Dear Division 6 family,

Whenever I sit down to write these blog posts, I often feel like the week flew by. Time flies when we are having fun! Every week, there are many things that I really look forward to. I thought this week’s blog post could be a reflection on my favourite things that warm my heart as we also review the happenings from this week. Happy reading!

I thoroughly enjoy Monday, Thursday, and Friday mornings because I have the blessing to begin my days with them. I love going outside to greet them and later saying hello to each one by name at the top of the stairs. Then, I love watching them interact with each other during their morning flex time. This special time allows me to make deeper connections through casual conversations, work with some students who need that extra check-in, and conference with students, for example.

On these same mornings, I thoroughly enjoy our Community Circle time. It is such a sacred time for us to connect with each other, share how we are feeling, say highlights from our weekend, what we are grateful for on Thankful Thursdays, and share our celebrations on Fridays. I absolutely love it when most of them share that they are feeling fantastic, awesome, very happy, or amazing. It truly fills my heart and warms it at the same time because it lifts our spirits up knowing that so many of us feel so positive about being at school. The celebrations we do often include how proud they feel for having worked so hard throughout the week, or they celebrate being a part of a great family, or one of my favourites, is when they celebrate something that makes them special like their kindness, how much they care, or how helpful they are. These are all strengths and recognizing these as part of their identity is learning to understand themselves better. This is one of our core competencies: positive personal identity.

• • This is taken from our ministry document about core competencies: “They exhibit a sense of self-worth, self-awareness, and positive identity to become confident individuals who take satisfaction in who they are and what they can do.”
  • I just attended an EdCamp this morning where we talked all about core competencies. It was such a fabulous morning of connecting with educators all over BC and learning with and from each other.

I so love Passion Project time. They are all so focussed and engaged in their personal learning time. We had a few more second presentations this week. We learned about ice hockey and medicinal plants! My plan for these next Passion Projects are to push them further, from simply information gathering and information presenting, to answer the questions, “So what?” and “Why is this important?” or “What do I learn about myself or the world?” It’s the making meaning of their learning that I’m more interested in now. This is the next level up from their first Passion Project so as you are engaging in conversations at home about your child’s work on this, please help me push their thinking and ask them the same questions: So now that you have these facts, now what? So what? Why is this important? What are you going to DO about what you learned? How does this new learning change you?

Click on image to go to PDF (enlarged).

One of my passions is to teach writing. In my previous role on the Staff Development Team, I loved to share the different ways to help students develop their communication skills through writing. This past week, we practiced our personal journal writing by sharing about our weekend. We reviewed the grade 5 performance standards and showed them written examples of writing that was emerging, developing, applying (proficient), and extending. They received a single-point rubric as a reference for what writing should include. What I love most about writing is our conference time. I really enjoy that one-on-one time with students to read over their writing, discuss their strengths (so important so they know exactly what to keep doing!), and then walk through their areas of opportunity for growth. With the descriptive and actionable feedback received to improve their writing, they are strongly encouraged to challenge themselves in their stretch zone to make their writing even better. What to do next? It’s clear. It’s attainable. It’s an opportunity to take action on “next steps”.  I wish I can bottle up their sense of pride when they come back to me after challenging themselves!

This past week’s weather was absolutely beautiful. I was on recess supervision all week so they were given some extra time outside after recess on my days with mornings. On Friday, they asked for some more time but they had already gone to line up at the front. When they were informed, they came running back to the playground. The big smiles on their faces as they ran past me was simply priceless!

I can’t help but love so many things that I have the privilege to teach. Math is most definitely another one! I love making Math fun and engaging. This week, we practiced addition with regrouping and decimals. I gave them graph paper to create and challenge themselves with as many digits they wanted to add. They had a lot of fun! Some challenged themselves to add over 30 digits and one even created a question that was 88 digits long!

I was feeling that we hadn’t done a team-building activity in a while so we did a Lego Challenge! Students were divided into groups of four. I had a structure hidden from sight. One designated person from each group came up to take a look at what they had to use communication skills and teamwork to recreate. This person could only use their words to describe to their teammates what the final structure looked like. I was so impressed with their communication, listening, perseverance, and teamwork skills. I loved seeing their excitement and celebrations when they figured it out!

Next week is Literacy Week! On Tuesday, a Family Bingo card will go home with various literacy activities to complete. Return no later than Monday, February 1st to have a chance to win prizes! Excitedly, we will also have Mrs. Ballarin join us on Zoom as a guest reader! On Thursday, it’s dress as a book character day. I am looking forward to seeing their creativity!

