I wondered if it would ever come but I think that finally it is here. The question is, is it here to stay? Last week, as I mentioned in my blog, winter hit with a vengeance. April snow brings May . . . what? April snow brings May "nos". April snow brings May groans. April snow brings May lakes where they aren't supposed to be with mud and mud puddles. That's what. Anyways here is a link to some pictures of the snow last week. For those who already saw them on Facebook, they are the same pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48123&l=f60bc&id=554811322
As for the principal thing, I am coping. I cleaned half of the office now and feel like maybe I could actually do some work.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
I wish that I could just talk about the snow
Really it was the snow that started it. Or rather the melting and freezing cycle that had created a huge patch of ice (otherwise known as the school yard). It was that slipperyness that has created a new direction in my life that I am reluctantly turning in. Although honestly it just feels like I am turning around in circles.
Two Monday's ago, my principal slipped on the school yard ice. She couldn't get up. The whole staff worked together to put her into her vehicle. Someone drove her to Slave just to check and make sure that all was OK. It wasn't. By that afternoon, she had been air-vaced to Edmonton and the next day she underwent a hip replacement surgery. The school was leaderless.
So who did they put at the helm? Me. It is different than last year's stint as a principal. This time they hired another teacher temporarily and made me THE principal. I sit in my office and shuffle papers. Literally. I feel like I move them from one pile to another. Every time I get something accomplished, that act of accomplishment creates 3 more things to do. My list grows instead of shrinks.
I almost cried when I told some of my students. Even though they are putzes, I am going to miss teaching them and bugging them everyday. I think that they may even miss me too. I hope that I can make some improvements in the 6 or 8 weeks that I am at the helm (or longer). I don't think that it is long enough to complete destroy the school.
And yes about the snow. We got a dump. A veritable storm with drifts that reached the top of doorways. One morning, I had to squeeze out of my door because I could only open it about 10 inches. Walking to the school was a workout with snow filling my boots. The buses couldn't run because they were snowed in. It is April in a week or so isn't it? Oh right, it is actually May in a week or so. My bad.
Two Monday's ago, my principal slipped on the school yard ice. She couldn't get up. The whole staff worked together to put her into her vehicle. Someone drove her to Slave just to check and make sure that all was OK. It wasn't. By that afternoon, she had been air-vaced to Edmonton and the next day she underwent a hip replacement surgery. The school was leaderless.
So who did they put at the helm? Me. It is different than last year's stint as a principal. This time they hired another teacher temporarily and made me THE principal. I sit in my office and shuffle papers. Literally. I feel like I move them from one pile to another. Every time I get something accomplished, that act of accomplishment creates 3 more things to do. My list grows instead of shrinks.
I almost cried when I told some of my students. Even though they are putzes, I am going to miss teaching them and bugging them everyday. I think that they may even miss me too. I hope that I can make some improvements in the 6 or 8 weeks that I am at the helm (or longer). I don't think that it is long enough to complete destroy the school.
And yes about the snow. We got a dump. A veritable storm with drifts that reached the top of doorways. One morning, I had to squeeze out of my door because I could only open it about 10 inches. Walking to the school was a workout with snow filling my boots. The buses couldn't run because they were snowed in. It is April in a week or so isn't it? Oh right, it is actually May in a week or so. My bad.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Deleted
I just wrote a long blog about the travails of having a school review. Then I deleted it - maybe verging on unprofessional - could get me in trouble. So it is gone. Now I have nothing to write about.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
The Stress
I am now back in Trout Lake after an extended vacation. The time in Ottawa was great, even though it was bittersweet. It was good to see family - my cousin before she gets married, my other cousin who I haven't seen in like 15 years, my other cousins who are growing up to be beautiful young men and women of God, my aunts and uncles, my grandmother etc. The only person missing was my grandfather, who we honoured with a beautiful ceremony. It was good to sit and hear stories about him and to hear his life celebrated.
But now I am back in Trout Lake and the stress is returning with a vegeance - another week of school lost , because I know that some students did nothing while I was away. The end of the year looming with so much to be done and to be accomplished. A school review right around the corner and all of the teachers stressed out about it. I refuse to change anything and make anything prettier than it was before. So I am trying hard not to get caught up in the stress of it all.
There is still snow on the ground. I think that Ottawa and Trout are now tied for the amount of snow on the ground. The difference is that Ottawa started out with a whole lot more and still have piles of snow in the places that the snow was shovelled to. But there are signs of spring - sunny days and pussy willows.
But now I am back in Trout Lake and the stress is returning with a vegeance - another week of school lost , because I know that some students did nothing while I was away. The end of the year looming with so much to be done and to be accomplished. A school review right around the corner and all of the teachers stressed out about it. I refuse to change anything and make anything prettier than it was before. So I am trying hard not to get caught up in the stress of it all.
There is still snow on the ground. I think that Ottawa and Trout are now tied for the amount of snow on the ground. The difference is that Ottawa started out with a whole lot more and still have piles of snow in the places that the snow was shovelled to. But there are signs of spring - sunny days and pussy willows.
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