End of August...

brings busy, busy days! Since arriving home after 3 blissful weeks in Florida, it's been preparing for the arrival of the in-laws! You'd think that King and Queen were arriving :) Well... they are special enough to be called so, however... it just meant actually putting into plan everything we talk about. Like a bathroom in the basement... would like a bedroom too, but that'll come for the next lot of company or something!!! So the bathroom gets worked on in the evenings. With 2 nights left, it needs the ceiling painting, and all the fixtures installed. I mean, what's a bathroom without a toilet, shower or sink??? So that'll happen tomorrow night with test runs just hours before Ross and JoAnne's arrival!!!

The playroom is half organized, the visible parts of floors vacuumed, pantry organized etc. So... I guess that's about all that needs to be done.

I've been attempting to think about school too. I'll be teaching Grade 7 and 8 Social Studies, Language Arts, Study Skills, and Home Ec! I've taught Grade 7 LA before but that's about as much as my experience extends. So I've been intrigued with the Social Studies curriculum... learning about Pre-Confederation for the Grade 7's... exploring essential questions such as, What were the social and economic factors of European imperalism? What's imperalism???? oh oh! I'm in trouble! I'm meant to teach this young teens to appreciate the influence of diverse Aboriginal, French and British peoples on events leading to Confederation... We will discuss such wowing topics like how Britain's interest in the fur trade was different from that of New France!

Grade 8 Social... From Isolation to Adaptation in Japan! My students will appreciate how models of governance and decision making reflect a society's worldview... The wowing discussions in this class will lead us to the challenges that emerged for the Japanese in maintaining traditional cultural aspects of their society while undergoing rapid change, and how the shogun used the feudal system and the hierarchical social classes to maintain control of Japan.

Don't you wish you were back in Jr. High???? I have a lot to learn! I guess I'll attempt to stay 1-3 steps ahead of the kids and hope for the best. I only have 50 some days to instill my limited knowledge and get them whipped into shape before I go on maternity leave again. So time will fly by. My classroom sits as it did on June 30th... I'm probably the only teacher who has not spent time in the school yet. My own kids are more important right now. So... I hope that we're not stuck in too many staff meetings during our 2 teacher work days.

The kids are soooo excited for Gpa and Gma with the brown door to arrive. Yes, my kids classify their grandparents by their door colour... Great Gma T has a red door... Gma T has a white door and Gma C has a brown door! Phew! We adults, are looking forward to seeing them... and the Red Skins, Milko's and Chocolate that is hopefully gracing their suitcase right now!

The pics are of the Waterpark we went to in Florida... Aquatica... the slide is the one Glen and I ventured down on a double tube a few times.... kids being crazy... lake pics are from Sylvan Lake last week where we joined Laurie and Kathryn for a day. Fun summer... all good things must come to an end... til next summer!