Dear families,

We had a wonderful first week together! Everyone is settling in well as we learn about each other and our classroom routines. I just can’t help but tell them how much I appreciate them because of the joy they bring to my heart! Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with me. I am committed to making it a phenomenal year of growth, love, learning, and joy in each other’s presence because we all will play a part in making it happen!

I really appreciate the thoughtful and thorough Families and Partners Information forms you have filled out and returned to me. I still have a few to collect so please send it back to school on Monday, if possible. If you need another copy, CLICK HERE. It has brought me joy to read them over and to learn more about your child and your family!

Meet the Teacher Night

On Wednesday, I met with many of you to tell you a little more about me, my passions, beliefs, and teaching philosophy. Thank you for being there! I know some of you couldn’t be there so here is a very quick recap plus some extra information:

• What is key to building a warm, welcoming and inclusive environment where all children love to be, where they can feel like their authentic selves, and where they feel like they are a key contributing member with gifts and leadership qualities? Building a kind, thoughtful classroom culture based on children feeling loved, seen, valued, heard, appreciated, and safe is KEY! I love cultivating love and joy, and teaching them how to cultivate joy too! We will regularly practice expressing gratitude, which is key to increasing our level of happiness; when children are happy, they learn better because it activates more centers of our brain! These are non-negotiables. (If you are interested, I included some links to my blog posts on the topics.)
• I love to plan for fun, varied, relevant, and meaningful lessons and activities. I aim to make them engaging so children are motivated to learn. How do I do this? I try to make learning feel like an experience that involves not only their active brains but their bodies. They have learned lot of sign language so far! Ask them to teach you what they know!
• A common question centers around blended grade classes. We have almost an even split between grade 2s and 3s. If you’d like to learn more, CLICK HERE. For most of my career, I have taught grade 2/3. This is my absolute favourite combination! They have a beautiful opportunity to learn together at this age group. Many of your children’s learning will be driven by personal goal setting and reflection so it empowers them to take ownership of their own learning.
• I am a firm believer in developing core competencies and curricular competencies through the learning standards. I love to foster a sense of curiosity. One of my favourite things to offer are Passion Projects!
• I will not assign a lot of paper homework but I will send home unfinished work from time to time. I highly encourage children to read and write every day or practice their math skills, especially depending on the areas they need further development.
• All primary classes will be collecting $30 for school supplies. You will be able to pay on School Cash Online once it is set up.
• I added your email address to this class blog. Every time there is a new post, you will receive email notification. I aim to write weekly blog posts to keep you informed about all of the fun and engaging learning we get to do. I believe that these blog posts help to tell our story. Please see this as a gift to provide you with an opportunity to share a big part of their school life with you. Use it to solidify learning, deepen their understanding, and grow their curiosity. Thank you for your investment in your child’s education and thank you for being partners with me! Happy reading!

HAWKS Week

Last week was HAWKS week. Every day, we focused on a different word. We read stories that were aligned with the theme of the day, had discussions, and learned how to sign:

H = Helpful
A = Accepting
W = Welcoming
K = Kindness
S = Safety

For helpful, we played a balls in a basket game where we had to help our partners on our team move some balls to and from the baskets. They had fun!

For accepting, we read a book called The Dot by Peter Reynolds and used oil pastels to create our own dots. I’m sorry but I forgot to take a picture of their beautiful art! I will share it next week. We also had an opportunity to join a live event with Peter Reynolds on Friday for International Dot day! They got to hear him share his story.

For welcoming, we did an interactive activity where we practiced 5 different levels of being welcoming and made our own special handshakes with some classmates.

When your children line up in the morning, please encourage them to say hello to their classmates already in line. This really fosters a sense of welcoming and belonging. It also helps develop their comfort with each other in social interactions and makes them feel less like strangers. You can model this to them too when you say hello to their classmates already in line. Feel free to ask them their name. “Remember that a person’s name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” – Dale Carnegie

• Level 1: Smile only with no teeth showing.
• Level 2: Smile with teeth.
• Level 3: Smile with teeth and wave.
• Level 4: Smile with teeth, wave, and have wider eyes that say, “I’m happy to see you!”
• Level 5: All of the above but with an even larger big mouthed smile and waving both arms to say hello!

For kindness, we read a couple of books on kindness and wrote our first journal entry!

For safety, we practiced being safe in the gym with Mr. Ho, our PE teacher for the year.

Math

Children had fun graphing our classmate’s birthdays! We got to see that there are a couple months where we have no birthdays and a month where we have birthdays three days in a row!

All About Me in a Bag

Your child should have come home on Friday with a paper bag and an “All About Me Bag” notice. CLICK HERE if you did not receive the details on our first presentation opportunity!

I will be using a rubric to assess. CLICK HERE to see it. This will give you and your child a better idea of how to prepare. No pressure! This is their first presentation and I know they will continue to improve throughout the year. They will have many more opportunities! It truly is incredible how much they develop over the year with their communication and presentation skills.

How can you support? Please help them choose 3 items. For each item, help them come up with at least 3 details about each. It would be very helpful to write down what they want to share, practice reading it over and over again so they will feel more confident. Here’s a tip: Video record them presenting. Watch it together and have them reflect on what they can improve. Then practice again and record after a few more tries. I bet you’ll see an improvement!

Thank you! Presentations will begin anytime next week. If they are ready on Monday, they can present. If they aren’t ready until Friday, that’s okay too! I’ll find time for them to present on Friday!

Families as Partners

Thank you for booking an appointment to spend some time with me this week as you will have a fantastic opportunity to tell me more about your child. All appointments are 10 minutes long. I will refer to the information sheet you filled out and take some extra notes based on our valuable conversation.

If you did not book an appointment yet, please CLICK HERE to choose a time. I am really looking forward to it! I am so grateful for your time!

Terry Fox Run and Early Dismissal

On Friday, September 22, we will have a Terry Fox Run. After recess, we will gather in the gym for a short assembly and then walk to Willingdon Park for our run. They will be back on time for lunch. Please have your child dress appropriately for the weather and to bring a water bottle. Thank you! Look for fundraising information on the school website if you are interested in supporting the Terry Fox Foundation. It will be added early this week.

In the afternoon, there is an early dismissal so please pick up your child promptly at 2:00pm. Children often worry when their families don’t pick them up on time during early dismissal days.

Gratitude

In the short time I have been at Kitchener, I feel so blessed and grateful to be placed here. Staff, families, and children have made me feel so welcomed and so supported. I am so fortunate to be placed in such a warm and inviting community. Thank you to ALL of you for your part in making Kitchener such a phenomenal place to be! I appreciate you!

With a heart full of love and gratitude,

Ms. Chan