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Friday and the Red Flag Fleet

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I lost myself in thinking ‘bout
That Red Flag Pirate fleet,
The captives taken to their ship
And trials they might meet.

I know ‘bout probability
Their chances di’n’t look great
Lingsi seemed sure to farkle* once
That sailor dropped that crate.

She risked it all; she summoned up
What courage she could find.
Surprised that dreaded pirate queen
With powers of her mind.

What lesson do you take from her?
That queen knew to take heed.
There’s nothing quite so valuable
As knowing how to read!

*Farkle is a game of chance played with dice in which to Farkle means getting a bad roll causing the player to lose points and lose their turn.

I look forward to seeing eveyone’s reaction to the story, your writing, your videos and all your efforts from this week (which is quickly passing by!).

Enjoy the poem in the video below (you should recognise the meter!), and spend some time on some poetry you might include in a card on Sunday.

May the Force Be With You

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I know not everyone is a huge Star Wars fan, and I cannot say I have kept up with every single one of the latest releases, but I always liked the way that benediction, “May the Force be with you,” could so easily and widely be offered and accepted as a kind wish and gesture of good will. So I offer it to you all today (whether you are busting out your action figures or not).

Speaking of messages carrying good will and hope, I hope that everyone enjoyed attending our Celebration of Learning Assembly (online or virtual edition) and seeing the message from our school staff Friday. Do go back and check it out if you haven’t (or watch it again!).

As students look at assigned activities for this week, you’ll see that we will be taking on some longer projects and branching out into developing some aditional skills (How are you with video?). We will talk about these more at our weekly Tuesday morning Teams meeting when I’ll also discuss some additional meeting times as ways we can connect more often.

Is it Mayday or May Day?

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May 1, 2020

What is the difference whether you write “mayday” or “May Day”? What do these terms mean? (Sometimes, a missing space or capital letter matters much to your meaning!)

I do have a couple of activities to assign today (including some fascinating photos to check out), and Fridays are good days to look back and make sure everything is done & caught up. It would be nice to have a larger collection of Hearts for Healthcare Workers to display. Please submit a picture of yours to me today. Remember that students can meet with me in Microsoft Teams this morning before 11:30 AM.

I’ve been enjoying reading some interesting story endings; make sure you’ve submitted yours before today is done.

And make sure to check the school Web site this afternoon for our (virtual) April Celebration of Learning Assembly and a special note from all our school staff.

May is on the way

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April 30th

To say that we are doing many things differently these days is a gross understatement! Before going to explore activites I’ve assigned for today (and some how-to videos), please leave a comment here about what skills (or tools) you have had to learn or improve a lot while working from home.

Please also remember to visit me for feedback & small group discussion online in Teams this morning (also tomorrow). Login to your school Office365 account and go to the calendar in Teams to join the session.

I look forward to your comments, questions & discussion.

April 29th

I was delighted to see many students’ comments that the demonstrations I gave during our meeting yesterday were helpful. It was certainly frustrating having the difficulties we had with sound!

I’m asking students to reply to an email messsage today that I have sent to your school-assigned Office 365 address to confirm that you are able to read & reply to those messages in Outlook. So check for my email. For help, I have another Teams meeting scheduled for you between 9:30 and 11:30 where I’m available for help & feedback. Join the meeting through the calendar in Teams. And check the list of assigned activites. I’m looking forward to reading (listening to?) your story endings!

I’ve also just added links to some how-to videos in that list of assigned activites to help you in case you are still not sure (or have forgotten) how to do things like login to Office365 or hand in work online.

April 28th

I am looking forward to our next class meeting online later this morning.  I’ll be posting some new activities after we get a chance to chat at our meeting, there is one creative storytelling option for this week you may want to have a look at sooner rather than later.

Before we meet together, I am hoping most of you will follow this link and complete the short survey there.

Onward and upward

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April 17th update

Welcome to Friday!

I hope you are finding your way through our activities without too much difficulty. It seems like many of you are at different places along this new path, and that’s OK. I do want you to reach out and let me know what has been difficult or confusing and I especially want to know what help you could use. Please leave a comment on the blog, use the question form, or send me a message via email.

Today is a day to finish up the activities you’ve chosen to work on over the whole week [choice or flex-time]. Review these along with the other activities for each day, including preparing to meet together onine on Tuesday.

It has been good to be able to reconnect with more of you, and I’m sure it will keep getting better. Talk to you soon!

March April 16th update

[Oh My! I do feel foolish! All week I’ve been naming the wrong month when writing the date! Comments and work submitted show me you are carrying on despite my error, but I do apologise for adding more confusion to this confusing time. Yikes!]

Over the remaining days of this week, we need to spend some time preparing to meet as a class online. It might be a little tricky at the start, but we will get better at it. You might have had some experiences visiting with family members or other groups online over the last few weeks. That experience may be helpful, though our meeting will be a little more formal than a visit with family and friends (we will be in school after all, or at least in a virtual school setting while not actually in our school building).

Please leave a comment on the blog about an experience or a question you have about meeting or visiting online. (Maybe you have a funny story about a pet interrupting your video, or maybe you have a frustration to share or a helpful tip.)

I am including some new activities today, but it is also important that you spend some time reviewing & asking questions about what we’ve done so far.

March April 15th Update

How did yesterday go for you? Let us know by leaving a comment or by sending me a question [especially if you are having any difficulty with tasks, links, logins, or anything else]. 

Reading a few new comments to the blog, getting a few questions from students & getting to talk to a few folks from school on the phone yesterday made my day. I think most students are still adjusting and getting used to using the blog and office documents again. I am available through the school day to give feedback and answer questions.

I’ve added updates to activities for this (short) week for you here. Check them out and give them a try. And please keep letting me know how I can help!

March April 14

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I am glad to welcome you back with a short video message.

Click the image or click here to play the video (and give it a moment to load)

Then visit my last post, Still Growing, to leave a comment or follow this link to find a few activities to get this (short) week started.

I’m excited to see your comments and I’m looking forward to your questions too. See you soon! (Well , you’ll see me in the video, but it’s a start.)

 

Activities to get started on will be found here.

Still Growing

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[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”5″ display=”basic_slideshow”]For those of us used to going to work or school from Monday to Friday, our world seems out of order. (Today happens to be a Monday, by the way; if you are like me, you may be finding that changes in routines are making it a little more diffficult to keep track!) The patterns that seem to govern the way we live don’t fit like they used to. Some of the time, that is a bit of a relief, but often the difference in our days can be disturbing, unfamiliar, uncertain. Sometimes I feel that way. But then, I suppose I should ask myself, “Who doesn’t?”

I spent some time thinking about that. Most people are having to make the same kinds of adjustments to routines. Many people are facing very great difficulties. And it seems like everyone feels like life is upside down. But when I look around and ask myself the same question again, “Who doesnt?” I realise that there are plenty of lives and routines around us continuing as always. Sunrise sparks a chorus of activity from the birds. Flowers blossom, attracting bees and other pollinators. The ravens have built a nest by the Sperling Skytrain station to hatch another generation, like they do every spring. The cherry blosssoms are lining the neighbourhood with their pink explosions. The frogs have been singing their evening choruses. And we have reached what I like to call, “peak magnolia”, when what might just be the most respendent magnolia tree in the province (found just a short walk from my home) is almost hidden by its thick display of heavy, white and purple flowers.

Growth is happening all around us, and it continues in our own lives too. I am hopeful that the differences we are experiencing in life as we know it will spark more of the kind thinking that will hep us to better understand others’ lives and our own. Perhaps a good place to start is to pause, pay attention, and try to be even more aware of what is around us.

What are you becoming aware of?