Remember, be kind to yourself

Posted on April 10, 2019 by dlbowes

Throughout my years as a teacher I have found that I am often learning as much from my students as they are from me. Working with the youngest students at KCS I am continuously taught to enjoy the little things in life. To appreciate the first snowfall of the year, and the second, and the third, to revel at the intricacies of an insect’s body, and see the beauty in every flower or weed. However, the biggest lesson I have learned came from a group of students I do not often see.

This year the grade 4s have been amazing anti-bullying heroes (as deemed by Mrs. Drummond). Recently they were visited by Jason from MLSE (Community, Alumni & Educational Program Specialist, Toronto Argonauts) for a pre-assembly workshop for the upcoming Huddle Up assembly. He spoke to them about how being proud of who you are and being part of a strong community helps to deter and diffuse bullying.

Out of this conversation came a great initiative from the grade 4s. They asked that each person in the school make their own trading card. This card would have a list of two to five positive qualities about yourself along with a picture. Once done you could show others your card in the hall, at lunch, or during recess.

Dbowes

As I sat down to complete this task I realized that bullying is not just an external force. That more often than not it can be an internal one. We often think of a bully as someone else who may say or do things to hurt us. We don’t often consider the fact that we can be our own bullies.

If asked to write a list of positive qualities for anyone here at KCS I wouldn’t skip a beat. I could rhyme off a number of things without hesitation. However, when it came time to write my own list I sat there for a very long time considering what to write. It wasn’t because I thought there were too many things to choose from. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I had no idea what to write. Ultimately, being a huge Harry Potter fan I went with some qualities used to describe my Hogwarts House.

Once again I ended up learning just as much from the students as they do from me. Whether intentional or not, the grade 4s have taught me that I need to stop being my own bully, and remember to be kinder to myself. This is a lesson I will take with me through the good days and the bad and I will be forever grateful to a group of 8 and 9 year olds for teaching me this very valuable lesson.

My Blue is Happy

Posted on February 8, 2017 by dlbowes

My sister says that blue is sad, like a lonely song, but my blue is happy like my favourite jeans and a splash in the pool on a hot day.

This is the opening line in the book My Blue is Happy by Jessica Young. A lyrical ode to colours and the unique way we as individuals perceive them.

We have been working hard with the JKs this year to help them recognize the many different emotions they experience throughout the day. We want to teach them to recognize when they are feeling happy, sad, frustrated, worried, calm or silly. We want to teach them that it is okay to have these feelings, and give them the resources and strategies to help regulate them.

It was on a day like any other that we decided to read, My Blue is Happy. As I sat there reading, I didn’t know how much it would mean to the JKs sitting, listening so quietly on the carpet, or to be honest how much it would affect me.

We live in a world that is so rich with colour I think sometimes we forget to appreciate it. Eventually each colour seems to bleed into the next, and before you know it when you think of colour you think of them as society has inadvertently taught you to: “I’m green with envy”, “I feel blue”, “I’m so angry I see red!” and so on. When you really think about it, it is actually quite sad.

So, when the story was finished we asked our students to close their eyes and think of a colour and how it makes them feel. The next day we read the story again and afterwards put on quiet music, and put out white paper and watercolour paints. We asked them to explore with the colours, and to think about how they felt with each colour they used.

Afterwards one student told me “blue makes me feel like an ocean; calm and relaxed”. Another told me that green makes them feel brave. Each student saw these colours in a way completely unique to them.

My hope for my students is that they never stop appreciating the beauty that is around them, and that they never stop seeing these colours in the way that is meaningful to them.

It was later that day as I sat in the hall waiting for one of my students to wash their hands that I found myself staring out the window, watching the snow falling and thought:

My white is peaceful, like slowly falling snow and clouds floating across the sky.

I encourage you to close your eyes now and think of a colour. Do you have one? Good! Now tell me, how does it make you feel?

Nervous for Nothing

Posted on September 30, 2014 by dlbowes

Starting a new job is not easy. In fact, it is often nerve-racking. Like those “minor-niner” days in high school, you’re beginning a new chapter in your life, one that you’ve been preparing for, but still feel completely unfamiliar with. A number of thoughts run through your head: “Will I make new friends?” “I hope I don’t get lost!” “Am I going to embarrass myself?”

I have always been a nervous person. In school, when I had to do a presentation, I would shake so much that eventually the notes in my hands would become useless. I can assure you that these feelings didn’t subside as I grew older. All this being said, I’m sure you can imagine the state I was in leading up to my first day at KCS.

I will tell you now that all those nerves were unnecessary.

I was told how great KCS was before I started. This is not surprising as they wanted me to join their community. Imagine my surprise when all those amazing things I had heard turned out to be true and not just a clever ploy to get me to say yes.

Every staff member has been so welcoming and supportive, and they’ve done this in a way that doesn’t emphasize the fact that I’m new. If I didn’t know any better I would think I had been here for a couple years, not a couple weeks. The students, although many of them are not familiar with my face, have been nothing but polite and respectful. I think we all know how impressive this is. We were all students once, and likely ready to test the new/substitute teachers.

I can honestly say looking back at all the jobs that I’ve had that I have never felt more comfortable, more welcomed, more appreciated, and more excited to wake up in the morning than I have at KCS. This school is special, and I am so excited to be a part of the community!

Diana Bowes
Teacher, Early Learning Program