This text is part of the Teachers’ Week special booklet
Projects chosen by the students, teamwork sometimes between classes, coeducation thanks to the involvement of parents at school, organization of festive activities: the proposal of the alternative primary school Rose-des-Vents, of the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), can make you dream. However, the pandemic has come to seriously complicate things. But it didn’t stop the teachers from motivating the students and creating a bit of magic along the way!
“Children are confined by bubble-class and in a single room, and parents can no longer come to class to lend a hand in carrying out projects: there are many constraints with the pandemic and, last spring , we found that the children deserved something special, something that would make them happy,” says Caroline Tardif, teacher for levels 4, 5 and 6 at the Rose-des-Vents alternative primary school.
This is how she decided to organize a party thanks to a measure present in the government budget to enhance well-being in schools. “It is certain that there were many constraints, so the organization required time and a lot of adaptation, but we took up the challenge by looking at what was possible to do in the context”, says the teacher.
His colleagues from the teaching staff, the administration, the special education technician, the parents: several people pushed the wheel to create a party in the schoolyard, where the students were all together while respecting their class bubble.
An inflatable play structure was rented, a dad took care of the cotton candy machine and the school principal even lent himself to the game of throwing the cream pie. Sure, there were masks and a ton of sanitizer, but also, lots of fun. “It was truly a magical day,” says Caroline Tardif. When children are allowed to have fun, business less fun go better afterwards. »
healthy projects
It’s a bit like the concept of this alternative school, where the students carry out six projects per year. “If the children don’t like to write, they like to write when they carry out a project that they have chosen,” remarks the teacher.
For example, before the Christmas holidays this year, the students decided to hold a Christmas market in the schoolyard, so that the parents could participate.
“We did research on Christmas markets around the world, and the students had to learn to work together, to seek consensus,” says the teacher.
They made all kinds of things to sell in the market: traditional food, decorations, body products. They had to fix the selling prices. The students also did some research to find an organization to donate the money raised to, and their choice fell on the Montreal Children’s Hospital thanks to its Long Live the Tanners campaign. “Between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., we raised $950 from the sale of our products,” proudly states Ms.me Tardif, who has taught at this school for 32 years.
Before the opening of the Christmas market, the music teacher also came out with his keyboard and got all the students in the school to sing.
“We needed to get together, adds M.me Late. This project was stimulating and it reinforced the feeling of belonging to the school. »
“I really have an extraordinary team, which does not count its hours to give the maximum to the students”, underlines Isabelle Di Torre Filion who, after having been a teacher at the alternative primary school Rose-des-Vents for a long time, is now the director.
A cohesive team
Beautiful projects and beautiful celebrations do not, however, prevent teachers, who have been asked to make constant changes since March 2020, from being tired. “Before the pandemic, there were always a few parents in class to help during the period devoted to the project, says the director. Now the teachers are alone with this immense burden. But we adapted. More work is now being asked to be done at home, and the parents are very understanding. Some even sometimes help by Zoom. »
Even if we often hear about a shortage of professionals in the schools, the director specifies that help is still there. “The CSSDM offered us resources to help our teachers in the classroom, such as educational consultants, remedial teachers and occupational therapists. »
And above all, the teaching team is tightly knit. “We meet often, there are a lot of exchanges, says the director. We try to highlight the good moves and, if a teacher is having more difficulty at a certain moment, we support them more. The team is really united, very united. It’s as if, because we’re together, we feel less tired. »