I just wanted to share that I really miss the Aboriginal Perspective on things. I miss helping First Nations children feel good and knowledgeable about who they are, and where they come from. At the high school it is extremely difficult to engage the Cree and Dene students because they are only a small percentage of the population. This is certainly the case for my classes. A lot of Metis students in attendance. At least one is confused about who they are; I know this because of how the student quietly ridiculed the ways of being Cree. I can only hope to model that being from both worlds is a real good thing. Or else I fear that some may grow up feeling and being only half of who they are. I know my journey has only started.

In a classroom with 30 plus diverse students, it is impossible to give each student an amount of time that he or she truly deserves. To alleviate this concern in lieu of my struggling few, I am keen to frequently check with the targeted learner's progress with the lesson. I think of my kids in terms of ratios I must use to keep each learner moving along with the lesson. For instance there are a few students who will need three or four checks or corrections per step in the lesson. Others might only need one check or correction during the lesson. This distribution has been my experience while at RD Parker. Regardless, at some point during the early part of the lesson I make sure to acknowledge each student by letting them know I am happy to see them and to thank them when they are on time; tardiness is a real issue. This is despite anticipatory activities like a quick review of last day's lesson. Perhaps more weight can be applied to the marks given for the anticipatory 'carrot'. Most likely my carrots were not sweet enough. Next time I will have to adopt better ways of capturing student attention.

My Mentor Mandy Womboldt is a grand veteran. She is a most responsive teacher who practices differentiated instruction in the classroom. In the classroom there are three people with different learning needs. One student is supposed to be in the EBD Support Classroom but there was no funding to hire a resource teacher for one student. So my Mentor was charged with addressing the learning needs of someone with severe ADHD and OCD. These might be nothing more than labels because there does exist some speculation about whether or not the conditions actually continue to manifest or if they are some sort of 'crutch' the student relies on. While this last remark reflects what teachers discuss to understand the learning needs of individual students, it is ultimately a conjecture and not in any way some vain attempt at diagnosis. I realize that as teachers we are not licensed psychologists so in no way am I remotely making some kind of claim.

At every turn I have tried to incorporate the advice my Mentor has proffered. The language of her tutelage is forwardly plain but tactically and strategically advantageous. For example, she as given me keenness for cutting my evening workload. During our study of the novel, Of Mice and Men, my "Novel Pack" was a series of vocabulary and comprehension questions for each chapter. With six chapters the "Novel Pack" weighed in at being out of 531 marks! "Too many to count," is what my Mentor said. She advised me that such a workload would lead to teacher fatigue or burnout in a very short while. Being keen to a long career of teaching I elected to trim my assignments. And despite such modifications to my procedure I am still charged with marking at least 50 pieces of student work each night. On top of this there is planning to be done. So I have been required to spend many late night hours learning how to help people learn how to learn. I do not regret any of it. I love always thinking about my next step. I hope that with time I will get as efficient at managing workload as my Mentor. I know that it will take me a long time to get as proficient as her at teaching.

There are only two days left and a whole future ahead for me and my family. I just wanted to share with you that I have been listening all this time. For the past two years I have enjoyed your wisdom and experience with teaching. I think the one real lesson you taught me--among a plenitude of others--was that I really needed to be a listener rather than always the one who speaks. Thank you, Dr. Firman, for tempering my edge.

For Buddy, I just wanted to say that your philosophies have taught me to love myself. It is through your teachings have I become whole again. How do you repay someone for that kind of gift?

Thank you--both of you--for all your support and guidance along the way.

Yours truly,

Leighton Wensley