Field Trip

So today we took a field trip to Ten Thousand Villages and JustUs Coffee. I wanted my students to see Fair Trade in practical terms.

It was great. We managed to ride the TTC without any problems. I had a dream the night before that I had lost all my students in Toronto. Thank goodness that not all dreams come true...

I found out from one of the mom's on the trip that her sons' project (truth about cocoa production) has changed the way they shop. They are no longer having Nestle products (huge company that deals with many foods) in their house anymore. They are focusing on Fair Trade shopping now. It is really kind of cool.

Watch what you buy

Here's some facts that have been submitted from my students's projects:

Child Labour
"There are 218 million children around the world that are forced to work in terrible conditions. Children can range from 4 years old to 17 years old. Some 4 year olds get tied to rug loom so that they can't escape. These children have to work in dangerous conditions....Child labour is very serious but some people don't take it very seriously. It damages our world because these kids are innocent and are the world's future."


Sweatshops
"Sweatshops are shops where people have to work very long hours in very hard work...there is very crowded work conditions. The sweatshop workesr aren't allowed to sue the bathroom and if the sweatshop masters let the workesr use the bathroom if their daily quota is completed on the daring workers will use the bathrooms."

"They are not allowed to take sufficient breaks to drink water or relieve themselves, resulting in seomtiems fatal kidney problems....Paid $2-3 a day, barely enough to pay for the worker's daily food and transportation in many countries. Penalized or fired if they refuse to work overtime shifts of up to 20 hours. Coerced into signing up for a factor's official and phony union."

"People in sweatshops get no breaks so they are forced to wear diapers so they won't have to leave to go to the bathroom."

Thursday

The first day of winter - and I got a snow day. Honestly, I never thought I'd get a snow day in the city...thank you freezing rain.

Now I can redo all my report cards.

Ponderings amongst the happenings

Lately, things have been moving quite quickly in a new direction for me. I've started to become very involved in a teen mom's program. Some of the girls have actually come over for dinner and have attended church with me. It makes me wonder what vocational direction God is taking me in.

I find that there's a desire in me for something, but I don't understand it. I don't know what the burden is pulling me towards or how it will all work it. Yet I feel it so heavy at times and so exciting at other times. It's very strange. I'm confused but anticpating something at the same time. It's like God is giving me a strange calling and asking me to trust Him about it all in the same feeling. It could be that I continue teaching and volunteer on the side; or it could be something I have to take more seriously. It's tough sometimes just to wait it out and let God direct. I'm such a planner and organizer that I try to apply that to my life as well; but I feel like God keeps telling me to just wait upon Him.

So wait I must (isn't a fruit of the spirit patience?) Here's to seeing what happens.

Strange Week

This week was a very interesting week for me.

Monday: normal school day. I am a teacher right?

Tuesday: Coached senior boy's volleyball team so I was off to Georgetown for the day. I was so proud of my boys. They really stepped up and we had a fantastic day. We may not have won any games, but we battled hard and came close.

Wednesday: Field trip with Grade 7 to the Zoo. What beautiful animals God has created (and ugly ones too). The creativity is awe-inspiring. My students were amazing, and it was a wonderful day.

Thursday: No school due to plumbing problems. I went in and worked all day in the quiet of my classroom. It's funny, because the day before I was feeling slightly stressed about all I had to do and then the "no-school" annoucement came on 5 minutes later....God provides in the weirdest ways.

Friday: Had a meeting with Toronto City Mission about a teen mom's program. Went to Walmart with a teen mom, her friend and sister, and the little boy. And will be babysit the little boy tonight. Ah, my passion is ignited once again.

Surprise Visit

I had the best surprise visit today. My dad and brother randomly showed up at my school at lunchtime today. Apparently my brother was looking at used cars in my neighbourhood so they dropped in. They totally took me by surprised, and I almost started crying (oh, how I love my family).
I can use this type of crying anyday.

School Projects

I assigned my students a new project today. I wasn't really sure how it would go but I'm kind of excited about the response.

We've been studying Canada and it's trading partners. I decided to educate my students on what goes on in the world in the backgrounds of trade. So, I created a research project where they were assigned one of these topics: sweatshops, cocoa production, child labour, fair trade, conflict diamonds, or sugar cane production.

My students were really surprised. I even heard them say "wow, we're learning things about the world." Their response to things that Nestle, Walmart, and Nike are doing around the world was intense. It'll be neat to see where this project takes them.