We have some new Grizzly Gear! Go to School Cash Online to purchase. Get a pink shirt so your child has one to wear on Pink Shirt Day, if you wish. The water bottles are metal and not plastic. I believe they are only $10! The Grizzly masks were so popular, we now have two you can choose from! These items are at cost and are not meant to be a fundraiser.

We are always appreciative for your support at home. I would love to hear what resonated most with you in this blog post. Please let me know what type of information you enjoy reading. These posts are for you so if there is something you’d like to hear more about, then please let us know. Please leave a comment or send me an email. Our preference is that you read these posts with your child as it will give you a great opportunity to further engage in your child’s learning. Enjoy your conversations together!

We both feel very blessed every day that I have the opportunity to spend time with your children. Please know they are very well loved every day they come to school. We are a family!

With hearts full of gratefulness, Ms. Chan and Ms. Paulich

Dear Division 6 family!

I so love our community! I love how we uplift each other, how we show care, how inclusive we are, and how kind they are to each other. As you know, on Thursday, it’s Thankful Thursday! This week, we shared what they are grateful for in our school community. So many expressed the kindness they see. I daresay it’s the kindness they feel in their hearts, too. I reminded them that they play a large role in the kindness they experience. They are the ones that choose to treat each other in the way they do.

We are community builders. I always feel so blessed when I can pull out the popsicle sticks with their names on it to choose random pairs or small groups. We have a tradition they love. They love doing a drumroll on their desks before each group is announced and we cheer! Every time, I am truly amazed and thankful about how well they work together. It doesn’t matter who I place them with. In addition to this, when I need a volunteer mentor to work with other classmates, there are always people who not just volunteer, but they do a phenomenal job of explaining with patience. I am so grateful and blessed to be their teacher and I know Ms. Paulich feels the same way! Actually, it was just on Monday that as I was leaving my office at lunch, I exclaimed to Ms. Perez as I passed by her office, “I love my job!” and then scurried off upstairs to the classroom.

We are Authors. We had another fabulous week full of learning opportunities. I love our Friday celebrations when I hear students choose to celebrate how we had a great week or fun week of learning. This week, they were excited to receive letters from our little grade 1 buddies in Ms. Sokugawa’s class! We initially wrote them a letter before Christmas. In response, we worked on writing a story back to them! Their stories had to include something from the letter they received back. For example, Miles wrote a story about a dinosaur and a cat because his buddy’s letter included these two things!

Our lesson started with listening to a story about a boy who decides to have a story stand instead of a lemonade stand. He listens to his friends who come to him and he trades them for a story that cleverly incorporates something about them. They really enjoyed working on these stories. I love it when I tell them we need to move on to something else and they just want to keep working on it! Love their motivation, enthusiasm, engagement, and work ethic! Some of them have uploaded it to their digital portfolios so you can check it out.

We are Mathematicians. We reviewed subtraction with regrouping with decimals this week. Please review this concept with your child at home to reinforce their understanding. Thank you! A gentle reminder that they always have access to Khan Academy so they can review any concepts online. The link to Khan Academy can always be found on the right-hand side. Their username and passwords can be found in OneNote under Handouts. Students can ALWAYS be practicing their basic math facts fluency – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

We are doctors in training. We continued to learn more about our respiratory system. We learned that we can live with only one lung, that lungs can float, our right lung is slightly larger than our left, and how much our lungs weigh. I brought up weights to put in a ziplock bag so they can feel how heavy their lungs are. It surprised us all how heavy they felt! They have been working hard on their sketchnotes with facts.

We are artists. This week, students started painting on their canvas for their One Word. I am so looking forward to sharing with you their finished products!

We are passionate about our personal projects! This week, we had some people present their second Passion Projects with us! I love seeing the growth and improvements from the last time they presented which was just before winter break! There were many who worked hard over the break, thank you. I love the excitement I hear when it’s Passion Project time! They actually cheer!

To inspire them, I read them the story that my student from last year published back in November 2020. It was her second book called Gardeners of the Jungle. They loved looking for the hidden snails on each page! To learn more about her story, click here to go to her website. She was recently interviewed on CBC New live in Toronto and people all over the world are connecting with her to speak to their students! We will have an opportunity to listen to her share about her Passion Project during our Literacy Week on January 26 to 29. I am so looking forward to it!

We are grateful. It’s been such a great two weeks back so far. We are grateful for a smooth transition back to school. Please continue to be vigilant to do the daily morning health checks and talk about masks at school. Last week, we watched a Mystery Doug video called Do Masks Really Stop the Coronavirus? They have really enjoyed watching these videos week after week. Also, a reminder to send your child to school ready for inclement weather. We have outside recess even when it rains.

Ms. Paulich and I are always so grateful to be your child’s teacher. They are an awesome group of kids! Knowing them makes me feel so very hopeful for our future! Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. We always appreciate comments on our blog posts so feel free to comment! Thank you to those who have on our past posts!

