Worldly Wednesday Whoopsie!

I'm so sorry that I didn't manage to get my Worldly Wednesday post up this morning! I haven't been sleeping well (moving across the ocean is turning out to be a pretty stressful ordeal), and so I wasn't able to post this morning.

What I would like to do instead, is to have Worldly Wednesday on Thursday this week. For those of you who had ideas ready to post today, Im sorry, but perhaps you'll still consider linking up with me tomorrow. For those of you who didn't have anything for Worldly Wednesday, now you have a whole extra day to think up something super awesome to share with us!

Again, I am super sorry for not posting the next chapter in my Ecuador story (stay tuned though, it's pretty good!). I will leave you with a picture of my half packed mess of a suitcase! (It's getting there!)

I hope you all had an amazing Wednesday, and I hope to see your beautiful links tomorrow!

Worldly Wednesday: Link Up and Ecuador Part 1

Hello internet friends old and new, this week I am proud to present my very first link-up!

I want to know what all of you are up to! Where have you been, where are you going soon, where do you live, what's on your bucket list? These are just some ideas of what you can share in this link-up. 

Myself, I plan on taking the next three weeks divulging the details of my trip to Ecuador (there is much too much to tell in just one blog post). I've planned it perfectly so that once I'm finished my three part share, I will be ready to write my very first England post! 

I can't wait to read about your travels and hometowns!

We left on February 10th, a couple days after a major snow storm in Southern Ontario. We were concerned that our plane would be delayed because of all the cancelled flights from the previous day. Luckily, our plane was running on schedule (despite having to wait to have the wings de-iced, and wait our turn on the runway - only a few of the runways were up and running, the others were still being snow plowed). Here we are flying over Toronto.

Here's home for the next two night! The Hotel San Francisco de Quito. The first night we stayed here I was super sick with altitude sickness, but it cleared up the next day. One of the best things about travelling in Ecuador was all of the fresh fruit juices that we were given. Our first morning we had the most delicious mora (blackberry) juice!  

Our first day in Ecuador we went on a city tour of the capital city we were staying in, Quito. Our tour guide dressed in traditional Quichua (the indigenous people) clothing and taught us about the indigenous roots of the city. The city (and much of Ecuador) is very mountainous, and so many houses are built up the sides of hills making it look like they are stacked upon each other. There is hardly any wasted land space here.

This statue was in the middle of the city square. This is where the Presidential Palace is located. While we were in Ecuador an election took place. The day that we were in the square there was a protest taking place. In Ecuador, as long as the protesters are peaceful the president will come out and speak with them personally. Also, in Ecuador voting is mandatory - and you must return to your hometown to complete it (a number of our tour guides/facilitotors had to take a couple days to go home and vote before returning to us). When you vote, you are given a paper document to say that you did so. This paper is required in order to rent/buy a home, rent/buy a car, and a number of other things that a person may find important to do between elections.

This is a large Roman Catholic church that was built during the Spanish conquest. It is enormous and the architecture is stunning. However, this building was unfortunately built on top of traditional Quichua religious grounds. This was purposely done by the Spanish in order to 'encourage' the indigenous people to quit their own religious practices and take up Roman Catholicism.  

Here, our tour guide is showing us a traditional Quichua home. The floor where we were standing showed a perfectly accurate map of Quito at the time of conquest. It is constructed completely out of pieces of carved wood.

This statue is called 'La Virgen', and is modelled after the apocalyptic virgin from the Bible. She stands on the hillside facing down towards Quito.

Here I am standing in a church courtyard. We had to climb a VERY steep street to reach this point. I think that all of us Canadians (who were still adjusting to the altitude) had a pretty hard time of it. While we were in Ecuador, Carnivale was going on. While we were walking the streets of Quito, children were spraying foam at us with delight.

I took this picture on our way up to our picnic lunch at Itchinbia Park.

This is the grassy area of Itchinbia Park where we sat to eat our picnic lunch. Can you tell it's going to rain soon? The building pictured is called the 'Crystal Palace' and is rented out for big events.

The view from Itchinbia Park.

Here I am at the equator! One foot in the southern hemisphere, and one in the northern. We went to the Equator Museum and had the opportunity to see some awesome science experiments that only work at the equator. For example, being able to balance an egg on a nail, watching water swirl different ways going down a drain (it's not just a myth!) as well as the water going straight down on the equator. Some other facts about the equator include: you are 2 lbs. lighter standing on the equator, and you have less strength.

Here I am with my friend standing on the roof of our hotel. If you look closely you can see 'La Virgen' in the background on the hill.

This next set of photos were taken on our bus ride from Quito to the Amazon. (Roughly 7 hours)

 We saw so many stray dogs in Ecuador (hardly any cats though).

When we reached the peak of this mountain we saw locals taking pictures of themselves with the snow. To them this was a lot of snow.

