I have been listening to this song on repeat this weekend as I was reflecting on our special year together.
SO many fond memories.
SO many heartwarming gift of words from your children.
SO many times my heart was touched by their love and care.

I feel so blessed and grateful to be their teacher as we learned about each other and learned together this year. We not only shared our stories, we connected our hearts.

The community we built together is a strong one and we had a great year together! It’s one thing to hear me say it but another to hear from your children. Here’s some feedback from them:

• This year was a GREAT year!
• This year it felt like the best year I’ve ever had! I loved all the reading time, passion projects, iPads/laptops, friends, hugs, and cushion time! Our class is a great one because we did community circle, and I think it helped us get to know one another.
• It was really fun being in your class! I was really happy with what we got to do with you!
• I have really enjoyed our school year with you and Mrs. Paulich! I am upset that it has to end. This community was great with you and Mrs. Paulich! Thanks a lot for this amazing school year!
• I enjoyed being in your class this year. I think that our community is kind, fair, and safe because we have community circle.
• This year has been great! I’ve learned so many different things throughout this year! Our community was so great in so many different ways! We each support each other in many different ways.
• What an amazing year! I have really enjoyed the school year. I had a great school year because I learned so many different things.
• I feel very happy because this was the best year at Gilmore. It made me emotional. I’m very sad that it’s almost the end of the year!! It went so fast!! The community was a great one because it was fun and joyful.
• I loved this year with you and Mrs. Paulich because you are both kind.
• My thoughts on the year are positive because I feel I had a good year.
• I think the year was great. We did lots of fun things and learned a lot. What made our class community great is that everyone was positive and happy.
• It was a great year. I really liked it. Passion Project is a really fun thing to do and I wish I could do it every year! Community Circle really helps people to get to know each other a lot more.
• I think this year was my favourite year out of all six years and I learned a lot. I had a fun year. This year was great because everyone is nice.
• I think my most memorable thing this year was getting to know everybody. This year was the best year yet!!
• I really love being in you and Mrs. Paulich’s class. I feel very happy.
• I thought this year was really fun and exciting. Community Circle definitely made our community stronger.
• I really like all of my classmates and teachers.
• I have had a great time in this class so I wish that this year would never end.
• I had an AMAZING year!

I also asked them for suggestions on what would make our community better too midway and at the end of the year. I value feedback. I am always learning to be better every day by learning from other educators around the world. I love to be active on various social media platforms, listen to podcasts, read articles and books, blog, and reflect on my own teaching and learning. It is my passion to continuously learn! If you have any for me, please feel free to share. We are so grateful for your continued support all year. Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with us. What a gift it was to be their teacher!

You may have already heard that next year, I am blessed to teach upper primary again! I began my career teaching grade 2/3 for 12 years before working on the Staff Development team in Learning Technologies. In the last four years, I have taught grades 1-5 so I am excited to return to teaching a younger age group. For those of you who have younger children, I hope we have the pleasure to work with you again as partners!

Every year, I share with all of my students that once they have been in my class and once they have had a piece of my heart, they will BE in my heart always. I will be their forever teacher. I come with a lifetime guarantee. 🙂 They can come to me for love and support whenever they need it. I still have students I taught in my very first year of teaching in 1998 that I am blessed and grateful to keep in touch with. I am here to support you as well. Please feel free to reach out should you need support or have questions in the future. I support all families too! 🙂

So, what made this year so awesome? It’s the relationships. It’s all about relationships and the connections we made. It starts with the relationship they have with themselves, finding their strengths, understanding themselves, believing in themselves, and then the relationships with others and their teachers. My heart is full of gratitude for the relationships we built…together.

My deepest hope is that I have made a big impact in your child’s life (and learning journey) and an imprint on their heart…that they felt seen, valued, heard, and appreciated through every single atomic interaction we shared.

This is what I live by daily:

I am blessed & grateful to be a teacher.
I am blessed & grateful to be a learner alongside students and parents.
I am blessed & grateful to work at Gilmore Community School.
I am blessed & grateful to work in Burnaby.

To all of my students, thank you for an incredible year of love, laughter, and learning:

You’ll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You’ll be here in my heart
Always
Always

With sincerest gratitude and with all of my heart, Ms. Chan ❤️