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It's been a year in the planning, but my friend Marianne and I are finally getting ready to head off to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and cruise the mighty Amazon. Our friend Susan was going to be joining us, but has had to cancel because of unforseeable complications. We will miss her, particularly because it was her enthusiasm for this trip that inspired us to go! The blog about our trip will be dedicated to her so that she can virtually travel along with us.

Getting ready for a trip like this has taken hours of researching, planning, meetings, emails and phone calls. We finally decided to go with a tour company, because it was getting overwhelming trying to figure it all out on our own. We decided on a small company that is based in Lima, as we wanted to support the local economy. They had great reviews on Tripadvisor, but time will tell whether we made a good choice. They tailor made a trip just for the three of us, according to what we wanted to see and do. This really is an adventure trip of a lifetime. (Sorry, Susan!)

Each trip I go on, I get a little more determined to travel light. I have found a couple of blogs very helpful in the planning: travelfashiongirl.com and postcardsandcoasters.blogspot.ca

One tip that I got from Rick Steeves is to use packing cubes to compress everything. Baggies also serve well, as I sit on them to squeeze out all the air, and everything is nice and compact. This all helps to be super organized, as all my shirts are in one bag, shorts in another, undies in yet another, etc.

Believe it or not, everything fit into my carry on bag, and there is lots of room for comfort food, magazines and my ipad mini in my small backpack. Homemade granola is an essential when travelling, as it is delicious, nutritious and easy to eat when the local fare is less than appetizing. I think that I am ready to go!

 

 

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Machu Pichu, Here We Come!

It's been a year in the planning, but my friend Marianne and I are finally getting ready to head off to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and cruise the mighty Amazon. Our friend Susan was going to be joining us, but has had to cancel because of unforseeable complications. We will miss her, particularly because it was her enthusiasm for this trip that inspired us to go! The blog about our trip will be dedicated to her so that she can virtually travel along with us.

Getting ready for a trip like this has taken hours of researching, planning, meetings, emails and phone calls. We finally decided to go with a tour company, because it was getting overwhelming trying to figure it all out on our own. We decided on a small company that is based in Lima, as we wanted to support the local economy. They had great reviews on Tripadvisor, but time will tell whether we made a good choice. They tailor made a trip just for the three of us, according to what we wanted to see and do. This really is an adventure trip of a lifetime. (Sorry, Susan!)

Each trip I go on, I get a little more determined to travel light. I have found a couple of blogs very helpful in the planning: travelfashiongirl.com and postcardsandcoasters.blogspot.ca

One tip that I got from Rick Steeves is to use packing cubes to compress everything. Baggies also serve well, as I sit on them to squeeze out all the air, and everything is nice and compact. This all helps to be super organized, as all my shirts are in one bag, shorts in another, undies in yet another, etc.

Believe it or not, everything fit into my carry on bag, and there is lots of room for comfort food, magazines and my ipad mini in my small backpack. Homemade granola is an essential when travelling, as it is delicious, nutritious and easy to eat when the local fare is less than appetizing. I think that I am ready to go!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Filling up Our Hearts

“Mrs. Geres, you fill up my heart.” This came from one of my favourite students today. I was teaching her class while her teacher had to suddenly leave due to a family emergency. I have always had a soft spot for children who struggle. There is something inspiring about a child who faces significant challenges, yet perseveres through situations under which many of us adults would crumble. Her statement touched me on many levels, one of which was that her articulation of this helped me to see that our collective efforts are paying off with her.

I am proud of my staff and even prouder of my students, as we work together to create a sense of family where we fill up each other’s hearts. Our staff attended a professional development day on Monday led by Colleen Drobot. Colleen is a family therapist and a teacher, who has trained under Gordon Neufeld. The staff was inspired by Colleen’s presentation to consider the emotional needs of the children with whom we work, and how parents and educators work together to meet these emotional needs. When children act up, whether at home or school, it is often because their needs are not being met. Understanding children from a developmental perspective enables us to consider how we provide an environment that allows them to develop their full human potential. As my young student put it: filling up each other’s hearts.

How, exactly, do we fill up each other’s hearts? When I walk down the halls of my school, I see teachers who are genuinely delighted by the students they teach; teachers who provide the rich soil of caring, thoughtfulness and guidance that enables our students to thrive. As I do playground duty before and after school, I see parents who take delight in their children, whose eyes light up when they see their child, and who naturally respond to their children with love and sensitivity.

We had a wonderful thing happen in our school this week. We just hired a brand new teacher, and her first day of teaching was on Tuesday. Her classroom had not yet been set up and the walls in her room were bare. After school, one of the other teachers went onto the PA system and announced that there was “a decorating party” in the new teacher’s room. Most of the staff showed up with scissors and staplers, and within an hour, a job that usually takes a teacher a full week at the end of August was complete. Every bulletin board was covered, complete with border, which staff managed to scrounge up and donate to the cause. Her calendar was laminated, cut up, and mounted on the wall. Seeing everyone come together in this way filled up my heart, and I’m sure it did for the new teacher as well. What a great symbol of the Old Yale Road community spirit!

The PAC came out in force last week to ensure that every corner was covered in our Terry Fox Run. The caring spirit was strong as they watched out for our children to ensure that everyone completed the run safely. This week, they are hard at work selling Entertainment books in the foyer of the school. We are a true team, and I am proud to be a part of such a terrific school. I feel fortunate to work in a place where my heart is filled by a million kind and thoughtful things that adults and children do for each other every day. What a great start to the school year!