Wow, what a fast week! They say time flies when you’re having fun! We thoroughly appreciated your time to meet with us during our Meet the Teacher night and Parents as Partners Conferences. We are so grateful for sharing your insight and stories about your child. It was a full week but our hearts were full too. We finished the week feeling energized by the relationships we were building with you. We so look forward to working with you this year!
We enjoyed a great Pro-D day too as I presented on the Universal Design for Learning framework. We also had a great session with our district Indigenous resource teacher, Nahani Willis.
CLICK HERE to watch the video summary of last week.
We watched an online course for our Learn2Ride program. On Wednesday, we had such a fun session on bikes! It was so wonderful to see so many smiles!
What a joy this week learning more about each other during our Life in a Bag presentations!
This week’s theme was Kindness to Self. We started the week with sharing ways one thing we appreciate about ourselves or one thing we love about ourselves. For many, this was not yet in their comfort zone so I am excited to watch them grow in recognizing personal strengths.
In line with our theme, we read a story by one of my favourite authors, Peter H. Reynolds called Be You!Click here to listen to the author himself reading this book! Then they had their own opportunity to write the next 10 pages of their own “Be You!” book in their writing books.
After library orientation with Mrs. Papapanagiotou, students can now take out books and exchange them Monday to Thursday after recess.
Looking Ahead
Wed., Sept. 29 – Orange Shirt Day; wear orange
Thur., Sept. 30 – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation; students do not attend; school closed Terry Fox Run Thank you for supporting Terry’s dream and helping us to kick cancer! Should you wish to donate please go to: http://www.terryfox.ca/GilmoreCommunityElementary
Ms. Chan will be away on Mon. Sept. 27 but hope to be back the next day!
Thank you for your continued support! We are looking forward to a fantastic week!
Ms. Chan & Mrs. Paulich
Teachers in the room
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
AM
Ms. Chan
Mrs. Paulich
Ms. Chan
Mrs. Paulich
Ms. Chan
PM
Mrs. Paulich
Ms. Chan
Ms. Chan
Ms. Chan
Ms. Chan
Subjects Taught
Ms. Chan – English Language Arts, Science, Career Education, ADST, Gr. 5 Math
What a fantastic first week! We are having fun getting to know each other’s names and learning more about each other.
Please feel free to watch the video for a run-down of our week and what’s upcoming. If you don’t have time, simply read the blog post as it is a summary of what I shared in the video.
Why do we share weekly blog posts?
The purpose of our weekly blog posts is so that it connects school to home and us to you. Our hope is that the information shared will give you greater opportunities to have conversations about school, what they are learning about, and to take a concept and dive deeper.
How you can support at home:
Be curious. Ask questions that may spark more conversation. Instead of asking, “How was school?” try asking more targeted questions:
What are you most proud of today?
What did you do to help others today?
What is one thing you learned that you can teach me? This question reinforces their learning.
What made you smile or laugh today?
What’s one thing that made today fun?
What’s something you are grateful for that you experienced today?
What’s one thing you learned that you’d love to know more about? Let’s do some research together!
We push ourselves to grow.
We are learning about growth mindset. The thoughts and language we use determine the outlook we have. The power of yet.
We learned about comfort zones. We want students to be challenged in their stretch/growth zone. I was interviewed about this last spring. Read the post here on the Teacher2Teacher blog to learn more.
Healthy Habits
This week, we started reading a book written by Steven Covey: The 7 Habits of Happy Kids (same author as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which some of you may know). It begins with a story about a character who finds himself bored and looks to others to help him find something to do; the character discovers that it is his responsibility to be proactive and not rely on others to “fix” his problem. Be Proactive – take initiative.
Click here to learn more about the 7 habits we will be learning about.
As we are practicing classroom expectations, students are encouraged to build the healthy habits of attentive listening and strong work habits. They are regularly asked to self-reflect and to do better next time.
We are readers and writers.
For our first introduction lesson to writing, we read a story called “I Am Story” by Dan Yaccarino and then we started working on our heart maps. They also shared how they feel about writing. Learning about their mindset about writing and setting a goal for themselves helps inform me of how I can better support them.
Please encourage your child to read at least 20-30 minutes every night. This is their homework. They will have library orientation next week and library book exchange begins on Wednesday.
We are athletes.
We started our Running Club this week.
We will go to the gym every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Please ensure your child wears appropriate clothing and runners.
We are scientists.
Students were introduced to Mystery Doug. We watched a video on pizza. Click here to watch at home.
West Coast weather
Please have your child dress appropriately for the weather. They will go outside even in the rain unless it is raining very hard. Read West Coast Recess & Lunch to learn more.
Looking ahead!
