Category: Social Emotional Learning

Dear families,

We hope you had a wonderful and Happy Mother’s day! I had both of my brother’s family come over for the first time in over a year, and I felt so grateful for the opportunity to have our family together again. It filled my heart with gratitude and joy. Speaking of gratitude, I was recently a guest on my friend’s new podcast called Evolving with Gratitude where I got to share what gratitude means to me. I also had the greatest opportunity to talk about how gratitude is embedded in our daily practices in the classroom. If you’re interested, I’d love for you to CLICK HERE to listen. I also wrote a blog post almost a year ago called The Gift of Gratitude if you’d like to check that out too. I truly believe that gratitude is a mindset and a way of living that helps me cultivate joy every day and throughout the day.

First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your generosity and dedication to supporting our students at Gilmore! What an incredible collective effort to raise funds for our Walkathon! They had a great walk around the neighbourhood last Friday! Our hearts are full of gratitude!

Grade 5s to Camp Jubilee on Tuesday, May 10. Please have your child arrive at or before 7:15am. The bus will leave promptly at 7:30am. We will not be able to wait if your child is not here on time because we need to catch the boat on the north shore.

The grade 4s will line up in our usual spot in the morning. Mr. Anchor will pick them up in the morning. Students will be spending the day with the other grade 4s in his class. Sounds like a fun day he’s planned for them!

We are poets.

This past week, we started our unit on poetry. Our monthly theme at Gilmore is creativity so poetry fits right in! We started with a list poem, writing our our personal affirmations. I follow Jon Acuff‘s work and he calls it anthems so some students have chosen to call it that too. Each student had an opportunity to share their favourite statements and wow, they have blown me away with how insightful they are. I am so excited to see their final products so they can use these as anchors in their personal development. By the way, I highly recommend looking into Jon Acuff. He’s written a number of books, his latest called Soundtracks, and has a great podcast called All it Takes is a Goal.) Click here to see a copy of Jon’s Anthem to give you an idea or google affirmations to get a better idea too.

We also tried our hand at writing tongue twisters. We came up with some creative and difficult ones to say out loud!

On Friday, we wrote an acrostic poem with the word: CREATIVITY. This was brought home for homework to finish. This is a poem where the first letter in each line spells out the word.

I think it’s always fun if you do what we do. So, if you’d like to try your hand at writing an anthem or affirmations, a tongue twister, or an acrostic poem for creativity, I would love for you to share it with your child! If you’re comfortable, have your child bring it to school to share it with all of us! I bet the other kids will think it’s so cool!

We are mathematicians.

Both grade 4s and 5s started division. Please continue to encourage your child to practice their multiplication/division math facts. It really does make a world of a difference when they just know them by heart and don’t have to check their multiplication chart, which really slows down their computations.

Reminders

Dragsters – Students were asked to bring their carved dragsters back to school on Monday, ready for our sanding party. Thank you for helping your child prepare their dragsters. I am so looking forward to seeing how their concepts come to reality! Next week, we will paint.

Coffee & Conversation – The Community Room is now open again for coffee time! Since I have Head Teacher time, I get to be a part of this wonderful time to connect with parents. If you are available, I would SO love for you to join us on Thursday mornings from 9 to 10am. It’s a great opportunity to get to know other parents better too!

Thank you so very much for your continued dedication to reading these blog posts to keep up to date. We appreciate your support at home!

Loving being your child’s teacher, Ms. Chan

Dear Division 6 families,

We have had another great week together! During our community circle, we always begin with sharing our feelings. This week, we learned synonyms for happy. There is a growing understanding that we can build our emotional intelligence by building our emotional vocabulary. (Read a Forbes article about a podcast interview with Brene Brown and Marc Brackett to learn more about how children can understand themselves and others better.) Challenge your children to share how they are feeling by using different words beyond: happy, mad, sad. Model it by choosing to use different words to describe your emotions.

We are mathematicians.

Thank you for supporting your child’s learning about geometry at home. I am reviewing the Show What You Know assessments and am just so proud of how far they have come since our first assessment before we started. Remember this is not the same as a test. A “test” feels final…only ONE opportunity to show what they know. Learning is a journey so this is just a snapshot of their learning for right now. Children who need more time to learn the same concepts will continue to have opportunities to learn. Math is so foundational. My goal is for them to become proficient in their understanding because if they know it well enough to teach someone, their depth of knowledge is greater.

On Monday, your child will come home with both the pre-assessment and the one they just did. Please compare and celebrate their growth by writing a positive note on their paper, sign it, and return to school. Thank you for your support! We will be learning about measurement next.

We are scientists.

This past week, we worked with a partner to create a demonstration of our understanding of the rock cycle. They were given a choice of using the Book Creator app or Puppet Pals on the iPad. I love finding different ways for students to show what they know especially when they can use their creative and critical thinking! I am also so proud of how well they work with each other. I am looking forward to sharing their projects with you! Music to a teacher’s ears is when students say, “This is so much fun!”