With a heart full of gratitude, Ms. Chan and Ms. Paulich

Dear Division 6 family,

I just have to say “wow”! We had a phenomenal week together! When we did our Friday celebrations, my heart was warmed and touched by what your children shared. Many shared about having a great week back and their positive feelings about their one word. Honestly, all week, I felt so inspired every time we worked on their one word. We had a few students read their writing to the class as well. I may have had a smile on my face as I was listening to each one! 🙂

Students were given time to finish writing about their one word. They were asked to write about why they chose this word, why this word is important to them, and how they plan to live their word in all of their communities. If their writing was not finished, they were asked to complete it on the weekend. Next, they will be writing their one word and painting it on canvas. After that, the plan is for them to hold on to their canvas and record themselves talking about their one word in front of a green screen. The background will be their choice so they can start thinking about what they want. For example, if their word is “brave”, they may choose to have a background of a mountain summit.

Please have a conversation with your child at home about their one word they chose. Feel free to remind them that they chose this word as a commitment to themselves and offer gentle encouragement. We are all here to support them as they grow into their word to help them be better every day. For example, if they chose these words:

• TRY: Anytime you see your child struggling or hesitant, encourage them to TRY by saying, “Remember, your one word is to try. I know you can do it when you bring a positive mindset. I’m here to support you. It may be hard but you can try. I believe in you and I know Ms. Chan believes in you too. You just need to believe in yourself that you can try too.”
• COURAGE: Anytime you see your child afraid to do something that might be outside of their comfort zone but just need a little encouragement, say, “Remember, your one word is courage. I know that this is outside of your comfort zone but you grow more by pushing yourself into the stretch zone. I know you can do it. I am here to support you. I believe in you and I know Ms. Chan believes in you too. Inhale courage. Exhale fear.”

They hear this often, we want to be “better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today.” I also told them that I recently finished a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. I highly recommend the book if you are looking for a new one to read! One of the things he encourages us to do is to make a 1% improvement every day. Just think, how much better will we be by the end of the year if we made a 1% improvement every day?

As doctors in training, we started looking at the respiratory system by doing research and coming up with questions we wonder about. We discovered a very cool website where we can see the respiratory system in 3D and even go right into the trachea! It almost felt like we were on the Magic School Bus! We will continue to learn more this week.

Previously, we learned about the circulatory system and collectively created a class PowerPoint with interesting facts. Click here to view our slides! I always appreciate how well everyone works with others no matter who I put them with! It’s a true testament to their respect and how inclusive they are!

For Math, we practiced estimating sums and differences. This week, we will dive further into addition and subtraction with regrouping with decimals too. Feel free to review at home as well.

As always, we are here to support you as you support your child at home. Should you have any questions, please reach out to us. We work as partners. Thank you for your continued support at home! We appreciate you and absolutely adore your children! They bring us so much joy every single day!

Sincerely, Ms. Chan and Mrs. Paulich

Dear Division 6 families,

Welcome back! We had a fantastic first day back today! We spent a good portion of our day learning about, brainstorming, discovering, and deciding on our “one word” that we will use to anchor ourselves in our daily lives. This is a practice that is gaining more momentum as an alternative to making a list of new year resolutions which many of us have trouble keeping for the entire year. Alternatively, choosing “one word” is something that I have been doing for the past few years. Click here to read about my “one word” from last year and this year in my reflection. In the past few days, I have felt so inspired by reading other people’s “one word” that I encouraged our Gilmore staff community to find their “one word” as well.

We watched a video about a story named One Word for Kids. In their planner, you will see a note to share about what we did today. For some, they were asked to dive into this further, to challenge themselves to go into their stretch zones to think even more deeply about how their “one word” can be applied to all aspects of their lives personally and in their communities and how it can help them during good times and challenging times. If your child was away, please have them explore by going online to see samples of words to choose from and then write a paragraph on why they chose this word as well as how they will use it. They can include how they will use this word. For example, if they chose “brave”, then how will they become braver? What strategies will they use to get outside of their comfort zone? What examples do they have for situations where they will need to be more brave? It’s all about diving in further and further for that “magnifying glass” writing. Click here for one website to check out. Click here for another.

During our last week together in December, we thoroughly enjoyed learning about everyone’s Passion Projects. For those who finished theirs, please begin to brainstorm what they want to learn about next!

From our Community Circle, it sounds like you had a wonderful yet quiet break but filled with lots of family time. I thoroughly enjoyed mine! Thank you, everyone, for your generous gifts. I am touched. The kind words written by your children in their cards warmed my heart. I am deeply grateful.

Sincerely, Ms. Chan