On Monday, September 20, we will begin our “Me in a Bag” presentations. Please help your child decide on 4-5 items to place in the paper bag provided and practice what they will say about each item so they will feel more confident. They will tell us about each item and share a story about why they chose it and/or what it represents and why it is important to them. Be creative! For example, I cannot bring our guinea pig, Hazelnut, to school but I can brought some hay to represent her. I also brought a picture of me in my ringette gear when I talked about being a coach, player, and ref.
Next week, we will start Math on Monday! The grade 4s will go to Mr. Anchor. They will need a 1″ binder.
Monday is a big day! They will also have an online learning module for the Learn2Ride program.
We are so excited to see you on Tuesday, September 21 at 7:00pm for our Meet the Teachers night! A Zoom link will be shared the day before in the reminder email.
On Wednesday, your child should bring their bike helmet (even if they don’t bring a bike) and are encouraged to bring their bikes too. Starting at 8:40am, they can bring their bikes into the school for storage. Our bike session will be between recess and lunch out on the field.
We are equally excited to meet you during our Parents and Partners Conferences! The purpose of these will be to learn more about your child. If you have not signed up to book an appointment, please do so before the deadline: Sept 21 at 3:00pm. The link to the conferences will be shared via email after our Meet the Teachers night so as not to confuse anyone. Our meetings are set for 10 minutes so please arrive on time. You will be placed in the lobby and we will let you in when it is your time. Thank you SO much for your time and interest to meet with us!
Reminder: Early dismissal on Thursday, September 23 at 1:45pm.
Friday will be our first school Pro-D day. Students do not attend.
If you’d like to learn a little more about me, feel free to visit my website: livchan.com.
For the school supplies list, click here. Please send items as soon as you can. Key items to get first if you don’t have time to get the rest yet: 1.5″ binder and dividers. Grade 4’s: an extra 1″ binder for Math. Thank you!
A BIG welcome to our class! We are so very excited to begin the school year with you and your child! We had a great day today that went by fast!
Here is a welcome video. The summary of what was shared is below.
For the school supplies list, click here. We recognize you may need some time over the weekend to shop. Please send items as soon as you can. Thank you!
Planners
Planners went home today. More information about payment on School Cash Online will come shortly from the office. Please check the planner daily and initial so we know you reviewed it. Thank you.
School Doors
Please continue to do daily health checks before sending your child to school. They will line up at the front of the school by the south doors (not the main doors) and leave the school using the same doors.
Meet the Teachers
On Tuesday, September 21 at 7:00 – 7:30pm, we will have a Meet the Teachers night on Zoom. During this time, it will be an opportunity to get to know us better. It will also be an information session for you to learn more about our teaching philosophy and what our year will look like. Please join us! A Zoom link will be shared via email on the weekend.
Parents as Partners Conferences
The Parents and Partners Information form was sent home. If you prefer to fill it out electronically, then click here. Please fill it out by the end of this week, if possible. Thank you!
Conferences will be on September 22nd and 23rd. Please save the date. There will be an early dismissal on Thursday, September 23 at 1:45pm. Please make arrangements for early pick up. We are looking forward to meeting you!
We hope you had a wonderful summer break! One of the hardest days of the school year is the day we say goodbye to the students with which we build such strong relationships. Even though we have to do this every year, it never gets easier. Students will move to their new classes tomorrow.
Alas, it is time to see them continue to soar under another teacher’s care. This is never a real goodbye but instead, a see you again later. As a Head Teacher, I will continue to have opportunities to visit classrooms and say hello again and again throughout the year. I know that my heart will be filled with joy each and every time I see your child in the hallways, outside, or in their new classrooms. They will always have a special place in my heart. As I tell all of my past students and families, once you’ve been in my class, you have a lifetime warranty. I will support you in any way I can. Please feel free to reach out by email or come say hi if you see me outside. I still have students I connect with since my very first year of teaching back in 1998! They are now 30 years old!
With a heart full of gratitude, we’d like to thank:
All parents for being our partners in your child’s education. We enjoyed working alongside you and greatly appreciated your support.
All students for working SO hard all year in uplifting each other through your kindness and gratitude as well as working SO hard on developing your mind, growing your heart, and discovering your passions. What a true blessing and honour to be your teachers!
Ms. Lee (Oscar’s mom) for teaching us how to use our voice to improve our writing.
Mrs. Helland (Olivia’s mom) & Ms. Jiwa (Iman’s mom) for being our keynote speakers for our Medical Conference.
Thank you for your thoughtful and generous gifts at the end of the year. It was greatly appreciated.
Be You! Click here to listen to the author himself reading this book! Then they had their own opportunity to write the next 10 pages of their own “Be You!” book in their writing books.
