Week 7 Updates
Dear Parents,
MONDAY: As part of our reflection on learning, students used the SMART goals framework to set a personal writing goal and recorded it on a Post-it note. We will be supporting each other in reaching our goal in writing. Anxiously excited about seeing their progress in the next few weeks!
TUESDAY: We often hear children state, “I’m bored!” or “That’s boring!” When my own kids were young, I would never allow them to use the “B” word. They grew up thinking it was like a bad word. One day, while driving my daughter and her friend to ringette practice, they started talking about this topic. I thought it was hilarious when my daughter didn’t dare say the “B” word and instead spelled it out for her friend! Anyhow, I always believed with all of the books and toys in the house, how can they possibly be bored? So when I heard students in our class bring up this word now and again, I did my own inquiry into what boredom is because it is something I don’t quite understand as I always am doing something or my mind is always thinking about something. I originally believed that there was a solution to the problem of being bored: what children needed to do is simply change their mindset in thinking, so rather than feel bored, they reframe to feel content. I shared my ponderings and findings with the class. What surprised me most was that boredom is not all bad. There were a number of sources that stated benefits to boredom like creativity, problem-solving, becoming more goal-oriented or a better, more altruistic, and happy person to name a few. While I still think that kids can work towards having a feeling of content over boredom, I have encouraged your child to see it as an opportunity. Boredom is an opportunity to:
- contemplate and dream: have time to think about things they don’t normally think about, self-reflect, make plans, discover new hobbies or interests, set new goals, or add ideas to bucket list
- cultivate mindfulness: to be calm, to quiet the mind and the body, replenish energy
- be altruistic: consider what you can do to make someone’s day a little better
- be grateful: count your blessings
So if I were to have one wish, it would be that children stop seeing boredom as a negative state; instead, see it as an opportunity to better themselves, others, or the world around us. We do not need to fill our time with one thing after another to fill up our day. It is okay to feel bored! Please feel free to share your thoughts on this by writing a comment to this post.
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. Here are the first two habits covered so far:
- Be Proactive – take initiative
- Begin with the End in Mind – focus on goals
Click here to learn more about the 7 habits we will be learning about.
WEDNESDAY: As part of our inquiry into what makes a good story, we dove into story beginnings. First, each student pulled out a couple books from our classroom library. Some of us shared the first sentence with the rest of the class. Then, we all judged that sentence by our criteria: How engaging is the first sentence of the story? Does it entice or hook me in to want to read more? Next, each student had an opportunity to practice writing a few different story beginnings; many great examples were shared with the rest of the class. This exercise made it very clear to them that we, as authors, write for an audience. Looking forward to see how they revise their own stories to make their beginning sentences more engaging – to hook the reader into wanting to read on to find out more!
Continue to bring in non-perishable food for our We Scare Hunger campaign. Thank you!
Brentwood Park has a pumpkin carving contest. Click here to learn more. Grade 3’s will join the primaries in the gym after recess on Hallowe’en Day for the primary costume parade and dance party.