Cows being herded down the street.

We were delayed a few hours due to construction. We got out of the bus and played some 'camp games' (this one was finger fencing). The locals and construction workers who were also waiting to get through the road thought this was hilarious.

We are finally on the boats to take us to Minga lodge in the Amazon rainforest! (The sun was setting fast)

That's all for today! Next week I will share my jungle adventures with you!

I hope you all have a Worldly Wednesday and link-up with me!

A Tale of Student Teaching Linky Party

Today I am linking up with Ash from The Polished Teacher (I should have grabbed that name, I'm infamous for my nail art - which my students check out on a regular basis) for her Link-Up:

Having just completed teachers college myself, I feel that I am quite qualified to recount my own tales of student teaching (which only ended a few months ago!) The problem now is trying to decide which memories to share!!

Hopefully you can read that. The advice is a little blurry so I'll copy it here:
Collect resources, materials, and ideas! Ask teachers for copies of activities, write down any ideas that you like. Take pictures of classroom set-ups!

So, teachers out there, how was your student teaching experience? I have so many more memories that I could share, but there's the top and the bottom for me.

Have a great day!

Worldly Wednesday: Kingston - And Link-Up Interest?

Hello!

It's time for another Worldly Wednesday.

So today I went out for lunch with Lisa from Grade 4 Buzz. We ate some delicious food then we went back to her house so I could meet Cassie the Kitten (as well as Rufus and Abby). They are such cute and sweet kitties! One of our students came by to visit us and the kitten, it was so good to see her, she's such a sweetie. After our little friend left, I was asking Lisa's advice on what to write about for my Worldly Wednesday post this week. She suggested that I should start a link-up so that I can see what all you other bloggers are doing around the world. So what do you think? You could write about the places you've been, the places you're excited to go to, the places on your bucket list, or your own hometown. Share a piece of the world with the blogging community. Please let me know if this is something you might be interested in in the comments.

Today I wanted to share with you some pictures from my hometown, Kingston. These pictures are from a trip Dearest Boyfriend and I took to the sugar bush in March.

Every spring a local conservation area holds Maple Madness, where people are welcome to visit the park (free of charge) and see how maple syrup is made. They have displays that go through history and show how sap collecting started (with the First Nations people) and how it has evolved since. They showed different ways of collecting sap and boiling it down. There is a path that takes you along in chronological order, ending with the most modern methods of sap collecting.

After watching how delicious maple syrup is created you can head on over to the pancake house where you can buy fluffy delicious pancakes slathered with real (fresh!) maple syrup. They are so delicious, plus you get to eat them at one of the picnic tables out in the forest! They also have syrup and maple candies for sale (Dearest Boyfriend being the maple syrup fiend he is had to buy some syrup to bring home!).

I hope you enjoy these pictures from our very (stereotypically) Canadian outing!

There was so much melt water this year that this little stream had expanded into the grass. There is still a tiny bit of snow, but it's mostly all melted.

Dearest Boyfriend on the tractor ride that took us out to the bush. We could have walked, but it was very very muddy.

Taking a look at the hollowed out trees that the First Nations people used to use to collect the sap from the Maple Trees. P.S. I got that purse in Ecuador!

The happy faces of two people who just thoroughly enjoyed some fluffy pancakes with fresh syrup in the middle of the forest. 

The hose system that modern maple syrup makers use to transport sap. The only problem that occurs with this system is that deer will occasionally knock the hoses down and break the line.

Large cauldron that used to be used to boil down sap.

Lots of running water in the spring time.

Sap collecting bucket.

There you have it! I hope you are all having a marvellous Wednesday. If you like the idea of a Worldly Wednesday Link-Up please don't forget to let me know and I'll try to get it up and running for next week! I'm thinking up ideas for a button (I'm not very artistic unfortunately), so check back later this week and I'll try to have something that you can share on your blogs to get the word out!

Check out my previous Worldly Wednesdays to get some more ideas!

 

Liebster Award!

Today I am sending out my gratitude to Katie over at Cowgill’s Corner for nominating me for the Liebster Award!

I’m very excited to be nominated for this award, as a new blogger. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of the supportive idea sharing community that teacher bloggers have created here.

To accept this nomination there are some things I have to do:
1. Link back to the blog that nominated me
2. Nominate 5 - 11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers
3. Answer the questions posted by my nominator
4. Share 11 random facts about myself
5. Create 11 questions for my nominees
6. Contact my nominees to let them know I nominated them

My nominations are:

Adelle at Primary Jungle

Becca at Kindergarten A to Z

Natalie at Sunny in Kindergarten

Nicci at Chalet Re

Erin at The E-Z Class

Now to answer the questions that were posted by my nominee:
1. When did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?

