Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, where the weather has taken a turn toward fall, and we've had our first frost.
My week has been occupied with work. Tuesday was a special treat as I was asked to provide a workshop for a group of secretaries from First Nations' schools. These particular schools fall within a group called Private Inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Education. This means that they are provincial schools—as opposed to the many First Nations' schools that are federally funded—so they fall under provincial mandates. Despite that (imagine this!) they were overlooked during the initiation of the MISA (Managing Information for Student Achievement) program that I've been part of for the last three years. Belatedly, it seems, the Ministry has turned its attention in their direction. Thus, last spring, they sent out a delegation from the capital to bring these benighted souls up to speed! After this was evaluated as an unmitigated disaster (although the presenters felt it went well—no questions were asked!), local officials began looking around for an alternative solution. In due course, they called and, always being the sucker for a lost cause, I accepted. It turned out well. My relationship with OnSIS, forged in fire, proved fruitful in getting practice userids for them, so they could actually get on line and practise the skills we wanted them to learn (what a concept!). Naturally, a once-shot attempt won't be enough, so we shall see whether this opens up other opportunities. I also worked three days as Territorial Student counsellor, so it was a full week.
Thursday morning greeted us with a frost, so we had to complete the tomato harvest. We now have tomatoes ripening at various spots around the kitchen! We also harvested one of the pumpkins (we don't really know what they are, but they were advertised as pumpkins) and I'm enjoying devouring some delicious pumpkin loaves (they taste a lot like pumpkin loaves!).
I have also come down with a cold, so I'm currently working to overcome that before we head out to Savant Lake for a week of teaching. Wendy will join me on that adventure next week.
Wendy has continued with her usual activities including job hunting, wall-paper scraping, exercising and taking care of the rest of us. Erin & Kristian have continued to do well. Travis continues with work, school and hockey—the NHL season has started!
And that's about it for this week.
My week has been occupied with work. Tuesday was a special treat as I was asked to provide a workshop for a group of secretaries from First Nations' schools. These particular schools fall within a group called Private Inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Education. This means that they are provincial schools—as opposed to the many First Nations' schools that are federally funded—so they fall under provincial mandates. Despite that (imagine this!) they were overlooked during the initiation of the MISA (Managing Information for Student Achievement) program that I've been part of for the last three years. Belatedly, it seems, the Ministry has turned its attention in their direction. Thus, last spring, they sent out a delegation from the capital to bring these benighted souls up to speed! After this was evaluated as an unmitigated disaster (although the presenters felt it went well—no questions were asked!), local officials began looking around for an alternative solution. In due course, they called and, always being the sucker for a lost cause, I accepted. It turned out well. My relationship with OnSIS, forged in fire, proved fruitful in getting practice userids for them, so they could actually get on line and practise the skills we wanted them to learn (what a concept!). Naturally, a once-shot attempt won't be enough, so we shall see whether this opens up other opportunities. I also worked three days as Territorial Student counsellor, so it was a full week.
Thursday morning greeted us with a frost, so we had to complete the tomato harvest. We now have tomatoes ripening at various spots around the kitchen! We also harvested one of the pumpkins (we don't really know what they are, but they were advertised as pumpkins) and I'm enjoying devouring some delicious pumpkin loaves (they taste a lot like pumpkin loaves!).
I have also come down with a cold, so I'm currently working to overcome that before we head out to Savant Lake for a week of teaching. Wendy will join me on that adventure next week.
Wendy has continued with her usual activities including job hunting, wall-paper scraping, exercising and taking care of the rest of us. Erin & Kristian have continued to do well. Travis continues with work, school and hockey—the NHL season has started!
And that's about it for this week.
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