pre-teen should be able to cook and seeing him win the competition, I trekked home for a much simpler dinner with the housemates. We all stayed in on Saturday night, and Sarah, Elizabeth, Jocelyn and I ended up on the couch together watching Bridget Jones. We could easily relate to the scenes where she was laying on the couch, eating food and watching TV and prayed that we will all find our own Mark Darcys one day who will (to quote the movie) like us just the way we are. Because honestly, what's not to like about all of us? We're fantastic!
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| Me on girls night, sporting the flannel pj look also seen in the movie |
After a fun girls night in, I woke up Sunday morning and prepared my lesson plan for Tuesday and finished some other homework. I then went to the gym (again - stupid ankle) and then met up with Vicki to work on our video project (projects=life of the education student). We made some progress and then, similar to Saturday, I came home for dinner with Hannah and Elizabeth. Following dinner, we finally brought to life our project that we have been talking about since spring break:
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| Our Wall of Shame - you get a sticker for anything "shameful" that you do Thanks Aunt Stacey for the idea! (Credit to Uncle Andrew whose university house had the actual Wall of Shame) |
And now, here I am, having just hung up from a nice chat with my father who just got back from Arizona. We were discussing my travel plans home at the end of the semester and exams. It is crazy to think that in one month and two days first semester is completely over! It is scary to think about all that I have to do in that time, so wish me luck as I complete endless group projects and lesson plans! I'm sure I've got some late nights ahead of me, so think of me in your dreams in the wee hours of the mornings!
All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
PS I have become slightly addicted to Pinterest. I am probably going to go do some pinning now.
PPS Happy Birthday to the most wonderful Granny! You do not look a day over 27! Wish I could be at the family dinner on Tuesday!
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