Island life ...

View from the dock at the Sunset end of the island

Life on Deadmans Island is lovely.  I haven't been here this time of year before and it's wonderful to see everything looking so green and alive, especially after the dull brown that comes with the end of winter in Calgary.  It's a short stay this time, just five days, which is perfect for me because I do tend to get a bit cabin-feverish on the island.  To combat this, I try to get off the island for a few hours each afternoon, either to visit the gym, wander through the cute little stores in Ganges or enjoy a cup of tea and a book at the Tree House cafe.  However, my favourite part about island life is simply sitting on a rock somewhere on the island and enjoying the fresh sea air whilst contemplating life.

Wild daffodils

And more daffodils

A Canadiana goose protecting her eggs

Sunset at the Sunrise end of the island

Spot the cottage - my forest home in the middle of the island

Easter weekend ...

John Primer and band at The Blues Can (apologies for the grainy iphone photo)

Easter weekend proved to be one filled with a variety of odd, but fun, events.  On Friday, C and I debated the merits of minced onion, filtered sunlight, creme brulee and dune white as we contemplated which colour to paint his house.  The pressure was on, as the painter was to arrive on Monday morning, and we ended up calling in the interior decorator to receive some expert advice.  Eventually, misty air won the colour contest.  Good Friday evening was celebrated with barbequed salmon and a bottle of bubbles.

Saturday bought my first real life entry into the world of Meetup, which, for those not in the know, is kind of like internet dating, but for friendships.  I browsed around (so many to choose from!) and joined several groups - a '20s/30s girls who brunch' group and an 'Australian expat' group.  Which is how I found myself venturing into a new part of Calgary to meet 12 strangers for breakfast.  It turned out to be really fun, and I met some great girls.

On Saturday night, I had an overwhelming (but good) feeling of 'how the hell did I end up here?'  The whole evening felt a little bizarre - I was sitting in a Blues bar (The Blues Can - a big blue shed) with my Canadian boyfriend eating a delicious Deep South dinner of ribs and catfish, all while watching an old black Blues dude from Chicago playing old time blues, accompanied by a tall white girl playing the harmonica.  It was an odd feeling.

Sunday morning bought the discovery of a lovely new breakfast place - a rarity in Calgary, but more on that in another post.  Then, to finish the Easter weekend (Canadians don't take Easter Monday off), I jumped on a plane with the family to fly to Vancouver and then Salt Spring Island. 

Oh, what an odd but fun weekend it was!

Reflecting on special family members ...

Dookie and Aquila ... probably in around 1997

This week has been a bit of a sad and reflective one for me.  The week has bought the anniversary of the death of my grandfather (6 years ago) and my horse, Dookie (3 years ago).  I also found out (via facebook - ah, the wonders of the internet!) that another one of my ponies, Aquila had passed away.  He was old when he was a member of our family, so he must have been ancient by the time his time was up.  Being a cold week, it's been a good time to reflect on things from the past, especially curled up next to the open fire with a glass of red and some old photos.  Now, it's time to move on from my sadness and embrace the long weekend that comes with Easter.  It's going to be a full one with lots of studying, a few gym visits, some fun nights out and ... on Sunday, I'm heading to the family's island for a week!  Happy Easter everyone!

And then there was one ...

After over a year of having a 'class' of two students, I'm now down to just one, 11 year old B.  It was decided that 7 year old R needed to expand her social network, so she is finishing the Canadian school year at the local primary school, Millarville Community School.  It is actually a surprising little school - it's a public school, right in the heart of cowboy country, serves just over 200 students (K-8) and, the best part about it (for me), is that it is a fully accredited IB school!  It's exciting for us all to make a connection with with a local school, but even more exciting for me to connect with the local IB school.  So for now, I just have the one student (until the end of June), which is turning out to be a lot of fun - we have more time for games, in-depth explorations of topics and full day excursions.  It certainly takes a lot off my plate because I find it much easier to plan for an 11 year old as opposed to a 7 year old.  Plus, I have more time to work on my Masters.  So, it is a win-win situation for everyone!

'The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan' ...

On Friday night, C and I went to see an 'adult' puppet play at the quaint Martha Cohen theatre in downtown Calgary.  The title was 'The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan' and we knew it was going to be fun when the the opening speech warned of puppet nudity.  The story was told by a real actor who played the ghost of Don Juan, the fictional 'world's greatest lover'.  All other characters were played by exquisite handmade puppets, often with up to 3 actors playing the one character where each actor held different puppet body parts (including a set of breasts worn on one actor's head!)  Throughout the play, the audience were in hysterics, making it clear to see how this play has been a hit all across Canada.  An 'adult' puppet play, accompanied by bubbles before and after the show made for a wonderful start to the weekend!

More snow ...

Okay, so I'm still not over the novelty of snow.  It's just so beautiful!  Before work, I went for an early morning walk down the driveway to the gate (3km return).  I love the stillness that comes with the snow.  It was just me and nature ... I even saw a moose in the distance!  

'Race to Nowhere' ...

Last night, I attended the only Calgary screening of the documentary film, 'Race to Nowhere', a parent-made film about the achievement culture of American schools.  The film interviewed hundreds of students, teachers, administrators, parents and people from the medical profession about the pressures facing students in America's testing culture.  The film certainly reinforced and perhaps strengthened what I already knew about the scary inadequacies of the American education system.  What was even scarier was that this film focused mainly on middle class students, not even touching on the dilemmas of schools in poverty and the current budget cuts.  

Perhaps the most important message that I took from the film is the importance of families establishing their own ideal of success.  For some students, getting into a top university is not a priority.  The American education system needs to accept that this is okay.

The American system is certainly in some trouble and it seems likely that American society will soon be in trouble if schools continue to churn out students for whom their best skill is colouring in bubbles on multiple choice tests.  As Art Costa recently said at the ASCD conference, are we preparing our students for a life of tests, or are we preparing them for the test of life?  So, here you have it ... my somewhat simplistic and idealistic suggestions for the transformation of American schools and American students:

Homework - Abolish homework for the primary grades and heavily reduce the homework load of high school students (perhaps by discussion and negotiation amongst subject teachers to ensure students are not receiving hours of homework each night).

Assessment - Abolish traditional grades and instead, use narrative based constructive feedback and increase peer/self evaluations.

Classroom organisation - Re-arrange the traditional seating arrangement of single desks facing the front and allow students to sit and learn in groups, either at desks or on the floor. 

Let them play!  Students of all ages can learn by playing.  They're children, not mini-adults.

Ah, we can only hope.  Until then, let's prepare ourselves for 'the world' (according to America) to be run by bubble-filling-in students who just want to know 'will it be on the test?'