Like my nominee Katie, I can’t remember a point in my life where I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. Throughout my life I think I’ve just always known that I wanted to be a teacher. When we were younger my little sister and I used to play school with our Beanie Babies, I would even write out tests for them to write, and then grade them and put stickers on the papers.

2. What is your favorite vegetable?

This is a difficult question as there aren’t any vegetables I don’t like, but if I had to choose it would have to be cucumbers. They are just so delicious to have as a snack, I am really excited to pick some fresh ones from the garden this week!

3. Where do you like to go on vacation?

I like to go everywhere! I don’t get to go on vacation very often because I don’t have a lot of extra money. Most of my vacations have resulted from opportunities I’ve decided to cash in on and save up for. My goal is to eventually travel to every continent (except for Antarctica) and after I get to England I will only have 2 continents left! My big dream trip would be to Egypt, I have a slight obsession with the history there.

4. What is your favorite subject to teach?

My favourite subject to teach is Social Studies. As a history minor (and ancient culture enthusiast) I find the material very interesting and enjoyable, and I find that students get really into the topics. As well, there are a lot of fun interactive ways you can illustrate the topics (for example, during my grade four placement I put together a black plague simulation for my students learning about Medieval Times – they loved it!)

5. What is largest number of students you have had in one class?

When I taught for 3 weeks at a high school in Ecuador my classes had between 35-45 students in each class.

6. What made you decide to start blogging?

When I saw that my friend Lisa at Grade 4 Buzz had started a teaching blog, it made me realize that I have a unique and interesting story of my own to share with the blogging community.

7. Of the grades you've taught, which one is your favourite?

Grade 4! What a fun age!

8. What helps you unwind after a hard day?

Spending some quiet time by myself or cuddling up with understanding Dearest Boyfriend who is nice enough to give me shoulder massages!

9. If you could drive any car, what would it be?

A Robins Egg Blue Volkswagon Beetle!

10. Have you ever had a class pet? If so, what was it?

I’ve never had my own class, but I once did a placement in a class that had a Bearded Dragon for a class pet – her name was Lizzy. 11. If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be? Why?

Cleopatra VII, relating back to my slight obsession with Egyptian history! I find her life story very intriguing, I’ve read so many versions of it, I would just want to hear her side of things and learn the real truth.

11 Random Facts about Me:

1. My one and only little sister moved to Calgary in June and I miss her a lot
2. I’m both excited and terrified of leaving for England
3. I slipped a disc in my spine three years ago
4. I’ve been in three different continents
5. Dearest Boyfriend and I have been together for 5 ½ years and met while we were both in high school
6. I’ve lost 20 pounds since last September (it was 25, but then summer happened…)
7. I have a slight Hello Kitty obsession
8. I absolutely love horses, but I’m allergic to them
9. I lived with the same roommates throughout my undergraduate degree (I miss them!)
10. I took dance lessons for 14 years, 6 of those years I danced for my studios competitive team, and 2 of those years I myself taught lessons to children
11. I love online shopping (I think it’s fun receiving things in the mail!)

11 questions for my nominees:

1. Who has inspired you in your career?
2. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
3. What’s one piece of advice you would give to a new teacher?
4. What inspired you to start your blog?
5. What’s the most embarrassing/funny thing that’s happened to you in the classroom?
6. What’s your favourite chocolate bar?
7. If you could teach any grade, which would you choose? Why?
8. If you weren’t a teacher, what job do you think you’d do instead?
9. What has your best success in the classroom been?
10. In your opinion, what book should every teacher have on their shelves?
11. What do you like to do outside of school (hobby, sport, etc.)

Thank you again Katie for nominating me, and congratulations to my new nominees!

Monday Made It #2

Today I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my second Monday Made It!

I've finally completed my very own budget book! I'm currently obsessed with nautical designs (which I feel is appropriate because I am moving close to the ocean soon!).

Aren't they pretty?! I made a variety of cute pages, including ones the record my account balances for each month, with monthly titles. The content for my pretty pages is courtesy of I Neeta Good Clip, Clever Chameleon, and Collective Creation.

I'm super excited to get my pages printed off and start writing in it! Time to start saving up for travelling!

Happy Monday to you all, whether you're back to school or still enjoying your holiday!

Saturday Snapshots

Today I am linking up with Run! Miss Nelsons Got the Camera, for my very first Saturday Snapshots!

Here is me and Dearest Boyfriend at the Toronto Zoo! We went to see the Giant Pandas that are visiting from China.

Sleepy little panda!

Here is my best friend and myself after our graduation last June. My good friend Lisa from Grade 4 Buzz will not be surprised at my choice of footwear! (which I learned from my friend beside me as you can see)

Last but not least, here is a picture my Nanny captured of the hug my Mom gave me when I walked off the stage at my graduation. We were both crying.

That's all I have for you this week, in about 4 weeks I'll have some very exciting England photos to share!!!!

Have a great weekend!