Homework
Unit 17 spelling test tomorrow
Our Day
Before the bus arrived to take us to Vancouver, we managed two chapters of Word Nerd today and we were all relieved that Ambrose is heading back home having been caught and ordered by the police to call home. Cosmo came to get him and he brought Ambrose's mom with him. He'd been a fugitive for 24 hours and she was worried sick. Last chapter tomorrow. I'll be sad when it is over!!!
Our fieldtrip
Ah, the joys of school fieldtrips on school busses!
One adult buttock fits on a bench seat occupied by a couple of students who need the space to find and free Princess Peach from the perils of the DS game being played. Three pre-adolescents to a seat is a bit of a squish on a school bus but the students were in good spirits and we were all excited to just get out of Dodge for the day I don't think anyone really was too uncomfortable.
The grey day brightened as we travelled further south on the Sea to Sky Highway and only a short delay for construction slowed us down. It was almost peaceful until the lingering odor of skunk emenated through the bus and woke the students up!! From then on the chatter caught fire!
Note to self: pack ear plugs just to tone down the general din! :)
We took the grades 5, 6 and 7 to the Chan Centre at UBC to hear a professional winds concert. The intention besides the exposure was to inspire their recent school band experience and develop their music appreciation.
The last time we headed to UBC was last March, 2010 to take in a Paralympic sledge hockey game. I remember that being a fabulous fieldtrip experience too.
We had lunch at the student union building and headed to the theatre for noon.
The concert was amazing and the students were appreciative and the majority were well behaved and a pleasure to be with. There's always a few in every crowd though that need to prove they will 'stand out'!
Say no more; say no more!
What Made my heart Glad
- we came home safe and sound with all the students we took with us :)
- the students had fun and enjoyed the experience
- there was no need to use the emergency information that is always part of fieldtrip permission forms
- it was sunny and bright
- St Peter was let out of heavenly duties for the day just to drive our school bus! Thanks, Peter. Your patience and safe driving will be rewarded at the Pearly Gates!
- travelling down Denman and seeing its eclectic stores and restaurants (so happy that it hasn't been neutralized into a bland, brand shopping experience!) Gotta love Denman Street!
- West 4th Avenue (so many memories of ethnic meals, international movies and shopping at Zulu records and Banyan books, meeting and greeting my friends visiting from around the world)
- The Chan Centre- amazing acoustics
- The concert- making music come alive. I experienced a visual, acoustic moment today. A Russian composer (Borodin) created a piece of music (On the Steppes of Central Asia) that evoked the slow moving of a ancient caravan of goods, animals and people on the Silk Road of China- it moved from the distance where it was just a shimmering mass in the landscape to the forefront where it vibrated with all its glory and colours and movement to the far distance yet again as it trailed off into the desert. I saw it all but I wasn't there. I was sitting in a concert hall listening to the caravan's parade and magic as it slowly appeared and disappeared with the music played. Amazing.
- the gift of hearing especially hearing music (the ability to listen)
- the gift of music
- the bus returned us with just 10 minutes to go to complete the school day :) Great timing as the boys were now busy planning their basketball game strategy!
- Moments of spontaneous, tuneless singing- no Canadian Idols yet!
- When we crossed the Burrard Street bridge, one of the students saw Granville Island and then others recognized the west 4th neighbourhood of our class novel, Word Nerd. Next thing you know, they were all looking out to see if they could find Cosmo or Ambrose!! I didn't have the heart to remind them they were fictional characters! :)
- The dog that I spotted (a Chhuahua) on the corner of Burrard and Robson who was sitting up in a large, obviously leather Coach bag dressed better than I was with a Hermes scarf and probably a diamond collar- I couldn't quite see that well but I just wonder at the money the well-heeled owner must have shelled out for her little doggie!
- Our students seem to enjoy every opportunity that we provide them- they eat it all up- they took pictures of everything and of one another enjoying everything from eating lunch with the UBC students to lining up for the theatre and squishing onto the bus. What's not to like?
- When one of the students sitting next to me woke up from a snooze at the last cymbal of the program and asked if it was over :)
- Watching the students busy with their technology- I watched fascinated as one played a game of Monopoly on an I-Pad and others played Tap Tap or Angry Birds and I wonder how to harness this engagement into their daily learning.
- Getting a whole seat for my whole bum on the bus when the students got off at Brittania Beach. Ahhhhh! YES! :)
- fieldtrips- been there, done that - when is our next one?
Mrs. J.
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