We can reflect and self-assess.

Students completed a self-assessment on their attitude, work habits, strengths, and goals. They even worked on writing a report card for Ms. Chan as a midway point to provide feedback on how the year is going so far. It gives them a voice to share their views on our classroom community and how we can further improve it. I always learn so much about how they feel and I love reading about how much they enjoy coming to school!

What to do at home

If you or your child are looking for what to do at home, here’s a list:

• Read daily and talk about what they just read. Talk about what you’re reading too!
• Write daily (because reading and writing are both skills, it requires practice, practice, and practice).
• Passion Project
• Writer’s Workshop (story)
• All the Right Type
• Practice Math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). We will be starting multiplication after spring break so it will be SOOO helpful if they knew their math facts before then. You can use the same games I showed you in our Math games night to practice multiplication.

Thank you for your continued support at home. We appreciate you immensely!

Gratefully, Ms. Chan (and Ms. Paulich)

Dear Division 6 families,

Guess what? We had yet another awesome week together! I really do believe our time together is full of happiness and that is planned with great intention and every single interaction is intentional to uplift your child.

I have a monthly blog series on the Teach Better Team called the Gift Better series. Each month, I share a new concept that I see as a gift. These are things that are not generally seen as gifts and we often take these for granted. Since the pandemic, I started to see gifts all around us which led me to feel so much more gratitude for the simple things in life. The more I looked around, the greater the joy I found that exists all around us. It was there my whole life just waiting for me to discover. My hope with this blog series is that others begin to see the same gifts and ones that have been waiting for them to discover.

Just today, my latest post was published called The Gift of Happiness. I share this because when you read it, it will give you a glimpse into how our days in the classroom begin and how much happiness we share every day. Helping children feel happy and learn to live a healthy life with good habits of the mind that include developing an understanding of how to live a life filled with passion, kindness, gratitude, integrity, love, and joy is my goal every day. These life skills and habits, when reinforced throughout their formative years, will lead them to a greater sense of self-awareness, self-worth, self-love, self-discipline, self-compassion, and overall well-being.

Many of the posts I write come from my experience in the classroom. Another example is The Gift of Leadership. If you would like to learn how I am developing each one of your children as leaders, then please check that post out too. I was so humbled that this post and The Gift of Gratitude were two of the most popular posts on the Teach Better website for 2021 from the 500+ blogs that were published last year!

Last week was Literacy week!

The book chosen for our school-wide theme for the week was What’s My Superpower by Aviaq Johnston. It’s one of my favourite stories! She is a young author from writer from Igloolik, but currently living in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

This is a story about Nalvana, a young girl who sees other people’s superpowers and wonders what her superpower is. We had great discussions on the strengths we all have, how we shine in this world, and what gifts we bring to the people close to us. I absolutely LOVED reading their paragraphs as they dove into just one of their superpowers. It is so important to truly know ourselves and our strengths so we keep building on them as we build on our self-awareness and sense of self-worth.

Students LOVED reading with their flashlights in the gym and thoroughly enjoyed our alphabet scavenger hunt as we found words on our shirts. We won a class prize for this…a set of books for the class! The Dress up Like a Word day was a great success with creative costumes! On Friday, we appreciated Mr. Greenwood for being our guest reader.

Reminder: The Family Literacy BINGO sheets are due on Monday, January 31^st. Hope you enjoyed the activities as a family! We also hope that these family activities continue throughout the year and not just for a week!

We are mathematicians.

This past week, we continued to learn and review geometry concepts. Students were given their first formal opportunity to show what they know last Wednesday. This was just a first snapshot! They will have another opportunity next Thursday, February 3^rd to show what they know again.

I highlight the fact that learning is a journey. We celebrate what we already know and focus our time and effort on learning what we don’t know well yet until they are proficient. My goal is for them to understand concepts well enough so they can teach others! This is a deeper level of understanding than being able to complete a worksheet with accuracy. So, to prepare for next week, have your child explain the concepts to you, their stuffies, or have them record the math “lesson” on an iPad or tablet to watch and review. As Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

Reminder: Keep encouraging your child to practice their math facts daily! Spending even five minutes a day, stacked with a habit, will go a long way in building their confidence with calculating facts.

We are artists.

Mrs. Paulich does amazing art projects with the kids. Check it out!

Book Recommendation

This past week, I started reading The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. This was a book I’ve had on my list to read for a number of years. I mention it because from what I’ve read so far, I believe it can help you better understand how your child’s brain is wired and strategies on how to effectively support their development. Now that I’m reading it, I really wish I read it when my kids were much younger so that’s why I’m sharing this with you! If you visit Amazon, you’ll see how popular this book is!

