Dear students and parents,

First of all, a very Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers! I know that probably for many of you, how you celebrate is likely not how you might usually have celebrated. For me, my brothers and their families would always come over to celebrate with my mom (my parents live with me) but unfortunately, this year, it won’t happen as we stay safe in our own homes. There is, however, still much to be grateful for. This time apart from my extended family and friends has truly solidified how much I love and miss them and appreciate them. In the same way, being away from my students, their families (you!), and fellow teachers has made me appreciate you all even more. Every day in my daily tasks when I sign off, “Missing you, Ms. Chan,” it is written with the most heartfelt emotions of affection. I don’t write it because it sounds like the right thing to say. I DO miss every single child. I miss their smiles, their laughter, watching their interactions, having our conversations, the funny things they say, their kindness, the way they make me feel so happy, and so much more to list here. Thank you for raising such wonderful children who bring joy to those around them. I am so grateful for your continued support at home. Please feel free to hit COMMENT to let me know how it is going for you at home or how I can better support you. You are always welcome to send me an email too! I am here to support you and your child.

Here’s a recap of what we did last week:

• So excited we had our very first Digital Book Club meetings which were awesome because I felt they came prepared to share (Say Something) and really understood their role in listening, sharing, and building on each others’ ideas. Click here to read my tweet! Next Book Club meetings will be on Tuesday, May 10. Look for a Zoom invite in your child’s Outlook Mail shortly.
• Students continued to practice writing responses in their double-entry journal to capture “My Thinking” in response to a part of the story. They should be able to include thoughts and feelings and dive in deeper to how they connected to that part of the story by providing an example, reasons, or explanations.
• In Numeracy, we continued to practice subtraction with regrouping and learned how to subtract with zeros using the box method. By the end of the week, students were asked to create a video that explained how to subtract with regrouping. If they can explain the concept, then they fully understand it. This would be considered as “Extending” on our proficiency scale. If your child has yet to complete this video, I will gladly accept submissions anytime from now until the end of the school year for both addition and subtraction. It can be uploaded to OneDrive or shared with me. If you need help or aren’t sure what I am talking about, please ask. This week, we will begin learning our multiplication facts. Students whose subtraction is not yet solidified, please continue to practice.
• Our Collaboration Space continues to be a true highlight not just for me as I frequently check over the course of the day. Guaranteed to put a smile on my face or even a laugh, I get so much joy from reading their contributions. This past week, I saw so many share some heartwarming thoughts too. If you haven’t checked it out, it’s worth a look through! Ask your child to show you. Click here to read my tweet about our Collaboration Space on Star Wars day, May the 4th (be with you).
• Your child was given a Secret Mission on Monday to work on throughout the week. They received their instructions via their Outlook Mail. I hope you were surprised and thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Please feel free to write a COMMENT on this post to tell me what you thought. Thanks!
• On Friday, I asked for a reflection after week 4 of learning at home. If your child has not completed this yet, it is very important information for me. I deeply value learning about how your child is feeling, how they view themselves as a learner, and receiving an update on how they are doing in each of our four areas of Literacy, Numeracy, Well-Being, and Flexible Learning. Students, please go to your Reflections section > End of Week 4 reflection to answer my questions. Thank you for your time!
• This was the second week of working on our Passion Project. Continue working on it! Have fun learning!

Next week, I will add a little excitement each day with a Daily Challenge! I absolutely can’t wait to hear their stories after the first challenge! My daughter and I raced to complete the challenge. Can you guess who won? Yes, I did. I had to use my critical thinking skills to figure it out! Bet you can’t wait to login tomorrow to see what it is!

We will have our weekly class meeting on Zoom on Friday, May 15 at 10:30am. Look for the invitation in your child’s Outlook Mail.

As you have been such an integral part of your child’s learning at home, I can’t thank you enough for your time, effort, patience, and love. I am deeply grateful. I would love to have an opportunity to see you face to face (on a screen, of course), to personally thank you for your support. I am inviting ALL parents to join me in a special parent Zoom meeting on Friday, May 15 at 7:00 PM. The purpose of this meeting is primarily to connect us as a parent group but also to share how you are doing, discuss concerns, ask questions, share tips, and come up with ideas on how to ensure we make the rest of the year a memorable one for our children. I hope you can tell by now, I so love being your child’s teacher. It has been an honour and a blessing. Year after year, we use the words, “parents as partners” but this year, you have truly lived it as you climbed mountains and persevered to truly be my beloved partner in your child’s education. I have needed to lean on you to support me during this unprecedented time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My sincerest and most heartfelt gratitude, Ms. Chan