As Summer proresses our minds turn to thoughts of ...snow?

Okay not seriously snow, but as I have been sitting in my patio swing enjoying the 30+ temps this month I have been thinking of the far north and my grade 3 class in September. I have been home only a month and I have to already have to start thinking about packing all over again to head up North.
Perhaps I am a bit my OCD when it comes to preparing for the trip back, but I like to make sure I have everything I need packed and ready long before I need to leave. I will inevitably pack and repack my bins several times in an attempt to get as much as possible in before I leave on September 3rd. I know crazy right, but once you are up there that's it if i forget my DVD player it means less entertainment for me on those long fall nights. Its not like I can nip to the store and get one...okay I could ; but the dang thing would cost me close to 60 bucks for something I can get for 30 here.
So when I should be lying in my patio swing enjoying the last 4 weeks of summer I will be running about obsessing over my packing. Maybe I need some perspective, after all i will be home for the Thanksgiving weekend so if i missed anything i can take it back then....but I know as sensible as I know that is i will remain obsessed for the next 4 weeks. Well all i can say is, those of you who don't have to think about packing to head off 500+ miles from home for work....enjoy the rest of summer and think of me now and again!

Home Again

Well it has been awhile since I posted and that is because, as all trachers know, the last ew weeks of school is like the last leg of a road race. You are simply focused on crossing that finish line. For those of us working in the north its more than just report cards, IPRC meetings, classroom parties and playday. We have a bit more involved.
Indeed all teachers must clean the room and pack away much of thier stuff, in the Web we have to lock away much of the items we leave behind so that it is there in September when we return. And this year it almost feels like I may not see my stuff again. I am not overly concerned about the classroom items, but more importantly the personal items from my teacherage I had to pack up and leave locked in the school.
Okay I know you are saying, "Don't worry its locked in the school", However in the last month of school we discovered that if the students want to get inside bad enough they will find away. One time they used and axe, the second time the simply kicked in the glass on the bottom of the door. Our Operations and Matience guys were preparing the school for "LOCKDOWN" as they brought out the dozens of sheets of plywood that they secure over every door and window. Yet, this dose not set my mind at ease and in fact makes me even more uneasy. As the students have recently taken to trying to set fire to the wooden clap board siding on the school. This nice dry plywood will be the perfect fuel if they decided to set it on fire over the summer. I just hope the volunteer fire crews will be able to save the school, as last summer kids set fire to the old Community Hall, and it burned right to the ground.
Teachers in the regular school systems don't have to worry about such things, although there are incidents of valndalism and a fire could easily be set. Here in civilization they can count on the Police and Fire department to respond quickly and to even deter some acitivity. In the Web it rarely happens that there are consequences for acts of violence or vandalism.
Well here is to hoping that there is a school when I get back there in September!
Happy Canada Day friends!