From Amazon: In this pioneering, practical book, Daniel J. Siegel, neuropsychiatrist and author of the bestselling Mindsight, and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson offer a revolutionary approach to child rearing with twelve key strategies that foster healthy brain development, leading to calmer, happier children. The authors explain—and make accessible—the new science of how a child’s brain is wired and how it matures. The “upstairs brain,” which makes decisions and balances emotions, is under construction until the mid-twenties. And especially in young children, the right brain and its emotions tend to rule over the logic of the left brain. No wonder kids throw tantrums, fight, or sulk in silence. By applying these discoveries to everyday parenting, you can turn any outburst, argument, or fear into a chance to integrate your child’s brain and foster vital growth.

I have read a number of books since the pandemic started. Check out my list here. If there is a book on my list that you’d like to hear more about, please feel free to ask and I’d be happy to share my thoughts. Also, if there is a book that you would highly recommend, please let me know. I love hearing about what others love to read! I prefer non-fiction because I am passionate about learning new things. Thank you!

As always, we appreciate your continued support at home. I will be sharing a short survey later this week as we are approaching the midway mark. Your feedback is very much appreciated. We want to finish the second half of the year strong! We are better together and stronger together. Thank you for being our partners in your child’s education.

Grateful for you, Ms. Chan (and Mrs. Paulich)

Dear families of Division 6,

Oh how I have missed spending time with your children!

Click on image to watch the video.

On Monday, we reviewed the old and new safety protocols. Thank you to parents who kept their children at home this week to keep us all safe. Please continue to do the daily health check and have your child pack 2-3 extra masks to keep in their backpacks. Thank you!

Click here for the daily health check.

Click here for information on managing Covid. Click here for information if you have Covid.

Click here for the instructions from the BC Centre for Disease for close contacts.

Black Excellence Day

Many students wore black on Friday to support Black Excellence Day. We joined in the first-ever virtual event hosted by our district.

It is a learning opportunity and celebration of Black achievements, stories, art, people, joy, love, and history.

To learn more, click here to read the Burnaby School Board’s post and a CBC article about this initiative.

We are mathematicians.

We started our new math unit on geometry by checking to see what they already knew. Let’s just say I am so very excited to see their understanding grow immensely from what they showed me on Monday! We watched a video on recognizing shapes. Click here to re-watch the video.

Homework: Finish booklet that starts with page 150. It is due on Monday.

Thank you to parents who expressed interest! Next week on Wednesday, January 19th at 7:00pm, I will be hosting a Math Games night! Children are welcome to join in! At this point, I don’t know how long it will be but I won’t keep you past an hour. I will send you an email with the link. If you are interested but have not responded to the online form yet, please just email me to let me know. I am grateful for your time and interest!

All About Me presentations

We continued to enjoy the All About Me presentations this week. If your child has not presented yet, please help them practice this weekend. We will have all of them done by the end of next week. Thank you for your support!

We are learning to type!

Students were introduced to our online typing program called All the Right Type. We are grateful to have a district license. Last year, many of my students learned how to type efficiently through this program. Imagine how much more efficient your child will be for the rest of their life if they learned how to type at their age! Consider how much time they can save if they can type proficiently. Click here to login. They brought home their login information on Tuesday. Like most skills, the more time and effort they invest, the better and faster they get.

Coincidentally, my good friend, Tim Cavey, just published a blog post about the skill of typing recently! Click here to read, if interested.

Be impeccable with your words.

Last weekend, I finished reading a book called The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It was published in 1997 and has sold over 100 million copies. 

Our overarching school theme this month is responsibility.  So the timing was just right to also focus on Agreement #1: Be impeccable with your words. It is our responsibility to treat others this way as we aim to live our lives as a role model in all that we do. I also taught them to be impeccable with the words they say to themselves. Sometimes we can be hardest on ourselves but it is so very important to be kind to ourselves too!

We have always focussed on Agreement #4: Always do your best as one of our 3 main questions that we have permanently on the front board:

• Will you do the right thing?
• Will you do today’s best?
• What will you do in service to others today?

Please ask your child what they learned about being impeccable with their words. I challenged them to notice a time when they would not normally be impeccable with their words, to stop themselves to think first before speaking.

This is something that I often share out on social media:

Is it hard sometimes? Yes! Does it take self-discipline, self-control, and self-regulation to be kind with our words? Yes! But each interaction is an opportunity to uplift one another. If you are not uplifting someone, then you are tearing them down. There is no in between. One of my favourite songs is called Speak Life by Toby Mac about the power of our words.

We are so grateful for you and your support! Please know that your children are seen, loved, valued, heard, and appreciated as they bring us so much joy each day. Thank you for sharing your child with us. They are truly a gift! 🙂

Sincerely, Ms. Chan (and Mrs. Paulich)