Memorable Teachers

Throughout your years, most have you have come across teachers, many teachers.  Some you loved and some you hated, so that made you laugh and some that sent you to the office over and over again.  No matter how much you grow some of those teachers are forever drilled in your mind. you can not get their face out of your head but somehow after hours of studying you forgot everything for your history quiz.   They say that first impressions are important.  Discuss a teach you have had, either positive of negative and what impression they set for you then, and in the future.

Grade 6 - Mr. Cow_ _ _
This is one teacher that left a negative impression on me, so much that as a teacher I even refuse to teach grade 6.  I am sure it was a combination of many things: move to a new house, new school, new friends, first male teacher, braces :(    I just can not think of a positive memory of this man.  He used to use the really large legal paper, and would photo copy dictionary pages for detention, and you had to copy out the ENTIRE page.  I am talking about 200 words a page with definitions, prefixes, suffixes, the works!!!! Most of them I was not even able to pronounce in grade 6.  I remember going to the principals office all the time that year, talking, homework, breathing, who knows but I truly felt that this man had it out for me!  I remember for art we were to make a collage of our favourite things.  I had this poster of a tiger cub that I used as my background and cut out tiny pictures of my favourite things and replaced the shape of the cub with my items.  I LOVED this art work, It was huge and colorful and it really represented me.....it was the last day of school LAST DAY!  All week we were moving our classroom from one end of the school to another and I must have asked him for this collage back 3, 4, 5 thousand times! He eventually yelled at me and told me I never handed it in!  As I am writing this I am getting angry.  I still wonder if he really lost it and didn't want to admit it, or if he threw it away!

Inspirational Video

This week you were to share with us your inspirational video.  You are to find a video and share with us your link.  Let us know what that video means to you.

My video was the one shared on Facebook this week.  I find it so powerful.  He is saying only the truth, however it feels like it is only the first time my eyes have been opened to such boldness in speaking.  I mean come on, some nations would command him to death or life imprisonment for speaking out like that,   The world that you life in right now is sooo amazing,  You have so many tools at your disposal to share your thoughts, opinions, beliefs, yet you are not using it.  He doesnt discriminate or insult, he simply states what IS. I can't wait to see your videos.

Favourite Summer Vacation

This week, your blog assignment is to share with us your favourite summer vacation.

Remember to keep names unmentioned.

My most memorable summer vacation was backpacking through Europe with my family right after grade 8 graduation.  I remember a lot of amazing moments from this trip, even thought it was a very very long time ago.  I remember the months and months of planning.  My parents with a tourist book for about 8 countries, trying to decide where we should go and what to see in our 3 weeks overseas.  The decision ended with a flight from Toronto to Holland and then England. I remember seeing Big Ben (not as exciting as you would think, just a big clock) and Buckingham palace.  At the time Prince William was "the thing" and there were hundreds of people in the crowd staring up in the windows hoping he would look out and wave - which he didn't. We took a ferry, which was more of a cruise ship from England to |France.  Me and my brother thought this was a fantastic trip, however it did get boring as it was not as BIG as a cruise ship, just fancy. Landed in some small and boring town in France.  We took a train the next morning to Paris.  From the train station we walked to the hotel, it was beautiful, felt like a hotel in a movie.  I remember our room was not ready and we were told to go wait in the dining room.  Me and my brother were sitting on the fancy stools at the bar table and i remember 2 of the most fantastic dressed ladies I have ever seen.  It was like a typical stereotype French woman.  Tall, thin, fitted blazer coat and pencil skirt, HIGH HIGH stilettos.  There were sitting at a table with what i assume were their husbands and i remember that both husbands were eating a large lunch, steak and potatoes and salads, and the women...nothing.....they were smoking... and smoking...and smoking.... I had never seen 2 fancy stunning ladies smoke so much in my life.  My family decided to take a walk and find the Eiffel tower (spoiler alert - famous almost kidnapped story approaching)  So we walk out of the hotel all 4 of us and parked on the street directly in front of the hotel was a large dark car, like a sedan of some sort, the windows were so darkly tinted, you couldn't even tell if someone was inside. As we walked by the driver window went down and I only saw a forehead and eyes.  Now keep in mind I was your age, 13 ish, thought I KNEW EVERYTHING, so i stared and then kept walking with my parents.  About half way down the street my father tells me to run back and grab a map from the hotel concierge .  So I go skipping down the street minding my own business, now the window of that very dark sedan was scrolling down and a man leans out the window.  He calls to me in french - yea no idea what he said- again I had attitude so I shot the old man a dirty look and went into the hotel and got my map.  When I walked out of the hotel I saw Mr Sedan get out of his car and lean on the door as I was walking out. He started hollering at me in French - yea still don't know what you are saying buddy- but I am definitely worried now.  He starts walking towards me like he was gonna grab my arm and I take of running.  Assuming I was going to see my father waiting on the corner- like he said- yea he was not there.  I panicked and ran faster and found they had walked around the corner. I told my dad what had happened - his response -  "It was probably nothing.|"  We saw the Eiffel tower, where we were almost robbed by gypsys,  I saw the Notre Dame Cathedral and even checked out Mona Lisa!  I am sure I could go on for days about Italy, Spain and Portugal of course, But I will save all that for another day!  I cant wait to read about your vacations.