It Is An Honour

Last November one of the teachers in my school told me that

she was nominating me for an award,

What an honour that she thinks so highly of my work.

Thank you to Jan Smith, LIsa Scheck (my principal) and several

parents (from my program) that worked together to put

an intensive nomination package together.

About a month ago I got a call from the Prime Minister's office

informing me that I was picked to receive the award.

It was very exciting but I couldn't tell anyone except my family and 

the nominating group.

I thought I was going to pop!

Plans were made and we headed to Ottawa.

My husband and I arrived early so we had time to explore.

Our hotel was across the river from the Parliament Buildings.

We rented bikes and cycled along the canal.

During the whole trip we were treated very well.

Right from the start the hotel had this delicious welcome waiting for us.

All the recipients met at a reception to learn what would happen over the next two days.

We included ten teachers and five Early Childhood Educators.

We did a short practice and received our pins.

The next morning we met and each shared a short presentation 

on our 'best practices'.

Mine was called "Imagination Builds Community",

about our Fairy Lane project.

Then we were off to the awards ceremony at the

Museum of Nature.

It was a lovely, intimate gathering.

A children's choir began by singing O Canada.

Then the Prime Minister thanked us for our hard work

and dedication, sharing that this award is special for him to

present as he was a teacher too.

The individual presentations came next.

We each had a video to introduce us.

Oh my, what can I say other than the smile didn't leave my face the whole time.

Even when I got a selfie with him.

Or during all the pictures.

The ceremony ended with a group of aboriginal children singing.

A moment I will keep for a long time.

The next morning we spent on parliament hill,

having a tour of the library and

sitting in on question period.

I so appreciated getting to know the other recipients,

sharing this honour and supporting each other.

A big thank you to my husband, Raymond, for being with

me on this wonderful adventure.

A New Toy

Our Parent Advisory Council had grant money that the teachers could use to purchase

items for the gym.

I couldn't think of anything else we needed for the gym but I had seen

this toy on the Kodo site.

It's called a Half Round and it's four feet long.

I placed it on the carpet a couple of weeks ago and watched how the children 

and their parents interacted with it.

The infant and toddlers played in and on it.

Practicing crawling across it.

Being encouraged to stand beside it.

And climbing over it.

The older children figured out they could crawl through it.

Although I was surprised they could but

they made it through in doing the fire fighter crawl.

They also figured out how to rock it like a boat.

We added an alligator so they could scream when we sang 

Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

As the days went by they became more comfortable with it.

 Using their bodies to stand on it,

 slide across it,

and just be comfortable.

Finger Puppet Play

Like most of you, I have a wide selection of toys that I rotate

in the classroom.

One of them is this small puppet stage.

Perfect for finger puppets.

Perfect for building language and stories.

Perfect for the whole family to take part.

Or just to enjoy on your own.

Flower Inquiry Continued

I belong to a Professional Learning Community at my school

and our focus is on Project-based/Inquiry-based learning.

This past week as we were sharing our projects when a comment was made,

by one of the other teachers, that sparked an idea on how we could

extend our question about flowers, art, science and physical activity. 

Our question:  Can we make paint from these flowers?

I provided several materials to add to the flowers to help make paint.

Corn syrup, laundry soap, water, baby oil was the beginning then we

added vinegar and shaving cream.

Most started with cutting the petals into smaller pieces.

Then they added different liquids.

The children tested their findings on cardstock.

We wondered if they were able to mash the petals more

would that have a different effect.

So I brought out our mortar and pestle.

She transferred her ingredients into the mortar,

then used the pestle to crush it up further.

The results were instant.

We saw colour and were able to paint with it.

It was interesting to compare who did this activity versus

the hammering.

Did you notice that it was mainly girls?