A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime

I was first introduced to this poem during a Horticultural Therapy training session I attended a few years ago. This poem has stayed with me over the years. I have recently thought about it in the context of one of my previous students now suffering from ALS. While she only attended school for one year, she was quite a bright woman. She took her time learning a skill or a topic, but once she understood it, she remembered it for a long time. In a recent visit to her in her home we were talking about what a great memory she has. She beamed as this trait was recognized by me and her family members. I am quite sad that she will no longer be able to attend school; however, I am grateful that she did experience the successes and growth that she did while in my class. I have not decided where she fits in the classifications of this poem, but she has definitely changed me and my life.

A Reason, a Season or a Lifetime


People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

— Unknown

Mum Show

As summer air turns cool, mums start showing their colours in our gardens. Many houses in the neighbourhood around school have these little bursts of colour that last long into the fall months. Recognizing these flowers and seasonal importance of them can be a lot of fun.  Going for colour-hunt walks or taking a trip to the local Mum Show are two ways to celebrate the beauty of the changing seasons.

For the past few years my students and I have taken a local bus to visit the Mum Show at a greenhouse downtown. The Mum Show displays a variety of colours and species of mums - much more than the usual garden varieties we see around town. There is also a year-round tropical greenhouse. Students always bring their cameras and take many beautiful pictures of themselves, their friends and the flowers.

The tropical greenhouse houses many plants from countries my students are from. There are birds, geckos, fish and a turtle. The humidity in the room, the fresh air, and sound of the flowing water make for a relaxing and peaceful environment. This provides an opportunity to reconnect with the nature that is familiar.

My students use the time at the greenhouse to explore and experience it alone or with their peers. In my mind, it is such a great opportunity to experience a part of our city - a part that they may have never heard of or seen before. The actual structured language aspect comes afterwards in class. This year, I also wandered alone through the greenhouses snapping shots such as the ones below to use as the language focus the following day in class.

With these photos we reviewed the names of the colours (red, yellow, pink, etc.) and put them in sentences such as, "I see red flowers", and so on. From there, we sequenced the photos in a wall pocket chart, wrote sentences, matched the sentences and copied them onto small sentence strips. Students then created books for this story. 

Outcomes: name colours, sequence pictures from top to bottom and left to right, read words, copy words from a distance, listen to and follow instructions.

Leaf Rubbings

What would the fall be without making leaf rubbings? I have done this on my own and with my students for many years. I have a pretty good stash of leaves collected that I reuse, but I am finding that over time they dry out and get brittle. I will have to replace them next year - maybe we'll have to go on a leaf walk!

This year, I finally realized how to overcome the struggle of the leaves moving under the paper while we colour on top. The solution??? Tape! Yes, tape the stem of the leaf (vein side up) to the paper. That way, the leaf will not slide around and the tape does not show. This makes for a much easier time in doing the leaf rubbing and you will have one solid line for the edges.

I encourage my students to be creative in the colours they choose. They do not need to stay with the tried and true fall colours of red, yellow, orange and brown. Many beautiful leaves were made with blues and purples too.

Outcomes: listen to and follow instructions, name colours, cut out shapes using scissors.

When we each finished 3-4 leaves, we cut them out and taped them up on the walls around the classroom. This adds a great fall feel to the room, as well as some colour, and amazing student work!

Leaf Walk

In the beautiful fall air, it is such a nice treat to go outside for a walk especially when the sun is shining. With worksheets in hand, my students and I went out for a scavenger hunt for specific numbers and colours of leaves. We walked to a park close to our school, shuffled through the leaves, selected the right colours and amounts, and headed back to the school to debrief about our findings. 

Outcomes: Listen to and follow instructions, read common nouns, read and understand descriptive adjectives, count items, orally describe items found.

The handout that we used was a bit challenging for my foundation level students. I would adapt it by making a simple chart with one column for the colour, and one column for the number of leaves wanted. 

Upon returning to the classroom, there was some debate as to exactly what colour some leaves were - was it really red, or was it more of an orange? Was it orange or really a yellow? While the answer does not really matter, the language that came out of this discussion was excellent. 

A great follow-up activity would be to do leaf rubbings (see up-coming posting). In the spring, you could a similar activity with colours of flowers or shapes of leaves (e.g. maple versus oak, etc).

Birdfeeders

As the temperatures drop and my students learn language for describing the weather, I wanted to do an activity that builds cultural knowledge and interest of the changing seasons. Growing up, my father always had the bird-feeder full and birds visited all winter long. Now that I have my own house, I have also taken up this seasonal activity with my own family. We love watching the birds and squirrels and trying to identify what species they are. 

Inspired by this link, I opted for 500 mL milk cartons, colourful paper, popsicle sticks, and non-toxic paint. To water-proof the bird-feeders somewhat we covered them in packing tape. We used popsicle sticks for the perch as well. They have held up quite well over the past few weeks.

Before we started making this project, I explained to my students that the snow is coming and covers up food available to the birds to eat. It is good to provide the birds with healthy food to help them through the snowy winter. We looked at pictures of local birds and discussed the ones that the students had already seen in our area. I am planning on printing pictures of the birds and labelling them once birds actually show up to eat! This will continue developing their vocabulary. 

Outcomes: listen to and follow instructions, review and talk about colours, develop fine motor skills used in cutting, taping and gluing. 

After we constructed these feeders, we walked along-side our building and hung them on the chain-link fence outside our classroom window. This was quite a funny experience as we stopped at all the windows and waved at all the students in their classes along the way.

My students really enjoyed the process of making these bird-feeders. For some students, it was the first time they had used the tools required (i.e. scissors, glue, tape). Unfortunately, we have not had any visitors yet! However, the snow is coming and we are ready for them!