Nothing's Gonna Change My World

Okay, so where did I leave off?

Just after my last blog post, I spoke with the teacher I was replacing, and she informed me she'd be back June 8th (yes, today), which cut the time with "my" students a little short. There was always the possibility that she would return before the end of the year, but I figured it wouldn't be very likely. Well, turns out that she wanted to get re-acquainted with everyone since she plans to loop with them into grade two. It was so bittersweet to have to leave. I was really rushing to get everything organized and get marks in before the end of last week, which I pulled off, somehow, at the same time that I prepped everything for Julie's bachelorette.

We had a party on Friday afternoon - the kids brought in games and snacks, and the technician in my class was nice enough to get me a cake. Some students made cards and even brought gifts, which I wasn't expecting at all. It is the cutest, most precious thing ever, to get a hand-made and hand-written card from a six year old. The effort and love that goes into those is just priceless. I was pretty emotional the whole day - it started when I arrived to find a giant bouquet of flowers (really gorgeous white chrysanthemums) on my desk with the one of the most cherished cards I've ever received. The resource teacher, who has become somewhat of my mentor/the person that I look up to and respect the most of all the teachers I've known, got them for me as a token of appreciation - and that felt so good, let me tell you. It's nice to know I've made a positive impression on people at that school, especially people who are so highly esteemed not only within the school, but with important people at the board. Here's a picture of the flowers:

After that, one of my students came up to me, cocked his head to the side, and asked "will you dream for us Miss Ashley?" and I just about burst into tears because it was just poetic and perfect for a child who has various codes (not to mention has barely started to read and write). When he saw that I was a little emotional, he said "don't cry Miss Ashley"... and it was just one of those treasured moments when I thought to myself "this is it right here, this is the job for me".

So, needless to say, although the past two months were challenging, I really loved my experience. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to work in a class that uses such great learning approaches, such as SoundPrints and the Daily 5. I really gained a lot of experience.

The weekend was also great! We had such a good time at Julie's cottage. We made her go to Tremblant wearing a tiara, veil, and sash that said "princess bride". She also had a flashing wand, and a blank t-shirt that she had to fill up by asking people to write advice about marriage. That was pure entertainment, I tell you! It was so funny to see the various reactions of people (some were laughing, others were nervously looking the other way, and a few were calling her over so they could get in on the fun). We also rode the luge down the mountain, which was super fun.

After all that excitement, we headed back to the cottage to have a more "private" sort of party. We saved all the really embarrassing games for then. I had made up a bunch of questions for Ken to answer beforehand, then Julie had to guess what his answers were... if she got any wrong, she had to draw a card and do something or have something done to her. That was a great success and we nearly peed ourselves laughing on a number of occasions. Memorable inside jokes include "I hate your family" and "I have a fiance and I'm in love" - hahaha, you know what I'm talking about girls ;)

We were also very lucky with how generous everyone was in the food department! We had awesome things to munch on, delicious cupcakes for dessert, a pretty yummy spinach lasagna (made by yours truly) and some pancakes and fruit for breakfast the next morning. Oh, and let's not forget the amazing artichoke dip! We always tend to eat too much when we go up north, but it's oh so worth it. The country air just makes you hungry and lazy. Anyways, I am really happy that the weekend went so well, and Julie was very happy!