Chilling....Literally

I want to start off by saying that today is the coldest day we have had since we've been here. With wind chill it is minus forty something. I have a chill I can not get rid of. I don't think I've ever been this cold. To top it all off today was my day for recess duty. Not just one recess, but both! Just my luck. One of the kids told me I looked like a turtle hiding in my hood. I tried to even wear my mittens teaching today, but the kids made fun of me too badly. They think it is funny I haven't climatized yet.

I was talking to my kids today and telling them that I wanted to go sledding this weekend. They thought that it was pretty amusing that someone my age wanted to do such a thing. I asked them if they had sleds I could borrow and they informed me that I would not need one. I guess they use cardboard covered in garbage bags mostly. One little shrimp of a kid told me that I probably had enough weight behind me to just slide right down on my butt without anything. He's lucky he followed it with a huge grin and a "just kidding". He knew another snow ball would be headed his way. I think Sarah and I will try out the cardboard and garbage bag idea and see if it has the speed they promise. It could turn out interesting on the hill I want to conquer. It is like the comacozie of hills.

I am still teaching one hundred percent. In some classes I am working on fairy tales, others I am working on sequencing, some on writing, some on phonics and some on wrap up activities for novel studies. Getting to do such a broad spectrum of stuff in one day is one of the things I really like about the ESL classroom. Not only does it make the day go by fast, but I am learning so much in such a small span of time. The resources I have been collecting are amazing. I have a pile of them that I have been working with that Kate has copied for me to keep and bring home. Something I learned today is that in ESL when writing on the board the teacher needs to dramatize punctuation to the point where it is almost ridiculous. This is necessary though, especially in Inuktitut, because they do not have or recognize punctuation. They will just skip right over it when reading and writing. Since I have made this change I notice a difference in their written and verbal work.

On a side and final note for the evening, I learned a handy little trick today. Dry erase marker will remove permanent marker. I didn't believe it, but I tried and tested it and my friends it is true. So when one of those little darlings happens to write on your white board with the wrong marker, do not fret.